Understanding God's Law

Well this is post two hundred and a great milestone! I am pretty excited about this series on psalm 119. My section is called gimel, verses 17-24; but I just want to give you one thing you can take away from these verses.

In verse 18 the author says, "Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from your law." Here the author is asking God to grant him understanding of God's word, which shows us that apart from Gods working of the Holy Spirit we are not able to understand the truth of God's word. There are many tools that God uses to fill us with the Holy Spirit but I only want to talk about two of them that are mentioned in this text.

"Open my eyes..."The first tool that is mentioned in this text is prayer. We need God to open our eyes and let us see the truths and glories in His word.

"...that I may see wondrous things from your law." And the Second is that we be in the word! God is not going to strike us with a divine lightning of the knowledge of His word. We need to be in it constantly. Without praying and reading God's word we won't get beyond what we can understand in ourselves!

All For His Son's Glory!
-Kole

11,910- yeah it's a cool number

Psalm 119:10 "With my whole heart I have sought after you; Oh, let me not wander from your commandments!"

Is this true about you? Do you seek after God with your whole heart? Or how 'bout even half-a-heart? I find myself falling short... all the time.

Psalm 119:11 "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you."
One of the greatest things that you can do to strive after God is by reading his word.

Put it this way; let's say you like someone; let's say... Chuck Norris. And if you're going to strive after... Chuck Norris, you'll probably read what he has to say, or watch his movies.

So it's the same way with God! If you're going to strive after him, you won't just do nothing! You'll read his word!

So here's my challenges:
1. Strive after God with your whole heart by reading his word; meditating on it; memorizing it.
2. Don't strive after worthless things.

(btw, the title 11,910 stands for Ps. 119:10)
kade

numero uno

Psalm 119:1 "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord!
2Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart.
3They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.
4You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently.
5Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes!
6Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments.
7I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments.
8I will keep Your statutes; Oh do not forsake me utterly!"

Ok. So this is the first post of a 22 (?) post series. We will be rotating on each post, and I believe Kade is next. We will be taking out what we learned out of either the whole section, or a particular verse that really stuck out to us. Take a deep breath, and here we go on a long journey through Psalms 119!

Here David starts out by blessing those who walk in the way of the Lord (verses 1-3), to praying that his ways would be directed to His statutes (verses 5-6), to ending that he would keep God’s statutes (verse 8) and follow Him with an upright heart (verse 7), asking God not to forsake him ‘utterly’ (verse 8). I will admit it is difficult to try and find something that I can post on that we could apply to our lives other than what is clearly written out here, but there is one thing that stuck out to me about David. It seems that he not only has a great desire to follow God, but 1) he has a great respect for those who do (verses 1-3), and 2) and he has a desire for everyone to do the same as he is (verse 4). Being the first post I will leave it at that, and I WILL try to get more detailed as I get the hang of this. If there is anything that you want to point out on this (or any of our posts), please feel free to post a comment saying so.

Have a great day and please pray about this big ‘undertaking’ we are doing!!

-Nick

Posting Plan - Psalm 119

Hey everyone!

Until now we've always posted about different things - whatever we want, whenever we want.  I thought to myself, "Why don't we do something where the posts are related?"

So we've decided to go through Psalm 119.  The psalm has 22 sections, each representing a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  For each section, one of the four of us will make a post.  It may be about the whole section, or just a single phrase in a verse.  Whatever stands out to us in the section, we'll post on.

We're on a rotation, and Nicholas has agreed to post on the first section.  Be looking forward to it, and the whole set of posts we will have.  I hope this will be beneficial both to you and to us, and by God's sovereign will I hope that we can encourage our brethren in Christ and reach unbelievers for Him.

In Christ,

Luke

nothin' to do with anything christian

Alright, this has nothing to do with anything 'Christian' but I got such a kick out of this that I had to post it up! I got this from Kevin's blog.

This is 'how to annoy someone on an elevator':

1) CRACK open your briefcase or handbag, peer Inside and ask "Got enough air in there?"

2) STAND silent and motionless in the corner facing the wall without getting off.

3) WHEN arriving at your floor, grunt and strain to yank the doors open, then act as if you're embarrassed when they open themselves.

4) GREET everyone with a warm handshake and ask him or her to call you Admiral.

5) MEOW occasionally.

6) STARE At another passenger for a while. Then announce in horror: "You're one of THEM" - and back away slowly.

7) SAY -"DING" at each floor.

8) SAY "I wonder what all these do?" And push all the red buttons.

