Memorization or MEDITATION??
-- by G. Wiebe - July 2005
CONTENTS:
| + Intro + Definitions + The Word - the Bread of Life + Meditation/Pondering, etc. |
+ Some Examples
of What to Meditate On + Some Examples of How to Meditate + Conclusion |
INTRO
---------
Do you have trouble memorizing Scripture and so tend to feel guilty for
not spending much time doing so?
Do you feel that memorization is just not your thing, is a chore, is something which should be left to those with 'photographic memories' or something that is just too hard for you?
If so, you are not alone!
It may surprise you, as it has surprised me, that as I recently did a quick check at www.biblegateway.com, that in a number of the concordances of the main versions of the Bible that I checked out, the words 'memorize', 'memorized' and 'memorization' WERE NOT EVEN LISTED!! Yet many of us have been raised that we are to 'memorize' Scripture.
But what does the Bible really say?
Can understanding what the Bible DOES say encourage us in our quest to 'hide the Word of God in our HEART'? I believe so!
We are repeatedly exhorted to MEDITATE on the Word of God!
Does it make a difference? Is it just a matter of semantics?
Yes, I believe it does make a difference, and, I believe, a very important one! One which makes a big difference in our ability to not only more deeply comprehend what we are 'memorizing' (which seems to happen as a natural by-product of MEDITATION!! - but without the stresses and strains and frustrations of 'memorization'), but which is also a PROCESS which causes the Word to literally become a part of us, rather than just a file stored in our intellectual memory banks, which can so often tend to happen when we merely 'memorize' the Word.
MEMORIZATION is more the 'western' approach to what we are exhorted to do in Scripture, I think. We tend to use the intellectual approach with which most western Christianity has tended to be focused on…and one of the reasons why, I believe, memorization has often been far less effective than we have hoped it would be in our lives.
Perhaps 'memorization' is also more along the lines of
the 'fast-food' approach to retaining information? Unfortunately, it may be
retaining 'INFORMATION' but may not be having the desired outcome of the Word
FEEDING US so we become RENEWED IN OUR MINDS and TRANSFORMED by His power
as He dwells in our hearts through faith - which is not only an intellectual
exercise but also requires a believing heart - which comes from HEARING the
Word and MEDITATING on it so that it also affects our HEARTS…(ie. Romans
10:9
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved.. Romans 10:10
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved…. 2 Corinthians
4:13
It is written: "I believed; therefore I
have spoken." [ Psalm 116:10] With that same spirit of faith we also
believe and therefore speak,…)
MEDITATION, on the other hand, is a more holistic, integrated approach (a more 'eastern' approach?)…where the Words actually become life in us and to us. As we meditate on the Word, it has the effect of a seed that grows.
To help begin our understanding of the crucial difference between memorization and meditation, let's see what the Dictionary and Thesaurus have to say:
DEFINITIONS
---------------------
MEMORIZE
From: www.answers.com - Dictionary
1. To commit to memory; learn by heart.
MEDITATE
From: www.answers.com - Dictionary
Dictionary
med·i·tate (m?d'?-t?t')
v., -tat·ed, -tat·ing, -tates.
v.tr.
1. To reflect on; contemplate.
2. To plan in the mind; intend: meditated a visit to her daughter.
v.intr.
1.
a. Buddhism & Hinduism. To train, calm, or empty the mind, often by achieving
an altered state, as by focusing on a single object.
b. To engage in devotional contemplation, especially prayer.
2. To think or reflect, especially in a calm and deliberate manner.
[Latin medit?r?, medit?t-.]
med'i·ta'tor n.
Thesaurus
meditate
verb
To think or think about carefully and at length: chew on (or over), cogitate,
consider, contemplate, deliberate, entertain, excogitate, mull, muse1, ponder,
reflect, revolve, ruminate, study, think, think out, think over, think through,
turn over, weigh. Idioms: cudgel one's brains, put on one's thinking cap,
rack one's brain. See thoughts.
WordNet
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The verb meditate has 2 meanings:
Meaning #1: reflect deeply on a subject
Synonyms: chew over, think over, ponder, excogotate, contemplate, muse, reflect,
mull, mull over, ruminate, speculate
Meaning #2: think intently and at length
-----------
The words 'chew on, mull and ruminate' are especially helpful, I believe.
Also from www.answers.com
RUMINATE
1. To turn a matter over and over in the mind.
2. To chew cud.
To think or think about carefully and at length: chew on (or over), cogitate,
consider, contemplate, deliberate, entertain, excogitate, meditate, mull,
muse1, ponder, reflect, revolve, study, think, think out, think over, think
through, turn over, weigh. Idioms: cudgel one's brains, put on one's thinking
cap, rack one's brain. See thoughts.
