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“The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart:…” Psalm 19:8a

Just think of it. The word of the Lord, in all its “rightness,” makes our hearts fill with joy. Isn’t that what the Scripture says? I find that amazingly interesting. We hear so much of the nature of our flesh finding joy and satisfaction (though none of it real and lasting) in the things of the world, that this Scripture just flies in the face of our “humble” doctrines.

Just think about it. The very rightness of the Word creates a joy bubble in our heart. To read and to laugh; to read and to delight; to read and to embrace with and in great joy; these are not what we hear. Much is made of the difficulty of living in Christ, but the balance is seldom heard.

Oh yes, there are times of difficulty, but beloved one reading this, let us also allow a new attitude of mind to arise in us. An attitude that is in line with this Scripture. As we read, may we get a daily dose of joy. Then we begin to know the reality that the “joy of the Lord is our strength.” We become renewed in the attitude of our minds that this is a joy-filled life. Not a life anchored in sadness, but a life released in joy. The very word of God is the book I need to read to allow joy to rise in my heart and life. What a wonderful built-in surprise.

Read and laugh. Hear and rejoice. Embrace the Word and be blessed!

It is truly Good News!

Psalm 19 Ministries Institute of Biblical Studies has been granted full academic fellowship with the International Educational Fellowship of Biblical Life College and Seminary.

This means that any of our students who choose to enroll in Biblical Life College and Seminary are able to transfer completed on-site courses with us that can be converted into semester hours with Biblical Life. This is such a huge development! Several Bible Institutes have been receiving our courses, and we are ever so grateful for the courtesies they continue to extend to us. This however, is an official affiliation that grants our students further educational opportunities if they choose them on the college level.

My heart overflows with thankfulness to our King who continues to work His wonders among us.! This is a bouquet of roses (or iris’) in my heart.

The official statement of academic fellowship along with the accreditation Biblical Life holds will be posted shortly on our web site.

Thank you for rejoicing with me. The Institute of Biblical Studies is a special part of me, and I am elated in every way with this certificate I have in my hands (soon to be on my office wall).

To God be the glory; great things He continually does!

I have begun podcasting! There will be a link on the side bar when I can figure out how to make it work. 

“The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simply; (Psalm 19:7b)”

This is an absolutely wonderful fact! As I study the Word of God, my simple mind that has such limited understanding of life and circumstances, actually becomes wise from the spiritual point of view. There is a transformation that occurs in the mind of a person who chooses the Word of God over the delights that the world offers.

I find this wonderful. As I choose the written Word, the Word who Himself is God, gently unfolds Himself out of book form into life form into my heart, and empowers me to see from His point of view. I become wise in the wisdom of Almighty God.

1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “But we have the mind of Christ.” Many have questioned about this verse, “How can that be.” The secret is hidden in the printed page Word. The mind of Almighty God has been stored for whosoever will choose it. If I continue thinking in my own circles, then all I have is whatever I have been able to accumulate in my mind. However, if I will choose to read, study, and meditate on the written Word, I will come into a wisdom that is far superior to that of the world around me, and certainly far superior to my own circles of thought.

This is far to simple, for one to grasp. We want it all to be so complicated. We want ourselves to somehow come out looking smart, wise, and really cool. However, the Word will not do that. It (He) instead gently unfolds Himself and becomes the center of attention in all that surrounds. My very dependence upon Him and His thoughts empowers me to receive what He sees.

The wisdom that He brings is His wisdom, and a wisdom that empowers a life that is free in Him. It is not the wisdom of the world, but will give us wisdom as we live and move in the world. It, like us, is in the world, but not of it.

I confess, I often “bump” into my own inability to see what I need to see, or understand what I need to understand. Lord help me remember, that the secret is your written Word, translated into life in You.

“The Torah of YHWH is perfect, bringing back the being;….”
(Psalm 19:7 The Scriptures)

Psalm 19:7 in a very literal version says volumes. Most of our translations read a bit differently. Something like, “The Word of the Lord is perfect, reviving (or restoring) the soul.” Even though our translations say a possible rendering, some of the emphasis is diluted.

The Scriptures is a translation from Africa, and a bit different than what we normally have. In this instance, it is quite literal and opens the eyes of our hearts to a fuller meaning.

