April 27, 2021
“The heavens declare the glory of God…The Law of the Lord is perfect…the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart…” (Psalm 19: 1, 7, 14)
In Psalm 19 David writes that every day and every night God is preaching a sermon through the heavenly bodies. The text of that sermon is the glory of God. The “firmament” in which those bodies exist is also preaching a sermon about the infinite size of God.
David’s thoughts then turn to the Special Revelation of God. That’s what theologians call the Word of God and David calls the “Law of God.” David impresses us with what the Word of God can do: convert the soul, enlighten the eyes, make wise the simple, rejoice the heart, and since the Word is true and righteous altogether it will endure forever. So will the one whose soul has been converted by the Word of God.
As David meditates on what the Word can do, he claims that the Word is more to be desired than pure gold.
Having reflected on what we might call “Natural Revelation” and “Biblical Revelation” David guides us to consider “Personal Revelation.” His thought is that God’s revelation through nature is magnificent and beautiful. God’s revelation through Scripture is miraculous and perfect.
But what about God’s revelation through God’s people like you and me?
Are we willing to track with David through these three ways God speaks and then pray that God’s revelation through us will be acceptable in God’s sight?
Dick Woodward, 26 April 2010
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Posted by Dick Woodward
January 3, 2020
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly…” (James 4:3)
At the heart of a counseling session, a woman once said, “Don’t confuse me with Scriptures, Pastor. My mind is made up!” Seeking God’s will for our lives is often out of reach because we have our agendas in place when we come before God. If our minds are set like concrete before we converse with God, we are actually asking God to bless our will, our agenda and the way we have decided to go.
James tells us that when we pray, we ask and do not receive because our asking is flawed by our self-willed agendas. To seek and know the will of God we must be completely open to whatever the will of God may be. Our prayer and commitment must be in the spirit of the familiar metaphor:
“You are the Sculptor and I am the clay. Mold me and make me according to Your will. I am ready to accept Your will as passively as clay in the hands of a Sculptor.”
There are two reasons to be open and unbiased as you seek to know God’s will. The first we learn from Isaiah 55: the ways and thoughts of God are as different from our ways and thoughts as the heavens are high above the earth. Another is that we become a totally new creation when we are born again.
It is tragically possible to miss the will of God for your life because you do not have the faith to believe that God can make you a new creation in Christ: a new creation with extraordinary potential.
Dick Woodward, from A Prescription for Guidance
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Posted by Dick Woodward
April 23, 2019
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge…The Law of the Lord is perfect… Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19: 1-2, 7, 14)
In Psalm 19 David writes that every day and every night God is preaching a sermon through the heavenly bodies. The text of that sermon is the glory of God. The “firmament” and space in which those bodies exist are also preaching sermons.
Space preaches to us about the infinite size of God.
His thoughts then turn to the “Special Revelation” of God. That’s what the theologians call the “Word of God” and David calls the “Law of God.” David is impressed and impresses us with what the Word of God can do: The Word can convert the soul, enlighten the eyes and make wise the simple.
The Word can rejoice the heart, and since the Word is true and righteous altogether it will endure forever. So will the one whose soul has been converted by the Word of God. As David meditates on what the Word can do, he claims that the Word is more to be desired than much pure gold.
Having reflected on what we might call “Natural Revelation” and “Biblical Revelation” David next guides us to consider “Personal Revelation.” His thought is that God’s revelation through nature is magnificent and beautiful. God’s revelation through Scripture is miraculous and perfect.
But what about God’s revelation through God’s people like you and me?
Dick Woodward, 26 April 2010
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Posted by Dick Woodward
February 15, 2019
“Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. What counts is a new creation.” (Galatians 6:7,15)
The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Galatians. The first part of this passage is often preached to unbelievers, but Paul was addressing professing believers. As believers this is a spiritual law of our lives in Christ.
