I delight in the law of God after the inward man

HOW love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.--Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.--I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.--I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.--My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.--Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass.

ROM. 7. 22. Ps. 119. 97.--Je. 15. 16.--Ca. 2. 3. Job 23. 12. Ps. 40. 8.--John 4. 34. Ps. 19. 8, 10.--Ja. 1. 22, 23.

Amen.

MEN: the LORD God . . . say so too.--He who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth [Heb. The Amen]; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth [The Amen].

When God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.--For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.

These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness.--For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever. Amen, and Amen.

MAT. 6. 13. 1 Ki. 1. 36.--Is. 65. 16. He. 6. 13, 16-18. Re. 3. 14.--2 Co. 1. 20. Ps. 72. 18, 19.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.

THE LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.

The LORD is...great in power.--If God be for us, who can be against us?--Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us.--My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.--Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory.--Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

MAT. 6. 13. Ps. 93. 1, 2. Na. 1. 3.--Ro. 8. 31.--Da. 3. 17.--John 10. 29.--1 John 4. 4. Ps. 115. 1.--1 Ch. 29. 11, 13, 14.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

HE that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.--Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, . . . even as the garden of the LORD. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.--The Lord delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations.--Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

MAT. 6. 13. Pr. 28. 26. Ja. 1. 13, 14.--2 Co. 6. 17. Ge. 13. 10, 11, 13.--2 Pe. 2. 7, 9.--Ro. 14. 4.

Psalm 106:19-23 idolatry in the life

Psalm 106:19-23
19 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molten image. 20 Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. 21 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; 22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea. 23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

The children of Israel did horrible in the sight of the Lord.
They made a calf and worshipped it. It changed their glory, not His. Interesting!
They forgat God, God as their saviour. God Who did great things for them, bringing them out of bondage in Egypt, Ham and by the Red Sea.

God did not compromise either His holiness nor His justice...He declared He would destroy them.
But Moses.

O how we need an intercessor! for our NT idolatries which Paul said was the generic vice, covetousness.

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: (Colossians 3:5)

what is covetousness?

• an envious eagerness to possess something

• avarice: extreme greed for material wealth

• avarice: reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins)

We who live in a capatilist society see every day the avarice and greed for more. The recent economic collapse on Wall Street and around the Euro markets is indicative of the same. But even those who lived in communist countries were and are subject to covetousness.

How do we contradict covetousness/idolatry that both Israel was then and the disobedient are today?

The answer is also found in Colossians 3, and a long answer will ensue over several days of this devotional blog.

But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. (Colossians 3:8)

This verse, in its context of the entire chapter, is telling us to put off and later to put on certain behaviors and attitudes.

anger: an attitude and a behavior; a strong emotion; a feeling that is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance/offense
wrath: attitude, belligerence aroused by a real or supposed wrong (personified as one of the deadly sins)
malice: a grudge, attitude; feeling a need to see others suffer
blasphemy: a behavior

• blasphemous language (expressing disrespect for God or for something sacred)

• profanation: blasphemous behavior; the act of depriving something of its sacred character; "desecration of the Holy Sabbath"

filthy communication: behavior, specifically coming from one's mouth

• disgustingly dirty; filled or smeared with offensive matter; "as filthy as a pigsty"; "a foul pond"; "a nasty pigsty of a room"

• dirty: vile; despicable; "a dirty (or lousy) trick"; "a filthy traitor"

• cruddy: characterized by obscenity; "had a filthy mouth"; "foul language"; "smutty jokes"

we contradict the effects of idolatry by recognizing Christ is all and in all [v. 11].
idolatry is making what I want more important than what God wants...it is selfishness and self-importance. whether material things or stubborn desire to have it my way

those who have this greedy desire to possess things violate the loving, sharing self-sacrificing way of the Spirit, displaying attitudes that help them achieve their covetous ends by any aggressive means.

Look to Christ and put off ways of the old, covetous, idolatrous man.

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: Phil. 3:12

The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Prov. 4:18

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Phil. 3:12

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD. Hos. 6:3

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Matt. 13:43

We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. II Cor. 3:18

When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. I Cor. 13:10

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. I Cor. 13:12

Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. I John 3:2, 3

Walk in newness of life. Rom. 6:4

As ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. Rom. 6:19

iniquity unto iniquity...this is our track record, and an affront to the strict moralist in our society, who has little idea what an offense to God he has been!

I beseech you.... brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. Rom. 12:1, 2

I beseech you...yes, sometimes we beseech, we BEG, Christians to do right! we also admonish them that doing right with their bodies is their reasonable service. The key: renewing their mind. That's a daily task for me!

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. II Cor. 5:17

new creature...all things become new: this in contrast to Romans 12, where the appeal is made to renew the mind in dedicating one's self to physical consecration

In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy. Gal. 6:15, 16

I need to walk and adopt the attitude that I am a new creature.

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind. Eph. 4:17
vanity of their mind...vanity is a sinful mindset that affects a person's walk. O how we need humble people void of vanity! Humble servants who, against the offense of their unsaved contacts, in turn demonstrate Christian love and forgiveness, in order that they might be saved and Christ seen!

Ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Eph. 4:20, 21, 24

Put on...this is a deliberate effort made by one to walk in newness of life...it doesn't just 'happen', it must be volitional and deliberate on my part.