In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2:17
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Proverbs 25:2 NIV
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19 NIV
Dreams and Visions
Most of us view dreams and visions passively; something with which God visits us. God is visiting young and old with dreams and visions. Since He is doing that, so should we: daydream and imagine our future to shape it according to the Kingdom, the way it should be.
Meditation is not just emptying your mind or letting it wander. If you do, the devil will likely fill it with some kind of vain imagination or fear. The first stop is to realize that our minds shouldn't be driving the bus. That's the job of our hearts. Virtually everything we think or do, comes right out of what is already scripted in our hearts.
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45 NIV
The whole western concept of changing our lives by changing our minds is basically flawed. Our hearts already have a logical motive for what we do and, until we change that motive, trying to change our minds has very little impact. When our hearts and minds are pulling in the same direction, life works. When they pull in opposite directions, we self-sabotage, life doesn't work and we are filled with confusion and frustration. Can you see how meditation can make your life work in practical ways?
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure. Proverbs 2:1-4 NIV
Changing Our Hearts
Our hearts are not evil. They are simply the logical-thinking centers of our identity. God has written His desires on our hearts, and the job of our minds is to help discern when those desires map into the desires on God's heart. When we find that overlap between God's heart and our own, we'll find our destiny and the "sweet spot" of fruit, success, prosperity, ministry and fun. Religion operates out of a rule set in our minds; Christianity is a relationship that flows from the heart. Jesus is inviting us to be ourselves, to be who he created us to be, to co-labor with Him, and to choose to do the things that already reside in our hearts. It's fun!
Meditation
The first step of meditation is to put your mind to work identifying the desires God put in your heart. God usually gives us some kind of "headquarters verse" that represents the theme of our lives. There is a plan, and renewing our minds is simply finding it.
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 NIV
My "headquarters verse" is Isa 60:1-3, and my heart's desire is to be a Kingly example of creating wealth through day trading / investments, and to Release Kings into their own dreams. Those are some of my deepest heart's desires; my life's general direction and specific plans center around that dream. God is excited about it, too, by the way! We are on the same page in an amazing way. He is just as excited about your desires because He played a big role in writing them on your heart. (Heb 8:10, 10:16, Ezek 36:25-27)
"Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. ...the Lord will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. "Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1-3 NASU
Meditation and Wisdom
The first step is discerning God's heart and our own hearts with an emphasis on revelation. The next step of meditation is to make the dream come true practically through the application of wisdom. That means we take the theme of our heart's desire and use our minds to imagine how it can come true, by writing down goals and putting the plans on paper.
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure. Proverbs 2:1-4 NIV
Kings are not afraid to make plans. Too often we expect God to hand them to us - He will guide us, but he will not replace our initiative. It's our job (through meditation) to understand the plan of God, the desires of our own heart that map into those plans, and to get to work in our own piece of the Kingdom.
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. Psalm 20:4-5 NIV
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Psalm 33:11 NIV
John Garfield
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