Last night I was meditating on Romans 6:3, but just this part: or do you not know.  Paul was referring to verse 2 asking how we could continue to live in sin when we were dead to it.  There is an implication that truth is not thoroughly understood.

John 8:32 says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  The Greek in Strong’s is ginosko.  It means: to perceive, understand, recognize, come to know.  It is the recognition of truth by personal experience.

The moment we accepted the Lord, we were buried with Him in death.  Then we were raised from the dead by the glory of the Father into newness of life.  To allow hidden sin to remain, is to deny this truth by our actions which is hypocrisy.  The message and the messenger are not the same.

Meditating causes His truth to “seat” in our hearts.  Like the county seat, His truth becomes our governmental center.  It governs our thought processes.  I appreciated how the Holy Spirit connected these two verses for me last night.

I woke up with this verse from Psalm 119:67 which says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.”  The Amplified says, “…now Your word I keep (hearing, receiving, loving, obeying).”

The affliction was the direct result of going astray.  Psalm 119:10 says, “With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!”  Wander means to go astray.

Meditating keeps our heart from straying.  To stay means to move without a specific purpose. Joshua 1:8 says to observe to do so that you will proser and have good success.  Meditating has purpose and is intentional.  Is is God’s manna provision for success.  Psalm 1:3 says the result of meditating is that everything we do will prosper.

Luke 4:4 says, “…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”  This is quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3.  The manna was gathered each morning.  It was their sustenance.  Meditating is our daily sustenance.   Fresh bread through communion with Him through His word.

Last night I was meditating on “living waters” in several aspects.

Living waters regenerate: Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.”  John 4:20 on how He would have given her living water if she had asked.  Then verse 14 says, “…but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Living waters restore: Psalm 23:2-3 says, “…He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul…”

Living waters revive: Psalm 119:25 says, “My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to Your word.”  Verse 154 says, “Plead my cause and redeem me; revive me according to Your word.”

Last night I was meditating on Isaiah 43:3, but focused on “I will be with you.”

This morning my first thought was “savor the goodness of the Lord.”  Psalm 34:8 says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

Savor means: enjoy or appreciate something pleasant, esp. by dwelling on it; relish, enjoy to the full, appreciate, delight in, revel in, luxuriate in, bask in.  It is another word for mediate.  I was savoring in the truth of His ever presence in my life through every circumstance.

Here is a few lines in a song the Holy Spirit gave me years ago.  It is called “The Song of the Altar.”  It is a great illustration of savoring His goodness.

I set my eyes on You and I gaze into Your face.  I bask in the love of Your eyes full of grace.  No one can comfort me like You O Lord.  I will make Your presence my abiding place, as I hide in You from the tempest of this storm.  Yes, I’ll hide in You as I bow and worship at Your feet.

Last night I was meditating on the Lord’s unchangeableness.  In all things, and at all times He is constant.  He works all things according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11).  He has an eternal, unchangeable plan.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that He has put eternity in every heart.  Therefore everyone fits into His eternal purpose.  Philippians 2:10-11 says that every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

We are all created for His glory (Isaiah 43:7).

What He allows in our lives is essential to His eternal, unchangeable purpose.  Therefore, we can trust Him to take us through.  Job 42:2 says, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.”

Psalm 145:1-3 says, “I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever.  Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.  Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.”

Last night I was meditating on “do not turn aside” from 1 Samuel 12:21.  It says, “And do not turn aside, for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing.”

We are not to turn aside from trust to worry.  Worry is futile and bears no fruit.  Trust bears the fruit of righteousness.

We give ground over to satan through worry (Ephesians 4:27).  Each time our mind wanders into worry, we need to bring it back to trust.   Trust is standing on the ground of truth and remaining there in confidence.  We stand in the truth of Who He is.  We cling to Him in trust.  It speaks of  guarding our thoughts with diligence and tenacity.  Cling means to hold with a refusal to let go.

For two nights I’ve been meditating on “observe to do” from Joshua 1:8.  It means to be very attentive as we are meditating.  Asking questions like: What does this word mean?  How can I make it active in my life?   It is like squeezing the juice out of a lemon.  We want to get it all.

James 1:24 says about the man who is observing his face in a mirror.  “For he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets…”  Verse 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.”   The Amplified says, “…being not a heedless listener who forgets, but an active doer (who obeys)…”  It is a perfect illustration of meditating to observe to do.  I just never put Joshua 1:8 with James 1:25 before and wanted to share this with you.

Hebrews 10:35, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.”  Worry undermines confidence because our focus is on our ability.  Confidence strengthens our inner man because our focus is on His ability.

Verse 36 goes on to say that we have need of endurance.  Confidence helps us endure.

Psalm 84:7 says, “They go from strength to strength…”  They are continually strengthened through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Confident that He will be our strength in each circumstance.  Confident that He will give us the wisdom we need.  Confident that His grace is abounding.

Never waver from the truth of who He is at all times in our lives.

Colossians 1:11 says, “Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious pwer, for all patience and long-suffering with joy.”  Infused with His strength in our innermost being.

Trials develop character for those who are trained by them.  Hebrews 12:11 says, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.”

Worry blocks the training because we are so distracted we miss His higher purpose.

Worry is a distraction used by the enemy to pull our focus off the Lord, and so agitate our minds that we can’t hear His whispered words.

Worry is a temptation that we can resist by standing in truth.  It is when we let it dwell in our thoughts that it negatively affects our spirit, soul, and body.

Last night I was meditating on “prepare your minds for action” from 1 Peter 1:13.

We get good instruction from 2 Samuel 5:24.  David had asked the Lord what to do when the Philistines deployed themselves.  He acted on the Lord’s instructions (verse 19).  Then the same scene enfolds. Again the Philistines deploy themselves.  David didn’t act according to the first instructions.  He asked the Lord again.  This time the Lord told him not to go up, but to wait in front of the mulberry trees.  Verse 24 says, “And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly.  For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”

David and his men had to stay focused, to be alert, to listen attentively, to be ready, and to not get distracted.  So it is with us.  We need to shore up our thoughts, and quiet our hearts so we can hear and advance quickly.