The Protection of Meditation

PSALM 119:9-16

How can a young man cleanse his way?

By taking heed according to Your word.

10 

With my whole heart I have sought You;

Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!

11 

Your word I have hidden in my heart,

That I might not sin against You.

12 

Blessed are You, O Lord!

Teach me Your statutes.

13 

With my lips I have declared

All the judgments of Your mouth.

14 

I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,

As much as in all riches.

15 

I will meditate on Your precepts,

And contemplate Your ways.

16 

I will delight myself in Your statutes;

I will not forget Your word.

NKJV www.biblegateway.com

If there were a seminar on overcoming sin, many Christians would sign up, hoping to discover the secret to victory over their temptations. But the answer isn't elusive; it's right under our nose. All we need to do is open our Bible. Every answer the psalmist gives to his initial question of how to keep our ways pure involves Scripture.

   LIVE ACCORDING TO GOD'S WORD  (Psalm 119:9-10). This means we must spend time reading and meditating on Scripture in order to know what it says and means. But that alone isn't enough to guard us from sin; we must obey it.

   TREASURE GOD'S WORD IN YOUR HEART (v. 11). Since temptation usually comes unexpectedly, we must be prepared for it even when we can't grab a Bible. That's why having Scripture stored in our mind and heart is so important.

   REJOICE IN GOD'S WORD (v. 14). There is great joy and peace that comes with knowing Scripture. In fact, it should be worth more to us than all the wealth and possessions this world offers.

   MEDITATE ON GOD'S WORD (v. 15). We must take time to attune our heart and mind to the Lord, ponder His words, and receive the Spirit's help translating His instructions for our particular situation. This isn't a rushed process; it's a slow yielding of ourselves to the truths we read as we discover how to apply them. And consistency may require a deliberate commitment.

   When we faithfully practice biblical meditation, we will discover that the Holy Spirit has been busy transforming our thoughts, emotions, and actions so we'll be more pleasing to God and less attracted to sinful pleasures. That is good news!

Stanley, Charles F. "The Protection of Meditation," In Touch: Daily Readings For Devoted Living, February 2019, Atlanta: In Touch Ministries Inc. page 13.

My prayer for myself is that I will have the strength to put into practice what I have just read!!!

Easy to Say, Difficult to Do

Matthew 5:10-12

¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. NIV Bible Gateway.com

   God's commands sometimes defy human logic. Take, for example, the command to rejoice in persecution. It doesn't make sense until we realize the effect of praise - it keeps us focused upon the Lord and the good things that He can bring out of hardship.
   The apostle Paul faced greater abuse and suffering than most of us every will. He was beathen, put on trial, and imprisoned, yet he looked beyond those difficulties to what the Lord was accomplishing through his life. That is, though he didn't rejoice that he was a captive, he was able to celebrate the great ministry he had amond his prison guards.
   If we believe God is in control and keeps His promises, then we must trust in the principle of Romans 5:3-5. This passage assures us that our hardships have a purpose. Specifically, they develop our endurance, strengthen our character, and solidify our hope. Two immediate blessings of suffering are the deepening of our faith and the preparation for greater service to the kingdom. We're able to rejoice because we are maturing believers whom God can use for His purposes.
   The Lord will bring good from our persecution, just as He did for Paul. But if we allow doubt to cloud our faith, we won't be able to rejoice in what He is doing in and through our lives. And if we can't rejoice, we are in danger of giving up before God's good work can be completed. Rejoicing keeps us focused upon the Lord and His purpose so that we may see our trial through to the end and receive our reward. 
Stanley, Charles F. "Easy to Say, Difficult to Do." In Touch: Daily Readings For Devoted Living August 2016. Atlanta: In Touch Ministries. page 9.  

Created to Praise

Psalm 103

Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness

A Psalm of David.

103 Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the Pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live[a]
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord works vindication
    and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
    his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
    nor will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
    nor requite us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children,
    so the Lord pities those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
    he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass;
    he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
    and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
    upon those who fear him,
    and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
    and remember to do his commandments.

19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
    and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his word,
    hearkening to the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
    his ministers that do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
    in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul! RSV https://www.biblegateway.com

   Do you ever wonder why you exist? Day-to-day activities and worries pull us in so many directions that most of us seldom think about the goal of life. But our Creator made us with a purpose: to glorify Him (Isa. 43:7).

