1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,000 The Scripture reading this morning is actually coming from 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:05,680 Psalm 119. We're going to be looking at 3 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:10,320 three different verses. It will start on page 4480 4 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,280 start, but we'll have to flip at least one time. 5 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:22,960 So if you want to flip over to 480 looking at Psalm 119, Psalm 6 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:29,680 119 verse 15 says this, I will meditate on your precepts and 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:36,680 fix my eyes on your ways. And Psalm 1/19/23 says this. 8 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,000 Even though Princess sit plotting against me, your 9 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,280 servant will meditate on your statutes. 10 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:51,440 And then if you flip over to Psalm one, 19148 says My eyes 11 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:56,120 are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate 12 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,880 on your promise. This is the word of the Lord. 13 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:03,680 What's going on in Port City? Family and friends. 14 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:05,480 How are we doing? Good. 15 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,400 My name is Tanner. I'm one of the pastors here. 16 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:11,680 It's an honor to be with you. I remember years back I came to 17 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,040 Faith in college and I went and sat down with the ministry 18 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,880 leader of the the ministry that helped lead me to Faith. 19 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,760 His name was Brian. I was like, Brian, why should I? 20 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,880 Why should I keep coming here? Like, what is the point of this 21 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:26,640 ministry? Why do you do your job? 22 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,560 Like, help me understand, Like I get Jesus, but what is this? 23 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:35,000 And he was taken aback and he was like, all I want for you is 24 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,800 that when you're 65, you love Jesus more than you do right now 25 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,400 and that you can handle life. You can handle the punches it's 26 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,400 going to throw the temptation, the anxiety, the the good 27 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:47,280 things, the bad and everything in between. 28 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:49,600 And through it all, you come out on the other side loving Jesus 29 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,200 more than you do right now. And I was like, that sounds good 30 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:54,040 to me. And I that just helped me 31 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:55,120 connect. Like, why are we here? 32 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:57,800 And in some ways, like if you're wondering what is port city 33 00:01:57,800 --> 00:01:59,480 about, that's really all we want for you. 34 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,760 I promise you our full agenda is that you love Jesus at the end 35 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:05,800 of your life more than you do right now. 36 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,160 And y'all, a lot of life is going to happen between now and 37 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:11,680 then. Life going life, OK, you won't 38 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:14,320 get punched in the mouth. You are by life and you're going 39 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,360 to you're going to deal with the temptations of prosperity at 40 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:20,000 times, anxiety and all these things. 41 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:22,680 And one of the only ways that you're going to make it and 42 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:26,160 become that person that loves the Lord at 80 or loves the Lord 43 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,640 at 68 or whatever it is, is if the word of God is just miles 44 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:34,560 deep in you. Like miles deep that God's word 45 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:37,880 lives in you, swims in you, and you just love it. 46 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,200 You eat it and you take it into the very depths of who you are. 47 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:43,240 So that's what this sermon series is all about. 48 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:45,800 We looked at reading the word. We looked at storing up the word 49 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:47,160 this week as meditate on the Word. 50 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,400 And next week is live the Word. OK, so I want to pray one more 51 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:52,240 time and then we're going to dive into talking about 52 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,040 meditating on the word. Pray with me, our Father. 53 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,400 I thank you that Brian told me that all those years ago, and I 54 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:00,680 thank you that he was part of that in my life. 55 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,200 I pray God you would give us just the privilege of being that 56 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:05,960 for others. And just as a community, we 57 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,080 would be a part of what keeps one another walking with you for 58 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,160 years to come. And and for those who don't know 59 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,000 Christ here, God that they would see something in you hear 60 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,640 something from you that just just changes them. 61 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,840 God, my mind is just drawn to to first Peter where it says like 62 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,680 newborn infants long for milk. We should long for your word. 63 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,080 So God, I just pray you would gift this church that. 64 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:29,280 So Father, what we know not right now, would you teach us 65 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:31,440 what we have not, would you give us and what we are not, would 66 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:33,840 you make us? And let the words of my mouth in 67 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,600 the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. 68 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,040 And everybody who agree with that said Amen. 69 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:44,720 Y'all kids don't appreciate food the way adults do. 70 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,720 Have you ever noticed this? Think like a toddler, OK, when 71 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,880 it comes to your mind, a toddler with food, what comes to my mind 72 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,760 is the cup covered in some kind of way with goldfish in it. 73 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,880 There can be liquid of some kind in that bowl and they are just 74 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,360 running around the room and they get what they need when they 75 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:04,080 need it, but it is gross. They don't appreciate it. 76 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:05,600 OK. And here's the thing about kids, 77 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,960 you can increase the quality of the food you give them does not 78 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,880 change their process. It will get goldfish level 79 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:14,680 treatment. Even if you put a steak on the 80 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,680 plate, there's nothing like the first time you were scraping 81 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,720 steak into the trash can with like a pound of ketchup and 82 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:22,200 you're just like, Lord, how did we get here? 83 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,160 OK, And I'm not spending my money. 84 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,200 I'm just going to give them goldfish and we going to eat the 85 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:28,720 steak. OK, Because adults, we know 86 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,440 better, don't we? We know the greatness that is 87 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,160 steak. We eat less the day leading up 88 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,680 to the steak. We plot, we plan, we drink, we 89 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,600 sip, we savor, we put the movie on so we can enjoy the meal 90 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,720 while they watch it, OK? And leave us be to our steak. 91 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:49,960 All right? Now, why do I bring that up? 92 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:56,040 Y'all hearing the word, reading the word is like the food is put 93 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,720 before you. It's like the food is in front 94 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:03,280 of you but y'all just reading it or even just hearing it with 95 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:07,120 your ears is not in and of itself what the Bible envisions 96 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:12,320 as eating the word. OK, part of the assumed biblical 97 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:15,480 process of hearing God's word is meditating on it. 98 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,040 It's an assumed piece of the puzzle. 