By: Danna Appleby  

 

 

THY WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET AND A LIGHT UNTO MY PATH

Psalm 119:105

 

In a previous devotional I talked to you about how I wanted to be a handmaiden of the Lord. If you will recall, I said that I thought that if I was going to be a handmaiden, then I knew that I better find out what my job description was going to be!  I now want to go one step further and tell you that I saw that I needed a manual, guide or handbook to live by.

 

I saw that I wasn’t going to get the wisdom and knowledge I needed for the job at hand out of the magazines and books of today because I had thumbed through a few secular publications and had to lay them down in a big hurry! I knew that I sure wasn’t going to get any wisdom from television because there was rarely any wisdom coming out of Hollywood. (My husband refers to Hollywood as “Holly-weird,” and rightly so!) 

 

So where could I go for a manual for help? Where could I find a compass or a roadmap to lead and guide me?  What manual could possibly help to increase my faith and give me the wisdom I needed to make the right decisions? Where could I find Words of the Master to lead and guide me?  I found that my Source for help and strength came from the Word of God.  Romans 10:17 tells us: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” 

 

At that time, all I knew concerning the Bible was the King James Version.  I had struggled with understanding the Old English translation, but knew from what I had been told that I would gain strength from the Word.  When my father passed away, my siblings and I were dividing his books and in his collection was a New International Version Bible still in the wrapper.  Dad was always a faithful KJV fan! Maybe this particular Bible had been a gift from someone.  So I took that precious Treasure home with me not even realizing what I held in my hands.  I am not saying that the King James Version is not a Treasure as well, because it truly is, it’s just that I began to understand the Word much better for the first time.  I have since then enjoyed many other versions of the Bible to clarify what I don’t understand from the version I’m reading at the time. 

 

After that time, every Saturday morning before the rest of the family would get up I would sit at my kitchen table for sometimes several hours pouring over the Scriptures.  As I read, I highlighted the ones which seemed to leap off the page and I learned early on that God surely must be speaking to me through His Word.  I believe He wanted me to see that His Promises were for me.  And also for anyone else who will read and believe them! 

 

After awhile, I discovered that I benefited most by using a journal so I began write down Scriptures which were meaningful to me.  As time went by, I also wrote down lessons the Lord taught me and dated each one so I could reflect back over them to see what God had done in my life.  I urge you to do the same. 

 

There were many ancient people who influenced me.  Some of those I read about made some poor decisions from time-to-time and I saw how that we can make the same mistakes if we’re not careful.  Actually, after reading about them it helped me feel a little more normal!  Even though my failures may have been quite different, I still learned from their faults, as well as my own. Through it all, I have seen the frailty of man and how we’re subject to downfall, but also realized that God knows my weaknesses and remembers that I am dust.  (Psalm 103:14)  So if God remembers that I am dust, does that mean that I must not strive to keep this willful flesh of mine under control?  Absolutely not!  I knew that I must go to God’s Word daily for help and strength because I realized that I was spiritually frail and needy.  Not only did my soul need feeding, but I saw how important it was to do my best to please God in whatever form or fashion. 

 

So could I comprehend God’s Word all in one setting?  Could I gain wisdom all at once?  Despite my impatience, it was too much for me to grasp all at one time and I found that it was better for me to take baby steps with my learning.  I learned that I had to gradually let it soak into this head of mine and as I went to God’s Word daily to meditate upon it, that it became a delight to me and actually penetrated into my spirit to shape and mold me.  (Psalm 1:2)  Meditating on God’s Word has been key for change and growth in my life, but I’ve still got a long way to go!

 

I found that as I continued to go back to the Word of God, it nourished and sustained me in the bad times, as well as the good.  I saw that I must rely on God’s Word to find out the direction to take, because when I did, I saw that I had more wisdom about the right way to proceed.  As I continued to read, I became saturated in the Word and then I could say as the writer of Psalm 119:97, “Oh, how I love Your law!  I meditate on it all day long.” As I opened my heart, God poured into my being and my dry and thirsty soul became nourished. 

 

As I hid God’s Word in my heart (Psalm 119:11), I noticed that I didn’t have some of the same struggles with the things of the flesh that I once had because the Word of God held me and my heart became more steadfast.  (Psalm 108:1)  That certainly did not mean that I had reached perfection because I was and still am very far from that point, but what it did mean was that as I went to the Word, it shined the light on where I was going wrong.  As I was convicted of the sins of the heart, I repented of any wrongdoing or thinking. I learned that it took repenting regularly for change to occur. 

 

The Word became my manual for life and I found that when situations arose that I normally wouldn’t know how to handle, I already had the answer because God’s Word had already been planted in my heart.  That certainly didn’t mean that I had lots of Bible verses memorized, because I certainly did not, but the Holy Spirit would bring to memory Scriptures to give me answers.  Sometimes I wouldn’t even ask, and the Holy Spirit would place a verse or even a “segment” of a Scripture in my heart.   When I would receive a segment of a verse, I could look in a concordance to find the complete verse.  I was thrilled when that happened because I realized that the Word was lighting my path.  (Ps. 119:105)

 

It has been amazing to see that as I continued to meditate and read God’s Word, that my priorities changed and it became more of a burning desire to live for God than ever before.  What “used” to be important, soon fell by the wayside and life took on new meaning and has continued to this day.  Wanting “my” will finally changed and I began to want “God’s will,” instead of mine.  You see I had gone from being a strong-willed, defiant preacher’s kid, wanting my own way and having my own agenda, to finally saying, “Lord, here I am, mold me and make me into what You want me to be!  You are the Potter and I am the clay.”  (Jer. 18:1-4) Quite a switch from the “old me!”  See how the Word of God will change your thinking and will change you?  Romans 12:2(b) (TEV) “Let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.  Then you will be able to know the will of God-what is good and pleasing to Him and is perfect.”

 

I found that as I went to the Word time after time and day after day that God  began to show me that I could come to Him with all of my needs, no matter how trivial I thought they were and that He wanted to be included with every plan, both large and small.  In fact, He showed me that He had plans for me anyway! (Jer. 29:11)

 

The Lord assured me through His Word that I could trust Him (Psalm 56:4) no matter what the problem and that nothing would be impossible with Him. (Luke 1:37)  Oh, how I have loved that about Him!

 

I want you to see how the Word will be a guide and a manual for your life, as well, if you’re not using it in that way.  I want to encourage you that God’s Word will help you for spiritual growth and cause you to be the strong woman or man of faith that He desires you to be.  The Word will be your handbook to live by and will light your path.  Be blessed today as you think upon these things. 

 

PRAYER:  (Taken from Psalm 119:89-112)

Father, Your Word, Oh Lord is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth and it endures.  Your laws endure to this day; for all things who serve You.  If Your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.  I will never forget your precepts, for by them You have preserved my life.  Save me, for I am yours; I have sought out your precepts and I will ponder your statutes.  Your commands are boundless O God.  Oh how I love your law!  I meditate on it all day long.  Your commands make me wise and to have insight so I want to obey Your Word You yourself have taught me.  How sweet are your Words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!  I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.  Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.  Accept O Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me Your laws.  Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.  My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.  I pray these things in Your Son’s Name. Amen. 

 

Go forward in FAITH my brothers and sisters in Christ.