The Joy of the Lord- Understanding- WEDNESDAY

This morning I had breakfast with a good friend.  Along with some other guys, we were discussing journaling.  Journaling is either a task or an opportunity for most of our Journey guys.  It depends on how they see it, how they practice it, and what comes back to them.  Like most people, they need some positive reinforcement.  My friend told me he has a hard time doing it, even though he wishes he could.  I asked him if I was his friend.  He said yes.  I asked him if he saw me as an older brother.  He said he does.  I asked him if he trusts me.  He said he does.  I then asked him if he would do one thing for me.  Would he get a notebook and allow me to show him how to journal, where to journal, and to do it only one month?  I said that if he would do this only a month, I would not ask him to continue the practice.  He said he would.  I'll give you a report later on his progress.  I think he will struggle at first, but because he is accountable to me with his promise, he'll stay with it for a month.  Before the month is out, I believe he will have a breakthrough and discover a "voice" he has never heard before.  This Voicewill become compelling to him, for it is clear and understandable for it will be relevant to something this man is going through and connects him directly to a scripture that will guide him.  He will discover a conversation with God as God's word speaks to him and the man answers back in prayer.  Through the journaling, this conversation will be recorded and will be used for looking back to see previous sign posts in this man's spiritual journey, and for the benefit of his legacy following him.  This is what happens when we understand; clearly understand what God is saying to us.  This is what happened to the people standing before Nehemiah and Ezra.  They understood the words being declared to them that day and it drilled deeply into their hearts.  When God 's word is understood this way, it drills to the core of our heart.

I wonder how many words God declares to our hearing that are not understood, or they fall on deaf ears?   I was in a church in Falls Church, VA a few years ago.  A great pastor, who really loves the Lord, led this old-line congregational church.  Since that time, this pastor and a large part of the core of the congregation had to leave this church because of the liberal and profane redirection forced on them by the higher ups in their denomination.  However, before this break up, I was in his church and participated in worship.  Before this man's great preaching started, the order of worship was to proceed through liturgy as the pastor and congregation read from God's word together.  There were confessionals, praise, and other items touched on and connected with the scriptures in the liturgy.  Since I did not attend a liturgical church, it was refreshing to me.  I wasn't used to it.  I thought to myself, "What great stuff!"  Then I looked around and saw a lot of empty faces mouthing empty words.  Those wonderful words that are meant to inspire and feed had become rote to the congregation, and like A.W Tozer has observed, rote leads to rut and a rut leads to rot.  It was not rote to me, and the liturgy ministered to me.  But as good as God's word is, and as good as that pastor's words were, if it is not understood or applied to our life, if it becomes meaningless rote to us, we will tune it out and the "voice" will go silent.

It is essential that we make it our mission to understand God's word, not just read it.  It is essential that we apply God's word and the direction we get from it to our life, not just think of it as something for someone else.  If we will allow God's word to permeate our life, then we will begin to see something unfold before us.  Let me give you another verse and see if you make the connection:

What we see is that Jesus Himself comes to visit with us when we make it our purpose to understand, apply and live by the direction of His word.  How is this so?  Jesus is the Word Who became flesh, and the flesh Who became Spirit to teach us the Word. This is the joy of the Gospel.  It is complete.  It is Christ in us and Christ for us, and that is enough reason to share in the joy of the Lord.  It is His joy that we feel, for He is within us.  If you do not have this joy, ask what is missing in your pursuit of Christ.  Most of the time we will understand that we have lost our love for Him and we have settled for rote instead of the vibrancy He desires for us.  Rekindle your love for Him and joy will return to you.   Seek God Himself and not the joy, and you will get both.