Psalm 119:111 The Discipline of Joy

Your statutes are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart.

Psalm 119:111

Sadness and joy often travel together on the 1 road of life.

Karen and I were sad to have to move from a home that had been such a blessing to us. Moving yet again never brings me happiness.

But what joy it is to recall that God has always had a plan every time we've moved during our 41 years of marriage. His statutes are always there, guiding our path in the direction of His next adventure for us.

We were sad beyond measure when age and health forced us to walk away from prison ministry after fifteen long years. On top of that, we were unhappy to discover that our departure from the ministry meant the end of the Christian Campus House prison ministry altogether. I still fight back tears on some Monday nights.

There is great joy in my heart, however, knowing it was never my prison ministry, just as it was never Roy Weece's ministry or CCH's. It was God's ministry. His statutes clearly recommend visiting and ministering to those in prison, and He no doubt has already sent some other group to fill that chapel every Monday evening.

Watching our close-knit small group dwindle until it ended was a sad thing. It was like losing our family when we no longer had that weekly gathering after nearly 20 years together.

But what joy there is in bonds that have not been severed by mere distance. It's a joy to live in a time when dears friends who now live in other cities and far flung countries are just a text message or e-mail away. The statutes of the Lord promise just such a fellowship of the saints. His promises to continue to bless us through his people are filling us with joy as we nurture the seedling of a new small group of tight knit brothers and sisters.

The physical anguish and primal fear brought about by my heart attack last Fall were about more than we could handle. We'll ever regain the foolish confidence of life we once took for granted.

And yet there is unutterable joy that came along with walking through the valley of the shadow of death and discovering that the disciplines of a lifetime spent allowing God to write his statutes upon my heart really did mean that I never doubted or feared what would come next if it was indeed my time to die.

Throughout my life, the times of greatest sorrow have always been accompanied by the incredible joy of claiming the inheritance of God's promises.

Psalm 119:110 The Discipline of Destination

The wicked have set a snare for me,
but I have not strayed from your precepts.

Psalm 119:110

When David says the wicked have been setting a snare for him, it's likely he's thinking of actual physical snares. During several parts of his life he had people trying to chase him down and kill him.

The wicked still set snares for God's people in 21st century America, but they're generally a different kind. The discipline that will protect us is still the same.

Every day on Facebook and Twitter I see posts trying to pull me in to a snare of hate. Sometimes it's posts paid for by advertisers, inviting me to like or comment on their snappy insults aimed at opposing politicians or points of view. Often it's the same sort of snare set by people on my friends' list. They're enticing me to join them in liking or sharing the latest rude meme. And if I don't like what they're sharing, Satan is right there with another snare, inviting me to respond with unkindness and hate of my own.

But I do not stray from God's precepts to love both my neighbor and my enemy.

Every day on the job, at the market, at the bank, and in my social circles the American Dream is a snare, trying to divert me from the goal of knowing Christ (Philippians 3:7-14). The lure of the corporate ladder and the social ladder is always there. The desire for profitable investments and luxurious expenditures reach out to capture my heart.

But I do not stray from God's precepts to serve only one master.

Every day the world puts temptation in front of me. There's a screen on every desk, every wall, in every pocket filled with images designed to ensnare my lusts. What fun, what flesh, what entertainment, what recreation today's world dangles in front of me like a noose.

But I do not stray from God's precepts to wear the full armor of God.

Keeping my mind on the Word keeps my mind on the path that leads me to God.

Psalm 119:109 The Discipline of Sacrifice

I would guess nearly everyone who reads this could quickly rattle off at least one phrase or saying they heard their dad or mom say over and over again. I know I could.

If you're a parent, what are the things your children will remember you saying, even when they're grown and have kids of their own?

If there's one thing I hope my sons remember me saying, it's this:

It's part of the job description.

Whenever one of them would thank me for helping them out, for giving them some money to help out, for answering the phone at odd hours or going out of my way to help them, for being patient at a time when anyone else would have said 'go away, don't bother me' - whenever they expressed surprise, remorse, or gratitude for something I did for them, my response has always been the same.

It's part of the job description.

Occasionally they'd ask what job description I was talking about and I'd explain it's all part of the job description of being a dad.

I hope they remember it and I hope they emulate it with their own children.

I hope they also learned from me that self-sacrifice is also part of the job description of being a man of God.

Though I constantly take my life in my hands,
I will not forget your law.

Psalm 119:109

God's Word has a scarlet thread of sacrifice woven all the way through it, from Abel's lamb and his own life through to the martyred saints worshiping before the throne of God.

A life spent absorbed in the discipline of meditating on the whole Word, from beginning to end, will be a life trained in an automatic willingness to sacrifice time, money, comfort, fame, and even life on behalf of God's purposes and God's people.

If your Christian life is consistently comfortable, peaceful, and prosperous, you're doing it wrong. Dive into the Word more deeply and dive into the life of sacrifice that's an essential part of the job description of an everyday saint.

Psalm 119:108 The Discipline of Praise

Accept, LORD, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws.

