85 Most Read Bible Verses---#74---Psalm 37:4

Psalm 37:4 (NIV)
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.  

There are two key words here, the verb “delight” and the noun “desires”.  The word “delight” has an element of “joy” in the original Hebrew.  What in your life delights you?  I admit that when I think of the delights of life, I think of certain foods, good coffee, my cozy home, working in my home office, walking in the woods, playing golf, my love for my wife and children and grandchildren, and so forth.  What are the delights of your life?

The Bible says here that you are to delight yourself in the Lord.  How?  You can measure your delight in the Lord by how you would answer these questions, each of which start with the words, “Do you look forward to and enjoy………”:

·  Spending time in His Word?

·  Studying His Word?

·  Applying His Word?

·  Attending church?

·  Interacting and spending time with other believers?

·  Your quiet time that includes Bible study and prayer?

·  Serving the Lord in ministry by serving others?

·  Sharing your faith with others?

·  Being obedient to what His Word teaches?

There has to be genuine delight---happiness, cheerfulness—with all of these attitudes and actions before the Lord will fulfill His promise.  And what is His promise?  At first glance, this verse seems to be stating that the Lord will give you what you desire to be or to have.  No, that is an incorrect interpretation.  What the verse is really stating is that the Lord will incorporate into your heart—your mind, emotion and will—what those desires ought to be.  This word "desires" means “requests”.  What are the requests of your heart?  Does this not really mean what are the prayers of your heart?   The desires of your heart (Note:  it does not state the desires of your flesh) that the Lord puts there will not be selfish or self-serving, but will be unselfish, putting others’ needs first, and being humble.  Indeed, the initiative you show to delight yourself in the Lord will be continued through the Lord perpetuating your desire to delight in Him. 

This same theme of delighting yourself in the Lord is also found in Job 22:26 and Isaiah 58:14, both passages of which affirm that taking delight in the Lord follows your attitude and actions to be obedient to Him.  All these passages state that if and when you delight yourself in the Lord, He gives something to you.

Again, what are your delights?  And, what are the desires of your heart?  Is the Lord involved in both?

Most Read Bible Verses---#75---I John 3:18

I John 3:18 (NIV)

Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 

The context of this verse is the story of Cain and Abel.  John contrasts the children of God and the children of the devil, using Abel and Cain as examples.  Abel was accepted by God because of his faith while Cain tried to be saved by works, but was not accepted (Genesis 4).  I John 3:12 states that Cain’s actions were evil while Abel’s were righteous.  I John 3:14-15 states that if you do not love your brother, you hate him, you remain in death, and you are a murderer!

This question might make you uncomfortable…….where do you see “Cain-like” attitudes in yourself?  Who might you still hate?  How can you convert that hate into love?  How can you convert hating your enemies to loving them as Jesus commanded?      

You are to love others not with words (both oral in and writing) but with actions.  We all know that talk is cheap.  We all have been victimized by words that were partial or complete lies, that someone told us something that was not true or that they did not really mean.  Valentine’s Day contains a lot of words of love, but such words are not enough.  The higher form of love is your actions that back up the truth of your words. 

You’ve heard of the difference between reading the Bible and studying the Bible is the use of pen and paper.  The difference between loving with words and loving with actions is the use of your hands and arms (along with your legs).  What have you done lately with your hands and arms and legs?  I think of those who choose to go on missions trips.  Their love was shown by actions and truth in addition to words and tongue.  Verse 17 states that if you have material possession and you see a brother in need, you show no love if you don’t have pity on him and help him.  A brother in need is not helped by words; he is helped by actions.

Who can you help right now with actions and truth?  How can you love your spouse not only with words but also with actions?  How can you be a better neighbor, a better friend?  What kind of new resolve does the truth of this verse give to you that will be a part of you the rest of your life?

Most Read Bible Verses---#76---Acts 4:12

Acts 4:12 (NLT)

There is salvation in no one else!  God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. 

This verse (along with John 14:6) separates Christianity from all other religions.  All other religions teach the same thing, that a person must do certain things to achieve or earn favor in the sight of that religion’s God.  And that religion’s God is an impersonal God.  The Christian God is the only God who became flesh and dwelled among His people on earth.  He also was crucified for the sins of the world and was resurrected.  When I was in Saudi Arabia, I learned from Muslim friends there that it was inconceivable to them, absolutely abhorrent, that God could be crucified for the sins of man.  Such is the wonder of the love of a personal God that Christians worship.   

What makes Christianity unique to all other religions in the world is the fact that God reached out to save us through Jesus Christ.  All other religions require people to earn somehow favor and salvation from their god(s).  Human effort is required for salvation in Hinduism and Buddhism with both believing that reincarnation is also part of salvation.  The God of Judaism and Islam will forgive sins, but there is no substitutionary death required.  Our Christian God can also feel our pain and suffering on earth because of what Jesus went through.  Only He knows what it is like to suffer, to die, and to be rejected, for only the Christian God became a man. For Judaism and Islam, there is no one who has already paid for your sins in full.  You remain in your sinful state and no one can come to your defense when you face God on judgment day.

All religions except Christianity focus on your good deeds outweighing your bad deeds for you to attain heaven.  Christianity is the only religion on earth where eternal life is obtained on the basis of God’s greatness and what He did for you through Christ.  All other religions are based on man’s greatness earning him the right to be in heaven.

There is no salvation in the hands of any other “god”. Christianity through the Bible teaches that you cannot earn your way or merit favor with God and be saved.  Salvation belongs to God, and it is in the hands of Jesus alone to give such salvation.  That is what Acts 4:12 and John 14:6 teach.  It’s up to you to believe the claims of these verses.  It takes simple faith, there’s no other way to accept what these verses claim.  Jesus is the way. Believe in Jesus and you will find salvation.  Believe and trust in any other god and the Bible is clear:  you are making the greatest mistake of your life.

What has always troubled me when I think about the evidence for Christianity and its compelling advantages and assurances over any other religion is why so many people reject the Christian faith.  I certainly do not know why and this has troubled other believers too.  However, there is a passage in John 3:19-20 where Jesus teaches that “men love darkness rather than light…….”  There is no other explanation that I can find.  Perhaps this is a question for you to think about and ask others you know why they cannot accept the unique, logical, and wonderful teachings of the Christian faith through the Word of God.

There is no other name under heaven by which you can be saved.  Meditate on these words describing “One Solitary Life” by James Allan Francis[1]::

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.  He grew up in another obscure village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty.  Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He never lived in a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself.  While he was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends deserted him. He was turned over to his enemies, and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his garments, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend. Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure for much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as much as this.

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[1]Dr James Allan Francis from The Real Jesus and Other Sermons ©1926 by Judson Press