Comfort

Today Pastor Brian shared from Psalm 119.  He gave several reasons why we should read the Bible.  Although there were many great points shared, I want to highlight two.  First, "the point of reading the Bible is to know it and obey it."  Brian pointed out that some times as he has read he'll realize he has sinned unknowingly and will then repent.  But, most of the time as he reads, the Bible convicts him of sin he already knew was sin.  So why read if you know there will be conviction?  Brian pointed out that there is great comfort and joy in repentance.  I can share personally that the time between me realizing I am sinning and the time I repent is ugly, dark, and filled with pain.  But, repentance is cleansing.  It isn't always a "I'm now fresh, clean, and ready to take on the world", but there is a deep comfort in repentance.

The second point I want to highlight is we should read the Bible, "because it can encourage us."  He quoted Psalm 119:25-28, which you can read by clicking on the underlined words.  Brian talked about many verses from Psalm 119, but the one I want to focus on is verse 18,

"Open my eyes, that I may see
Wondrous things from Your law."

At the end of this week we got word that our friends' 22 year old daughter passed away from a blood clot that when through her heart and into her lungs.  They had no idea that Grace had this blood clot.  The time between realizing there was a problem, and Grace going unconscious was very brief.  As I sat in church today, I wondered how they were handling hearing that the Bible can bring them comfort.  I wondered if it brought comfort or if those words stung.  Please pray that as this family grieves, God will open their eyes as they read the word.  Pray that He will bring them comfort as only He can.

I talked with Ruth, Grace's mom, after church and she was amazed at how the body of Christ had brought them comfort.  As a need has arisen, someone has quickly filled it.  She is seeing God move through this heart breaking time.

You can listen to Brian's sermon here.  The link isn't up yet today, but it should be up later this week.  Look for the title Reading and Obeying God's Word and today's date 1-29-12.