Every day we can sow spiritual seeds in the gardens of our lives, or we can sow seeds of our flesh. William Barclay, a professor of Bible at Edinburgh University for forty years, wrote that when the Bible refers to our flesh it means “human nature unaided by God.” According to Paul, human nature unaided by God is a seed that produces corruption.
We have the option to sow spiritual seeds in our lives every day – spiritual seeds that produce a continuous creation.
David prayed “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me.” (Psalm 51:10) In the New Testament, the apostles refer to being born again as a miracle of creation.
“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)
This means we have two options before us every day: creation or corruption. We can sow spiritual seeds in the gardens of our lives that continue the act of creation God is miraculously performing in us, or we can sow seeds that produce corruption.
What seeds are you sowing in the garden of your life today?
Dick Woodward, 15 February 2011
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Posted by Dick Woodward
September 4, 2018
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1-2)
At the end of summer we approach the threshold of beautiful fall colors in the trees all around us. As you enjoy the explosion of colors this year consider the words God speaks to us through nature every fall.
Since fall’s beautiful colors are produced by the death of leaves, the word God is speaking to us is that death can be beautiful. In many ways the most beautiful reality you and I encounter in our three or four score years on earth is the death of our Lord Jesus Christ that makes it possible for us to experience salvation and enter heaven.
The Apostle Paul tells us the Gospel is that Christ died so we might live – and now it is our turn. We must die (to ourselves) so Christ may live through us. (Galatians 2:20) That means our deaths to ourselves can be beautiful.
Every spring God speaks another word to us. That word is seen through all the resurrection around us as we see black trunks and bare branches of trees we thought were dead sprout to life and bloom.
The Latin root meaning of the word rehabilitation is “to invest again with dignity.”
Do we have the faith to believe God can bring to life that which we thought was dead? Can we apply that thought to our own lives, to the lives of our children, and to people we know and love?
Dick Woodward, 04 September 2012
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Posted by Dick Woodward
April 27, 2018
“The heavens declare the glory of God… The Law of the Lord is perfect… May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight…” (Psalm 19: 1, 7, 14)
In Psalm 19 David writes that every day and every night God is preaching a sermon through the heavenly bodies. The text of that sermon is the glory of God. The firmament, the space in which those bodies exist, is also preaching a sermon.
Space preaches to us about the infinite size of God.
David’s thoughts then turn to the special revelations of God. That’s what theologians call the Word of God and David calls the Law of God. David is impressed and impresses us with what the Word of God can do: convert the soul, enlighten the eyes, and make wise the simple. God’s Word can rejoice the heart and it will endure forever. So, too, will the one whose soul has been converted by the Word. As David meditates on what the Word can do, he claims that the Word is more to be desired than pure gold.
Having reflected on what we might call “Natural Revelation” and “Biblical Revelation,” he next guides us to consider “Personal Revelation.” His thought is that God’s revelation through nature is magnificent and beautiful. God’s revelation through Scripture is miraculous and perfect.
But what about God’s revelation through people like you and me?
Another thing Scripture does is warn us about willful sins that mar the revelation of God through us.
Are we willing to track with David through these three ways God speaks and then pray that God’s revelation through us will be acceptable in God’s sight?
Dick Woodward, 26 April 2010
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Posted by Dick Woodward
April 22, 2017
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1-2)
When summer ends we encounter the explosion of beautiful fall colors. While we enjoy the colors, consider a word God speaks to us through nature every fall: death. Since those beautiful colors are produced by the death of leaves, God is speaking to many of us that death can be beautiful. In many ways, the most beautiful reality you and I encounter in our three or four score years on earth is the death of our Lord Jesus Christ that makes it possible for us to experience salvation and enter heaven.
Paul tells us the Gospel is that Christ died so we might live – and now it is our turn. We must die to ourselves so Christ might live through us. (Galatians 2:20) That means death to our selfish ways can be beautiful.