   In His Word, God is emphatic that we are to testify to His faithfulness and His mighty works. Jesus Christ considered this important as well -when teaching His disciples how to communicate with God, He began His well-known prayer with adoration of His Father (Matt. 6:9).
   Why, then, do we tend to give so much attention to our petitions but so little to praising God? Perhaps some believers consider themselves too time-constrained to spend "extra" prayer time praising he Lord. Others may feel awkward expressing their gratitude to Him. Yet no excuses are acceptable. Psalm 103:2 tells us to remember God's benefits so we will humbly glorify Him. This psalm also explains how to lift the Father up with words - specifically, we should praise God for His character and for His work in the past, present, and future (vv. 2-8, 19).

   The Old Testament's primary words for "praise" refer to spoken words, music, and gestures like raising hinds and dancing. But we can also glorify Him in other ways, such as through actions, thoughts, and creativity.

   Praise may be something foreign to you. But it's the very purpose for which you were created. Observe how the Father is exalted in the Psalms and throughout the Bible. Then worship Him with praise as you spend time basking in His presence today.

Stanley, Charles F. In Touch: Daily Readings for Devoted Living. January 2016. Atlanta, page 8.

Developing Godly Friendships

A man who has friends must himself be friendly.

Proverbs 18:24 NKJV

   The Lord desires for you to have an intimate relationship with Him, but He doesn't stop there. He wants you to have enriching fellowship with other people as well. When you are lonely, you are to turn first to the Father. But you can also rely upon the people He has placed in your life.

   Friend, God has given you people to love. They may not be the ones you wish you had a relationship with, but the Lord has placed them in your life for a purpose. And your loneliness will be remedied by interaction with them rather than by an escape into fantasy or other addictive behavior.

   One of the greatest blessings in life is a godly friend. So don't be reluctant to call upon your loved ones when you experience moments of loneliness, grief, debilitating loss, or profound despair. He has placed other people in your life to love you, spend time with you, and help you break through the wall of separation you feel from the world.

   Therefore, don't remain isolated. Reach out to others and thank God for your friendships.

Father, lead me to godly friends who

demonstrate Your love and faithfulness. And

help me to be that friend to others, amen.

In His presence. . . turn toward godly friends.

Stanley, Charles F. "Developing Godly Friendships." Every Day in His Presence: 365 Devotions. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. page 381.

Experiencing Go Through Prayer

Experiencing God Through Prayer by Madame Guyon

   The reader finds on page nine that God delights when we come to Him in simple, childlike confidence.

   Madame Guyon teaches this simple truth and childlike confidence. We must learn to pray from our heart, not from our head. She explains how to sit quietly (while being active) and wait on God.

   “I would emphasis my statement to you-you are called to enjoy God-not only His gifts to you…

   The whole desire of our heavenly Father is to give Himself to every creature according to the capacity in which we will receive Him.”

   This is a small book of only 90 pages, yet it is difficult to try to limit the wisdom and knowledge to just one page.

   Starting on page 31 of chapter 7 The Bitter and the Sweet reads:

   “Be patient, dear ones, during suffering. It was through His suffering on Calvary that Jesus gave the greatest display of love.

   Don't be like those who give themselves to Jesus at one season only to withdraw from Him at another. They give themselves to Him only to be caressed, yet when in times of trouble, they turn back to man for consolation.

   No, beloved friends, you will not find consolation in anything other than the love of the cross and total abandonment. If you will not savor the cross you cannot savor the things of God. (See Matthew 16:23).

   It is impossible to love God without loving the cross. If you savor the cross, you will find even the most bitter things to be sweet.

   ‘To the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet’ (Proverbs 27:7), because it finds itself hungering for God in the same proportion as it is hungering for the cross...

   Jesus Christ Himself chose to endure the utmost severity of the cross...

   (John 14:6)  Abandon [surrender] yourself then in Jesus. Follow Him as the way. Wait for Him to reveal truth to you. Allow Him to animate us with life.

   Abandonment [surrender] is the means God uses to reveal His mysteries to us.

   To bear all the marks of Jesus Christ is much greater than merely meditating on them. Paul said, ‘I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus’ (Gal 6:17). He does not say he merely thought about them, he says he bore them.

