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 week by talking about reading and studying God’s Word. Here is your encouraging word for the day.

Word for the Week: John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abides in me, and I in him, will bring forth much fruit…without me, you can do nothing.

Monday

Believing alone is not enough! It is by grace we are saved through faith, but belief always has corresponding action. That action brings about change and growth in our lives! When we really believe, our actions and our words will change! It sounds like selfless living in our only option. We are dead to self, and alive to God! Living the fruit of the spirit is our goal, as it says in Gal 5:22. Living a life of love is our aim. Obedience to the Word of God is what we strive for. Imitating Christ, by acting like Him and doing what He would do is what we desire to do.

If you have evidence of your faith – there will be a fire in the fireplace that will show outside! That’s the way it is described it in book of James. Once we’re saved, we keep growing – keep developing – keep changing to the likeness of the Father. To believe His Word, we study to show ourselves approved, and make the shift from just head knowledge to heart knowledge. Belief is at our core, in the center. Belief is more than just a good idea, it becomes a part of who we are. When we place a priority on getting the Word of God into our core, we will change from the inside out. And, when we begin to believe right, we will begin to act right!

Tuesday

Words affect us and they affect others. What have we heard? What have we said?

Words framed the world – words bring life or death – one word from God can change your destiny – His Word doesn’t return void. When we believe and act on His Word, circumstance change. Have you ever thought about this? We know that God’s Word doesn’t return void, and neither does ours – once it goes out of our mouth it produces positively or negatively. Think about that! There is power in the tongue. What we believe comes out through our mouth.

Here is a great thought! The further we develop and mature in our Christian walk and our belief in the Word of God, the more fruit we should be producing! – Just as a tree matures – there is more fruit and the fruit gets sweeter.

So we get to be like TREES!

Planted by living water

Roots that go down deep

Not blown over by any gust of wind

Storms may come but they still stand

The longer they stand, the firmer footing they get

The root system becomes as big as what you see on top

A tree that produces!

As we grow deeper in the Word of God – there should be more evidence in our life that His Word is hidden in our heart, so we will not sin against Him. I want to encourage you – get your roots down deep. Be firmly planted in the Word. Know Who you believe in! Know what you believe! Then out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth will speak believing words. You’ll be able to stand, and overcome in this life!

Wednesday

Looking good on the outside is no good unless you have the inside character to back it up. Too many Christians (or people in general) try to dress up bad attitudes and hurts with a happy face and a good look.

God can see right through that, and people can to! Some might be fooled for a while, but truly your “sins” will find you out. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed!

Have you ever seen a beautiful girl turn unattractive in a moment by filth or venom coming from her mouth? Sounds like bad fruit.

What are some Bad Outside influences to fruit?

Like Bugs or Little foxes that come to destroy

Like adverse Weather and Storms that come to destroy

Like Bad influences – and wrong choices of friends

Like the devil and his demons come to distract and destroy

Like Lack of moisture and not being watered by the Word

Like Soil erosion or not tilling our own soil

Like Fire or other kinds of Destruction sent to ambush our life

What are good influences to fruit?

Moisture like Being watered by the Word – river of life

Good soil and continually Breaking up our own fallow ground

Good sunshine Spending time in God’s presence

Good weather Enough warmth

Bug control by Taking care of little things before they become big things

What kind of fruit are you producing? I hope it is good fruit in abundance!

We look even better on the outside, by staying true to the Word on the inside. Get the good influence of the Word on the inside of you and the outside will shine!

Thursday

With some pine trees intense heat or even fire is necessary for reproduction. The seed in locked in the cone until intense heat expels it. Devastation of a woodland by fire has a huge negative impact, but out of the ashes new life can be produced. Awful circumstances in life can be what propels you to live again – and success can be birthed from failure. Some people call it failing forward. If your past has negative circumstance in it, or if your present does, it doesn’t mean you can’t survive and then thrive tomorrow.

I am always so inspired by those who have walked through great difficulty and come out better on the other side. The enemy attacked them, and they stood strong, and their test, produced a testimony! Their tragedy was turned to triumph. They didn’t become victims, they were victorious! What the enemy meant for evil, God turned around for good! When we believe God’s Word, even in the worst of circumstances, He is on our side and is making a way in the wilderness. His living water sustains us in the desert. His living bread is sustenance to our soul. He nourishes us in the presence of our enemies, and even if we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we don’t live in fear, for God sustains us. When we get the good stuff (the Word) on the inside, we will come out stronger on the other side. That’s encouraging!

