Learning to live as a Disciple of Jesus is all about letting God transform your life from the very core of your heart. It is learning to become a little more like Jesus every day. Your life will not be transformed overnight but it will be transformed as you begin yielding to the teaching of God’s Word and letting God’s Word shape the way you think, the way you feel, the way you speak, and the way you act.
The Bible says we need to “train ourselves to be godly.” In our last devotional we looked at the first benefit we receive from walking with God through the habit of “reflecting on Scripture. Today, we want to look at the second benefit.
II. WHAT ARE THE 4 BENEFITES OF REFLECTING ON SCRIPTURE
1. We Receive Constant Cleansing of our Heart and Mind.
2. We Begin To Enter Training In Righteousness.
A second benefit of reflecting on Scripture is that we begin to enter training in righteousness.
If we are to become more like Jesus every day, we must learn what I call the practice of reflecting on Scripture. Some people call this practice meditating on Scripture. It is different than memorizing Scripture but must involve memorizing so that there is something in our “memory” so that we can meditate on it.
We all have heard that King David was a person with a heart that longed to give honor to God. He was a human being with faults and weaknesses just like all of us have, but he was also a man who wanted to be a good person from the inside out. He didn’t just want to do good things, he wanted be a good man. Notice what King David once said in Psalm 19:14.
“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
In order for this to happen, he have to train our minds to meditate on the Word of God. The Apostle Paul said something very similar in Philippians 4:8.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think on these things.” Philippians 4:8
So we see that a second benefit that we receive from reflecting on Scripture is that we begin to enter training in righteousness. But there are still two other benefits that I want to share with you in the days ahead. But for now, let me ask you to do what I asked my adult Thai Sunday School class this past Sunday. Memorize and meditate on Psalm 19:14. You can do it! And you will truly begin to enter training in righteousness.
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As you pray remember God’s Work here in Northern Thailand.
As most of you know, we live in a part of the world where very few people have ever heard the message of Jesus. 99 out of every hundred persons living here do not know Jesus as their personal Savior. Even in the midst of millions who have never heard, God is at work. God is using many people and many groups to bring the light of the gospel. One of those groups is our English language school called Grace Language School. Please pray as we begin to make plans for registration of new students next week. We are also asking God to send us 7 new 2-year commitment missionaries to come and serve full time with us and help us expand the kingdom of our great God. The fields are ripe…but the laborers are truly few.
Love & Prayers,
Pastor Michael