Showing posts with label God's Word. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's Word. Show all posts
Practical Ways of Meditating on God's Word
10/05/2007
To meditate on God's word means to think about it, ponder it, roll it over in your mind, and try to apply it to every area of your life. But what does this look like practically? Here are a few practical ways to meditate on God's word.
- Write as you read. Writing out my thoughts as I read my Bible has probably been the best thing I've ever done when it comes to meditating on the word of God. It forces me to carefully think through each verse, keeps me from being distracted as I read, and helps me clearly articulate my thoughts. When I get distracted, I can simply look at the last thing I wrote and pick up my train of thought where I left off. Here's some practical advice: get a journal and pen that makes it fun to write. Don't use a twenty cent Bic pen and sheet of construction paper. Go get yourself a Moleskine journal and a nice pen, it'll be worth it.
- Pray as you read. Praying through God's word has also been extremely helpful for me. The Holy Spirit speaks to me as I'm reading scripture, and prayer is the only fitting response. For example, recently I read Colossians 1:13-14, which says, "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." As I read these verses, my heart was filled with gratefulness to God for delivering me from darkness, leading me to pray prayers of grateful adoration. I didn't wait until after I was done reading to lift my voice in gratitude. I prayed as soon as I became aware of God speaking to me.
- Memorize scripture. This is the area I've struggled the most in recent years. It feels really difficult, and even boring at times to memorize scripture. But in His kindness, God has recently shown me the need to memorize scripture, to store it away in my heart. So for the past month or so, I've started every devotional time by taking a few minutes to memorize a scripture, with the goal of memorizing one verse a week. What's been the effect of this? I now have the sweet truth of God stored away in my heart, ready for quick access in my time of need. When I'm weary, I remember that I can do all things through Christ. When I'm tempted to be proud, I remember that God is drawn to the humble. The Holy Spirit uses these verses to speak to me and convict me. Now I'm seeking to take these verses that I've memorized and meditate on them at the mundane points of the day, like when I'm falling asleep, or in the shower, or driving to work. I want to store God's word in my heart.
Stable In The Storm
10/04/2007
You can tell the substance of a person's character by how they respond to trials. My grandma, who is now with Christ in heaven, was a prime example of this. For sixteen years she endured terrible joint pain as a result of rheumatoid arthritis. Yet I never once heard her complain against God, or grumble under her affliction. She was always cheerful, always ready to sing a song, always ready to bless those around her. How did she maintain such joy in the midst of such pain? She began each morning in the same way: with a banana milkshake and the word of God. She rose at 6 AM to listen to the preached word of God, to read the word of God, and to listen to worship songs. My grandma was stable through the storms of life because she delighted in the Bible.
Psalm 1:1-4 says:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.Notice the contrast in these verses. The righteous man is stable, like a tree planted by streams of water. The wicked on the other hand, are blown away by the storms of life, like chaff in the wind. The secret to spiritual stability is regular meditation on God's word.
Those who aren't rooted in the word of God are blown away by the trials of life. When a trial comes, they lose their peace, their marriage suffers, joy is nonexistent, and life itself becomes drudgery. On the other hand, those who have sunk their roots deep into the word of God flourish in the midst of trials. The word of God allows us to stand in the eye of the storm, to be at peace when life is dissolving around us.
I want spiritual stability. I know without a doubt that I'll suffer in this life, and I want to be prepared for that suffering. I want peace in the midst of suffering, to be able to rest in the midst of the storm. I don't want to be blown about by the trials that come my way. So I must meditate on the word of God. Every time I crack open my Bible, I am sinking my roots just a bit deeper into the soil of God's word. I am readying myself for the storm.
Do you want to flourish in the midst of suffering? Then sink your roots deep into God's word.
WWJOS? (What Would Joel Osteen Say?)
10/03/2007
How does one live a spiritually prosperous life that pleases God? In his mega bestselling book "Your Best Life Now", Joel Osteen says that you need to, "Enlarge Your Vision, Develop a Healthy Self-Image, Discover the Power of Your Thoughts and Words, Let go of the Past, Find Strength Through Adversity, Live to Give, and Choose to Be Happy". As well meaning as Joel Osteen may be, I believe that he's got it wrong. Listen to Psalm 1:1-3:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
Did you catch that last line? In all that he does, he prospers. This is incredible. The secret to living a spiritually prosperous life is before our very eyes. If I want to prosper spiritually, I must be regularly meditating on God's word. This is so simple, yet so profound!
I want to do well spiritually, don't you? I want to have a deep, soul-satisfying relationship with Jesus Christ. I want to overcome my sin. I hate my pride, my anxiety, my fear of man, and my selfishness, and I want to kill it. I want to be faithful to my wife until I die, and to raise my daughter in the fear of the Lord. Point blank, I want to prosper spiritually. But how do I get there? How do I get to this point? By meditating on God's word, day in and day out. By reading my Bible every morning, and memorizing scripture in the shower, and listening to sermons in the car, and reading books written by godly Christians. I must meditate on God's word.
The truth is, I won't grow if I'm not seeking to apply God's word to my life. But the good news is, God wants me to grow. He wants me to prosper spiritually, and to have a deep, vigorous relationship with Him. He doesn't want me to be blown about spiritually. And so He gave me a book, The Book.
Do I treasure The Book? Do I meditate on and memorize The Book? Is The Book precious to me? Take time to consider these questions today. I want to prosper spiritually, and so I want to know The Book.
