SPIRITUALLY MINDED

“O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water" (Psalm 63:1 NKJV).

Unlike folks today who want nothing to do with God, the Psalmist focus is on God; his thoughts are about God. Thus we want to note - personalism of God, the pursuit of God, and the passion for God.

Personalism of God - "O God, You are my God.” In contradistinction to other folks who have no personal relationship with God, the Psalmist claim God to be his God. These folks believe there is a God but never make Him their God. They have never pursued a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. A person may believe there is an airplane sitting at the airport ready to take them on a flight. However, if they never get on the plane, they will go nowhere. So it is with God. We need to appropriate God in our life.

Pursuit of God – “Early will I seek You.” The word “early” can mean early in the day or simply earnestly. To pursue a vibrant relationship with God, we must seek Him both early and earnestly. We cannot lay around and take our ease if we want to grow in the Lord. We must take the time to seek Him daily through His Word and prayer.

Passion for God – “My soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” Today many folks have little interest in God. Yet the Psalmist has a great thirst for God. It is a thirst for God that compares to a thirst in a dry land where there is no water. It is a desire for God that will cause a person to worship regularly, to read and study the Word of God more diligently, and pray to God more enthusiastically. The world philosophies will not quench, but only cause more thirst. Only God can satisfy the thirst of the soul.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“When Christ is the center of your focus, all else will come into proper perspective!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Disregard (despise)

In Titus 2:15 we read, “Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you” (NKJV).

Disregard (despise) is the is the Greek word periphroneō (περιφρονέω = per-ee-fron-eh'-o). It is made up of two words: “peri” which means around or about and “phroneō” which means to think beyond. Thus the word means to have contempt for, despise. Literally, periphroneō means to think around, to depreciate, despise, to think above or beyond a thing, to ignore, to look down on, and to have disdain for. Eventually, periphroneō came to be used almost exclusively in the negative sense of strongly disagreeing with an idea and of treating it with disrespect or disregard.

In Classical Greek periphroneō meant to examine on all sides, consider carefully, to have thoughts beyond, and to despise. Periphroneō is not found in the Septuagint (LXX). Periphroneō occurs only once in the New Testament and means to despise or look down on. Further, the word is a present imperative with a negative thus conveying the sense stop letting others depreciate or despise what you are saying. Paul’s encouragement to Titus is that God’s truth must be obeyed and proclaimed with authority. No disobedience can be tolerated or overlooked.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – As a form of mockery, folks would say of the Messiah on the cross, “He trusts in the LORD; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, for He delights in Him!” (Psalm 22:8)

New Testament Fulfillment – Matt. 27:43

Bible Facts

The Hittites were once thought to be a Biblical legend, until their capital Hattusa and records were discovered at Bogazkoy, Turkey in 1834 by French architect Charles Texier. Hattusa was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1986.

Bible Quiz

Who in Scripture was known as “The last Adam?”

**Answer to last week’s trivia: “All is vanity” is a phrase often repeated in what book in the Old Testament? Ecclesiastes (Ecc. 1:2, 14; 2:17; 3:19; 12:8)

That’s in the Bible

"Whited sepulchres”

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness” (Matt. 23:27 KJV).

“Whited sepulchres” - The expression “whited sepulchres” refers to refers to hypocrites, especially religious hypocrites. These are religious folks who, outwardly look nice and appear beautiful like a white-washed grave but inside their hearts are full of hypocrisy, envy, pride, lust, and malice, aptly represented by the corruption within a whited tomb. However, as far as God is concerned, it is what is on the inside of a man, morally and spiritually, is what really counts.

Did You Know – Christian History

The China Trio were three English women who were veteran missionaries. Their aim was to visit and distribute Bibles and literature to every city of the Gansu Province located beyond the Great Wall. Before their adventure was over, they would endure hunger, thirst, pain and sleeplessness; they would be robbed, arrested by a warlord and stoned. They would live grueling lives, making journeys made by no other European woman.

Evangeline French was the oldest of the three women. In her youth she had been daring, rebellious and angry. Mildred was the daughter of a draper. As a young woman she had heard a missionary tell of China’s spiritual need, and become eager to serve as a missionary. Francesca, the last of the trio was Evangeline younger sister. Trained as a nurse, she was sensitive, sympathetic and the quietest of the three.

In 1923 the women headed for Gansu Province in Central Asia, hauling a cartload of Bibles and literature. They knew that other women missionaries were in the hands of bandits, but they went anyway. They traveled slowly, visiting China’s people in their markets and homes, speaking to as many as they could, turning every conversation to Christ and “gossiping the gospel.” They cooked over camel dung.

At the invitation of Dr. Kao, a Chinese Christian, the trio agreed to stay and teach the Christians of Gandjou. Thus began one of the most extraordinary gospel adventures in history. Five or six times over the next thirteen years, the three women visited every oasis town and village that lay outside the Great Wall in the province of Gansu. Everywhere they went they saw the terrible effects of opium and proclaimed that God could deliver people from the drug. They gave lessons in the phonetic alphabet, treated diseases and astonished everyone by rescuing babies who had been thrown away.

In 1936, all foreigners were ordered out of the city. Tired and old, the three finally admitted that their work in China was over. Over the years, Mildred and Francesca had recorded their adventures in books - twenty altogether. Mildred was the first to die in 1952. Eva lived to be ninety, and Francesca outlived her older sister by only three weeks.

A Little Humor

A Sunday school class was ready for its question and answer session. “What is it that we learn from the story of Jonah and the whale?” the teacher asked. A bright kid spoke up and said, “What we learned is that people make whales sick.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Worldly pleasures turn sour in the heat of eternity!”