99 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,520 OK? The Lord says taste and see that 100 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:25,160 the Lord is good y'all. It is in meditation that it's as 101 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,960 if we are internalizing and getting the nutrients from God's 102 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:30,560 word. It is the way that the word 103 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,800 actually gets in US. You know they say you are what 104 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,040 you eat. We all that's true physically. 105 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,920 It's also true spiritually. We live in a day and age with 106 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,880 tons of access to the written, spoken, verbal audio word, tons 107 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:46,160 of sermons. You can listen to them all day 108 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,040 every day, but there is sometimes a disconnect between 109 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:51,880 how much we are internalizing, metabolizing it. 110 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:54,200 OK. And I think one of the missing 111 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:56,760 links is meditation. So my prayer for us that we 112 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,880 would walk out of here as Psalm one says, meditating on the word 113 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:03,520 day and night. OK, to get there, we're going to 114 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:06,560 talk about the definition of biblical meditation, the sources 115 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,720 for biblical meditation and the impact of biblical meditation. 116 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:11,720 If you are ready, let me hear you say I'm ready. 117 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:13,720 OK, let's talk about the definition. 118 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,080 We're going to read verses 14 and 15. 119 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:20,440 Check this out In the way of your testimonies, I delight as 120 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:25,320 much as in all riches, I will meditate on your precepts and 121 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:30,600 fix my eyes on your ways. OK, few notes here about 122 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,480 biblical meditation. Number one, in biblical 123 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:38,640 meditation, we fill the mind. We don't empty it in biblical 124 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:40,240 meditation. We fill the mind. 125 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,720 We don't empty it. I am saying the word biblical 126 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,320 meditation over and over and over intentionally because the 127 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,240 default in our current cultural moment is sort of the coming to 128 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:54,040 your mind, LeBron James in an app going on, you know, the Calm 129 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:59,080 app, OK, every of your top secular podcast people, whoever 130 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,000 that is, or maybe you don't listen to them, all of them 131 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:03,280 recommend to you that you meditate, OK? 132 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:07,800 And what they mean by it leans on, does that make sense? 133 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,560 It leans emptying. It leans more the the Eastern 134 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:16,480 view of meditation, which generally is rooted in emptying 135 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:20,160 your mind. OK, part of what's at the center 136 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,080 of that worldview is that you're emptying your mind because 137 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:28,280 you're trying to tap into some energy generally or some source 138 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:30,520 of something that you're emptying to enter. 139 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,640 OK, That is not how the Bible thinks about it. 140 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:37,840 I remember I ran into a guy in Southeast Asia handful of years 141 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:39,840 ago and he had come to faith in his 20s. 142 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:42,920 He literally just laid out the Hindu texts, the scriptures, the 143 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,720 Bible and the Quran. He just read them through. 144 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,160 He's like, yeah, this one's the most compelling and convincing. 145 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:50,520 Gives his life to Jesus. We're sitting here talking on 146 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,520 the street one day. And he said one of his greatest 147 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,960 joys of being a Christ follower was how meditation had changed. 148 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,280 It had gone from emptying an OM to a. 149 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,640 He was like, you don't empty the mind now you feel it. 150 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:04,120 OK. What? 151 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:08,520 What did he understand that the Bible knows is that in biblical 152 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,600 meditation you are filling your mind with the things of God, his 153 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,920 character, his ways, his law, his promises. 154 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:21,240 You are intentionally fixating your mind on the things of God. 155 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:24,920 And once you realize that, once you realize that meditation 156 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,440 isn't emptying, it's filling, it dawns on you. 157 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:30,640 You've been meditating kind of your whole life. 158 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,559 OK Think about the term premeditated OK? 159 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,960 Crimes are premeditated and held at a higher standard when it's 160 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,039 deemed you gave thought to that beforehand. 161 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:43,039 When we talk junk y'all? This is a bad confession 162 00:08:43,039 --> 00:08:45,000 teenagers. Hope this has not happened to 163 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,320 you. I have hit send on text talking 164 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,720 junk about friends to the friend I was talking junk about when I 165 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:57,800 was 17 and then played it off and said no and just played it. 166 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:00,760 We are we are the and somehow we were still friends for a little 167 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,160 while longer. OK, we are a premeditated 168 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,360 people. OK, so once that gets in your 169 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:10,280 mind, meditation is the fixation of the mind, which your head 170 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:12,720 does. Your, your, your daydreaming is 171 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,720 closer to biblical meditation than emptying your mind. 172 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:19,720 OK, your your anxiety you're swirling around the same 173 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:22,360 thoughts is actually pretty close to what the Bible has in 174 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:26,280 mind for meditation. Second thing, in biblical 175 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:29,920 meditation, we fill the mind because the heart has been 176 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:34,160 captivated. OK, The reason we read verses 14 177 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:38,320 and 15 together was that he said, I delight in your 178 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:40,360 testimonies as much as in all riches. 179 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:42,840 And then he says, I will meditate on your precepts and 180 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:46,840 fix my eyes on your ways. There's this idea that we fix 181 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:49,080 the mind because the heart has been grabbed. 182 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:53,600 OK, so your heart loves. Your mind fixates on what the 183 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:55,760 heart loves. OK, you send your mind in search 184 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:57,200 of and swirl around what you love. 185 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:01,080 So if you're not a follower of Jesus here today, just hear 186 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:04,400 this. Meditating on God won't feel 187 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,280 natural to you, nor should it. And I'm not advocating that you 188 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,440 can. You can meditate your way into 189 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:13,720 relationship with God. It's sort of backwards of how 190 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,080 the Bible thinks about it. Our fixing our mind as followers 191 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,920 of Jesus should flow from our love of Jesus. 