Jesus loves you

@Livingwater Study 9A PRAISING THE LORD FROM DAY TO DAY Key-verse: ““Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.”” (Psalm 119:164) David was so full of love for the Lord, and with an appreciation of the Lord’’s greatness and goodness, that he said, “”Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.”” Praise includes petition and confession, but more particularly thanksgiving and adoration. To praise God means to ascribe glory and worship to Him (Psalm 50:23), and see the record we have of the vast number praising God in Revelation 7:9-14. Seven times a day David praised the Lord. What does this mean? The language suggests that he praised the Lord frequently and habitually with much love in his heart. Consider why we should praise Him:- 1 . Praise the Lord that God is our loving Heavenly Father There is much confusion about the biblical doctrine of the fatherhood of God; but from Malachi 2:10 and Acts 17:24-29 we learn that, while God is the Father of all men ...

@Livingwater Study 8B. A BELIEVER’’S HEART-CRY FOR REVIVAL Key-verse: ““It is time for you to act, O LORD; your law is being broken.”” (Psalm 119:126) We need to remind ourselves that revival is God’’s work. Only the sovereign Lord Himself can send revival. Man cannot produce it – – “according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will”” (Ephesians 1:11). And that is why in Psalm 85:6 we read, ““Will you not revive us again?”” –- with the emphasis on the word ““you””. It is also true that revival is the work and power of the Spirit of God manifested in the Church and through the lives of God’’s people. God is the Author of revival, but God’’s people have a responsibility to do their part and to open channels through which God may pour out His blessing. Notice 2 Chronicles 7:14, which reads, ““If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves…”…” Only God can send revival, but it begins in the hearts and lives of God’’s peop...

@Livingwater Study 8A . A BELIEVER’’S HEART-CRY FOR REVIVAL Key-verse: ““It is time for you to act, O LORD; your law is being broken.”” (Psalm 119:126) It is quite obvious from these words that the psalmist was a very burdened and troubled man. He loved the Lord and wanted to please Him, but he was surrounded by godless and careless people who lived and acted as if God’’s laws, and even God Himself, did not exist. David was so affected by this spiritual and moral laxity, that suddenly all the pent-up longings of his heart gushed forth in an urgent heart-cry for revival, a passionate prayer to God Himself to step into the situation and do a mighty work that would turn back the tide of godlessness. How up-to-date this subject is! Indeed, this prayer of David’’s is the one prayer above all others that should be in our hearts and on our lips! The greatest need of our time is for God to work in spiritual revival in His Church, and thus to the world around.This take us to point one. 1...

@Livingwater Study7B...Quickening through HIS Word Key-verse: “”Quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word!”” (Psalm 119:107, KJV) How easy it is to get into bondage to sin (Romans 6:12); to self (Romans 6:16); and to Satan (Luke 22:31)! In Psalm 119:153 the Psalmist prayed, “”Look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law.”” The Lord Jesus Himself, from the Throne, is the great Liberator, as we learn from John 8:36; but He liberates us by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as we learn from Romans 8:2, and the medium through which He works is the Word of God.we stopped at point two in the last part.. 3 . It is through God’’ s Word that the Holy Spirit instructs us in the way of righteousness and enables us to please God . Many times in Psalm 119 the psalmist prays that God would show him the right way and enable him to walk in that way. This is exactly what the Holy Spirit does as we turn to God’’s Word with the desire to hear Him speaking to us...

@Livingwater Study 7A THE QUICKENING POWER OF THE WORD Key-verse: “”Quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word!”” (Psalm 119:107, KJV) The word we shall consider in this study is the word ““quicken”” (or “”quickening””). It means ““to give life and to preserve life”” and “”to be made alive””. This covers our basic needs, because we need to receive life and to be preserved by life; we need to receive life initially, which takes place at the time of conversion, but we also need to be preserved by life continually, which refers to God’’s work of sanctification From the scriptures we learn two things:- 1. The HOLY SPIRIT is the one who GIVES LIFE (quickens) –- look up and compare John 6:63 and 2 Peter 3:18. 2. The WORD OF GOD is the INSTRUMENT the Holy Spirit uses to accomplish this work –- we learn this from many references in the Scriptures and Romans 4:17 and Romans 8:11 illustrate this. 1 . It is through God’’ s Word that the Holy Spirit quickens us with new life, so that we b...

