Store Up

Ps. 119:11 is a verse i memorized a number of years ago with my children.  NIV84 says "I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You."  Wonderful verse! And we are to hide His Word in our heart.

Last night I was reading Ps. 119 in the ESV. That version says "I have stored up Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You."

The point is the same.. we need to be learning.. memorizing.. God's Word. But I really love the ESV wording.. "Stored Up"  It is a picture of preparation.. of making ready.  

And we don't wait until the panic moment to grab Words and hastily try to learn them, we store up during the "good" times. Proverbs 6:6&8 points the lazy sluggard to look at the ways of the ant. I think the ant's ways apply to learning Scripture and this thought of storing up..

Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise....
7 8 she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

Prepares her bread... the Word is our daily bread.  I picture us preparing it by being in it.. reading.. studying..learning it..

And gathers her food... She is storing up during the time of plenty to be ready for lean times.. difficulties.. 

We need to be preparing.. to be in the Word daily, reading it.. studying it.. learning it.. and we need to be gathering it up.. storing it in our hearts knowing we will have it  for the battle we do each and every day with our flesh, the World and an enemy who is relentless in His pursuit.

EXPECT -- 2014 Word of the Year

Most years my Word makes sense to me.. but there are times I am baffled by it. This year's word is one of those times. I started before Christmas praying and seeking for my word. It was hit and miss as I was caught up in the busyness of life which this year included a holiday wedding.  But still.. I was determined to know my word by Jan. 1.  I thought of several .. and they are perfectly good words, but I just never felt they were it.  And then one day Ps. 5:3 popped into my mind.. "In the morning you hear my voice, O Lord. I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation".. and in that moment I thought "Am I expecting God?"

I was rather baffled by that question too.  Expecting Him to what?  Well.. to be present in my life and the world around me.. Expecting Him to do what He says He will do.. to BE who He says He is... Expecting His Word.. His promises to be true...Expecting Him!

And so that is my desire this year.. to live in a state of Expectancy.  When I pray, I Expect God to hear and to respond.  When I claim a promise, I Expect it to hold true.  As I go about life, I Expect to see God.

There are not a lot of verses in the Bible with the word Expect in them but there are 2 that really suit this journey for me. Ps. 5:3 which I mentioned earlier and Micah 7:7 from the New American Standard Bible.. "But as for me, I watch EXPECTANTLY for the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me." What a powerful verse!  What a promise to claim!

I have to add that God is already popping my Word up before my eyes to remind me to Expect Him. I am leading a study at church using Lysa Terkeurst's What Happens When Women Say Yes to God.  Chapter 1 has a line that says "Women who say yes to God expect to see God."  Yep.. we do!

EXPECT!