I’ve been meditating on the last part of Psalm 119:168, “…for all Your ways are before me.” The Lord always leads us into His ways as we walk in His paths. Psalm 23:3b says, “…He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

His ways are proven because He goes before us. Psalm 85:13 says, “Righteousness will go before Him, and shall make His footsteps our pathway.” His discipline, every adversity, trial, hardship, or impossibility that we face, is designed and orchestrated by Him.

Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

The Amplified described this process as, “…in conformity to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action…” Romans 8:29 says, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” Conformity is God’s way to enable us to reflect His character throughout every aspect of our lives. Conformity is pressure that helps us center on Him.

In Ezekiel 37:11 Israel said, “…Our bones are dry, our hope is lost…” Dialoguing in hopelessness will dry up our bones. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”

We can take a lesson from one with a merry heart. What do they think about which keeps them healthy without medicine? Jeremiah turned the corner from hopelessness to hope. Read his words of truth. 

Lamentations 3:22-24 says, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him!” I love the exclamation points in my Bible.

When we speak the truth of God’s character, His promises, or His steadfast love, it feeds our innermost being with life. It puts rebar in our sagging hearts. When we start to carry on an inner dialogue that is pulling us down, we can course correct through speaking truth to our hearts. We affirm the truth we read by making it ours through experiential knowledge.

What is your inner dialogue? Are you speaking life words that build you up and strengthen your inner man? I love Ephesians 3:16 in the Amplified. It says, “May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the (Holy) Spirit (Himself indwelling your inner most being and personality).”

When I was young, my dad built all the houses that we lived in. I so remember the rebar. I would walk in and around these steel sticks that would reinforce the structure. They were firmly set in concrete.

We are God’s building. In 1 Corinthians 3:10 Paul wrote that he had laid the foundation through the gospel. Verse 11 says, “For no other foundation can any man lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.”

Then he went on to tell them that what they added to the foundation would one day be tried by fire. Our body is supported by a foundation of bones. What we think affects our bones.

Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” What are thoughts that weaken? Negative dialogue is destructive. It is like plaque to the lining of our spiritual heart veins. It causes us to be jaded, hardened and callous.

Hebrews 3:12-13 is very descriptive. It says, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily…lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves.” That is what I cherish about Psalm 119. It is all about God’s word. Psalm 119:140 says, “Your word is very pure, therefore Your servant loves it.” Do you love God’s word? Challenging question.

Hiding His word in our heart radically affects our thoughts. It strengthens our faith by feeding our spirit man. It takes our roots deep into the soil of intimate communion with the Lord. We abide in the Vine that bears fruit for His glory. John 15:1-8.

Psalm 139:2 says, “…You understand my thought afar off.” Verse 4 says, “For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it all together.” In 1983 I was given a book to read. The title was something like “Do You Hear What You Are Thinking?”

The good news is that the Holy Spirit dwells within us. We can ask Him to convict us when our thoughts are unrighteous. That way, when He checks our spirit, we can course correct before those thoughts become words.

Memorizing Psalm 119:161-168 has been soul searching. Why? Verse 162 says, “I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure.” Verse 167-168 says, “My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies, for all my ways are before You.” 

Our faith is not a one time event when we get saved. It is daily and progressive. Our fiery trials are designed to purify our faith of hidden lies that still control our thought processes. The lies are exposed as we bring His word into our hearts.

Fiery darts come from without. If we allow them to penetrate, then they will set up a stronghold in our heart. The battle then comes from within. Remember that any thought against yourself, others, or circumstances are fiery darts. 

We are made in the image of God. Negative thoughts against ourselves or others dishonors the Lord. He orchestrates all things. Therefore a thought against circumstances He has allowed dishonors Him.

Our thoughts become words. James 3:10 says of our tongue, “With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.” Ephesians 4:29 says to impart grace to our hearers. That means our thoughts need to be kind.

Our heart is our belief center. Therefore the enemy of our soul wants to control our lives through deception. The way we guard against deception is to hide truth from God’s word into our hearts. Bank tellers in training are always given real money to feel and see, so they can recognize a counterfeit. Satan’s lies are counterfeit ~ designed to deceive his target.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.” The Greek for sound mind defines it as safe-thinking. Note from my Bible says, “The word denotes good judgment, disciplined thought patterns, and the ability to understand and make right judgments.”

Are your thoughts disciplined? Fiery darts are designed to attack our faith, and to pull us off course. I think of the word rogue. The darts seek entrance in order to build inner strongholds. 

Our mighty weapon is God’s word. 2 Corinthian 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.”

Ephesians 6:16 says that our shield of faith is able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. I love Isaiah 28:6. It says that the Lord gives, “…strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.” A locked gate is designed to protect from intruders. We can apply this verse to the entry point into our thoughts.

Psalm 119:151 says, “You are near, O Lord, and all Your commandments are truth.” Psalm 145:18 says, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.” Romans 10:8 says, “…The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart…”

I love the India missionary’s words. Amy Carmichael would say, “Lord, You are closer to me than air.” The Holy Spirit dwells within us. John 14:17. He comes alongside us to help, to teach us all things, and to bring the things Jesus said to our remembrance. John 14:25-26. 

Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Every breath we take, we are breathing in His Presence. Jeremiah 23:23-24 says, “Am I a God near at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? …do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.”

We continually breathe because He is Present. It is His breath that entered Adam’s nostrils that brought life to his form created from dust.

The four living creatures have eyes all around. I liken it to my childhood kaleidoscope. With just a slight twist of my hands the whole scene changed. Each time the creatures saw the Lord they proclaimed, “…Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

Each glimpse caused them to give glory and honor and thanks, and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lord and worshiped Him. They cast their crowns before the throne. In verse 11 they said, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”

Since these were all heavenly beings who dwelt in the Presence of the Lord, what will it be like for us when we enter eternity? I think of the chorus to the song, “When We See Christ.”

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus, life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ; one glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase, so bravely run the race till we see Christ.”

I remember the sound as we pulled into the Niagara Falls parking lot on the Canadian side. As the six of us rounded the corner, our first glimpse of the Falls captured our whole being. The scene before us was beyond words to describe. The magnitude of the power was astounding.

Psalm 119:161 says, “Princes persecute me without a cause, but my heart stands in awe of Your word.” The persecution did not distract their heart, because God’s word filled it with awe.

I like to picture Revelation 4. What an astounding scene for John to take in. The first thing he saw was God’s throne and the One who sat on it. Verse 3 says He was, “…like a jasper and a sardius stone…and there was a rainbow around the throne in appearance like an emerald.”

The next scene was around the throne. There were twenty-four thrones with twenty-four elders. Verse 5 says that from the throne, “…proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices…” In verses 6-8 the four living creatures were described. They did not rest day and night.