–Andrew Weston  (Trouble on the Smoky Hill Trail)

       “Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it.”
                    –James 1:22 (CEV)
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Until we die we will be influenced by our parent’s teaching, or a parent-figure.  Hopefully, it is for good.  Some may run from it and by doing so are being influenced though in a negative way.  Read and ponder these verses from Proverbs 6 carefully; keep in mind as you read the concept of your heavenly Father giving you His instructions.

          20 — My son, keep your father’s command, and do not forsake the law of your mother.
          21 — Bind them continually upon your heart; tie them around your neck.
          23 — When you roam, they will lead you; when you sleep, they will keep you; and when you awake, they will speak with you.
          24 — For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light; reproofs of instruction are the way of life.”  (NKJV)

     Bob Beasley tells us that “God’s lessons need to be fixed in the learner’s heart if they are to be effective.  We must internalize them by contemplation and memorization, and then apply them to all the situations we encounter in our daily walk.”  I might also add that we are to be learning throughout life.  New lessons, new training that fit current life experiences.  Training is continuous throughout life.
     Learning, training, discipline–they help us avoid the pitfalls of sin.  They keep us alert and help us make wise decisions. They warn us of dangers along the pathway of life.  We need to incorporate God’s Word into every aspect of our lives to help guide us through the treachery and deceitfulness of sin that is offered to us by the world.  When we internalize, practice and obey God’s truth, we can more readily recognize the lies of the enemy.  
     “The Word of God in the mind and heart is like a guide who leads us on the safe path and protects us from attacks.  It’s also like a friend who talks to us and counsels us along the way.” (Warren Wiersbe)  The more of the Word that is in us, the more easily the Holy Spirit can aid us for He acts upon the Word that is in us.  Wiersbe also points out the negative, “If the Word is not in us there is a gradual erosion of the spiritual life, from light to darkness, and with this erosion comes a deterioration of Christian character.”
     The Word of God is like a lamp.  A light that cannot be carried with us “will be useless to a man who has to find his way home in the dark on an uneven road” (J.L. Flores).  This light comes from the Holy Spirit using the Word of God in our lives.  Wherever we go we are to walk in the light of His Word.  It reminds me of the song that was learned back in my early Sunday School days as a child, “”While walking in the light of God, I sweet communion find; I press with holy vigor on, And leave the world behind” (J.W. VanDe Venter).  This light comes from a source outside ourselves; it comes from the Holy Spirit using the Word of God in our lives.  Wherever we go we are to walk in the light of His Word!
     Look again at verses 22 and 23:

          22 — When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.
          23 — For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.  (ESV)

Notice, there is a lamp, a light to help guide our way.  Dan Dick writes, “As we grow in our Christian lives, the commandments and laws of God are like lamplight to our eyes.  They guide us and warm us, and fill us with that little something extra which makes our travel easy.”  Get in the practice of not only speaking to God in conversational prayer, but also focusing your mind on the concepts and precepts of God’s Word.  Let them filter through the issues, confrontations, battles, storms, and everyday experiences that come your way each day.
     A true warrior lives his training!  Get this!  Read these verses again.  This instruction “is a keeper, a guide, and a lamp to those only who keep it.” (Flores)  It is one thing to know and another to put what you know into practice.  We must always be learning, in training, and therefore, always putting it into practice and action.

                    –Alan LeMay  (The Unforgiven)

       “‘But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.  For in these things I delight,’ declares the LORD.”
                    –Jeremiah 9:24 (ESV)
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Always wanted to sing, never was much of a hand at it though.  In my teenage years the youth of our church would go to Denver for YFC meetings where they often had singings or if the Blackwood Brothers were nearby go listen to them.  A couple of my friends and I thought we’d give it a whirl.  We had a trio and sang in church.  Of course the church folk enjoyed seeing the youth involved; either that or they were too polite to say anything.  One day we taped ourselves and played it back.  Needless to say, that was the end of my singing days.  That to some would be a song in their ears and they were probably singing praises that I wasn’t taking it up as a profession.  
     Psalm 149 is a song of praise.  It is a call to praise God and “was used by the army of Israel as well as by the people in their worship of God” (NKJV Study Bible).   It is a new song, one that comes from the heart, one that comes from being in the family of God.  I believe that much of our praise is phony and we praise only when God intervenes in our lives, but we should be giving Him the praise all the time.  Matthew Henry wrote, “Be not afraid of saying too much in the praises of God; all the danger is of saying too little.”

          1 — Praise the LORD!  Sing to the LORD a new song, and His praise in the assembly of saints.
          2 — Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
          3 — Let them praise His name with the dance; let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
          4 — For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.  (NKJV)

     “Praising God is the highest privilege afforded to the saints.” (Steven Lawson)  If we have been born again, we have been given a new song.  Your song, my song, are similar in that respect but after that we sing from our own experiences with the Lord.  We are similar in that we recognize the glory of the Lord, of who He is, but each of us have been ministered to by the Holy Spirit in different ways, thus giving us a personal song.
     George Wood puts it this way, “Your solo is quickly surrounded by the voices of the mighty choir to which you belong.  Sorrow banished.  No tears.  Just joy–undiminished infectious joy.”  Worshiping God, giving Him praise should never become ritualistic, but should come from who we are in Him.  Remember, praise is an act of the will.  We must choose to praise Him.  We are no longer in bondage to sin, we are no longer exiled from His presence.  Why, just to think of that makes me want “to clog in the kitchen” (private joke).  But there is truth.  I’m no waltzer, and I surely don’t tip-toe through the tulips, if I do any dancing it will be clogging, or maybe now at my age, “shuffling in the hallway.”
     Lawson relates that we are to sing a new song which is the song of the redeemed.  However it can “be an old song sung in a new day with a new awareness of its truthfulness and importance.”  By praising we are “boasting in the Lord.”  Paul writes, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord,” (1 Corinthians 1:31, ESV) and again in 2 Corinthians 10:17, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (ESV)  Brag on what God has done for you.  Praise Him, boast on His glory, His working in your life, what He has done and what He will continue to do.  
     Just because I cannot carry a tune.  Just because I sound more like the howling of a wolf does not mean I do not praise or sing.  My heart is always singing.  I recall the words to a song we sang often in church when I was growing up:  

          “I have a song that Jesus gave me,
          It was sent from heav’n above;
          There never was a sweeter melody,
          ‘Tis a melody of love.

                In my heart there rings a melody,
               There rings a melody with heaven’s harmony;
               In my heart there rings a melody;
               There rings a melody of love.”
                        –Elton M. Roth

I try to begin each morning with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.  Another night, another day He has given me.  Songs ripple through my soul, and though I don’t always verbalize them, for the sake of your ears, they are there–my song of redemption, my song of praise.  Say, why don’t you add yours to it?