Psalm 119:108

A more literal translation of verse 108 would be

Please accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, Lord, and teach me your laws.

The Old Covenant included many mandatory offerings and sacrifices and feasts. But the freewill offering was given because a person wanted to give (Exodus 35:29). It was an offering given literally because of their free will, often as an expression of gratitude, celebration, and re-dedication.

The best praise isn't something that happens because it's the appropriate time (Sunday morning), the right place (the assembly of the saints), or because a praise leader tells us all what to sing next. The greatest praise comes from the heart, from the free will. It's prompted by an experience of God's works or God's

If your praise life seems a little flat or uninspiring, don't blame the worship team. Ask yourself some questions:

1) Are you meditating on the Word daily? Are you reading and studying with a focus on knowing God? The more you get to  know Him through the scriptures, the more praise will come naturally and willingly from your lips.

2) Are you praising God daily? Or do you wait until the worship leader begins the first song on Sunday morning? If you're getting to know God in His Word daily, expressions of praise for Him and acknowledgement of His presence in your daily life will come from your mouth as if of their own free will. You'll be giving God credit as you talk to family, friends, co-workers, and strangers in the check out line.

It all starts with time in the Word, training your will to freely praise the Lord.

Psalm 119:107 The Discipline of Suffering

Is April Fools Day a holiday?

I'm going to say no, it's not. Please no.

I'm not a fan of holidays. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that my family has sort of a Holiday Curse. Car problems, sickness, arrests, emergency room visits, and even deaths seem to accompany holidays with disturbing regularity for us.

Between Christmas day and New Year's Day this past holiday season, no less than three phone conversations with my son began with one of us saying, "Happy Holidays" in a less than cheerful voice. The response each time was, "Oh no. What happened?"

While I can name literally dozens of holiday-timed calamities over the past 40 years, the truth is there has been plenty of suffering at other times as well. Yes, I've come to expect things to go wrong during holidays. Truth be told, I've developed a somewhat fatalistic attitude about life in general.

I grew up in a fairly sheltered household. My parents went overboard in their attempts to shield my brothers and I from suffering and tragedy when we were young. There were plenty of problems, but mom and dad did their best to keep things swept under the carpet.

As soon as I left home, things started going wrong. I was shocked that life could be so cruel and ill-equipped to deal with the calamities of life. By the time I was married, I had learned to believe wholeheartedly in Murphy's Law: whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

Even now, certain situations elicit a rising sense of dread within me. If my phone rings and I see it's my son calling, there's a small part of my mind that steels itself for bad news (he's in his 30's now, but his teen years left their imprint on me). Whenever it's time for my wife and I to move from one home to another, a disquieting expectation of things going wrong tries to take over my mind.

I have suffered much;
preserve my life, LORD,
according to your word.

Psalm 119:107

Suffering can either teach you to have greater fear or it can teach you to have greater faith. The difference comes through discipline.

David's words in verse 107 express three truths.

Truth #1: You're going to suffer. A lot.

The scriptures are quite clear about this. I've mentioned before the excellent book by Joni Eareckson Tada, When God Weeps: Why Our Sufferings Matter to the Almighty. In the back of the book she lists dozens of scriptures that promise we will suffer. You can also find a list of scriptures on the topic at OpenBible.com.

The verse that should grab the attention of Christians the most is this promise that suffering will be an essential part of following Christ:

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:10-11

Truth #2: The Lord will preserve your life amid suffering.

David keeps coming back to the idea of God preserving his life. The word he uses is not just about preserving life, but giving life, quickening, granting the kind of life that's worth living. He repeatedly talks about affliction as a faith-producing, life-changing experience. It's something to praise God for, rather than cursing God, as Job's wife counseled.

While you're reading through those lists of verses about suffering, the purpose and blessings of suffering will be as clear as the fact of suffering.

Truth #3: The scriptures are the key to embracing affliction as a necessary part of life and as an opportunity for the Lord to enhance my life. Only by continual meditation in the Word will suffering become a cherished part of life.

Only a fool would face the lifelong wrestling match with suffering alone.

Psalm 119:106 The Discipline of Yes

I know a young man who is an habitual No-Man (as opposed to a Yes-Man).

His brothers were both Cardinals fans, so he automatically decided he was a Royals fan. He doesn't follow the NFL at all, but if he finds himself at a Super Bowl party, he'll gauge the audience and quickly begin loudly and vociferously rooting for whichever team the majority is against.

No matter the topic of conversation - movies, music, politics, whatever - the only opinion I can count on him taking is the one opposite from the crowd.

I've concluded over the years that he does this just to attract attention to himself. He has no real opinions, but he's learned he can draw attention by being the naysayer. It's often negative attention, but it's attention nevertheless.

I don't think he ever consciously chose this approach. He just fell into it at an early age while squabbling with his older siblings. Now it's an unconscious habit.

I have taken an oath and confirmed it,
that I will follow your righteous laws.

Psalm 119:106

People in 21st century America don't take oaths very often. It's just not done, except in legal circumstances. Outside of legal situations an oath is an anachronism left over from centuries ago.

