Scripture memorization opens the way for Biblical Meditation. This discipline is VITAL in the gyrating times in which we live. Here is a study on those powerful benefits. Meditation: Finding Hope in Fearful Times. Jesus told us a day is coming when humans expire because they are so afraid of what is happening all around them. (The Greek word for “expire,” aposucho, literally means “their souls pop out.”) This account in Luke 21:26 is part of Christ’s promises and predictions of the end of the world. In verse 36, He instructed His saints to “watch” and “pray” (Luke 21:36), and expects His children to be disciplining themselves for godliness by meditating on His promises rather than the world’s ever-growing problems. This chapter has been adapted from “Signs the End of Days Is Near” and “Fear Not! For I Am With You!”—two weeks of daily devotionals from my encouraging book on Revelation entitled: Living Hope for the End of Days. The book is available on Amazon. Most people are great at meditation. However, meditation becomes anxiety and worry if it focuses on fears, problems, and the unknown. Endlessly mulling over of a fear or problem can grow it to such a size it dominates both mind and emotion. That is the power of meditation—on the wrong object. But the opposite is equally true. With the right object—God’s Word and His glory—your mind can be harnessed to produce perfect peace, great prosperity, and a Godward-focused life. The choice is simply a matter of what we discipline or train our minds to do. What are you focusing on today—God or the problems of this world? More and more we see the reflection of society’s fears in apocalyptic-themed films. Soon to be launched movies like Interstellar (2014), reflect this background idea of Earth being doomed. From early global disaster movies in the 1980s and 1990s to recent ones like “Day After Tomorrow,” fearful themes are watched and thought about by people on this doomed planet. Just reading those titles is enough to scare anyone grounded in the Word of God! As frightening as the apocalyptic-themed films may be, they are nothing compared to the realities of what Jesus said is coming to this unrepentant world: “… There will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time …. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved …” (Matthew 24:21-22). There truly are fearful times coming. But if you compare our American news with papers of the world’s industrialized nations, you can easily see our news lacks much foresight and discernment. Why is that? Other nations’ news reporters look at the entire world while we Americans usually focus on ourselves. Unless the news is of a catastrophic nature, like the 2004 Tsunami, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of 2011, or the atrocities of the tide of horror unleashed by ISIS in 2014, major American news sources do not generally report on global events other than the usual happenings in the Middle East. But sticking one’s head in the sand when it comes to discerning the global signs of the times will not hold back God’s ultimate plan for mankind. All events foretold in His Word will happen exactly as predicted, and precisely on schedule. Is there any way we can know Christ’s second coming is actually close at hand? I believe there is. While studying a series I was preparing (“What’s Next for Planet Earth?”), I examined just how much information God left about coming events. As a result, I found J. Barton Payne’s series of numbers regarding prophecy to be quite enlightening: The Bible has a total of 31,103 verses, 8,352 of which are prophetic. All biblical predictions about the future can be grouped into 737 different predictions. Of the 8,352 verses, 6,312 (or 522 different predictions) have already happened exactly as God’s Word said they would. About 2,040 verses, with 215 specific predictions from God about the end of the world, are in process of being fulfilled. (J.Barton Payne,Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980), pp. 631-675.) By the timing of the events, those prophecies can be further divided into eighteen chronological categories, five of which are yet to be fulfilled: (1) Church prophecies, (2) Second Coming prophecies, (3) Millennial prophecies, (4) Final judgment prophecies, and (5) New Jerusalem prophecies. Each prophetic sign Christ and His apostles gave is very specific. But the biblical signs of Christ’s return will not be complete until the actual Tribulation, after the Rapture of the church occurs. Each signs, Jesus said, is a trend. These trends are accelerating in our generation; the countdown clock’s last seconds before Christ’s return are clicking away. The prophetic picture Christ painted grows clearer daily as signs captured by the apostles and prophets between 2,000 and 3,500 years ago are now happening in our lifetime. In all history, only our generation has seen every one of these events start to unfold. Jesus said in Matthew 24, when you see these things happening know the end of days is near. All of the yet-to-be- completed prophecies fit within specific major events. Probably most exciting are the dozens of signs of Christ’s second coming, many Jesus described in incredible detail. But here is what I want you to see: Jesus said these signs will not suddenly appear. Rather, becoming a trend that amplifies and strengthens until it’s overwhelming, like a woman about to give birth. Jesus’ warning leaves us better prepared to deal with anxieties and fears. Whether from daily activities or apocalyptic events, God prepares us to deal with fear from a Word filled perspective.Because it is natural to be afraid when facing what Joshua was facing, God further encouraged him: “Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may … do … all the law which Moses My servant commanded you … that you may prosper wherever you go” (Joshua 1:6-7, emphasis added). God not only commanded Joshua to not fear, but He also told him the secret of being successful: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may … do … all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and … have good success” (Joshua 1:8, emphasis added). The Lord expected Joshua to absorb His words into his mind and his heart, and to be constantly saying or thinking upon them. Joshua never let his ultra busyness, heading to and from battles, to deter him from spending time with the Lord twice daily. Having formed a habit of loving God’s presence, he immediately obeyed when the Lord said, “Let My Word be in you so full it overflows!”Father in Heaven, this is Your message: we are to have a Word filled life in fearful times. We are not to fear terrorists, or terrorism, cancer, stalkers, intruders, the future, a new job, or whatever it is. I pray we would see that Your prescription for not fearing is meditation—a Word filled life. For when we meditate, we know You are with us always to the end. So help us to have a Word filled life even in fearful times. Help us to truly understand and grab hold of that reality! In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 15:32:02 +0000
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