THE CONTEXT OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

.    What exactly does the Bible mean when it uses the word
Meditation? 
.    The expression "Meditation" is used by a whole host of
philosophies and religions ranging from the Mahareshi Mahesi Yogi
(Transcendental Meditation) to the religions of Hinduism and
Buddism.  Meditation is especially popular and basically had it's
foundation in the Orient. 
.    Christian Meditation is much different from that of all the
other religions of the world.  It stands in the context of the
Biblical message of salvation.  This we must know before we will
be able to completely understand the meaning and importance of
Christian Meditation.
.    Christian Meditation is entering into a very real and
dynamic fellowship with the the Father.  But before that can be,
we must first understand who God is.  What is He like?  How can
we get to know and have fellowship with Him?

                        GOD, THE CREATOR

.    (Read Genesis 1; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-17; I
Corinthians 8:6.)

.    The Bible is a book which contains the words that God
breathed life into, they disclose God to Man, and it is here that
we meet the Person who causes us to meditate. 

1) He is the eternal one.  Time and space begin in Genesis 1, but
God is before time. (Genesis 1:1)   He is the unbeginning
beginning of all that is.

2) He is the Creator of earth and space.  He, therefore, contains
space within Himself. The Limitless One who contains all that is
measured and is, Himself, measureless. (I Kings 8:27)

3) He is the original Person.. Genesis 1, does not speak of mere
force or energy being the beginning of all that is, but One who
speaks -- A Person.

4) Before He created there was nothing but Himself.  All that is
was created from His faith. (Hebrews 11:3)  The material that
makes up the universe is not God but was made by Him and is an
objective reality to Him.
.    In stating this, we must understand that He fills all that
is with His real presence. (Acts 17:27,28; Jeremiah 23:24)  He is
the power at the center of every atom that holds creation
together. (Colossians 1:17)  Although He is at the center of a
blade of grass, a tree or a living creature, He is not that blade
of grass, tree or creature.  The Christian sees God filling His
universe but does not confuse the universe with Him.

5) Man was created at the end of the creation week. He was and is
a unique creation. He shared with the animals that he was made
from dust (Genesis 2:7,19), but he could not find fellowship with
them.  Man was different, made in God's image and likeness.
(Genesis 1:26,27)  Man was made a limited beginning person to
relate and have fellowship with the unlimited, unbeginning
person.

                           THE CHOICE

.    In order for man to actually be the free lord on Earth that
he was created to be, he had to make a choice.  All other
creatures were programmed to obey the Creator.  Man, made in the
image of that Creator, is the only unprogrammed member of
creation.  He must choose to be who he is, a creature, and so
worship the creator - drawing life, direction and understanding
from Him.  Man chose to rebel against God, not accepting his
creaturehood, but setting himself up as God. (Genesis 3:5)
.    Let us consider what this has done to man.  By refusing to
submit to the one who arranged and ordered the universe, man
chose a path of disorder and chaos.
.    God is Life.  So when man rebels against Him, he is in fact
embracing the opposite of God (Life), Satan (Death). (Genesis
2:17)  Man also entered into a state of both mental and spiritual
darkness and has followed the Liar (satan) instead of God by whom
we know truth.  Only when we become servants of the truth are we
truly free.  People who do not Know God and make fun of
Christians often use the phrase, "Yeah, but I am free to drink,
take drugs, smoke etc.. and you are not."  Well, if they think
that the right to destroy themselves is freedom, then you can see
the lie and deception they are following.  But the fact is,
although they may be free to do all that; we are even more free,
because we as Christians are free NOT to do those things, they
are not.  When mankind walked away from God he actually walked
away from Wisdom Himself and entered a life of foolishness.
(Romans 1:21,22)  (Please read for further information Ephesians
2:1-3; 4:17-22.)
.    Man forgot who he was and became a lost person ever in
search of the "WHY" for his existence.

                         GOD'S SALVATION

.    Despite the predicament man got himself into, God in His
love for His creatures provided a way out.  But, God has totally
set Himself against the cancer of the creation ... SIN.  Man
could and would not ever have fellowship restored with his
Creator until the sin problem had been dealt with.  God also knew
that in order for the debt of man's sin to be paid; He must do it
Himself.  Man is unable to pay for his own debt of Sin. 
.    The Bible records, beginning in Genesis chapter 3, the
unfolding of God's dealing with man's sin which culminates in the
finished work of Jesus Christ.  God took to Himself our humanity,
guilt, sin and sickness and laid it on His Son Jesus Christ, who
is truly God and truly man.  For only Jesus was able to take our
place and receive our penalty.  He died to take YOUR punishment
and guilt so you wouldn't have to.. Oh, what Love.  He is the
substitute and representative of all mankind.  He accepted the
penalty that justice demanded from the rebel sinner man.  (Please
read 2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:4-6; Romans
5:8.)  Because He actually took the sin away from mankind, He was
raised from the dead. (Romans 4:25)

.    Because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished by
His death, burial and resurrection, mankind can once again be
restored to fellowship with his Creator.  It is not because of a
single thing that mankind has done, it is solely by the Grace of
God that we can have this, and only through faith in what Christ
did.  Grace as a definition could be that God did us a favor, and
he did not give us what we really deserve, but He actually gave
us the opposite of what we deserve.  When a human being accepts
the sacrifice of Jesus and receives Him, by Faith, he becomes a
new creation and comes out of spiritual death, darkness,
confusion, deception and foolishness and walks into eternal life
- The Zoa of God - God's own Life, through Christ.

                       FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

.    Once born again, Man is once again able to fellowship with
his Creator.  When sin has been dealt with, man can begin to
understand the "WHY" of his existence.
.    The Term MEDITATION as it is used in the Bible is a
description of the born again believers fellowship with God. 
Meditation is NOT a way to salvation, and it will NOT lead you to
God.  It can only take place in the life of an already born again
believer.  The Christian meditation must be accomplished by a
Christian in order to be understood. 

                          A COMPARISON

.    As we have said above, Christian meditation is unique from
all the other types and ways of meditating that are known to
mankind.  The other philosophies that use the expression
"Meditation" focus mainly on man himself with no personal God or
an objective creation. (unless it is himself he deems as God)
.    To the other religions that practice meditation, God is some
cosmic force that is manifested in some type of spiritual energy. 
They think that the universe or the creation is God, which means
that man is God.  Their salvation is realizing this fact or to
attain some form of "Enlightenment" known as "Nirvana".  They
spend hours sitting, laying or contorting and repeatedly saying a
"mantra" that is supposed to be a vehicle to attain this
"Nirvana".  A mantra they tell you is a meaningless word, but
after having been involved in this for many years prior to
becoming a Christian - the mantra is actually the name of
different DEMONS to whom the meditator is calling upon. 
.    Thank God, Christian meditation is the reverse of all this. 
He knows that he is in union with his God by the faith that he
has in Jesus Christ. At that point he meditates -- not to achieve
union, but because he is in union.  Meditation becomes the way of
fellowship  -  person (man) to Person (God).
.    Christian meditation is NOT mindless, but it is a focusing
of the mind on the Scriptures under the inspiration and guidance
of the Holy Spirit. A good way to start to do this is to choose a
book of the Bible, (preferably a short one - i.e. Jude, 3 John
etc) and read it over and over until you begin to anticipate the
next word. Then start with verse 1.. commit it to memory, then
during the day roll it over and over in your mind.  It will soon
drop down into your spirit and then the realization of what it
means will be manifested.

(Author unknown)

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