We are Required to Meditate Upon God's Word

I was wonderfully fortunate in that i was well exposed to the words of Yesua as I grew up, but am the first to acknowledge that even then much remained unclear.  I truly appreciate how even pastors and priests come up short.

Today I want to talk about meditation.  This is something barely understood by christians and their teachers.  Understand that there are two types of meditation and both are important.

The one we are most exposed to is contemplative meditation.  This means recalling scripture and thinking upon it to form your own internal understanding.  For christianity, that is the central Sermon of the Mount which are the actual spoken words of Yesua.  You can contemplate those words every day for the endurance of your life and something else will be suggested leaking over from the other side.  There is much else but this can be tour central contemplation.

The other form of contemplation is clearing you mind and perhaps saying a mantra to help block extraneous material.  Yoga is one form and there are many variations.  The whole point is to reach the theta state which takes about fifteen minutes. At that point the other siee will flow pastel lights and perhaps go much further. v The purpose though is to allow the other side to sharee with you and the central objective is accessing the INNER SUN.  You will easioyrecognize this event because it is impossible and radiance matches that of the high noon SUN and though safe (narrow spectrum) is scary.  It took me years and it is not on demand though i wish it were.

We are Required to Meditate Upon God's Word.

What Exactly are we Required to Do and Why?

It is a wonder that God Loved us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to live in the flesh among us and die for us (becoming our Kinsman Redeemer), paving a means for us to go to heaven IF we choose to follow Him. No one knows why He Loves us so much to do this for us. King David was also perplexed and wrote, "What is man, that thou are mindful of him?" (Ps 8:4a). We are nothing, yet our Father wants to restore the relationship man had with Jesus Christ in the garden before Adam sinned. We each have the option to individually and take up our cross and follow Him. Jesus Christ Himself said, "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." (Matt 10:38).

All the above is obvious to Christians, but many don't understand what is required of them after they decide to follow Christ. Some pastors even tell their congregations that they don't have to do anything. This is simply not true! This is what the world wants you to believe. Many pastors do not tell their congregations what it means to take up their cross and Follow Christ nor the other commands given to Christians that we are REQUIRED to do. Imagine that you were there when Jesus was carrying His cross to be crucified. If you took up a cross and followed Jesus, you also would be crucified right there with Him, sacrificing your life to be with Him, to your death. We are REQUIRED to take up our crosses and follow Christ and die with him. Paul said it very clearly when he wrote, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Gal 2:20).

This begs the next question as to how we are to "follow" Christ. The scriptures tell us exactly what we must do to follow Him constantly throughout the whole of scripture and says, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Rom 12:2). We are told that this happens through the renewing of our minds. Only through obtaining knowledge by studying the scriptures will we be able to know and do God's will for our life, and this is why we are required to meditate upon God's Word, day and night. David Brainerd expressed how Christians are to live daily when he said: "When you cease from labor, fill up your time in reading, meditation, and prayer: and while your hands are laboring, let your heart be employed, as much as possible, in divine thoughts".

When we commit our lives to serve and follow our Lord Jesus Christ, He seals us with the Holy Spirit, which is kind of like a wedding ring or promise that we will be His bride if we wish to be by taking up our crosses and following Him. As we study God's Word and meditate upon it, we need to ask for guidance, and the Holy Spirit will help us understand. Meditation is more than a "verse of the day" text message or simply reading a chapter or two daily or listening to the pastor once a week. It requires that you earnestly desire to conform to our Lord through studying His Word and seeking His guidance. Memorizing scriptures will also writes His Word upon our hearts so that we do not sin against Him. (Ps 119:11)

There are so many verses in the scriptures that tell us that we must meditate; and through studying, and having the Holy Spirit guide us, our minds will be renewed. I’ll list a few of them here: Ps 19:14; Ps 139:17-18; Ps 119:127; Ps 119:15-16; Jos 1:8; Phil 4:8; Ps 119:9-11; Ps 119:48-49; Ps 119:78-79; Ps 119:15; Ps 119:105-106; Ps 1:1-2; Col 3:16; Matt 4:4; Ps 49:3; Ps 63:6; Prov 4:20-22; Ps 37:31; Ps 77:6; Ps 119:27; 1 Thess 5:16-18; 1 John 5:14; Heb 4:12; Ps 46:10; Matt 6:6; 1 Tim 4:13-15; Ps 33:4-5; Ps 119:90; Ps 77:11; Ps 119:55; Ps 40:10; Ps 111:1-3; Rev 15:3; Rom 11:33; Ps 90:16-17; Ps 119:97; Ps 143:5; Ps 77:12; Ps 104:34; Isaiah 26:3; Ps 77:10-12; Ps 145:5; Ps 16:8; Ps 119:97-99; Ps 4:4; Ps 119:78; Ps 119:23; Rom 12:2; 2 Tim 3:16-17; Rom 10:17.

We are told that without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). Do you want to please Him? Of course, you do! Rom 10:17 tell us how to obtain faith: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." We can't have faith unless we study and meditate upon God's Word.