Roots by the River

Does Psalm 112 Describe you? Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord,     who find great delight in his commands. 2 Their children will be mighty in the land;     the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in their houses,     and their righteousness endures forever. 4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,     for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. 5 Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,     who conduct their affairs with justice. 6 Surely the righteous will never be shaken;     they will be remembered forever. 7 They will have no fear of bad news;     their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. 8 Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;     in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. 9 They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,     their righteousness endures forever;     their horn will be lifted high in honor. 10 The wicked will see and be ve...

The next few posts will be on effective teaching. First, pay attention to the commands. “...teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) He does not say “teaching them everything I have commanded you.” We are not teaching the commands; we are to teach obedience to the commands. We may not know how to teach obedience; we do know how to teach information. We can grade that. We cannot grade obedience. So our Secondary Schools, catechisms, Bible schools, Seminaries, sound churches teach the commands. Teaching obedience means teaching the heart. Teaching commands means teaching the head. Head commands might get will-power obedience, or legalism, or rebellion. It is not the same as heart obedience. Heart obedience is grace obedience.