SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/23/2012 7:10:02 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Psalm 117 PT-2
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Psalm 117:1b
Message of the verses: In yesterday’s SD we began to look at the
shortest psalm in all of Scripture by looking at the first section of the first
verse. Psalm 117 has the middle verse in
the entire Bible, and is also the shortest book in the entire Bible. Dr. Wiersbe writes the following at the end
of his introduction to this psalm, “A proper understanding of this psalm will
help us appreciate at least four privileges that belong to God’s people.”
Sharing the Gospel (v. 1b): “All nations; Laud Him, all peoples!” “Praise him, all you people of the earth.” (NLT)
It seems
that the NLT has the better translation when it says “all you people of the
earth,” for that is more of what the Hebrew means here. This can refer to all the Gentile nations,
those who are not of Semitic origin.
This term can be seen in Revelations 7:9, “After these things I looked,
and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation
and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne
and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their
hands.” (Italics added) (This verse speaks of those saints who had
been killed in the tribulation period for the cause of Christ.)
We see the
term “all peoples) in the following psalms (47:1; 66:1; 96:1; 98:4, 7; 100:1).
The people
of Israel were to be separate from the Gentile nations, but they were not to be
isolated from them, for when we read in the book of Genesis that God called
Abraham to found a nation that would bring blessing to all the earth (Gen. 12:1-3;
Rom 4:17-18; Gal 3:8). We know from
reading the Scriptures that for the most part Israel failed to take the message
of God’s love and salvation to a hurting world, but it was through the Jewish
nation that the Word of God was written and it was through the Jewish nation
that Jesus Christ who came to die on the cross for all those who will accept
Him as Lord and Savior. We read in John
4:22 that Jesus said that salvation was of the Jews, and that is certainly a
true statement because salvation comes through the Jewish Messiah, Jesus
Christ.
We not live
in the age of the Church and we need to pass the truth along to those whom God
brings into our lives, and one of the ways that we can do this is through
love. At this time I want to quote from
a book that was written in 1960 by a man who worked for the Moody Bible
Institute, and is about the leadership of D. L. Moody. I have to say that the Moody Bible Institute
has been a very important part of my spiritual life, from listening to one of
their radio stations, to going to Chicago to visit MBI and attending many of
their Founders Weeks. D. L. Moody is a
man who did not have a formal education, but had a love for the Lord that knew
no bounds. The portion that I want to
quote speaks of God’s love, and after reading it last night before going to bed
I became convicted that this kind of love that Moody had was something that I
needed more of and since it goes along with “Sharing the Gospel” I thought it
would be good to add it to this SD.
“GOD LOVED
the world when it was full of sinners and those who broke His law. If He did
so, can’t we do it, and love our fellowmen? If the Saviour could die for the world, can’t
we work for it? … The churches would soon be filled if outsiders could find
that people in them loved them when they came, and if the elders and deacons
were glad to see them and were ready to take them by the hand and welcome
them. Such things would draw sinners. Actions like these speak louder than words. We do not want to talk of love and not show it
in our deeds; we want something more than tongue love.” (Moody To
All People pg. 56) Quoted from D. L. Moody On Spiritual Leadership by
Steve Miller)
The
following was found written in Moody’s Bible and was His Creed:
“Do all the
good you can,
To all the
people you can,
By all the
means you can,
In all the
places you can,
As long as
ever you can.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Jesus said to His disciples “If you love me
keep my commandments,” and this is a tangible way of demonstrating our love for
my Lord, and one of the ways of doing this is to love others as He loves
them. When we think about the two
greatest commandments in Scripture we find that both of them involve love,
loving the Lord and loving your neighbors.
I see the cross formed in these two verses, for the vertical beam is
loving the Lord and the horizontal beam is loving your neighbor.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Loving the Lord and loving my
neighbor.
Memory verses for the week: 2Peter 1:8-11
8 For if these
qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor
unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind
or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more
diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you
practice these things you will never stumble, 11 for in this way the entrance
into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly
supplied to you.
8/23/2012 8:13:28 AM
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