192 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,000 It's like the heart gets grabbed and yet still takes work as 193 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:27,040 we'll talk about, but the mind should more effortlessly follow 194 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:29,000 for the Christ follower. Y'all. 195 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:31,720 There was a time where all of my meditation was the next jump 196 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:34,920 shot that goes in the next person that liked me or what 197 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:37,960 you're what you're daydreaming tends to be is Kingdom building 198 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,280 or Kingdom preserving, right? What is anxiety but just a 199 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:44,560 distortion of meditation? It's just swimming around the 200 00:10:44,560 --> 00:10:46,360 same things. You fear losing something. 201 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:48,760 What if that happens? What if the conversation goes 202 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,960 this angle? You are just circling it over 203 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,960 and over and over. That is how all of us were 204 00:10:55,200 --> 00:11:00,120 before Christ and He came in and chose to save us, chose to 205 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:04,000 reveal Himself to us, show, show us that His love is better than 206 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:05,840 that which we fear losing or gaining. 207 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:09,800 He, He dislodged our heart from lesser things, OK, and grabbed 208 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,400 us and pulled us to Himself. So to the Christ followers, this 209 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:15,920 should be natural. Amen. 210 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:20,880 Emphasis on should because we too just fixate on what we fear 211 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:23,520 losing, don't we? And we fear things and we, we 212 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:24,760 want to build our little kingdoms. 213 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,880 But at its essence, all biblical meditation is, is fixing our 214 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:30,120 mind on what our heart has been captured by. 215 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:35,480 OK, third thing in biblical meditation, we fix the eyes of 216 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,000 our heart on the ways of God. That's what you're doing. 217 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,640 You're fixing your eyes. As verse 15 said, I would 218 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,120 underline that if you're using your Scripture, fix my eyes on 219 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,840 your ways, somebody say fix my eyes. 220 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,040 Our culture understands this. OK, our our culture has been 221 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:55,720 deemed the attention economy. OK, I'm not a huge fan of 222 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:57,960 ranting like we live at the worst moment in history. 223 00:11:57,960 --> 00:11:59,560 All there's nothing new under the sun. 224 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,040 But I will say what's unique about our current cultural 225 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:07,880 moment is the monetization and the gamification of your 226 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:10,000 attention, which leads to your addiction. 227 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,120 You know, like all of that is currently going on on the 228 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:17,560 screens and stuff is highly addictive processes to literally 229 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:19,160 make money off your attention, right? 230 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,840 Y'all do know there was a time where the phrase like and 231 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,680 subscribe was not a thing. All the kids are like what? 232 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,080 What did we do before like and subscribe? 233 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:33,320 I remember when it first came out during like COVID time and 234 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:35,800 the the YouTube videos, just the outrageous nature with which 235 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:37,880 they'd be like like and subscribe and the bells and all 236 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:39,720 the things. But y'all, what is like and 237 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:44,560 subscribe other than fix your eyes on our ways. 238 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,160 When we put out videos, be the first to see them when we drop 239 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:51,120 products, be the first to get them when we give out insider 240 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,120 things. You've got to like and subscribe 241 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,440 to get entered in to win. You see what I'm saying? 242 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:57,880 And then we just hope you forget that you ever subscribe. 243 00:12:57,880 --> 00:12:59,880 But you are fixing your eyes on our ways. 244 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:04,200 Whether you like to or not. Our culture gets fix your eyes. 245 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:07,040 So we're not talking about. I just want to be really clear 246 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:09,600 because this can happen sometimes with what your brain 247 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:11,120 thinks is a spiritual conversation. 248 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:16,160 We think preacher man is saying I need to start meditating, not 249 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:18,400 what preacher man is saying. Preacher man is saying you 250 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,280 already are. We live in a world of fixing our 251 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:22,840 eyes. That's what we do all day, every 252 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:24,880 day. You are a human being with the 253 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:28,120 agency to choose that which you are meditating on. 254 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:28,880 Amen. Somebody. 255 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:33,800 So Psalm 119, verse 148 says this. 256 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:37,360 It says my eyes are awake before the watches of the night that I 257 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:41,800 may meditate on your promise. As you are reading through Psalm 258 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:44,720 119 over and over and over throughout the series, hopefully 259 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:48,400 what you're feeling is this back and forth between this is 260 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:50,440 natural and I have to work at it. 261 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:52,560 This is natural and I have to work at it. 262 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:55,200 I want this, but you better make me want this or I'm not going to 263 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:56,440 want this. We were talking about this in 264 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,920 our quick class earlier. How can you talk about something 265 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:02,120 like it's automatic, but if God don't help you, it won't be 266 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:04,360 automatic and I'm like welcome to walk out with Jesus. 267 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,240 OK, here's my heart. Lord take and seal it. 268 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:11,840 Because even if 99.9% of me wants you, the point O1 will 269 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:14,040 dominate me if you don't help me. 270 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:18,560 OK, so yeah, there is AI will set the clock to when I will 271 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:21,360 will meditate on your precepts, your promises, your ways. 272 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,840 Fourth thing about biblical meditation, in biblical 273 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:28,200 meditation, we linger on God. We linger. 274 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,840 Somebody say linger. I remember the first preacher 275 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,000 that kind of taught me about biblical meditation, dude named 276 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:36,720 Eric Mason. Sometimes we put some of his 277 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,800 books out there and he talked about how the the Hebrew 278 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:42,960 understanding of the word meditate was pretty close to 279 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:47,400 what cows do with grass. OK, now I don't know the last 280 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:48,480 time you watched the cow eat grass. 281 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:52,240 It's pretty disgusting and fascinating because they are 282 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:56,120 just constantly doing it constantly. 