Connect with God Daily
Series: Vision Series 2025- Rhythms of Grace
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 23rd February 2025
Passage: Psalm 1:1-6
00:00:00 --> 00:00:21 The book, I don't expect you to read it at all, but the book Hamlet's Blackberry likens our digital age to a gigantic room with more than a billion people in it with everyone in really close proximity.
00:00:21 --> 00:00:36 And in the room, people are constantly coming up to you and tapping you on the shoulder, a text, a hit, a comment, a tweet, a post, a message, an email, a new thread, and the taps never stop.
00:00:36 --> 00:00:46 Well, the taps come while you're eating, while you're sleeping, while you're driving, while you're on vacation, and when you're even on the toilet.
00:00:47 --> 00:00:55 The digital age is, according to the book, is somewhat like the Eagle Song Hotel California.
00:00:56 --> 00:00:58 You can check out any time, but you can never leave.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:06 But what if we actually prefer it that way?
00:01:06 --> 00:01:21 We complain about it, but what if we actually prefer the endless noise to the deafening silence of our own hearts?
00:01:21 --> 00:01:40 What if the trivialities and the distractions and the latest posts and the TV, the rush of our day, are not actually forced upon us by the busyness of our society?
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 What if, in fact, they were not forced upon us at all?
00:01:44 --> 00:01:50 Hence the question of Hamlet's Blackberry.
00:01:52 --> 00:02:00 Our age of distracted busyness threatens us with what is known as acedia.
00:02:01 --> 00:02:05 The word acedia had its origins in the 17th century.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:15 It's roughly equivalent in meaning to the words sloth or listlessness, purposelessness.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:26 In the 17th century, it was particularly attached to spiritual and mental apathy when it came to relationship with God.
00:02:26 --> 00:02:40 Ascedia is purposelessness, slothfulness, listlessness disguised by constant commotion.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:43 The inability to stop.
00:02:43 --> 00:02:55 In fact, a lot of sociologists nowadays are saying that society actually wants to be harried.
00:02:56 --> 00:03:03 It wants to be hassled and busy because it fears the silence, the stillness and the rest.
00:03:03 --> 00:03:07 Because we would not know what to do with it.
00:03:07 --> 00:03:10 And particularly, we would not know what to do with ourselves.
00:03:11 --> 00:03:20 And to listen to our hearts and see the gaping hole in our lives, the gaping hole of purposelessness,
00:03:20 --> 00:03:24 that the constant commotion hides.
00:03:26 --> 00:03:33 Modern society are terrified by the restlessness of the soul.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:48 The hyperactivity of today's contemporary society makes the reflective lifestyle a lost art.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:54 And it's one of the biggest roadblocks to personal transformation in any life,
00:03:54 --> 00:03:57 but personal transformation in the life of the Christian.
00:03:59 --> 00:04:03 All too many Christians, as I've said a few times in this series,
00:04:03 --> 00:04:08 know a set of beliefs that float around in the mind,
00:04:09 --> 00:04:18 but have not been working those beliefs down into their character and their priorities in life
00:04:18 --> 00:04:25 in such a way that they interact with God, with people and society in a different way.
00:04:25 --> 00:04:38 It requires time and attention and discipline to bring about personal transformation in character and priorities.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:44 And the point of today's message, it takes daily connection with God.
00:04:44 --> 00:04:48 If we are going to be transformed into the image of God.
00:04:50 --> 00:04:59 Daily communion and relating with God, daily pondering his excellencies and our own shortcomings and working on the gap.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:01 And so there's three points today.
00:05:02 --> 00:05:06 Hopefully it's in your outline.
00:05:06 --> 00:05:08 It's on the St. Paul's app if you want to go there with it.
00:05:09 --> 00:05:10 So firstly, daily listening to God.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:14 I'm not really going to unpack all the stuff that lies behind this.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 We did a series on this late last year.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:21 You can go back and listen to those messages instead of me repeating everything here.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:31 So just briefly, the God of the Christian Bible is quite profoundly a God who speaks.
00:05:31 --> 00:05:33 He's a God who communicates.
00:05:34 --> 00:05:39 He speaks and when he speaks, his words have power in and of themselves.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:41 He doesn't need power to accompany his words.
00:05:41 --> 00:05:50 And so when he speaks, the universe is created from non-pre-existing material.
00:05:51 --> 00:06:00 More importantly, and certainly more personally, God has consistently spoken to humanity throughout history.
00:06:01 --> 00:06:09 That is, he does not leave us in the dark about who he is, what he's like, how to live in relationship with him,
00:06:09 --> 00:06:17 what the purpose of life is, how to navigate life well in a world for his glory and for our joy.
00:06:18 --> 00:06:28 As Moses reiterated the Ten Commandments to the generation of Israelites that was about to move into the promised land,
00:06:28 --> 00:06:31 he said this to them in Deuteronomy 4.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:58 Which is another way to say that what, look at the privileges we have.
00:06:58 --> 00:07:08 God speaks to us and we get to speak to him and communion and connection and closeness is the result of that.
00:07:09 --> 00:07:21 To have a God you could pray to with confidence and to have a God who speaks to his people with instruction and decree is a remarkable thing.
00:07:21 --> 00:07:30 But as Israel's history unfolded, the people of God got bored with God's word.
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 With disastrous consequences.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:45 The cultural narratives and the norms of the surrounding nations were far more interesting to them.
00:07:45 --> 00:07:55 In the face of a God who brought everything into being and speaks, we too can find ourselves yawning.
00:07:56 --> 00:07:58 It is just all too familiar.
00:07:58 --> 00:08:10 The headlines flashing in our faces and the cultural norms softly telling and retelling their story in thousands of ways every day.
00:08:10 --> 00:08:19 And we're constantly tuning into it in everything that we read, everything we see, social media, the rest of the media.
00:08:19 --> 00:08:22 Whatever it is, retelling the story.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 And it seems more interesting.
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 It seems more urgent.
00:08:27 --> 00:08:28 And it is certainly diverting.
00:08:31 --> 00:08:37 It seems that the constant noise of our society has in fact more authority.
00:08:37 --> 00:08:53 The apostle Peter reminds us that we have the words of the Old Testament prophets made more certain in 2 Peter 2 verse 19.
00:08:53 --> 00:08:59 Made more certain because Jesus is the one who has fulfilled all of their expectations.
00:09:00 --> 00:09:04 Indeed, we have the words of Jesus himself, the greatest prophet of all.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:09 But we prefer to tune into the doomsday predictions of the news.
00:09:10 --> 00:09:14 Binge on a whole season of Netflix in two evenings.
00:09:15 --> 00:09:24 Or mindlessly, relentlessly, endlessly scroll through social media.
00:09:24 --> 00:09:32 There is a better story to turn into every day.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:41 One in which we are not just mere spectators, but in fact active participants.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:54 It's a story of a God who gave up all of heaven's privileges to live amongst his wayward, restless people in order to bring them rest.
00:09:55 --> 00:09:59 And to bring them rest, he died on a cross in our place.
00:09:59 --> 00:10:14 And when we thought that story was over, he burst forth from the grave to inaugurate a kingdom that is not of this world.
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 A kingdom that he invites us into to participate in.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:34 It's such a better story than the chaos, the numbness or the vanity of most of the stories that we digest in our unthinking routines and daily habits.
00:10:34 --> 00:10:47 As the Apostle Peter said, we have the words of the prophets, the word of God, much more certain and confident now in Jesus.
00:10:48 --> 00:10:53 And in the very next breath, he says, you will do well to pay attention to it.
00:10:53 --> 00:11:08 What he's talking about there is he's talking about the story of Scripture, the story of the Bible.
00:11:08 --> 00:11:13 Now packaged very conveniently for us in about a thousand pages.
00:11:14 --> 00:11:19 It's a much better story and we would do well to pay attention to it.
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 And that's what Psalm 1 starts with for us.
00:11:23 --> 00:11:25 It was just read out to us.
00:11:26 --> 00:11:32 The call of Psalm 1 is to meditate on this more certain word.
00:11:33 --> 00:11:37 Meditate on God, his law, his word, the Bible, God's story.
00:11:37 --> 00:11:43 The story that does not interpret history, does not give a view of history.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 It's a story that in fact creates history.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:56 The rhythm is to so dwell on what God has said, as it says in Psalm 1, day and night.
00:11:56 --> 00:11:57 That's the rhythm.
00:11:57 --> 00:12:02 And it says when we do, God promises three things.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:06 There's three things that we are promised when we do that in Psalm 1.
00:12:06 --> 00:12:07 The first is stability.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:17 The person experienced in biblical meditation is like a tree rooted so that the wind cannot blow it away.
00:12:17 --> 00:12:23 Those who meditate on the word become people of substance.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:28 Who have thought things out and have deep convictions.
00:12:28 --> 00:12:33 Who can explain difficult concepts in simple language.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 And who have good reasons behind everything they do.
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 Every value and every principle.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:43 Notice that this tree is planted by streams of water.
00:12:44 --> 00:12:50 Trees that are by streams of water do so well even when there is little rain.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 Their roots are so deep.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:57 And therefore they keep going.
00:12:58 --> 00:12:59 They keep growing.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 Even in hard and dry and difficult times.
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 Times of great adversity.
00:13:08 --> 00:13:09 Upheaval.
00:13:10 --> 00:13:10 Grief.
00:13:10 --> 00:13:11 Chaos.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:19 By contrast in Psalm 1, the chaff, which is the husk around the grain, it's not even a living thing.
00:13:19 --> 00:13:20 Anything.
00:13:21 --> 00:13:26 Any little puff, a breeze will blow it away.
00:13:27 --> 00:13:29 Anything will move it.
00:13:31 --> 00:13:34 And it says here it's meditation on God's word.
00:13:35 --> 00:13:36 The word of life.
00:13:37 --> 00:13:42 Which is the difference between the blessed person and the cursed person.
00:13:42 --> 00:13:43 That's the difference.
00:13:43 --> 00:13:50 We are all told, number two, that meditation also brings the promise of character.
00:13:51 --> 00:13:59 Those who meditate on the word have stability in life and character to match that stability, that belief.
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 Meditation bears fruit.
00:14:03 --> 00:14:06 Which in the Bible means character traits.
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 Galatians 5.22.
00:14:08 --> 00:14:11 Things like love, joy, peace, patience, humility, self-control.
00:14:13 --> 00:14:19 Biblical meditation changes our character.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:24 Finally, meditation on God's word brings blessedness.
00:14:26 --> 00:14:31 The very first words, blessed is the one, evokes joy.
00:14:31 --> 00:14:39 It evokes gratitude as a person lives daily with their God.
00:14:42 --> 00:14:46 Blessedness in the Bible, it's not deserved.
00:14:48 --> 00:14:51 Blessedness is itself a gift from God.
00:14:51 --> 00:15:05 God declares sinners to be righteous and he freely grants them newness of life in which he protects them from the full effects of the world that's under judgment.
00:15:07 --> 00:15:11 And outside of God's blessing, a person is cursed.
00:15:11 --> 00:15:25 And ultimately, it leads to a meaninglessness of life, trying to strive and gain and pursue the whole world.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 It's like chasing after the wind.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:35 Like a piece of chaff floating around, chasing after the wind with a net.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:52 Meditating constantly on God's word results in character growth, stability, no matter the circumstances of life, purpose in life, and delight in life.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:57 Which brings me to the second point.
00:15:58 --> 00:16:02 The word delight there in verse 2 is really important.
00:16:02 --> 00:16:12 What this psalm is not calling us to do is just read the Bible.
00:16:13 --> 00:16:21 Just read the Bible and just to know what God has said, but to in fact delight in what God has said.
00:16:21 --> 00:16:34 So how do we get to that point where we grow in delight in God's word and therefore enjoy all the blessings that this psalm promises?
00:16:35 --> 00:16:36 The blessed life.
00:16:37 --> 00:16:38 The flourishing life.
00:16:40 --> 00:16:46 Well, the key word there is meditate on God.
00:16:46 --> 00:16:56 Biblical meditation is the thing that moves us beyond mere duty in reading God's word to delight in God's word.
00:16:58 --> 00:16:58 Joy.
00:17:01 --> 00:17:09 The psalms is, if you like, the Bible's prayer book.
00:17:09 --> 00:17:11 It's the prayer book of the Bible.
00:17:11 --> 00:17:22 It is noteworthy, though, that the first psalm, the one we're looking at right in front of us,
00:17:22 --> 00:17:28 which is in prime position because it's the introduction to the whole psalta,
00:17:28 --> 00:17:30 is not a prayer.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 It's not even about prayer.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:40 It's a meditation on meditation.
00:17:42 --> 00:17:54 That is, the first psalm is a psalm, a meditation to get us ready to pray in the rest of the psalta.
00:17:55 --> 00:17:56 That's what it is.
00:17:56 --> 00:18:08 That is, there is a bridge between God's word and a life of prayer that flows out of God speaking to us.
00:18:10 --> 00:18:15 That is, the way to encounter God, to connect with God, to commune with God,
00:18:15 --> 00:18:25 to truly hear God is going deeper spiritually into prayer through meditation of what God has said in his word.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:37 The way to encounter God is meditating on what God, in other words, the way to hear God is to meditate on what he has said.
00:18:38 --> 00:18:41 So I've got a couple of sub points here about meditation.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43 First of all, meditation in the mind.
00:18:43 --> 00:18:51 Many modern forms of meditation, a lot of things to do with meditation in Eastern religion,
00:18:52 --> 00:18:55 transcendental meditation, that kind of stuff,
00:18:55 --> 00:19:06 have the goal of meditation is to sit in silence and with the purpose of emptying the mind of all consciousness.
00:19:06 --> 00:19:08 That's not biblical meditation.
00:19:09 --> 00:19:14 Biblical meditation fully engages the mind.
00:19:15 --> 00:19:20 When this psalm calls us to meditate, it uses a word that literally means to mutter.
00:19:21 --> 00:19:29 And that's because in ancient times, the Bible was recited aloud for the purpose of memory.
00:19:30 --> 00:19:34 You didn't sit there silently reading, you actually spoke it.
00:19:34 --> 00:19:38 And so it's referring there to muttering the word of God.
00:19:39 --> 00:19:42 Other words translators meditate in the Psalter,
00:19:43 --> 00:19:48 mean to ponder, to question, to think, to linger over.
00:19:50 --> 00:19:56 So the first step of listening to God is to engage the mind
00:19:56 --> 00:20:03 and study to understand rightly what God is saying in this passage.
00:20:05 --> 00:20:11 We cannot reflect on or enjoy what you don't understand.
00:20:11 --> 00:20:20 So this is a corrective.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 It's not in your notes.
00:20:21 --> 00:20:22 Let me just put a corrective in here.
00:20:23 --> 00:20:29 Too many Christians nowadays open up the Bible, read a verse, and then meditate.
00:20:29 --> 00:20:33 God, what are you saying to me about this verse?
00:20:33 --> 00:20:43 And the verse might say, God told Abraham, go left, not right.
00:20:43 --> 00:20:44 Ah, God, okay.
00:20:46 --> 00:20:55 So you, when I come to the top of Fuller Road, you want me to go left, where are you journeying me?
00:20:55 --> 00:20:57 You don't want me to go to the city.
00:20:57 --> 00:20:59 You want me to move to Newcastle.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 Is that where you're leading me, God?
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 Thank you, God, for your message to me in my life.
00:21:04 --> 00:21:07 Meditation for too many Christians begins right at the very beginning.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 That's not what's happening here.
00:21:10 --> 00:21:16 You must work hard on the text to hear what is God specifically saying.
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 And so there's first things.
00:21:17 --> 00:21:20 To understand what the Bible is saying very specifically,
00:21:21 --> 00:21:28 what did the original author intend to convey to his readers in its context, in its passage?
00:21:29 --> 00:21:34 Secondly, what does this passage play in the whole Bible?
00:21:34 --> 00:21:42 How does it contribute to the gospel message and move along the main narrative arc of the Bible,
00:21:43 --> 00:21:46 which climaxes in the salvation of Jesus Christ?
00:21:46 --> 00:21:53 In other words, we must understand Scripture for what it actually is in its context,
00:21:53 --> 00:21:57 as God is communicating it through history to a people.
00:21:59 --> 00:22:05 We must understand things like the genres of it, the context of it, all that sort of stuff.
00:22:05 --> 00:22:11 Unless we do the hard work of engaging the mind, of answering those questions about a passage,
00:22:13 --> 00:22:18 our meditations will not be grounded in what God is actually saying to us in his word.
00:22:19 --> 00:22:22 It's actually not listening to the voice of God.
00:22:22 --> 00:22:29 But we are listening instead to our own hearts, our own desires, our own passions,
00:22:29 --> 00:22:34 or the spirit of our culture, not to the voice of God.
00:22:36 --> 00:22:43 Martin Luther said that before he could turn a biblical text into praise,
00:22:43 --> 00:22:49 he first needed to understand that that text is instruction.
00:22:51 --> 00:22:54 It is truthful information from God.
00:22:56 --> 00:23:00 And therefore, I need to understand what that truthful information is.
00:23:01 --> 00:23:07 Biblical meditation is founded on the work of sound biblical interpretation and study.
00:23:07 --> 00:23:13 And there is a whack of resources that I can help you with in that,
00:23:13 --> 00:23:15 or we could help you with here at St. Paul's.
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 Secondly, meditation and the heart.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:22 Biblical meditation is, however, more than just deep Bible study.
00:23:23 --> 00:23:27 For those of us in the, you know, let me use this technical term here,
00:23:27 --> 00:23:29 reformed evangelical camp,
00:23:29 --> 00:23:33 we love the first bit I've just said.
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 The second bit is much harder.
00:23:37 --> 00:23:40 Biblical meditation is more than just deep Bible study.
00:23:40 --> 00:23:44 The Bible contains information, but it's much more than information.
00:23:44 --> 00:23:48 When Paul talks about the word of God dwelling richly within us,
00:23:48 --> 00:23:50 in Colossians 3 verse 16,
00:23:50 --> 00:23:56 he's clearly talking of something much more than just agreeing with what has been said.
