Intro
Starting this year, we celebrate 400 years of having the Bible written and printed in English! The KJV of the Bible was first printed in 1611 and how thankful we are that we can have multiple copies of the Word available to us. So to commemorate the anniversary, I want to talk about the importance of giving God’s Word high priority. Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with an encouraging word for your day. From reading the Word, to taking time to study it, to meditating on it, and to memorizing and living it out, God’s Word is our guiding force. To make right choices, and to live the victorious life God has for us, let’s give God’s Word preeminence always! We’ll start this new year by talking about meditating on God’s Word. Here is your encouraging word for the day.
Word for the Week: Ps 119:105 Your Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You.
Monday
Can you find some time this week to just meditate on the Word of God? I hope you do! I thought it might be a good idea to give you a little explanation on what it means to meditate. Meditating on the Word is simply taking time to think and ponder on a specific scripture or passage from the Bible. Meditating on God’s Word is really a great way to fill up the reservoir of your spirit. Everyday things drain life from us. The drains could be a result of a difficult relationship, an unhappy boss, insecurities, low self image, overwhelming bills, a job loss, too many responsibilities, not enough time, or a myriad of things. One way to refill your reservoir is to meditate on the Word of God.
Some of the most spirit-led people I know are those who have discovered the value and necessity of meditating on the Word. What meditating does is makes us more sensitive to the voice of God, and instead of just trying a million different things to bring change in their own lives, we just ask God for His specific directions for our life. So what is one area where you would like to become an overcomer? Why not search the Word and find scriptures that relate specifically to you? You might find one word or phrase that jumps out at you that can be your personal encouragement in that area. If you are believing for healing, a new job, even a raise, or new friendships and relationships, there are tons of scriptures that will specifically speak to you. Search them out, and then make them a part of your life. Get the Word of God working on the inside of you. Let it work on the inside and then let it change you on the outside. You will find that meditating on the Word of God brings success, even in natural areas!
Tuesday
Another reason to spend time meditating on the Word of God is so we can live in the overflow. If someone has a need, I want to be willing and ready to help meet their need. To do this, we should be filled up to the brim to be able to “spill” on someone else. Meditating on the Word gives us the opportunity to continue being refilled, so that we always have enough in our reservoir to have extra to give away. This kind of spilling isn’t messy like a toddler spilling their food. This is the kind of spilling that is like oil rubbed on dry skin. It is like ointment on an open sore. This kind of spilling brings refreshing to the weary and gives strength to the weak. It is like a cup of cool water in a dry and thirsty land. We become as the Word of God states that surely out of our bellies shall flow rivers of living water! (John 7:38)
A few years ago, I was asked on a moments notice to share about being filled with the Holy Spirit with our children’s church. Because it is one of my passions to pray for people to be filled with the Spirit, I have spent a lot of time studying and meditating on the scriptures that relate to that subject. As I was sharing with the kids, I first asked if there was anyone who wanted to be saved, and 2 girls got saved. I shared about the scriptures on the Holy Spirit and 12 kids (first through fourth graders) got filled with the Holy Spirit. How exciting! Then I went back to the adult service, and a young man came up as soon as church was over to be filled with the Holy Spirit as well. Praise God for living water flowing from us to those who want to be filled! God does want to speak to us through His Word, and He does want us to be full enough to have something to give. We are prepared and flowing over when we meditate on His Word.
Wednesday
One of the greatest things about meditating on the Word of God is that it makes day dreaming respectable! Isn’t it great that God wants us to sit and rest and think? His desire is that we mull over His Word, ponder it, think about it, wonder about how it applies to our life, and then actually do that…..apply it to our life. This is easy to do, all day long. If I begin the day by thinking about a specific scripture, and say it over to my self a time or two, then when I have a moment to ponder, I do just that….I think about it. Then I ask if I am being obedient to what it says. Do I understand what it means? Sometimes straight from heaven, a fresh revelation will penetrate my heart about that scripture. Just by thinking about it, God will reveal some aspect of what I was wondering about, and shazam!!!, it becomes totally clear. Sometimes I’ll think about, ponder and meditate on one scripture for a week or more. It will be one that keeps coming up in my heart. One that has captured my attention for quite a while now is in Eph 3:20,21 where it says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ever ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory, in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, amen.” The three phrases that have captured me are “above all”, “power that works in us”, and “to all generations”. As I think on these verses, I realize that God wants to do powerful things on the earth that are way above what we can dream, that will affect all generations, through His power in us! Is that mind blowing or what! Think on that a while! That will encourage you!
