THE CONTEXT OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION

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

                           GOD, THE CREATOR

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

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

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

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

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

4) Before He created there was nothing but Himself.  All that is was
created from His faith. (Hebrews 11:3)  The material that makes up the
universe is not God but was made by Him and is an objective reality to
Him.

.    In stating this, we must understand that He fills all that is
with His real presence. (Acts 17:27,28; Jeremiah 23:24)  He is the
power at the center of every atom that holds creation together.
(Colossians 1:17)  Although He is at the center of a blade of grass, a
tree or a living creature, He is not that blade of grass, tree or
creature.  The Christian sees God filling His universe but does not
confuse the universe with Him.

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

                              THE CHOICE

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

                           GOD'S SALVATION

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

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

                         FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

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

                             A COMPARISON

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

(Author unknown)

Computers for Christ - Chicago