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Remember ye the Law of Moses, My Servant, and Meditate on it Day and Night
In the first chapter of the book of Joshua, we read that after Moses died, the Lord spoke to Joshua telling him that he was to cross over the Jordan as leader of the Children of Israel and to go in and possess the land that God had given to them. He describes the property lines of the land that they were to gain control of, and then the Lord gives Joshua an amazing promise. God told him that no man would be able to stand before him, i.e. oppose him or thwart the mission that God had given him to do, and that he would prosper and be successful; IF he would be strong and courageous to observe all the law that Moses had commanded him (and all the other Israelites) and not to turn from it to the right hand or to the left.
The Lord continued to command him that the Book of the Law must not depart out of his mouth, and that he should meditate on those laws and commandments day and night. He was to do according to all that is written in the law and that by doing so, the result would be that his way would be made prosperous and that he would have good success.
Joshua 1:1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, 2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. 7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest. 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. 9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
What is the Definition of Meditation?
In today's Newsletter, our theme is about godly meditation. Just what is meditation, and why is it so important that God told Joshua to make sure that he meditated day and night on the Law of Moses? Why is it important for us to learn how to meditate in our Christian walk? If we are strong and courageous to do what God had told Joshua to do; will God make our way prosperous and give us success? What does it mean to meditate?
The Hebrew word for meditate in Joshua 1:8 is hagah (Strong's #1897) and means to murmur (in pleasure or anger) by implication; to ponder, imagine, meditate, mourn, mutter, roar, sore, speak, study, talk, utter.
Another Hebrew word that is used in Psalm 119:97 is sichah (Strong's #7881) and means to ponder, i.e. (by implication) converse (with oneself and hence, aloud) or utter, commune, complain, declare, meditate, muse, pray, speak, talk (with).
The English definition of meditate is:
1. To reflect on; contemplate.
2. To plan in the mind; intend:
3. To engage in devotional contemplation, especially prayer.
4. To think or reflect, especially in a calm and deliberate manner.
Synonyms: reflect, think, consider, contemplate, deliberate, muse, ponder, ruminate, cogitate,
consider, study, contemplate, ponder, reflect on, mull over, think over, chew over, deliberate on, weigh, turn something over in your mind meditate - reflect deeply on a subject; muse, ponder, chew over, think over, excogitate, reflect, ruminate, speculate, contemplate
cerebrate, cogitate, think - use or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments; premeditate - think or reflect beforehand or in advance; theologize - make theoretical speculations about theology or discuss theological subjects, introspect - reflect on one's own thoughts and feelings, bethink - consider or ponder something carefully; cogitate - consider carefully and deeply; reflect upon; turn over in one's mind wonder, question - place in doubt or express doubtful speculation; give careful consideration to.
The definition of meditation covers all these things, but basically it just means: to think and contemplate in our minds about things.
Guarding What Goes Into Our Hearts (Minds)
Proverbs 4:20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
23 Keep [GUARD] thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
Why is God telling us to guard our hearts with all diligence?
There is a very profound exhortation in this verse: to guard our hearts (or our minds); as we realize that we become what we think about most of the time.
Who we are and what kind of persons we are, derives from what we assimilate, take into our minds, think about (or meditate on) and goes into the making of our very core person, our being.
In these passages, we are told to protect our minds by guarding what we allow to go into them and what we allow ourselves to think about, because we will sooner or later, turn into the kinds of thoughts we meditate on.
Our minds are given to us by God as remarkable, incredible mechanisms that are so complex and intricate in how they operate, that even the most educated and trained scientists to this day, do not know how the human mind works. They still do not know how it is capable of thinking, reasoning, contemplating, because they do not understand spiritual things. They know that human brains are similar in design and matter to the brains of other animals, but the capacity to be able to do all of these things between the human-kind and animal-kind cannot even begin to be compared. Many verses in the Bible teach that there is a spirit in man.
1st Corinthians 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
God has instilled within mankind the human spirit; which imparts the power of intellect to the minds of human beings, making possible a personal relationship between men and the divine God, their very Creator!
God has given mankind (unlike the animals) the capacity to think, reason, ponder, plan, create, design, to appreciate art and music, and to meditate; and He instructs us to use these creative minds wisely. We use our minds to think about God, come to believe in Him, seriously repent of our sins, commit to obey Him, are baptized and given the Holy Spirit; and we can then begin to think about and understand the spiritual things of God. We then have the opportunity to meditate on those things as much or as little as we want; we get to choose.
