August 10, 2011

"I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against God" Psalm 119:11

“ In My Heart”

God’s Word is light and life to those who believe. But it is only effective for those who know how to read it, study, it and apply it to daily living. The Psalmist knew how and it enabled Him to overcome sinfulness.

To hide the Word in your heart you need to know how to get it there. You don’t hide the Word by accident nor do you wake up one morning to find yourself Biblically literate. You can’t use your Bible for a pillow and hope it sinks in by osmosis.

How do I get it into my heart?

Meditate

Now what does this meditation involve? The word "meditation" in Hebrew means basically to speak or to mutter. When this is done in the heart it is called musing or meditation. So meditating on the Word of God day and night means to speak to yourself the Word of God day and night and to speak to yourself about it.

Max Lucado says that meditation is essentially the same process as worrying and if you can worry you have the ability to meditate!

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” Psalms 19:14

"O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day." Psalm 119:97

"Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all". 1 Timothy 4:15

To meditate on God’s Word you must get alone in a quiet setting where you can read it and think about and pray and listen to the Holy Spirit. The goal of meditation is threefold:

1) To communicate with God

2) To convicted or inspired by it’s truth.

3) To conform your life to God’s truth.

Will you meditate on God’s Word so it can be hidden in your heart and revealed in your habits?

Memorize

Another important aspect of hiding His Word in your heart goes beyond meditating and on to memorizing it – storing it in your mind. Don’t say you have a bad memory or that you can’t memorize! The biggest barrier to memorization is that “stinkin’ thinkin’”. Memorizing requires more time and effort than some want to invest in it, but everyone CAN memorize.

Here is the process you can commit to:

1) Read it

2) Repeat it – say it over and over and outloud.

3) Record it – write in on a flash card or record it on a CD so you can listen while traveling to work and back.

4) Recite it

5) Remember it – if you can recite it verbatim you have memorized it.

The word hidden in your heart and in your mind will enrich your life and elevate it beyond your wildest dream!

Something is written on your heart. Something will affect your thoughts and influence your behavior. If that “something” is not the Word of God you evidently have not been meditating on it or memorizing it.

If you find yourself worrying you probably are not memorizing and if you are not memorizing you have good reason to worry!

August 9, 2011

"I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against God"  Psalm 119:11


I am been around long enough to remember when a man’s word was his bond. Once a man made a promise he felt bound by his honor to make sure that promise was kept. Most deals in those days were sealed with a handshake. Few things were more disgraceful to a man than not keeping his word.

Don’t we long for those days? What has changed?

I’m sure I can’t account for all the changes but I do know that men were better at keeping their word when they were better at keeping His Word!

Why does His Word make such a difference? How does hiding it in His heart keep us from sin?

It Is His Will

If God is the Sovereign Creator, Ruler and Judge of the universe doesn’t it make sense we should care about what He cares about?
I think so!

And don’t you think that He would want us to be clear on what He cares about?
Yes!

So, how do we know?

His Word reveals His will!

Long ago God spoke through His Spirit to forty men over a 1,600 year period to make known His will to His people.

It Is His Way

Not only does His Word reveal His will but it reveals His way. How does He operate? How does His will get expressed in His world?

The Word of God reveals that as well! It records His dealings with His people in ancient times, it reveals how He desires to love and be loved by His people, AND it gives a glimpse of how His love will be expressed throughout eternity.

It Is His One

John’s Gospel declares, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

The most exciting fact about God’s Word is that it is not just words and concepts, but it is a PERSON! That Person is Jesus Christ!

When you read His Word and hide it away, you are having and intimate personal encounter with the Son of God Who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life”!

Wow! How can I afford to not read His Word? Why would I not want to when I can know His will, His ways, and His One, by lingering in its pages!

What’s your excuse?

August 8, 2011

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11

This week we are doing our Vacation Bible School and so I thought I would focus on a verse that I first learned at VBS years ago. It is the next to last Psalm I will deal with as I wind down my "Summer In the Psalms" sermon series. That verse is Psalm 119:11, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

Over the next several days I want to break down this verse to examine every precious truth. First, says the Psalmist, "I have hidden......."

What does it mean to "hide His Word ?" How does one do that?

For the sake of brevity and simplicity, let me suggest three quick thoughts on those questions.

You need to have a priority!