The word “Torah” means that which is entire, truth, complete, full, perfect, sound, without spot, upright, whole. So even though we might be tempted to say it is simply the first five books of the Old Testament (in a Jewish understanding), because of the full meaning of the word, I believe our English translations do well to translate it to cover the entire instruction in the Word of God.

The word usually translated revive or restore has a multitude of meanings but the on that keeps cropping up in Strong’s is to turn back or to bring home again. So the Scriptures have translated it well. It means to bring back, or turn back. If we ponder this for a few minutes, it means to bring something back to a wholeness — back home, with all the comfort, protection and health that word implies.

What it brings back is the being. What a wonderful way to say it. The word used here is the Hebrew word for life, soul, being — the totality of a person (spirit, soul and body).

Now when we put that all together in our hearts, the Word of the YHWH brings the entire person back to a place of wholeness and wellness. Just think of it. Our Lord has stored in His Word the Spirit’s ability to literally make us spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically at peace, in comfort, and in health. My heart explodes with the possibility.

Now, that being so, what are we as His people to do about the Word? I think we need to have much more emphasis on the Spirit’s ability through the Word to empower in our lives. Our “dosage” of the Word needs to be high. It is through the Word we are trained into obedience that comes from a submitted spirit. That will empower us to be obedient to the truth our Lord shows us. As He leads and guides, we will be able to be obedient to our Dr.’s instructions, the training the Lord does in us regarding nutrition, and rest. (There is that Sabbath concept again).

Walking in relationship means I listen to Him. He has spoken in His Word (and He daily speaks in our hearts according to the Word). His Word carries in it the ability to preform what He has spoken. May we choose to listen, receive and be at home in Him.

(May all of believers in our Lord Jesus living in the United States on this July 4, celebrate the freedom of our spirit in Christ Jesus through His salvation, as we thank Him for the freedoms He has protected in our dear USA).

Photo by iris godfrey — Oregon Sunset over the ocean 1992

What does the creation of the sun and the strength of the sun have to do with the Word of God, and just how does it display His glory and deity? For a number of years after the establishment of Psalm 19 Ministries, these few verses were a mystery to me. Oh, I understood how the sun is awesome…etc., but I knew there must be more. Indeed…!

When our God creates or establishes something, then He has already provided for its life. The sun is the avenue of the continuance of our physical life. Without the sun, no matter how good and right the creation of our earth, life could not be sustained. So before man was created and placed in His garden, the sun, moon and stars were in place (4th day). Provision for us was in place before we were in place. That understanding is called faith. He says it in another way in 2 Peter 1:3 (NIV),

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

So, before Adam there was provision. This is an awesome understanding. Before we became Christians, there was the provision for all in our lives just waiting; before His call on our lives for full-time ministry, there was the provision for all He would call us to do waiting to be poured out; before we stepped up to receive, there is already the provision for that to come to completion. I could go on and on, but I believe you will put your own life struggles here to see that His call to faith has already provided for that faith in your life.

“…which is like a bridegroom coming forth from His pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.”

Not only is the provision there, but it is abundant. When it doesn’t seem that way, then either we are perceiving matters from the flesh instead of the Spirit, or this is my idea and not His, or it is time to wait and see what He will do. That waiting is to be in peace and rest, not in hurry and scurry to accomplish what He has not. Somehow, we are always trying to make up for God’s lack of action. This is so real in us. However, our efforts will not work the work of God. His own words confirm this in John 6:28-29 NIV.

“Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'”

Our main work is that of resting or trusting. Read that passage in John in its context, and you will see he is talking to people who were following Him for what He was doing for them. They were anxious to know what they could “do,” while He was intent on wanting them to trust in the Father.

The Lord’s words to me through this passage in Psalm 19 is that we join in proclaiming His glory through His provision in His appointment resting. What a tall order! Yet, to believe it is to rest and watch. He will do what He has appointed in your life and in mine. It is all of Him. Praise His Holy Name!