MULL
To go over extensively in the mind; ponder.
PONDER
To weigh in the mind with thoroughness and care.
THE WORD - THE BREAD OF LIFE
---------------------------------------------------
Let us consider the following passages: (all following
passages are from the NIV version)
John 1:1 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
1 John 1 - The Word of Life
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-this we
proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it
and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with
the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and
heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is
with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our[a]
joy complete.
John 6:35
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will
never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
We have tended to approach the Word - which we SAY is living, and which we SAY is God, and which we SAY is the Bread of Life - as we approach facts and figures. We memorize them and 'facts' about Him in order to retain 'the information'.
I believe our approach of 'memorization' is - as well-intentioned as it is - a rather sterile way to approach God and His Word - one which unintentionally keeps us at a distance from Him and the deeper revelation of His life-giving Words to our hearts. Why? Because the focus tends to be on retaining intellectual knowledge ABOUT God and what He has said through largely an approach of self-effort, rather than the much deeper and much more effective approach/process of MEDITATION.
Why is this difference so crucial?
Ephesians 1: 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
2 Peter 1: 3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
1. Daniel 2:29
"As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come,
and the revealer of mysteries showed you what
is going to happen.
Daniel 2:28-30 (in Context) Daniel 2 (Whole Chapter)
2. Daniel 2:47
The king said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the
Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for
you were able to reveal this mystery."
Jer 33:3 3 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'
As we MEDITATE on His Word, humbly dependant on the Holy
Spirit to illuminate and reveal Himself to us as we do so, He will begin to
show us and reveal to us deeper things than we have seen in merely reading
or memorizing the Word.
The Bible also says that if we are hearers only and not DOERS of the Word, we DECEIVE OURSELVES - so if we merely MEMORIZE and only fill our minds with 'information' - even though it's biblical 'information', we are potentially setting ourselves up for deception; WHEREAS if we engage in the revelatory, life-giving process of chewing on, mulling over, thinking deeply about His Word through meditation, asking for His revelation and illumination - inviting Him to be a part of the process of revealing Himself to us through the process, His Word is more likely to become a part of us, we are more likely to OBEY and be DOERS, we are less likely to be deceived…AND less likely to be double-minded, since THE TRUTH is increasing in us…not only in our minds but throughout our whole being…
James 1: James 1:22
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it
says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like
a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes
away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently
into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting
what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does.
21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
This kind of Word comes in and is like a seed that grows (through meditation?):
Matt 13
The Parable of the Sower
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large
crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all
the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables,
saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the
seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell
on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because
the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched,
and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns,
which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil,
where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
9He who has ears, let him hear."
10The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people
in parables?"
11He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the
kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will
be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even
what he has will be taken from him. 13This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'[a] 16But blessed are your eyes because they
see, and your ears because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets
and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear
what you hear but did not hear it.
18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
Memorization tends to keep the truth in the mind and it tends not to filter down into the HEART and turn into action/life, as it does through MEDITATION.
Memorization can LEAD TO meditation, but it does not automatically
happen when one memorizes.
MEDITATION
------------------
So what DOES the Bible say about MEDITATION?
Consider the following as you think about chewing on, mulling over, ruminating on the WORD as Bread.
Why do we do this when we eat? So we get the most nutritional value out of the food, to break it down into digestible morsels…as well as because it is good and we savour the taste! This is also the purpose of meditation.
Consider, also, the practice of cattle, etc. in 'chewing their cud'…
MEDITATION is NOT a quick approach (like memorization tends to be - in comparison) - the intent is not to 'get it over with' so we can add another verse or passage to our collection of memorized Scriptures so that we can feel like we have done our duty. The intent is to have the Word BECOME A PART OF US, just as food becomes a part of us and nourishes us as it is being transformed into life in us.
Notice the effects, below, of meditation - ie. Prosperity, success, delight in God's law, passion to speak, etc.
Also take note of what he meditated on. When and where did he meditate? Why was he meditating?
Joshua 1:8 - not let this Book of the Law depart from your
mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything
written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Psalm 1:2 - his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates
day and night.
Psalm 39:3 - heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned;
then I spoke with my tongue:
Psalm 48:9 - hin your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.
Psalm 77:12 - ill meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty
deeds.
Psalm 119:15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
Psalm 119:23 Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will
meditate on your decrees.
Psalm 119:27 Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will
meditate on your wonders.
Psalm 119:48 - Lft up my hands to [ Or for ] your commands, which I love,
and I meditate on your decrees.
Psalm 119:78
May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause; but I will
meditate on your precepts.
Psalm 119:97 - Mem ] Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
Psalm 119:99 - I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on
your statutes.
Psalm 119:148 - My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I
may meditate on your promises.
