Breathe, Meditate

On July 31, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Joshua 1: 8

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

This is one of those “stand out” verses in the Bible. Some Christian circles use it a lot while others don’t teach it quite as much. Even fewer teach what it means to meditate or how to do it. I am going to use it today as a practicum.

This week I have sent you two emails that encourage quiet, contemplative time with God. In other words, meditation. God told Joshua that this was the key to success. The problem is, most of us were not taught how to meditate. As for slowing ourselves down so that we can hear God’s voice, well, that’s just not a strength either, though that is what Psalm 46: 10, our verse from yesterday, directs us to do.

The Holy Spirit is the breath of God, so I find the easiest way for me to relax and quiet my inner self is to take a couple of slow, deep breaths. When you breathe deeply and slowly, you signal your body that you are safe. It does not have to keep itself primed for fight or flight. This is a super powerful tool! Breathe. Anytime you feel anxious, angry, worried or any other energy emotion, just breathe deeply and slowly. Focus on exhaling out every last bit of air in your lungs. This is actually healthy for your lungs too because many of us breathe in the middle volume of our lungs which means we never empty it of the stale, used up air. If you, at the same time, imagine yourself meeting the Father in a safe place of your own choice you will likely feel yourself connecting with Him.

Picture a place you like. For some people it is their own kitchen table with cups of coffee steaming nearby. Others like to walk on the beach, sit in the woods or wade in a creek. Better still, sit by a creek, in the woods, in the mountains with a cup of coffee and your Father. Now that sounds heavenly to me. Wherever you choose, make it a place of supreme safety and comfort. When you meet your Father in that place you will notice that many of the barriers which block good communication are automatically lowered. Don’t go to His throne room where He looms gloriously in His majesty because you may find it hard to approach Him. Go there when you want to see His glory and worship Him. Instead, sit down in your own living room with Him.

Now, here is another secret. Once you are connected with the Father, you don’t actually have to speak with Him. You can actually think of other things, do other things. See, the big objective is to live with Him day and night. Well, you certainly wouldn’t talk non-stop with a person you were with all of the time. Healthy relationships do not depend on non-stop chatter. Sometimes it is nice to just be with Yahweh in the quiet of your mind and soul. Having said that, still we need those very still, quiet times. Then they swell into the ever present “now” with the Father.

So for today we have learned two things to help us in our meditation or restated, our quiet time with the Lord. First, breathe. Second, visualize yourself in a tranquil, peaceful place with your Father at your side.

Tomorrow, we will explore a bit further into this idea of reflective time with the Lord.

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Let Go, Know God

On July 30, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 46: 10        GW

Let go of your concerns! Then you will know that I am God.

Yesterday I used today’s verse in making a broader point. Today I want to take you into it more in depth. Yesterday I used the NLT version of Psalm 46: 10 which says, “Be still, and know that I am God!” In order to see God’s hand manifested in our lives, we have to be still, quiet and allow Him to be God. Without the benefit of stillness and quiet, it is challenging to hear God.

Another very important aspect of being still is letting go of our worry and putting our trust in Him. It really is a package of trust that allows God to be active in our lives. Doubt shuts Him out. Our worry and keeping our hand in things interferes with God showing up in our lives.

Yahweh God respects our free will very highly. He absolutely will not violate your right to make choices. That also means, though, that He will not step into your business and take over, even if it would be good for you. He knows that would be dysfunctional and that He needs to let you choose for yourself. Therefore, you have to invite Him into your business. He will gladly advise you but only when you allow His participation. If you pray for His help and then lean on your own strength, you are pushing Him out. He wants us to let go of those concerns, turning them completely over to Him.

As you think about this verse, especially as seen from the two different translations, I think you will gain a keen perspective on how to let God be Lord in your life. You may see ways you have restricted Him in the past. Living in Him and with Him means intertwining with Him in every aspect of your life and even every aspect of His. As you release your concerns to Him, He will increasingly minister answers to you. Remember to quiet yourself down and listen for His voice. As He speaks advice, do as He says. You are going to see some fabulous and interesting changes in your life.

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Quietly

On July 29, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 62: 1, 5         NLT

I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.

I hope you are enjoying Psalm Mondays. I am. We are, in a practical way, getting to look particularly at David’s thought life and relationship with God. Today’s verse gives a great insight to David’s success. It also may point out a liability that we deal with in the modern society which David was not hampered by.

David learned to be still, quiet, even silent before God and this is a major part of his success. I often think he learned this very important skill in fields tending sheep. While his big brothers were off fighting in wars, David was stuck keeping watch over the sheep. It is pretty boring out in the field, by yourself at night. In those quiet hours, though, he learned to speak with God and more importantly, to listen. One will never hear God without quiet. Psalm 46: 10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God!” The psalm makes a good point. We will find it difficult, if not impossible, to know Yahweh as God unless we learn to seek Him in the silent times. To know God as God; to have Him show up as God in your life, you have to be able to communicate with Him. If you can hear Him, you can be led, taught, guided and instructed in your everyday life. When we cannot hear Him, He can’t lead us. We need peace and we need to quiet in order to hear God’s voice.

The difference between David’s time and ours is technology. There are so many distractions in our lives. We have televisions, movies, music, computers, etc. David had stars and moonlight; and silence. In that silence he learned to hear God.

We could all do with a little silence. Unlike David, we have to create quiet in our lives. If we really want to have God be God in our lives, we need to wait quietly and patiently before him. That may be a bit of a lost art but worthy of rediscovering. Maybe we need to get some sheep and go live out in the fields with them. If not that, perhaps just setting aside time where we control our internal and external environment. Slow down, quiet down and let God lead you to victory.

