Verse of the Day 9/28

Through the Bible - Isaiah 15-17, Isaiah 3

 

Good morning,

Faith, hope and trust are all tied together as part of "believing".  I recently read a story about John G. Patton, an early missionary to the Pacific isles.

In trying to translate the Bible into the local language.  To his dismay, he struggled to find words that would convey faith, confidence, trust and belief.

One day, the men of the village had been out hunting and were carrying their kill back to the home of the missionary.  It was a difficult trek in the hills along the equator.  The heat and humidity were oppressive.  They arrived at the house, exhausted, dropped their burden, and threw themselves down in the grass under the shade of a tree.  One of the natives said, "oh, it is good to stretch yourself out here in the shade."

The missionary had found his word.  D.G. Barnhouse writes, "Excitedly he had his companion repeat the sentence again and again..... and when the gospels were ultimately translated, this was the word that he used to convey the idea of faith and belief."

For today's verse we'll go to John 3:16 where he inserted this word.

"For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whosever "stretcheth Himself out on Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life."   John 3:16 
 or

John 3:16 (Amplified Bible) For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

He also inserted it into the following:  "Stretch yourself out on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved".

It's a picture of resting in Him, finding relief from the heat and oppression of the day, or night for that matter, such as the oppression of  the burdens in our lives.

We recently considered how we are told in the Bible "the just shall live by faith".  Barnhouse and others like John Piper have noted that it may also be stated, "the just by faith shall live".

 

Oh, trust thyself to Jesus

When daily cares perplex,

And trifles seem so mighty

Thy inner soul to vex;

Then is the hour of grasping

His hand who walked the sea;

Then is the time for singing;

"He makes it calm for me".

 

Oh, trust thyself to Jesus

When thou art full of care,

For loved  ones still refusing

Our blessed hope to share;

Then is the hour of trusting

Our Lord to bring them nigh!

Then is the time for singing,

"He loves them more  than I."

 

In what situation do you need to "stretch yourself out on Jesus" today?

Blessings,
Mike

mikevw@bellsouth.net
mikesvotd.blogspot.com

John 3:16-21 - NLT   ¹⁶ "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

 ¹⁸ "There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son. ¹⁹ And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. ²⁰ All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. ²¹ But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants."