The Secret Place: Study and Meditation

Dec 12

Dec 12 The Secret Place: Study and Meditation

Secret Place: Study and Meditation

I. Our Vision

a. To elevate and empower sons and daughters so that they become the place where heaven touches earth

i. Holy Spirit told us that we will accomplish this through daily secret place time

Psalm 91:1 New King James Version
91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

1. The secret place is any time or place you set apart expecting to meet with Holy Spirit

b. 12 Discipline Sermon Series:

i. It’s not about us, it’s about Him

1. It’s about being seen by Him

2. It’s about connecting with Him

3. It’s about enjoying Him

c. Today we will be exploring how the disciplines of study and meditation connected us with God

i. Study is reading the word of God with the intention to learn of, understand, and embrace:

1. The nature of God

2. The way of God

3. The kingdom of God

2 Timothy 2:15 King James Version
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

ii. Meditation is the process of repeating a portion of the word of God, verbally or mentally, until it moves from your head to your heart.

Psalm 19:14 New King James Version
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my [a]strength and my Redeemer.
Deuteronomy 11:18-21 New King James Version
18 “Therefore you shall [a]lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.

1. How do I know something has moved from my head to my heart?

a. It becomes an involuntary response to what goes on around you

i. It’s in your eyes and on your hands

II. Your King is Jealous for You

a. We who have accepted King Jesus as Lord and Savior, are His bride

Isaiah 54:5 New King James Version
5 For your Maker is your husband,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called the God of the whole earth.
2 Corinthians 11:2 New King James Version
2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Ephesians 5:31-32 New King James Version
31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

c. He is a jealous God

Exodus 20:1-6 New King James Version
20 And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [a]bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor [b]serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting[c] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

i. God is your creator, and with His blood, He brought you out of the house of bondage

ii. He will not share your love and worship/service with anyone or anything else

iii. He is a JEALOUS God

1. Hebrew word qanna (H7065)

a. Used EXCLUSIVELY of God

b. Not bearing (suffering, tolerating) any rival, and the severe avenger of departure from Himself

iv. He does not tolerate unfaithfulness, but punishes it for generations

v. He is also merciful, toward those who LOVE Him and KEEP/Obey His commandments

III. Study and Meditation Protect Our Intimacy with God

a. Marriage is exclusive

i. When you said yes to Jesus, you said no to every other king, god, king, ruler, and savior. Even if you didn’t express is explicitly, in principle and reality, that’s what happened.

b. The greatest human influence in your home life, is the person you marry.

c. The greatest influence in your life is your god.

i. As followers of Jesus, He must be the greatest influence in our lives

Mark 4:14-20 New King James Version
14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones by the wayside (hard ground) where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, [a]accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

d. It is His seed alone that we should allow to be planted in our hearts and His fruit alone, that should grow within us

i. Jesus told His disciples that understanding THIS parable was necessary to understand ALL OTHERS.

Mark 4:13 New King James Version
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

1. The seed is His word

2. The soil is our hearts

a. Study gets it into our heads, meditation gets it into our hearts

b. When we meditate on the word is moved into our hearts and transforms us

Ephesians 5:25-27 New King James Version
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might [a]sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

i. We are transformed if we allow Holy Spirit, through meditation, to wash us in His word

3. Hard hearts: bitterness, unforgiveness, PRIDE

4. Stony hearts: hidden sin

5. Thorny hearts: other suiters/rivals have impregnated you with their seed.

a. The fruit of those seeds grow and choke the fruit of the Lord’s seed

Mark 4:18-19 New King James Version
18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

6. Don’t be deceived. Jesus will NEVER share you. Everything else is trying to choke the seeds of God word in your life so they can begin to take root in your heart.

b. Do not be deceived, everything you watch, listen to, participate in, is trying to impregnate you with a world view, belief or value system.

Matthew 22:29 New King James Version
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “You are [a]mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.

e. Jesus is jealous for you. You have been set apart for Him and Him alone.

i. The seed planted in you and the fruit you bear should be His and His alone.

f. Study and Meditation ensure that only His seed and His fruit are nurtured and survive

IV. Study and Meditation Renew Our Intimacy with God

a. How many people can admit that sometimes, relationships can get stale, stagnant, or downright awful?

i. Raquel and I experience this as well, our solution? Date Night.

b. Study and meditation can do for your relationship with God, what this week’s date night did for my marriage

i. Schedule it: time and place or else it either won’t happen or be disappointing

ii. Remove distractions, no electronics if they distract you from the word

iii. Make it about you and God, not others, ministry or problem solving

1. Investing in your relationship with God through study and meditation will impact everything else in your life

Psalm 1:1-3 New King James Version
1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the [a]ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he [b]meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the [c]rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

iv. If you read your bible, Holy Spirit will speak to you

1. If you want to hear the audible voice of God, read it out loud.

v. If you find yourself in a stagnant or even fickle place with God

1. Go to the word and read of His nature, meditate on what He did for you, watch how it changes how your perspective

Psalm 77:10-14 New King James Version
10 And I said, “This is my [a]anguish;
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the works of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is in [b]the sanctuary;
Who is so great a God as our God?
14 You are the God who does wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the peoples.

V. Jesus Desires Your Heart

a. Your heart = your thoughts, feelings, and desires

i. When we study and meditate on the word of God, we begin to give it to Him

b. We cannot say we love God if we do not read His word

John 14:15 New King James Version
15 “If you love Me, [a]keep My commandments.
1 John 5:3 New King James Version
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

i. You can’t keep His commandments if you don’t know what they are.

ii. You won’t know what they are if you don’t study them