The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"The Savior and the Scriptures"
Having recently commemorated the 50th anniversary of coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in September, 1975, I have been gratefully giving thanks for the early influences of my Christian life. The Lord provided wonderful fellow believers, along with pastors, teachers, and authors who helped ground me in the faith, and whose influence continues unto this day.
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now" (Philippians 1:3-5).
My most vivid recollection of those influences involves their universal devotion to the supremacy of the Savior and the Scriptures as the guiding light(s) of our lives.
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11).
"Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me" (John 5:39).
The living Word and the written Word. Maintaining this dual emphasis goes far in directing our hearts and securing our feet on the path of righteousness. The Lord Jesus leads us to the Scriptures. The Scriptures lead us to the Lord Jesus. The prophet Jeremiah signals this blessed synthesis of the written and living Word:
"Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name, O LORD God of hosts" (John 5:39; Jeremiah 15:16).
"Words" and "Thy Word." Or, the Scriptures and the Savior. Jeremiah consumed the propositional truth of God's communication to his mind, resulting in joyous devotion to the personal truth of the Christ he did not know in name, but who he realized in heart. Of course, in the light of the completed written Word of God and realization of the crucified and risen living Word of God, born again believers in the Lord Jesus know the Savior in far greater measure. How blessed we are, and how the Holy Spirit calls us to the written Word He inspired in the writers of Scripture, and the living Word He conceived in the virgin's womb.
I give thanks for the influences of long ago in my walk with the Lord, who bore witness to the Word of God, both living and written. How grateful I also am for fellow believers who presently serve as guideposts to walk in the way, the way of the Savior and the Scriptures.
"Jesus saith unto Him, I am… the truth."
(John 14:6).
"Thy Word is truth."
(John 17:17)
Weekly Memory Verse
Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
(Psalm 36:5)
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