Joshua 1:8. Meditate Day and Night to Achieve Good Success

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March 20 Joshua 1 8 NKJV

It’s really difficult to know the way that God expects us to live if we are not reading the instructions He left for us. We can go to church every Sunday and listen to the sermon. We can be part of a small group too. But we also need to be reading the Bible everyday for ourselves. We need to hide it in our heart and meditate on it day and night. As we do, we need to consider what the Holy Spirit might be revealing to us through the Word. When we are wanting directions for life and we are considering the options, it’s important to remember that God would never lead us in a direction that goes against His Word. But how can you know if the path you are considering aligns with His Word, if you are not reading His Word?

God told Joshua that the Book of the Law should not depart from Joshua’s mouth. Moses had left Joshua the Books of the Law that he had received through the inspiration of God–Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Joshua was the first man to learn the about God through the Word of God in the same way that we learn: from the words of a book. Joshua was to keep it in his mouth and in his mind. The emphasis for Joshua–and for us—is upon making Bible study a constant practice. He was to study it and learn it so that it became a way of life for him and he was to fully obey it. He was to meditate on it – day and night. This doesn’t mean sitting cross-legged on a mat and chanting “ohmmmm.” Meditating on God’s Word is a practice that involves going over and over and over God’s truth in our minds to deepen its impression on us and to set it in our hearts. It includes asking the Holy Spirit to show us how God’s Word applies to our life, right now, in this moment. It involves prayerfully listening throughout the day for the Holy Spirit to show you what God is trying to say to you through His Word. The word meditate indicates that Scripture is to be like a tune that we cannot get out of our minds. It just permeates our thinking processes.

If you want God’s Word to be a way of life, it isn’t enough to just read it every day. We need to study it. Pray over it. Memorize it. Hide it in our heart. And apply it to our life. God doesn’t just expect us to read it. He expects us to observe and do what it says. The reason God had the various authors write these books of the Bible is so that we would know and understand the way God expects us to live. Just as a parent sets rules for the child he or she loves and wants to protect, God’s rules are designed out of His love for us and His desire to protect us. When we live according to His Word we can then experience peace and joy and fellowship with Him.

When we live according to God’s commands, we can be prosperous and have great success. This doesn’t mean we become rich and famous. God does not define success like it is defined in the world today. For the Christian, success can be defined as the ability to find the will of God for your life . . . and then do it! We don’t get the right to choose the parts of God’s Word that we want to obey or are convenient to obey. Joshua 1:8 says we are to “observe to do according to all that is written in it.” The biggest problem in our world to day is that people have tried to remove the parts of God’s Word that they don’t like. They want to remove the Ten Commandments from court rooms. They want to alter and “re-define” marriage. They want to say that abortion is ok – that it’s a woman’s right to choose to end a life that God created. And then when something like Coronavirus comes to the scene, everyone panics. Instead of panicking, we need to be returning to meditating day and night on God’s Word, repenting of sin, and asking God to forgive and heal our land. When we return to living by God’s standards, then we will have the prosperous nation and good success as we live according to His will for us.

If you are not already reading your Bible everyday, join us in our One Year Bible Challenge. Each day we post an Old Testament passage and a New Testament passage to read and meditate on so that in one year you will have read the entire Bible from cover to cover.

Father, thank you for giving us Your Word – the light for our path. Help us to hide it in our hearts and meditate on it. Speak to us and reveal to us what You want to say to us through Your Word. Just as you were with Joshua and enabled him to read and observe Your Word, help us be obey what you reveal to us.

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Don’t forget to learn this week’s memory verse:

Memorize and hide in your heart one memory verse each week in 2020. If you didn’t start the challenge at the beginning of the year, just jump in now and be sure to sign up to get our weekly Memory verse in your email so you don’t miss a week.

memory verse logoIn 2020 our emphasis is on revival for America with three key words: revive, renew, and redeem. You will begin to see the elements of our website and posts reflect this emphasis. We hope you’ll join us in praying for God to pour out the Holy Spirit with a mighty rushing wind of revival for our nation and around the world.

 

Our key verse for revival is 2 Chronicles 7:14. “If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.  For the past few  weeks, we have been focusing on repentance. This week, we look at the spiritual transformation that takes place when we surrender our heart to God.

This week’s memory verse:

Exodus 15:26

“If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.

Meditate and apply:

Will you commit to praying with us in 2020 that God will revive His people, renew our faith, and redeem our land? We feel such an urgency and desperation for revival. If God is moving your heart for revival, write your revival prayer in the comments along with your state or country. 

#Chronovirus #fastandpray #judgement #repentance #revivalin2020 #WCM

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