Thank you.

Philippians 4:8 NIV

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

I am reading In Philippians today!!

CS Lewis said this in his book "The Screwtape letters." He wrote a series of letters from a senior demon to a junior demon, telling about all the ways to foil the Christian serving God. (It is not an evil book, very sophisticated and clever, in a good way.)

Anyway, one chapter was about Christians "walking close to him." They were impossible to get at and annoy, if you could even get through all those angels and bright lights.

I always smile when I realize the truth of walking with God fills us up, and obscures the demons from even seeing us.

Here is one of my favourite verses that I meditate on, all the time!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Prov. 3:5-6

This verse is often misused. People start with the second sentence, making it something they have to do in their own strength!

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7

Instead, if we are submitted to God, it will automatically happen that the devil will flee. He cannot stand before someone submitted to God.

Very glad to see you back to post. Thanks for the information about CS Lewis. Is he the same person who wrote the book "Christian Ethics." I took a class that was taught by a professor named CS Lewis in the seminary in California.

No, it is the same CS Lewis who wrote the Narnia Stories, and about 30 or 40 other books on the Christian life. He died in the early 1960s, so I doubt you took a course from him. But it is good to take a Christian Ethics course. I learned so much from mine!

An interesting thing from Greek! The word Peripateo περιπάτηω, means "walk, live." So when we walk with God, we live. And if we live for God, we will be walking with him. This is my favourite word in Greek!

So true Hereforyou, thank you for posting this!
Our pastor recently said, "We need to get God's Word in our minds because it acts as a filter. Everything that comes to us must go through the filter of God's Word before it gets to us."

Which, Pixie1, and others reminds me - what is the best way to know God's Word?

To read it! Obviously!! And also to memorize & meditate on it, as Psalm 1 says!

"1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who "meditates"!on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers." Psalm 1:1-3

Note that verse 2 talks about meditating on God's law, which is the Bible.

As far as reading the Bible, if you read 3 chapters of the OT and 1 of the NT daily, you will get through the Bible in a year. It's really important to read the Bible from Genesis 1 to Revelation 23. Read the genealogies, the hard to understand stuff too! Gradually you will understand more and more.,I'm still puzzled by Ezekiel, but not as bad as in my early readings!

By following this, I've managed to read the Bible over 50 times, in various English translations, in French, German, and several times through the NT in Koine Greek, the language the NT was written in, and a number of OT books in Biblical Hebrew! I've also read the Bible in chronological order, and once I read 5 Psalms a day, for 2 years.

I'm not special, just consistent. The first decade, I logged what I read in an old spiral notebook, then, I changed methods! The last 10 years I log it onto a monthly calendar I use to keep track of what I do, my pain levels, the meds I took. I found a chart I liked online, I've been doing that from 2007!

I think we will do a Bible reading initiative come the new year, in some of the Christian groups!!

Anyway, I appreciate your quote, Pixie1. We grow by reading God's Word. We grow by meditating on God's Word, and through prayer. We grow by being obedient to what God says in his Word. Amen!