Psalm 119 ~ ALEPH

A friend of mine has challenged me to memorize Psalm 119 with her over the summer. I had done this a few years ago, but from lack of review and accountability had forgotten most of it. But between now and October, with God's help I will re-memorize, and meditate on all of Psalm 119. 
This does seem like a daunting task. There are 176 verses after all.  But we'll break it down to one 8 verse section per week.  And the way the chapter is set up, this is an easy way to do it.
Psalm 119 was written as an acrostic poem, that was separated into 22 stanzas, each named from a letter in the Hebrew alphabet, with each of the 8 verses beginning with that letter. It is filled with testimonies of the faithfulness and truth of God's Law and a desire to always obey it. For the Psalmist this meant the Torah, for Christians today it applies to the whole of God's Word.
I challenge you, dear friends to read and memorize God's Word, so that you can say with the Psalmist, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."   

Week one:

ALEPH

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. 

Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. 

Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. 

O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! 

Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.  

I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy 

righteous judgments. 

I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. 

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Is Our Preaching Vain?

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain,
and your faith is also vain.
Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God;
because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ:
whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain;
ye are yet in your sins.
Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead,
and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

1 Corinthians 15:14-20

Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.
Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead;

Matthew 28:5b-7a

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also maketh intercession for us.

Romans 8:34

Amazing Grace, Amazing Love

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see!

Was it for crimes that I had done he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree!

Amazing grace shall ever be my song of praise, my highest call
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

Amazing love! How can it be?
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
I'll sing throughout eternity,
"Amazing Grace! Amazing Love!"


Kevin Inafuku

It's Nothing New

Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth.

He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

1 John 2:7-11

Walking whose walk?

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He that sayeth he abideth in him ought himself also to walk, even as he walked.

1 John 2:6

When we say we are Christians, what should that look like? "I am under grace, I can live however I want." "Come as you are, we accept everyone." Not really.

Who are we aligning ourselves with? Well, "Christian" implies we are following Christ. So, as this verse says, if we say we are in Christ, we must walk as he walked.

He lived in perfect obedience to God, he had compassion on the spiritual blind and lost, as well as the physically poor. He forgave, even those who hated and murdered him. He loved his enemies enough to die for them, and in doing so, give them life in glory.

Am I living this way? Are you? I have to say, for myself, that I find myself lacking and in need of God's grace to walk as Christ walked.

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Knowing That We Know

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

1 John 2:1-5

Complete In Thee

Lyrics by Aaron Robarts Wolfe and James Martin Gray

Complete in Thee! no work of mine
May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine;
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And I am now complete in Thee.

Complete in Thee—no more shall sin,
Thy grace hath conquered, reign within;
Thy voice shall bid the tempter flee,
And I shall stand complete in Thee.

Complete in Thee—each want supplied,
And no good thing to me denied;
Since Thou my portion, Lord, wilt be,
I ask no more, complete in Thee.

Dear Savior! when before Thy bar
All tribes and tongues assembled are,
Among Thy chosen will I be,
At Thy right hand—complete in Thee.

Yea, justified! O blessed thought! And sanctified! Salvation wrought!
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me, And glorified, I too, shall be!


I love this hymn so much. It's my testimony of what I am in Christ. I am complete. I don't need to marry or have certain friends to be a whole person. Christ made me complete and whole. Anything that is added is just more of God's blessings.