You Can’t Lose With the Stuff I Use…Mind Science (Rev. IKE)

Truth Matters Newsletters – Aug 2009 – Vol. 14 Issue 8 – You Can’t Lose With the Stuff I Use…Mind Science – Rev. Ike – by Rev. Bob Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

You Can’t Lose With the Stuff I Use…Mind Science

(Rev. Ike)

By Rev. Robert S. Liichow

Before there was Robert Tilton, Benny Hinn, Kenny Copeland or Paul and Jan Crouch, there was Rev. Ike. Like the aforementioned flimflam artists Ike was a tongue-talking prophesying and preaching Pentecostal. Like many charismatic luminaries he too was excommunicated (kicked out of) his Pentecostal denomination. (1) The following is a statement from Ike’s own website:

Rev. Frederick Eikerenkoetter, better known to millions as REV. IKE, “The Success and Prosperity Preacher,” has been Minister, Teacher, Motivator, Evangelist, Counselor, and Pastor to millions of people for over 40 years. Rev. Ike dared to go where most theologians, Bible teachers, and preachers would not. As an evangelist, on TV, radio, and at mass meetings, he had the ‘nerve’ to PREACH “Prosperity NOW!” — long before it became popular to do so. He was dismissed by some “mainstream” and “fundamentalist” people, but now many famous preachers, teachers, and authors sound just like Rev. Ike—teaching prosperity! Rev. Ike’s Science of Living Ministry began with only a handful of faithful supporters. He taught these people how to get turned on to life. He showed them how to BE, to DO, and to HAVE all the good that they desire through the Presence and Power of God, infinite Good, within everyone. Since then, Rev. Ike has become a Spiritual advisor to millions of people of all races and religions—and even to those with NO religion. He teaches that the Presence of God in you is your Unlimited Resource of Good. Rev. Ike attracts people from all walks of life: ordinary people, the rich, the poor, the famous, movie stars, political figures, sports champions—even priests and rabbis! The growth of Rev. Ike’s Ministry is realized daily, as thousands of testimonies and letters pour in from people all over the world. These people have received Good Health, Healing, Joy, Love, Success, Prosperity, Good Fortune, and More Money through applying his teachings in their lives. (2)

Some, our older readers may remember seeing this good looking black “preacher” on television (he was one of the original televangelists) who often told those gathered to hear him “I don’t want to hear any change in the offering plates, change makes me nervous.” The message he preached never varied and could be easily boiled into another one of his aphorisms “the lack of money is the root of all evil.” He used all of the commonly used biblical texts trotted out by today’s shameless shams to bilk, God’s gullible sheep out of their hard earned ducats. In fact, there is little reason at all to believe that today’s crop of shysters were not shaped and formed by his example and proclamations regarding God’s alleged desire for His children to be filthy rich.

Rev. Ike embodied his message at one point owing sixteen (16) Rolls Royce’s, custom made suits, shoes and multiple homes. Ike was “praising God” in the backseat of his Rolls long before Gospel pimp Fred. Price made the statement that “there was nothing like praising God in the backseat of his Rolls Royce.” Ike purchased one of seven famed movie theaters in New York City and had a congregation of over 5,000 people making him one of the early mega-church pastors even before the term was coined. (3)

Even though Ike began his life as a Christian, attended a Pentecostal seminary and was an ordained Pentecostal pastor for a short while somewhere he veered off course. His messages went from sin and salvation to prosperity through the power of the mind or what he called “mind science.” The following citation will give you an idea of what Ike taught:

Some ‘religious’ people are going to be shocked by what I have to say next…You see, Rev. Ike’s teachings are based on the bible,—but not the literal translation of the fundamentalists…Rev. Ike interprets the Bible SYMBOLICALLY, not literally. He considers the Bible the greatest book of Mind Science—the greatest book of spiritual psychology—ever written! When he gets through with you, the Bible will never be the same…You will INDERSTAND it for the first time in your life! And you will love God more than ever, but it won’t be the God you learned about in Sunday School. It won’t be that stingy, hard-hearted, hard-of-hearing God-in the Sky you’ve been praying to…because, you’ll learn to stop looking for help from a God OUTSIDE of you. You will know the truth of yourself—that you are a Child of God and God is WITHIN YOU. (4)

When symbolism or allegory is used as the standard method of interpreting the Scriptures then God’s Word ceases to have any objective meaning. Objective truth did not matter to Ike, what did matter was convincing his followers that if they could imagine what they wanted from God, confess what they wanted and not be swayed by circumstances they could have whatever they wanted! The only difference between what Ike taught and what the Word of Faith (WOF) cult teaches today is simply the false distinction between mind and spirit.