283 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:58,840 They are all the kids in the room. 284 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,360 I need you all to give me the best chewing slow side to side. 285 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,040 Like imagine your jaw like a nice. 286 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:08,160 It's got to have a little rhythm to it, but not too fast. 287 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:12,400 It's got to be like like there's one part that's fast, but it's 288 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,320 so, so, so, so fast through. OK, that's like watching a cow. 289 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:19,680 And then just imagine just deep green grass on just hanging off. 290 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:21,680 OK This is what a cows body is doing. 291 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,760 It eats the grass for up to 7 hours a day. 292 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,080 The grass goes into their stomach which is a multi layer. 293 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,080 There's tons of dynamics to a cow stomach. 294 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:34,800 It comes back up as could could I, I don't even know how to say 295 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:37,120 the word right. OK, comes back up and then they 296 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,800 keep chewing it, OK. And the more they chew it, the 297 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,600 more the enzymes are released that their body actually gets 298 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,120 the nutrients. From what I saw in this process, 299 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,480 by the way, is called rumination, which is what your 300 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,120 mind is doing all the time. It's ruminating, spinning 301 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,360 thoughts round and round. And the idea here, y'all, is 302 00:15:54,360 --> 00:16:01,400 that your soul is the cow. The cow's jaw moves 40,000 times 303 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:06,320 in a day, up to 13 hours of ongoing to 17 hours of ongoing 304 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:11,080 movement. So to meditate on the Lord is 305 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:13,920 for his character to be the grass. 306 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:16,720 That makes sense. So let's be clear, you're 307 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:19,280 already moving your soul 40,000 times. 308 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:21,760 You're already ruminating, right? 309 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,680 The question is, what is it? Right. 310 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:29,080 And again, if you're not a Christian, it's not some path, 311 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:30,560 OK, that's not what I'm trying to give you. 312 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:34,680 But if you're in Christ, we have our agency over our meditation. 313 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:40,520 And when God in his ways is the source of your meditation, it's 314 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:42,640 going to change your life. And the one thing you've got to 315 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:45,200 get in your head, because I use the word linger, somebody say 316 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:47,760 linger. One of the things that will keep 317 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,280 you from a life of biblical meditation is if every second 318 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:55,880 has a job, which is what every podcast is telling us to do. 319 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,680 Does that make sense? Every second has to make you 320 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:00,720 more money or build you something. 321 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,920 So the more you think like that, the more it's going to be 322 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,839 difficult to just linger, to just be with God, to just know 323 00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:10,800 him, to just love him, to just ponder who he is, which is what 324 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:12,119 we're about to talk about. Does that make sense? 325 00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:16,200 So one of the assumed mindsets that's got to get in you is that 326 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,119 being with God and meditating on His ways is always worth it, 327 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:21,920 even if you can't one to one, what it correlates to in your 328 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:24,079 character or whatever. He's God, meditate on him. 329 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:27,400 Let's talk about the sources for biblical meditation. 330 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,560 And I'm trying to be practical as we go as opposed to 1 moment 331 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:32,760 where I'm like, here's how to do this. 332 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:35,400 It's just kind of just kind of as we're going, I'm trying to be 333 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:37,600 practical. There are three sources for 334 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:40,760 biblical meditation. The first one is the essence of 335 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:46,560 God, just who God is. Just meditate on a junk like 336 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:48,440 he's eternal. Every time you turn on a light 337 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:53,000 switch, God doesn't have an internal light switch. 338 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,040 He's just been on like you can meditate on through the, the, 339 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:59,480 the people of old, the, the Christian tradition before us, 340 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,840 they would just look at stuff and think about how it relates 341 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,280 to the Lord. I'm stable when I sit. 342 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:06,760 God doesn't sit. God's always stable, you know, 343 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:09,720 like they would just flow with how everything before them could 344 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,400 go back to who God is. Or you could take a a biblical 345 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,560 concept about God's essence, like his omnipresence, which 346 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:18,800 means God is always present everywhere. 347 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:23,200 Always present everywhere. Matthew 123 They shall call him 348 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:26,760 Emmanuel, which means God with us. 349 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:32,480 OK, so you just be the cow with God with us in your head. 350 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:34,480 God, you're with us, God you're with us. 351 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:39,320 God, you're with me, you're with me, you're, you're with me. 352 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,480 Are you always with me? And this is what happens. 353 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:46,960 A biblically meditating mind becomes a biblically lived 354 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:48,080 world. Here's the idea. 355 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:52,480 What your meditation source is shapes your imagination. 356 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:55,880 OK, a mind of biblical meditation will lead to a life 357 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,600 of biblical imagination. So here's what I'm not saying. 358 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:01,880 The more you process who the Lord is and begin to meet with 359 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,560 Him through biblical meditation, you can, with 100% 360 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,360 epistemological certainty, say what God would say to you in a 361 00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:10,560 moment. You can't know that for sure, 362 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,520 but the more what you're meditating on shapes the world 363 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,280 you live in. OK, so let's take God with us. 364 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,600 God, you're always with us. You were with me today when my 365 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:27,360 boss gave me some criticism. Is that true or not? 366 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,960 OK, you were there. I went into reaction mode right 367 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:32,920 away, started firing back, started feeling hot in my body. 368 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:35,280 I don't even remember that mess. So let's replay that. 369 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:39,080 You have permission to use your imagination to think about where 370 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:42,400 was the Lord there. OK, God, I got reactive. 371 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:44,640 I got this, I got that. You were in the room, God, you 372 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:46,520 weren't in the podium, you weren't in the desk. 373 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:48,600 This is not pantheism. But you were there. 374 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:50,640 That's what your word says. You are with me. 375 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,640 So where were you, God? What would it have looked like 376 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:56,760 to not get defensive right then? What did you want me to know in 377 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:00,440 that moment? And just processing, what might 378 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,000 the Lord want you to know? You're my son, you've got 379 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,920 nothing to prove. Do you know for 100% certainty 380 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:07,720 that's what he's saying? That's not what I'm saying. 