Thursday
“Word of God Speak”, is a song you’ve probably heard on the radio. Another song by the duo Branded with a similar theme says this – speak to me words of life, speak to me words of truth, speak to me words of healing, to my heart, to my soul. I know just about every Christian I have ever talked to wants to be led by the Spirit of God. No one wants to take a misstep, or to walk the wrong direction, or to turn away from the will of God. We want to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to us. In my life, I have found when I need a specific word from God, in a specific instance or circumstance, when I take time to meditate on the Word, God will lead me by His Word that has already been planted in my life. His Word will speak to me! He will bring back to my remembrance what He has previously taught me when I was meditating on God’s Word. That means I can have confidence that when I meditate on the Word of God, even if what I am meditating on right now doesn’t apply to my life specifically right now, it is being stored up for future reference. So think of your time meditating on scripture like this….it is an account being stored up for future use. It is the best kind of account to have, because it is advance preparation for exactly what you will need in the future….How encouraging is that! It definitely encourages you, but God can do the same thing for other people too! You can know inside your knower, (your spirit) that God wants you to share a specific scripture with a specific person. So be sensitive and be ready. Keep filling up the reservoir so there is more than enough to give away at a moment’s notice!
Friday
Did you know that taking time to meditate on God’s Word is one avenue of receiving supernatural revelation in your life? Having the mind of Christ, as it says in I Cor 2:16, comes as we are led by the Spirit of God. As we talked about earlier this week, being led by the Spirit of God is often a direct result of spending time meditating on the Word of God. In I Cor 2:9,10, it says that eye hasn’t seen, nor has ear heart, or has it even entered into our heart what God has prepared for those who love Him. Verse 10 says this… But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit! It is like the light being turned on our path. The things that were once concealed are now visible to us. When we spend time meditating on the Word of God, the Word becomes not just ink on pages, but line upon line, and precept upon precept of living letters written specifically and directly to us. God’s Word will speak, and we will hear and understand. Above the noise, above the crowd, I can hear Him speak. I am His sheep and I know his voice. My ears are attentive to my shepherd. Those are words that we should say on a regular basis, not only because it is directly from the 10th chapter of John, but because we believe them, and we operate in them! God does want to give us specific direction. He isn’t hiding His will from us. He gives us liberally all the wisdom we need if we ask of Him. He even has given us the mind of Christ, so we can know in our knower what to do in every circumstance. He said His Word is a light to us! He doesn’t want us walking in darkness…..so expect there to be light on your path, expect to be His sheep who not only knows his voice, but listens and obeys.
Saturday Eword for Kids
Have you ever eaten anything that makes your jaws tired? One thing that really does that to me is beef jerky. It tastes so good, but it can be hard to chew. You can chew and chew and chew, and still not break it all down enough to swallow for a long time. Well this might sound a little funny, but I want you to think of God’s Word like beef jerky. If you want to meditate on God’s Word, you need to chew on it a while. That really means, think it over, mull it around in your brain, and just bring it back around to your thoughts again and again. Kinda like beef jerky. The best part about chewing on the Word of God is that the more you meditate on a specific scripture, the more real it becomes in your life. God can bring fresh ideas of how to put it into practice in your life, and even give you some specific information that will bless your life through the words you are meditating on. The Words that you read in the Bible won’t just be black ink on a white page, it will become the very Words of God, that He wants to speak specifically to you. So just like you’d chew on some beef jerky, chew on God’s Word, take a little bit at a time, and then chew away. Soon it will be broken down into bites you can swallow, and will bring amazing nourishment to your spiritual life. Why not try meditating on God’s Word today. Your jaws don’t even have to get tired! Hey, where’s the beef jerky…..I’m hungry!
Sunday
When we hear about how “new age” people meditate, sometimes we as Christians shy away from any type of thing that would connect us to them. What is interesting is that God thought up meditating, and everyone else who does is just trying to imitate what God invented!
Joshua 1:8 is a terrific scripture to look at when we talk about meditating on the Word. It says very clearly that if we want to experience prosperity and success, we should keep the Word of God on our tongue and on our mind all the time, and then be obedient to do what it says. Experiencing prosperity and success can also be translated from another version of the Bible as dealing wisely in the things of life. I know I want to deal wisely in the things of life, and be able to give good advice to others who want to deal wisely in the situations they are in. That makes it so important that you and I spend time meditating on God’s Word every day.
I often use the illustration of a cow chewing her cud to make a visual reference to how important meditating on God’s Word is for a believer. We should daily take a morsel of God’s Word, and chew on it all day long. If we have an area we need to work on in our own life, we should find the scriptures that relate to our situation, and get them down deep into our heart. If we want real change in our life, we have to renew our mind to the Word of God. Rom 12:1 and 2 says that transformation takes place in our life as take the old thoughts out, and put the new thoughts that are “the truth” in their place. In II Cor 10:3,4,& 5, we can see that thoughts become imaginations, and imaginations can become strongholds. A strong hold is anything that holds us strongly. That explains the progression of how we can be in bondage because by the way we think. How do we change our thinking? A great place to begin is by meditating on God’s Word. Most of the time when we need an answer, God is just waiting for us to ask Him. We will go to everyone else to find out their opinion or what their solution for us would be. God wants us to ask Him, and then meditate on the Word that applies to your specific situation. As we do, be encouraged, God will make His Word become freshly spoken to you.
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