Psalm 119:49-56 Comfort

Oh how I love to be comfortable... There is nothing better than to sink down into a soft chair with the warm sun on my face and just relax and be comfortable. Wouldn't it be great if life was always that comfortable. Unfortunately, we have jobs, children, neighbors, disease, death to name a few to make us uncomfortable. It is easy to get into a pattern of just making our lives comfortable but I usually feel like something is about to happen when I start to feel comfortable. God might move us to another state, my husband may lose his job or we might have a death in the family. Verse 50 says "My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life." What a wonderful thing to remember when things big or small just are not going our way. Do you have comfort in God's promise to preserve your life for eternity?

Psalm 119:41-48 Freedom

I just love verse 45... I will walk about in freedom for I have sought out your precepts." As we are approaching the 4th of July holiday which celebrates our countries freedom, this verse reminds me that I am free of all the stress of the world because God is in control of everything. How freeing that thought is to anyone who knows Christ. I am thankful for my freedom.

Worthy or worthless?

As I am reading the verse about turning my eyes away from worthless things, I am reminded of the challenge we all face when we open our eyes in the morning. How many of the things that I have are worthy? It is nice to have "things" but are they "worthless" or "worthy". As I was downloading some childhood photos last month I was struck by my desire to skip over all the photos that were not of people. The photos of things and places were not very significant but the photo of my sister and I together made my heart swell with joy! The things I have will all pass away so please Lord help me to remember this today. You will preserve my life according to your word.

Give me understanding

Verse 34 says "Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart".. I think God must have quite a sense of humor when it comes to our understanding.. To think that He created all things and we humans spend our whole lives just trying to understand what he was able to create in 7 days... Pretty amazing to realize how little we know.

I sure feel like I do not understand many things that happen to me on a daily basis. Relationships are right up there when it comes to "miss" understanding. Why did God wire men and women so differently but want them to live together in harmony in the same house? I guess so we will always depend on Him for understanding. Thanks to the bible we see that ALL humans throughout history have struggled with the same issues and no one has quite figured out the formula for a completely successful human relationship. Like I said, I think God has a great sense of humor...

Paths

"I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free".... Running in the path of any trail can be tricky. Since I am a runner there have been many times when the running path is a huge puddle, full of blackberry thornes, or has hidden roots which make me trip bu how different the path of God's commands. They are pure and clear of all distractions there is nothing there to trip me up. It does not always seem clear to me when I first try to read the commands but after time with the Lord he will usually always reveal the truth that he wants me to know. What a benefit to have my heart set free.. Free from all the pains, doubts and sorrows of this world. God is good he provides so much more than we need.

Stranger on Earth

Are you a stranger on earth? What does this mean to you? This is where we are born and raised and have a life, isn't it? Do we know any other life? Have we gone somewhere else to know another life?

Jesus promises another life in another kingdom. When Jesus is talking to Pilate in John 18:36 Jesus says, "My kingdom is not of this world....But now my kingdom is from another place". So we do have promise of another kingdom outside of this earth that we know will be much better than this present kingdom. What a wonderful promise to remember when times get tough. Life here on earth is temporary and worthy of living but WATCH out something much better is on it's way.... I can't wait!

Are you discouraged about your current situation? Remember this life will be over in a blink of an eye and if you know Jesus as your personal Savior then He has promised you that you will be with him in paradise...

Please feel free to share your comments and thoughts on the study. I love to read how others are being changed by the study of Psalm 119...

Have a great day-

Liz

HIdden Your Word in my Heart

In verse 11, he talks about "I have hidden your word in my heart" which is really handy when you are not around a Bible but you want to tell myself or someone else a verse from the Bible. Why is it that children have an easier time learning and storing God's Word in their hearts than adults. The is speaking for myself mostly but I don know others who have similiar stuggles.

How wonderful it is though when we do remember a verse or concept that God has placed on our hearts and minds and it helps us through a rough time in life. Verses 14-16 give us the emotion of rejoice, meditate and delight which are all such positive words to help us through this thing we call life.

God's Word

Today we read about those who are blessed because they are blameless. I wish it was so with me. The process should be simple- follow God's laws and then you will be blameless but how different it is to follow them all day, every day for the rest of our lives. Thank the Lord for his grace.

God's laws are perfect and he his faithful to keep his part in the deal of life. I love the last verse in the stanza verse 8... I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me. God knows that we will fail again and again but he will always be there to pick up the pieces in his loving and understanding ways.

Let's strive to finish the race with all that we have and be willing to accept our faults and shortcomings just as God accepts us just as we are....