Obviously, you can't hide everything so you have to choose what you will hide. You will hide what is most important to you and that will be based on your value system. Either intentionally or subconsciously, everyone has a value system by which they prioritize where they invest their time, their talents and their treasures. In this Psalm it is implying that you must make sure you value God's Word above all else! Are you?

You need to have a plan!

There is a word for things that get unintentionally hidden. We say they are lost! You do not want to lose the Word of God! So you must be intentional about how you plan to hide it! Since the Word of God is "living and active" you cannot hide it just one time and leave it hidden. You may do that to your Bible but you can't do that to the Word. Since the Word is contained in the Bible you don't want to hide your Bible. This Psalm tells you that you must have a plan to regularly, if not daily, hide the word. Generally, that means that you memorize it. Do you have a plan to memorize the Word?

You need to have a place!

Some people store valuable items in a safe deposit box at their bank. Others have a safe in their home where they hide their important papers or items. High priority valuables must be hidden in a safe place. A safe place to hide those things is part of the plan. This Psalm specifically says that the safe place to hide God's Word is in your heart! Of course, that doesn't mean your organ that pumps blood, but in your soul - the spirit and the will and the mind. Once you memorize something it is stored safely in your mind and is available to encourage your heart and direct your will. You have a place to hide God's Word. He provided it for you. Are you using it?

The Word of God is the most valuable and enduring possession you have. It is the only thing that can lead you to everlasting life. Because of that there is an Enemy who is bent on stealing it away from you!

You better have it as a priority and execute a plan to hide it in a safe place! This is a matter of eternal life or death!

August 7, 2011

My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.  Proverbs 7:1-3

36 years ago today I was at the Northern Illinois District Conference at Camp Epworth just outside of Rockford, IL. I heard my name called over the camp public address system, "Phone call for Pastor Brad Snyder. Brad Snyder, phone call in the office." (Obviously, that was WAY before cell phones)

I hurried out of the meeting and moved anxiously toward the office. We knew our soon-to-be adopted baby was due anytime. Nearing the office I was hoping it would be THAT call. Sure enough, it was!

The child had just been born and it was a boy! Boy, oh boy! A boy! Perfect!

Most of what happened for the next hour or so is a blur. I know I had to go report to the proper officials and get excused from the rest of Conference, which I did. And then we had to pack up our stuff and load the car and make the four hour drive down to Marion, IN, where he had been born.

We packed, we loaded, and we headed south. Soon the joy was tempered by extreme anxiety as we awaited to receive the official word that the birth mother had officially signed off on her rights to the child. In, fact, the law in Indiana gave her up to a year to change her mind. As we drove we would worry awhile, pray awhile, worry some more and more a little more.

On August 10th, 1975, the longest seventy-two hour stretch in world history came to and end when we took the infant son into our arms. It was love at first sight - at least for us. He couldn't see all that well yet!

There wasn't much doubt what we would name him "Matthew" means "gift from God" and surely he is. So Matthew James Snyder came into our lives and took a prominent place in my heart - a place he still occupies today as a 36 year-old man and father of five.

Matt has always been one of those gifted people who can do everything well. He is a good husband, an outstanding father and very successful businessman. Sports came easy to him and he was one of the star players in whatever sport he chose.

Memories are flooding my mind right now and I won't bore you with anymore of them, but needless to say I am very proud and thankful for this gift God entrusted to my care 36 years ago today!

Happy Birthday, my son,  Matthew - "Gift of God"! My wish for you on this day is the same that Solomon expressed to his son centuries ago in the Proverbs, "My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart."

August 6, 2011

Pain needs to be processed before it can become profitable. Job gives us some insight on how that happens:

"After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said: "May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, 'A boy is born!' That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it. May darkness and deep shadow claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm its light. That night—may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months. May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes. "Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins, with rulers who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day? There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver's shout. The small and the great are there, and the slave is freed from his master. "Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? For sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water. What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil." Job 3

Ouch! That is painful just to read! It sounds too familiar for most of you.


But as I meditated on this I realized three things Job did in the midst of suffering that allowed God to tranform Job's pain into profit.

First, Job approached pain honestly. He experienced it. He felt it. He didn't deny it. He didn't spiritualize it. God has programmed in us a marvelous coping and recovery system called "grief". Grief moves through steps that ultimately bring us out of suffering. But if we don't confront our pain with honesty we short-circuit the process. Job did not do that.

Second, Job faced suffering with humility. "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" Job did not fall victim to "victimology". Listen to this statement, "Though He slay me, yet will I serve Him." "He didn't say, "Why me?" He thought, "Why not me?"

