Your Meditation Will Direct Your Conduct
Philippians 1:27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,
Standing fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel is a tall order! Let our conduct be worthy of the gospel. In the KJV the word conduct is conversation. Not just a word of greeting but the conversation of lifestyle. Oh that our conversation would be worthy of the gospel of Christ
Matthew 12:33 "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 "Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
You can tell what has great worth to a man by the conversation in his mouth. What is our conversation? What gets one talking is the treasure of their heart! Jesus was not mincing words when he declared by our words we will be justified and by our words we will be condemned. Jesus said if we would confess Him before men He would confess us before God. If we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart the that Jesus is the Son of God we shall be saved. The words of our mouth matter.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
Have you ever been around someone who is a constant complainer. Their words affect their life and they can not see the ramifications of it. It is obvious to all those around but they can not see that their own words can keep them in defeat. Those with a complaining spirit forget they are planting, nurturing, and will reap from the harvest. Complaining is a form of meditation. It always happens to me this way… It never turns out for me… It becomes a form of self fulfilling prophecy. The seed is sown, well watered, and nurtured and they get the harvest. To top it off they ask, why is God doing this to me? Oh how blind the enemy of our soul loves us to be. Oh that we would allow God to direct our conversation!
Proverbs 15:23 A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, And a word spoken in due season, how good it is!
Psalms 50:23 Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God."
KJV Psalms 50:23 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.
Oh that the child of God would replace complaint with praise! We put our eye on the circumstance and forget God calls us to look to Him the very source of our strength. Whoever offers praise glorifies God. It is a great meditation. If you order your conduct by your praise you will see the salvation of God. What a promise!
Psalms 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
You begin to pray this Psalms and it can change your life. God calls us to meditate upon the good things in His word. Fellowship with Jesus is so sweet and the enemy of our soul will do all he can to hide the truth of God from us. If the enemy can get us to operate in complaining he has displaced us from the blessing of God. We must become aware of the tricks of the enemy of our soul. It can start by praying Psalm 19:14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
We can on purpose chose what we are going to meditate and consider. Paul commanded the Philippians to think upon the true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and whatever is of good report. It is time for the saint to renew their minds with the praiseworthy things of God. If you know how to complain you know how to meditate. Instead of stating all that you see wrong; begin to declare all that God has done and has made right! It is a lifestyle change and it is the practical application of the word of God that can bring the abundant life to the believer.
2 Corinthians 4:13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak,
God calls us to speak from the spirit of faith. The just shall live by faith in Jesus Christ. Instead of speaking the circumstances in your life speak the word of deliverance Jesus promises. Don’t speak from the old man; speak the life that is in the new man God has made you. If any man be in Christ he is a new creation. Live from the new creation.
Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
The words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart is greatly influence by who and what we hang out with. If we sit in the seat of the scoffers and scornful that will be the mediation of our heart and it will be the words of our mouth. However if we make the word of God our delight and we meditate upon the precious promises of God, that will come out of our heart. Whatever you meditate on good or bad will always produce a harvest in your life.
What is your daily conversation; the latest reality TV. The best movie that came out. The new boat, the great truck. Your daily conversation is a reflection of your heart. We say we want God to move in our lives yet He is not our mediation. Do we give 10 minutes of devotion in the morning and move on to our real day? We cry out God why are you not working things out in my life. God’s standard is to give Him first place. We can not have the harvest of giving God first place if we have not actually given God first place. We can’t blame God for the resulting harvest when we have chased things and stuff and He is not given preeminence in our lives. Whatever you pursue will be your reward; God help us to have eternal pursuits so our harvest will be everlasting. It begins with the meditation of our heart.
Psalms 119:10 With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! 11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You! 12 Blessed are You, O LORD! Teach me Your statutes! 13 With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth. 14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. 16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!” The word of God is quick and powerful and it will change us. However if we don’t submit to the Word of God when the trouble comes we have nothing to stand on. The meditation of the Word of God can bring unparallel strength. We overcome the enemy by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Crave the pure milk of the Word. Receive the engrafted Word of God which is able to save your soul. We give ourselves over to things and stuff and get mad at God for the harvest we reap. It time to plant a new crop if we want a different kind of harvest. If we will feast and meditate on His Word the rejoicing of heart will overflow!
1 Timothy 4:13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
Paul was teaching the young preacher Timothy how to live in victory and how to guide other to living in victory. It is time for the saints of God to give themselves over to reading and exhortation to doctrine. Oh that it would be our meditation day and night. Not only can you get a harvest but those around you can be saved too!
1 John 2:14 I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one. 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
If the word of God abides in you , you are strong, and you can overcome the wicked one. What is it you will meditate on. Knowing God is a journey of a life time. If you pursue Him with diligence He Himself will be your great reward.
Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus,
Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,
Consider Jesus, meditate upon Him and His great work! Hear His voice, consider and meditate upon His words. Your meditation upon Him will direct your conduct and give you a harvest of abundant life.
