Meditation

As you see from your bulletin, the topic is meditation. I call it a priestly tool, as I have been giving a series of sermons on the Melchizedek priesthood. A priesthood that you are all a part of. A priesthood that Jesus Christ was a part of, and we are to have the mind of Christ. But also, Peter said in 1 Peter 2, 9, what? Royal priesthood, chosen generation, mentions kings and priests. This is the priesthood that we are training for, and you are a priest in your own little kingdom. The world that God has given you to walk in, to your family, to your friends, to your co-workers. You get a chance to see just exactly how good of a priest you will be before he actually hands out his cities, multiple cities. And so, that is the thrust of this message. More tools for you to work with. And I'd like to use the abbreviation from now on, now that everybody I've given three or four sermons. Because my grandfather, on my mother's side, was in Second World War. And after the war was over, he was stationed there for about eight or nine months. And he was actually given the job, because he was older than most people, he was given the job of an MP, military police. And so, that's actually what he did till the time that he had to head home and come back to the United States. So, I would like to refer to you, instead of saying Melchizedek priesthood, Melchizedek priest is MPs. It will be a lot quicker, and hopefully it will be something that catches on with you. So, I would like to look at today this priestly tool called meditation. Why does everybody look at me like, what are you talking about? Well, it may be very well possible, because a lot of us, it's not very high on the list of tools. Right? Something that we may think about or do. So, let's look at the first occurrence in the Bible, as first occurrence sometimes sets a theme. And the very first time the meditation, or meditate is mentioned in the Bible, is in Genesis 24 and verse 63. We can set the story, because here you have Isaac, who is 40 years old, not married, waiting, waiting, and waiting. Because his 140-year-old father just sent some servants to go get a woman for him. I might be meditating too, if my dad sent somebody to get me a woman. Especially if he's 140 years old, and I was 40. So, here we get a chance to read here, Genesis 24 and verse 63. And it said, and Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening. So, here we have one who is mentioned in the 11th chapter, part of the priesthood, mentioned as one who meditates. And we will see today, as we touch on these people that meditated, that will be in the Kingdom of God. That's in the 11th chapter, the faith chapter. They all had this in common. We find they would meditate, or were told to meditate, or told you in the writings, that you need to meditate.

So, go with me. Over to Joshua, another occurrence. Very first chapter of Joshua.

You go to Joshua 1. I read from the New King James, as God is instructing Joshua. Now, as he's about to take children of Israel, Moses has died. He's taking them into the Promised Land. He gave this instruction in verse 7, chapter 1. He said, only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. And then he said, because I like how the New Living Translation actually puts that. It says, do not deviate, turning either to the right or to the left, but follow God. But the next verse in the New King James says, and these are God's words, in verse 8, The book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it when day and night on these words. Day and night.

I think it's fairly important. So he's actually telling us, how about before you go to sleep at night? How about while you are laying there in bed?

Instead of using this, use this. Instead of, well, I think I'll watch something until I go to sleep, until I fall asleep. How about meditating? Is it possible? The average person, according to the statistics, takes seven minutes to fall asleep once they go to bed. What are the last things you think about as they go through your mind? In those seven minutes? Is this something that perhaps God wants us to spend time, a little bit of time meditating on, perhaps, a scripture, perhaps words, perhaps thoughts, meditating on Him?

Something to think about, isn't it? How about that Bible study that you do every day as a priest? Something that's pretty well required. I think we all came up with that belief a week or so ago. So prayer is one of the parts of a priest's life, as you have to pray for your family, for those of God given to you in your life. That's what priests do, right? What about meditating on that verse that stuck in your mind as you went through your day? I used to do that quite often because I used to spend a lot of time on the road. I always try to do my Bible study in the morning because that's when I feel best, most fresh. I do my Bible study and I would always have a three-by-five card that's a little bigger than this card. I would always have a three-by-five card that's a little bigger than this card. Three-by-five card and I would try to stick it in my pocket when I went and wrote down a verse. A verse that I read that morning that I probably read many times before, but it stuck with me as something that I needed to carry with me that day. I would just write down that verse to stick it in my pocket. Two or three times, even four or five times, during the day I would actually look at it. If I was driving at a stoplight, even when I wasn't at a stoplight that my wife would want me to do, I'd pull out the card and look at it and run that through my mind. Over the years, I was able to remember quite a few of those verses that meant something. I would hang on to that thought all during the day. It was amazing how many times I would use that verse in my mind because it might have helped me deal with people. We deal with people, people, people, people, people, people, people, right? Every day, most of us do. A lot of times we have a lot of stuff down pat, but those people, those people, people, people, people that God gives us, they're the ones that can throw us off course so we get to check ourselves. So is it possible that you can spend a little more time meditating on some of God's Word? To where it becomes not just a verse in the Bible, but it becomes what? I want to hear verses. I took a Bible study one time and just wrote down all the verses that I've come to know. I have about 200 that I know. Off the top of my head, I'd like to know 500. Well, I only know a couple hundred. How many do you know? It's a wonderful Bible study sometimes. Just write them down and then go back in the Scripture. It'll amaze you how many come to your mind. They're up there in those sails somewhere. Neurons just need to, snaps need to connect, and that's part of meditation. Meditation. Let's go over to Psalm, if you would.

The book of Psalms, Psalm 1, be exact. Now, there's great debate in the theological world here about who wrote the first Psalm. Some said David, some said Solomon, some said we'll never, ever know. It does have a little bit of David's tint to it. It also has a little bit of touch of Solomon in it. But it's interesting that the very first Psalm, the very first Psalm that got inspired to be in the book of Psalms, said this. What? Blessed is a man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And his law, he, what? Said it again. Meditates day and night.

