Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
The apostle James said that we are to lay aside the ways of the world. We lay aside the ways of the world by embracing the ways of God. How do we know the ways of God? We know the ways of God by growing in knowing God. When we meditate upon what God has said in the past, we position ourselves to recognize His voice in the present moments of our lives. His instruction to us is not our goal. Knowing Him is our goal. Knowing His heart and knowing His way is the focus of our pursuit of meditating upon His words. His implanted word comes by knowing Him in our hearts and minds. It is not informational. It is transformational.
James 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Being a doer of God’s word is easier when we realize His words are expressions of who He is. His written word and His personal words to our hearts are expressions of who He is. Being a doer of God’s word is the fruit of a relationship with Him. The law of liberty is different than a law of obligation. When we approach God’s word to us as mere instructions, we can become bound to rules and obligations. When we approach God’s word as His expression of life to us, we become inspired to respond to what He says to us today and what He has said in the past. Responding to His words to us causes His word to become a part of who we are. This produces a law of liberty that leads to life.
How can we continue in the law of liberty. Paul wrote that when we turn to the Lord, we experience the Spirit of the Lord that brings true liberty (2 Cor. 2:18). Embracing God’s presence is embracing His life-transforming desires. His presence activates our spirits to inspire our souls with God inspired thoughts, reasoning, imagination, emotions, and desires. When we think on God, we open the soil of our hearts and minds for His presence to inspire us and change us from within. The fuel for proper meditation upon God’s word is found through a personal relationship with God. Our personal testimonies with God are the strength of our meditation to know Him more fully.
Psalms 119:99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Your precepts. 101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word. 102 I have not departed from Your judgments, for You Yourself have taught me. 103 How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
There is a difference between theological fact and living truth. A theological fact is distant and detached from a person’s life. Truth is alive, creative, supernatural, and life changing. Our meditation upon the testimonies of God is a meditation upon the truth of who He is. We must fill our hearts and minds with thoughts of knowing God as our Father and friend.
Meditation is not the emptying of your mind as in transcendental meditation or other Eastern religions. Biblical meditation is the filling of your mind and keeping it full. We fill our mind with God’s expressions to us. Even our study of His written word is meant to inspire our personal connection to Him in our heart and mind.
The meditation of God’s word is the filling of your life with God’s word to be filled with God’s presence. As leaders we set an example for others to follow. We inspire them to meditate upon God’s word to know who God is in their lives. Leaders lead others in relationship with God.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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