Desiring God by John Piper (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapter 5.
Today Piper tells us to kindle joy using the Bible.
Piper outlines the benefits and power of holy scriptures:
(i) the Bible is your life;
(ii) faith comes by hearing the Scriptures;
(iii) God supplies the spirit through hearing of faith;
(iv) the Scriptures give hope;
(v) the truth shall make you free;
(vi) the testimony of the Lord makes wise the simple;
(vii) the scriptures are written that you might have assurance;
(viii) the evil one is overcome by the word of God;
(ix) the Scriptures are an earnest exhortation to delight in the Bible;
(x) to wield it we must wear it.
Certainly can tell that Piper loves his Bible.
I particularly appreciated the encouragement to memorise the Bible: 'But if we intend to wield it, we must wear it. We must be like Ezra: "The good hand of God was upon him. For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach his statutes and ordinances in Israel" (Ezra 7:9,10). And we must get a heart like the saint who wrote the great love song to the law in Psalm 119, "Oh, how I love thy law! It is my meditation all the day" (verse 97). Let us labor to memorize the Word of God-for worship and for warfare. If we do not carry it in our heads, we cannot savor it in our hearts or wield it in the Spirit. If you go out without the kindling of Christian Hedonism, the fire of Christian happiness will be quenched before mid-morning.'
Earlier this year I began a serious attempt to memorise the New Testament and parts of the Old Testament. If Muslims can memorise the Koran, why shouldn't I be able to memorise the New Testament?
It is hard going and not all that much is sticking so far, but just the process of repeating verses again and again out loud to memorise it has certainly opened my eyes up to things I'd never noticed through ordinary reading.
Read Chapter 6.
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
2 comments:
I absolutely loved the George Müller quote at the end of this chapter. So inspiring and apt.
I plan to put his wisdom into practise: read and meditate and let that lead me into prayer.
Surely the word must be at the centre of our joy and desire for God.
Personally, I need to work at meditating and memorising, rather than just reading and processing.
Only by the power of the Holy Spirit, though.
Yes, the Mueller quote was very good.
After reading Piper that week, I actually went hunting for Mueller's autobiography to try and do it in the book club on Sundays.
But while there are quite a few biographies of him still in print, the autobiography from which Piper quoted is sadly out of print.
So I'll have to keep checking on it periodically to see if a publisher resurrects it.
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