Psalms 119:23-24 (5/1/24)

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Psalms 119:23-24 (5/1/24)

The Power of Meditation

May 1, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Psalm 119:23–24

* "Meditation is to your inner person what digestion is to your body." —Warren Wiersbe

* Your body must process food to extract nutrients, which fuel and repair your body.

* Your brain must process thoughts to extract truth, which fuels and repairs your soul.

* Meditation Definition:

* “think deeply or focus one's mind for a period of time, in silence, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.”

* “to think deeply or carefully about (something).”

* Satan wants you to clear your mind so it stays empty.

* God wants you to clear your mind so He can fill it!

* This is why you must meditate on God’s Word.

* Truth will fill you and fuel you.

* vs 23 - “Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees.”

* David cultivated a practice of meditation.

* Few things are better than timely advice in a situation where you desperately need wisdom.

* This is the beauty of reading God's Word every day.

* Just watch how you will read something on the very day you need it most - something will just pop off the page and explain things in a way you didn't see before.

* You may have read the verse 100 times before but now that you're in a new situation you see it differently and it really speaks to you.

* The result:

* vs 24 - “Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.”

* This is how God's Word becomes our delight - we realize that what we're reading has the answers to ALL of life's issues.

* It's literally the road map to living life to the fullest.

* David meditated before he experienced delight.

* When you meditate you think deep, and when you think deep patterns begin to emerge.

* This helps you process through situations so the next time they come up you have a plan in place to get through it in power!

* So don’t just read the Bible, meditate on it and watch what happens.

Ezekiel 3:5 (5/22/24)

May 22, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Ezekiel 3:5

- If I told you God called me to be a missionary, what would you think? - I’m moving somewhere overseas. - If I told you I’m called to be a missionary to the business world, what would you think? - I’m going to be a corporate chaplain or something. - But God has called each of us to be missionaries - wherever He puts us is our mission field. - Satan doesn’t want you to see yourself as a missionary. - Satan knows that how you see yourself determines how you behave yourself. - He doesn’t want you to know your true identity. - You’re a Minister - You’re on Mission - Your Work is Worship - Listen to what God told Ezekiel: - vs 4-6 - “…Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them. 5 You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israel—6 not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you.” - God told Ezekiel that He had made him a missionary to his own people! - It’s easier to minister to people you don’t know than people you do. - EX: AIA in South America. - We need missionaries in America more now than ever. - Stay home and be a missionary right here until God calls you elsewhere. - When you see your workplace as a mission field, it changes everything. - EX: AAU basketball.

Ezekiel 3:17 (5/22/24)

May 22, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Ezekiel 3:17

- Back in Bible times, there were walls around cities to protect the people inside. - They stationed men on the top to keep watch for the enemy and sound the alarm if they showed up to attack. - A watchman had a hard job - he’d have to wake people up with the alarm to protect them from the enemy. - But if he didn’t sound the alarm because he didn’t want to make people uncomfortable, it would cost him his life. - Ezekiel was a spiritual watchman - his one role was to hear from heaven and to warn the Israelites with what he heard. - He was to take notice and give notice! - vs 17 - “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.” - He was responsible to warn the people about their sin. - They were responsible to turn from their sin. - We can apply this in three ways: - 1) Be a watchman over your own soul. - Your conscience is your watchman. - Wake him up and keep him up! - 2) Be a watchman for your people. - Who are your people? - Family, community, etc. - 3) Be under a watchman at your church. - MLK - “The church must be reminded it’s not the master nor the servant of the state. Rather, it’s the conscience of the state.” - What would happen to you if your conscience went dark? - Pastors are to be watchmen.

Lamentations 2:19 (5/15/24)

May 15, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Lamentations 2:19

- When we’ve sinned and confessed, what do we do then? - This verse tells us. - The Israelites were on their way to Babylon, and there was no going back. - Regardless of repentance, the consequences remained the same. - Jeremiah shares five things we must do. - vs 19 - “Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at every street corner.” - 1) GET UP! - Don't wallow around in self-pity. - You don’t have to “keep repenting.” - But you also don’t want to forget what you’ve repented of. - This memory will keep you from doing it again. - Get up! And then... - 2) GET ON YOUR KNEES! - Posture yourself before the Lord. - Submit in reverence to Him. - Dr. Towns at Liberty taught the importance of posture. - After you posture yourself, then… - 3) POUR OUT YOUR HEART TO GOD! - Pray fervently. - Don't hold anything back. - Pouring it out to God keeps you from pouring it onto others. - They can’t handle that weight. - God likes it when we come to Him in fervency. - 4) SURRENDER TO HIM! - This is what "lifting up your hands" means, like a child reaching for his dad. - Full surrender to God. - Acknowledge His sovereignty, Declare your dependency, and Surrender your will to Him. - 5) INTERCEDE FOR OTHERS! - Don't just pray about you, but others. - God is moved in a special way when we pray for His other kids. - This helps get us out of our own situation. - KEY - your discernment is your direction. - God shows us other’s faults so we can pray for them. - God will make a message out of your mess when you walk through these five steps.