{"id":1129,"date":"2021-06-06T14:04:55","date_gmt":"2021-06-06T19:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/?p=1129"},"modified":"2021-06-06T14:04:55","modified_gmt":"2021-06-06T19:04:55","slug":"real-meditation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/06\/real-meditation\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Meditation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
\u201cFor Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it,<\/em> and to teach in Israel<\/strong> statutes and judgments<\/strong>\u201d
Ezra 7:10 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Today, not many people take time to study the Old Testament\nScriptures. They are old, you know! It is all in the past. Who needs to know\nwhat happened hundreds of years ago? However, there are so many examples of\npeople in the Old Testament who reveal to us the importance of not only what\nthose words say, but also understanding how to implement the principles found\nwithin to each Christian\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read what God told Joshua when He made Joshua the new leader\nof His people: \u201c7. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest\nobserve to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee:\nturn not from it to<\/em> the right hand or to<\/em> the left, that thou\nmayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. <\/strong>8. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but\nthou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do\naccording to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way\nprosperous, and then thou shalt have good success<\/strong>\u201d (Joshua 1:7-8).\nTo meditate<\/em><\/strong> means \u201cto ponder, to study; to speak and talk about.\u201d\nWe can read that there are several times Joshua not only read God\u2019s Word, but\nhe wrote it down, and even read it to God\u2019s people. We can understand from\nthis, that knowing God\u2019s Word was very important to him. God told Joshua to be\nstrong and very courageous. Sometimes it is hard to choose to do the right\nthing according to God\u2019s Word. But God also told him to not turn from the right\nhand or to the left \u2013 encouraging Joshua to stay straight on in the Word of\nGod. When Joshua did this, his way would be prosperous and he would have good\nsuccess. When reading about Joshua\u2019s life, he not only had a prosperous life\nbut great success in accomplishing the things God had for him (remember he led\nGod\u2019s people into the Promised Land).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The urgency of Christians today should be to prepare our\nhearts to seek and know God\u2019s Word. With that preparation of the heart comes a\nnecessity to obey and live out God\u2019s Word in our lives. Once we begin to\naccomplish this in our life, we become a light in this world revealing Jesus in\nour lives. It is then that it becomes much easier to tell others about Jesus.\nThat is exactly what Ezra 7:10 tells\nus we should do: \u201cFor Ezra had\nprepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it,<\/em> and to\nteach in <\/strong>Israel<\/strong> statutes and judgments<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philip, who had grown up learning the Law and the Prophets\nthat make up the Old Testament, recognized Jesus when he met him. He\nimmediately found Nathanael and told him that he had found the one the Old\nTestament said would come: Jesus. \u201cPhilip\nfindeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the\nlaw, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of <\/strong>Nazareth<\/strong>, the son of Joseph<\/strong>\u201d (John 1:45).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul preached Jesus to the people from the Old Testament (the\nLaw and Prophets). \u201cAnd when they\nhad appointed him a day, there came many to him into his<\/em> lodging; to whom\nhe expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning\nJesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of<\/em> the prophets, from\nmorning till evening<\/strong>\u201d (Acts 28:23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you see the importance of knowing and understanding the\nOld Testament? It is all about Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read what the wisest man, King Solomon, wrote for us to read.\n\u201c13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his\ncommandments: for this is<\/em> the whole duty<\/em> of man. <\/strong>14. For God shall bring every work into\njudgment, with every secret thing, whether it be<\/em> good, or whether it\nbe<\/em> evil<\/strong>\u201d (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you taken time to meditate upon (\u201cponder: study\u201d)\nthe Old Testament?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you understand it prepares our hearts to receive\nJesus?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, not many people take time to study the Old Testament Scriptures. They are old, you know! It is all in the past. Who needs to know what happened hundreds of years ago? However, there are so many examples of people in the Old Testament who reveal to us the importance of not only what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[390,318],"tags":[694,125,80,41,25,73,695,393,582,301],"class_list":["post-1129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lighthouse-publishing-blog","category-picture-with-verse-and-blog","tag-ezra","tag-heart","tag-jesus","tag-joshua","tag-meditate","tag-old-testament","tag-philip","tag-ponder","tag-receive","tag-study"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1131,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1129\/revisions\/1131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}