Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

October 13
Monday


ERASMUS

READ:
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Your Word was to me
the joy and rejoicing of
my heart.
__Jeremiah 15:16
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For centuries, many Christians were not permitted to read God's Word in their own language. Instead, they were encouraged to attend Latin services that few could understand.

Then, in 1516, the Dutch scholar Erasmus compiled and published the first New Testament in the original Greek language. This landmark work was the basis for the later publication of Luther's German Bible, Tyndale's English Bible, and the King James Version. These translations made the Scriptures understandable to millions of people around the world.

Erasmus could not have known the influence his Greek New Testament would have, but he did have a passion for getting its message to laypeople from all walks of life. In the preface he wrote: "I would have [the Gospels and the Epistles] translated into all languages .... I long for the plowboy to sing them to himself as he follows the plow [and] the weaver to hum them to the tune of his shuttle."

The prophet Jeremiah reflected this same passion for the Word: "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart" (15:16).

Having God's Word in our own language allows us to experience the joy of meditating on it each day. __Dennis Fisher
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``````````````More precious than gold is God's Word to me,`````````
``````````````Much better than pearls from deep in the sea;`````````
````````````````For in the Lord's Word I take great delight,``````````
````````````And it is my joy each day and each night. __Fitzhugh`````
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The treasures of truth in God's Word
are best mined with the spade of meditation.

***************Today's Bible Reading __ Psalm 119:17-24**********

17 Deal bountifully with
Your servant, that I may
live and keep Your word.

18 Open my eyes, that I may
see wondrous things from
Your law. 19 I am a stranger
in the earth; do not hide
Your commandments from
me. 20 My soul breaks with
longing for Your judgments
at all times. 21 You rebuke
the proud__the cursed, who
stray from Your
commandments, 22 Remove
from me reproach and
contempt, for I have kept
Your testimonies. 23 Princes
also sit and speak against
me, but Your servant
meditates on Your statutes.

24 Your testimonies also
are my delight and my
counselors.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The psalmist asked God to open his eyes (119:18). The original
Hebrew wording carries with it the idea of uncovering the mental
and spiritual faculties of the mind. God's Word is "wondrous"
because it is beyond one's power to understand without divine
help. The apostle Paul writes of the Holy Spirit's ministry to fulfill
this need for illumination of Scripture: "The natural man does not
receive the things of the Spirit of God.... But he who is spiritual
judges all things" (1 Cor. 2:14-15). Only through the Spirit can we
truly understand God's Word. It is He who will guide us into all
truth (John 16:13). __Dennis Fisher