Kindling The Word of God

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Kindling The Word of God

• Psalm 12

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Kindling The Word of God

• In this day and age, tolerance is the buzzword
  that means anything is permissible.
• British rock star Elton John just got married
  with his boyfriend Dave Tony Blair even
  congratulated them.
• Two Taiwanese junior high school students got
  into a fight because of NT2,000, and one
  brutally killed the other he even
  cold-bloodedly pushed him over a bridge.
• We are encouraged to listen to all the different
  opinions and see the good things in them!!
• Choices, choices and choices what is our first
  reaction as we walk into an electronic appliance
  superstore?

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Kindling The Word of God

• These are all different facets of what is called
  postmodernism, meaning after modernism.
• There are NO ABSOLUTE anymore!
• Knowledge is what we make of it, that is,
  OBJECTIVE KNOWING IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE.
• It is all about INDIVIDUAL FEELINGS.
• So, the Biblical God is out of the picture, and
  the Bible is just a wonderful piece of literature
  that contains moral values!!! What is moral?
  

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Kindling The Word of God

• Yet, in the midst of this radical relativism,
  people are searching
• THEY CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT SOMETHING OR SOMEONE
  THAT THEY CAN COUNT ON!!! AND WE HAVE THE ONLY
  ANSWER!!

They are more confused than ever!!!
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Kindling The Word of God

• But to an extent, living in the postmodern age
  means that there is no way to tell people about
  God or His Word. Where is the beginning of
  communication, then?
• WE MUST KINDLE OR REKINDLE THE WORD OF GOD!!
• Such kindling is not only through head knowledge,
  but
• LET THE WORD BECOME OUR LIFE!!

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Kindling The Word of God

• What is the key to such kindling?
• But his delight is in the law of the LORD And in
  His law doth he meditates day and night.
• (Ps. 1 2 King James Version)

DELIGHT
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Kindling The Word of God

• The word has the sense of LONGING, PLEASURE.
• The analogy of marriage what is the difference
  between newly-weds and a couple who has been
  married for over 20 years?

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Kindling The Word of God

• What are signs of a healthy marriage?
• Still remember the love languages? Examples,
  spending time with each other, words of
  encouragement, touch - and we do these things
  NATURALLY.
• Another sign THINKING OF EACH OTHER
  NATURALLY!! That is, we dont say I spend two
  hours thinking about my wife/my husband!
• How does the analogy of marriage relate relate to
  Psalm 1?
• WE DEVELOP, HAVE A LONGING FOR THE WORD OF GOD
  NATURALLY!!

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Kindling The Word of God - Longing

• But his delight is in the law of the LORD
• the law literally the Torah of Yahweh, that
  is, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (Old
  Testament).
• What is the common reaction reading this portion
  of the Bible?
• Looking at the history of redemption, Torah was
  given to the people of Israel AFTER EXODUS, NOT
  BEFORE what does this tell us? Yahweh is the
  loving parent who cares for His own more than
  anyone else!! And
• TORAH IS THE BASIS AND FOUNTAIN OF LIFE!!!

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Kindling The Word of God - Longing

• God wanted the people of Israel to develop, to
  have a natural longing for His Word He wants
  the same for us He desires that we long to
• Learn more about His Word AS HEAD KNOWLEDGE, but
  what is more,
• To have a heart-felt craving to immerse in it.

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Kindling The Word of God - Pleasure

• A seeming unrelated question what do chocolate,
  a love letter and the Word of God have in common?

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Kindling The Word of God - Pleasure

• Answer youve got to crave for them!!!
• What do we do as we receive a nice box of Godiva
  chocolate, or a letter from our loved ones?
• WE SLOWLY CHEW THE CHOCOLATE OR READ THE LETTER
  WITH
• PLEASURE

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Kindling The Word of God - Pleasure

• But, have we ever treated the Word of God with
  the same attitude?
• Get this a longing for Gods Word should lead to
  action, that is,
• WE TAKE PLEASURE MEDITATING GODS WORD
• and in His law doth he meditate (v. 2b)

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Kindling The Word of God - Pleasure

• meditate carries the ideas of DEEP and
  REFLECTIVE thoughts.
• GODS WORD IS DEEP. How deep? It takes a
  lifetime and we will never get to the bottom of
  it!!
• Meaning and significance.
• There is A SINGLE MEANING TO THE TEXT, but MANY
  LEVELS OF SIGNIFICANCE this takes a lifetime to
  discern, to experience.

Significance
Meaning of Text
Significance
Significance
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Kindling The Word of God - Pleasure

• GODS WORD IS A MIRROR THAT REFLECTS
• Magic Mirror on the Wall, Who is the fairest one
  of all? says the evil queen in Snow White is
  Gods Word like the magic mirror?
• What do we do if the reflection shows bad things?
  WE REPENT WITH PLEASURE, which is sometimes
  easier said than done.

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Kindling The Word of God - Pleasure

• The result of meditating on Gods Word day and
  night (v. 2b)?

Life Vitality Prosperity (v. 3)
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Kindling The Word of God

• Maybe we cannot tell others about God with
  words, but we can DEMONSTRATE TO THEM THE POWER
  OF THE WORD THROUGH OUR LIFE!!!
• So,