Pastor Ray is just a few days away from launching his new blog postings. Join him each day as he walks with you through the book of Proverbs. In fact, why not join him in reading a chapter a day in Proverbs throughout the month. For example, on Day 1 read Chapter 1, on Day 2 read Chapter 2 and so on. Each day he will pull out an insight from the chapter to share his thoughts. And, don’t forget….he would love to hear your thoughts too!
So…be wondering what’s going on with Meditations lately?
Well, we’re on hiatus…taking a break…getting ready for a reboot. The blog is about to make a comeback, so hold on. In a few days, you will see a brand new look and a refreshing new approach to our daily interactions with God’s Word. We think it’s it going to be fun!
Thanks for your patience!
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every
one that heareth it shall tingle.
1 Samuel 3:11
Read Psalm 36:1-38:22
Your Success Guaranteed
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
Go Deep: I love this verse. It’s one of my favorites. Here is the key to success in life—to fruitfulness and fulfillment in all you do. Not just to make things happen for yourself, but to actually have God working on your behalf to give you what you have set your heart to do.
But this is no automatic formula to riches, power and fame that David is talking about. In this verse itself is essential context that we must grasp and apply if we are to enter into the blessed life the psalmist goes on to describe. Furthermore, the entire chapter of Psalm 37 provides valuable insight that further explains verse 4. You and I would do well to read and absorb this whole psalm in context.
So let me give you a heads up on some of David’s caveats to the success he promises:
First, you’ve got to put God first and make him foremost in your life. Another way of putting it is that God must be both the center and circumference of your existence. I think that’s what David had in mind when he said, “Delight yourself in the Lord.”
God will not grant you willi nilli any old desire—that would be irresponsible of God and dangerous for you. But when you delight in God above all else, that in itself will shape the desires that arise in your heart and guard you from foolish, selfish, sinful and harmful wishes.
Second, you’ve got to delay gratification and practice patience. You will find in the rest of this psalm that over and over again David speaks of not getting in a rush to see the plan of God unfold in your life, and not getting caught up in the false success of those who are far from God. In due time, God will bring about his promised blessings. Here is how David sees it in verse 7:
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
And third, you must refuse to cut corners and commit to a consistent walk of uprightness before God. If your life is characterized by incongruent living—saying one thing but doing another—don’t expect God’s deep and abiding favor. Though much of this psalm is dedicated to this truth, notice in particular how David puts it in verses 18, 34 and 37:
The days of the blameless are known to the LORD,
and their inheritance will endure forever…
Wait for the LORD and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are cut off, you will see it….
Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future for the man of peace.
God wants to grant you success. And success as he defines it is far greater, longer lasting, and more satisfying that what the world offers. So delight yourself in the Lord, and you will find that the Lord delights himself in you!
Just saying… I love how John Piper says it: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” If you take delight in the Lord, you can never go wrong!
Goin’ Deep
“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of,
knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have
known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be
complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
~II Timothy 3:14-17
Go Deep… When I was growing up in a small Southern Oregon town, the kids in my neighborhood would regularly gather in the street in front of my house. There we would play some of the best football games on the planet—better than even the Super Bowl! Street football—skinned knees, bruised elbows, bragging rights (at least for that day) and tons of fun! Man, there was nothing like it!
The favorite play called in the huddle, was, of course, “go deep!” Forget about short yardage running plays or screen passes, we wanted the glory, paydirt, “tud-down!”, our name for a touchdown So just about every play was “go deep!” I’m telling you, that’s the way football at every level ought to be played.
I want to go deep this year in God, don’t you? I don’t want to splash around in the shallows or wade around in the wimpy water near the shore, I want to get into the depths of God like never before. Do you want to join me?
If you do, then I know of no greater practice for going deep with God than through the daily practice of Bible study—reading, meditating, journaling, and praying the Scriptures. That spiritual practice will contribute to your growth as a believer and your entrance into the deep things of God like nothing else. It’s as simple as that.
If you want to mature in your faith, morph into greater Christlikeness, deepen your knowledge of God, insulate your life from sin, enlarge your Kingdom effectiveness, increase your spiritual power, develop life skills for the daily challenges you face, and live in the blessing zone of God’s favor, you’ve got to be in God’s Holy Word on a regular, if not daily, basis.
I hope and pray that you will join me in 2010 as we “go deep” in God through the daily reading of his Word. To help us along the way, I have provided two creative reading options that you can access on the upper panel of this page by clicking on the 2010 Bible Reading Plan.
Check them out—I think they are pretty cool. Personally, I am choosing Option 1. And just a note about the content of my raynoah.com blog over the next 12 months: The devotional postings will be based on my Monday reading of the Law section, and my weekend reading of the New Testament sections. So there you go—two blogs a week. If I get really inspired, I’ll periodically post an additional blog based on my weekly reading in the other sections of this plan.
Of course, you can choose your own Bible reading plan, but no matter what you do, choose to read God’s Word in 2010. By the way, there is no greater act of faith, obedience and yes, even worship, than to devote yourself to “rightly dividing the Word of truth.” (II Timothy 2:15)
Now That’s Going Deep… The great twentieth century American preacher A.W. Tozer said, “The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.”
Digging Deeper–The Romans Challenge
In preparation for an expository sermon series on Romans that I will do in my church in 2010, I have felt prompted by God’s Spirit to do my devotions in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans over the next several weeks. And I want to invite you to join me in “Goin’ Roman”. Together, let’s delve into this, the most theologically systematic letter in the New Testament, Paul’s magnum opus, as we rediscover some of the crown jewels of our Christian doctrine: Gospel, faith, justification and the significance of Christ’s sacrificial death.
Here’s how we’ll do it: Since Romans has 16 chapters, I will be blogging on one chapter per week for the next 16 weeks, give or take. That will take us almost to the end of the year. My plan is to blog at least two times a week, thus two posts per chapter.
Now here is an added twist: I would like to hear from you as you journey through Romans with me. Take a verse, a paragraph, a theological idea from your reading, or my blogging, and write your own devotional thoughts. Then, if you are brave enough, email it to me…or post it as a comment. In doing so, you will be giving me permission to repost your devotions on my blog. I’ll give you credit, of course.
Now I won’t necessarily post every comment or email—you’ll have to trust me to be discerning. But if your writings seem to have some encouraging value to them, I would like to repost them for the edification of the blog readers and RSS subscribers.
Deal?
I hope so. I think this will be a really enjoyable and insightful way for us to go through Romans.
See you in Romans!
Pastor Ray
Eeck! The Blog is Back!
After a 30 day hiatus, the blog returns! Yes, beginning August 1, for anyone who cares, “Meditations” will once again be published on a regular basis. However, rather than appearing daily, as has been our routine, blogs will now be posted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The exception will be tomorrow’s entry-Saturday, August 1-where you will be treated to my take on “Long-Winded Preachers.”
See you tomorrow,
The Macchiato Maniac
Blog Update: There will be no new blogs until August 1, 2009. You are encouraged to look through the raynoah.com archives and read some of the posts from the past two years. May God bless you as you continue to read and meditate on His Word,
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
~Psalm 1:1-2