DEVOTION TO THE WORD

“Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction" (Psalm 119:92 NKJV).

The Psalmist regarded God’s Word as his delight. Thus we want to note two important truths about the attitude of the psalmist towards the Word of God: an infrequent attitude and an invaluable attitude.

Infrequent attitude – “Your . . . my delights.” The Psalmists says he delights in the Word of God. To delight in the Word of God means loving the Word enough to pursue, read, and study it regularly. It means we will have great interest and fondness for the Bible and love its contents. Today many folks are more interested in the daily newspaper than the Word of God. And these folks are always complaining that the Bible is boring and uninteresting. But it is not the Scriptures that are at fault; it is the heart of the complainer that is at fault. If the Word of God does not excite our souls, then there is something seriously wrong with our souls because the Bible is a Divine book.

Invaluable attitude –“Unless Your law had been my delights, I would then have perished in my affliction.” Many wonderful blessings awaits those who delight in the Word of God. One such blessing is the help to survive troubles and afflictions. No one is exempt from affliction, but nothing gives more comfort and help as the Word of God. It gives strength to survive trials. If we delight in the Word of God, i.e. read, study, and mediate on it regularly, we can encounter trial victoriously. If we are not doing well in our trials, it maybe that we are not doing well in our attitude towards the Scriptures.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“The Bible is like a compass - it always points the believer in the right direction!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Division

In Heb. 4:12 we read, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart!” (NKJV).

Division is the Greek word merismos (μερισμός = mer-is-mos'). The word means a division or partition. It refers to the act of distribution or apportionment as of spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit.

In Classical Greek the term merismos means part or portion. It refers to the act of dividing the whole into parts, hence a distribution. Thus the word of God has an incisive and penetrating quality. It lays bare self-delusions, moral deceit and pretense. So, merismos is not necessarily making a distinction between body components, but is saying that God’s Word can discriminate between man’s thoughts and intents.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah’ name would be remembered forever (Psalm 45:17)

New Testament Fulfillment – Eph. 1:20-21; Heb. 1:8

Did You Know…

In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant contained 3 items – The Word of God (the 10 Commandments), manna (bread from heaven), and the rod of Aaron, which came budded, i.e. came back to life (Heb. 9:4). In the New Testament, the Blessed Virgin Mary’s womb contained the Lord Jesus, the Word made flesh, who is The Bread of Life, and who is a ruler with an iron rod that came back to life after being crucified ( Luke 1:31, John 6:48, Rev. 12:5).

Bible Quiz

Adam named his wife Eve. What does her name mean?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: In the Book of 2 Peter, what does Peter use as an analogy for his body? Tent / Tabernacle (2 Peter 1:14)

Everyday Expressions Alluded to in the Bible

"Dead men tell no tales”

“For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten!” (Ecc. 9:5 NKJV).

“Dead men tell no tales” - The expression “dead men tell no tales” carries the idea of the dead not being able to reveal matters. The dead do not know anything. They have no further knowledge of anything here on earth. The memory of them is soon forgotten, and whatever might have been their portion on earth, they have it no longer. However, the believer in Jesus is far better off in death than any living person who is not saved. Phil. 1:23 states that to die is “to be with Christ; which is far better.” The believer in the Lord Jesus has a “living hope,” because the Savior is alive and has conquered death.

Did You Know – Christian History

Obadiah Holmes, was born about 1610 at Preston, Lancashire, England. He was an early Rhode Island settler, and a Baptist minister who was whipped in the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious beliefs and activism.

Holmes grew up in a family where several of his brothers were sent to college at Oxford, but he was somewhat wild in his youth. He was married at the age of 20, and several years later emigrated from England and settled in Salem in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. His religious connections were with the Congregationalists. He and two others began a glass making business there, but due to religious friction in 1645, he moved to Rehoboth in the Plymouth Colony. There he became a Baptist, and was united with the Baptist church in Newport, R. I.

Religious differences evolved between himself and Samuel Newman, the pastor of the Rehoboth church. Holmes eventually became the leader of a small faction within the church sometimes called the Schismists. In 1650 he and others were taken to court for their religious views and practices, and compelled to leave Plymouth Colony. He settled in Newport in the Rhode Island colony and soon befriended John Clarke and John Crandall.

In July 1651 these three men were arrested while visiting an elderly friend in Lynn, Massachusetts. They were tried and charged exorbitant fines for their religious practices. Friends paid the fines for Clarke and Crandall, but when Holmes learned of this he refused to allow them to pay his fine. Six weeks after trial he was taken to the whipping post in Boston and given 30 strokes, which were laid on so harshly that for weeks afterward Holmes could only sleep while on his knees and elbows.

The year after this punishment Holmes became the pastor of the Baptist church in Newport, and continuously held that position for 30 years, until his death in 1682. Holmes and his wife Katharine had nine known children, eight of whom survived to adulthood. He was an ancestor of United States President Abraham Lincoln.

In Boston itself, Obadiah’s suffering impressed others who established a Baptist church there, regardless of the colony’s disapproval. Holmes’ Last Will and Testimony is a highly regarded piece of Baptist exhortation.

A Little Humor

A family is greeting their pastor after the service. Little Junior looks up and declares, “My dad says my mom is a pagan because she serves burnt offerings for dinner.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“The Bible reveals the wickedness in the heart of man, but also reveals the grace and mercy of God!”