381 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:10,200 But does that seem consistent with what God would want you to 382 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,160 know as his child in a moment where you're getting chewed out? 383 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:16,520 Seems pretty consistent to me. OK, Lord, you are with me. 384 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:18,920 You love me. I didn't handle that well. 385 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:22,480 Not going to beat myself up. I have to see them at 8:45 AM 386 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:23,840 tomorrow when I walk by the office. 387 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,880 Lord, what is you being with me look like when that happens, 388 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:31,200 y'all, the more your mind is meditating on the truths of God 389 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,760 and it actually becomes conversation with God. 390 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,280 Now we're actually living with him, which is the whole goal. 391 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:39,800 The goal isn't the knowledge you get, it's the life you get with 392 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:40,960 God. Does that make sense? 393 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:45,720 That's the whole goal is to take these truths and live with God 394 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,160 through them. Second source of biblical 395 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,840 meditation is the gospel of God. So we've got the essence of God, 396 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:57,320 we've got the gospel of God. Y'all, Gospel just means good 397 00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,840 news. Gospel just means good news. 398 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:05,680 Y'all, the good news of the Bible is that God has eternally 399 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:08,120 been Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Now let me tell you what that 400 00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:10,240 means. It means that there's never been 401 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:14,360 a moment where God was bored. He did not create us out of 402 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:16,680 boredom. He is not needy. 403 00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:21,040 He is not insecure. OK, God did not create because 404 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,160 He was empty, but because He was overflowing. 405 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:25,720 God doesn't redeem us because He's needy, but because He's 406 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:28,720 overflowing. The essence of His character is 407 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,680 the gospel where He makes sinners righteous. 408 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,200 The righteousness of God is revealed in that He makes 409 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:39,240 sinners righteous by sending the Son full of the Spirit to bring 410 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:41,160 us back into relationship with God. 411 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:46,560 The Father sent the Son to bring you back into God's family so 412 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:50,560 you could just meditate on the cross and the great links to 413 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:55,360 which God has gone to purchase you, to buy you back to Himself 414 00:21:55,560 --> 00:22:01,320 so He can live life with you. That is what will change your 415 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,000 life, y'all. That's what will keep you from 416 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:05,840 chasing and meditating on other things. 417 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:09,160 When you realize that God went to those great links for you and 418 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:12,840 nothing else cares for you like that, the more you ponder that. 419 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,200 Because I will say this, if you're not a Christian, one of 420 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:19,440 the evidences that God is starting to starting to pull on 421 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,720 your heart is your relationship to God's word. 422 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:24,840 When you don't care is you don't even remember. 423 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:27,440 Like some of y'all sat through sermons for years and you act 424 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:28,840 like you ain't never heard Jesus loved you. 425 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:30,880 That church probably told you Jesus loved you. 426 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,520 I good chance you didn't care. You weren't listening, right? 427 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:37,480 That was me. But all of a sudden your ear, 428 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,240 you just start hearing stuff like did you know God wrote a 429 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:41,840 book? It's called the Bible. 430 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:44,440 Yeah, Yeah, he did. He did. 431 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:47,120 It just starts to break in a little more frequent. 432 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,320 And now you're thinking about it a little bit and now it's 433 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,960 getting in you and you're, you're really pondering these 434 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:54,840 truths. And then one of the evidences 435 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,280 that you're saved is instead of tolerating God's Word or just 436 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:00,600 being distracted away from God's Word, now you crave it. 437 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,440 So your relationship to God's word will change. 438 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,320 If God is drawing you is one of the evidences and one of the 439 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,720 means by which he will draw you to himself. 440 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,040 The third source of biblical meditation is the promises of 441 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:16,160 God, the promises of God. So the essence of God is just 442 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:17,840 who he is. The gospel is what he's done. 443 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:21,080 The promises are what he says he'll do. 444 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,880 Now, good Bible teacher Asterix, the promise has to apply to you 445 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,960 family. So when you go promise chasing, 446 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,080 please do it exegetically faithful, OK? 447 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:35,280 That just means know what you're talking about. 448 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:38,560 And there's a lot of promises in the Scriptures that do apply to 449 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,880 you, and they apply in different ways at different times. 450 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,880 So just sit under good Bible teaching, be in Bible studies, 451 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,480 know what websites to go to. That's what community is about. 452 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:48,960 We're doing this together. Run it by somebody. 453 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:54,040 I have to do that. Here's one, OK, Psalm 138, verse 454 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,200 8. The Lord will fulfill His 455 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:01,400 purpose for me. The Lord will fulfill his 456 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,560 purpose for me. King David said that the Lord 457 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:08,000 will fulfill his purpose for me. What would it do in your life if 458 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:11,600 you swam in that truth, If you chewed on that like some some 459 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:13,600 grass until it was miles deep in you? 460 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,120 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. 461 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:23,720 The Lord will fulfill the, the Lord will like you think you got 462 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:27,920 to do everything and it'll just make you just, just just chill 463 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:30,840 out, just just a little bit, OK, just a little. 464 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:34,080 You'll be like, ah, the Lord will fulfill his purposes for 465 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:35,680 me. Now, don't mean you stay in bed 466 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,800 and eat, you know, eat food and watch Netflix, OK? 467 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,640 But it's just this idea of who's at the center of your world. 468 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:43,480 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. 469 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,400 When you don't hit your goals, God's plan is moving forward. 470 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:48,560 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. 471 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:51,160 And it's just, we know these truths. 472 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:53,840 There's so many promises in Scripture that we just say we 473 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:58,480 know, but we they haven't been internalized, they haven't been 474 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:00,360 metabolized. They're not a part of you. 475 00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:02,360 You haven't eaten them. Are you with me? 476 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:07,520 OK, let's talk about the impact of biblical meditation. 