God is genuinely interested in the things that interest you. And He’s more than willing to speak to your heart about them. He longs for your times of biblical meditation and for you to listen to His clear and righteous direction for your life.
Dr. Charles Stanley: I was
talking to this lady this week
and she was telling me where
she worked and what she did
and the people that
worked around her.
And here’s what she said.
On Friday mornings, the group of
people she works around–and
they were probably in their
thirties, forties, fifties,
somewhere there abouts.
And she said, “On Friday
mornings when we all get to
work,” they’re talking about
partying that night.
And she says, “In fact, that’s
about all they talk about, where
they are going to drink beer
together, where they’re going to
have fun together, whatever that
is involved, and that’s the way
they begin their Fridays.
Can’t wait to get off of work.”
And she says, “What I noticed
they don’t do a very good job
of what they’re doing
while they’re there.”
And she’s a trainer.
And she says, “I can see them
slacking off on Fridays, because
their mind is on getting
together and drinking
on Friday night.”
And she says, “I’ve had to carry
a few of them home late
on Friday evening.”
That’s not the kind of
meditation I’m talking about,
because that’s what
they’re doing.
Their mind is consumed
about tonight.
What they’re going to do, where
they’re going to do it, and who
they’re going to do it with.
The meditation of the Word of
God is meditation, thinking
about, being consumed by
your thoughts about the
Lord Jesus Christ.
And what He’s doing
in your life.
What you’d like for Him to do.
I’m talking about meditation
that strengthens you, brings you
closer to God, causes you to
have an intimate relationship
with Him, makes it possible for
you to hear what God is saying
to you about what concerns you,
what troubles you, what brings
you joy or whatever.
This is the kind of meditation
we’re talking about.
So, when I think about it,
I think about it in this
light–it’s a private
conversation that you
and the Lord have.
And He’s more than willing to
speak to your heart about any
subject you want to talk about,
because His goal–watch
this–His goal is for you to
listen to Him so He can give you
clear, good, righteous,
accurate, wise direction
for your life.
So that you can become the
person He created you to become.
God is genuinely personally
interested in everything in your
life that interests you.
Is He interested in your sin?
Yes.
And what’s His goal?
To convict you, to make you so
miserable, you will lay it down.
Is He interested in the
good things you do?
Yes, He is because He’ll
reward you for them.
So, I want you to think clearly
about what we’re talking
about–we’re talking about
meditation.
We’re talking about setting our
focus upon God to listen to Him.
You’ll recall that the children
of Israel spent four hundred
years in Egyptian bondage.
And you will remember that one
night the death angel came
through Egypt and all of those
who did not have the blood over
the doorpost in their house,
one of their children died.
And so, you’ll remember that
they were released by Pharaoh.
And they came down across the
desert, down to the sea,
Red Sea.
And just when Pharaoh thought He
had them trapped, God opened the
door of the sea, they walked
through on dry land and the
waters covered the Egyptians.
Then they finally made it to the
edge of the Promised Land–
there’s the border and
there’s Canaan over there.
They could see it.
So, Moses did a wise thing.
He sent twelve spies to check it
out, bring back to us the news
that we need to know
about what’s going on.
So, they came back.
And Joshua and Caleb gave this
awesome report about all the
things that were there,
but they could handle it.
It would be warfare but
they could handle it.
But then there are those who did
not meditate upon–watch
this–listen very carefully
to this sermon.
They did not meditate
upon what God said.
They meditated upon what
they saw, what they feared,
what they felt.
And so, the Scripture says in
Numbers chapter fourteen: “Then
all the congregation lifted up
their voices and cried, and the
people wept that night.
All the sons of Israel grumbled
against Moses and Aaron, and the
whole congregation said to them,
‘Would that we had died in the
land of Egypt.
Or would that we had died
in the wilderness.
Why is the Lord bringing us into
the land, to fall by the sword?
Our wives and our children,
little ones become plunder,
would it not be better for
us to return to Egypt?’
So, they said to one another,
‘Let us appoint a leader
and return to Egypt.'”
That’s how absolutely erroneous
meditation on our self-efforts
and our abilities and our
talents minus God.
Joshua and Caleb focused
their attention upon God.
The rest of them focused their
attention upon themselves, upon
possibility of defeat, upon the
possibility of losing their
loved ones.
So here was two attitudes.
Watch this carefully.
You have the privilege of
having a godly, positive
attitude–depending upon God for
every aspect of your life.
Or, you can live like the world
lives–doing your best to
satisfy your needs and all
kinds of sinful, wicked,
diabolical ways.
And if you’ll look around you,
most people are not focused on
God–they’re focused on their
pleasure, their drinking,
their sex, their money
and where is God?
