Read it, Meditate on it, Speak it out loud!

Scripture:

Psalm 1:1-6 (MSG) How well God must like you-- you don't hang out at Sin Saloon, you don't slink along Dead-End Road, you don't go to Smart-Mouth College. (2) Instead you thrill to GOD's Word, you chew on Scripture day and night. (3) You're a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month, Never dropping a leaf, always in blossom. (4) You're not at all like the wicked, who are mere windblown dust-- (5) Without defense in court, unfit company for innocent people. (6) GOD charts the road you take. The road they take is Skid Row.

Psalm 1:2 (NKJV) But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

Observation:

You can learn how to follow God by meditating on his Word. This means spending time reading and thinking about what you have read. It means asking yourself how you should change so you will live as God wants. Knowing and thinking about God's Word are the first steps toward applying it to your everyday life. If you want to follow God more closely, you must know what he says.

This "law" means all of Scripture: the first five books of Moses, the Prophets, and the other writings. The more we know of the whole scope of God's Word, the more resources we will have to guide us in our daily decisions.

Application:

It is some important to the child of God to read Scripture, meditate on it, then speak it out loud.

Meditation is something that Christians need to understand on a deeper level than what we do. The Hebrew word for "meditate" is hâgâh and it means to moan, growl, utter, plot, speak. Think about this for a moment. The Bible tells us in I Peter 5:8 that satan walks around like a roaring lion. He loves to "roar" threats at God's people. He "roars" fear into our lives. His roar could be "you have cancer", "you husband will never change", "your kids will never be saved", "your situation will never be better", "God doesn't still do miracles", "you might as well give up", "you are ruined financially and will never get any better", "you have no reason to live." And I could go and on. The devil is a liar and he speaks lies constantly. There is NO truth in him. So how do we fight him? With God's Word!

The Word of God tells us that in Revelation 5:5 that Jesus is the "lion of the tribe of Judah." The reason it is so important to read, and then meditate on God's Word is so we can use the Word of God to defeat the lies of the enemy. Remember that one of the meanings of meditate is to "growl" so in the middle of the night when the enemy is "roaring" lies, we can "roar" back the Word of God to defeat him. To be able to do this, you must hide God's Word in your heart, or memorize it. That takes effort. It takes more than just reading God's Word, but studying it, thinking about it all day. So when you read God's Word, the Holy Spirit will cause a verse to really jump off of the page at you, and that is the verse that He knows you need for today. So, write it down on an index card, text it to yourself, email it...whatever it takes for you to dwell on it all day. The Message says to "chew on Scripture day and night." Then, when the enemy speaks lies to you, you can speak the Word of God back to him. In other words, when the lying "lion" roars, then you can allow the Lion of the tribe of Judah to "roar" out of you the "devil defeating" Word of God.

So today, when it comes to God's Word: READ it, MEDITATE on it, then SPEAK it out loud!

Prayer:

"Lord, I am so thankful for Your Word. Help me today to READ it, MEDITATE on it, and then SPEAK it outloud. As I do this, I "roar" back when the devil roars against me. Thank you for this inspiration today, in Jesus' name, amen!"