Hi guys! I’m back for round 2 of the Gifts of the Nativity Series, where I’m dropping gems that I’ve found in the story of the birth of Jesus. Last week we talked about Favor for Your Calling, and this week we are talking about meditating on what’s in your heart. I’m getting all up in your business today, and it’s okay because you are back for my 6th blog post, which means at this point, we are good friends sis/sir! So let talk about it.
You choose what’s stored in your heart. On two accounts, the bible mentions that Mary “treasured” things in her heart and meditated on them. First, as shepherds came to visit her newborn baby (Luke 2:20) and second when Jesus stayed behind at the temple (Luke 2:51). These were sacred moments that Mary chose to store in her heart. Notice the bible does not say, “And God placed this moment in Mary’s heart” or “then an Angel came to her and said store this in your heart.” Nope, Mary chose and set the tone for what was stored in her heart! We do the same. Some have decided to hold the Word of God in our hearts while others harbor words of people. Other times we choose positivity, and other times we choose to hold onto negativity. If you’re like me, you’ve done both. But Mary choose to store what was sacred. She esteemed the sacred and divine moments from God as worthy to be treasures of her heart. Ask yourself, “What do I truly treasure? What do I hold in my heart?” It is a true test to what hold to high esteem. Is it the moments that felt like God winked at you? Is it his Word? Is it past hurt and mistreatment? Is it your favorite song that goes entirely against the Word of God? What do you hold worthy of holding as treasure in your heart?
You meditate on what you treasure. The great and dangerous thing about storing “treasures” in our hearts is that we are meditating on them consciously or unconsciously because it’s taken root in a vulnerable and tender place. First, let me clarify. When I say meditate, I don’t mean the ways of emptying yourself and your mind as a yoga instructor or someone of new age beliefs would say. The biblical definition of Meditation is entirely different. It’s the filling of your mind and spirit with the Word of God or what meets His standard. We’ll talk about that below. God’s Word is true whether you believe it or not. So, if you are choosing not to fill yourself with the Word of God, you’re just filling yourself with things that are false or evil. It’s dangerous to empty yourself, you leave yourself vulnerable and open for spiritual attack, but that’s for another blog post.Now that we’ve gotten that brief lesson out of the way consider what is on your heart. You meditate on what’s in your heart because it’s an idea or a moment in time that has literally become apart of you by attaching itself to your heart with your permission. For example, have you noticed that someone may have an untrue perception of you because of your past or a misunderstanding? No matter what you do, that perception does not change. It has become a matter of their heart. The mind can be changed and renewed, but the heart must be turned from stone to flesh by God. Just as we too can have ungodly meditations of the heart, we must also allow God to correct these things by his Spirit, his Word, and divine intervention.
6 Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, 7 then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ. 8 So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.
Philippians 4:6-8
How to Meditate the Correct way. Philippians 4: 6-8 makes it clear to us that it is how often we communicate with God and what we think on that will eventually determine the meditation of our hearts. We are to take the advice of Paul in this text and think about things that are pure, beautiful, honorable, respectful, and so on, as the scripture says. Not what the next person has said about you, done to you, or what you feel you’ve done to yourself. It is so important to monitor your thoughts because your thought life will guide your life (Proverbs 23:7). Some of us, including myself, have allowed ourselves to think about things that only lead us in circles instead of forward. Don’t waste your time replaying arguments, stolen opportunities, the mistakes of others, or people that let you down. Love keeps no record of wrong. Instead meditate on the promises of God, the instructions and the warnings of God, meditate on what is found in the Word of God. Treasure these things in your heart.
Barring Ungodly Meditation from your Heart. With all of that said, it would be unfair if I didn’t acknowledge that life does happen. So how do you actively and practically meditate on good things? You simply make a decision. Often, we make the excuse that it takes time as a way to disregard what the Word actually says about being transformed and becoming a new man in Christ Jesus once we are saved. You actively read and listen to the Word to replace negative thoughts as they appear, to test the words that are about to come out of your mouth, to test holding that grudge. The answer will always be let it go if it doesn’t meet the standard of God. Instead of taking things to heart or to your friends on the phone take it to God. He’s the only one that can heal your hurt anyway. Lastly, live righteously. The Word of God says to put on the Breastplate of Righteousness, meaning righteousness guards our hearts. We have been counted righteous by believing in and accepting Jesus as our Savior. That is evident in the way that we live. If you genuinely believe in and love Jesus, you will follow his instructions in the Word. Righteous living protects our hearts.
I hope this was beneficial to you and your walk with God. It’s been a month since I’ve started this blog, and I am honored to be helping people in this way. This is a learning experience for me as well, and I want to thank all those who have read, glanced, and subscribed to The Enthused Life. God is so good, and I can’t wait to see what he does and in all of our lives. That’s what I will be meditating on today! 🙂 See you guys next week!
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