I want to do well spiritually, don't you? I want to have a deep, soul-satisfying relationship with Jesus Christ. I want to overcome my sin. I hate my pride, my anxiety, my fear of man, and my selfishness, and I want to kill it. I want to be faithful to my wife until I die, and to raise my daughter in the fear of the Lord. Point blank, I want to prosper spiritually. But how do I get there? How do I get to this point? By meditating on God's word, day in and day out. By reading my Bible every morning, and memorizing scripture in the shower, and listening to sermons in the car, and reading books written by godly Christians. I must meditate on God's word.
The truth is, I won't grow if I'm not seeking to apply God's word to my life. But the good news is, God wants me to grow. He wants me to prosper spiritually, and to have a deep, vigorous relationship with Him. He doesn't want me to be blown about spiritually. And so He gave me a book, The Book.
Do I treasure The Book? Do I meditate on and memorize The Book? Is The Book precious to me? Take time to consider these questions today. I want to prosper spiritually, and so I want to know The Book.
I Hate Growth Spurts
10/02/2007
Growth spurts are awkward things. At least they are for boys. The simple truth is that it's impossible to look cool during a growth spurt. First, your clothes don't fit right. All your pants are two inches too short and long sleeves tend to ride up around the elbows, giving you a slight hobo look. You no longer walk, you just gangle along, with arms and legs flying every direction. Growth spurts do weird things to your skin as well, and your once smooth baby-face is overrun by a minefield of pimples. Growth spurts are painful, which is why I'm glad they don't happen too often.
I do wish however, that I would experience more spiritual growth spurts. Most of the time my spiritual growth seems so painfully slow. I just wish I could overcome sin in one, explosive, life-changing moment, and be free of it forever. But as I've read the scriptures, I've come to see that the biblical pattern of spiritual growth is slow and steady. Listen to the words of Psalm 1:1-3
I do wish however, that I would experience more spiritual growth spurts. Most of the time my spiritual growth seems so painfully slow. I just wish I could overcome sin in one, explosive, life-changing moment, and be free of it forever. But as I've read the scriptures, I've come to see that the biblical pattern of spiritual growth is slow and steady. Listen to the words of Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.The truth is, most spiritual growth is slow, and is the result of consistent meditation on and application of God's word. We long for quick spiritual growth, for mountain top moments when we encounter God and are instantly changed. We go to conferences and buy books in the hope of quickly overcoming our sin. But pay close attention to the word pictures used in this Psalm. The blessed man is like a tree planted by a stream of water. Spiritual growth is quiet and consistent, not quick and explosive, and it comes from regular meditation on God's word.
My dad has lived this Psalm for the past twenty-five years, and his life bears the fruit. He begins each morning in the Word of God, reading it, studying it, pondering it, and applying it to his life. The result? My dad is godly, full of joy, a spiritual rock, and a fruitful laborer for God. I want to be like my dad.
These verses should give us such hope! We have hope for change, hope for spiritual growth, hope for overcoming our sin. God doesn't want our spiritual lives to become stagnant, He wants to help us grow. He gave us His sacred word so that we might have a deep, soul-satisfying relationship with Him. Do you feel discouraged by a lack of growth in your life? This should give you new hope. If you take God's word to heart, you will grow. So by God's grace, let us resolve to make meditation on God's word a daily part of our lives. Do you desire to grow in godliness? The word of God is the key.
Why I Practice Meditation
10/01/2007
I've discovered the secret to living a blessed life. After years of searching in every corner of the world, reading the writings of ancient mystics, and spending approximately two-thirds of my income on QVC, I've discovered the secret to being blessed. Actually, I've never done any of those things. I've never been outside North America, never read anything by a mystic, and never spent a dollar on QVC (although I would kill for George Foreman grill). I discovered the secret while laying on my bed, pondering the words of Psalm 1:1-2, which says:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
There it is, plain and simple, the secret to living a blessed life. If I want to be blessed, I must spend time meditating on the Word of God, so that I might apply God's word to my life. That's it, that's the secret. God has told us the secret to being blessed, and it's so gloriously simple it hurts.
There's a lot of people telling us how to live a blessed life. The world tells us that blessing is found in a good job, or lots of money, or a beach house, or three cars, or a good education, or in saving the environment, or in social justice, or in a thousand other things. But scripture is clear. Do you want to be blessed and experience the joy of knowing God Himself? Then meditating on God's word is essential. And we can't just do this once a month, or once a week on Sundays. The truth is, the more we meditate on God's word, the more blessing we'll experience.
What does it mean to meditate on God's word? It means to think about it, ponder it, roll it over in your mind, and try to apply it to every area of your life. It means taking each scripture and making every effort to understand and obey it.
Do I meditate on God's word day and night, as this Psalm calls me to do? No, but I want to. I want to experience God's blessing and joy. Do you want to experience that? Meditation is the key.
There's a lot of people telling us how to live a blessed life. The world tells us that blessing is found in a good job, or lots of money, or a beach house, or three cars, or a good education, or in saving the environment, or in social justice, or in a thousand other things. But scripture is clear. Do you want to be blessed and experience the joy of knowing God Himself? Then meditating on God's word is essential. And we can't just do this once a month, or once a week on Sundays. The truth is, the more we meditate on God's word, the more blessing we'll experience.
What does it mean to meditate on God's word? It means to think about it, ponder it, roll it over in your mind, and try to apply it to every area of your life. It means taking each scripture and making every effort to understand and obey it.
Do I meditate on God's word day and night, as this Psalm calls me to do? No, but I want to. I want to experience God's blessing and joy. Do you want to experience that? Meditation is the key.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
