Summer School
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Introduction
Introduction
Perhaps you can remember what it was like as the school year was coming to a close. Last minute projects, final exams, you could feel it getting closer and you were so glad it was about to be over. Then that anticipated glorious last day finally happened. Maybe if the truth be known you might have been secretly banging your head to the lyrics of the 70’s rocker Alice Cooper, “no more pencils, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks, school’s our for summer.”
Summer would begin and we would be determined that we would not have to do anything associated with learning for at least a few months. In fact, in my neighborhood the only thing about learning that I attempted was learning how to hit my friend’s dad’s curve ball when he would pitch to us in our pick up games.
Sure there was work and chores and expectations from my parents during that summer break, but nevertheless, it was summer break!
There
I never went to summer school. I had friends that had to go and they told me of their misery. Later in life I have learned that sometimes summer school was necessary to catch up or to perhaps even get ahead. Advocates for year round school actually show that students learn better if they take shorter breaks from the classroom activities.
The older I get, the more I realize that my learning process works better if I don’t take a break and I strive to learn something everyday. The same thing is true in our spiritual learning. We should be students of God’s Word, spending time in it daily and continually learning about God and His marvelous love. The more I study, the more I realize that I don’t know. The more I learn, the bigger God gets and I realize that the Author of all knowledge wants me to learn more about Him and His incredible ways.
I recently was reminded of this concept as I read . It is a fascinating verse that has made me commit to summer school and to year round school. I want to challenge you in your spiritual growth to make a commitment to use this as a platform for your continued growth and learning.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
Pl
This whole chapter is a prayer of David as he relates to God’s sovereignty. David,in this verse, applies it to his life. One powerful concept of scripture that I have learned is that if the Biblical character can apply this truth to his or her life, I also can apply it to my life. In this one verse, you and I can see the need to make this a daily prayer so that we can learn continually.
Notice the first
We have four different requests that David makes that we should make as well.
First, teach me your way, O Lord.
Teach Me Your Way
Teach Me Your Way
David was taught well in the things of God. However, he realized that he needed further instructions. David recognized the fact that often he could not trust his own judgement. The Psalmist prayed for instruction that he might be even more fruitful in knowing God and His greatness. He desired to know God’s way.
I have discovered that Mitch’s way often leads me down paths of selfishness but if I seek God’s way, it becomes by far the best way.
Moses recognized this as well.
Exod
If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
We find more emphasis about God’s ways in
Show me your ways, O Lord,
teach me your paths;
or
Psalm 27:
Teach me your way, O Lord;
lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.
Isaiah reminds us that God will not only show us His way but He will also speak to us about it:
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Isaiah
When we realize that God has a way for us to go, it takes the guessing out of it. We have seen the news reports of Amanda Eller and her miraculous rescue in the forest in Hawaii. She spent over two weeks lost in the forest trying to figure out the way to her car. The more she tried, the more lost she became. The same thing happens to you and me when we try to find our own way spiritually. The beautiful verses in Proverbs that many of you have on a plaque are very insightful.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:
I have considered my ways
and have turned my steps to your statutes.
:59
remind us to remove ourselves from our own understanding and replace them with God’s ways.
I have considered my ways
and have turned my steps to your statutes.
When we turn our steps to His statues, to His word, we begin to do what the second part of David’s prayer. We then are asking God to teach us about His path.
Teach Me Your Path
Teach Me Your Path
You say, “Come on Mitch, that phrase is not in .” David prays, “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth.” Well, where do you walk? God has designed a path each of us to travel on doing His will. If we are taught the ways of God, then we will walk in the pathway He has for us.
The Hebrew word for walk is AHALLEEK. It is referring to behavior. When David is saying, “I will walk in your truth,” he is indicating a pathway that is of God and for God. It is a place that we also learn from His word that He will give us light for every step in His word. Remember the assurance in :
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path.
Your statutes are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart.
Deuteronomy
We learn the path of God from His word, so it is to our
advantage to study God’s word. We can do this in Sunday School, in a small group, and even through our scripture writing plans that you are encouraged to do.
