Tag: meditate

GOOD!

Psalm 100

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I chose to write about Psalm 100 because of how much we can learn from it despite its shortness. This is a great chapter to read, and it only takes a minute of your whole day. The first thing I would like to point out is that in verse four it says, “Bless his name.” This verse is talking about God and how we should give thanks to him and bless his name. Now if you’re like me you might be thinking, why should we bless God’s name? Well, God blessing us and us blessing God are not the same thing at all. God does not profit from us blessing him. It’s not like he gets stronger or better anytime someone blesses him. On the other hand, when God blesses us, we benefit from it. In this verse, it is talking more about how we should praise him.

 

Throughout the whole Psalm, it talks about how we should praise God. As a church, I believe we should be more joyful, and excited. This Psalm is a great example of how we should praise God. It tells us we should serve God with gladness, shout joyfully, enter his gates with thanksgiving, and give thanks to God.

 

Usually when we think of ‘good’ we use it to mean something between ok and great. But in this passage, it is saying that he is righteous and about how great God is. This reminds me of the popular song below:

 

God is good, all the time

And all the time, God is good.

 

This Psalm is a great one to meditate on. Here are some points from Psalm 100 that you can meditate on.

God made us

We are the sheep in his pasture

The Lord himself is God

His lovingkindness is everlasting

The Lord is good

His faithfulness continues to all generations

Throughout the whole book of Psalms, it says, “His lovingkindness is everlasting”. In fact, it says it 34 times. Of those 34 times, 26 of them are all in Psalm 136. It even says it in every single verse.

Even in this short Psalm we can take so much from it.

-Makayla Railton

Bible Study Crash Course: Part 2 – Psalm 1

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This week, we’ve been focusing on the importance of God’s word for our lives. Yesterday, we focused on the nitty gritty aspects of Bible Study. Today, we’re going to look at the bigger picture as we wrap up the week!

So, when we think about Bible Study, we should have four phrases in the back of our minds:

Read it

Meditate on it

Memorize it

Live it

Yesterday, we talked about our daily quiet time that normally involves reading the scripture. It’s important to remember that we can study the Bible in different ways! Last year, we looked at the Big Picture of the Bible. We read through it quickly and tried to see how each part of the Bible related to God’s epic plan. We can also study the Bible by studying specific books of the Bible, which we will do beginning this Sunday as we study the book of Proverbs. Another type of study that we can do is a topical study, where we look at specific topics like love or marriage and study what the Bible says about it whenever that topic comes up. Each of these ways of studying the Bible really helps us to have a complete picture of what we’re studying, and so we should try to do them at some point in our study of the Bible.

Once we read the Bible, we should meditate on it. If we look at verse 1-3 of Psalm 1, our key passage for today, we see that the man who meditates on the law of the LORD day and night is blessed! What is the law of the LORD? The Bible! But, what does meditating mean? Generally, it means to “think deeply or carefully about something” or to “consider.” It can be tempting to treat our daily reading of God’s word as a chore that we have to check off our to-do lists. We skim through a chapter or two a day and then close our Bibles without ever thinking about it again. The danger in this is that we never let God’s word sink into our hearts! That’s why it’s so important to meditate on it, to think carefully and deeply about what the Bible says. Yesterday, I mentioned that you could journal after reading to help you think. This is a great option! Prayer also helps us to do this. If you’re artsy, Bible Journaling Art can be a great way to meditate on scripture as you make artwork that relates to what you’ve read.

Another aspect of Bible study that’s important and can help us to meditate on the scripture is memorization. Growing up, I never really saw the value in memorizing scripture. My family is Christian so we had about 15 Bibles to choose from if I really wanted to look up a verse. On top of this, my brothers and I got a laptop to share when I was about 7 or 8 years old. By the time I really cared to look up verses, I always had Google or Bible Gateway at my fingertips. This is even truer now when I constantly carry around my phone. All this being said, even when I know that I have the capability of looking up scripture to help me work through a situation or strengthen my faith, I, unfortunately, don’t choose to do this first thing. A worrier by nature, I immediately start analyzing my situation from my viewpoint, and if it’s a problem that stresses me out too much, I’ll enlist the help up my friends to sort it out. If I don’t have scripture ready at the forefront of my mind that I’ve thought about and hidden in my heart (Ps. 119:11), I’m afraid I won’t turn to it until I’ve already done something that I probably shouldn’t have.

For instance, if I am worried about a situation that’s making me anxious and keeping me up at night, I can (1) journal about it, maybe cry about it, and maybe even call a friend if I’m real upset. OR I can remember Philippians 4:6, which says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” That’s a pretty profound truth that totally changes the way that I think about how to handle the problems that I face!

Memorization is important. It can help you in situations like this. (Because we both know that even if you have a smartphone AND a Bible sitting at your bedside table if scripture isn’t the first thing on your mind, you’ll probably be picking option one in the scenario above.) And, it can help you as you defend your faith (1 Peter 3:15). Look at Jesus’ temptation in the desert in Matthew 4 if you need some more evidence for the importance and benefits of memorizing scripture. This year, you’ll have some great verses picked out for you to help you memorize Scripture each week with these devotions!

Lastly, we should remember our fundamental purpose for why we study the Bible. We want it to change our hearts. We want to know and live for God. If you do the first three phrases consistently in your life, this, in addition to the power of the Holy Spirit, will really begin to make a big change in your life. And, if we check ourselves with this purpose each day, it will be harder to fall into the trap of viewing the reading of God’s word as a stale chore to be tackled each day.

Let’s dedicate ourselves to reading, meditating on, memorizing, and living out the truths we find in God’s word!

Learning From Joshua (Joshua 1-4)

Friday, September 23

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By Jill McClain

With the death of Moses, Joshua becomes the new leader of God’s chosen people.  The book of Joshua records Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land.  God quickly reminds Joshua that it is imperative that Joshua and his people remain faithful and then they will succeed in finally entering Canaan.  “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8)  God has lovingly given us a book that contains instructions for how we are to live our lives.  However, it is up to each of us to thoroughly study his word day and night, so that we will know how to do just as it says, not veering to the right or left of what has been written.  Hopefully, these devotions have encouraged you to read your Bible daily. Meditating on the Bible is an important first step, but that must be followed up with obedience to all that is taught in God’s word.

Leading God’s people out of the desert that they had been wandering in for 40 years was a challenging assignment.  Yet, Joshua bravely and with calm determination stepped up and became the strong leader that the Israelites needed.  Joshua was able to act courageously because for years he had witnessed God’s faithfulness and he knew that God would always be with him.  “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)  What is something that you are facing that requires you to be strong and courageous?

In chapter two Rahab stepped out in faith to help the spies.  Rahab had heard how God had led his people out of Egypt and through the Red Sea.  She had heard stories of God’s protection of his people, and she knew that he must be the one, true God.  Because of Rahab’s faith, God was able to use her, a prostitute from Jericho, to help keep his people safe.  Think of a way that God may be calling you to step out in faith?

In the following chapter, God caused the Jordan River to stop flowing so that his people could walk across. He used this miracle to demonstrate once again that he was with his people.  Then in chapter four the people created a memorial from stones to serve as a reminder of God’s always present help.

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