00:23:56 --> 00:24:01 He's talking about deep and penetrating contemplation
00:24:01 --> 00:24:04 that enables the Bible's truth message,
00:24:05 --> 00:24:06 its true message,
00:24:06 --> 00:24:10 to have a transforming power at the centre of my being,
00:24:11 --> 00:24:13 right down in my heart.
00:24:14 --> 00:24:16 The theologian John Calvin wrote,
00:24:16 --> 00:24:18 that for the word of God,
00:24:18 --> 00:24:21 for the word of God is not received by faith
00:24:21 --> 00:24:25 if it flits about in the top of the brain,
00:24:25 --> 00:24:29 but when it takes root in the depths of the heart,
00:24:29 --> 00:24:35 the heart's distrust is greater than the mind's blamefulness.
00:24:35 --> 00:24:40 It is harder for the heart to be furnished with assurance of God's love
00:24:40 --> 00:24:46 than for the mind to be endowed with the thought of it.
00:24:46 --> 00:24:54 We must never be settled with an informed mind,
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56 with an engaged heart.
00:24:57 --> 00:25:01 If we are, go back to the Gospels
00:25:01 --> 00:25:06 and see the encounters that Jesus has with the religious elite,
00:25:07 --> 00:25:10 the teachers of the law, the Pharisees.
00:25:10 --> 00:25:14 You see, Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3
00:25:14 --> 00:25:18 suggests that Christians have blessings in Christ
00:25:18 --> 00:25:19 that we don't experience.
00:25:20 --> 00:25:22 Paul prays for his readers
00:25:22 --> 00:25:25 that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith,
00:25:25 --> 00:25:25 verse 17,
00:25:26 --> 00:25:29 and that they would grasp the love of Christ
00:25:29 --> 00:25:31 in verses 18 and 19,
00:25:31 --> 00:25:34 and finally prays that they would be filled
00:25:34 --> 00:25:37 with all the fullness of God in verse 19.
00:25:37 --> 00:25:41 What Paul is talking about there
00:25:41 --> 00:25:45 is the difference between having something
00:25:45 --> 00:25:48 that is true of you in principle
00:25:48 --> 00:25:51 and fully appropriating it,
00:25:52 --> 00:25:54 using it and experiencing it,
00:25:55 --> 00:25:56 living in it right now.
00:25:58 --> 00:26:02 Paul is praying that by the Spirit's power
00:26:02 --> 00:26:06 we may have our hearts and our affections
00:26:06 --> 00:26:08 engaged and shaped
00:26:08 --> 00:26:12 by the truths of the faith that we hold in the mind.
00:26:14 --> 00:26:17 In a similar way, I've got three daughters.
00:26:17 --> 00:26:19 They know that I love them.
00:26:19 --> 00:26:21 They know that they are my daughters.
00:26:22 --> 00:26:22 I am their father.
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 And that will never change.
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28 I will always be their father.
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 They will always be my...
00:26:29 --> 00:26:31 There's a truth that will never change.
00:26:31 --> 00:26:35 But if I was to get off this platform right now
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 and go and find one of them
00:26:36 --> 00:26:38 and hug them and tell them,
00:26:39 --> 00:26:39 I love you.
00:26:39 --> 00:26:41 I am proud of you.
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 No matter where you are,
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 I will always love you.
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45 I will always support you.
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 I will never leave you.
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 I will never abandon you,
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 apart from when I die,
00:26:48 --> 00:26:49 because it's not always true.
00:26:50 --> 00:26:53 That in that moment,
00:26:53 --> 00:26:55 what they know to be true,
00:26:55 --> 00:26:57 they experience in their heart
00:26:57 --> 00:26:57 and their affections.
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 That's the difference.
00:27:01 --> 00:27:05 And that's what Paul is praying here
00:27:05 --> 00:27:06 for the Ephesians.
00:27:08 --> 00:27:09 And so how do we do that?
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 The good place to start,
00:27:13 --> 00:27:15 and I say this is a place to start.
00:27:16 --> 00:27:17 Use the questions
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19 of the German church reformer
00:27:19 --> 00:27:20 and theologian Martin Luther.
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 This is how he used to meditate on Scripture.
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24 It was four steps.
00:27:24 --> 00:27:27 What does God want me to know
00:27:27 --> 00:27:29 from this verse,
00:27:29 --> 00:27:29 this word,
00:27:29 --> 00:27:31 this passage?
00:27:31 --> 00:27:32 What does he want me to know?
00:27:33 --> 00:27:35 What is the passage actually teaching?
00:27:36 --> 00:27:38 What is it that God's commanding me?
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 What does he require of me?
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 In other words,
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 what is the information?
00:27:42 --> 00:27:42 What is the instruction?
00:27:43 --> 00:27:43 Secondly,
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46 in this text,
00:27:46 --> 00:27:48 what is it that I can be thankful for?
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 Where's the praise moment?
00:27:51 --> 00:27:53 Where's the moment of gratitude?
00:27:55 --> 00:27:55 Thirdly,
00:27:56 --> 00:27:58 based on who God is
00:27:58 --> 00:28:00 and what he's calling me to,
00:28:00 --> 00:28:02 and this is my life,
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 what do I need to confess?
00:28:06 --> 00:28:06 From this,
00:28:07 --> 00:28:07 what do I need to confess?
00:28:08 --> 00:28:09 Look at the gap
00:28:09 --> 00:28:10 between what God wants of me
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 and what I am.
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 What do I need to confess?
00:28:12 --> 00:28:15 Where's the gap?
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 What do I need to work on?
00:28:18 --> 00:28:18 And the fourth step,
00:28:19 --> 00:28:19 he says,
00:28:19 --> 00:28:21 when you do that,
00:28:21 --> 00:28:24 you are meditating on God's word,
00:28:24 --> 00:28:27 you are listening to the voice of God,
00:28:28 --> 00:28:30 and that will be turned into prayer.
00:28:31 --> 00:28:34 You will immediately communicate back to God
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 what you have heard from him.
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 So here's a,
00:28:38 --> 00:28:39 this is a,
00:28:39 --> 00:28:40 by the way,
00:28:40 --> 00:28:41 point for
00:28:41 --> 00:28:44 us individually
00:28:44 --> 00:28:45 doing our devotional life,
00:28:45 --> 00:28:46 but also for you
00:28:46 --> 00:28:48 as a community group,
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 in your community group.
