Meditates on the Word

. . . “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
— Joshua 1:7-8 NIV

The reason for this is that when one meditates on the Word one begins to see reality from God’s perspective; one begins to see reality for what it actually is. Those who meditate on the Word become wise. David said that by meditating on God’s Word he became wiser than his enemies, teachers, and elders (Psalm 119:97-100). The wise person knows what to do and how to prosper and be successful in life. That’s why Solomon prayed for wisdom when he wanted success as King of Israel (I Kings 3).

Meditation on the Word of God is the practice of focusing one’s thoughts on the Word to reflect on it, ponder over it, memorize it, and pray about it. It helps us with what the Apostle Paul would call the “renewing of our minds” and thus keeps us from being “conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2). It should not be confused with Eastern mystical meditation. Mysticism usually involves the emptying of the mind, whereas Christian meditation involves filling the mind with the Word of God.

Don’t forget the obedience part of God’s admonition to Joshua. It doesn’t make much sense to meditate on the Word and never put it into practice. Wise people don’t just know things, they also do things.

God is after Your Heart

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

Genesis 22:2

God asked Abraham to do something that most would see as impossible to do. Why would the Almighty ask anyone to sacrifice their only son ? The answer to this question is fund in verse twelve. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” God did not need Isaac. God simply was after Abraham’s heart.

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time  and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,  I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,  and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

God does not need your money, a parade, or even your economy. He created everything and can take it all at anytime. The Lord is only after your heart. In a world where you can be anything, we should strive to be more like Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.  He had seven sons and three daughters,  and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. He also knew that without God, he was nothing.

Starting today, where is your heart ?

God set us to rule over the earth, but know that we are not god

So God created humans in his own image. He created them to be like himself. He created them male and female. God blessed them and said to them, “Have many children. Fill the earth and take control of it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
— Genesis 1:27-28

The fact that we are creatures of God made in His image means, first of all, that we are dependent upon God for our very existence. We are not God, but images of God. We are really nothing at all apart from Him.

Secondly, although we are creatures of God, we are the creatures of God that have been made in His image. We have a special status above that of the other creatures. As a result, we are able to fellowship with God and respond to His Will.

Thirdly, because we are like God we have the ability to rule over the rest of God’s creation and take control of it. This does not mean we can do whatever we want with it, because we are representing God as His vice-regents over the creation.

Finally, we rule as God’s vice-regents in fellowship with one another. It takes a lot of people to take control of the earth. No doubt that’s why God commanded us to have many children.

The biblical view is a balanced view. It does not elevate us to the status of God above us and it does not demote us to the status of the creatures below us. It does not allow us to think more highly of ourselves than we should and it does not allow us to think less of ourselves than we should.

Stop Doubting what you Ask for

. . . when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the LORD. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
— James 1:6-8 NIV
According to the Apostle Paul, there is the mind of the Spirit and there is the mind of the flesh. The mind of the flesh is the mind of an individual person governed by the sinful spiritual state, but the mind of the Spirit is the mind of an individual person governed by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:6). These two mindsets stand opposed to one another.

The mind of an individual person governed by the Spirit is the mind of a Christian who believes in faith that they have whatever good thing they ask of God (Mark 11:24). If, however, that person’s mind allows the flesh, the old sinful spiritual state that was “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 5:24), to influence its thinking, then a conflict is set up. On the one hand, there is faith in God and, on the other hand, there is doubt that God will come through.

Today, let us make up our minds that we will not allow the flesh to rob us of our peace by doubting the God who can even do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).

God approved You

When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
— Judges 6:12-16 NIV

Gideon had a low opinion of himself and his clan. His assumption was that if someone was to save Israel out of Midian’s hand, then it must be someone of greater status than him and from a stronger clan than his. It never occurred to him that God may have selected him for the task precisely because of his low status and weak clan.