Ike’s system was a mental system, conceiving what you want in your mind then proclaiming it into existence. WOF teaches one must incubate what is desired in the spirit and then confessed via faith-filled words until the desire manifests. The question that plagues many in the WOF cult is simply how does one know if they have planted their desire in the soul (mind/will/emotion) or their spirit?  The cult’s answer this way —if you got what you desired then it was birthed in the spirit, created by faith and brought to pass by the correct use of spiritual law (vs. mental laws). If one fails to receive their desire then obviously it was because they only had a soul or mental assert versus a true heart/faith conviction.

This minor distinction of mind and spirit is really all that differentiates in practice, Theosophy, New thought, Mind Science, Christian Science from the Word of Faith cult. Norman Vincent Peale, widely accepted today by many Christians taught “mind science” without calling it such:

Peale taught “Your unconscious mind….[has a] power that turns wishes into realities when the wishes are strong enough.” He also stated “God is energy. As you breathe God in, as you visualize His energy, you will be reenergized. (5).

Another wolf in sheep’s clothing, Robert Schuller is another purveyor of mind science but naturally he calls it something different:

Robert Schuller attributed to Peale to be the man who had the greatest influence upon his theology and ministry, (He even claimed Peale starting the positive thinking movement). Schuller changed the term positive thinking to Possibility thinking and continued to contain the principles of these same ideas. (6)

Ike’s system was far simpler to put into action than the WOF’s, for Ike all one had to do was think on what he or she wanted, visualize it, speak positive words about it and don’t doubt. There was no confusion over mind versus spirit, the devil coming to steal your seed, digging up your seed through negative confessions. His system was purely mind science or what we could call old fashioned occultism. In the occult: the “law of manifestation,” declares that thoughts held firmly in the mind, spoken aloud, or visualized will “manifest” in the physical world.

We will see the concepts and idea of visualization is carried into the word faith teaching of speaking and confessing.

To see the obvious connection between what Kenneth Copeland/Hagin/ Meyer/Dollar/Duplantis/Cho et all teach and New Thought or Mind Science; one only has to read a few books by New Thought authors. Compare Dr. Paul Cho’s (pastor of the world’s largest church in Korea) book “The Fourth Dimension” and that of Napoleon Hill “Think and Grow Rich.”

Ernest Holmes, Founder of Religious Science teaches that mankind creates his own reality through what he visualizes and confesses…brothers and sisters that is exactly what I was taught while bewitched by the WOF cult!

The recent best-selling book “The Secret” was really nothing more than a rehashing of what Rev. Ike and other mind science occultists had been teaching since the fall of Adam.  “The Secret” is a simple restatement of what occultists call “the law of attraction.” This so-called law states that people’s conscious and unconscious thoughts dictate the reality in their lives. This is no different than saying ‘you can have whatsoever you say” or you may hear televangelists say “you are living the life of all your prior confessions today. If you want to change your life, then change your confession.”

There is nothing wrong with having a positive attitude and that will often spill over into positive statements (out of the abundance of the heart the mouth does speak (see Matt. 12:34). However, that is a long way from creating our own realities by what we say. Ike and the WOF make the mistake of creating God in their own image. Ike says God dwells within all people and WOF says that we are all little gods. Both statements are patently false. When Jesus said that the Kingdom of God was within He was speaking to those who had faith in Him (see Luke 17:21). Nowhere, apart from the fevered minds of the deluders, does the bible ever teach that we are little gods and are to be doing god-like things such as daily miracles, creating reality, changing reality, etc.

We used to say in the traditional Pentecostal church —”God is God all by Himself!” which was our statement of His sovereignty. Jesus did not come to make us feel better about ourselves. He came to expose our sinfulness to us and through faith in Him and His work on the cross alone. We enter into a new reality of being a child of God, one who has been translated from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son (see Col. 1:13). Jesus did not come to make us all filthy rich in this life. He came to set us free from ourselves through the discipleship of the cross (see Luke 14:27) and once being free from our needs we can see the needs of others and help meet them.