Because somewhere along the way,
they’ve been convinced
that they can handle it.
They can’t handle it.
Nobody’s handling it
without God–no one.
And so, this whole message is
about the idea of our focus,
and our focus on meditation.
Meditation means setting
apart time where
God and I are together.
You say, “Well how do
we do that?”
We’re coming to that.
Setting apart a time where you
and God–watch this–you and God
alone, it’s better that way.
Talk to God about your life.
Whatever concerns you is
of concern to God.
So, He’s a God who desires
the best for us.
So, when we think about that,
ask yourself this question.
How much time at any given day,
did just you and God have
a little time for yourselves and
you talked to Him and listened
to Him?
I daresay most Christians
don’t do it.
The opportunity–and
think about this.
God is not going to ever fail to
show up when you set aside time
to meet with Him–never.
He’s going to be there.
And He’s going to be there to
answer your questions and to
give you a sense of direction
and encourage you, to help you,
forgive you.
He’s there to help us to become
the person that He has destined
us to be.
And so, when I think about the
rewards, in other words, you
say, “Well, what’s that
going to profit me?”
Here’s what you can expect.
When you spend time
alone with God.
You say, “Well,
now wait a minute.
What am I supposed to be doing?”
Shhhh–listen.
Don’t try to figure out
what you’re going to do.
Just set aside some time that
you–not you and anybody–you
alone get together with God.
You say, “Well, where do I go?”
Get in the closet.
If that’s the only place you’ve
got, get in your bedroom–lock,
shut the door–whatever
it might be.
It’s you alone with God.
“And how do I know God’s
going to be there?”
Because He promised to be.
Here’s what He said to every
believer: “I’ll never leave you
nor forsake you.”
I don’t have to ever
wonder where He is.
“Well, I can’t see Him.”
He’s bigger than being
able to be seen.
“Well, I can’t hear Him.”
You haven’t listened to Him.
God is willing to speak to you
personally about you and your
life and your future if
you’re willing to listen.
Number one.
Meditation before the Lord
will quieten your spirit,
calm your sensitivities.
He will enlighten your mind to
think like He thinks–so we’ll
do what He says do.
He will increase your energy to
make it possible for you to obey
Him in every circumstance.
He will purify your heart
by exposing sin.
So, you’ll know exactly.
You say, “Well I don’t know
what to confess.”
He’ll show you.
He’ll enlarge your
view of Himself.
That Almighty God is almighty.
He has all things
under His control.
Likewise, He will increase
your love for Him.
When you spend time with Him,
increase your love for Him.
For example, if you have ever
loved anybody, really loved
anybody, you want to
spend time with them.
Now that may have–that may
indicate something to us.
If I don’t want to spend time
with Him, it must mean I don’t
love Him.
If I love Him, I’ll
spend time with Him.
You have a greater
sense of faith.
You can face things you normally
would not face, because
that’s the strength and the
evidence of His presence
in your life.
Strengthen your faith–the more
time you spend with Him,
the greater your faith.
Increase your awareness of
the presence of God.
There’s nothing that increases
your awareness of the presence
of God like being alone with Him
and just saying, “Lord, I’m here
to listen.”
And then, infuse you with joy.
There’s an awesome sense of
indescribable joy and
completeness and peace and sense
of security when you’ve spent
time with God no matter what
you’re facing or who
you’re facing.
That’s why all through the
Scriptures we find God’s servant
doing just that–and
that’s meditating.
So, when you think about your
conversation with God and you
say, “Well, you know, I don’t
know what to say.”
You don’t have to
worry about that.
You say, “Well, I don’t
know how to ask.”
Watch this carefully.
When you spend time with Him
and you get alone with Him,
the Holy Spirit.
And most people I–and,
they just ignore this.
The Holy Spirit who lives within
you will guide you into what
you’re thinking, what you’re
asking, what you’re seeking.
That’s one of His primary
responsibilities is
to give guidance.
You don’t have to think it up.
You say, “Well, will He
remind me of my sin?”
Yes.
“To make me feel guilty?”
Yes.
“Why does He want me
to feel guilty?”
‘Cause He wants you to feel
righteous and godly and wants
you to have a pure heart.
So, all meditation is not
some pleasant attitude.
It depends on how you
and I have been living.
But it’s always for our good.
So, when I think about being
quiet, listening to Him, asking
Him for direction, does He care?
Yes, He cares.
If you ever trusted Jesus Christ
as your Savior, from that moment
you have the Holy Spirit
in your heart.
One of His primary goals
is to do what?
Watch this carefully.
To draw you closer and closer in
your attitude, your feeling–you
can’t get any closer than Him.
He’s already in you.
