"Day and Night"
TEXT: Joshua 1:8; Romans 8:5-8; Matthew 16:21-23
TRUTHS:
1. Biblical meditation prepares us for obedience. Joshua 1:8 seems to suggest that as we meditate upon and consider the Word of God, there is something uniquely powerful about biblical mediation that prepares us to obey our Heavenly Father.
2. Meditation is intentional thought. There is a distinct difference between the random thoughts that pop into our heads and the practice of meditation. Meditation is intentional (or on-purpose) thinking that involves the human will.
3. The reality that God is concerned about the meditations of our mind and heart implies that our Heavenly Father is not after external obedience alone. For God cares about forming a family. Meaning, He wants real children who have the same thoughts and desires as their Father in heaven. This is all a gracious ‘sign’ that the God of the Bible truly cares about His creation (us).
4. Both texts (Romans and Matthew) reveal that there is a way of thinking that hinders the redeeming work of Christ. In other words, a person can fill their mind with the wrong content. Content that steers them away from the truth of Christ while simultaneously leading them towards ‘death’ and hostility to God.
5. We would be wise to remember how individual actions impact the body of believers that we are a part of. The Apostle Paul frequently reminds believers that we belong to something bigger than ourselves—the family of God.
6. Biblical worship has more to do with the treatment of others than it does with singing. While music is a great tool to shape and stoke our affections for Christ, we must not consider corporate singing the pinnacle of acceptable worship. Romans 12 details the values that should shape our treatment of one another as individual members of the body of Christ. And what is mentioned at the outset of this chapter? The worship of God.
7. Our culture has seemingly shifted in the way that we search for and arrive at truth. Much could be said about this assessment of American (and global) culture, but here is where we seemed to have landed in our quest for truth: if we like something, it is true, and if we dislike something, it is false.
8. God doesn’t promise that we will fully understand Him and all biblical doctrine through the practice of meditation. But the Bible does seem to promise that we can know Him, and be known by Him, through the intentional seeking of His presence and truth.
TALK TO EACH OTHER:
1. How does the discipline of biblical meditation prepare us for obedience?
2. Why is God so concerned with the meditations of our hearts and minds? What is God wanting us to understand about being human?
3. Give some examples of 'wrong content' that can fill our minds. What are some common falsehoods and ways of thinking that permeate our culture? Which ones have seemed to "creep" into the American Church?
4. In what way do the actions of an individual impact the body of believers they belong to? This can sound daunting and scary to a young believer. How would you explain that this is a "good and beneficial" biblical reality to them?
5. If discerning biblical truth is not based on our likes and dislikes, what is it based upon? In other words, what is a healthy process for discerning and determining what is true biblically?
6. What does it mean to know God? And to be known by Him?
TALK TO GOD:
Pray into the following areas:
Wisdom concerning how to meditate on the Bible
A more biblically robust understanding of what it means and looks like to worship God
Wisdom about healthy and unhealthy content as it relates to the life of our minds
That the meditations of our heart would be pleasing to our Heavenly Father
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