So, we've seen that God's Word is His manual for living life to the maximum benefit. God's Word is His self-revelation. David says we also have the precepts of the Lord.
What are precepts? Precepts are doctrines, truths, absolutes - that are the guidelines, the requirements for blessing and joy.
A lot of people say they believe the Bible but it is not that you affirm the Bible that really matters. What really matters is what you affirm the Bible teaches. A few Saturdays ago we had Jehovah Witnesses come to our door. The gal wanted to discuss the next thing on God's agenda...the renewal of the earth. (He is going to destroy it by fire before He recreates a new earth...) I brought the conversation around to the person of Christ. A very clear truth set out in Scripture is that Christ is God. She would not affirm that.
The Word of God sets down truths that are to be believed. They are right. It means right in the sense of a right path. The Word puts you in the right direction. The truths that the Lord gives us in His Word are going to send us on the right path. Scripture's testimony is that we are to walk in the precepts of the Lord and when we do, when we walk the right path, the result is a rejoicing heart. I pray the Lord removes the blinders from that woman's eyes, so she can see the truth of who Christ is, what He did to make salvation possible for her, and begin to walk in the right path, one by faith and not works, the path that will give her true and lasting joy in her heart.
Walking in God's truths results in joy.
The believer's joy fluctuates in real life. It is vulnerable to Satan's attacks. The preservation of our joy in the faith takes work. Paul told the Corinthian believers - "Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy." 2 Cor. 1:24 Satan roars about looking for who he can take the joy of faith away from...he can't take our salvation away, but he throws all kinds of things at us to take away our joy of faith. When he is successful it has a crippling affect on our service to the Lord. The shield against Satan's attacks is the Word of God.
We do what we do and feel how we feel because of how we think. On the days we don't feel like doing what we know to be pleasing to the Lord, the best thing we can do is get our minds back into His truths, choose to be obedient whether we feel like it or not, and joy does return. It is work, but God blesses us when we choose obedience.
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