The reason why God so often chooses what is low and of no account is so that the chosen will be more reliant on Him and through that reliance His glory will be magnified. God often chooses the foolish, weak, lowly, the despised, and the things that are not so that no one may boast before Him (I Corinthians 1:26-29). If God were to exclusively choose those who are high and mighty, then they might be tempted to boast of their own abilities and take credit for any successes.

If you are confronted today with a calling that seems beyond your status and abilities, then consider Gideon. It is God who makes us able, not we ourselves. Indeed, God declared Gideon to be a “mighty warrior” before he ever accomplished anything.

Knowledge begins with fear and respect for the LORD

It is for good reason, therefore, that Proverbs says that “Knowledge begins with fear and respect for the LORD” (Proverbs 1:7). Every other form of knowledge is, in the final analysis, blind without the true Knowledge of God.

Above all, then, get knowledge. In our day, that knowledge can be acquired primarily and authoritatively from the Bible.

What does the Lord Require of Me

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the LORD your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.
— Deuteronomy 10:12-13 NLT

Often we ask, “What does God expect from me?” Here Moses gives a summary that is simple in form and easy to remember. Here are the essentials: (1) Fear God; (2) Live in a way that pleases him; (3) Love him; (4) Serve him with all your heart and soul; and (5) Obey his commands. Too often we complicate faith with man-made rules, regulations, and requirements.

Are you frustrated and burned out from trying hard to please God? Concentrate on his real requirements and find peace. Respect, follow, love, serve, and obey.

Worldly is not Godly

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our LORD Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.
— Jude 1:17-19 ESV

When it comes to the Christian faith, there have always been scoffers. A scoffer is someone who casts doubt on what you believe, speaks derisively about it, scorns it and jeers at it. At the worst, a scoffer will mock what you believe. Since they themselves do not believe it, they think anyone who does is a fool.

Scoffers can, as Jude tells us, cause divisions. By introducing doubt and unbelief, they can shake up the unity of faith amongst believers. As he goes on to say in his letter, however, there are ways to handle this. Believers should build themselves up in the faith, pray in the Spirit, and keep themselves in God’s love (Jude 1:20-21).

Believers should, so Jude seems to be saying, keep doing all the things necessary to maintain our relationship to God. If we do this, then the scoffing of the scoffers will have little impact on us.

Breeding Sin

I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.
        I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But I do not excuse the guilty.
        I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren;
the entire family is affected—
even children in the third and fourth generations.
— Exodus 34:7 NLT

Why would sins affect children and grandchildren? This is no arbitrary punishment. Children still suffer for the sins of their parents. Consider child abuse or alcoholism, for example. While these sins are obvious, sins like selfishness and greed can be passed along as well.

Be careful not to treat sin casually, but repent and turn from it. The sin may cause you little pain now, but it could later sting in a most tender area of your life—your children and grandchildren.

Stay in Your Lane

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
— Romans 12:3 ESV

One of the problems common to the Christian life is finding our proper place in the body of Christ. All too often people take on positions within the body that don’t match up well with the gifts they have been given by God. For example, people who are only gifted to teach think they can also be administrators, or people only gifted to be administrators think they can also be prophets, or people only gifted to be prophets think they can also teach, etc.

A second problem common to the Christian life is finding the proper level of our place in the body of Christ. All too often people who have been gifted to operate at a lower level think they can handle more, or people who have been gifted to operate at a higher level think they don’t have to do as much as they should.

The key to the solution of both problems is the same: do everything in accordance with the faith God has given you. The key, that is, is to do what God wants, not what you want. As the Apostle Paul points out, sober judgment is required here. The great temptation is to think so highly of ourselves that we ignore what God wants from us and what He has gifted us for, both as to the kind and as to the level. The great temptation is to use our judgment in the power of the flesh rather than in the power of the Spirit.

True Christian faith is always properly oriented to God’s revelation of Himself and His Will. We can save ourselves a lot of grief and heartache by taking the time to discern what God’s Will is in these matters by taking the time to use sober judgment guided by faith born of the Spirit.