As enticing as the promises of the televangelists (past and present) are, do not be deceived by them. These liars with seared consciences have no real regard for you and your family. All they care about (as was abundantly proven with Robert Tilton) (8)  is whether or not your check will clear.

 

If you have loved ones, family or friends who slavishly follow people like: Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Fred Price, Joyce Meyer, Jesse Duplantis, Mark Barclay, Keith Butler, T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, etc…Please feel free to ask them to contact DMI and we will be more than glad to answer any and all of their questions abut these SINistries. If we cannot answer their specific questions, we are united with those who can. Rev. Ike is gone to his just reward. I have no heaven or hell to put him in, there are no holes in my hands…however, I am sure that He has learned this OBJECTIVE TRUTH now: Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15). At the end of our lives, Jesus will not be concerned with how well you or I did with the Stock Market, or how big our 401(k) plan was, nor with what type of automobile we drove. All that will matter on that Day is what we did for His Kingdom. What did we do with the truth He gave us? Did we act on the Word, did we bury it, or teat it as unimportant? Did we trust in His work or our work(s)? Only time will tell and that time is growing short my friends. Our advice is simple —live for Christ as if it were your last day….t may be Selah. ♦

Copyright 2009 Robert S. Liichow

End Notes

1. Benny Hinn, Paul Crouch, Ken Hagin Sr., John Osteen all “left” i.e. got the boot from their former Pentecostal associates.

2. Obtained from http://www.scienceoflivingonline.com/ on 8-6-09. Underlining added for emphasis.

3. Rev. Ike said it first, but then years later Fred Price made the same statement when he got his first Rolls Royce.

4. The Science of Living website

5. Norman Vincent Peale, Positive Imaging (Fawcett Crest, 1982), p. 77

6. Norman Vincent Peale, PLUS: the Magazine of Positive Thinking, 37:4, May 1986, Part II, 23.

7. Obtained from http://www.letusreason.org/WF48.htm on 08-08-09

8. Ibid

9. Robert Tilton in the late 1980’s was proven to have simply opened his mail and automatically removed the checks and thrown away the prayer requests. Similar facts have been demonstrated about Oral Roberts. The Trinity Foundation has about a 9 hour video/dvd regarding the rise and fall of Mr. Tilton, who is still on television in a somewhat diminished capacity (he still rakes in a few million dollars a year, down from the 80 to 90 million).

 

The Discipline of Biblical Meditation

Truth Matters Newsletters – July 2007 – Vol. 12 Issue 7 – The Discipline of Biblical Meditation – By Rev. Robert S. Liichow

Discernment Ministries International

By Rev. Robert S. Liichow

We live in a time when it seems our every waking moment is filled with chatter from our televisions, car stereos, ipods and cell phones. I received a newsletter, whose banner line is “is there enough silence for the Word to be heard,” which is a great question in today’s sensory overloaded society. Meditation is somewhat of a lost “art” to many of us because of how we live, yet it is an ancient Biblical discipline that can bear great spiritual fruit in our lives…if we will take the time to be silent and ponder the Words of God.

What Meditation Is Not

“Meditation,” when we hear this word today we often think of some Eastern guru sitting in a lotus position contemplating his or her navel. Or perhaps we may conjure up an image of a monk sitting in his cell in a lonely monastery in some forsaken desert.

Our nation has already experienced the full brunt of eastern meditative techniques taught by a variety of eastern guru, including the likes of Bagwan Shree Ragnesh, Muktanada Paramahansa, Maharishi Ji, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi with his T.M., to the most recent flake called the “Hugging Saint.” After reaping millions of U.S. dollars from their demented disciples the gift they left behind are hordes of people who have drifted further into the darkness of what we call the “New Age Movement.”

On every major college campus in America you will find Hindu Ashrams and New Age Centers. Bookstores are filled to the brim with books on Eastern Mysticism and New Age Practices, which the section regarding biblical truth could be put in a few rather small boxes.

Eastern Hinduism and the New Age are really both the same, there is really nothing “new” about the New Age, it is just ancient Hinduism packaged in a format that is acceptable to Western people. The goal of meditation in both groups is the same — for the individual to realize that they are in fact God.

Hundreds of thousands of people are exposed to what seems to be harmless spiritual practices on Oprah Winfrey’s television program on a regular basis through her two favorite spiritual “advisors” Depak Chopra, a Hindu & Mary Anne Williamson of the Unity cult…both best-selling authors, due in part to Oprah’s support. Both these individuals support the same goal — to lead people to believe they are in fact God. This is nothing new, this was the lie that Satan presented to Adam and Eve in the garden “You shall be like God” (Genesis 3:5).