Every spring God speaks another word through nature to us: resurrection. That is seen all around us as black trunks and bare branches of trees we thought were dead sprout to life and bloom.
The Latin root meaning of rehabilitation is “to invest again with dignity.” Do we have faith to believe God can bring to life that which we thought was dead? Can we apply that thought to our lives, to the lives of our children, and to all the people we know?
Dick Woodward, 04 September 2012
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Posted by Dick Woodward
September 17, 2016
“In the beginning God created…” (Genesis 1:1)
Most people have heard about the missing link that turns up when comparing the theory of evolution with the Genesis creation account, but there are actually three missing links. The first missing link is the issue: How did it all begin? The Bible’s answer is recorded in just two words: “God created.” It all began with a first act of creation that accounted for the universe, the earth, and all plant life.
The author uses an interesting Hebrew word for created, “barah,” which means “to create something out of nothing.” Since there are no samples that are half plant and half animal there is a second missing link. The Genesis account again uses “barah” as animal life is created in the water.
There is also no sample that is half animal and half human. So, for a third time the author of Genesis uses “barah” when God creates mankind. What is usually considered the missing link is actually this third missing link. In all three places where the secular scholar struggles for answers, the author of Genesis writes barah: God created.
God began the Bible with the creation account because God knew that one day we would realize that we need an act of creation in our hearts. We would then also know where to take that need by joining David in the prayer: “Create (barah) in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10 NLT)
We can also go to Jesus, Who taught the new birth, and the apostles, who, agreeing with David, referred to the new birth as a new creation. (John 3:3-5; 2 Corinthians 5:17)
Dick Woodward, 19 November 2013
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Posted by Dick Woodward
June 4, 2016
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption … What counts is a new creation.” (Galatians 6: 7, 8, 15)
The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Galatians. The first part of this passage is often preached to unbelievers, but Paul was addressing professing believers. As believers this is a spiritual law of our lives in Christ. Every day we can sow spiritual seeds in the garden of our life, or we can sow seeds of our flesh in that garden. William Barclay, a professor of Bible at Edinburgh University for forty years, wrote that when the Bible refers to our flesh it means “human nature unaided by God.” According to Paul, human nature unaided by God is a seed that produces corruption.
We have the option to sow spiritual seeds in our lives every day. Paul writes that these spiritual seeds produce a continuous creation. David prayed “Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me.” (Psalm 51:10) In the New Testament the apostles refer to being born again as a miracle of creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God…” (2 Corinthians 5:17, 18)
This means we have two awesome options before us every day: creation or corruption. We can sow spiritual seeds in the garden of our lives which continue the act of creation God is miraculously performing in us, or we can sow seeds that produce corruption.
What seeds are you sowing in the garden of your life every day?
Dick Woodward, 15 February 2011
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Posted by Dick Woodward
May 8, 2015
“Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table.” (Psalm 128:1-3)
When you meditate on these verses in Psalm 128 that describe the role and function of a wife and mother, you can paraphrase them this way: a mother is a man-maker. She is like a fruitful vine in the very heart of her husband’s home. To borrow a metaphor from the very beginning of the Bible, she is a completer whose passion is to see that her husband becomes all that His Creator designed him to be.
She is a people-maker because she gives him children who are like fruitful plants around his table. Many people would like to put a period after the fourth word of this psalm and say that everyone is blessed or happy, but that is not the way the psalm reads. The blessing on this man comes because he meets conditions: He walks in the ways of God.
The other verses of the psalm tell us this is how God blesses and impacts the world. He finds a blessed man, joins him to a blessed woman, and gives them blessed children. They impact Zion- which is the spiritual community- and then this family unit fruitfully impacts the city and the country.
A mother is at the heart of this great strategy of God. As such she is also a home-maker and a memory-maker. What a great and noble calling!
Rise up and call your mother blessed this Sunday!
Dick Woodward, (07 May 2011)
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Posted by Dick Woodward
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