The  Bible warns against taking oaths (Matthew 5:33-37; James 5:12; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21-23). It's not that oaths are bad, but failing to keep an oath is strongly warned against.

Instead of resorting to oath-taking, it's better to develop the discipline of saying Yes and sticking to it. Practicing this habit of Yes on smaller things will make it easier to habitually say Yes to larger things.

Say Yes to remembering to brush your teeth each morning. Say Yes to the day ahead as you rise from bed upon waking int he morning.

Say Yes to choosing healthier food options. Say Yes to changing your habits of what foods you purchase and allow to sit on the shelves in your kitchen.

Say Yes to requests for help that comes your way. Say Yes to habitually keeping your eyes open for people who cross your path each day and for opportunities to plant godly seeds of kindness, love, sacrifice, and good news.

Say yes to the habit of church attendance. Say yes to paying attention to the sermon. Say yes to reading and meditating on the Bible each day.

Say Yes to developing intentional habits on the 1 road of life.

Say Yes.

Psalm 119:105 The Discipline of Walking

I remember walking for long distances.

During many of my years in grade school and high school I walked to and from school every day. It was never much more than a mile, but it was good for me, even if I didn't always think so.

During the summer between my freshman and sophomore years at Central Christian College I often walked to work, traveling from the south end of Morley Street to the North end, about 5 miles one way.

I recently bought a Fitbit. It tracks my heart rate, something I'm much more motivated to do since my heart attack a few months ago.

It also tells me I average a little under two miles walking each day. None of those miles come from walking any great distance along streets or on a track. My bad knee has severely limited my walking, to the point where I need a cane just to make it around Walmart for 20 minutes. My daily miles are mostly made up of walking around my house, my office building, and the grocery store.

And yet I still somehow manage a couple miles each day. That's around 4,200 footsteps each day, according to the Fitbit.

When I first saw the number of miles and footsteps I'm walking each day, I was sure the Fitbit was over-counting. It needs adjustment or calibration or maybe a trash can.

Then I realized that daily life for most people is made up of walking, most of it short distances, just in the course of normal activities.

I've only been up for about 90 minutes this morning. Most of that has been standing still at the sink or in the shower, standing at the kitchen stove preparing my breakfast and then sitting to eat, followed by the past 20-25 minutes sitting at this computer, writing this blog post.

And yet somehow I've accumulated 488 steps already today.

Walking is what we do. It's daily life.

Whether your day is spent charging around like the Energizer Bunny doing housework (like my wife) or sitting at a desk in an office for 8 hours, you're still racking up the walking steps. Your feet are driven along by your focus on all the things you do in your daily life, from the mundane (stepping into the bathroom to brush your teeth) to the minutiae of work life (walking from your desk to the copier and back), from the industrious (changing the linens on the bed) to the athletic (exercising on the elliptical at the gym).

Each of us walks a different path than everyone else around us, based on the choices we've made about our lives, our priorities, and our goals.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path

Psalm 119:105

My Fitbit vibrates on my wrist at 10 minutes before each hour, reminding me I still have steps to go to achieve the goal of 250 steps per hour. I'm learning to use that as a guide to step away from desk and walk around for a bit. I'm never again going to be a long-distance walker, let alone a jogger or runner. But with a little more attentiveness to the goal, I can become a healthier walker.

I also want to learn to be a more intentional walker in my spiritual life.

This past year has taught me I no longer have the physical capability of doing many of the soul-stretching ministries I used to do. We quit the prison ministry last June because we no longer had the physical endurance to match our spiritual ambitions. Then a heart attack and other health problems slowed us down even more.

I spent the final few months of the past year in a spiritual and physical funk, depressed about getting old and railing against these newfound limitations. No matter how hard I kicked against the restraints, I was getting nowhere.

My spiritual walk had become a spiritual sit-and-be-frustrated.

With the dawn of the new year, I decided to intentionally set aside that self-defeating habit in favor of a more productive habit.

I'm discovering the key to that readjustment is to refocus on the Word. I'm spending more time rereading the scriptures that have become so familiar to me over the years. Through them, God is guiding me in new directions for my spiritual walk.

Are you stumbling in your walk through life? Get back into God's Word and let him shine a new light on your path.

Psalm 119:105-112 Nun

Your word is a lamp for my feet,
 a light on my path.
I have taken an oath and confirmed it,
 that I will follow your righteous laws.
I have suffered much;
 preserve my life, LORD, according to your word.
Accept, LORD, the willing praise of my mouth,
 and teach me your laws.
Though I constantly take my life in my hands,
 I will not forget your law.
The wicked have set a snare for me,
 but I have not strayed from your precepts.
Your statutes are my heritage forever;
 they are the joy of my heart.
My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.

Psalm 119:105-112

This section of Psalm 119 begins with what is probably the best known and most quoted verse of the chapter.

But without the practices David talks about in the other seven verses, that lamp for the feet and light on the path won't help much with navigating the 1 road of life.

In the end, every spiritual discipline is about developing habits to walk intentionally along the 1 road of life, with the Word as our lamp.