Jesus also taught on this principle and teaches in Scripture:
Matthew 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
And the same principle is repeated in Matthew 15:18.
Matthew 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
The things that are contained in our hearts, whether good or bad (the thoughts and contemplations we think about in our minds on a continual basis) make up our moral character. Our character comes through as our identity, of who we are, and what we are about. God created mankind to be in His image and He gave him a mind to be able to think and reason as He does. He told Adam and Eve in the Garden, to be fruitful, to multiply and to have dominion over God's creation. (Genesis 1:26-28)
God wants us to be good stewards over everything that He has put under our control, and one of the most important things we must be good stewards over, is the mind He has provided us with.
Proverbs 25:28 Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.
Our mind is a priceless possession, created and given to us by our Creator that needs to be protected, guarded, and controlled, and we must never let someone else control what goes into our minds. God expects us to use our minds to reason, to search out truth and come to conclusions based on what He tells us in the Bible. And not what carnal men dream up and try to push onto us, by telling us we must believe things that are contrary to what God teaches. If we let others think for us, or to tell us what we must think, we become like a city broken down without walls and we can lose out by letting others convince us that we do not have to obey Him or to dissuade us from seeking Him above all else in life.
Revelation 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
How do we do this? How do we hold fast to God and not let any man take our crown?
Consider what happens in this scenario.
In ancient times, cities were surrounded and fortified with huge thick walls to keep invaders out, but if the walls were not maintained and left to break down or gaps developed, then enemy forces could easily come in and take over the city. In a similar manner, if we do not control our thoughts or do not guard what comes into our minds, we are in danger of having someone other than ourselves control our thought processes and interpose their will and morals. We basically hand over the reigns of our mind and ultimately our identities to them. We must learn how to have proper boundaries, keeping the good in and preventing the bad from coming into our minds and subsequently into our lives.
When we go to immoral and violent movies or watch silly, mindless shows on television, we passively let someone elses fantasies and propaganda come into our minds. Whether we realize it or not, we are meditating on what the producers have thought up from their own imaginations and hearts; and we assimilate the images and scripts that they feed into our hearts and minds.
It may seem like just harmless entertainment and nothing to be too concerned with, but those violent and immoral images and their anti-God verbiage stays with us, stays in our minds; not to mention the waste of our time spent viewing them, that we could be using to do that which is much more productive; like meditating on and studying the things of God.
Now, more than ever before, our modern society increasingly puts demands on our attention, our time, and our minds. It use to be that when someone called us and we were not at home to hear the ring and pick up the phone, the person calling would just have to wait and try again later. If we were not home, we would miss the call and if we were busy doing something somewhere else, the phone call did not interrupt what we were doing. But now, we have our cell phones always with us, anyone calling has instant access to our attention, and if we don't pick up, the voicemail takes a message and puts us under pressure to call back (asap).
We have computers where we are inundated with emails, ads, FaceBook accounts, news-feeds, articles, videos; we have televisions, radios, I-pods and then all the daily activities that we are involved with. When do we have any time to be alone with just our own thoughts to think about the really important things in life, about God and about His purposes? Our fast paced life styles can cause our minds to literally become scrambled, and we can lose our ability to even be able to concentrate anymore. There have been studies and reports that modern day people's attention spans have become shorter and shorter, and it is because of information overload. Our minds become over stimulated and can no longer stay focused for very long.
Our modern day society has propagated a disintegration of attention span and increasingly difficulty in staying focused. This is Satan's world and this is his strategy in keeping us inundated and controlled through driving our minds in many different directions, always away from thinking about God and spiritual things.
We are so distracted by what the world demands from us that we don't take the time to control what comes flooding into our minds. We risk losing any previous spiritual development and we allow someone else to inject what they would have us to think about, and thereby take over our time, our concentration, and our thoughts; and we lose out spiritually; unless we take back control of our thoughts and what we think about all day long, we risk losing everything we thought we had.