In both Hinduism & The New Age Movement the practice of YOGA in its many styles is tied together with meditation in order to achieve “God-consciousness” or oneness with the “Universal Mind.”

Yoga has been widely accepted in the U.S. and is usually offered at Y.M.C.A.’s across this nation. Some Christians might argue — “Well brothers wouldn’t you agree that Christians can practice yoga for exercise without accepting its philosophy?”

My answer is simple: No. Biblical Christians cannot practice yoga. Not only is it unbiblical, it is ungodly in its origins.

Yoga is specifically tied to Hinduism and there is no way to divorce the 2 from each other. Each form of YOGA (and there are over 30 different varieties of yoga) is specifically geared towards putting one in touch with various Hindu deities. So there is nothing spiritually neutral about it at all. Please, do not take my word for it, God Himself has spoken plainly and said in:

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now [are ye] light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit [is] in all goodness and righteousness and truthJ Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove [them]. Eph. 5:8-11

As Christians we are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. On the other hand we, as Christians, are to reprove, which in the Greek (elegchete) means to expose openly the error of these unfruitful works which have their origin in Satan and not Christ.

Yoga and eastern-meditation are most assuredly unfruitful works of darkness which have their origin in Satan and the demonic realm.

Many times in the newspapers you’ll see cartoons of some individual climbing way up on a mountain top to ask the meditating guru what is “the answer.”? And they generally give some funny response: even some companies use television commercials with this same concept of meditation. This Eastern/New Age view is generally what many believers think of when someone mentions meditation.

However, despite the great popularity of all the counterfeit forms of meditation that Satan and his demons use to lead people astray from the light of God into further darkness, one fact still remains: The Bible mentions the practice of meditation quite a bit and it is one of the spiritual disciplines attached to our prayer life and it is a discipline we need to both practice daily & master.

Biblical Meditation Defined

As always, we must begin with a biblical understanding of what we are talking about when it comes to meditation. What does the word mean? The first time we find it mentioned in the bible is in Genesis:

And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels [were] coming. Genesis 24:63

In this text mediate is defined in the Hebrew as: “Soo-Ah” and in this setting it means to muse, commune, speak, and complain.

Without delving into Isaac’s problems we note that after his work day was over, it was eventide or sunset. One of the 2 most beautiful times of the day. In my opinion, the other is sunrise. He went alone and he went out to specifically meditate.

We do not know exactly what form his meditation took. We don’t know if he was pondering his fate, his future. Was he communing with the God of Abraham in the silence of his soul, was he speaking or complaining to God about his lot in life. Any and all of which as we have learned are forms of prayer — DIALOG, between ourselves and our God. Prayer is best defined as speaking & Listening. Probably a more familiar text and more practical one is found in the book of Joshua:

Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I swore unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous. that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it [to] the right hand or [to] the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth: but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage: be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God [is] with thee whithersoever thou goest. Jos. 1:6-9

Moses had died and God had placed Joshua in Moses position and Joshua was afraid the people would not follow him. The Lord God speaks to Joshua and encourages him and reminds him that He will be with Joshua just as He was with Moses.

He tells Joshua to be: (1) STRONG and (2) COURAGEOUS. Why? That Joshua may observe to do all the law which Moses had handed down.

To “observe” in the Hebrew means to keep, to guard, to protect and act upon. Do you realize that at times, (and it seems like those times are multiplying in our day as Christians) that its takes strength and courage to uphold God’s Word and swim against the stream of popular religious opinion?

It takes both strength & courage to be a doer of His Truth and not one who compromises God’s Word for the sake of societal trends or even denominational stances on certain issues. To be such a person, to be one who is willing to swim upstream and at times stand alone in order to uphold God’s Word requires both strength and courage.

Where was Joshua supposed to get the STEEL he needed to keep Him from becoming a spineless jellyfish. You all know what a jellyfish is right? That is a somewhat amorphous sea creature that generally floats along with whatever direction the current may be flowing. Jellyfish do not swim against the current. They float along. Frankly too many preachers have no spine today and even though they know what the Bible plainly teaches about many “politically incorrect” issues they remain silent, they suffer from the disease of “non-rock-a-boat-itis,” a disease I am gladly immune to. As Lee Frank is oft quoted saying:

All that is needed for the forces of evil to succeed is for enough good men to remain silent.