00:28:50 --> 00:28:51 Do you discover
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 that there is a disconnect
00:28:52 --> 00:28:55 between the reading of God's word
00:28:55 --> 00:28:55 and what,
00:28:55 --> 00:28:57 and the content of your prayers?
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 That is,
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 there's no connection
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04 between what you're currently praying
00:29:04 --> 00:29:05 and what you've just read?
00:29:07 --> 00:29:09 Then the psalmist would say
00:29:09 --> 00:29:10 the missing element there
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 is the meditation bit.
00:29:13 --> 00:29:15 You're not driving it into your heart.
00:29:16 --> 00:29:17 You're not actually listening
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 to God's word.
00:29:19 --> 00:29:20 You're picking up information
00:29:20 --> 00:29:22 and you're communicating back to God
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 your desires and passions and will.
00:29:25 --> 00:29:27 So these questions are very searching.
00:29:28 --> 00:29:30 As you work a truth in,
00:29:30 --> 00:29:31 you may be convicted,
00:29:31 --> 00:29:31 you may be humbled.
00:29:32 --> 00:29:32 So,
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 you know,
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34 there might be comfort,
00:29:34 --> 00:29:34 there might be calm,
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 there might be joy.
00:29:36 --> 00:29:38 Now,
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 Luther was very realistic.
00:29:41 --> 00:29:42 He says
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 that sometimes
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 the Holy Spirit
00:29:44 --> 00:29:46 begins immediately
00:29:46 --> 00:29:48 to preach the truth of word
00:29:48 --> 00:29:48 to you
00:29:48 --> 00:29:50 and you can see the gap
00:29:50 --> 00:29:52 and gets you to ponder
00:29:52 --> 00:29:53 and work on that issue
00:29:53 --> 00:29:54 and confess it.
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 Sometimes
00:29:55 --> 00:29:56 it doesn't happen.
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 Sometimes
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 it doesn't matter
00:29:58 --> 00:29:58 what we do.
00:29:59 --> 00:30:00 We simply cannot concentrate.
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 We find our thoughts
00:30:02 --> 00:30:02 to,
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 you know,
00:30:03 --> 00:30:03 are not big.
00:30:03 --> 00:30:05 They're not affecting thoughts.
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 We feel we're bored,
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 we're hard,
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 we're distracted
00:30:09 --> 00:30:12 and Luther would say
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 that's not a waste of time either.
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16 You haven't got it wrong
00:30:16 --> 00:30:17 in that moment.
00:30:17 --> 00:30:19 Use that moment
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 there
00:30:20 --> 00:30:22 to be reminded
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 of your need
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 for God's help
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 to meditate on his word.
00:30:27 --> 00:30:28 That that in itself
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29 is a revealing
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 of a disconnect
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 between a God
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 who speaks
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 and the ability
00:30:33 --> 00:30:33 to hear.
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 And so take
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 your weakness
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37 and your insufficiency
00:30:37 --> 00:30:39 back to God
00:30:39 --> 00:30:39 in prayer.
00:30:41 --> 00:30:42 But the key
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 to it all
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 is
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 meditating
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 on the word
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 made flesh.
00:30:48 --> 00:30:48 See,
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 when we feel
00:30:49 --> 00:30:49 that emptiness
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 and that weakness,
00:30:51 --> 00:30:51 how do we get
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 the energy
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 and the motivation
00:30:52 --> 00:30:54 to do the heart work?
00:30:54 --> 00:30:56 Because head work
00:30:56 --> 00:30:57 is much easier
00:30:57 --> 00:30:57 than heart work.
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01 Especially in a season
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 where we feel dry.
00:31:02 --> 00:31:04 Psalm 1 tells us
00:31:04 --> 00:31:04 the godly person
00:31:04 --> 00:31:05 meditates
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 on the law of the Lord
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07 day and night
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 and delights in it.
00:31:09 --> 00:31:09 It is clearly
00:31:09 --> 00:31:10 slow work,
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 it is intentional work,
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 it is heart work.
00:31:12 --> 00:31:16 And the answer,
00:31:17 --> 00:31:17 where does the energy
00:31:17 --> 00:31:18 come from?
00:31:18 --> 00:31:19 Where does the motivation
00:31:19 --> 00:31:20 come from?
00:31:20 --> 00:31:20 Where does the power
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21 come from?
00:31:23 --> 00:31:23 Meditating
00:31:23 --> 00:31:25 on the meditation
00:31:25 --> 00:31:26 of God.
00:31:26 --> 00:31:28 The answer
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 is to look
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 to the central figure
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31 of the written word,
00:31:32 --> 00:31:33 the one that
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 John 1, 14
00:31:34 --> 00:31:36 following calls
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 the word
00:31:37 --> 00:31:38 made flesh.
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 Jesus Christ,
00:31:41 --> 00:31:43 the ultimate expression
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44 and communication
00:31:44 --> 00:31:45 and voice of God
00:31:45 --> 00:31:47 and find your delight
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48 in him.
00:31:49 --> 00:31:50 Him.
00:31:51 --> 00:31:53 Jesus is the one
00:31:53 --> 00:31:54 who delights
00:31:54 --> 00:31:55 in doing God's law.
00:31:55 --> 00:31:56 He's the one
00:31:56 --> 00:31:57 who prays
00:31:57 --> 00:31:57 day and night.
00:31:58 --> 00:31:58 He's the one
00:31:58 --> 00:31:59 who when he
00:31:59 --> 00:32:00 looks to God
00:32:00 --> 00:32:02 experiences the light.
00:32:02 --> 00:32:02 He's the one
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 who meditated
00:32:03 --> 00:32:04 so profoundly
00:32:04 --> 00:32:05 and used scripture
00:32:05 --> 00:32:06 so profoundly
00:32:06 --> 00:32:07 that he
00:32:07 --> 00:32:09 virtually bled
00:32:09 --> 00:32:09 scripture.
