Devotions for January 26, 2017

Devotions for January 26, 2017 

Joyful are people of integrity,

    who follow the instructions of the Lord.

Joyful are those who obey his laws

    and search for him with all their hearts. Ps 119:1,2 NLT

I highlighted three words for today’s devotion. Joy in Hebrew 

is xará.  Joy is a state of mind and an orientation of the 

heart. It is a settled state of contentment, confidence, and 

hope. It is something or someone that provides a source of 

happiness. (http://www.theopedia.com/joy) What is the 

Orientation of a heart that produces Joy?  Who is the 

Someone who is our source of Joy?  

Follow -“The facts to stack up about Psalm 119 are 

fascinating, the stuff to win party games—or at least impress 

the other guests.

• Longest psalm (176 verses)

• Longest chapter of the entire Bible

• An acrostic poem of twenty-two stanzas (one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet), with the eight verses of each stanza starting with the Hebrew letter of that section

• Near the exact midpoint of many Bibles

A remarkable array of terms for the Scriptures—laws, decrees, commandments, principles, word, statutes, commands.”

“These facts may be fascinating, but following the Word of God is not a trivial pursuit. The psalmist was inspired to write Scripture about the Scriptures—the Word on the Word—not to add to his credentials as an author. He was making a commitment to God himself and urging others to do the same. Wandering from these commands? You are wandering from God. Hiding this Word in your heart? You are hiding God himself there.”

(Excerpt From: Thomas Nelson. “NLT, Personal Worship Bible, eBook.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/B1p_7.l)

Search  The translations that are more word for word use the word seek.  From Psalms 119 it is clear humanity was created to seek the Lord. That’s why we were made.

Acts 17:26,27 tells us that "He made from one man every nation of mankind, that they should search for God in the hope that they might feel their way toward Him, and find Him" (Roger’s paraphrase)

Now, that says to me that God wants to be found. He's not playing hide and seek. His goal is not to hide Himself from us, though at times we may feel that He has hidden Himself. But His goal is to reveal Himself to us.

He is a God who makes Himself known. He wants us, He created us to search for Him and to find Him. Each day open your bible and Search for him!