This Psalm 19:1-2 in the ESV. It is very much the same in any translation. It states a very simple fact — the heaven’s tell us about the nature of God and the sky proclaims or shows to us His work. Each day and night reveal information (knowledge) about Him. In explaining that men are without excuse for their unbelief in Him, Paul in Romans 1:20 states:

For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have
been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

These simple verses tucked into His book, lets us know of His great love for all. He has granted us the privilege of displaying His nature in our flesh, and sharing with a lost world His saving message in love. However, He has not left it to anyone to display Himself! He has done that in the creation itself. The stars, the sky, the creation itself reveals much, much about Him. Everything that has been created shows us something about Him.

The creation/salvation story is written in the stars (see Bullinger’s book The Witness of the Stars, available on line at: http://www.philologos.org/), and the very creation (including ourselves) display Him.

I love His Book (Bible), and I am appointed to it, (Ezra 7:10), however, I also am aware I need to open my eyes and perceive. Read some of the scientific information (Creationists sites good here) available and allow the Lord to teach me through what He has created. There is much, much to be known. I guess we all have tendencies to be narrow in our approaches to “beholding” Him. Let’s open and let Him teach us much more — much more!

It is our US holiday — Memorial Day! I love this holiday. I love the waving of the flag and the overall sentiment of gratitude that rises as a result of remembering those who have fought so hard for our country and our present way of life. The US has many problems (as do all governments ordered by frail humanity), however, when we wave this flag, most hearts are filled with thanksgiving, and thanksgiving to our God.

Joe led the choir at a “Watch Fire” gathering last night. It is a gathering of the veterans and citizens in our area: a huge bonfire where all the worn and “used-up” flags are placed and burned as the bagpipes play and the choir sings our patriotic songs. He enjoys that very much.

Today we gather with my church family for a huge picnic at our park on the lake. My heart is thankful to our Lord for all who have gone before me. We do stand on the shoulders of many who have lived and died in and for this great land.

It is a grand ole’ Flag!

Have a blessed and thankful day in our Jesus!

Well, push has come to shove. I must complete the grading of my spring institute course. My dear students have been exceeding patient with me and my travel schedule, but now I must complete the stack of lessons, papers, and finals. Those of you who read here, rejoice, I have completed half of them — did that yesterday! So now I will try to finish today.

I always enjoy what the students write, and never know why I drag my feet in grading. I love to teach on the Institute level, and enjoy all who are my students. Their creative insight into the Scriptures always blesses and amazes me. Each one is so very different from the other.

In our Bible Institute we grade according to a students ability — not on a curve in reference to others. Our students’ background education has been from a high school diploma to a doctor’s degree and all in between. So it would be totally unfair to grade the one with the high school education with the same expectations of those with higher degrees. It works well for all — this watching of student progression. That is what I watch for, are they progressing in their knowledge of the subject, and in their relationship with their Lord. With out that second part, the Institute would not be doing its appointment in our Lord Jesus. I could hire someone to grade for me, but then I would not be able to see these two things easily.

We have completed 7 years of night school. I am so blessed by the Lord’s faithfulness. This summer we are offering one course — New Testament Survey — for those who have begun to study with us. This fall we will offer (if all goes as expected) a course in Acts (I will be teaching that one) and a course in the first 100 years of church history based on the New Testament (Fr. Bob Hackendorf will be teaching that one).

Our courses are presently accepted for transfer by several other Institutes. If any of you have a question about which ones, just ask. It is on an informal basis, so I do not advertise the specifics. Our students are reflecting excellent scholarship. The Institute is primarily designed for lay people. We are inter-denominational, and not affiliated with any denomination. Our purpose is to teach what the Bible says — not necessarily to insist on a specific interpretation of it. However, all teachers are charismatic, so there will, of course, be a slant that direction.

Our courses are available by extension, and you may read about all of them on our web site: www.psalm19ministries.org .

O.K. now I must stop talking about it and get to the work of grading these wonderful (truly) writings of my students.

Well, I have spent a very frustrating few hours discovering that “Free” really doesn’t mean “Free.” On the side-bar of this blog, there is an Intercessors Sign up place. I began using a “free” newsletter service (under 50 contacts) to develop a scheduled Weekly Update. It is a dandy little program and since we are not “big potatoes” with a small number to send, it has been free. However, shortly they will begin charging a monthly fee, for all. The fee is not large, but I really did not want to be plugged in to paying for 30-40 emails. Later, when our numbers climb, well of course, and that is the way it was set up. But now they are changing the rules.