477 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:13,320 The impact I got three. Number one, our prayers get 478 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:16,520 realer. Our prayers get realer. 479 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:20,720 One pastor a couple 100 years ago, he said that meditation is 480 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,480 the halfway house between the Word and prayer. 481 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:26,120 It's kind of like you got to go through it to get to prayer. 482 00:25:26,120 --> 00:25:31,160 The idea is that when your soul is really taking in the word of 483 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:35,680 God, OK, and really grabbing it, you just open your eyes and look 484 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:40,000 around and you're like, the word is here and my life is here, the 485 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,560 world is here. So there's a gap there. 486 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:48,000 And what many of us do is we're like, and we don't pray because 487 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,400 the gap doesn't feel like it applies. 488 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,800 You, you don't care, you don't. There's something about the gap 489 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,080 we're like, well, there's nothing I could do or God must 490 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:56,800 not be good. And we just settle for those 491 00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:00,160 surface level either confusions or you know, there's some 492 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:01,640 legitimate stuff to work out there. 493 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,440 But y'all, the point of you still being on earth and not 494 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:06,880 being just taken to heaven when you got saved is to live in that 495 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,320 gap. The whole goal of your life is 496 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,840 with God in the gap and he wants to bring you into it and feel 497 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,840 what he feels, know what he knows and live with him. 498 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:18,560 And what you're going to do is you're going to get mad, you're 499 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:20,520 going to get frustrated, you're going to get confused, you're 500 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:22,400 going to cry, you're going to beg, you're going to plead, 501 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,560 you're going to scream. And that's what the Bible calls 502 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:27,480 praying. OK, but that's not many of our 503 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:32,400 experiences with prayer because we think this, this is I heard 504 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:33,680 one guy do this one time with prayer. 505 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:35,480 We're just like, we learned the cadence and the words. 506 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:42,520 We're like Amen, and it's like we're just we're just the 507 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:44,560 motions, man. We just learned this is what you 508 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:49,760 do and some of us believe some of it, right, But yo, biblical 509 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,240 meditation is part of how you wrestle. 510 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,640 Like wrestle that thing. When you wrestle with God, you 511 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,040 going to lose, but the good news is you come out on the other 512 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:01,400 side different part of what he wants is you to wrestle him. 513 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:05,640 He wants to change you. But some of us, we get to the 514 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:07,560 wrestling mat. We're like I'm good, I'll watch 515 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:09,960 you know, but the point is the wrestling. 516 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:12,800 Does that make sense? Prayer is how we go to war with 517 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,000 what God is saying in the midst of a broken world. 518 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,520 Second, our circumstances no longer dictate our joy. 519 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:27,240 Look at verse 23. Even though Princess sit 520 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:31,080 plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your 521 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:35,240 statutes. I might say even though I just 522 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:39,960 want you to think about that multiple not just a Prince, even 523 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:44,400 though a Prince, no, even though prince's imagine multiple world 524 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:48,360 political leaders using all of their energy and power to chase 525 00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:50,520 you down. OK, they are plotting on your 526 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:54,000 downfall. It is possible, even though 527 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:58,560 that's going on for you to be in your head swimming with chewing 528 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:03,280 on fixated on who God is. I don't know about you. 529 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:06,800 That's not always my experience. If the pressure turns up just a 530 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,440 little bit. I don't even have no, I don't 531 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,560 even know a Prince, but in my life I will get fixated on 532 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,680 protecting my little Kingdom or building it and I just when the 533 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:19,000 pressure comes, you tend to look down, right? 534 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,000 You tend to just you panic and some of that's human. 535 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,040 It's understandable. It's natural in some ways, but I 536 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:27,760 just I read this verse and I'm like, I want that so bad. 537 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,480 I want to be the type of person that when the pressure of life 538 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:33,160 just turning up, my eyes are on the Lord. 539 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:35,960 And that's possible. It's possible. 540 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,360 Family. I hope that just gives you joy 541 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,440 as you hear it. Third, third, impact. 542 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:49,280 Our ways align with God's ways. Our ways align with God's ways. 543 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:53,760 The way the New Testament thinks about the process from you 544 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:56,560 hearing the word is just hear and then obey. 545 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,880 That's what James says. Be not a hearer only, but a 546 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,160 hearer and a doer of the word, right? 547 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:05,160 Or Jesus, the one who hears these words of mine and does 548 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,880 them will be like a house built on the rock, right? 549 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:14,120 So if we can't think of right now one verse that makes as big 550 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:17,640 of a deal of meditation maybe in the New Testament, why am I 551 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:20,440 harking on it? Why does Psalm 119 talk about 552 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,440 it, y'all? I would argue it's an assumed 553 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:25,760 part of hearing. Are you with me? 554 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,480 It's an assumed biblical understanding of what it means 555 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,440 to actually hear the word of God is for it to get in you. 556 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:35,560 Does that make sense that it's just an assumed thing? 557 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:37,600 The way my brain has been thinking about this week is I've 558 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:39,720 thought of two islands right next to each other. 559 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:43,600 You got the hearing island and the doing island and some water 560 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,360 in between. The assumed biblical bridge is 561 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,240 meditation. It's how that word is getting in 562 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:51,280 you. Are you with me? 563 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:53,800 It's how. It's how it's coming to life, so 564 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:58,160 to speak. In the Western church, yo, we 565 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,080 have so much access to the word of God. 566 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,000 You got access to 300 translations on your phone. 567 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:08,000 You know people in our world are still walking miles to go hear 568 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:09,840 the word and guess what they're doing on the way back? 569 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:12,160 They're meditating on the one sermon they heard. 