My friends, America and the Church in general is in the trouble it is in because too many Good men have remained silent or have been silenced.

On Judgment Day brothers and sisters, I would not want to be in the shoes of any minister who knew the truth but refused to teach it to God’s people. Nor would I want to stand in the place of those who dared to silence the man of God from proclaiming what the Bible teaches because they were “afraid” of the potential fall-out fro the unvarnished proclamation of the Gospel.

This Fear is never from God, it comes from only 2 sources: (1) either from Satan or (2) ourselves when we lack faith in God. Three ties God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous and what is more He shows Joshua how to do it!

The Church today needs more Jeremiah’s who God told to “be not afraid of their faces: for I [am] with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD (Jer. 1:8).” Instead of being Casper Milk-toasts when faced by those who are not on the Lord’s side of an issue.

God teaches Joshua how to be strong, non-compromising and fearless in the face of his flock & his enemies.

Do you want to like Joshua, who went on to fight ten major battles and conquer a land and lead at times cantankerous stiff necked people?

If so, then you’re about to learn that meditation is a key ingredient in being a doer of all God’s Word versus a hearer only who ends up deceiving themselves and others according to James 1:22. Let’s re-read Joshua verse 8:

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Jos 1:8

Meditate here is a different Hebrew word than the word used in Genesis, here it is “Ha-ga.” It means to: utter, muse, mutter, speak, whisper, to murmur and study. It carries with it the connotation of a cow chewing its cud.

God commands (note, He does not suggest, meditation is not an option for a successful spiritual life) Joshua to meditate on it which means that he is to both to muse, ponder, i.e. think about what God has revealed in His law and he is to chew on it, dissect it and also mutter it softly to himself, or in today’s parlance he was to confess God’s law to himself.

“Oh come on now, surely Rev. Liichow you don’t expect us to believe Joshua walked around muttering the bible to himself do you? And of course, you don’t expect us to do the same do you? Oh yes, I am sure Joshua did exactly this. If you want to enter into a deeper walk with the Holy Spirit then you will do likewise and spend the time necessary to deeply consider the Word of the Lord.

What do you think Paul’s admonition to the Church at Ephesus was about when he wrote them saying:

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Eph 5:19-20

This is exactly what the Lord was telling Joshua to do. Its called meditation. Your mind is always thinking about something, it might as well be zeroed in on God’s Word!

One easy way to do this in the workplace or anyplace is by listening to Gospel or sacred music or the Bible on your CD player in the car, while jogging or walking. That is a perfect way to help guide our wandering minds back to the Word of God and His precepts.

It’s easy to tell who lives a life of prayer and meditation because they view ALL of life’s issues through the lens of the Scripture. These folks obey the directives of their God as He gave them in —

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them, when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shall bind them for a sign upon thin hand, and they shall be as frontets between thine eyes. De 6:6-8

These Kingdom seekers embody —

Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech [be] always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Col. 4:5-6

Because these folks have sought the Lord early and spent time before the Lord in prayer and Bible stud and have been pondering the Word they’ve studied, they’ve muttered and memorized portions of it and contemplated how it applies to their daily lives. Pretty soon they are walking in wisdom towards unbelievers; they are making the most of their time; their words are gracious and seasoned with salt; they know, because they are sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit how they ought to answer every man! Jesus said it this way —

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil; for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh Luke 6:45

Those who pray and meditate, who speak about the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God versus gossiping about others. Their hearts are full of God’s Word, that they have pondered, muttered and memorized! That’s why it is easy to recognize souls such as these. The bottom line: We talk about what we know, if we know the Lord and His Word fills our hearts & minds we will talk about it.

How Often?

How often was Joshua to do this? Day and Night. When it is not day, what is it? Night! When it is not night, what is it? Day! In other words Biblical meditation CAN and IS to be practiced both day & night.

Keep in mind that Joshua had a nation of people to lead, this tells me that biblical meditation is practical and can be done in the midst of our busy schedules.

It does not mean you have to go to some secluded area and recite Scriptures out loud to yourself, although if tie permits that is a form of meditation.