This is not to say that all technology is wrong or harmful; it can be, and is used to keep Christians connected and informed. Technology can be useful for education purposes, preaching the Gospel and keeping up with what is happening in the news. Technology is like our minds, in that we can use it wisely and for God's purposes, or we can let it control us and bring us into bondage. There again, it is a matter of wisdom in what we choose.
What we think about all day long is what constitutes our lives and makes us who we are. If something or someone determines what we think about and what we spend our time on, other than our own choices, we are no longer in control of our own minds and have, for all practical purposes, surrendered our identity to other people's thought patterns and way of thinking.
So how do we counteract this pernicious, subtle, (and sometimes not so subtle) invasion of our thinking processes? We must fight against it ferociously and do so with all our might.
The remedy, or our defense, is to constantly be on guard as to what is gaining our attention and to use the spiritual tool that God commanded Joshua to use; and that is to meditate on God and His laws day and night.
If we neglect to cultivate this practice of meditating and of keeping a close watch on our thoughts and what we hold in our minds; we risk dire spiritual consequences and may even lose what spiritual truth and godliness we may have attained previously.
2nd Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Counterfeit Meditation - The Negative Use of our Minds
Touching briefly on what godly meditation is NOT; the modern day definition of meditation has taken on negative connotations by those who engage in New Age and Eastern religious practices. They have changed the meaning to what they call transcendental meditation, where one concentrates on a single phrase, word or even to the emptying of the mind, so as to "merge with some kind of cosmic mind" encouraging one to blank out all thoughts to let a false satanic illusion of "peace and harmony" through nothingness enter us.
This is counter to what God's purpose is for meditation and this should be absolutely avoided. This is not what God intended, nor what God's servants practiced when the Scriptures talk about how they meditated. This method tends to open the mind to influence and to becoming vulnerable to satanic attacks. Beware, and know that this perverted version is very dangerous.
God wants us to fill our minds with His ways voluntarily; and Satan wants us to empty our minds so he can seize control!
Also, people can use their minds in what may appear to be meditation, but is in reality a type of daydreaming or mind wandering which can flood the mind with unrealistic ideas and false images.
Using drugs and too much alcohol for recreational purposes to alter the conscientiousness, to put one in a drunken state, whereas one no longer has control over his mind, is another abuse against how God intended us to use our minds. This is so serious, that in Galatians 5, Paul tells us that drunkenness is part of the works of the flesh and that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)
God intends for us to use the creative, imagining, capabilities of our minds (our imagination) to envision the reality of God's kingdom, to ponder on His commandments and His precepts. Then to envision ourselves applying His law to overcome some problem or sin. We can also use our imaginations to reflect upon all of His Word, it's lessons, what other servants of God had to go through, and how they overcame. We are not to abuse it in any of the before mentioned negative uses of our minds.
To meditate in a godly, legitimate way; the way God intends for us; is to have a fully engaged, alert, active, controlled, disciplined mind; thinking logically, searching out the truths that He has provided for us from His Word, and applying them along with the lessons we have learned in life!
Counterfeit meditation, encourages detachment, escape, and surrender of the mind to fears, forebodings, evil surmisings or giving over our minds to imagining immoral and perverse actions, and often to evil forces.
Idle daydreaming, mind wandering and transcendental counterfeit meditation are harmful and do not bring about the perfecting of our minds to the perfect image of God and the kind of mind He has. Instead, they bring a kind of pleasure without positive substance, often leading us into fulfilling our imaginations with wicked deeds. Imagining evil, is what Paul calls "evil concupiscence."
We must seek to think about what God thinks about; and be connected to His mind to become ONE with Him.
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
God says He has given us a spirit of love and of a sound mind, and it is very important that we guard what we are thinking about, and be cognizant of what is coming in and what is going out of our minds (in way of our words). He wants us to have a mind that is in full control of our senses.
2nd Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Being Transformed Versus Being Conformed
In Romans 12 Paul instructs us:
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
The danger is when Christians absorb more of the philosophies and the attitudes of this present evil world, than of the teachings of light (God's whole word). This causes our minds to be formed and fashioned by lies rather than truth.
1st John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
God's command to us in these verses is very emphatic about not loving the world and the things that are in the world. It is so easy to just go with the flow with the latest fads, the traditions of men, the acceptable mode of doing things in our culture, and to get caught up in the current of this present world, conforming to all its ways. It is so easy and comes naturally if we are not being cognizant of the fact that these things are of the world and not of God. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind," How do we avoid this danger of conforming and in assimilating its kind of mind and values?