570 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,480 We will listen to a sermon radio station all day every day and 571 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:19,480 not meditate on none of it. Guy a couple 100 years ago said 572 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,400 I would take one sermon meditated on over 100 that we 573 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:25,760 listened to at 1 1/2 speed. That's my version of what he 574 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:27,320 said. OK, they didn't have 1 1/2 speed 575 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:31,720 yet, but for some reason we think just hearing more hear, 576 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:35,160 hear, hear all the time. But what the Bible means by hear 577 00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:37,120 is let what you're hearing get in you. 578 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:41,440 And that takes lingering, It takes considering, it takes 579 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:46,120 pondering, it takes rumination, it takes just sitting in it. 580 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:48,480 Had a old chess coach. We were all trying to get better 581 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:50,400 back in the day and we would just play each other all the 582 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:51,560 time. He's like, you're only going to 583 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:53,880 get no better. All y'all do is play each other. 584 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,160 Said just review one game for like 30 minutes. 585 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,440 Stop you don't play 30 games for one minute each. 586 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:03,440 How you going to get better? And that's sort of what what the 587 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:06,280 the the Western church can feel like sometimes and somewhat even 588 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,040 learning more information through the sermons can feel 589 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:11,040 like a game a little bit. I want to learn more and I like 590 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:13,080 I like learning you all. I'm a preacher. 591 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,160 I love it. But the goal is that we're 592 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:18,960 actually getting that word in US. 593 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:28,000 Psalm 11959 says this. When I think on my ways, I turn 594 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:32,760 my feet to Your testimonies. When I think on my ways, I turn 595 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:36,120 to your testimonies. OK, so check this out. 596 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:40,160 What's going to happen? The more you are drinking deeply 597 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:44,200 of God, eyes lifted, seeing Him. When you turn your eyes down to 598 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:47,600 your feet and your ways and look at your life, there will be an 599 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:50,760 automatic alignment. You will be so filled with who 600 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:51,880 He is. You're just going to look down 601 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:54,640 and be like, Oh well, that's out of line and you line it up. 602 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:59,880 What we tend to do is we're staring down and we look up and 603 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:02,400 we just keep going. So we've kind of got backwards 604 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,000 what the Bible is assuming we're supposed to drink deeply of the 605 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:08,240 Lord, glance at ourselves, drink deeply of the Lord, glance at 606 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:10,600 yourself, deeply of him, glance at yourself. 607 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,240 I don't even need to tell you. Finish the sentence with me. 608 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:17,880 We tend to drink deeply of self and glance at God. 609 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:22,960 And that backwardness shows itself in many of our lives. 610 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:27,360 Y'all, we are invited to just drink deeply of who he is and 611 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:29,480 what he says is true and what reality is. 612 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,440 I want to call you as we we start transitioning towards 613 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,920 closing to meditate on the word of God day and night. 614 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:39,520 And y'all listen, this is going to look different for different 615 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:43,320 people in different seasons. And sometimes we're storing up 616 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:45,480 things and meditating on things you're going to need later. 617 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:48,200 And sometimes again, don't think towards what end. 618 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:50,320 Just think, get in on a process, OK? 619 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,160 It's going to look different based on your life stage, your 620 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:56,280 career, all the things, but God is going to change you. 621 00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:59,680 Some seasons he's challenging you, some seasons he's just with 622 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:01,200 you. Some seasons he's exhorting you, 623 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:05,080 some seasons he's rebuking you. OK, that's what the word does 624 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:08,480 according to Second Timothy 316. But what's consistent is the 625 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,320 Word's presence in your life, the Lord's presence through his 626 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:15,400 Word by the Spirit, so that the impact, the way the means will 627 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,560 will vary, but the Word's role won't. 628 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,440 Does that make sense? So what I want to call you to is 629 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:25,360 just anchor in your mind right now that you are going to be a 630 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:28,560 meditator on God's Word, that that's who you're going to be, 631 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:33,880 that you're going to reorientate your life, your meditation 632 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:38,720 towards who God is. And Ezekiel 3, there's this cool 633 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:40,320 image. I can go read Ezekiel 2 and 634 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:44,120 three, but Ezekiel was a prophet and the Lord literally says, 635 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:47,440 take the scroll and eat it. And I think that's a great 636 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:48,560 image. She's like, now you're going to 637 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:50,120 go speak my word because you ate it. 638 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,680 And that's sort of the idea is what is in you is what will come 639 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:57,120 out of you. To my students in the room. 640 00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:00,320 Does anybody remember getting their first callus? 641 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:02,600 Did anybody get a callus right with a pencil? 642 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:04,000 Anybody. Am I crazy? 643 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:06,960 I remember this. OK Pastor Will likes to make fun 644 00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:10,080 of me because the way I hold my pencil is like one step away 645 00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:12,000 from holding it, just like with a whole fist. 646 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:16,239 But I remember being in like first or second grade and just 647 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:20,440 my finger hurting. We were writing so much. 648 00:34:20,639 --> 00:34:23,280 Then one day I look down, I got this giant bump where I hold my 649 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:24,280 pencil and I'm like, what's that? 650 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:27,120 Daddy said that's a callus. Said, what's a callus? 651 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,400 And in my dad's way, this is basically what he told me. 652 00:34:30,639 --> 00:34:34,000 It is your body reacting to something external being applied 653 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:36,760 to it over and over and over. And guess what happens? 654 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:41,560 A callus is evidence that now that external thing is kind of a 655 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:43,920 part of you. That's what a callus is. 656 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:47,320 It's so assuming and making an adjustment based on that 657 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:49,639 external thing being applied to it over and over and over. 658 00:34:49,639 --> 00:34:53,159 It's making room for it, right? My finger now still got the 659 00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:56,040 little bump. It's slight, but it's more than 660 00:34:56,040 --> 00:35:00,120 the other finger and it's still, I remember the day, yo, some of 661 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,240 what I'm calling us to is stuff we do all the time. 662 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:05,880 It's applying an external agent to you. 663 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:09,280 It feels external at first, but eventually it feels like it's a 664 00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:10,760 part of you. Does that make sense? 