Friday

How do we get more faith? That is always an interesting question to ask, because you’d be amazed at the answers. The Bible’s answer is this….Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17 Have you ever noticed how often Jesus repeated this saying, “If you have ears to hear, let him hear.” Do you have ears to hear? Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. It is more than just hearing with our natural ears, we need the ears of our spirit attuned to God’s voice. When His Word speaks to us, we need to say just like Samuel said, “speak Lord, for your servant hears you”. Then because we believe, we put action to our faith. We strengthen our faith muscle by exercising it. Just like a natural muscle, we have to use it. You never get to stop using your faith. The Christian walk is a faith walk. It is a life of faith. The Bible says that the just shall live by faith. Let’s be “believing” believers! Let’s take what God’s Word says and believe it, act on it, live by it, and share it. Why keep it all to yourself? With the great message we have, something that has changed our lives forever, why not tell everyone! We can change the world, one life at a time. How encouraging!

Saturday Eword for Kids

Do you know that believing and faith are like the two sides of a coin? You really can’t use a coin if one side is defaced or absent. Coins are only usable currency when both sides are intact. Faith is like that too! To be able to use our faith, we have to add our belief to what God’s Word says to us. Just like when you were saved, one side of the coin was faith, and the other side was belief. Once you believed, your faith hooked up with the promise of God’s Word that you could be born again. Then you used your mouth to confess or to speak about what you believed in your heart. Faith turned to action. Then you began changing and growing as you continued to put God’s Word in your life, and made choices that lined up with the Word of God. God directed your path, and gave you wisdom and insight and you continued to change and grow. Then you began to be fruitful for the kingdom of God, and became a witness of the wonderful life you have in Christ. What is so cool about faith and belief is that when you share your faith, others can believe. You get to be God’s voice to your world! How cool it is to see your friends see the change God has made in your life, and they decide to follow Christ too. That is fruitful living, and that is what believing the Word will do for your life. How cool is that!

Sunday

Did you know that there is a heart and mouth connection in salvation? The Bible tells us to believe and confess, or to believe and speak. What you believe is what you speak, as it says in Matt 12:34. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak.

What is in your HEART?

What do we believe? Here are some things the word says we should believe.

God is good and brings life

The devil is bad and brings destruction

Jesus conquered the devil on Calvary

In salvation we have everything we need to live victoriously on the earth

We choose to follow Christ, to obey His Word, and live by His commands

Has this belief system, based on God’s Word, really changed our life? Was it a drastic change? Or, are negative habits so established in your life that there is no difference between you and a non- believer?

The next big question to ask is do you want to change? If our belief system has changed our life, it should change our actions. How should we act? Here are some things to consider for the person who is filled up with the Word and believes what the Word of God says:

Gossip is not an option

Reacting in the flesh is not an option

Speaking before you think is not an option

Saying everything that comes to mind is not an option

Disobeying the law of love is not an option!

I hope you are encouraged to keep on growing. Keep on becoming more like Jesus, the Word made flesh! Let’s celebrate the Word of God by being a doer of what it says!

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 week by talking about reading and studying God’s Word. Here is your encouraging word for the day.

Word for the Week: II Tim 3;16,17 Study to show yourself approved unto God…..

Monday

What does it mean to study the Word of God? I know lots of you read your Bible everyday, but do you know as Christians we are to study the Word of God as well? Remember the scripture “study to show yourself approved unto God in Ii Tim 3:16,17”? The word study really is in there! When you study something, it isn’t just a casual read through. We should study the Word like we would study for a test. There might be a couple of them on on your journey!

What tools can make it easy to study? There are a couple of things I always use when I study the Bible. The most valuable tool to me is my concordance. I use a Strong’s Concordance, and it is fabulous. It is called an exhaustive concordance, because it is! Anything you need to find is in there. Additionally, there are all kinds of Bible helps available on computer, that I encourage you to use as well. A second thing that I always do is have something to write on or have my computer handy. When you receive some clarity on a scripture or a passage in the Word, I write it down. I would encourage you to write down your thoughts about what you have learned. Think about it, do some cross referencing which means finding other scriptures that say nearly the same thing, or relate in some way. Then do a word search to find other scriptures that have the exact word you are studying within them.

The greatest encouragement I could give you when it comes to studying God’s Word is to find a place to start. Why not make today the day you start studying to show yourself approved unto God. Then, don’t get down on yourself if you miss a day…..keep right on going! Make a plan, work the plan, and get ready to grow in God as you grow in your knowledge of the Word.

Tuesday

The Bible is a sharp sword….Eph 6:17, and a two edged sword as it says in Hebrews 4:12. Because not too many people we know use swords as weapons anymore (thank God!) those scriptures don’t have the same meaning to us as they might have to a new Christian who lived in the first century when a sword was an invaluable too. But even today, when cooking in the kitchen, sharp knives make life easier. A dull knife is just about useless, it makes things take longer and can even be dangerous because of the extra force needed to make even a simple cut. The Bible is a sharp sword! It has a point that gets to the point. As we talk about studying God’s Word this week, I think it is good to remember that the Bible is our best weapon against the enemy’s attacks. A good chef will sharpen his/her knives. A military man or woman will make sure they clean and care for their weapons. Even a hunter will make sure their arrows are sharp or their gun is well cared for. When we realize that we are in a war, but the weapons we fight with are not carnal as it says in II Corinthians chapter 10, it would be to our advantage to know our weapon. Knowledge requires study! We should become well acquainted with how the Bible is set up, why there is an old covenant and a new covenant. We should know who are the major men and women surrounding the most important person in the Bible - Jesus. It is great to know our weapon so that when we are attacked by the enemy, we have an artillery of scripture that can help us stand strong and not be shaken. Because we have studied, we will know the character of our God, and know how He operates and what He would want us to do in each situation. What great benefits we have from taking time to study His Word. Why not study your Bible today!

Wednesday

Yesterday we talked about the value of having the word of God hidden in our heart so that we can stand firm against any attack of the enemy, our adversary the devil. The Bible tells us to stand firm and be inflexible in Heb 10:23. We are to hold fast, tightly , rejecting all attempts of anyone who tries to steal it from us, not fickle in our commitment, but determined to be inflexible and unmoving in what we believe and confess as it says in another version of the Bible. Most of the time, it is good to be flexible. Certainly your muscles and joints feel better when we stretch them and are flexible. Dealing with people, we just can’t be pushy and inflexible when it comes to opinions and preferences. If you’re married you’ve certainly learned that being flexible enough to compromise is beneficial!!! Each opinion is important, and for peace in the home, we can be flexible. But when it comes to the Word of God, there should be no wavering. We stand firm! We will not be shaken! A huge key in having the ability to do that comes from reading, studying and meditating on God’s Word! Taking the time before an attack comes is so much easier than trying to read the manual during the battle. Advance preparation is key. So today remember this, we do have weapons to fight with, but they are not carnal. They are powerful, because they are our tools provided by our Heavenly Father to overcome in this life. The weapon is…..the Word of God. Read it, study it, be prepared to use it!

Thursday

It says in Col 3:16, for us to make God’s Word feel at home in your heart. Are you comfortable with it, and know it inside and out? In real estate, the mantra is location, location, location. I want to encourage you to find your perfect location in the middle of the Word! We can find our home and live and abide in the promises of God which are all wrapped up in His Word. On a daily basis we can have the freshly spoken word of God – the “rhema” become manifest in our lives as we read and study the building blocks or logos or foundational princples of God’s Word. Everything we do should be measured against the standard of the Word of God. Whenever we wonder about anything, we should find out what God’s Word has to say about it. When something comes out of our mouth, we need to make sure it lines up with God’s Word. A great question to keep in mind is …..where did you find that in the Word? So much of the time, we hear something repeated and because it sounds good, we take it for truth. But the enemy really finds joy in deceiving believers. The way to avoid deception is to be aware when God’s Word is being twisted or taken out of context, because you have knowledge of the context. When the Word of God is hidden in your heart, you won’t be easily deceived. The Bible tells us to pay attention to my word. All through the book of Proverbs, continually there is the admonition to pay attention to God’s Word. I want to encourage you the same way! Pay attention to the Word, plant the seed of God’s Word in your heart, and you will reap the harvest. Start planting today!