@Livingwater Study6B..WHY WE LOVE THE BIBLE Key-verse: “Oh, how I love your law!”” (Psalm 119:97) We will be checking on the remaining points today.we have study how bible can convince sinner like Zacchaeus,Ethiopia man and others. 2. THIS BOOK CONVERTS THE SEEKER The Bible is the instrument the Holy Spirit uses to show man that he is a sinner. Only the Holy Spirit can convict or convince of sin, and He does it with the sword-thrust of the Word, of which He is the Author –- look up and compare John 16:8 with Ephesians 6:17 and Hebrews 4:12. The Bible shows us that we are sinners, and this is one reason why many do not read the Bible; it shows them their sinful state and their sinful actions. For example, look up Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 53:6; John 8:7-9 and Romans 3:10-23. The Bible not only declares that all men are sinners, but it states that because of our sin we are dead (Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:1); and we are lost (Luke 19:10 and 2 Corinthians 4:3).If we were in a bu...

@Livingwater Study 6A . WHY WE LOVE THE BIBLE Key-verse: “Oh, how I love your law!”” (Psalm 119:97) In Psalm 119 we only have to compare verses 16, 24, 47, 103, 111, 113, 119, 127, 128, 140, 159 and 162 with the key-verse of this study (verse 97) to see how much the psalmist loved God’’s Word. It is true to say that our love for the Bible is like a thermometer by which we may tell the temperature of our love for the Lord Himself. Think of Stephen, whose preaching was filled with the Word of Truth (Acts chapters 6 and 7). He was martyred for his love for God’’s Word, and thousands have followed. Why did David love God’’s ““law””? Why do we love the Bible? We could give forty answers to this question, forty reasons for loving the Bible! Here are four worth considering,but in this part we will be considering one out of four and we shall conclude it in the next part...God bless you. 1 . THIS BOOK CONVICTS THE SINNER The Bible is the instrument the Holy Spirit uses to show man tha...

@Livingwater Study 5B..God's dealing Key-verse: ““I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”” (Psalm 119:75) Notice that David does not say, ““I think so!””, or ““I suppose so!””, or ““I want to believe it!””, or ““I hope so!”” Nor does he say, “”I can see it to be so!””, because the fact is that usually we cannot see what God is doing –- look up John 13:7. What the psalmist says is, ““I know it……!”” This is the language of faith, faith that is operative in personal experience. Is this your language, or are you questioning, fretting, resentful and rebellious? We stopped at point 2 in the previous part. 3 . Psalm 119 :75 – – “ The Lord has afflicted me in faithfulness !”” This is what David says, and it means that the Lord has been at work in our lives with the sincere intention of doing us good, and that He is just and righteous in all His dealings with us. He is faithful to us and therefore deals with us as He sees best, and b...

@Livingwater Study 5 GOD’’S DEALINGS WITH HIS OWN PEOPLE Key-verse: ““I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”” (Psalm 119:75) The subject of affliction is not an easy one for the believer to understand, but it is dealt with very fully in God’’s Word. The psalmist has much to say about it, and in our key-verse he tells of something which he had experienced himself; he knew that God was working out His glorious and gracious purpose in his life, and that is something really worth knowing! Looking at this verse carefully you may feel that the word ““afflicted”” is a hard one, but this is not so, because it speaks of God’’s loving and merciful dealings with His own people. It tells us of the Lord’’s discipline (Deuteronomy 8:2-6), and this word “discipline” is not a hard word; it has to do with a father’’s loving dealings with his child. The psalmist knew this and that is why he could break forth with this wonderful testimony in Psalm 1...

@Livingwater Study4B..Serious Consideration leads to Definite Action . (Psalm 119:59-60) The words to underline now are, “”I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes.”” When a man thinks hard and seriously about God and salvation, his own soul and his soul’’s need, he soon makes a decision that leads to action. So we find again in Luke 15:20 that the Prodigal Son came to the point where ““he got up and went to his father””. He turned his back on the old life and set out towards a new life. This lead us to the last point. 2 . Definite Action leads to Loving Obedience. The words to underline now are, “”I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.”” Definite action does not stop short at this point –- it must lead to a life of obedience. Conversion is just the beginning of a life of joyful obedience to the Lord, of finding out His perfect will, and doing it (Romans 12:2). Let us think about some other New Testament illustrations which are evidences o...