665 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:15,040 It's the process of just over and over and over, and it 666 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:18,360 becomes a part of you. To the Christ followers, I hope 667 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:21,800 this is just a joyful thing. And I want to end by just giving 668 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:23,240 you an example. What does look like in my life 669 00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:25,840 this week? OK, look at verses 44 and 45 670 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:27,920 with me. That's what it says. 671 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:30,760 I will keep your law continually, forever and ever, 672 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,600 and I shall walk in a wide place, for I've sought your 673 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:37,160 precepts. Somebody say wide place. 674 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:40,760 I love this imagery of wide place. 675 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:43,280 One sister in our church recently said she felt like the 676 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:46,600 Lord gave her a soft place to land, and this one made me think 677 00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:48,840 wide place to stand. Beautiful thing about the 678 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:51,400 gospel, y'all is you get a soft place to land and a wide place 679 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:53,160 to stand. I don't know about you, but 680 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:55,600 sometimes life can feel like you're on a tightrope and 681 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,280 there's crocodiles in water right under you and if you 682 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,880 misstep, you're falling. If you say the wrong thing, if 683 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:03,920 you don't parent those kids perfect, That's how they going 684 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:06,640 to end up. If you don't friend right, they 685 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:09,240 gone. If you don't do something right 686 00:36:09,240 --> 00:36:11,880 in your marriage, this everything that is going wrong 687 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:14,000 in your life is your fault because you misstep and you 688 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:15,400 didn't walk the tightrope, right? 689 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:19,040 So when I just read those words, wide place to stand, I just 690 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:22,720 whoo, it's like my shoulders just released nitrogen or 691 00:36:22,720 --> 00:36:23,760 something. I don't even know if that's 692 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:25,800 physiologically right, but you know what I'm saying? 693 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:28,800 It's just like, whoo, it's just wide place to stand. 694 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:32,560 Do you believe you stand on wide place right now? 695 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,760 Believer that in some kind of way, even though you're 696 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:40,000 imperfect, you can't blow it. You can't. 697 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:43,640 You don't believe that a lot of the time, at least I don't. 698 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:48,240 I feel like I'm one false move away from ruining everything and 699 00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:51,160 we could get into your story and why that is, but sinners tend to 700 00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:54,080 feel like it's all on them. It's one of the biggest lies sin 701 00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:57,080 gives us is that it's our job to be in control of everything and 702 00:36:57,080 --> 00:36:59,360 have a God complex. Y'all, you're not God. 703 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:02,560 You stand on a wide place not because you have a lot of skill, 704 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:05,640 but because the Lord put you on that because he's the rock. 705 00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:08,040 Y'all. The good news of the gospel is 706 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:11,240 that you get wide place treatment not because you found 707 00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:13,360 some Oasis, but because God found you. 708 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:15,520 Y'all. What's amazing about the Bible 709 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:20,760 as you get into it is Psalm 8 tells us, OK, is that it makes 710 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:22,480 sense that we should meditate on God. 711 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,400 He's God, he's eternal, He's awesome. 712 00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:28,440 Why does God give any thought to you and me? 713 00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:32,560 That's the question. As Psalm 8 says, what is man 714 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:36,680 that you are mindful of him? Y'all, the beautiful thing is, 715 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:38,720 you don't serve a God who's demanding that you better 716 00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:41,360 meditate on him. You're serving a God if you're 717 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:44,480 in Christ, who's inviting you to get up out of staring at 718 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:46,680 yourself all the time, which is what's making you miserable. 719 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:51,160 Get obsessed with Him. And He has already gone to great 720 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:54,320 lengths through His Son on the cross to show you that He loves 721 00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:57,840 you and He's thinking of you. He thinks of you before you ever 722 00:37:57,840 --> 00:37:59,800 think of Him. He loves you before you ever 723 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,120 turn towards Him. And if you're not a believer, 724 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:05,080 y'all, nothing you're meditating and giving your life to right 725 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:08,080 now can compare to that. And you're invited to trade it 726 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:11,600 in, to trade in these false lesser things for the one God 727 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,400 who thinks of you, mindful of you. 728 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:25,280 Let's pray together, our Father. Your word says that you know the 729 00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:27,760 blessed life is 1 where we're not walking to the counsel of 730 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:29,880 the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sitting in the 731 00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:31,920 seat of scoffers, but our delight is in the law of the 732 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:33,640 Lord. On His law we meditate day and 733 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:35,400 night. God, there's something there 734 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:38,760 that we're so drawn to. Part of our flesh wants to make 735 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,280 it something we're good at. I pray nobody's hearing this. 736 00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:45,280 This isn't about a skill. This is about a life invitation 737 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:47,640 to live with you, God, who's mindful of us. 738 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:52,480 God, you are mindful of us. That is so mind blowing that you 739 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:56,640 who are so infinite would give thought to us God, and want to 740 00:38:56,640 --> 00:38:59,360 empower us and help us and give us a wide place to stand. 741 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:02,160 So Father, I just pray for the believing family in here. 742 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:06,680 I just pray joyful meditation being the cow chew and the COO. 743 00:39:06,720 --> 00:39:08,880 God, you would give them the verses, the promises, the 744 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:14,600 character, the just imaginative permission to just store up your 745 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:16,600 word in their heart that they might not sin against you, and 746 00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:18,480 that they would meditate on your law day and night. 747 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:20,920 And God, you would just unleash joy in them for years. 748 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:23,680 Keep us Lord, don't let us go. Keep us. 749 00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:26,560 Let us be those 80 year olds on rocket chairs one day who just 750 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:28,680 love you no matter what life throws at us. 751 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:30,480 I got to pray for the unbelievers in the room. 752 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:33,520 I pray that your word would go from just being brushed off to 753 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:36,720 breaking through, to just absolutely bulldozing God and 754 00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:38,800 that they would surrender, that they would give their life to 755 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:40,360 you. So God think for this time be 756 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,640 glorified, we pray in Christ's name, Amen.