Finally, He faced suffering hopefully. His "saintly wife said" suggested, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die." Job chose to hope in what he knew about the goodness of God. He refused to let pain have the final answer in this situation. That is what integrity is all about, believing what you believe even when it seems unbelievable.

Are you plagued by pain? Are you surrounded by suffering? Face it with honesty, humility and hope! God will bring you through triumphantly as He did Job.

August 5, 2011

"One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." Job 1:6-8

I was never real good in math, but math is nice and tidy, very predictable. When you add one and one you always get two. Always. When you subtract 5 from 10 you get 5. Always. That is nice That is comfortable. That is so unlike life.

But somehow we take a mathematical approach to live. We think that if we do this good thing and combine it with that good thing we will get a good result. Maybe. Maybe not.

That is a huge part of the problem with suffering. It doesn't always add up. In the Bible some of the men who suffered the most lived the best. So here's the math: righteous living + faithful obedience = severe suffering. God's math is strange!

There weren't many who were more moral that Job. He was so righteous that God bragged on him to the Devil! Of all the people I want to impress, God is THE ONE! So what did Job's stellar resume get him? Deep sorrow and suffering. How does that add up?

David had a heart like God's. When God chose him to be King his life was constantly threatened by Saul the reigning king. He spent years running from Saul even though David was totally blameless. Several times he could have killed Saul and ended the period of exile, but he chose to honor Saul because Saul still occupied the throne. David suffered and suffered longer than he needed to because his heart was right and he chose to wait on God. How does that add up?

And then, of course, there was Jesus. He was sinless and remained sinless for one reason. So He could become sin for us and suffer our judgment. The very Son of God died a horrifying excruciating shameful death for one reason - He was the only One holy enough to do it! There is no worse suffering than death on a cross. God's best took our worst. How does that add up?

This brings us back to the problem that has no mathematical solution, a holy all powerful loving God Who could prevent all suffering doesn't. No one has ever been able to balance that equation. That has caused many to abandon faith or to choose not to believe.

 

What do you do when life doesn't add up?

What are you to believe when God subtracts from your comfort rather than adding to it?

Will you factor in God's goodness and love when the math doesn't seem to work?

Can you trust your problem to be His solution?

August 4, 2011

"LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you. The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in the darkness like those long dead. So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land. Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, or I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Rescue me from my enemies, LORD, or I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. For your name’s sake, LORD, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant."  Psalm 143

Do you pray just to get an answer?

Would you still pray if you didn't get prayers answered?

Why do you pray?

Have you ever thought about it?

You don't get everything you ask from your spouse but you don't stop talking to them, do you? You have no hope for a continuing relationship if you stop communicating.

Someone has said there are two primary reasons for prayer. One reason for prayer is to know the will of God and the second is for grace to do His will. 

The Psalms are filled with passionate prayers. One of those is found in our text, the 143rd Psalm. If you want to have a passionate spiritual relationship with God you must understand prayer. And if you believe that the main reason for prayer is what you can get out of Him, you are missing the better half of prayer. Prayer is also about what God wants to put into you!

Prayer connects you with God allowing you to communicate with Him. Communicating with God bings contentment. Communicating with God means you learn to listen to Him. Listening to God helps you get to know Him and learn to love Him. Connecting and communicating are extremely important to your spiritual health and growth.

Prayer allows you to confess your sins to God and that brings you peace. Peace is evidence that God has heard your confession and lifted your guilt.

When you pray you can contemplate His Word and His works, and His wonders. Meditating on God stretches your mind, expands your spirit, and encourages your heart. Contemplating how much He loves you and how powerful He is and how imperfect and needy you are.

Praying develops conviction within you. As you connect and communicate with God and when you spend regular time contemplating His goodness He will become increasingly more real to you and your faith will strengthen and grow.

Character will develop within you - His Character - as you devote time to praying His Spirit will begin shaping your Spirit. Your thinking will begin to be shaped by His Spirit as you commune with Him and contemplate His word.

So, you see, there are plenty of good reasons to pray to God beyond getting answers to your prayers. We have mentioned five or six of those.There are more reasons but these are certainly good enough!

Prayer is a powerful tool. It can be hard work but it is incredibly worthwhile. Even if you never got what you really wanted and requested from God, you discover all the joys of living in an intimate spiritual relationship with the eternal God of the universe! Worry less about what you can get out of prayer and rejoice about what it can put into you!