Right Meditation
These days there are so many things we can fill our minds with- many of them not beneficial to us. The world talks a lot about meditation, mostly new-age-false-religion meditation. We need to stay away from that. However, the concept of meditation is good- as long as we meditate on the right stuff.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. Philippians 4:8 (NKJV)
We need to make sure we are meditating, or rolling over in our minds, good things. As believers, God wants us to meditate on certain things, three of which I am going to cover today:
God’s Word- what God has said.
God’s Character- what God is like.
God’s Names- who God is.
God’s Word
God’s Word speaks of what God says. As we study, pray and confess God’s Word, we are meditating on it. Memorizing scripture is key to meditating on it. When we meditate the Word, we think on it over and over until we begin to see ourselves speaking and doing the Word. And because the Word of God is for our benefit (II Timothy 3:16), meditating on it always brings us good results.
God’s Character
When things are hard or we are disappointed, we can remind ourselves that God is love, faithful, good, and true. Pondering the characteristics, or qualities, of God will help us get past difficulties. And it reminds us of the difference in the God we serve and the god that the world follows.
God’s Names
Things will go wrong because we live in a fallen world, but we can remind ourselves that Jesus has redeemed us by focusing on the names of God. I have included some of the redemptive names of God to get you started.
Jehovah Jireh: The Lord our Provider
Jehovah Nissi: The Lord our Victory and Waymaker
Jehovah Shalom: The Lord our Peace
Jehovah Rapha: The Lord our Healer
Jehovah Shammah: The Lord ever-present with us
Jehovah Tsidkenu: The Lord our Righteousness
Jehovah M’kadesh: The Lord our Sanctifier
As we take the time and effort to think on these things: God’s Word, His character, and His names, our meditation will be sweet, and change will take place in us and in our circumstances.