00:32:10 --> 00:32:11 He's quoting it
00:32:11 --> 00:32:12 instinctively
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 in the most
00:32:13 --> 00:32:14 extreme
00:32:14 --> 00:32:15 and difficult
00:32:15 --> 00:32:16 moments
00:32:16 --> 00:32:17 of his life.
00:32:19 --> 00:32:19 Even
00:32:19 --> 00:32:21 in the infinite
00:32:21 --> 00:32:22 agony
00:32:22 --> 00:32:22 of the cross.
00:32:22 --> 00:32:23 Jesus
00:32:23 --> 00:32:25 is the true
00:32:25 --> 00:32:26 strong
00:32:26 --> 00:32:27 enduring
00:32:27 --> 00:32:28 tree
00:32:28 --> 00:32:29 planted
00:32:29 --> 00:32:30 by streams
00:32:30 --> 00:32:30 of living
00:32:30 --> 00:32:31 water.
00:32:31 --> 00:32:32 He is that one
00:32:32 --> 00:32:34 always bearing
00:32:34 --> 00:32:34 fruit.
00:32:36 --> 00:32:36 But
00:32:36 --> 00:32:37 Jesus is not
00:32:37 --> 00:32:38 simply a good
00:32:38 --> 00:32:38 example.
00:32:39 --> 00:32:40 If he was
00:32:40 --> 00:32:41 then his life
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 would crush us
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 because we can't
00:32:43 --> 00:32:44 do what he does.
00:32:44 --> 00:32:47 the main
00:32:47 --> 00:32:48 message of the
00:32:48 --> 00:32:49 Bible is
00:32:49 --> 00:32:50 salvation by
00:32:50 --> 00:32:51 grace through
00:32:51 --> 00:32:51 him.
00:32:51 --> 00:32:52 The Bible
00:32:52 --> 00:32:53 is all
00:32:53 --> 00:32:54 about him.
00:32:54 --> 00:32:55 The written
00:32:55 --> 00:32:56 word and its
00:32:56 --> 00:32:57 law can be a
00:32:57 --> 00:32:58 delight for us
00:32:58 --> 00:33:00 because the
00:33:00 --> 00:33:01 incarnate word
00:33:01 --> 00:33:02 came and
00:33:02 --> 00:33:04 died for us.
00:33:05 --> 00:33:05 Securing
00:33:05 --> 00:33:06 pardon for
00:33:06 --> 00:33:07 our sins
00:33:07 --> 00:33:07 and our
00:33:07 --> 00:33:08 shortcomings
00:33:08 --> 00:33:09 for not living
00:33:09 --> 00:33:10 up to all
00:33:10 --> 00:33:11 that God has
00:33:11 --> 00:33:11 called us to
00:33:11 --> 00:33:12 in his word.
00:33:12 --> 00:33:15 We can
00:33:15 --> 00:33:15 never
00:33:15 --> 00:33:16 delight
00:33:16 --> 00:33:17 in the
00:33:17 --> 00:33:17 law of
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 the Lord
00:33:18 --> 00:33:19 with
00:33:19 --> 00:33:20 understanding
00:33:20 --> 00:33:20 the central
00:33:20 --> 00:33:21 part of
00:33:21 --> 00:33:21 Jesus in
00:33:21 --> 00:33:22 it.
00:33:23 --> 00:33:23 Without
00:33:23 --> 00:33:23 him
00:33:23 --> 00:33:25 the Bible
00:33:25 --> 00:33:26 is nothing
00:33:26 --> 00:33:27 but a
00:33:27 --> 00:33:27 curse.
00:33:29 --> 00:33:30 A
00:33:30 --> 00:33:31 condemnation.
00:33:31 --> 00:33:32 It is
00:33:32 --> 00:33:33 nothing but a
00:33:33 --> 00:33:34 witness against
00:33:34 --> 00:33:34 us.
00:33:34 --> 00:33:37 Jesus
00:33:37 --> 00:33:38 obeyed the
00:33:38 --> 00:33:38 law fully
00:33:38 --> 00:33:39 for us
00:33:39 --> 00:33:41 so now
00:33:41 --> 00:33:41 it's a
00:33:41 --> 00:33:42 delight to
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 us not
00:33:43 --> 00:33:44 a source
00:33:44 --> 00:33:45 of despair
00:33:45 --> 00:33:45 so look
00:33:45 --> 00:33:46 to him.
00:33:47 --> 00:33:47 Look to
00:33:47 --> 00:33:48 him.
00:33:50 --> 00:33:50 And then
00:33:50 --> 00:33:51 the third
00:33:51 --> 00:33:52 stage of
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 all of
00:33:52 --> 00:33:53 this and
00:33:53 --> 00:33:53 I'll say
00:33:53 --> 00:33:54 this very
00:33:54 --> 00:33:54 quickly.
00:33:57 --> 00:33:57 Daily
00:33:57 --> 00:33:57 talk to
00:33:57 --> 00:33:58 God about
00:33:58 --> 00:33:59 what he
00:33:59 --> 00:33:59 has said
00:33:59 --> 00:34:00 to you
00:34:00 --> 00:34:00 in his
00:34:00 --> 00:34:00 word.
00:34:02 --> 00:34:03 Good
00:34:03 --> 00:34:03 communication
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 leads to
00:34:04 --> 00:34:05 relational
00:34:05 --> 00:34:06 closeness.
00:34:07 --> 00:34:07 It
00:34:07 --> 00:34:08 leads to
00:34:08 --> 00:34:08 connection.
00:34:09 --> 00:34:09 Communication
00:34:09 --> 00:34:11 is the
00:34:11 --> 00:34:12 key to
00:34:12 --> 00:34:12 intimacy
00:34:12 --> 00:34:13 and
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14 intimacy
00:34:14 --> 00:34:14 is the
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15 key to
00:34:15 --> 00:34:16 relational
00:34:16 --> 00:34:17 delight.
00:34:18 --> 00:34:18 It's
00:34:18 --> 00:34:19 essential to
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20 all flourishing
00:34:20 --> 00:34:20 relationships.
00:34:21 --> 00:34:21 One of the
00:34:21 --> 00:34:22 exercises that
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 I do
00:34:23 --> 00:34:24 in preparing
00:34:24 --> 00:34:25 couples for
00:34:25 --> 00:34:25 marriage
00:34:25 --> 00:34:26 is the
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27 exercise of
00:34:27 --> 00:34:27 active
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28 listening.
