Imagine the Bible is a sharp and deadly double-edged
sword, and with it you are able to use the word of God
to fight wickedness by performing miracles like Jesus
did and delegated to us so we could do also.
Matthew 10:7-8 And as ye go, preach, saying, The
kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse
the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye
have received, freely give.
But remember it is highly unlikely that you'll be able
to inflict a heavy blow on the enemy with your sword
like Jesus did by performing miracles without first
meditating on the word of God in the Bible.
Can you remember a time as a child when you dreamed of
saving the princess by slaying the dragon with your
mighty sword? And ladies, have you ever dreamed of
being rescued by a valiant and brave knight in shiny
armor from a fire breathing dragon?
Meditating on the promises of God in the Bible is like
being a fully armored knight who is always training to
stay prepared so he can protect the village which is
always under attack by terrible fire breathing
dragons.
If you meditate on the word of God, you'll already
know what to do when you are tested on your faith, or
in this case when your village is under attack.
Ephesians 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith,
wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked.
But you won't be able to build a shield to protect the
village against temptation without first meditating on
the Word of God in the Bible.
According to Matthew Henry another reason the Bible is
like a double-edged sword is because, "it subdues and
mortifies evil desires and blasphemous thoughts as
they rise within; and answers unbelief and error as
they assault from without. A single text, well
understood, and rightly applied, at once destroys a
temptation or an objection, and subdues the most
formidable adversary." (Eph 6:10-18).
When most of us hear the word meditate, we think about
some bald headed guy sitting in the middle of a room
with his legs crossed, palms in the air, eyes closed
while chanting some foreign language in order to get
inner peace.
We also thought that meditating had absolutely nothing
to do with Christianity.
But boy was I surprised to discover that all it takes
to meditate is to reflect deeply on a subject or think
intently about something for a long time. Now here
comes the good part.
Not only is meditating simply thinking, in which we do
all the time, but by using this technique in
conjunction with the promises of the Bible you can
make your way prosperous by increasing your faith in
God and in His Word.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God.
The fact is, if you don't have enough faith in God's
word you won't be able to please Him enough to get all
of His promises, rewards and blessings.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to
please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe
that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him.
What better way is there to diligently seek Him than
to meditate on His word?
All you have to do is start believing that you can
meditate on the promises from the Bible and that it
will be most beneficial to improving your life.
OK, if that's not enough to convince you; God also
promised that you would have good success if you
meditate on His word.
Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out
of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and
night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all
that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy
way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
In other words, if you want the best for you and your
family, then you will meditate on the promises from
the Bible. If you call yourself wanting to do God's
will, have peace and joy in your life then yes you
will meditate on the promises from the Bible.
For example: Lets say you decide to meditate on what
Solomon found to be true threw out his years of
seeking the lord when he said, "In all thy ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy
paths".(Proverbs 3:6)
You meditate earnestly on that verse by concentrating
and reciting it over and over in your mind and getting
that promise deep in your heart by keeping it with you
always and referring to it from time to time. There's
more.
Now, let's say a couple months later your flesh feels
weak and the enemy tries to tempt you into doing a
sinful thing, something pleasurable like you use to do
in the past.
Psalm 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his
testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
That's where your diligence in meditating on the word
of God comes in to help you resist that temptation.
You already know that the Lord will direct your path
if you acknowledge Him. So what do you do, if
temptation persists?
You simply get on your knees and call God out on His
promise. You say, "Lord you said in your word in
proverbs 3:6 that if I acknowledge you in all my ways
you will direct my paths. I believe your word and I'm
acknowledging you right now and asking you to give me
the strength to resist this sin that has been tempting
me lately...". Get the picture?
Remember the last time you gave into temptation, how
horrible you felt after you realized what a terrible
mistake you've made? Well, all of those feelings can
be avoided in the future if you meditate on the word
of God in your Bible. And that's not all.
This same technique can be used on just about any
verse in the Bible and for any situation!
Say you need courage and strength to go on after a
family tragedy. Do you need a verse to meditate on?
Try...
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me.
Doesn't It sound easy? Well it is, but the hard part
is preparing your mind to do the actual meditating on
God's words and promises and believing that this is
what God wants you to do so that He can bless you like
He wants to.
Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment is,
"thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with
all thy strength: this is the first commandment".
(Mark 12:30).
Did you notice how Jesus said; with all your heart,
all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength?
All four of these things are referring to the same
thing, for if we could pick just one that would best
describe the point Jesus was trying to make to us in
today's society, we would probably pick all our heart.
Although, if you are the technical type then you might
prefer to say all our mind.
But you won't be able to keep the greatest commandment
of God; to love God with all your heart or mind if you
don't want to meditate on the word of God in your
Bible.
Which brings me back to the commandment; you will
meditate by reflecting deeply and thinking intently on
the promises from the Bible every where you go and
keep His word with you at all times for Jesus said,
"It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but
by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God". (Matthew 4:4)
I would like for you to do good for yourselves because
you are my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Now
go meditate on the promises from the Bible and win
good favor with God like I have done and will continue
to do for the rest of my life.
David Hopkins is a "Christian Article Writer" who
specializes in helping people remember to glorify
God in everything that they do, so they don't miss
out on any of His wonderful blessings.
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