New Wine - Day 29

With new wine and new wineskins, we need to be able to handle it all a little differently. You may have been a Christian for the majority of your life. Yet, you have never really had the opportunity to delve into the spiritual disciplines in a way that has become truly meaningful for you. This week, we will delve into 5 disciplines that might be helpful for you to dive into intentionally.

#1 Meditate on God’s word

God’s word is the foundation of our lives. In the Scriptures, God reveals himself and his will for us. If we want to know and enjoy God, the place to begin is God’s word. The truth is that apart from the Bible, we CAN’T know what God is like.

We can see some aspects of God in nature and the creation, but we would never look at an oak tree or a butterfly and know that God is holy, sovereign, or loving. We could never know what Jesus did to redeem us by hiking through the Grand Canyon or looking at a beautiful sunset. We need God’s word, the only source of absolute, unchanging spiritual truth.

Here’s what Scripture says about itself:
 
"Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts." - Jeremiah 15:16

To “eat” God’s words means we take them in; we hear God’s words or read them. And when we do this consistently and meditate on them, God’s words become a joy and delight in our hearts.

In Psalm 1, there are two forces that will shape our thinking: either the world or God’s word:

In  Psalm 1:1-2 it is said:
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

We can either follow the counsel of the world or the Word. Psalm 1 tells us that we should make God’s word our delight and meditate consistently – day and night on it.

One last note. This is more than reading the word of God. It is ingesting the word of God. Some days you may read chapters, while other days you may read a sentence, or a phrase, or a word. We take it, we “eat” it, and we sit with it as we contemplate what those words mean. We take the time to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts

JOURNAL

1. I am sure you have studied your bible, but have you meditated on it? 
2. Can you take 30 minutes a day to do this? 20? 10? Start with whatever you can handle.

3. Are you hearing what God is saying between the words? What is it?