October 28, 2012

Lines of Truth (4)


 Chapter 4   Worship                  Psalm 122

p 45  There is one sufficient reason for going to church - God.

p 46 talks about worship being the most popular thing that Christians do - I wonder about this -  I  suppose that he may be correct as you certainly see more bodies in church services than you do in bible study groups or serving in a mission context.

p 47  ".. the powerful history - shaping truth that God forgives our sins and makes it possible to live without guilt and with purpose."

p49  worship (corporate) provides a framework for how we are to do life - we know where we stand

p 49-50  worship is commanded in Scripture, we don't worship because 'we feel like it'.  "Feelings are completely unreliable in matters of faith"

"The Bible wastes very little time on the way we feel" ~Paul Scherer,
                                                                                The Word God Sent p166
 p 50  Worship centers us on the Word of God - the decisions of God.
The biblical word "judgement" means "the decisive word by which God straightens things out and puts things right."

p 51  The word "pray" in the Hebrew of Psalm 122 is the same as "ask" as we 'ask' for seconds at dinner or for directions when we are lost.

p 52  "Shalom, peace, is one of the richest words in the Bible"  "It gathers all aspects of wholeness that result from God's will being completed in us.  It is the work of God that, when complete, releases streams of living water in us and pulsates with eternal life."

p 52  Shalvah = security    the root meaning is leisure 
Security of being at home in a history that has the cross of Christ at its center.
"It is the leisure of the person who knows that everything is all right because God is over us, with us, and for us in Jesus Christ."
"It is the leisure of the person who knows that every moment of our existence is at the disposal of God, lived under the mercy of God."



October 18, 2012

Lines of Truth (3)


Chapter 3     Providence           Psalm 121

Times of trouble are inevitable - we will need help.

p.37  A look to the 'hills' ends in disappointment - help comes from the Creator... not the creation.

p 38  "No literature is more realistic and honest in facing the harsh facts of life than the Bible."

p 39  The only serious mistake we can make as Christians is the one Psalm 121 prevents - the mistake of supposing that God's interest in us waxes and wanes in response to our spiritual temperature.

p. 40  "Psalm 121 says that the same faith that works in the big things works in the little things."

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

October 11, 2012

Lines of Truth (2)

  A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson is a study through several Psalms that are known as "The Song of Ascents", specifically Psalm 120 through 134. 

Chapter 2 - Repentance - Psalm 120

p 21  A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find the motivation to set out on the Christian way.
Psalm 120 is the song of such a person - the cry of pain that penetrates through despair & stimulates a new beginning ~ a journey to God which becomes a life of peace.

p 24  "The truth about what is wrong with the world is that I and the neighbor sitting beside me have sinned in refusing to let God be for us, over us and in us.  The truth about what is at the center of our lives and of our history is that Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for our sins and raised from the tomb for our salvation and that we can participate in new life as we believe in him, accept his mercy, respond to his love, attend to his commands."

p 25-26  Repentance is not an emotion.  It is not feeling sorry for your sins.  It is a decision.  Repentance is a decision to follow Jesus Christ and become His pilgrim in the path of peace.

p 29  Repentance is the first word in Christian immigration and sets us on the way to traveling in the light. It is a rejection that is also an acceptance, a leaving that develops into an arriving, a no to the world that is a yes to God.

In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  ~Psalm 120:1
If I am honest - I know that only the Lord will ALWAYS answer when I cry out to Him.