Refuse to let this world and it's "fool's gold" claim your attention. How can we do that?
We must turn our attention from worldliness, and focus our attention upon the Kingdom of God and God's righteousness. We do that by meditating in the light of God's true reality; on the kind of world that He desires and is going to usher in; rather than focusing all our thoughts on this present evil world.
We must also reject the lure of all that is in the world that John describes as; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, and we must not let any of these things turn our head.
In our modern era, living in fairly prosperous nations, there is much to desire and to seek after. The world tells us that to be happy we need to have all of the material things that can be attained in this life, and that we can have them, if we will just use our time, talents, and money to acquire them.
Those who love this world are very short-sighted and superficial. They want satisfaction and fulfillment now, whereas those who love the Father and His laws have a long term perspective and are willing to wait for God's better rewards and blessings.
1st John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
This glittering world and all its earthly perks are only temporary and vanishing and are quickly passing away. Since we are temporary and our days in the flesh are limited, all that we try to take in will be gone from us when we pass away. As God's kingdom looms ever closer and closer, everything this world has to offer will eventually fail and come to nothing; giving way to God's holy and righteous rule on earth that will last forever, and those who become part of God's world will live forever in it.
Set Your Affection on Things that are Above
Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat [Unleavened Bread of life, of the whole word of God] which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
Always remember that we are living in a deceptive and spiritually dark, sinful, world; keep your affection set on the things of God and on loving His law.
We can either fill up our minds with the worldly evils that are going on around us or we can study God's word, meditating on it night and day, pondering and applying the things that we are learning from our study to our daily behavior.
God's Word comes straight from the mind of God and we can have quick access to it every time we imbibe of His word; or if we are busy taking care of the necessities of life during the day, we can be thinking of those things as we go about our daily tasks.
We are either conforming to the thinking and ways of this present evil world, or we are letting God transform us into His image; by setting our affection on Him and letting Him have our attention, rather than giving our attention to the attractions and glamour of this world.
The transformation will happen, if we totally reject this godless and transient world, and accept and surrender to God's training program, that has the power to prepare us for rulership with Him in His Kingdom. We are either conforming or transforming; again it is our choice!
King David Teaches us to Meditate
One of the finest examples of someone who spoke of and practiced spiritual reflection and meditation is the psalmist David, who devoted a tremendous amount of time to thinking, pondering and mulling over again and again, both the visible testimony of what he saw in God's creation, and what God revealed to him by His Word.
In Psalm 119 we see that the whole psalm itself, is a product of spiritual meditation and deep contemplation on the things of God.
The psalmist David wrote of the objects of his meditation, which were: God's Word, God's law, His precepts, His statutes, His commandments, His judgments. David then internalized and incorporated those laws and statutes into his own nature and apply them to his life, letting God's Word become the very core and basis of his spiritual being, who he was, and who he was becoming.
Psalm 119:15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
Psalm 119:23 Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
Psalm 119:48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.
Psalm 119:78 Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.
Psalm 119:97 O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.
Psalm 119:99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation.
Psalm 119:148 Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.
And here are a couple of more Psalms referring to the night watches when David talk about the times that he meditated.
Psalm 63:6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
Psalm 77:6 I call to remembrance my song in the night; I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.
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I call to remembrance my song in the night;
I commune with mine own heart"
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David describes the times of mediation in the night watches. This was perhaps the best time to reflect, ponder and meditate and think about things for him. At night, perhaps when he couldn't get to sleep right away, was a time when he was alone with his thoughts, it was quiet, dark, and tranquil, without distractions; he could reflect back upon the events and activities of the day, thoughtfully scrutinizing as to how well he responded to challenges and trials and in his obedience to God's laws and statutes.
This is an excellent time to reflect, at the end of our day, as to whether we handled certain things well, to discern some things that we could improve on and do better next time; or to realize that we failed in a certain area and that we need to repent of certain sins that were committed earlier in that day.
In several of David's psalms, he talks about the night time (the night watches) as a most appropriate time for this kind of spiritual analytical evaluation (pondering/musing) of the things he is thinking of, a time for quiet meditation.
