Psalm 19 | Bible Study Wednesday

Welcome back to Bible Study Wednesday! This year God has pressed upon my heart to study the book of Psalms. Each Wednesday we take a closer look at a new chapter. Today we are going to chapter 19. If you have not done so, please take the time to read through these 14 verses. I will be sharing some thoughts about today's passage and break down this chapter below. Please pray and ask Holy Spirit to open your spiritual eyes and ears to receive everything He has to teach you in today's passage. Let's begin!

Verses 1-6

The heavens declare God's glory. What is glory? It is the Hebrew word kabod and it literally means "heavy" indicating a weightiness. It is His signature on our world. Like any artist that signs their work, God's glory is His name on all He created. When we see God's magnificent creation, we should pause and praise God our Creator. We should not worship idols, carved figures or nature itself. Why worship the creation when the Creator deserves the credit?

ROMANS 1:20-25 (20)For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (21)Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (22)Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, (23)And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. (24)Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: (25)Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

JOB 12:7-9 (7)But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: (8)Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee: (9)Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?

JEREMIAH 5:20-25 (20)Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish (proclaim) it in Judah, saying, (21)Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: (22)Fear ye not Me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at My presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? (23)But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone (departed). (24)Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in His season: He reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. (25)Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.

It is very clear throughout the Bible that God deserves praise, honor, and glory. He alone is our Creator. We know that when we read the first book of the Bible. Genesis begins with God as our Creator. We must not forget that He made us and fashioned us to be like Him and to serve Him. We should appreciate the beautiful things He made but we are not to worship the sun, moon, and stars, or the planets and all that dwell therein. Let's remember God is Holy and worthy of all adoration and praise.

Verses 7-11

God's Law is perfect. It provides protection and help to us when we heed the warnings. God is a loving Father and He wants to protect us, so He gave us rules and mandates to tell us how we should conduct ourselves, interact with others, and fellowship with Him. When we veer off the path He has placed us on, we will get into trouble. There is danger and evil lurking on the sidelines and when we stray away from the road God wants us to walk on, we are vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy.

DEUTERONONMY 29:14-29 (14)Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; (15)But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day; (16)(For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by; (17)And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:) (18)Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; (19)And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: (20)The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and His jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven. (21)And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the Law: (22)So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it; (23)And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger, and in His wrath: (24)Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? (25)Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their father, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: (26)For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom He had not given unto them: (27)And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: (28)And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day. (29)The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this Law.

David says this about the Law: it is perfect, restoring the soul; sure, making wise the simple; right and makes the heart rejoice, pure and enlightens the eyes; clean, endures forever, true and righteous; more to be desired than fine gold, and sweeter than a honeycomb. By these laws we are warned and when we keep the law we are rewarded.

The psalmist says in chapter 119 verse 72, "The law of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver." Wow! What a great verse. The statutes and ordinances found in God's Word is worth more than all the wealth in the world. Why? Because it brings life and blessings and promises. In the same chapter, verse 127 he says he loves God's commandments more than fine gold. Do we love God's Law that much?

Verses 12-14

David ends this chapter with a prayer. It is something I believe we all should pray. He says:

Cleanse me from secret faults.

Keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins.

Don't let sin have dominion over me.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight God.

You are my strength, my rock, my redeemer.

Secret faults are those things hidden away. We may have forgotten about them or maybe we did not think they were that serious. They are secret faults that can separate us from God. David said, "Cleanse me from them." Lord cleanse me today from these secret faults as well.

Presumptuous sins are arrogant, bold, brazen wrongdoings that will most certainly send us to hell if we are not forgiven of them. These are things done intentionally and most likely driven by emotions. David said, "Don't let these sins have control over me."

Lastly, David wants God to look at his words, his thoughts, and his heart. His desire is that it would be acceptable in God's eyes. He recognizes God is his source of strength and the One who delivers from sin and frees from captivity.