Psalm 143:5 - I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.
Psalm 145:5 - They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and
I will meditate on your wonderful works. [ Dead Sea Scrolls and Syriac (see
also Septuagint Masoretic Text On the glorious splendor of your majesty /
and on your wonderful works I will meditate ]
Psalm 19:14 - May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be
pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 104:34 - May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD.
PONDERING
---------------
Psalm 64:9 - All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and
ponder what he has done.
Psalm 111:2 - Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who
delight in them.
Psalm 119:95 - The wicked are waiting to destroy me, but I will ponder your
statutes.
Ecclesiastes 12:9 - [ The Conclusion of the Matter ] Not only was the Teacher
wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched
out and set in order many proverbs.
Isaiah 57:1 - The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout
men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away
to be spared from evil.
Isaiah 57:11 - "Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been
false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts?
Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?
Luke 2:19 - But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her
heart.
Ps 119: 18 Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.
24 Your statutes are my delight;
they are my counselors.
30 I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set my heart on your laws.
32 I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free.
h He
33 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees;
then I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
47 for I delight in your commands
because I love them.
48 I lift up my hands to [c] your commands, which I love,
and I meditate on your decrees.
When we meditate/ponder on the Word of God, it is establishing a solid foundation in our lives - making us STEADFAST. Do we need to be steadfast in this day and age where 'anything goes'?
STEADFAST
--------------------
1. 2 Chronicles 27:6
Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before
the LORD his God.
2. Psalm 51:10
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast
spirit within me.
Psalm 57:7My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.
4. Psalm 108:1
[ A song. A psalm of David. ] My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and
make music with all my soul.
5. Psalm 111:8
They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness.
6. Psalm 112:7
He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast,
trusting in the LORD.
7. Psalm 119:5
Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!
8. Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.
9. 1 Peter 5:10
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after
you have suffered a little while, will himself restore
you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Proverbs 24:3
By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established
SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT TO
MEDITATE ON
--------------------------------------------------------------------
As you know, MEDITATION is also the big rage in other religious, such as Buddhism, Hinduism and the New Age, etc.
Let us not potentially 'throw out the baby with the bathwater' by avoiding 'meditation' because others use it in unbiblical ways - but instead let's reclaim it for God's glory, since He was the one that ordained it for the GOOD of His children! This is part of OUR inheritance! The enemy has just tried to counterfeit it. Let's not let him steal this precious gift from us because it has been misused!
The issue is WHAT we are meditating on and WHY we are meditating.
Following are some examples of things we are instructed, in Scripture, to meditate on:
+ Names of God -
an aid to worship -
http://disciplethenations.org/Rield/index58.html
+ Works of God - an example: (I encourage you to read it slowly, line by line, closing your eyes and picturing each phrase in your mind's eye before you go on to the next line)...
Job 26: 7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty
space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
8 He wraps up the waters in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
9 He covers the face of the full moon,
spreading his clouds over it.
10 He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters
for a boundary between light and darkness.
11 The pillars of the heavens quake,
aghast at his rebuke.
12 By his power he churned up the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces. (my note: apparently "Rahab"
in this vs. refers to a city)
13 By his breath the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the gliding serpent.
14 And these are
but the outer fringe of his works;
how faint the whisper we hear of him!
Who then can understand the thunder of his
power?"
I encourage you to repeat that last verse to yourself, slowly, numerous times, and really seek to grasp how mind-boggling this is?!! Does this not stir your heart to worship God and rest in Him in the midst of whatever you are going through? Does it not stir your faith that HE IS ABLE to do the impossible??? THAT is one of the purposes of meditation!!
+ God's Promises - 2 Cor 1: 20For no
matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ.
And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.
Meditating on God's promises is a HUGE way to stir our faith and help us to strengthen our hearts in the midst of our trials.
+ Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus
- Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross,
scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
+ Godly characteristics of Jesus and His leaders
As we meditate on their godly characteristics, we find ourselves increasingly reflecting them in our own lives. We become what/whom we focus/meditate on.
2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect [ Or contemplate] the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
As such, we are told to IMITATE Jesus and His disciples told others to imitate them... Imitating someone requires a form of MEDITATION on not only facts about that person, but KNOWING THEM intimately....somewhat, I believe, to what anyone that is 'in love' does when they think about (meditate on?) the object/person of their affections!! Their words, actions, looks, idiocyncracies, laugh, voice, and everything about them are reviewed again and again, over and over, turned over in the love-struck person's heart and mind - wanting to get everything they can out of their thoughts...I believe that is MEDITATION. However this can easily lead to fantasy, but Meditation on God's Word is rooted in TRUTH/REALITY and it is deeper because it also involves the spirit-man.