9) MAKE explosion noises when anyone presses a button.

10) STARE, grinning at another passenger for a while, then announce: "I have new socks on."

11) WHEN the elevator is silent, look around and ask: "Is that your beeper?"

12) TRY to make personal calls on the emergency phone.

13) DRAW a little square on the floor with chalk and announce to the other passengers: "This is my personal space."

14) WHEN there's only one other person in the elevator, tap them on the shoulder, then pretend it wasn't you.

15) PUSH the buttons and pretend they give you a shock. Smile, and go back for more.

16) ASK if you can push the button for other people but push the wrong ones.

17) HOLD the doors open and say you're waiting for your friend. After a while, let the doors close and say "Hi Greg, How's your day been?"

18) DROP a pen and wail until someone reaches to help pick it up, then scream: "That's mine!"

19) BRING a camera and take pictures of everyone in the lift.

20) PRETEND you're a flight attendant and review emergency procedures and exits with the Passengers.

21) SWAT at flies that don't exist.

22) CALL out "Group hug" then enforce it.

23) If the lift is full of women you look at the floor and say, "Nobody move their feet, my pet rat is on the loose". (Spiders and roaches work good too).

24) SPEAK into a mobile phone and say, "Yeah, the doctor said it was very contagious."

kade

Ida, the Missing Link?

Hey guys! I am sure most of you have heard, but evolutionists claim that they have found the 'missing link'. This lemur-like fossil, however, shows no signs of evolution. Here is a good link I found (of course, it is AiG): http://answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/05/19/ida-missing-link

Nick

isolation

Proverbs 18 "Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment."

When you get mad or upset, what is the first thing that you want to do? Alright. Besides hitting someone, what else would you want to do? Isolate yourself, right? Run to your room... retreat... get out of there... slam doors... beat up the little beany-bag monkey that's laying on your bed... jump up and down and then try to pull your hair out but then, realizing that it hurts, you stop... you would then punch the wall and then hold your knuckles... grab the remote and slam it on your desk until the batteries fall out... rip the poster of Legolas off of your wall and then realize that you liked that poster and wish you wouldn't have done that... then, in your anger, you spill the coffee that was on your night-stand and make a nasty looking stain on your carpet... and then, finally, you throw yourself onto your bed and beat your face with the pillow.

Alright, maybe not that drastic.

But anyways, isolating yourself is not good. Because you are running away from all wisdom. And instead of listening to the wisdom, you throw yourself a pity party! Woo-ho! Party on! -It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A. Yeah it's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A! Ha, ha, ha, ha! You 'break out against all sound judgement.' You're mildewing in your bed with the slime falling down onto the floor. You're getting mad at everyone and everything. You think that you are the one who's absolutely right... (believe me, I know how it is). And you think that everyone else is stupid and mean.

So next time when you're having a problem with someone, instead of retreating to your room and mildewing- stand, and try to work the problem out, for it will do you no good to isolate yourself.

kade

Life in WY, and a question

Well, it has been a super (emphasis on 'super') long time since I have posted on here! Sorry, but I don't really have anything really for you all except an update and a little science. :) As you know, I love science and can talk all day about it, right Kole? ha. Anyways, here goes:

My pastor started the Jackson Hole Bible College a few years ago and it is growing very fast. It is a one year college were students go out to various places (like: Mt. St. Helens, the Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone to name a few) and learn about the geography and how the universe came to be. The college has the highest amount of PhD doctors in the entire state of Wyoming. Most come from Answers in Genesis (and for those of you who are new to Life Savior, my pastor is the Chairman of the Board of Directors. He and Ken Ham-- founder of AiG-- are close friends) like Dr. Lisle (who I went and saw... really cool!) and Dr. Menton. Anybody who goes to Jackson Hole Community Bible Church is allowed to sit in on the college classes (but they don't get any credit). :) The point of this paragraph that I want to make is that the college students just graduated two weeks ago on Sunday. Very sad! They were a neat group of kids (20 in all). Below are some pictures.

So last Saturday dad and I went rafting on the Snake River! It was incredible! Alone on that 2 hour float trip we saw: osprey, a golden eagle, elk, an otter, lots of pelicans (believe it or not we DO have pelicans here!), a variety of ducks, three muskrats, beaver dams (but no beavers), canadian geese, and more that won't come to my memory. :) The Grand Teton National Park has the most wildlife I have ever seen in one area!