The Results of Meditation

God told Joshua, that through meditation he would be able to keep & do all the law. Then and only them Joshua was told that his way would be made prosperous and successful. Prosperous here means to advance spiritually and good success is defined in the Hebrew as to be prudent, to be circumspect and have insight!

Television preachers often teach this text to mean that if you will meditate in God’s Word that you will become financially wealthy, that is not in the Hebrew. It has to do with spiritual advancement and Godly wisdom in dealing with the affairs of life.

King David the Master of Meditation

But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Ps. 1:2-3

As I wrote regarding the first discipline, you make time and spend time with the people you love. If you love the Lord and delight in Him, then you will speak to and with Him in prayer. David DELIGHTED in the law. Ask yourself, do you delight in the Bible, if not, why not?

Those who LOVE the Word will spend time in the WORD and the benefit of their meditation will be: (1) A strong root system, (2) A consistent feeding from the Holy Spirit, the River of Living Water, (3) Fruitfulness (4) Spiritual advancement, the whatsoever he doeth pertains to the Word he or she has been mediating on. They will see the manifestation of it. Their position in Christ will begin to become their experience.

But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call unto him. Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah  Ps. 4:3-4

At night when we lie down we can mediate, commune with our hearts and be still, listening for that still small voice. Note how David connects prayer “the Lord WILL hear when I CALL unto Him” with communing.

David says “Stand in awe”—are we in awe of God? If we recognize His presence is truly with us then we should “sin not.” Paul says the same thing in Corinthians:

Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak [this] to your shame. 1 Cor. 15:34

He tells thee “Spirit-filled” tongue-talking, sign-gift manifesting Christians to wake up to who they are, the righteousness of God in Christ. He goes on to rebuke them saying that some of them do not have the knowledge of God, and he says that to their shame! Why didn’t they? They had not been seeking first the kingdom of God and its righteousness; they had not been meditating in the Word or walking in love. They were seeking gifts and not working on developing fruit. Meditating on God’s Word will help you develop spiritual fruit and fruitfulness. Our God is glorified when we bear spiritual fruit (John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples). Meditating on God’s Word will help us bear fruit! Let’s continue.

The fear of the LORD [is} clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD [are} true [and] righteous altogether. More to be desired [are they] then gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: [and] in keeping of them [there is] great reward. Who can understand [his] errors? Cleanse thou me from secret [faults]. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous [sins]; let them not have dominion over me; then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. Ps. 19:9-14

I believe we can see a progression in this Psalm. Meditation starts and finishes with the Holy, inerrant Word of God. His Word is true and righteous altogether.

As Christians we are to desire The Holy Spirit’s divine illumination more than gold —(I hope you’re seeing how seeking first ties directly into this).

His Word is sweeter than honey. God has given us His Word to warn us and in keeping, that is, doing His Word is great reward. What “great reward”? Through prayer, fasting, Bible study and meditation —The Holy Spirit will reveal to you secret sins, things you think nobody else knows about and He will graciously bring you to repentance of them. What is more the Holy Spirit will make you strong through the sacraments and help keep you from presumptuous.

Then you are in position to have fellowship with our Lord. Then the words of your mouth & the meditation of your heart will be acceptable in the sight of your Lord, the One who is both your Strength & Redeemer.

I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD. Ps. 104:33-34

We already read in Ephesians 5:19-20 the role of singing and making melody in our hearts as a form of meditation. When I mediate on how good God has been to me and is towards me, then it is sweet! When I mediate on how He delivered me from the dominion of darkness and translated me into the Kingdom of His dear Son I am glad in the Lord—makes even this Lutheran boy want to shout and dance!

O how love I thy law! It [is] my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they [are] ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies [are] my meditation. Ps. 119:97-99

Let me bring this discipline to a close with this text, it embodies what the Holy Spirit wants us to know: 1). David loved God’s Word —Proof—he meditated on it all the day and even when he laid down on his bed at night. 2) Through meditating on God’s Word he incorporated it into action, David did what he studied—Proof— he was wiser then his enemies. Wisdom is the Word being practically applied. 3). Through his time with God in prayer & study he gained more insight than his teachers—PROOF—for contents of the Bible were his meditation. Spiritual growth & advancement comes through spending time with God in fasting, prayer, Bible study and meditating on what you’ve studied so you can apply it to your own life and thus become a disciple of Christ who bears much spiritual fruit, fruit that endures. ♦

Copyright © Robert S. Liichow

AMEN !