During October, 2016, when we were in the process of setting up Kinsman Farm as a Company Ltd., I was led to two specific Bible passages; Joshua 1:1-9 and Psalm 1:1-3. At the time the sense was that there were important truths in them for the Kinsman Farm ministry. It has only been recently I have understood more clearly what these truths are.
In Joshua 1:1-9 the Lord tells Joshua three times in four verses (6-9) to be strong and of good courage, to not be afraid or dismayed. He is told that, in order to do ALL Moses had commanded him to do, in order to do ALL that was written in the Book of the Law, he must MEDITATE on God’s word continually:
Josh.1:8 – “This book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to ALL that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.”
Whilst Joshua is being COMMANDED to be strong, vigorous and courageous(since these aspects of character are needed in order to be enabled to do ALL the Lord wants him to do) he is also being told what he needs to do in order to BE strong and courageous – the one way that will give him such strength is through MEDITATION, continual day and night meditation upon His words, ways and works. Such meditation will produce an abiding hunger for God and His truths, an abiding obedience to Father God. Please note again – in between the verses instructing Joshua to be strong is the command to meditate day and night on Gods Law; to have His words coming from his mouth always so that he can obey and ‘do’ ALL he is commanded to do. There is much comment during 2020 about it being, in Hebrew, the year of the MOUTH. Notice this Scripture passage marries the meditating upon the word with this word coming from Joshua’s mouth with wisdom, success and prosperity.
Notice also the ‘that you’ outcome:
Joshua 1:7 – “Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may PROSPER wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:8 – “For then you shall make your way PROSPEROUS and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.”
There is an outcome for us all when we obey the COMMAND of the Lord to meditate continually upon His Word; we become strong (our character) and we become prosperous (which means to build His Kingdom in our hearts and in the world).
Apply this to our own lives:
- In order to COMPLETE and FULFILL – to fully accomplish what the Lord wants us to do…….
- We are COMMANDED to meditate upon His word……
- Then we will become STRONG (one of the meanings of ‘strong’ is ‘being able to live well in the midst of disappointment, not expecting God to answer your prayers in a particular way) ………
- Then we will PROSPER (which means we will be blessed and come to full maturity for His Kingdom’s sake).
Let us now add the instructions of Psalm 1:1-3. This Psalm calls you blessed, that is, happy and fortunate and prosperous, if you do not sit with scoffers, if you do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly or stand with sinners. Rather, if you delight in and desire the teachings of God and so HABITUALLY MEDITATE on these teachings (ABIDE = habitation), if you constantly study and ponder God’s word THEN:
Psalm 1:3 – “And he shall be like a tree FIRMLY PLANTED [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its FRUIT in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and EVERYTHING he does shall PROSPER [and come to MATURITY].”
Here it is again, the principal in God’s Kingdom of choosing as an act of obedience to a command of God to habitually meditate on His instructions and teachings in order to be so firmly planted in His word as to bring forth, not only mature fruit, but ALL the fruit (including the leaf) you have been called to produce for His Kingdom:
- Separate from – don’t mix – be a pure vessel for Him……
- Habitually meditate (abide) in His word, including Jesus Christ Himself as He IS the Word made flesh…….
- Then the promise, again, that you will always be ready to bring forth seasonal fruit and EVERYTHING you do will PROSPER.
In both Scriptures we find the same holy, biblical, God-ordained process for inheritance and victory of ALL God has planned for us.
The Lord, by His Holy Spirit, is restoring this command – and our obedience to it – in our current ‘season’ I believe; the command to meditate upon His word, His ways and His works, the command to delight in Him and desire Him as being essential and of first importance in our lives.
WHY?
Because we are not going to be strong enough during this increasing time of society’s mocking and loathing of God’s love (of persecution) IF we are not living according to the commands given in these two Scripture passages.
All commands to not do (Psalm 1:1), or to be (strong and courageous) are intrinsically connected to the instruction to MEDITATE upon. Meditate means to interact with, to groan, moan, utter, sing and confess (to name a few) – to do all these actions with His WORD, with HIMSELF. This prayer meditation, this intimacy in quietness, without distraction – being with God in His word by the Spirit – is the MEANS GOD HAS GIVEN US TO BECOME COURAGEOUS, STRONG, FEARLESS, PURE and VIGOROUS. This is the way we are to go in order to inherit our promises, in order to prosper His Kingdom and its reality NOW, on earth as it is in heaven. It is the only way we are going to be made strong enough to stand in the days to come. It is the only way we are going to be able to accomplish ALL that our heavenly Father desires for us on earth at this present time. WE MUST MEDITATE.
At the risk of over emphasising this principle (but it is SO important) I finish with a quote from Daniel 11:17-19:
“For how can my Lord’s servant [who is so feeble] talk with Thee my Lord? For now, NO STRENGTH remains in me, nor is there any breath left in me. THEN there touched me again one whose appearance was like that of a man, and he STRENGTHENED me. And He said, O man, greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you! Be STRONG, yes, be STRONG: And when he had spoken to me, I was STRENGTHENED and said. Let my Lord speak, for you have STRENGTHENED ME.”
A Further Note on the actions to sit, walk and stand:
I doubly risk over-emphasising the message here but I am over-awed and amazed at the reference to SIT, WALK and STAND in Psalm 1:1. We are told to not sit with, walk with or stand with sinners and scoffers, with the enemy. Compare this with what we ARE TO sit with, walk with and stand with. God’s word tells us to, first of all, SIT down and recognise, abide in, rest in the knowledge of what the Lord has done for us. Acknowledge grace and lean completely upon Him (not self) before you do anything else in your life – meditation and contemplation teach us to sit. We can THEN walk as we put into our daily lives what we know through our sitting and resting. The book of Ephesians tells us to walk in love, to walk as children of Light, to order one’s behaviour by walking as Christ in our everyday life. And finally, we are to STAND. This means that, once we have learned how to sit and walk, THEN we are able to stand (Eph. 6:13 – “Therefore put on God’s complete armour, that you may be able to RESIST and STAND your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done ALL, to STAND [firmly in YOUR PLACE]. ”To stand is to stand before the conflict of the enemy, to be able to wrestle – to warfare against that which seeks to destroy His Kingdom on earth at any time in history. Psalm 1 directly references these Godly principles of strength, through first of all abiding and resting in Him- sitting – BEFORE we can walk or stand even when telling us what not to do with the enemy. Amazing! (Note, this understanding of sitting, walking and standing has come to me from a Watchman Nee teaching).
I make no apology for the level of repetition in this blog. It is deliberate. May we ‘eat’ the truth of our Father’s command to meditate upon His word, to be with Him……..our strength to endure and do great exploits for Him at this time in history truly do depend upon our hearing and obeying Him.
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