@Livingwater Happy new month and happy Sunday! Study 4A WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CONVERTED Key-verses: ““I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes. I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.”” (Psalm 119:59-60) In this brief testimony the psalmist defines the meaning of scriptural and spiritual conversion, and that is the theme of this study. We are not only to think about conversion, but about spiritual conversion, Christian conversion, conversion to Christ Himself. Of course, we can be converted to anything –- to communism, fascism, protestantism, catholicism, or any other ‘‘ism’’, so it is obviously not enough to speak about conversion. What does the Bible mean by conversion? The answer is given in these two verses: scriptural conversion is not to a man, to a religion, to a church or a creed, but it is conversion to a Person –- or, perhaps we should say, to the three Persons in the Godhead. It is our whole life being turned into a right relationshi...

@Livingwater Study3B...Benefit of meditation in His word Psalm 119:48..Joshua1:8 See what Psalm 19:7 says. This means that when the truth of God is applied to our life, it is so powerful that it turns our life away from all that is displeasing to the Lord, and turns it to the Lord Himself. It changes our lives right round. How is it that some Christians are only ““half-committed””?LOW OR NO MEDITATION IN HIS WORD. We were able to  one point in the last part,we take the lead from there, 2 . We shall find the secret of living peacefully in a chaotic world . Notice the word ““steadfast”” in Isaiah 26:3. It refers to a quiet, unhurried, relaxed waiting in the presence of God until our minds become stabilised with His truth. Everywhere there is fear and there are alarms. Sin abounds and God’’s judgments are surely near. All this is foretold in God’’s Word; but in that same Word we find confidence in the knowledge that God is working out His purpose for the world, the Jews and fo...

@Livingwater Study 3A THE GREAT BENEFITS OF MEDITATION TEN STUDIES IN PSALM 119 Key-verse: ““I meditate on your decrees.”” (Psalm 119:48) Many times in Psalm 119 the writer refers to meditating in God’’s Word (verses 15, 23, 48, 97, 99 and 148. There are other references in Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-3; Psalm 63:5-6 (KJV) and 1 Timothy 4:15 (KJV), and these all show us: first, that we should cultivate the habit of meditation; and second, that the range of our meditation is to be the whole Bible, the whole range of revealed truth from Genesis to Revelation. We are not only to receive God’’s Word with humility (James 1:21); to let God’’s Word dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16); to keep God’’s Word tenaciously (John 17:6); to continue in God’’s Word untiringly (John 8:31); to live out God’’s Word boldly (Philippians 2:16); but in addition to all this we are to meditate on it prayerfully and regularly, and this will require:- 1. Quietness. To meditate we must be alone. 2. Time. We mus...

@Livingwater Study 2B..Open my eyes...illumination Psalm 119:18... No one can see these wonderful things for what they really are without God’s supernatural help. “Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from your law.” If God does not open our eyes, we will not see the wonder of the word. We are not naturally able to see spiritual beauty. When we read the Bible without the help of God, the glory of God in the teachings and events of the Bible is like the sun shining in the face of a blind man. Not that you can’t construe its surface meaning, but you can’t see the wonder, the beauty, the glory of it such that it wins your heart. 2 . ““Open my eyes that I may …” …” see the love of God and His infinite mercy and grace in the Lord Jesus Christ . We know the story of the grace of God so well; it is wonderfully declared in John 3:16. How great, far-reaching and all-embracing is the love of God! Read again Luke 15:11-24 and revel in verses 20-24. The great proof of God’’s lo...

@Livingwater Study 2A HOW TO PRAY WHEN READING THE BIBLE TEN STUDIES IN PSALM 119 Key-verse: ““Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.”” (Psalm 119:18) In our study we will examine this prayer of David. Our object will be to see exactly what it tells us and then to suggest ways in which we should pray this prayer, and which we should be aware of every time we read God’’s Word. If we consider this verse carefully we shall see that this one petition embodies five basic and important truths. 1. The Bible is a unique Book. In this section of the psalm it is described as ““your word”” (verse 17); ““your law”” (verse 18); ““your commands”” (verse 19); ““your statutes”” (verses 22 and 24), and the emphasis in each case is on the word ““your””. The Bible is unique because it is God’’s Book; He is the Author. David’’s Bible was much smaller than ours, but now we have in the completed canon of scripture 66 books, all of which are inspired (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21). ...