Are you a student of God’s word? I encourage you to be so!
“
David says that this path is the very truth of God. “I will walk in your truth.” No where in scripture does it ever says that God is a lie. All scripture points to the fact that God is truth.
The Hebrew word for truth is AMIT. It means firmness, trustworthiness, constancy, duration and faithfulness.
When we say we walk in God’s truth, we are saying we will walk according to the declarations of His word.
We know from many scriptures that God’s way is the best.
He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.
We can trust God’s design and plan for us. He is solid. His ways are perfect and just. He is faithful, He will not wrong us. He is upright. If all that is true,then why do we worry? Why do we fret? Why do we think, “Yea God, Your way is best but I still want to go this way?”
We have to come to the point in our lives that we declare just as David did in :
Show me your ways, O Lord,
teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
Are you allowing God to teach you His ways? Are you allowing God to show you his paths? Are you allowing God to guide you in truth? If the answer is no, then the truth of the matter is one of two things: either you don’t have a relationship with Him, or you are allowing your heart to be divided. That is why David prays the third part of this prayer, “Give me an undivided heart.”
When you ask for an undivided heart, you are asking, “Teach me to be whole.”
Teach Me How to be Whole
Teach Me How to be Whole
The Hebrew word for UNDIVIDED means united, to designate exclusively, to concentrate. The use of “heart” in Bible occurs over 1000 times. It represents the physical heart where it indicates life. It represents the psychological aspects as well as intellectual aspects. It can express emotion. It can choose good or bad. It can even be referred to in the Bible as something religious. No wonder we see in the admonition to guard your heart.
Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
So what exactly is David saying here when he says, “give me an undivided heart?” Just as the heart is the center of our being,it is also center of Divine indwelling. We see this in several scriptures:
set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
The Hebrew word for UNDIVIDED means united, to designate exclusively, to concentrate. The use of “heart” in Bible occurs over 1000 times. It represents the physical heart where it indicates life. It represents the psychological aspects as well as intellectual aspects. It can express emotion. It can choose good or bad. It can even be referred to in the Bible as something religious. So what exactly is David saying here when he says, “give me an undivided heart?”
The heart represents the center of our being. It reveals what we focus on and why we do what we do.
Just as the heart is the center of our being, it is also center of Divine indwelling. We see this in several scriptures:
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
2 Corinthians
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
Ephesians 3:
2 Corinthians 4:6]
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
Because our heart is the Divine indwelling, we should be in tune with the very heart of God. We should be one with the heart of God, undivided in our devotion to Him.
I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.
1 Corinthians
We accomplish this by placing God’s word in our hearts and minds and allowing that to be our guide.
“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them.
After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’
let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
1
This is quoted again in .
He answered: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Ac
But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
When we unite our hearts with God keep them undivided towards His purpose and ways, we are also uniting with other believers.
You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.
The result of having an undivided heart and being whole for Him, we grow more confident in who and what God is. The more we learn who He is and what He is, we put into practice the last prayer that is this verse which is “that I may fear your name.” Another way of saying that is “teach me your wonder.”
Teach Me Your Wonder
Teach Me Your Wonder
Once you and I learn the way of the God, learn to walk in His path, learn to be whole, we can resolve to do all of that in a way that all our focus and reverence is on the Lord.
Train me, God, to walk straight;
then I’ll follow your true path.
Put me together, one heart and mind;
then, undivided, I’ll worship in joyful fear.
I like the way Eugene Peterson wrote that in the Message, “I’ll worship in joyful fear.” The more we learn, the more we worship. The more we worship, the more we get ourselves out of the way and focus on the incredibleness of our God.
We are constantly in a state of learning. The child of God never gets done with the learning process. He or she never graduates from the school of divine instruction.
Everyday is a new day.
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Teach me your way, O Lord,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
Psalm 145
The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.
What if you and I committed today and everyday forward to the precepts of this one verse? What if we memorized this verse and recited every day for the next week? What about the whole month? Let’s go to summer school together and see what the Lord wants to teach us.
What if you and I committed today and everyday forward to the precepts of this one verse.