Tuesday, September 02, 2008

September 2 - Reading and Heeding

The new Useful Breath reading schedule will begin on Monday, September 15, 2008. Please invite friends and family to join us as we read through the Bible once again.

The new Sept. 2008 - August 2009 schedule will be available for you to download soon. Until then, our daily readings will be centered on the importance of Scripture in our lives. Keep reading!


Overview of: Bible FAQs

Today's Reading:

Psalm 119:129-152
"Wonderful, Eternal Words"

Focus Verses:
Psalm 119:145-147
145 I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD, and I will obey your decrees. 146 I call out to you; save me and I will keep your statutes. 147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.

Insight:
Calling for help and heeding God's Word go hand in hand. The psalmist called out to God for an answer, realizing that the answer would require obedience. He called out for salvation, understanding that he must keep God's statutes. He cried to God for help, and at the same time put his hope in the promise and direction of the Word.

Response and Action:
As a person who calls out to God for help, I must be ready to obey the direction of God's Word. As a person who looks to God for salvation, I must be ready to live out my salvation by keeping God's Word. In order to live according to God's Word, I will need to read it, delight in it, meditate up on it, know it, respond to it, follow it, and hope in it. The words of God are wonderful to me. Therefore, I obey them.

O God, the unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. Give me a heart that longs for your words and a mouth that is ready to speak them. Direct my footsteps according to your word that no sin may rule over me. Your words are forever right; give me understanding that I may live by them. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.

Proverb for Today: Prov. 2:1-6
"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding."

Recommended Resource:
The IVP Introduction to the Bible
by Philip S. Johnston