And so, He’s changing your
attitude to get you closer
and closer in your relationship
to God so that you and God are
walking in harmony with
each other every moment
of your life.
That’s who He is.
And one of the best ways to
meditate upon the Lord is
with an open Bible.
What does He, what does
He want to say to you?
What is He saying to you?
Because God wants to give
direction for our life–and
meditation is the primary way of
doing it–being quiet, listening
to what He says.
Somebody says, “Well, is God
willing to speak to us?
Many people can’t hear–
is He willing?”
Yes, He is.
God would not expect you and me
to live in this world and to be
righteous people, godly people
without His presence and His
help by the Holy Spirit
because He knows we couldn’t.
And so, I say all of that
to say this:
The children of Israel came to
the blessing God had provided.
He sent spies to affirm, so they
could affirm to the people
of Israel what He was getting
ready to do for them.
And instead of listening to
God’s servants, they chose not
to listen, and it cost them
forty long years after they’d
already spent years in
Egyptian bondage.
So, think about this.
If you’re not used to listening
to God, what have you missed?
You don’t know the
answer to that.
You don’t, you don’t know what
you’ve missed if you’ve not been
listening to God.
But I can tell you one thing.
You’ve missed His best.
Can you improve on God’s best?
No.
But if you’re not listening to
Him, meditating upon Him, taking
time to be quiet with Him
and just listening, reading
a passage of Scripture,
letting it sink into your heart.
If you’ve not taken time to
do that, then you’ve
missed something.
Watch this.
This is God’s holy gift to every
single one of His children.
Holy gift, adequate gift,
eternal gift to every one
of His children.
He doesn’t want us living
like the world lives.
He doesn’t want us thinking
like the world thinks.
God has a different higher,
holy, wonderful, righteous,
fulfilling, eternal plan for all
of His children if we’ll listen.
So, here’s some attitudes that
short-circuit your faith.
Just short-circuit your faith,
and you miss God’s blessing.
So, number one is bitterness.
If you allow bitterness into
your life and you focus on that,
instead of love and forgiveness
and all the rest, you pay
a penalty.
And I think about people who
are living with bitterness.
If you ask them,
“Are you bitter?”
No.
And not realizing
how bitter they are.
Secondly, there’s anger.
When you focus on anger, it
gets stronger and stronger
and stronger in your life.
There is a penalty to pay
if you’re angry.
Thirdly, there’s hatred.
There are people who
live with hatred.
You can watch the TV and listen
to the news–hatred, bitterness,
resentment, hostility.
These are attitudes that are
destructive, and you cannot have
a right relationship with God
if these attitudes are present
in your life.
And then there’s unforgiveness.
Unforgiveness puts
you in a desert.
You can’t have a right
relationship with God if you’re
unforgiving toward anybody.
You say, “But you don’t know
what they’ve done to me.”
Well, let me ask you this:
Does what they have done to you
match what we did to
Jesus on the cross?
No.
And what was He saying?
“Father, forgive them for
they know not what they do.”
What are you focused on in life?
In other words, if somebody said
to you, “What do you think,
what do you think about most?”
Could you say God?
Could you say when it comes
to serious thinking I think
about God?
Unforgiveness.
Unforgiveness has
a big penalty with it.
Hostility.
There are people who
are very hostile.
They’re angry, they’re hostile.
They want to hurt people.
They want to do
people damage.
They want to get even and if you
ask them, “Even with who?”
They can’t tell you.
You see, here’s the issue.
The issue is the war is on the
inside, and it’s a war that goes
on and on and on.
And so, hostility stirs up
all kind of stuff.
Think about the–when you pick
up the newspaper or listen to
your television, look at the
hostility that we hear about,
that we see.
Hostile, angry, bitter,
resentful, murderous.
Resentment–and resentment’s
one of those edgy things.
You resent people because
of what they have.
Because of who they are, because
of how they look, because what
they drive, where they live,
how they dress.
Resentfulness says there’s
something in me that
doesn’t like them.
Don’t make me define it,
just I don’t like–
You see, this is an attitude
that’s destructive.
And then of course, there’s
just pure unbelief.
“I don’t believe God does that.
I don’t believe God will meet
all of my needs.
I don’t believe God–I don’t
believe God’s interested
in my life.”
Unbelief is very destructive.
This is why meditation upon
God–thinking about Him, reading
His Word, dwelling upon His
Word–is so important.
It increases our faith.
Then, there’s grudge.
Who holds a grudge?
There are people who hold
grudges all of their life.
They just can’t forgive.
They can’t forget.
And I think about families that
are broken up–divorce and
all the rest.
And their grudges, resentment
and hostility and anger and
unforgiveness–all of these
things just sort of run together
to make a person
absolutely miserable.
No wonder they run to the bars.