   As you abandon yourselves to Jesus, He will reveal those marks to you. You have no choice but to reach after Him. Dwell with Him. Sink into nothingness before Him.

   Accept indiscriminately all His gifts whether sweetness or bitterness. Let nothing retard your course for even one moment...

   If you sincerely love God, you will love all that belongs to Him.”

   In another chapter we read, “The only genuine means of bringing about change is by inward means. You must commit yourself wholly into the hands of a loving God. The simple act of commitment in every circumstance where self exerts itself will, in time, produce a separation of the sensual from the spiritual…

   The nearer your spirit draws to God, the further you become separated from the soulish demands…

   God himself will show you the areas of your life which need attention. Those who are  faithfully abandoning all to God will indeed be purified, polished, and perfected in His timing…”

   A quote from the chapter entitled Matters of the Heart. “Sin takes possession of the soul deficient in faith and prayer. If we would but teach our wandering brethren to simply believe and diligently pray, rather than engaging them in endless reasoning's, we would lead them sweetly into the arms of God.” And for references Madame Guyon gives Psalm 19:7, 119:130; Matthew 19:14, 11:25.

   Other chapter titles include: Thirsting For God, Scriptural Meditation, Surviving Dry Periods, Distractions, Put Off The Old, The Reward of Silence.

   Could our goals in life, our aim for class members, this book and the other resources we use as tools be:

   “To teach man to seek God in his heart, to think of Him, to return to Him whenever he has wandered, and to have a single eye to please Him, is leading that person to the source of all grace. There he will find everything necessary for sanctification…

   Teach the young to pray, not by reasoning or by method or by understanding, but by the prayer from the heart-the prayer of God’s Spirit rather than man’s invention…

   There is no better way to learn how to love God than to simply love Him.”

Praise God

“Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! ²Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. ³Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. ⁴Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. ⁵For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations..” Psalm 100 NKJ translation

A Song of Praise for the Faithfulness to His People

There are times when we do not feel like shouting to the Lord. How can we understand what is going on? How do we handle this season of our life?

The spiritual battle is in the mind, and if we don’t renew and discipline our minds by choosing the truth, we will likely lose the battle. The stakes are huge. To lose could mean personal destruction, alienation and bondage. It is a battle, not a game, and Satan is determined to inflict as much damage as he can.

The good news!

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

1 Corinthians 10:13

God has promised to provide a way of escape for every temptation. We are promised that no temptation will come our way that is not common to everyone else, and God will enable us to withstand every one. The key to victory is to practice threshold thinking.

Every temptation comes by way of an initial thought to your mind. It matters not whether the thought is from your own carnal nature, the world or the devil. If you ruminate on that thought and consider it an option, you will eventually act on it, and that’s sin. Instead, Paul instructs us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ ( see 2 Cor. 10:5b). The first step for escaping temptation is to apprehend every thought as soon as it steps through the doorway of your mind.

…We have to practice the presence of God and assume 24-hour responsibility for our thoughts. Hannah Whitall Smith said that our thoughts are what we feed on and what determines our spiritual vitality. Hannah wrote: Very few persons realize the effect of thought upon the condition of the soul, that is in fact its food, the substance from which it evolves its strength and health and beauty, or upon which it may become weak and unhealthy and deformed. The things we think about are the things we feed upon. If we think low and corrupt thoughts, we bring diseases upon our soul, just as we bring diseases upon our body by eating corrupt and improper food. If we will take the words of God, that is, His revealed truth, into our lips and eat it; that is, if we will dwell upon His words…we will find that our soul-life is fed and nourished by them, and is made strong and vigorous in consequence.

Have you understood how important your thought life is for living a responsible and victorious life? What negative patterns of thinking get you into trouble or weigh you down? Can you identify these thoughts and stop them at the threshold of your mind?

Resource material used One Day at a Time Mike & Julia Quarles page 332-334 also The Bondage Breaker, Neil Anderson, p 138 and The Common-Sense Teaching of the Bible, Hannah Whitall Smith pp 25-28

There are times when we do not feel like shouting to the Lord. How do we handle this season of our life? Marie Hearn has suggested starting with the book of Psalms and highlighting the words “praise God.” When unable to clearly think, read, or pray, read these highlighted areas aloud to Jesus and pray for clarity and a renewed sense of joy.