@Livingwater Study 1B GOD’’S METHOD FOR HOLY LIVING TEN STUDIES IN PSALM 119 Key-verse: “”How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.”” (Psalm 119:9) The Bible has the answer to every question that is vitally important to us in this life and the life to come. Some say that the Bible is not relevant; for David or for Paul it was ideal in its teaching and application, and even for the Lord Jesus (for the Old Testament was His Bible) but, they say, the Book does not relate to our needs in the twenty-first century. Such ideas are entirely wrong,let check the key word in the answer that the scripture gave to the question asked in the key verse. 2 . THE ANSWER Look at our verse – – “By living according to your word””. Examine this sentence carefully and you will see three things which you must do to gain cleansing:- 1. Stop in your tracks. Note the word ““way””, which has in it the meaning of ““rut”” or ““track”” –- the kind of track that would be made...

@Livingwater Series18 Study 1 GOD’’S METHOD FOR HOLY LIVING TEN STUDIES IN PSALM 119 Key-verse: “”How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.”” (Psalm 119:9) The Bible has the answer to every question that is vitally important to us in this life and the life to come. Some say that the Bible is not relevant; for David or for Paul it was ideal in its teaching and application, and even for the Lord Jesus (for the Old Testament was His Bible) but, they say, the Book does not relate to our needs in the twenty-first century. Such ideas are entirely wrong, for the Bible is the only book that speaks with authority about the needs of time and eternity; it is the only guide to a holy life, to a life that is pure, dedicated and pleasing to God. So the psalmist, who was deeply concerned about personal purity, cried out, “”How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.”” We might re-phrase the question: What is the secret of personal, ...

@Livingwater Stidy10B.. ELIJAH’’ S GOD IS OUR GOD 2king2:14-17 Luke9:28-36 But not so with Elisha. He rolls the mantle and asks the question as he's striking the water. Elisha seems fully confident that the waters will part. And when they do, he does not hesitate, but walks across on dry land. Elisha's question is not a question at all but an exclamation of faith. The last point is 2 . ELIJAH’’ S GOD IS OUR GOD : When do we especially need to be reminded of this? When we have experienced the sorrow of separation and bereavement. Elisha knew Elijah was to leave him, but that did not lessen the blow when it actually happened. When bereavement comes to us, perhaps more than at any other time, we need to experience the power, presence and sufficiency of our God. Elijah’’s God, the mighty, comforting God, is our God. When we are about to undertake some new responsibility in service. Elisha was now commencing his ministry as Elijah’’s successor; the responsibility was grea...

@Livingwater Study 10A WHERE NOW IS THE LORD,THE GOD OF ELIJAH ? (Scripture Portions: 2 Kings 2: 14-17; Luke 9: 28-36) Elisha was Elijah’’s successor. For nine years he had understudied and worked with his master. Now Elijah had gone, and one question burned in Elisha’’s mind as he took up Elijah’’s mantle and walked to the bank of Jordan –- ““Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?”” (2 Kings 2:14). “Is Elijah’’s God with me, and is He still the same? That is the one thing that matters!” To seek positive evidence that God was with him, Elisha struck the waters with the mantle –- and immediately they were divided (v.14), and the onlookers saw the power of God (v.15). God was indeed with Elisha! What is the lesson for us? God is still the same, His power is undiminished. His servants may die, times may change, but He remains! He is our God, with us today –- look up Hebrews 13:8. 1 . ELIJAH’’ S GOD IS OUR GOD : What does this mean in a practical sense ? It means that the Lord G...

@Livingwater Study 9 THE HOME-GOING OF A SERVANT OF GOD (Scripture Portion: 2 Kings 2: 1-15) As believers (Ephesians 1:13), those who are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19), we have a glorious prospect. At present we live in the body, and we “groan” (Romans 8:23) and long for our Heavenly Home –- look up John 14:1-3; 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 and Psalm 23:6. Elijah finished his earthly life by being caught up to Heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11), and this story contains some valuable lessons for us. 1. EVERY SERVANT OF GOD, WHOEVER HE MAY BE AND HOWEVER IMPORTANT HIS WORK, MUST EVENTUALLY REST FROM HIS LABOURS 2.IN ELIJAH’’ S TRANSLATION WE HAVE AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE WAY IN WHICH A GENERATION OF BELIEVERS WILL 3.THE TIME , THE MANNER AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF OUR HOME- GOING ARE IN THE HANDS OF OUR LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER 4.ALTHOUGH GOD TAKES AWAY HIS SERVANTS, HIS WORK GOES ON 5.SOMETIMES GOD’’ S PEOPLE HAVE CERTAIN INDICATIONS THAT THE END OF THEIR ...