00:34:29 --> 00:34:30 Not just
00:34:30 --> 00:34:30 hearing,
00:34:30 --> 00:34:31 active
00:34:31 --> 00:34:31 listening.
00:34:31 --> 00:34:34 listening is
00:34:34 --> 00:34:35 so crucial.
00:34:35 --> 00:34:36 It's a
00:34:36 --> 00:34:37 skill that
00:34:37 --> 00:34:38 involves
00:34:38 --> 00:34:39 listening
00:34:39 --> 00:34:40 intently
00:34:40 --> 00:34:41 to what
00:34:41 --> 00:34:42 has been
00:34:42 --> 00:34:43 communicated
00:34:43 --> 00:34:44 to me.
00:34:44 --> 00:34:45 Not just
00:34:45 --> 00:34:46 the words
00:34:46 --> 00:34:46 that have
00:34:46 --> 00:34:47 been spoken
00:34:47 --> 00:34:48 but the
00:34:48 --> 00:34:49 intent of
00:34:49 --> 00:34:49 the word,
00:34:49 --> 00:34:50 the feeling,
00:34:50 --> 00:34:50 the emotions
00:34:50 --> 00:34:51 of those
00:34:51 --> 00:34:52 words.
00:34:53 --> 00:34:53 And
00:34:53 --> 00:34:54 listening to
00:34:54 --> 00:34:55 it
00:34:55 --> 00:34:57 without
00:34:57 --> 00:34:58 interruption,
00:34:59 --> 00:34:59 without
00:34:59 --> 00:35:00 justification,
00:35:01 --> 00:35:02 hearing
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 it,
00:35:03 --> 00:35:04 and then
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 restating
00:35:05 --> 00:35:07 back to
00:35:07 --> 00:35:07 the other
00:35:07 --> 00:35:08 person
00:35:08 --> 00:35:10 what you
00:35:10 --> 00:35:11 have heard,
00:35:12 --> 00:35:12 acknowledging
00:35:12 --> 00:35:13 to them,
00:35:13 --> 00:35:14 not just
00:35:14 --> 00:35:15 the words
00:35:15 --> 00:35:16 but the
00:35:16 --> 00:35:17 content,
00:35:17 --> 00:35:17 not just
00:35:17 --> 00:35:18 the content
00:35:18 --> 00:35:18 but the
00:35:18 --> 00:35:19 feelings.
00:35:21 --> 00:35:21 And
00:35:21 --> 00:35:21 generally
00:35:21 --> 00:35:22 what happens
00:35:22 --> 00:35:22 in active
00:35:22 --> 00:35:23 listening,
00:35:23 --> 00:35:23 there is
00:35:23 --> 00:35:24 this to
00:35:24 --> 00:35:25 and fro,
00:35:25 --> 00:35:25 to and
00:35:25 --> 00:35:26 fro of
00:35:26 --> 00:35:27 greater
00:35:27 --> 00:35:28 pursuing
00:35:28 --> 00:35:29 understanding
00:35:29 --> 00:35:30 of each
00:35:30 --> 00:35:30 other
00:35:30 --> 00:35:30 and
00:35:30 --> 00:35:31 clarification
00:35:31 --> 00:35:32 and
00:35:32 --> 00:35:33 then
00:35:33 --> 00:35:33 from
00:35:33 --> 00:35:33 that
00:35:33 --> 00:35:35 there's
00:35:35 --> 00:35:36 always,
00:35:36 --> 00:35:37 always,
00:35:37 --> 00:35:38 always a
00:35:38 --> 00:35:39 next step
00:35:39 --> 00:35:43 to take
00:35:43 --> 00:35:43 the
00:35:43 --> 00:35:43 relationship
00:35:43 --> 00:35:44 further.
00:35:47 --> 00:35:48 I mean
00:35:48 --> 00:35:48 I could
00:35:48 --> 00:35:48 have just
00:35:48 --> 00:35:50 told you
00:35:50 --> 00:35:50 in fact
00:35:50 --> 00:35:50 that's
00:35:50 --> 00:35:50 how you
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 connect
00:35:51 --> 00:35:51 with God
00:35:51 --> 00:35:51 daily,
00:35:51 --> 00:35:52 isn't it?
00:35:52 --> 00:35:52 The process
00:35:52 --> 00:35:53 of active
00:35:53 --> 00:35:53 listening.
00:35:53 --> 00:35:57 having
00:35:57 --> 00:35:58 heard God
00:35:58 --> 00:35:58 speak
00:35:58 --> 00:35:58 through
00:35:58 --> 00:35:59 his
00:35:59 --> 00:35:59 word,
00:35:59 --> 00:35:59 taking
00:35:59 --> 00:35:59 it
00:35:59 --> 00:36:00 down
00:36:00 --> 00:36:00 into
00:36:00 --> 00:36:00 our
00:36:00 --> 00:36:01 life,
00:36:02 --> 00:36:04 then we
00:36:04 --> 00:36:04 take it
00:36:04 --> 00:36:04 back to
00:36:04 --> 00:36:04 him
00:36:04 --> 00:36:05 in
00:36:05 --> 00:36:06 prayer.
00:36:07 --> 00:36:07 This is
00:36:07 --> 00:36:08 what I'm
00:36:08 --> 00:36:08 hearing,
00:36:08 --> 00:36:08 this is
00:36:08 --> 00:36:09 what I'm
00:36:09 --> 00:36:09 thankful
00:36:09 --> 00:36:09 for,
00:36:09 --> 00:36:10 this is
00:36:10 --> 00:36:10 what I
00:36:10 --> 00:36:10 need to
00:36:10 --> 00:36:11 confess,
00:36:11 --> 00:36:11 help me
00:36:11 --> 00:36:12 to change,
00:36:13 --> 00:36:13 help me
00:36:13 --> 00:36:14 to see
00:36:14 --> 00:36:14 my next
00:36:14 --> 00:36:15 step and
00:36:15 --> 00:36:15 empower
00:36:15 --> 00:36:16 me to
00:36:16 --> 00:36:16 do it.