Sin is a suffocating cocoon. It wraps around us and holds us hostage. We are no longer free to come and go as we please. We are enslaved to sin and must serve it until we are freed by the power of God. It leads to spiritual death and eternal separation from God. John 8:24 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant (slave) of sin. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I hope that as you joined me in diving deeper into this spectacular chapter of Psalms, you would be encouraged, enlightened, and empowered to live a life that honors God. I hope something you have read on my blog today has been strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens

APRIL FOOL'S | Fuel For The Weekend

Welcome to the end of another week. We have entered a new month as well. The first quarter of this year has literally flown by and if you blinked, you just might have missed it!! Today is a holiday, though it does not get a lot of attention. No candy is marketed for the holiday, no rush to buy gifts and exchange them, and no party will be planned around it. Rather, it is a day of practical jokes and pranks. I am talking about April Fool's Day. I once heard that atheists complained that they had no holiday to celebrate and so this day is made for them. PSALM 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

I was taught in school about the Big Bang Theory and how the world in all its beauty and splendor came from gas explosions in the atmosphere. When I challenged what made the gases no one could answer me. It seems they are content in believing that gases always were, atoms have no beginning or ending. It sounds like they are confused. God has no beginning and no ending. He is infinite. Our finite minds cannot wrap around a God who always was, who is, and always will be. We live in the realm of time. It takes a great deal of faith to believe the human body just came to be because of some cosmic blast. Our minds are such complicated things that even science has yet to tap into all the intricacies of it. We are intelligent beings, able to reason, to think, to choose, and you will never be able to convince me that we are some miracle of the elements. There is absolutely no way!

GENESIS 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. It takes faith to believe that God created the heaven and the earth and all that is in it. If you read the first few chapters of Genesis the Word of God declares that God made everything. He speaks to the Word, which is Jesus, and they created man in their image. GENESIS 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. The devil did not like that and so he tricked Adam and Eve into sinning and we were separated from God. Sin entered in. The good news is that Jesus' blood atoned us. ROMANS 5:10-12, 19 (10)For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (11)And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we have now received the atonement. (12)Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. (19)For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.

PSALM 24:1 The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell in therein. This is very clear to me. The message is that God owns the earth and everything in it; the world and those that live in it. Many choose to believe that universe is a power in and of itself. They have such great faith in something like that but cannot wrap their head around the Truth that God created all that we see, every man, woman, boy, girl, bird, animal, plant, tree, everything! It definitely takes a lot more faith to believe that deception than it is to put your trust in God our Creator.

JOHN 1:1-5, 10-14 (1)In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2)The same was in the beginning with God. (3)All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. (4)In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. (5)And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (10)He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. (11)He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. (12)But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name; (13)Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (14)And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. Jesus is the Word made flesh. He was with God in the beginning when God created the world. We know this because of verse ten. He was in the world, and the world was made by HIM! The world He created did not know Him and His chosen people did not receive Him. From the moment He was born, the enemy tried to kill Jesus. They had no room for Him in the Inn and they had no room for Him in their hearts.

There are two camps of people in God's eyes: the righteous, and the ungodly. The ones who trust in God and put their faith in Him are the righteous. They that look to God's Word as a guide for their thoughts and behavior. The ungodly are the fools who say there is no God. PSALM 1:1-6 (1)Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (2)But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in His law doth he meditate day and night. (3)And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. (4)The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. (5)Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. (6)For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. I did an entire Bible study on this first chapter of Psalms and you can read that by clicking HERE.

In closing, I will share the words of Joshua in the Old Testament. The people were facing a choice. Today we face the same choice. We must make up our minds and settle it in our hearts whom we will serve. JOSHUA 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. The choice is the same today: You can choose the idols your ancestors worshiped. You can choose the god of money, fortune, and fame that are in the land we live in today. Or you can choose the God of heaven who made all of creation. You must decide for yourself. No one can make up your mind for you. As for the Owens' household; Paul, Bridgett, Kadesia, and Javan will serve the LORD.

I pray you choose Life. Jesus is Life. There is no other way to get to God. JOHN 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me. As you embark on another weekend, I pray that you will make the decision to follow Jesus. If you already are a servant of the LORD MOST HIGH then I pray you will share the Gospel with others and use this silly holiday as an opportunity to share your faith. God is a loving, good Father and He wants all of His children to be with Him for eternity. Let's not miss heaven for the world!

May something I shared on this blog today be strength for your journey and light for your way. God bless you!

~Bridgett Owens