chay' precious Daq jIH 'oH lIj thoughts, joH'a'! chay' vast ghaH the sum vo' chaH!
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Psalms 139:17
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Psalms 139:17
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There is a challenge - and a delight to believers to realize that God does not hide.
That is, in his creation, and in his word, he has freely shared himself and his thoughts with us. That is why the study of Scripture can be so rewarding - and that is why the adventure of science can be so rich. I like the example of the early scientist, Johannes Kepler, who gave humans the foundation of the astrodynamics used today to chart the motion of the heavens, and plot the course of spacecraft. As noted in Christian History magazine:
Kepler believed that there was an art and orderliness in God's creation and that the more Christians recognized the greatness of creation, the deeper their worship would be. Didn't God himself encourage the heathen to look carefully at creation so that they might come to know God? God created man in His image, and He wants us to recognize and know His design for the universe: The chief aim of all investigations of the external world should be to discover the rational order and harmony which has been imposed on it by God and which He revealed to us in the language of mathematics. In his astronomical research, Kepler only wanted to, as he put it, "think God's thoughts after Him."
http://chi.gospelcom.net/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses/glmps067.shtml
God doesn't hide. Whether we know or understand creation with mathematical rigor - we have the Scriptures, and in them we have the opportunity to learn of God's thoughts - his care for us, and the path he challenges believers to follow. Psalm 40 notes,
This is one of the reasons I've found scripture memory to be so rewarding - I have often found that tracing the course of a treasured verse serves as a way to "think God's thoughts after him," to remind myself and refresh my spirit. So too, has been reading of the lives of the saints, believers in ages past who have provided an example, a model for me of the direction God wishes me to follow.
In the next week, I'd encourage you to seek out a single verse - one that has reassured you - or given you comfort - and commit it to memory. It might as well be a word of reproof - a verse that calls you to account. I don't know which verse you'll find - but memorize it as best you can. Read it in context. Find reference books (you'll be amazed at how many are online) and find some of the background of that one verse. Then, spend the next week rehearsing that - maybe writing it down to test yourself. With that start you'll have a connected yourself to God's word - you'll carry that thought wherever you go.
And then.... do it again! It's tremendously rewarding! Don't worry about whether you are word perfect (though it's a great goal) - the effort of the study and the memory will help you soak this deep into your heart. And you'll have taken another step in the journey of following God's thoughts.
chay' precious Daq jIH 'oH lIj thoughts, joH'a'! chay' vast ghaH the sum vo' chaH!
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Psalms 139:17
How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Psalms 139:17
God doesn't hide. Whether we know or understand creation with mathematical rigor - we have the Scriptures, and in them we have the opportunity to learn of God's thoughts - his care for us, and the path he challenges believers to follow. Psalm 40 notes,
Many, LORD, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, And your thoughts which are toward us. They can't be set in order to you; If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Psalms 40:5
This is one of the reasons I've found scripture memory to be so rewarding - I have often found that tracing the course of a treasured verse serves as a way to "think God's thoughts after him," to remind myself and refresh my spirit. So too, has been reading of the lives of the saints, believers in ages past who have provided an example, a model for me of the direction God wishes me to follow.
In the next week, I'd encourage you to seek out a single verse - one that has reassured you - or given you comfort - and commit it to memory. It might as well be a word of reproof - a verse that calls you to account. I don't know which verse you'll find - but memorize it as best you can. Read it in context. Find reference books (you'll be amazed at how many are online) and find some of the background of that one verse. Then, spend the next week rehearsing that - maybe writing it down to test yourself. With that start you'll have a connected yourself to God's word - you'll carry that thought wherever you go.
And then.... do it again! It's tremendously rewarding! Don't worry about whether you are word perfect (though it's a great goal) - the effort of the study and the memory will help you soak this deep into your heart. And you'll have taken another step in the journey of following God's thoughts.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end. Jeremiah 29:11
1 comment:
Very Very cool! Thanks!
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