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Chosen

On July 26, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 41: 9

I have chosen you and not rejected you.

Did you know that God has chosen you? Do you know that you are precious to him? Sometimes we think that the only people God has chosen and called are those called into ministry. That just isn’t true. It took me awhile to understand the call on my life but now I can help you. I thought He was calling me into business as a Christian business person. Then I thought He was calling me into law. And while those were appointments for a time, I finally realized that the real call on my life was to Him. And just the same, He is calling you to himself. That is the call on your life. Yeah, it may ultimately manifest in a variety of ways, but you need not worry about that. He will lead you into your path once you have answered His call. You need not concern yourself with what He has called you to in terms of a task or an occupation. All you have to do is recognize that He has called and chosen you. Answer Him. It is no different than when you were a child and a parent called you. They meant for you to go to them. They called you to themselves. Then you would go find them. This is the same with God. He is calling. He has chosen you. He has not rejected you. Go to Him. Seek Him.

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Good God!

On July 25, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 73: 1       TPT

No one can deny it—God is really good to Israel and to all those with pure hearts. But I nearly missed seeing it for myself.

I have just returned from an Impact Ministry conference with Dr. Jim Richards. It was a special weekend with a special acknowledgement of Jim’s sister, Pat Richards. I am sure as time goes on, more and more will filter through my mind about what I learned. The takeaway that I loved most, though, was this statement from Dr. Richards, “God is good, and only good.” That is the point of this scripture, that God is good. And let’s get this part right – who is Israel? Well, that would be you. You have been made a royal heir according to your ingrafting into the family of God. However, some of us have nearly missed understanding about God’s goodness.

I’ve been teaching on the goodness of God for a long time, but the way Jim phrased that really resonated with me. We often hear, “God is good all the time” but it seems people don’t believe that. Perhaps we’ve heard it so many times that we have ceased to actually hear it with our brains. It amazes me how often Christians talk about the bad things God has given them. They will even praise God for it and tell you how it made them stronger. That comes from a misunderstanding of God but more particularly of Romans 8: 28 which teaches us that although bad things happen, God will take them and turn them for good. I call it the “Lemonade Scripture” because it basically says that God will take lemons and make lemonade. Because good comes out of a situation, does not mean, though, that God created the situation. That is very poor logic and just wrong. God is a good and benevolent God. He is good ALL the time and He is only good. He is never bad.

John 10: 10 reads, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Of course, these words were spoken by Jesus. If you understand, and even memorize, this verse, you will understand a great deal of the Bible and you will have a solid personal theology. First, you have to understand who the thief is. Jesus spent most of this chapter explaining the difference between a good shepherd and a bad one. He identifies himself and the Heavenly Father as good. They care for the sheep. The bad shepherd is, of course, the devil. We need to get this settled in our hearts and minds. You can imagine how funny the devil finds it when he sends bad into the world and our benevolent, good and gracious Father gets the blame for it.

Settle this once and for all in your heart and you will understand much about life and the world. When you see good, that is your Father because He is good and only good. Heaven doesn’t have any bad for Him to give you. There is no cancer in heaven. There is no hunger. There is only good in heaven. Our Father is only good, therefore always good. Don’t let this be a point of confusion for you any longer. Satan doesn’t bless you, he only curses. Goodness is of the Father. He is the source of all goodness in the earth. Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. Therefore, if you see theft, death or destruction, you should be able to identify the author. The devil is a corrupter of good. He twists and perverts. He steals whatever is good and turns it inside out. There is no goodness in him.

Your Father knows how to give good gifts to His children, and He knows how to care for the sheep. He is the good shepherd for He is good and only good.

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Sharp & Strong

On July 24, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 41: 15

Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; you will thresh the mountains, and pulverize them, and will make the hills like chaff.

God has made you something strong. You are no longer weak. Do you see who you are in His eyes? By and through Him, you are mighty and powerful. Is there a mountain looming over you? Well, God has made you able to demolish it so that it becomes little more than a memory. You will look around and say, “Where is that mountain that terrorized me?”

All that God is, all that Jesus brought and all that the Holy Spirit conveys, is alive and well on the inside of you right now. You are no little worm in the grass. God has made you the head and not the tail, above and not beneath (Deuteronomy 28: 13). You are an overcomer, a victor. Let the vision God has of you fill you from head to toe. Change your self-image to agree with that of the Father. Then speak to that mountain and watch it vanquish before you. You are a beloved child of the most high. Let his expression of love dwell richly within you.

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Goodness

On July 23, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Nahum 1:7

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him.

The Lord is good. That doesn’t sound like a huge revelation perhaps, but you might be surprised how many Christians have not come to that conclusion yet. He is good and He does good. He is not bad, and He does not do bad things to us. He is full to overflowing with goodness and He rains His goodness on us.

He is also a strong fortress in our day of need. What does it mean that He is a stronghold? It means that you can run to Him and he will be your strength, answer and protection. You can rely on Him to be your safe place when trouble heads in your direction.

What’s more, He becomes intimately familiar with those who trust Him and take refuge in Him. He wants to be your hiding place. He wants you to lean on Him when the pressure is on rather than relying on your own resources. You can come out of a bad situation as the victor and also closer to God. That alone makes it a victory. The more you get to know Him, the more you spend time with Him the more he will be able to share His wisdom and other good gifts with you. He is a good God and all of that goodness is stored up just for you.

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