Sunday, November 28, 2010, 7:37 a.m. – I woke with this song in my mind:
‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus / Louisa M.R. Stead / William J. Kirkpatrick
’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Thee!
How I’ve proved Thee o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Thee more!
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Mark 9:2-13 (key v. 7):
My Understanding: As I was reading this passage of scripture, v. 7 really jumped out at me, particularly God the Father’s words to Jesus’ disciples: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” On Thursday evening of this past week, when I was reading Mark 6, these words of Jesus to his disciples stood out to me: “You give them something to eat.” And, yesterday, when I was reading Mark 8, these words of Jesus, again to his disciples, called out to me: “Do you still not understand?” All three of these statements, one by God the Father and two by Jesus Christ, God the Son, are emphatic statements, i.e. “definite; insistent; absolute; adamant; resolute; and imperative – vital; crucial; essential; urgent; and necessary” (MS Word Thesaurus). And, all three statements were directed to Jesus’ disciples. And, these are still God’s words to his (Jesus’) followers today.
I have often found that when something comes in sets of three that I should sit up and take notice. Jonah was in the belly of the big fish 3 days and 3 nights. Jesus was in the grave 3 days and 3 nights. Peter denied Jesus 3 times and then reaffirmed his love for Jesus 3 times. Peter’s vision of the unclean food was given to him 3 times before he finally began to understand what God was showing him, and even then his understanding was not complete until he stepped out in faith on what he did understand, and then the pieces began to come together. Our God is also a triune being – Father, Son & Holy Spirit. God’s divine attributes are three-fold – omniscient (all knowing), omnipresent (everywhere present) and omnipotent (all powerful). Matthew 22:37 says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Heart, soul and mind are also three-fold. So, not only are these three statements of God the Father and of Jesus Christ, God the Son, emphatic statements in and of themselves, but the fact that they have jumped out at me now in a set of three just puts all the more emphasis upon them that they are indeed imperative – “vital; crucial; essential; urgent; and necessary.”
’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
This is just the first stanza of this song. I did not quote the entire song because I felt as though this stanza contained the message the Lord wanted me to receive and to share today. If we truly take Jesus at His Word, what does that really mean? It means to believe what he says, that it is valid and that it is true. I read this definition of “to take someone at his word” at word - definition of word by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. – “To be convinced of another's sincerity and act in accord with his or her statement.” I believe that this understanding is essential. To take Jesus at his word, i.e. to believe what he says, that it is valid and true, means to act in accordance with what we say we believe Jesus has said. So, if Jesus says “You give them something to eat,” then we should do that, i.e. to feed the hungry physically as well as spiritually. If he says, “Do you still not understand?” then we should seek his face to see what it is that we don’t yet understand. And, if God the Father says “This is my Son, whom I love, listen to him!” then we should listen to him and do what he says.
So, that begs the question, “What does it truly mean to listen to someone?” Encarta dictionary says: “to concentrate on hearing somebody or something; to pay attention to something and take it into account.” One of the thesaurus words for listen was “heed” – “to give serious attention to a warning or advice and take it into account when acting; serious attention paid to somebody or to something such as a warning, piece of advice, or request” (Encarta Dictionary). So, to listen means to pay attention, to take what is said seriously, and to take it into account when acting. Again, here is the word “acting,” not in the sense of performing, but in the sense of our actions following suit with what we say we believe.
Proverbs 10:17:
Proverbs 15:32:
Proverbs 16:20:
These passages in Proverbs make clear, I believe, that to listen, i.e. to heed means more than just paying attention to what is said, but it means to respond to what is said in a way that involves change in one’s behavior, thoughts, deeds, and words, etc. It means to hear what is being said, to give careful, thoughtful and serious consideration to what was expressed, and then to act upon what is heard in a manner appropriate to the words spoken. So, to listen means to heed, and to heed means to do something about what you just heard:
Mark 4:20:
Luke 8:21:
Luke 11:28:
So, when God the Father said to Jesus’ disciples, “This is my Son, whom I love, listen to him!” what he meant was obey his words, put them into practice, and produce a crop.
Luke 8:15:
Jesus is saying the same to us, his followers, today. God is telling us to listen to His Son, i.e. to not only hear the Word Jesus has spoken to us, his followers, but to retain the Word, obey the Word, put the Word into practice, and by preserving the Word in our lives, then produce a crop, i.e. bear fruit that is evidence that we have listened, obeyed and put His Word into practice in our daily lives.