Friday

The Bible: God’s instruction Book….read it, follow it, live it! You’ve probably all heard the song that says the word Bible is an acronym for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. I’m not sure who came up with that, but I think it is great. The time that having the Word of God planted deeply in your heart benefits us the most - is on this side of heaven. When we reach glory, we will be in the presence of the Word made Flesh – Jesus himself. So the Bible really is our manual for “doing life” on this planet. And truly the Word of God isn’t really complicated. The basics are pretty simple. When we love God with all of our heart, soul and might, and love our neighbor as ourselves we have summed up the whole book. Loving God is the easy part, sometimes we make the next part complicated. When we can love ourselves like God loves us, we can love others. When we take time to study the Word of God, we can learn the value God places on us, and begin to value and cherish what He has put on the inside of us. When we have love to give, everyone around us benefits. A great word study to do is to look up all of the scriptures on love. Study to find out how you can love more completely, and how love is supposed to act. You could probably take a year on that one word alone. We can get creative doing the Word. James 1:22 in the Greek means this: Put your heart and soul into finding ways to act on what you have heard. The NKJV says it this way, be a doer of the Word. The best way to do something is to know about it, to have read up on it, and to study it. So study away! To be an effective doer, get the Word of God planted deeply in your heart!

Saturday Eword for Kidz

Do you know that starting a positive habit in your life when you are a kid has great advantages for the long term? There are lots of things that you can do in the natural realm that help you live healthy, just by developing a positive habit. How about the habit of getting exercise daily, instead of being a couch potato, or eating fruits and vegetables, instead of eating Twinkies and drinking Dr. Pepper, or exercising your mind by reading or playing games, instead of watching tv or playing video games all day. One awesome habit to begin is to read your Bible everyday. What is so great about God’s Word is that it is jam packed full of wisdom, and it is full of life! The Bible tells us when given the choice between life and death, to choose life! So one way to do that is to read the Bible! It is great to have a reading plan, and be systematic, but actually, just getting the Word of God in your life any way possible will have tremendous benefits. The Word of God is a light to your path. It is wisdom for your life. It has the power to change your behavior. It gives your courage to face your fears. The list could go on and on. So why not read a chapter from the New Testament and a Psalm and a Proverb everyday. It will take you less than15 minutes, and you will gain more than you can realize. When you digest God’s Word, and make it a priority in your life, not only will you be empowered to succeed in the plan God has for you, but you will have mastery over the areas in your life that could have led you down a wrong path. So what kind of habit can you begin that will bless every part of your life? Read the BIBLE daily!

Sunday

I love the verse that tells us to study to show ourselves approved unto God, like a workman that doesn’t need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Most people as soon as they are done with school put study behind them forever. As Christians we are going to be life-long learners and life-long “studiers” of God’s Word. There is so much meat for us to digest, that truly in a lifetime, we can’t exhaust all the riches to be found in the Word of God. Each day as we read and study the Word of God, we are on a treasure hunt. What new “golden nugget” will we find today? What question in your life will be answered by taking time to read and study the Word of God? What preparation is taking place so that you can overcome any fiery dart the enemy may throw your way? What great foundation is being built so that when the storms of life hit, you will stand strong, and not be blown out of the water.

So how can we make reading and studying God’s Word a priority? One way is to put it in your planner. Make an appointment every day, just like you do any other important thing in your life. If you have a daily plan, you give yourself permission to take time to do something for yourself that is important. Probably most of you take time to exercise several times a week. (If you don’t you should!!!) Probably most of you go to church every Sunday to spend time worshiping God. (If you don’t you should!) Probably most of you take time to get to the grocery store to buy good healthy fresh fruits and vegetables at least once a week. (If you don’t, you should!!!) So why not make it a priority to eat some living bread, and drink some living water that will not only build your spirit, but give you wisdom and strength for your life. That sounds like something that is too good to pass up!

So make this commitment today. From this day forward, I will not only feed my body, I will feed my spirit. I will make sure that I nourish the most important part of me. My body is temporary, but my spirit is eternal. I will give God’s Word top priority in my life. I believe you can do it!

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 10^th 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.