IMITATE
--------------
Also from www.answers.com
im·i·tate (?m'?-t?t')
tr.v., -tat·ed, -tat·ing, -tates.
1. To use or follow as a model.
2.
a. To copy the actions, appearance, mannerisms, or speech of; mimic: amused
friends by imitating the teachers.
b. To copy or use the style of: brushwork that imitates Rembrandt.
3. To copy exactly; reproduce.
4. To appear like; resemble.
im·i·tate (?m'?-t?t')
tr.v., -tat·ed, -tat·ing, -tates.
1. To use or follow as a model.
2.
a. To copy the actions, appearance, mannerisms, or speech of; mimic: amused
friends by imitating the teachers.
b. To copy or use the style of: brushwork that imitates Rembrandt.
3. To copy exactly; reproduce.
4. To appear like; resemble.
----
1 Corinthians 4:16
Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
Hebrews 6:12
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith
and patience inherit what has been promised.
Hebrews 13:7
Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome
of their way of life and imitate their faith.
3 John 1:11
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does
what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
1. Ephesians 5:1
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children
1 Thessalonians 1:6
You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering,
you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 2:14
For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are
in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those
churches suffered from the Jews,
+ Phil 4: 8Finally, 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 about such things.
+ Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet - a light unto my path…Meditating on God's Word, as it referred to in many ways in Psalm 119, has many benefits to our lives and leads us into deeper intimacy with Jesus.
SOME EXAMPLES OF HOW TO MEDITATE?
----------------------------------------------------------------
One example:
Take a verse, such as THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT BE IN WANT (Psalm 23:1).
Slowly say it over to yourself many times. Each time you go over it, put the emphasis on a different word.
For example:
THE Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want
The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want
The Lord IS my Shepherd, I shall not be in want
The Lord is my SHEPHERD, I shall not be in want
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want
The Lord is my Shepherd, I SHALL not be in want
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall NOT be in want
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not BE in want
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be IN want
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in WANT
Taking one word at a time in a verse and emphasizing it can really help us to get some deeper and more personal insights into the meaning of a verse we might not otherwise consider that specifically or from those other perspectives.
Another example:
Meditating on the Names of God -
The Bible talks a lot about the NAME OF THE LORD...ie. Isaiah 50:10b...Let
him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in THE NAME OF THE LORD
and rely on His God...
What does it mean to TRUST IN THE NAME OF THE LORD?
Do we really know His Names and the significance of His Names? Do we know the reality and revelation of Himself that He longs to impart into our lives as we meditate on His NAMES? See more info about this here: http://disciplethenations.org/Rield/index58.html
But take for example Jesus our SHEPHERD as noted above in Psalm 23 and in John 10... think, for example, of what a shepherd does for it's sheep? How does the shepherd feel about it's sheep? What does it mean to be one of the sheep of the Good Shepherd?
The more we meditate on His NAMES, which are a reflection of WHO HE IS, and WHO HE DESIRES TO BE TO US as we grow in our understanding of the TRUTH of WHO HE IS, the more we will also EXPERIENCE HIM in those ways... MEDITATING on His NAMES is a huge part of developing a deeper level of trust and faith in Him.
There are also other ways to meditate: using a journal and writing out the verse or passage and studying them...checking out definitions, as done above, etc.
Also doing word studies on particular words in Scripture, as done above, as well. I have personally found this to be VERY helpful in meditating on Scripture, too....seeing what various key words REALLY MEAN as they are taken in context with what all of Scripture says about that particular word... for example about DESIRES...what does the Bible say about our desires??? That is a very interesting study!! And probably will pleasantly surprise you!!!! Yes, there are various desires - godly desires, lustful desires, selfish desires, etc., etc. But when we get an understanding of what God says about His desires for us and the ones He wants to give us and FULFILL, it is AMAZING!!! (ie. delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart! Ps 37:4) - if you don't really know what this verse means, I encourage you to check out www.biblegateway.com, put DESIRE into the search engine and go through what the Bible says about desires!!! Happy meditating!!
CONCLUSION
----------------------
I believe that biblical meditation is a far more liberating, joy-filled, pleasing, restful, more deeply satisfying and beneficial experience and practice than the long-taught, well-intentioned practice of memorization.
I also believe that if we return to the biblical practice/procsss
of MEDITATION, it will greatly enrich our understanding and intimate knowledge
of God, and will see our lives continually being TRANSFORMED as our MINDS
ARE RENEWED not only through intellectual knowledge but a holistic receiving
of the BREAD OF LIFE as we mull and chew on HIM - the BREAD OF LIFE, the TRUTH.
We will be less prone to deception and Christ will have more freedom to live
and reign in and through our lives. Our hearts will increasingly be set free,
too, since it is the TRUTH that SETS US FREE!
Great Commission Worship & Arts Center