PART 2: - PRECEPTS FOR LIFE...THE PEACEFUL, JOYFUL LIFE

In Psalm 19:8, the praise continues with the Psalmist (King David) saying “The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad, the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up.”

What are the “precepts of the Lord” and why would they give us peace, joy and contentment in our souls?  

First of all, this is one thing only a truly converted child of God (i.e. born again) can comprehend. The reason is that the empowering and enlightening agent is the Holy Spirit of God.  To understand what the precepts of the Lord are, is the key to a different level of thinking which the unsaved do no possess. The precepts are the statutes, laws, decrees and commands of God. We know what those are.

They are not just the ten commandments but the decrees of the Lord which encompass love, mercy, compassion and living a lifestyle which is both pleasing to the Lord, while not offending others. The bible tells us that while some things may be lawful, as regards food and drink etc. not everything is profitable. If something causes someone else to stumble, that thing is an anathema. Why would be want to diminish our testimony by going into a liquor store, buying a bottle of Jack Daniels and a case of Budweiser just as our next door neighbor is driving by, to whom we are trying to witness?

The precepts of the Lord is more than just those which concern loving God and your fellow man. God gave us these to save us from ourselves, as well as to protect His Glorious Name. Committing adultery not just destroys marriages and families, it has the capability to ruin the health of the participants, the children of those families who are now scared for life, once sin is discovered and lead to drug abuse, sin, and depression. Obeying God’s commands to stay faithful to Him and our spouses, gives us peace and harmony in our homes and brings contentment to the nth degree. Stealing robs not just the victim, but it robs the soul, and tarnishes the Name of the Lord. Lying, cheating, coveting and more....are violations, for sure against other people that can have legal as well as ethical repercussions. Not doing those things is optimum and should never be part of our nature or thinking.

These commands and commandments are not to keep us from having fun. They are keep us from harming ourselves! Read all the decrees in the New Testament from the Apostle Paul, in many places, and see why the Lord put them there. It is for us to have a joyful and as pure a life as we can.

God’s Word is pure! His Commandments are pure because He is as Pure as His Word. When He says in 1 Thessalonians 5:13b and following: “Be at peace among yourselves…..admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all (verse 14). Then He says “do not repay evil with evil….”(15).  “Rejoice always  (16). Pray without ceasing (17). Give thanks in call circumstances (18). Do not quench the Spirit (19). Abstain from every form of evil (22)……He says all of this so that our “whole spirit, soul and body will be kept blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (23).

All of this put together, as Psalm 19:8b says, for “enlightening of the eyes”! In the great big Heart of God, what He saying here, is that the eyes of our own spiritual hearts, will see the beauty, joy and comfort of the Lord in the darkness which exists out there in the unsaved evil world.

What an amazing loving God. He cares so much for us, He gave us what the world sees as rules, but we see as the roadmap, to a truly peaceful and joyful life, while we journey here on earth. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY THIRTY:

VERSE:

" We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ"....2 Corinthians 10:5

PRAYER

Oh Most High God, Creator and Sustainer of Heaven and earth, we lift Your Name above all else as we grow into the better knowledge of Your Might, Your Majesty, Your Mind and Your mission and purpose in drawing all unto Yourself, for the furtherance of the Gospel of Light and Love.  Today, Oh most heavenly Father, and it begins today, that we throw off all man-made notions, traditions and concocted ideas of Who You are, What You require and Where You wish us to go and leave all of that behind to seek the Pure Truth which is given to us in Your Holy Bible, the infallible and inerrant Word of God.

We have no need for wasting time in meaningless chantings and irreverent music, brought into Your sanctuary from a filthy world and appropriating the Name of Jesus on it. We have nothing to gain in Your sight, from the mindless mysticism of some of these prayer movements who are no different from some of the false prophets who fed lies to Jehoakin when the weeping prophet Jeremiah was Your only true messenger. We must repent and seek the Cleansing of the Blood of Christ to remove every false doctrine, every made up philosophy and even every idea about You, which we, as formerly lost sheep came up with in our own minds, before Christ set us free, as captives in our own prisons of sin and improper teaching.

Father, we willingly set those aside. I cast off all that that was brainwashed into me and seek Your Word, Your Truth and Your Statutes. Lord, Your precepts and commands are so simple and clear, even a child can understand and believe and yet, their riches are unfathomable. My thoughts are like filthy rags which are to be discarded in the landfill of corrupt humanity as I seek and put on the white robes of the True knowledge of Christ. This is the only way that we, Your people, can even approach You in Your Holiness, Splendor and Righteousness. Oh God, that the world may know that Obedience to the One True God, and His Son Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to resting in You, to rejoicing in You, to being revived in You!

Lord, I purpose, we purpose to obey You that we may walk in Your Peace and Your Will all the days of our lives, and even sooner - every minute of every one of the coming days and weeks and months ahead. We trust and obey because there is no other way to dwell in Your Presence. If the Savior and Creator of the World, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, did not consider equality with You, Father, a thing to be grasped and if He, In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He [d]was heard because of His piety (Hebrews 5:7), then we too, can take every filthy thought, every ungodly thought and man-made philosophy...we can take everything that distracts and directs us away from You - captive - because Your Holy Spirit lives in us and has given us the power to execute that extraction that we may finally and completely turn to the Word and Ways of Christ, Who gave us the example for living eternal life in the Now, as we live daily, under the anointed direction of the Spirit of the Living God, who guides us, Your saved and Your servants through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen. Lord give us Your Shalom, Lord give us Your rest, Lord give revive us again. Amen.