00:36:18 --> 00:36:18 Friends,
00:36:18 --> 00:36:19 just to
00:36:19 --> 00:36:19 swing really
00:36:19 --> 00:36:20 back where
00:36:20 --> 00:36:20 we were,
00:36:20 --> 00:36:25 the ADHD
00:36:25 --> 00:36:25 of our
00:36:25 --> 00:36:26 contemporary
00:36:26 --> 00:36:26 culture
00:36:26 --> 00:36:28 makes
00:36:28 --> 00:36:29 slow
00:36:29 --> 00:36:30 reflective
00:36:30 --> 00:36:30 meditation
00:36:30 --> 00:36:31 on God's
00:36:31 --> 00:36:32 word a
00:36:32 --> 00:36:32 lost art.
00:36:33 --> 00:36:34 We are
00:36:34 --> 00:36:35 much more
00:36:35 --> 00:36:35 content just
00:36:35 --> 00:36:35 with
00:36:35 --> 00:36:36 information,
00:36:37 --> 00:36:38 but
00:36:38 --> 00:36:39 information is
00:36:39 --> 00:36:40 not godliness
00:36:40 --> 00:36:40 and it's
00:36:40 --> 00:36:40 not
00:36:40 --> 00:36:41 transformation.
00:36:42 --> 00:36:42 There is
00:36:42 --> 00:36:43 no quick
00:36:43 --> 00:36:43 fix,
00:36:43 --> 00:36:44 there's no
00:36:44 --> 00:36:44 simple
00:36:44 --> 00:36:45 formula to
00:36:45 --> 00:36:45 connecting
00:36:45 --> 00:36:46 with God
00:36:46 --> 00:36:46 in his
00:36:46 --> 00:36:47 word and
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48 prayer.
00:36:48 --> 00:36:49 It takes
00:36:49 --> 00:36:49 time,
00:36:49 --> 00:36:50 it takes
00:36:50 --> 00:36:50 planning,
00:36:50 --> 00:36:51 and it
00:36:51 --> 00:36:51 takes
00:36:51 --> 00:36:51 constant
00:36:51 --> 00:36:52 attention.
00:36:52 --> 00:36:53 And so,
00:36:54 --> 00:36:55 next slide
00:36:55 --> 00:36:55 please,
00:36:55 --> 00:36:55 Wendy.
00:36:56 --> 00:36:56 What's
00:36:56 --> 00:36:57 your next
00:36:57 --> 00:36:57 step?
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00 It would
00:37:00 --> 00:37:01 be a
00:37:01 --> 00:37:01 massive
00:37:01 --> 00:37:02 mistake
00:37:02 --> 00:37:03 for me
00:37:03 --> 00:37:04 just to
00:37:04 --> 00:37:05 step down
00:37:05 --> 00:37:05 right now
00:37:05 --> 00:37:06 and say
00:37:06 --> 00:37:09 that's
00:37:09 --> 00:37:09 it,
00:37:10 --> 00:37:11 without
00:37:11 --> 00:37:12 giving you
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13 the opportunity
00:37:13 --> 00:37:14 to meditate
00:37:14 --> 00:37:14 on God's
00:37:14 --> 00:37:15 word,
00:37:15 --> 00:37:15 even really
00:37:15 --> 00:37:16 quickly.
00:37:17 --> 00:37:18 Meditating
00:37:18 --> 00:37:18 on God's
00:37:18 --> 00:37:19 word
00:37:19 --> 00:37:19 word,
00:37:19 --> 00:37:20 really
00:37:20 --> 00:37:20 quickly,
00:37:21 --> 00:37:22 what is
00:37:22 --> 00:37:22 your next
00:37:22 --> 00:37:22 step?
00:37:24 --> 00:37:25 If the
00:37:25 --> 00:37:25 call of
00:37:25 --> 00:37:26 psalm,
00:37:26 --> 00:37:26 and you
00:37:26 --> 00:37:26 want the
00:37:26 --> 00:37:27 blessed
00:37:27 --> 00:37:27 life,
00:37:27 --> 00:37:27 you want
00:37:27 --> 00:37:27 the
00:37:27 --> 00:37:28 flourishing
00:37:28 --> 00:37:28 life,
00:37:28 --> 00:37:28 the call
00:37:28 --> 00:37:29 of psalms
00:37:29 --> 00:37:30 here is
00:37:30 --> 00:37:30 to meditate
00:37:30 --> 00:37:31 on God's
00:37:31 --> 00:37:32 word day
00:37:32 --> 00:37:32 and night,
00:37:32 --> 00:37:33 in other
00:37:33 --> 00:37:33 words,
00:37:33 --> 00:37:33 constantly,
00:37:33 --> 00:37:34 daily
00:37:34 --> 00:37:34 communicating,
00:37:35 --> 00:37:35 connecting
00:37:35 --> 00:37:36 with the
00:37:36 --> 00:37:37 life source,
00:37:37 --> 00:37:37 your life
00:37:37 --> 00:37:38 source,
00:37:38 --> 00:37:38 the creator
00:37:38 --> 00:37:38 of all
00:37:38 --> 00:37:39 things,
00:37:39 --> 00:37:39 the God
00:37:39 --> 00:37:40 who knows
00:37:40 --> 00:37:41 all things,
00:37:41 --> 00:37:41 if that
00:37:41 --> 00:37:42 is where
00:37:42 --> 00:37:43 we get
00:37:43 --> 00:37:43 stability
00:37:43 --> 00:37:43 and
00:37:43 --> 00:37:44 transformation
00:37:44 --> 00:37:46 and in
00:37:46 --> 00:37:46 life,
00:37:47 --> 00:37:49 then what's
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 your next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 step?
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 step?
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 step?
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 step?
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 step?
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 step?
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 step?
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 step?
00:37:50 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 step?
00:37:50 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 step?
00:37:50 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 step?
00:37:50 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 step?
00:37:50 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 step?
00:37:50 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 step?
00:37:50 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 step?
00:37:50 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 step?
00:37:50 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 step?
00:37:50 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 step?
00:37:50 --> 00:37:49 Next
00:37:49 --> 00:37:49 Next step.