Unfortunately, evolution here abounds. In fact, the other day (Sunday I think) I saw a bumpersticker that said, "Keep your theology out of my biology"... yeah. However, I can't see how in the world somebody could see the beauty of this place, and say that! It is just one of too many examples of the fallen world we live in.

So now for something I have been learning. Our pastor is doing a series speaking in Revelation, which he has been in since last April (a year ago!). However, I just thought, I will actually ask a question first and then (after your comments) answer with a post. Here it is:

When a Christian dies, where does he/she go?

When a non-christian dies, where does he/she go?

So please comment on that and I will post eventually on it! :)

--Nick

the only man in town with a ferrari

Once upon a time there was a man. But he was not just an ordinary man; he was a rich man. Filthy... rich. He had everything a person could ever want (and maybe a little more). But he was still missing something; something that he did not know.

So one day, this man heard about a revival meeting, and there was going to be a guest speaker there, so he decided to go. When this man pulled up into the parking lot, he was the only person there who had a Ferrari.

The man smoothly got out of his car and walked up to the door of the building. After looking through the glass door once, the man proceeded in.

Once inside, the man pulled off his sun glasses and clipped them in his shirt pocket. As the man looked around him, he noticed that there was singing coming through one of the doors. Thinking that it was the place where the revival was going on, the man decided to enter.

When the man opened the door, he entered a room filled with the spirit. Throughout the service, the man was moved. He knew that the people here had something that he didn't have. So when the service was over the man approached the guest speaker and asked, "Um... dude? How can I gain this heaven-thing you were talkin' about?" The guest speaker smiled upon the man and replied, "If you want eternal life, go, and sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven."

But when the man heard what the guest speaker said, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

kade

Short Post

Busy day, short post.  Just wanted to let you all know my every day posting is over, the three other bloggers want their turn now lol.  Kade has a post ready for tomorrow, so be looking forward to that.

I'm too busy to post anything very deep or thought provoking - I'm about to head out with my family.  So I'll just say keep your mind fixed on Jesus, and be waiting for our next post.

Until next time!  God bless you all!

Luke

Persistence

Hello, everyone.  It's a great morning for a new post, don't you think?

Last night was Pizza Movie Night at my house.  The youth group came to our house and we watched a movie and ate pizza (duh!).  The movie we watched was Wall-E.  In case you don't know, Wall-E is about two robots who basically just go through a lot of trouble to get a plant to the captain of a space cruise ship - that's the "directive."

Well as in all our youth events, the youth staff always bring something from God's word.  When it's Pizza Movie Night, they try to relate it somewhat to the movie we watch.  Last night, Chris encouraged us on diligence and persistence.  He related the persistence of the robots in Wall-E to the parable of the woman who was persistent with the unrighteous judge.  In the parable, the woman comes to this judge who didn't really care at all, but because of her diligence the judge gave in and helped her.

And our Father in heaven is not like that judge.  He is righteous, and He cares for you greatly.  So we as Christians not only are able to, but are commanded to come before Him in prayer and cast our burdens on Him.  So this morning I encourage you as Chris encouraged the youth last night to be persistent in prayer.  Just because the Lord hasn't answered doesn't mean He won't answer - pray, and it will be all in His good timing.

On a sidenote, be praying for Lamb's Fair today, for the number of children who come, the souls of the children who are there, and that it would glorify God.

For God's Glory!

Luke

Christlikeness

First day of the month!  It's a great day to post on godly things.

My dad and I are going through a study together on Christlikeness.  The author addressed what gets in the way of Christlikeness - pride and selfishness.  He then wrote about what God's will for Christians are (Christian men in particular).  He finally wrote about how to get to where we need to be (which is following Christ's example), and he said this profound statement:

"The emphasis of this word (typos, Greek for "example") is not necessarily on the perfection of the resulting copy, but rather on the careful attention given to the perfect example and on the determined purpose of following it."

Those two phrases got my attention and I'm trying to keep this in my mind.  We need to give careful attention to Christ as the perfect example - this is as simple as asking the question, "what would Jesus do?"  But beyond simply looking at the perfect example, we must have the determined purpose to be like Him.

Later in the chapter, the writer mentions that before a builder builds, he does surveying first.  The same is true for Christians.  We should take a look at our lives, and see what needs to be built - what is lacking that needs to be built in your life?

There are three steps here.  1) Consider your life, 2) Compare it to Christ, 3) Be determined to follow Christ - build your life to make it look like Jesus.  Give careful attention to Christ, and have a determined purpose to follow Him as your example.

Luke