James 1:25 says, “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

King Solomon instructed his son in Proverbs 2. Verse 1 says, “…if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you.” That is what Psalm 119 says over and over. Verse 100 Amplified says, “I understand more than the aged, because I keep Your precepts (hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them).” Four action words.

Proverbs 2:6 says, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” His purpose is to shield, guard, and preserve us from the enemy who lurks to lure us into his traps.

Proverbs 24:30-31 highlights one who lacked understanding. As a result his vineyard was overgrown with thorns; its surface was covered with nettles; its stone wall was broken down.

The Lord shares His heart with us through intimate communion. His scalpel-words pierce between our thoughts and intentions, to reveal the hidden lies that would shipwreck our faith.

Memorizing is a slow process for me. As I repeat a phrase over and over, I end up meditating on it. The discipline yields a double benefit. That is the case with Psalm 119:104. It says, “Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.”

The word ‘false’ in Hebrew means deception. The devil’s only power is through deception. He seeks to pull us from the truth that keeps us free. We gain insights as we read God’s word for understanding so we can apply it.

James 1:21 says that the implanted word will save our soul. His word is implanted as we memorize and meditate. Verse 22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves.”

A person who is deceived does not know they have been trapped by the enemy. When we look into the mirror of God’s word, our hidden to us is revealed. Think of the word blindspot. I know that I have blindspots when I am driving. I have to compensate for them in order to drive safely.

Let me ask you. Have you been meditating on God’s word? Have you allowed it to shape your thoughts, words, and actions? Psalm 119:78 says, “Let the proud be ashamed, for they treated me wrongfully with falsehood, but I will meditate on Your precepts.”

Verse 78 gives us strategic warfare. It is through meditating on His word. I love Nahum 2:1. As I quote or read it, I make it militant. It says, “He who scatters has come up before your face. Man the fort! Watch the road! Strengthen your flanks! Fortify your power mightily.”

Our power comes from truth. The enemy only can lie. John 8:44 says that the devil is the father of lies. Meditating on God’s word gives us discernment, so we can detect the fiery dart lie and not give it entrance.

It is only the lies of the enemy that we have received that penetrate and seed into our heart. That is his design. He builds inner strongholds to defeat us through our thoughts. Not every thought is of our origin. Beware. Be on alert. Fortify your heart’s defense through meditation.

Our trials come unannounced. James 1:3 says that we fall into them. I can attest to that. I’ve had two bad falls. One in a ravine (1977) and one on the sidewalk (2024). There is a hymn called “Sometime We’ll Understand.” The chorus: So trust in God through all the days. Fear not, for He doth hold thy hand. Though dark thy way still sing and praise. Sometime, some time we’ll understand. 

We do have the assurance from Scripture that God is in control ~ always. He is our Masterful Orchestrator. Romans 8:28 says that He is at work for our good. Verse 29 gives us understanding. He uses our trials to conform us to His image. Nothing we go through is ever in vain. The Lord will redeem it all.

I’ve been memorizing Psalm 119:97-104. Verse 97 says, “Oh, how I love Your law. It is my meditation all the day.” His word in us makes us wiser than our enemies, gives us more understanding than the ancients or our teachers. They keep us from disobedience. They teach us to hate evil.

I’ve been reading through Jeremiah. In chapter 32 God instructed Jeremiah to buy a field. At the time, Jeremiah was shut up in the court of the prison. Babylon’s army had besieged Jerusalem.

In verses 16-25 Jeremiah prays for understanding. Interesting to note that he started out rehearsing who God was. He fortified himself through recalling God’s greatness. Great pattern for us.

God had rescued His people from Egypt and gave them the land, yet they didn’t obey His voice or walk in His law. In verse 24 Jeremiah said, “Look at the siege mounds!…”

Then he asked his question in verse 25. “…You have said to me…Buy the field…yet the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans.” God’s answer was in verse 26. It says, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”

We are to obey even though we don’t understand. Why? Luke 1:37 says, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” Abraham obeyed God, yet he had no understanding. His obedience opened the way for our salvation. Genesis 12:1-3.

I always marvel when I read through the book of John. Jesus personally stood before Pilate. John 18:37 says, “Pilate therefore said to Him, Are You a king then? Jesus answered, You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

Truth stood right before his face, yet in verse 38 Pilate asked, “…What is truth?” Then he announced to the Jews that he found no fault in Jesus. Truth is absolute.

Truth is eternal. It will never be changed because Jesus is always the same. Hebrews 13:8. Malachi 3:6 says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change…” Our circumstances change constantly, yet the Lord is Ever Present in them as our Steadfast Rock.

I like to ask folks that I meet if they have a personal relationship with Jesus. Our relationship with the Lord is through intimate communion with living Truth. He meets us where we are.

Paul clearly understood the struggle between flesh and Spirit. In Romans 7 he wrote of his struggle. Verse 19 says, “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.”

The truth is, at salvation, we died with Christ. Romans 6 is a great chapter to help us understand how to live for Jesus. First we have to understand that we died with Christ.

Verse 4 says, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Verse 11 says, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Dead things have absolutely no ability to respond to any stimulus.

Verse 13 says, “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourself to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” 

I think of the hymn’s words, “Living for Jesus, a life that is true, striving to please Him in all that I do; yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free, this is the pathway of blessing for me.”

Colossians 1:10 says, “That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” This is a verse I use often in praying for others who are struggling.

We struggle when our flesh seeks preeminence. Galatians 5:16 says that when we walk in the Spirit, our flesh is subdued. However, when we walk in the flesh the Holy Spirit resists us.

I like to think of two magnets trying to come together. There is polarization that keeps them apart. Verse 17 says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”

Daily walking in the Spirit allows Him to direct us so that our lives will bear fruit that glorifies the Lord. Galatians 5:22-23.

We walk in truth as we daily apply what we have read in His word. Joshua 1:8 says to observe to do. Experiential knowledge is active because His word gets inside us. It becomes like yeast in bread dough ~ it permeates our entire being.

His word is succinctly expressed in Hebrews 4:12 as living, powerful, “…sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Verse 13 in the Amplified says, “And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.”

1 Chronicles 28:9 Amplified says, “…For the Lord searches all hearts and minds and understands all the wanderings of the thoughts…”

Mark 4:22 says, “For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.” Great news! The Lord will be faithful to reveal flesh-driven intentions.

Ephesians 3:19 Amplified continues to explain what experiential knowledge does, “…that you may be filled (through all your being) unto all the fullness of God (may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself)!”

The disciples of Jesus had experiential knowledge. 1 John 1:1 says, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life.”

Verse 2 says, “The life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.”

John 14:21 is for us now. We enter into experiential knowledge of the Lord through intimate communion with Him through His word. It says of those who obey His word, “…it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”