No wonder they drink till
they are unconscious.
Now we know why they do.
Because if I’m living in sin,
I don’t want to feel so sinful,
so I drink something
that just sort of knocks
that feeling out of me
and I can just relax and this,
that and the other and so forth.
Next thing you know,
one sin leads to another.
You’re going to
meditate on something.
If you’ve never trusted Jesus as
your Savior, you’re already
meditating on something that is
not going to be healthy, good or
good for you or your family.
And then, of course, fear.
Fear absolutely grips
multitudes and multitudes.
If you ask them what they’re
fearful of, they can’t tell you.
“Well, I’m just afraid.
Things are so bad.”
So, we could go on with a list.
I’m simply saying that focusing
your attention above anything
and everything that leaves God
out of your life is going
to be destructive.
The children of Israel were
looking into the Promised Land.
They’d already been through
wilderness and the
miracles of God.
They’re looking into
the Promised Land.
They’re listening to two saints
of God: Joshua and Caleb.
They’re listening to them say,
“We can do it.
We know we can do it.”
We’ve seen the rest of the ten
spies they saw the same thing,
but they didn’t
believe–we can do it.
Say, “Nahhh.
Uh-uh, I don’t think we can.”
Now if they had known what that
decision was going to cost them,
they wouldn’t have made it.
You see, we don’t think about
the consequences of
our decisions.
Before you take the next drink,
think about it.
Before you hop in the bed
with somebody, you better
think about it.
Before you figure you can steal
and get by with it, you better
think about it.
God hates sin and
loves the sinner.
Our focus and our attitude and
our meditation–meditation’s
what I’m thinking about.
And what’s going on
within my thinking.
And it–when I’m thinking about
the way the Lord wants me to
think about Him and His attitude
and what He wants for my life;
I’m going to come out–I’m going
to come out better no matter
what, but if I don’t,
it’s going to cost me.
Think about this.
Looking in the Promised Land,
or looking back at all their
children have died, all
their families who died.
All the pain, hostility
and anger and bitterness,
resentment, murder–all the
rest that was in Egypt.
And you think they would look at
the Promised Land–look back at
that and say,
“That’s what we want.”
That’s not what they wanted.
They were totally deceived.
Watch this.
Fear will deceive you.
They could look both ways.
Now watch this carefully.
All of us have a choice.
I can either look at the
Promised Land or I can look at
the wilderness, forty years–
eaten, bitten by animals,
snakes, and all the rest.
I have a choice.
You have that choice.
You have a choice to dwell upon
God, obey Him, surrender your
life to Him and let Him
demonstrate to you how awesome
He can bless you.
You have that choice.
Or you can listen to the world,
break all the commandments,
do anything you want to do–
drink, carouse, you name it.
You have a choice to do that.
Or you have a choice of walking
with the Lord Jesus Christ with
real joy–a walk that brings
you real completeness,
real fulfillment, real love.
You have a choice.
It’s whatever you choose to
dwell upon–that’s the way
you’ll go.
And my prayer for you is that
you will be wise enough to make
the right choice, to spend time
alone with the Lord.
And when you find yourself
heading in the wrong direction,
don’t excuse yourself,
don’t rationalize it, but admit,
“God, I’m heading in
the wrong direction.
Turn me around, God,
before I go too far.”
Meditation upon the Lord
and upon His Word.
You say, “Well, what verses
should I meditate upon?”
Well, I go back to this one.
Here’s what David said.
Listen carefully.
“Let the words of my mouth,”
what I say, “the meditations of
my heart,” what I feel, “be
acceptable in Your sight,”
God’s viewpoint, “oh Lord, my
strength and my redeemer.”
“Let the words of my mouth,
the meditations of my heart be
acceptable in Your sight,
oh Lord, my strength and
my redeemer.”
He has the best for you.
It’s your choice.
Amen?
Father, thank You for Your
precious Word that guides us,
guards us, protects us, enables
us, rejoices within our heart.
And I pray that every person
here today who has never trusted
You as their Savior will be wise
enough today and trust the Lord
Jesus Christ as their personal
Savior, surrender their life
to You, watch You begin
a new work in their heart.
And every believer here, Father,
whose time is totally filled
with things that are necessary,
but also things that are
unnecessary and that
are very destructive.
Let the Holy Spirit bring a
sense of pure guilt in the life
of every person who’s living in
sin, disobeying You, knowing it,
when you have provided
them the very best.
We love You, Father,
and we praise You.
Thank You for Your patience with
us, but I pray Lord, let not
a single person walk out of this
building without having settled
where they’re going
to spend eternity.
Or laying aside all those things
that hinder Your prepared,
ready-to-offer blessings
that you have their name on.
In Jesus’s name, amen.