Mark 8:17-18:
Hebrews 3:7-10:
Revelation 2:7:
‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus / Louisa M.R. Stead / William J. Kirkpatrick
’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Thee!
How I’ve proved Thee o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Thee more!
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Mark 9:2-13 (key v. 7):
My Understanding: As I was reading this passage of scripture, v. 7 really jumped out at me, particularly God the Father’s words to Jesus’ disciples: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” On Thursday evening of this past week, when I was reading Mark 6, these words of Jesus to his disciples stood out to me: “You give them something to eat.” And, yesterday, when I was reading Mark 8, these words of Jesus, again to his disciples, called out to me: “Do you still not understand?” All three of these statements, one by God the Father and two by Jesus Christ, God the Son, are emphatic statements, i.e. “definite; insistent; absolute; adamant; resolute; and imperative – vital; crucial; essential; urgent; and necessary” (MS Word Thesaurus). And, all three statements were directed to Jesus’ disciples. And, these are still God’s words to his (Jesus’) followers today.
I have often found that when something comes in sets of three that I should sit up and take notice. Jonah was in the belly of the big fish 3 days and 3 nights. Jesus was in the grave 3 days and 3 nights. Peter denied Jesus 3 times and then reaffirmed his love for Jesus 3 times. Peter’s vision of the unclean food was given to him 3 times before he finally began to understand what God was showing him, and even then his understanding was not complete until he stepped out in faith on what he did understand, and then the pieces began to come together. Our God is also a triune being – Father, Son & Holy Spirit. God’s divine attributes are three-fold – omniscient (all knowing), omnipresent (everywhere present) and omnipotent (all powerful). Matthew 22:37 says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Heart, soul and mind are also three-fold. So, not only are these three statements of God the Father and of Jesus Christ, God the Son, emphatic statements in and of themselves, but the fact that they have jumped out at me now in a set of three just puts all the more emphasis upon them that they are indeed imperative – “vital; crucial; essential; urgent; and necessary.”
’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
This is just the first stanza of this song. I did not quote the entire song because I felt as though this stanza contained the message the Lord wanted me to receive and to share today. If we truly take Jesus at His Word, what does that really mean? It means to believe what he says, that it is valid and that it is true. I read this definition of “to take someone at his word” at word - definition of word by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. – “To be convinced of another's sincerity and act in accord with his or her statement.” I believe that this understanding is essential. To take Jesus at his word, i.e. to believe what he says, that it is valid and true, means to act in accordance with what we say we believe Jesus has said. So, if Jesus says “You give them something to eat,” then we should do that, i.e. to feed the hungry physically as well as spiritually. If he says, “Do you still not understand?” then we should seek his face to see what it is that we don’t yet understand. And, if God the Father says “This is my Son, whom I love, listen to him!” then we should listen to him and do what he says.
So, that begs the question, “What does it truly mean to listen to someone?” Encarta dictionary says: “to concentrate on hearing somebody or something; to pay attention to something and take it into account.” One of the thesaurus words for listen was “heed” – “to give serious attention to a warning or advice and take it into account when acting; serious attention paid to somebody or to something such as a warning, piece of advice, or request” (Encarta Dictionary). So, to listen means to pay attention, to take what is said seriously, and to take it into account when acting. Again, here is the word “acting,” not in the sense of performing, but in the sense of our actions following suit with what we say we believe.
Proverbs 10:17:
Proverbs 15:32:
Proverbs 16:20:
These passages in Proverbs make clear, I believe, that to listen, i.e. to heed means more than just paying attention to what is said, but it means to respond to what is said in a way that involves change in one’s behavior, thoughts, deeds, and words, etc. It means to hear what is being said, to give careful, thoughtful and serious consideration to what was expressed, and then to act upon what is heard in a manner appropriate to the words spoken. So, to listen means to heed, and to heed means to do something about what you just heard:
Mark 4:20:
Luke 8:21:
Luke 11:28:
So, when God the Father said to Jesus’ disciples, “This is my Son, whom I love, listen to him!” what he meant was obey his words, put them into practice, and produce a crop.
Luke 8:15:
Jesus is saying the same to us, his followers, today. God is telling us to listen to His Son, i.e. to not only hear the Word Jesus has spoken to us, his followers, but to retain the Word, obey the Word, put the Word into practice, and by preserving the Word in our lives, then produce a crop, i.e. bear fruit that is evidence that we have listened, obeyed and put His Word into practice in our daily lives.
Mark 8:17-18:
Hebrews 3:7-10:
Revelation 2:7:
