Something Greater

Psalm 119:1-8 | Aleph Milt Reynolds | Last updated: January 27, 2022 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me! - Psalm 119:1–8, ESV Image by Harut Movsisyan from Pixabay The Terrible Reality of Being Forsaken by God The entire life of Aleph, all hopes and joys and emotions, are connected closely to God's Word. Most striking is the desire to avoid shame and to be forsaken by God. Doing and delighting in God's Word promises a life of no shame. Here are some sources of shame: Blame for doi

Psalm 119 | The Word of God Milt Reynolds | Last updated: May 22, 2022 This work by Milt Reynolds is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 Meditations on Psalm 119 One could live a lifetime meditating on Psalm 119. For the past year or so I've a small bit of this poem daily, as one of the first things I do after waking. Nearly every line of Psalm 119 directs praise or prayer toward all that God has said. This makes Psalm 119 a consistent encouragement to trust and delight in all of The Holy Bible, as Scripture containing all that God has declared to all people. As I read, consider and pray through each stanza of Psalm 119, I find it helpful to handwrite my thoughts. It helps me to slow down as I read. It helps me clarify and communicate my thoughts later. I write on scratch paper (leftover from finished crossword puzzles that we've printed out!). At the end of each week I spend an hour or two transferring my handwritten meditations to my computer, formatted for posting to thi

Has An Old Man No Hope? Psalm 119:9-16 | Milt Reynolds | December 2, 2021 Photo by Huy Phan on Unsplash “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, LORD; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.” (Psalm 119:9–16, NIV) I try to read one of the stanzas from Psalm 119 daily. So, once a month I usually find myself shaking my head in disappointment, or at the very least in doubt. Does this passage speak only to "young people"? What are us old people? Chopped liver? Vienna Sausages? Saltine crackers? Canned mackerel in tomato sause? I think the last t

Shame and Loneliness...and Happiness | Psalm 119 Milt Reynolds | November 30, 2021 Image source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/shame-loop-spiral-chasing-judgment-2088368/ -  johnhain - no attribution required For me, the key to delighting in, and praying through Psalm 119, has been to notice the many different synonyms used for "God's Word": The law His testimonies His ways His precepts His statutes His commandments His righteous rules All of these are different facets of one gloriously cut gem: The precious Word of God, the Holy Bible. All of the books of the Holy Bible together are the one and only one treasury of all that God has declared to us, and done for us. I first noticed a connection between shame and loneliness, God's Word, and my happiness, in the first stanza of Psalm 119, verses 1-8. This stanza is given the title of  Aleph , which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The English word, "blessed" is a translation of the Hebrew word, 

Christ Himself Is Our Peace | Ephesians 2:14-22 “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:14–22, ESV) This

The Gap Between Understanding and Trust | John 4:11-15 “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” (John 4:11-15 NIV) There is a gap between understanding and trust which many of us fail to cross. We may come to understand what Jesus says, or we can imagine it changing our lives. But without

What Is Work? | Exodus 20:8-11 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work , but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work , neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Ex 20:8-11 NIV) WORK : melakah /mel-ä-KÄ/ Properly, deputyship, ministry; generally, employment (never servile) or work (abstract or concrete); also property (as the result of labor) The biblical use of this work involves ones occupation and business: Occupation, business Property Work (something done or made) Workmanship Service, use Public business: political, religious My takeaway: "Work" is not only "effort" and &quo