 |
| "I will mediate on Your precepts and contemplate Your ways" (Ps. 119:15) |
Reading God's word is only the beginning to a blessed and bountiful life! It is important that you understand what you read so you can obey what the Word says (Psalms 119:34)
Sermons are great motivators for holy living; music and worship wonderful tools to usher us into God's presence. But what do you do when you get there? Your mind must be joined with the Almighty in a supernatural way (Isaiah 55:8) to receive the power you need to live a blessed life!
This only happens when you read God's Word and then stop long enough to think about what it says. This is called Scripture Meditation. Unlike Transcendental meditation, it is not an emptying of the mind, but filling it with the precepts, principles, and thoughts of God, Himself! (2 Timothy 3:16).
As before, I don't want to jump into our Biblical Alphabet without a few practical helps. Meditation is above all, a mental discipline! Don't be discouraged or frustrated when you find it difficult to concentrate. In many ways you are deprogramming yourself from all the junk the world has been distracting us with for years! It may take awhile to get the hang of it! Don't give up!
--A quick review from last week: Find a quiet place, unplug from all technical devices and find a translation of the bible that you actually understand! (I suggest New Living Translation, Good News, or Living Bible if you 're just beginning to read faithfully or the NIV as a good jumping off place for other translations you might desire later!)
--Don't rely too heavily on notes or commentaries from Bible experts. Meditation is about listening to what God says to "YOU" about what you have read. Besides Bible scholars will often conflict in their meaning about a passage. Their words are not inspired but God's Word is!!
Now taking a few more letters from our Bible Alphabet let's go further in and deeper down into His word with some Meditation Techniques:
P ray for help! Meditation of Scripture is the ultimate target in Spiritual Warfare. The enemy doesn't want you to know God's word and you will not be able to understand it or obey it without the Holy Spirit's help. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
R ead God's Word for yourself. Read thoughtfully, patiently, repeatedly, selectively, purposefully, and always PRAYERFULLY! (Ps. 119:15)
T hink about what you have read. This is where I admonish you again to read in small doses, a few verses at a time. We want God's word to saturate not drown you! I also warn against an old tactic some have used: Open up a closed bible and wherever the pages fall, start reading! This is a sure fire way to be misled and misinformed regarding bible context and true understanding.
P ray again and again. As God begins to talk to you through meditation you must listen carefully. Be prepared to confess sins you might not have been aware you committed. Ask for courage to fulfill His desires that may conflict with your own. All are necessary for the critical next step!
O bey what God has told you to do. Now this is where you need not do a lot of thinking! Obey immediately, obey with confidence, obey trusting God for the results and/or consequences! For one to know what to do what is right and not to do it is a sin. (James 4:17)
UNTIL NEXT TIME...
If you would like to leave a comment please send an email to: sisters4sisters@att.net OR scroll to the bottom of my blog page at http://alittlewiser63.blogspot.com click on the no comments by the pencil and it will change to a writing space.
Sis, Betts pastor mention in his sermon that translations of the bible are not inspired, we sont have the original writings (thar was inspired) houw can we trust God breathe the words on the teanslations we use? why do many consider the KJV so holy? Considering what an awedul criminal he was.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the misspelled words I don't know how to edit this comment.
DeleteGood questions my sister! Let me deal with the last one first. According to 2Timothy 3:16, All scripture is inspired....if what you are reading is coming from a reliable source--God! The Bible's original texts were written by 40 men, on 3 continents, over a period of 1500 years. Written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, languages that only a portion of the world's population were able to read and understand. That's why we depend on translations. The King James Version of the Bible has become popular over the years because of its readability (common people could understand it ) and its lack of commentary notes that plagued the previous English version, The Geneva Bible, and tradition. It's no holier than other translations, one has to do what God says no matter what translation you read! As for King James' character-- that has nothing to do with the faithful translation of God's Word for the masses. King James did none of the work. He only gave permission for it to be done. He sanctioned qualified scholars to do so and the result was the 1611 product we know today. Why he did that from what I could glean was for more of a political reason that a spiritual one. For the answers to your other questions. Look for information, I'm sending you on your personal email. Thanks for reading! Sis. B
ReplyDelete