MEDITATION: How can we turn our knowledge about God into knowledge of God? The rule for doing this is demanding, but simple. It is that we turn each truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God.
We have some idea, perhaps what prayer is, but what is meditation? Well may we ask; for meditation is a lost art today and Christian people suffer grievously from their ignorance of the practice. Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God. Its purpose is to clear ones mental and spiritual vision of God, and to let His truth make its full and proper impact on one’s mind and heart. It is a matter of talking to oneself about God and oneself; it is, indeed, often a matter of arguing with oneself, reasoning oneself out of moods of doubt and unbelief into a clear apprehension of God’s power and grace. Its effect is ever to humble us, as we contemplate God’s greatness and glory, and our own littleness and sinfulness, and to encourage and reassure us – ‘comfort’ us, in the old, strong, Bible sense of the word – as we contemplate the unsearchable riches of divine mercy displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is as we enter more and more deeply into this experience of being humbled and exalted that our knowledge of God increases, and with it our peace, our strength, and our joy. God help us, then, to put our knowledge about God to this use, that we all may in truth ‘know the Lord’.
Taken from chapter 1 of Knowing God by J.I. Packer
Here is the quote I read at last week’s ROOST.
It came from a devotional flip chart called “If Teacups Could Talk” by Emilie Barnes
“Confident in herself and aware of her God-given strengths… she enjoys an “inner” contentment that is not based on accomplishments, status, authority, power, or other people’s opinions.
This “woman of God” has learned the value of BEING as opposed to DOING.”
By: Sharon Dumas on July 30, 2008
at 1:00 am
Hey friends I know how many people LOVE
My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers but I personally dont have a copy of the book. I found the neat website that will send you the devotional daily in your e-mail. If you would like to sign up for it here is the site:http://www.studylight.org/devos/utm/
It was a GREAT day to read it … check out the devotional talk about praying and believing God this devotional ” serves it straight” like Nancy would say. lol
My Utmost for His Highest
Aug 12
The Theology Of Rest
“Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Matthew 8:26
When we are in fear we can do nothing less than pray to God, but Our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His Name should have an understanding confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the reliable ones. Our trust is in God up to a certain point, then we go back to the elementary panic prayers of those who do not know God. We get to our wits’ end, showing that we have not the slightest confidence in Him and His government of the world; He seems to be asleep, and we see nothing but breakers ahead.
“O ye of little faith!” What a pang must have shot through the disciples – ‘Missed it again!’ And what a pang will go through us when we suddenly realize that we might have produced down right joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, no matter what was ahead.
There are stages in life when there is no storm, no crisis, when we do our human best; it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to the breaking point and not break in our confidence in Him.
We have been talking a great deal about sanctification – what is it all going to amount to? It should work out into rest in God which means oneness with God, a oneness which will make us not only blameless in His sight, but a deep joy to Him.
- Seeing dots maybe not yet connecting them all … Jenny
By: Jenny on August 12, 2008
at 6:09 am