Psalm 4:4 Stand in awe, [be angry] and sin not: commune with your own heart [meditate] upon your bed, and be still. Selah. [pause, and calmly think of that]
But David also speaks about meditating day and night, in Psalm 1:2.
Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
We can take time out during the day to meditate as we sit quietly, while taking a walk or while having our prayer and study time. We also can train ourselves to always be meditating no matter what we are doing, as we go about our daily activities, thinking about spiritual things, asking ourselves if this is something Jesus would want me to be doing, or how would He handle this situation and filter everything that enters our mind through the grid of God's laws and commandments. Singing psalms and spiritual songs are a way of meditating, as well, as we go about our day.
Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Singing is an excellent form of meditation, praising God and thanking Him for His goodness, that He is a good God, and for everything that He is doing in our lives and for the fact that He is working out His plan of redemption for the Ekkesia, and eventually for the whole world.
From Hearts of Stone to Hearts of Flesh
We can thank Him that He is in the process of putting His law into the hearts of all who come to a decision to sincerely repent and commit to obey Him and become one of His children. The beauty of meditating on the Word of God is that it will weave and engrave God's laws into our hearts and we will internalize the very divine nature of God.
Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
The writer of the book of Hebrews understood this wonderful miracle of turning hearts of stone into hearts of flesh as expounded upon in Jeremiah 31. Mankind will have refashioned hearts like the very heart of God; all those who will eventually turn to Him and repent of their lawbreaking and then have the help of the Holy Spirit.
Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
As We Deleaven our Homes, We can Deleaven our Minds By Means of Meditation
That is why it is so important that we take time out of every day, every night and every week, to slow down our pace, to stop, and reflect, to ponder and mediate, about how we are doing in our Christian walk. As we consider all our ways, we can take the steps we need to grow even more in the grace and knowledge of the true things of God, and to assimilate even more of His Word into our hearts and minds.
Our journey to the Promised Land is fraught with trials, tests, set backs and temptations; and how we use our minds is our defense mechanism, a spiritual weapon that God provides. It is mighty in pulling down strong holds and bringing to captivity every thought that is contrary to Him, and to quench every fiery dart of despair, disappointment, discouragement, doubts, depression, disillusionment. etc., all the things that Satan will throw at us.
Keeping the weekly Sabbath and the keeping of the upcoming Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, are spiritual analogies of what our future destiny holds. In a few days, we will be rehearsing the future events that are going to happen that will bring God's plan to fruition. We can utilized this marvelous tool of meditation as we spend the time going about in preparing for, participating in, and in worshiping God on these very special days; controlling and directing our very thoughts to focus on the whole Word of God and on His wonderful way of life, and the incredible destiny that God is preparing for His children.
On our own and without God's calling, without His Spirit, we cannot comprehend God's mind or purpose.
Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
But with the help of God's Holy Spirit, God will lead and guide us into thinking as He thinks; if we through meditative reflection on His ways internalize them into our very beings, we will bring about a spiritual heart transplant!
In order to develop the divine nature of God and to habitually think like God, we need to arrange our lives in order to have lots of time to meditate, ponder and process the lessons and the significance of our life's experiences as they measure up to God's holy and spiritual law.
Proverbs 2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee [in our hearts through meditating and musing upon them]; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. 7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. 8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. 9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. 10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: 12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
As we deleaven our homes in these next few days before the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we can be meditating and thinking about how we can make the most of the time that we have left, to draw ever closer to Him, and to use our minds more effectively to take in more and more of His Word and understanding it better in the time we have before the fall Feast days.
"Be Strong and of a Good Courage"
As Joshua and the Israelite people were about to cross over the Jordan, to enter and take possession of the Promised Land; God told him to be "be strong and of a good courage", and to observe to do according to all the law that Moses had commanded them. God instructed him to turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, and that they would prosper where ever they would go. If they would meditate on the law that God gave to Moses, day and night, and applied those laws to their lives, they would have good success. God is also telling His modern day Ekklesia to do the same; and as we meditate on God's law and do them, then we too, shall have good success as we get ready to enter and take possession of the land, the spiritual Promised Land that will comprise the Kingdom of God.
Malachi 4:4 Remember ye [think about and meditate on] the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
If we will meditate on God's laws and do them, we will prosper and enjoy good success as we receive the promises of all God's spiritual blessings that await us when we finally cross over the Jordan!
Constance
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