The Devotional - 1511 - Dual Natures

The Devotional – 1511 –Dual Natures

Psalm 119:73-80 – Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. Those who fear You will be glad when they see me, because I have hoped in Your word. I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to Your word to Your servant. Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; for Your law is my delight. Let the proud be ashamed, for they treated me wrongfully with falsehood; but I will meditate on Your precepts. Let those who fear You turn to me, those who know Your testimonies. Let my heart be blameless regarding Your statutes, that I may not be ashamed. 

Comments and Challenges: JOD

1.       73 – Your Hands have made me and formed me. Give me understanding that I may learn Your COMMANDMENTS.

2.       74 – Those who Fear You will see me and be glad, because I have put my hope in Your WORD.

3.       75 – YAHWEH, I know Your JUDGMENTS are righteous, that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

4.       76 – Please let Your loving kindness be for my comfort, according to Your WORD to Your servant.

5.       77 – Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live, for Your LAW is my delight.

6.       78 – Let the proud be disappointed, for they have overthrown me wrongfully.

7.       79 – Let those who Fear You turn to me. They will know Your STATUTES.

8.       80 – Let my heart be blameless toward Your DECREES, that I may not be disappointed.

In Genesis we can read and KNOW that we are made in the image and likeness of God [Genesis 1:26-28] and we can also KNOW that after the failure of Adam and Eve, SIN entered the life of every human in time from that point on. Notice [Genesis 5:1-3]. From this knowledge we can UNDERSTAND that the life of every human being has “TWO” natures. One: A Spiritual nature and Two: a human nature, the one nature formed in us by the Living God and the second, a nature of selfishness, begotten of our father and in his likeness.

No doubt that, if you have lived for any length of time, then you know the struggle between these two natures; the one is GOOD and the other is EVIL. We all do what we desire to do in this struggle, some folks are moral and some are immoral and there are billions who travel the pathway in between who say that their GOOD outweighs their EVIL, when in fact; all three categories are evil, when separated from God: Ezekiel 18:19-32, so be a good neighbor; turn and live.

There are those however of come to FEAR the LORD. Not in the sense of being AFRAID of God, but in the sense of knowing that they have a SOUL created in the image and likeness of God. Psalm 42:1-11 has a lot to say about our desire to live for and is a help to understand this YEARNING/FEAR of our soul’s desire for God. These are those men and women, children too who believe the gospel; Romans 10:8-13.

Those who likewise FEAR for God are glad to be associated with us; we are brothers and sisters in our relationship to JESUS because He has given us UNDERSTANDING and COMFORT. This is the REST that our SOUL is in search of. These are the things that are hidden from the self-made wise and the selfishly prudent person, but revealed to those who have FAITH. A personal faith in Jesus Christ who describes TRUE REST as the one who comes to Him; Matthew 11:25-30.

The word “yoke” in Matthew 11:30, means to be “coupled to”. I think that this is a wonderful thought in that our soul “pants” like a runner out of breath; but when JESUS comes into our life, his burden is not to cause us more “stress and unrest” but to link us up with Him in order that He may take away all of our stress and unrest replacing it with His REST. I hope it is your desire as it is mine to REJOICE in the LORD who makes living in Him worth.

There is so much to say about living out of our SOUL, rather than living out of our HEART that we could spend the day writing and still have much more to say. The writer of Psalm 119 knows this first hand. He knows he has been afflicted, he knows he wants to live on and he knows he will continue to live by the grace of God. Therefore he is willing to mediate on God’s PRECEPTS. How about it? Are you willing to REST in God’s PRECEPTS all the day long and really LIVE?