Meditation: May 29, 2014

TODAYS WORD FOR THURSDAY MAY 29, 2014.

MEDITATION

DEFINITION:

To engage in deep thought or contemplation; continued or extended thought about God’s Word.

SCRIPTURE:

When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:4

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

At the time Nehemiah wrote these words (verse above) Nehemiah was living in exile. Nehemiah remained faithful to God in spite of his captivity. God had allowed Babylon to conquer Israel and Judah because they had turned away from God. The Babylonians sacked and destroyed and nearly depopulated Jerusalem, the Jews’ Holy city. It was this distressing news that brought Nehemiah to his knees in prayer and meditation for days.

There are not many believers today that spend much time in prayer and meditation, let alone days. Sometimes it takes great distress to bring us to our knees and back to spending time in prayer and meditating on God’s Word.

Our time that we spend with the Lord has a dramatic impact on our daily life. When we set aside periods to meditate upon His Word and listen to what He is telling us, we will start to notice both subtle and dramatic changes taking place in our life. Three things come to mind as to what we can expect from God.

We will begin to gain a godly perspective on where we are and where we are going in life. In Ephesians chapter 1, Paul shows that he was mindful of this. He actively prayed for himself and others to have the Lord’s outlook. When we start to see with enlightened eyes, the world, along with its joy and pain, becomes much clearer, as does our understanding of how God would have us deal with circumstances we face in life.

Secondly, when we spend time with God it will cause the pressures of life to dissipate. Jesus warned His disciples that they would face trouble in this world, just as each of us will, but He assured them that they had no reason to be afraid. Why fear a foe that Christ has already conquered --- the temptations of Satan.

Finally, meditation brings peace to one’s heart. In this troubled world, we frequently find ourselves in need of a quiet heart that can only be attained through Jesus (John 14:27). Paul tells us in Philippians 4:7 that the world is not even capable of understanding God’s peace.

There are also rewards that God has promised us when we take time to meditate. Meditation brings to us a genuine personal closeness to God. This closeness comes from us spending quality time with Him.

Our meditation enables us to develop a pure heart. Spending time with the Lord through prayer and reading his Word will bring to the surface those things in our heart that do not belong there. When we allow our relationship with the Lord to permeate the darkest places of our heart, we will yield to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and accept our father’s amazing love and forgiveness.

When God commissioned Joshua to be Israel’s leader after the death of Moses, God gave Joshua this command and promise in Joshua 1:8:

“Do not let the Book of the Law depart from your mouth, 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.”

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 4:13.

I can do all things through Him whom strengthens me.

PRAYER:

Teach me to establish time daily to meditate in Your presence. May this be a time for me to grow in my love to You and a time for You to equip me to be Your servant to this sinful and cruel world.