Let’s talk about Wordkeeping Meditation. Unlike the world’s brand of meditation, which involves emptying out your mind, the true form of meditation requires active, focused concentration and contemplation. It is filling your mind with the wonderful thoughts of God, which bring us into connection with Him.
How does this work? Let’s give an example of the type of thoughts that may be generated through a Wordkeeping experience. After beginning with a prayer for wisdom and spiritual understanding, a text is selected for study. For the example, we will pick a random passage, Philippians 2. Phrase by phrase, I read slowly, letting the message soak deep. From the very first phrase, God speaks to me. Yes, I have found so much comfort and fellowship in Jesus, my heart joyfully cries out to Him in gratitude. Praise wells up within me, and I’m heart to heart with Jesus, in deep appreciation, as I read through verse 1. I pause to thank Him for His mercy and love toward me. I bask in His goodness. I sense His presence. We are communing together.
On to verse 2, as I read, my heart responds. Yes, I want to have the same attitude which I so admire in Christ, I want to have His love for others, I want to be in unity with my brothers and sisters. The Holy Spirit is making me willing. Perhaps my mind goes to a difference I’ve had with a fellow believer, and the power of this passage probes down to this flaw, and roots it out. The Word actually removes my unkind feelings, replacing them with love. My mind is agreeing with God’s mind. I am accepting His truth in a personal way.
On to verse 3. As I read and ponder, my ego and pride melt away. I am humbled by the Spirit through the Word. I don’t just read the words, I allow the Holy Spirit to make them a reality in my thinking. This is a miraculous transformation that takes place. I am being cleansed by the Word. That’s why Jesus said to His disciples, "Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you." The willing disciples received His words, and the Words purged out the wrong thinking. This process we’ve been describing is what we call Wordkeeping.
Perhaps you’d like to experiment with a passage right now, and prayerfully meditate on the words. Make sure you’re not rushing through, and ending up with just good information, but with no spiritual food. Don’t fall into that trap, because you’ll soon lose interest, and look upon it as a duty rather than a delight.
As I read, I make certain that I understand every word. I
use the concordance when necessary. The passage of scripture I select becomes
my own. I value it so highly, I want to permanently implant it into my heart. I
want to live this passage. So I take the time and effort to prompterize it. I
take the first initial of every word as a prompter, and within a few minutes, I
can repeat the text by looking at just the prompters. This makes the text
delightfully familiar to me. Every word is accounted for, and nothing slips
through the cracks! My heart responds
willingly and joyfully.
Wordkeeping involves digging in the mine of truth until we find
rich treasures. But if, after we find them, we don’t apply them to our lives,
it is worse than wasted effort. For then we become forgetful hearers and not
doers of the Word. If God’s Word condemns a bad habit, or an unloving feeling,
or some cherished sin, we must let it do its cleansing work and cut it out of
our lives. That’s the end result of faithful Wordkeeping – transformation of
character.
What we need is to fortify our mind with God’s Word, to build it up, strengthen it, empower it with divine power, so that when temptation comes, it doesn’t stand a chance. By internalizing the Word of God through prayerful meditation and application, we disarm the enemy. We take away his weapons!
Keeping God’s Word with you all day long chases away many unchristlike thoughts and attitudes that would normally spring up. Satan doesn’t have a chance when the Word is in us! That’s the position we want to be in.
Thank you, Lord, for your powerful Word!
Here are your ten texts for today.
|
Psa
139:24 |
Asitbawwim, almitwe. |
Psalm
139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting. |
|
Psa
147:3 |
Hhtbih, abutw. |
Psalm
147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. |
|
Pro
3:5 |
TitLwath, alnutou. |
Proverbs
3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. |
|
Pro
3:6 |
Iatwah, ahsdtp. |
Proverbs
3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. |
|
Pro
3:7 |
Bnwitoe: ftL, adfe. |
Proverbs
3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. |
|
Pro
3:11 |
Ms, dntcotL; nbwohc. |
Proverbs
3:11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his
correction: |
|
Pro
4:18 |
Btpotjiatsl, tsmamutpd. |
Proverbs
4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and
more unto the perfect day. |
|
Pro
6:6 |
Gtta, ts; chw, abw: |
Proverbs
6:6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: |
|
Pro
12:22 |
LlaattL: bttdtahd. |
Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are abomination to the
LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.
|
|
Pro
14:12 |
Tiawwsruam, btetatwod. |
Proverbs
14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are
the ways of death. |
In His Love,
Linda Kirk
(805) 239-1120