Thank You, Lord, for Your Word.

The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
Psalm 119:130

Thankful
for the Word of God.

I was so humbled to learn that the village we have been teaching in has only four Bibles.
My heart broke. . . Four Bibles for the entire village. At this point I don't know how many people live in the village, but I do know that we have had around seventy children participating in Saturday Bible lessons. Four Bibles for more than seventy people!

The solution seemed so easy. The village just needed some more Bibles! Then the people could feed their hungry souls and fill themselves with every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. It seemed like a good plan to me. . . until I realized that the majority of the village is illiterate.

This has been so hard to swallow as I think about all the times that I'm constantly being convicted and exhorted and strengthened and encouraged and comforted by the Word of God. We are told that it is pure, it convicts, it sustains, it remains, and hearing comes through it. . .

"The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times." (Psalm 12:6)

"The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

"And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." (Deuteronomy 8:3)

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." (Isaiah 40:8)

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17)

Pray
that we would love God's Word more and more and never take it for granted.
for those who don't have Bibles and/or who don't know how to read.
for arrangements being made for those in the village to attend reading lessons.
that God would be exalted above the heavens, and that His glory would be over all the earth!

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A puritan prayer from the Valley of Vision:

O God of Truth,
I thank thee for the holy Scriptures,
their precepts, promises, directions, light.
In them may I learn more of Christ,
be enabled to retain his truth
and have grace to follow it.
Help me to lift up the gates of my soul that he may come in
and show me himself when I search the Scriptures,
for I have no lines to fathom its depths,
no wings to soar to its heights.
By his aid may I be enabled to explore all its truths,
love them with all my heart,
embrace them with all my power,
engraft them into my life.
Bless to my soul all grains of truth garnered from thy Word;
may they take deep root,
be refreshed by heavenly dew,
be ripened by heavenly rays,
be harvested to my joy and thy praise.
Help me to gain profit by what I read,
as treasure beyond all treasure,
a fountain which can replenish my dry heart,
its waters flowing through me as a perennial river
on-drawn by the Holy Spirit.
Enable me to distil from its pages faithful prayer
that grasps the arm of thy omnipotence,
achieves wonders, obtains blessings,
and draws down streams of mercy.
From it show me how my words have often been unfaithful to thee,
injurious to my fellow-men,
empty of grace, full of folly,
dishonouring to my calling.
Then write thy own words upon my heart and inscribe them on my lips;
So shall all glory be to thee in my reading of thy Word!

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Mom, forgive me for all the fights I had with you when you wanted me to read more in grade school. Thanks for not letting me win. Now I've seen firsthand why you always said reading was a privilege. I'll tell my kids the same thing, too, someday.