Do you feel as if the fire of your faith is smoldering?
Are you hoping and praying something will change? Will another conference or special speaker be the answer? Special meetings definitely feed our faith, but is it enough to keep the fire burning?
We are living in flame-extinguishing times. Anger, lies, hateful speech fills the airways. It's hard to know who or what to believe. Pressure seems to be squeezing us from every side.
I've been in a battle with poison ivy that went into cellulitis. Prednisone and antibiotics helped, but they did awful things to my mental outlook. I was in a battle with depression and discouragement as the weeks dragged on with little improvement. The Lord gave me a prescription to help combat the mental fog and stress. He said, "Read a Psalm and a Proverb a day."
When I did that, I sensed an immediate change. Here is one of God's nuggets.
Psalm 1:1-2 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."
The Lord put His highlight on the word "meditates." I discovered that the Hebrew definition of the word meditate is: (haw-gaw) A primitive root which means to murmur (in pleasure or anger); to ponder, mutter, speak, study, talk, utter.
Meditation might conjure up a picture in your mind of someone sitting in a lotus position chanting strange sounds. Meditation is mentioned all through the Bible, but with a different intention. We don't empty our mind - we're meant to replace our anxious thoughts with God's Word.
Then I went to Psalm 5: "Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation."
When we sit quietly with the Lord He will help us to see what we've been meditating upon. Then, we can replace any negative or anxious thoughts with His Word.
Meditation, in Psalm 5 pertains to the unexpressed thoughts of the soul, derived from a word (hagag) which means to set on fire, to kindle, fervor of the mind.
When we meditate on His Word we kindle the flame of our faith.
Have you ever had a flame of anger in your heart? It's not fun . . . and it's not easy to extinguish those thoughts without God's healing help. Without realizing it, our thoughts can stray to all the anger, lies and offense so present around us.
We are in the end times and the love of many is growing cold, (Matthew 24:12) the enemy is trying to deceive even the elect (Mark 12:22), many are becoming offended and turning to hate (Matthew 24:10-12). We have to guard our heart with all diligence for out of it flows the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). What we are meditating upon will determine how susceptible we are to stress, and the battles around us. We have to be in the Word.
Is the flame of your heart smoldering? Pick up the Word and let it be the meditation of your heart today.
"Didn't our hearts burn within us as He talked with us . . .?" (Luke 24:32)