meditation

Promises, Blessings, and Smiles

“The promises are of no use or comfort to us, until they are meditated upon.” – Thomas Watson

Are you smiling today? If you are more stressed than joyful or more worried than peaceful, there’s something you can do that might help. Turn to God’s word, not just to read it, but to think about it, to ask him to help you see what he wants you to see. Here’s an example:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul (Psalm 23:1-3a).

Some of you know this so well, you can go on to quote the rest of the psalm. But do we really know what it means when God said that with him as our caretaker, we won’t lack anything? He controls everything – money, health, wisdom, weather, etc. And he promises not to withhold anything we need.

If we really believed that, how would it change our level of contentment? How would it calm our anxiety?

What does it tell us about God’s provision when we read that he takes his sheep to green pastures and still waters? What does it mean to have God restore our souls? Think about these things for a while. What do these verses say to you?

God intends for his word to be read, but he wants so much more than that. He wants it to soak into our hearts as we ponder what he says, and as we accept it as truth. When we do that, we are blessed, no matter what circumstances surround us. And that kind of blessing will bring smiles to our faces!

“My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,
    that I may meditate on your promise.” – Psalm 119:148

Letting Him Speak

“When God speaks to you, he is not writing a new book of Scripture; rather, he is applying to your life what he has already said in his Word.” – Henry Blackaby

Ready for a spiritual experiment? Try this:

Worship Jesus. Adore him for who he is, what he’s done, and what he promises.

Remember. Ask him to bring to help you remember a story about him from one of the Gospels. See which event comes to mind (don’t sort through several – just take the first one).

Meditate for a few minutes on that story.

For me recently it was the account of Jesus raising Jairus’s daughter. The detail I zeroed in on was that, though there were many people there, Jesus allowed only three to go in with him. My heart went immediately to “I want to be one of the three!” I want to be close to Jesus, one of his most trusted companions, one who can see everything he does and hear everything he says.

Draw a conclusion.

Jesus reminded me that, if I wanted to be like Peter, James, and John, I need to stay close to him and not lag behind. I need to ask questions and listen for answers. I need to suggest things I’d like him to do and then learn from his response – just as they did throughout the Gospels.

When we give Jesus our attention, he responds. His response encourages us and deepens our desire for more of him. If you’re ready for that connection, you might want to try a spiritual experiment like this one.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” – John 16:13

It’ll be OK.

“God did not say: You will not be assailed, you will not be belabored, you will not be disquieted, but he said: You will not be overcome. God loves us and delights in us, and so he wishes us to love him and delight in him and trust greatly in him, and all will be well.”  
—Julian of Norwich 

Sometimes we feel like we pray and nothing happens. We’re not sure God is listening and we wish we could somehow get his attention. Maybe the key to connecting with God’s attention is giving him ours. How do we do that:

Focus: Set a time to give full attention to God. During this time, there is no multi-tasking. There is only one goal: To think about God, what he’s like, who he is, and what a privilege it is to worship him, to be allowed to talk to him.

Listen: Being very conscious of his presence, we turn to his word to read. We focus on taking it in, thinking about how it may apply to us, sensing something he really wants us to see this day. Then write it down. We may remember it, but we’re more likely to remember accurately if we write it down

Do: If he tells us something to do, we do it as soon as reasonably possible. A delay shows lack of priority. The urgency will get lost the longer we wait.

When we shut out everything but God, give him our full attention, and obey what he says, he will listen when we call, and we will know, without doubt, that whatever happens in our circumstance, he is working in the middle of it – no matter the outcome. All will be well.

“But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him”. – Psalm 4:3

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Sit still.

In place of our exhaustion and spiritual fatigue, God will give us rest. All He asks is that we come to Him…that we spend a while thinking about Him, meditating on Him, talking to Him, listening in silence, occupying ourselves with Him – totally and thoroughly lost in the hiding place of His presence. – Chuck Swindoll

It’s a human failing to try to do too much, too fast, without pause for refreshment or renewal. It’s so easy to get to that place: a place of anxiety, restlessness, fatigue.

Recently, my morning reading took me to 2 Samuel 7 where I read that King David went to the place of worship and “sat before the Lord.” Eventually he prayed, and God responded, but I loved that, at first, he just sat there in stillness, knowing he was in the presence of the holy, almighty, sovereign God.

Do we ever do that? Just find a quiet place and sit in God’s presence? As if we have all the time in the world. As if he’s the most important person in our lives. As if sitting with him is the most important thing we have to do that day. Maybe it is.

David was King. He probably was busy all the time. But this day, he cleared his schedule. He walked away from all the hubub of the palace to find God in a tent and sit in his presence. Just reading that made me want the same. Sometimes we need to do a little clearing of our own schedules, so the connection stays strong, so his voice can be heard, and so we will restist the temptation to rush off and try to do everything without him.

Just sit. In his presence. Still. Quiet. All will be well . . .

“My soul clings to you;  your right hand upholds me.” – Psalm 63:8

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Getting Ready to Hear from God

“. . . in the liturgy from the past, I am reminded that wisdom from God has been around a long time. My words aren’t revolutionary. I can be helped by my brothers and sisters from the past. . . the words penetrate. They break away the hardness of my morning heart and get spiritual warmth pumping through my veins, showing once again it’s worth persevering in this liturgical pursuit, this routine.”* – Matthew Molesky

It’s a chilly morning. For the first time in weeks I reached for a sweatshirt before I sat in the chair with my Bible, pen, and fresh cup of coffee. Then, with my body warm and comfortable, I began to address my heart.

Do you, too, sometimes find you need to warm your heart before you’re ready to hear from God?

My heart gets ready when I read from the writings of Christians in ages past who had a longing to know God, feel his presence, and follow his direction. Some have written memoirs or left diaries or devotionals that give us windows into their hearts. The spiritual journeys of others can inspire our own desire to grow.

Here are a few of my favorites (would love to see yours in comments!):

Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer

The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence

The Normal Christian Life, Watchman Nee

Morning and Evening, Charles Spurgeon

My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers

After I read a short passage from one of these authors (or others like them), my heart is ready to turn to the Bible and to respond to its Spirit-guided message for today. The warm-up time is worth the effort!

Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” – Jeremiah 6:16a

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What do you admire?

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.” – 1 Peter 3:15a

Recently the devotional I’m reading asked me to think about what I admired most about Jesus. I had never thought of that before, but it didn’t take me long to have an answer to that question.

We could admire Jesus for a lot of things, couldn’t we?

For his compassion toward people of all walks in life.

For his miracles that restored sight, strength, health, and even life.

For his teaching that amazed even the most educated among his listeners.

For his willingness to leave behind everything comfortable and perfect in heaven to come to a dusty, dirty earth to rescue us from sin.

But what I admire most is his relationship to his Father in heaven. He prayed a lot, talking to the other members of the trinitarian God. He listened for God’s direction. He went to his Father when he was tired, or lonely, or unsure of what to do next. He seemed to gain strength and clarity from that relationship and, above all else, he wanted to please the Father, to do his will – no matter what it cost him.

This kind of exercise is not about getting the “right” answer, but it simply challenges us to think about Jesus – to meditate on who he is, what he did, what he taught, and the spiritual life he offers to all mankind. So, if you want to try it, enjoy the journey. We’re always blessed when we’re thinking about Jesus.

“Our Father in heaven, reveal who you are. Set the world right. Do what’s best – as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the devil. You’re in charge! – Eugene Peterson