“Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. – Jeremiah 17:7-8

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law does he meditate day and night. – Pslam 1:1-2

A changed, healed life – a transformed life – requires us to be in a relationship with our God and Savior. The only way to have a real relationship with anyone is to spend time with them. It’s the relationship that keeps us from falling away – back into our old sinful ways. There are basically 3 parts of that relationship. Recently we spoke about self-evaluation. Today let’s talk about meditation on the scriptures.

Meditate: A verb meaning to growl, groan, sigh, mutter, or speak. (wow) Figuratively and by implication it means to ponder, imagine, and study. – Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary #1897.

 So to meditate on God’s Word simply means reading it, studying it, understanding it in context, but it also means to ponder and imagine what it means in your life and how to apply it to your life. In other words it means to slow down and actually hear what God has to say to you in the scripture you are studying.

• seriously think about what you read in the Bible for a little bit then think about what it means to your life. That’s meditation. (and yes, you’re allowed to repeat it over and over as many times as you want in line with the literal definition)
• When you do that He says, “You’re like a tree planted by the river and when the heat’s on you don’t wither away and when the drought comes you don’t dry up and blow away.” – Because your supply of living water is eternal.

You don’t fall away.

How would you like to succeed and prosper in everything you do? According God, it’s pretty simple. Just meditate on His Word.

“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper”. – Psalm 1:3

The reason (I say) this is necessary: When we were first saved, our response to the love and mercy and grace that God offers us in the saving work of Jesus is largely emotional. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Love is many things, and emotion is one of those things. The bible is very clear that we love Him because He loved us first –1 John 4:19. But we can’t rely on our own emotions any more than we can rely on our own strength. If we try to do that we will eventually fail. His word says that we are saved by His grace through FAITH – Ephesians 2:8-9. Transformation born in Real faith may begin with an emotional response, but it becomes ROOTED in the scriptures. It’s not meant to eliminate our emotions. As a matter of fact, the more we come to understand through meditation on the Word, the stronger our emotions should become. He loves us and values us very much!

Finally this: Lots of people think they don’t know how to meditate on the scriptures or anything else. But I say if you know how to worry, then you know how to meditate. Worry is taking a bad situation or thought and thinking about it over and over. It’s trying to work out a solution to a problem in your mind and heart continually even when there seems to be no solution or resolution. We’re all expert worriers. Meditation is the same. You just do it with scriptures trying to understand God’s intent for your life in each passage you read. Let’s do that.

Go and be with God in His Word today. He will make you like a tree planted in a never-ending water supply.