Pastor Buddy’s Blog

A book dear to my heart…

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Morning Journal,

Yesterday? Betty and I took a? drive around Cotile Lake just to get out of the house? for a bit.? I always enjoy these outings. A change of? scenery is good for pleasantries.? ?

By the way, General Claudius Josephus has a new toy. We picked up an extra-large pillow for him and a? stuffed cow that goes, ‘moo, moo, moo.’ CJ loves his toy. He carries it around. In fact when we have visitors, CJ likes to greet them with one of his toys in his mouth. He is ‘Mister Personality’ plus. (I keep his big pillow in my office right next to the window. It is so large that it makes CJ look small. Can you imagine?)

5:30 a.m. - Up and? at em. CJ and I had our morning outing. Picked up the paper, had my coffee,? prayer time, and afterwards my morning devotion.

Mama instilled in me at a very early age to pray for everyone that I could think of personally. I use to keep a list but nowadays I simply begin with my children and their families, then on to my sisters and their families, and then I’ll pray for others as the? Lord places then on? my heart.

What makes my prayer time interesting is a lingering memory from my childhood. Mama taught me to pray a common childhood prayer of, ‘Now I lay me down to sleep.’ As she would kneel beside me it was my job to bless everyone I could think of. Why does this memory still linger? Well, it is because as a child I could not go to sleep if I left someone out of my blessings. It is sort of like that today. The difference today is that I am more aware of letting the? Lord guide me in my prayer time. (Interesting how this child memory keeps coming back.)

One other thing quite interesting? is that the prayer little children are taught to pray is very similiar to a Davidic prayer.? You will find it in Psalm 3:5, where David says, “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me.” It can also be seen in Psalm 4:8; “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.”

This brings me to a book in the Bible that I have dearly learned to treasure, the book of Psalms. It seems to me that the closer one gets to the Lord, the more dear this book becomes. At least that has been my case.

The past two days my devotions have lingered at Psalm 1. It isn’t a very long Psalm, yet it is filled with spiritual insight. Here it is:

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruite in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

The book of Psalms opens with a benediction. The Hebrew word for ‘how blessed’ is very expressive. It speaks of the multiplied blessings and of the happiness that rests upon the man who walks the pathway? of the righteous.? It can be written, “Oh the blessedness of!”

It is interesting how Psalm 1 seems to sets the tone for the entire Bible. The Lord may have had this Psalm in view when He began His sermon on the mount, “How blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3 nasb.)

The word for ‘blessed’ in Greek expands on the Hebrew word. Makarios addresses the state of a believer in Christ, that is,? where men and women are marked by a fullness of the blessing of God. It speaks of a happiness that only true believers can know.

Anyway, when I get to the book of Psalms I find myself slowing down quite a bit. The Lord speaks so clearly to my heart in this book. Over the years I’ve found that Psalms will teach you how to think, what to believe, how to pray, what to pray, how to talk; in fact, it covers all spectrums of life that pertain to believers. Psalms teaches us how to live an enriching faith life.

The apostle Paul sets forth? Psalms as? related to living a? spiritual life. In fact he instructs believers to speak to one another and to admonish one another with ‘Psalms.’ (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16.)

Hear it from Paul - “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

10:00 a.m. Another great service from worship to the ministry of God’s Word. Nathan’s teaching? was on? parent-child relationships.? He does an outstanding? job weaving the spiritual and the practical applications together.? These are the kinds of teachings that every home should have access to. (Seeing more new faces at Christian Challenge.)

Looks like we’ll have two classes for the next School for Christian Workers, Old Testament Survey and The Disciple’s Heart. (Nathan and Lane respectively.)

4:45 p.m. - Closing down time.

Blessings,

? Buddfy

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