Interesting. Do we? I have to ask myself that question. Do I have the opportunity to meditate on that?

We do know Psalm 4.4, David actually wrote this one, or it's signed to him, and he said, I love this because I had to think about this one because I liked it. He actually says, meditate within your heart, on your bed, and be still. I found that to be interesting the way he put it.

But I understood it better when I put the words that were in front of it. I'm back of it. As it says, after it says, be angry and do not sin.

Because a lot of times we want to what? When we're angry, now we may not do this, but we're thinking that, talking mostly about us guys, right?

Not that the ladies in here couldn't, hmm, I think this one on the front seat could.

But it says, be angry and do not sin. That means, think about it. Think about it so you don't sin.

Another verse says, be angry but sin not. So if we have the opportunity to meditate, to think about this, think about God's Word, chances are we will not do, hmm, or say something that we're probably going to regret. Doesn't that happen so many times? As with me, hmm, wish I could take that back. But I can't. But when I have time to think and meditate, especially when you meditate on the words, Melchizedek priest, puts a bigger burden. Would a priest be saying that to her?

I don't always pass that test, but this is a very good scripture to help me. As I'm training also, because the Melchizedek priesthood will be for eternity, forever and ever.

So we see these examples set by God's great leaders, those that are listed in the faith chapter. DMPs, if I can say that. So I guess I must ask you the question this morning, do you meditate? How often do you understand meditation in all the various forms? If you met someone and they say, oh yes, I meditate, I even levitate. Well, then you may have some questions to ask. But meditation, could it possibly be as important as prayer and Bible study? Well, if I look in the Bible, meditation is only listed about 20 times.

Prayer is listed 700-800 times. So how important is meditation? Is it more important than thumb and finger exercises? Is it? Would you consider it more important than thumb and finger exercises? Whether you text, whether you Facebook, whether you Twitter. We usually find time to do those, don't we? I do. How important is it to the priesthood?

This sermon was inspired about three weeks ago as I was walking on Deerfield Beach. One morning, the sun was coming up, and I walked by the same place I usually walk by. My wife, if she's with me, she goes one way, I go the other way. Not because we don't like each other, not because we smell, but because we're usually talking to God. A lot of times, once a week, we try to get down and do our prayer down by the beach. When you see that big ocean, you just realize how small you really are and how big he is. It's a good reminder. But here is the thought as I was walking, and I'd seen him before, the same people. Here, at different places, were people in the lotus position looking at the sun, sitting in the sand, going, I'm going, okay, I'm talking to God as I walk. I talk to God when I sit. Maybe they're doing this. What is this? Because when I was growing up in the 70s, while you had all these talking about meditation, transcendental meditation, and all this, but I really didn't pay a lot of attention to it. So I thought, well, I need to do a little research. So you today are getting the research that I have done. We're going to talk about meditation and worldly meditation in about 10 minutes, and we'll move on to what God expects and what He's talking about meditation. But I found it interesting that the Hebrew word for meditation, or meditate, is daga, actually h-a-g-a-h, pronounced daga, and it actually means to utter, meditate, or to ponder on something. Strongs actually laid it out as to meditate or to imagine. In the Greek, entomaiomia, yeah, that's a mouthful, entomaiomai, entomaiomai, is a Greek word, and it actually means to reflect upon, to meditate and to ponder. And it's interesting that the root word entomai refers to passionate surmising in a person's mind and in their heart. So it's not some random thought that comes out there, but it's actually a thought that you actually run through your mind. And it's not only in a person's mind, but in their heart.

You think David, when he meditated, felt it here and here? You read some of his writings, and you realize this man was serious about his relationship with God. Are we that serious?

I asked myself that question many times. It's a matter of fact, it's so interesting that the Latin verb actually means, and it's part of an acting part in the Latin of those who took drama, understand that this word actually means to rehearse, to rehearse like an actor would rehearse her lines. It's to practice or to plan. Part of this meditation thing.

Well, it's interesting because I read quite a bit about meditation and to save you from spending the hours and hours that I spent. I'm going to give you the website you can go to if you really want to do that, but hopefully I can save you some time today. You're welcome to do that. There are 400 websites telling you about it, or books. You get all these books. I actually went to one that seemed very balanced and pretty well covered the subject called LiveAndDare.com. It was on Meditate, and they actually explained not pushing any of it, but they actually explained 23 different types of meditation. I'm not going to go through 23 types of meditation.

I'm just going to go through six or seven here because I want us to understand. Just like our class at ABC, when we try to teach the Bible, we also have a comparative religion class, where we actually study and teach different religions so that you understand. I can study all about Catholicism, but anyone who's been a Catholic for 25 years can put me on my place real fast.

We try to learn a little something. I want to go through this today because this author of this website actually called Meditation is defined as, and I like this, a training of the mind. You may say, well, I could have come up with that.

A training of the mind, which really brings us back to, wow, what are you meditating on? What are you training your mind? Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. The Scripture says, God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a power and sound mind. So what are we putting up there? What is running through our mind? As we think about it.

Well, the very first one he talked on was the Buddhist meditation. Most of you know it by Zen, and you'll see somebody that's doing this because they'll hold their hand like this. Or they can even go with the triangle, as Phil Jackson does, and it's a triangle or a trinity type of belief as you meditate. And with the Buddhist meditation, according to the website, you actually spend that time chanting.

I won't try to practice that one. But, or actually saying, or reading, saying the readings and writings of Buddha. So you're going to be talking using this Buddha, or God, you're going to be using his saints, and so forth. So that's a Buddhist meditation. One of the most popular today, and it's branched off in many ways, is the Hindu meditation. You might know it as, one form of it is a Transcendental Meditation.

Big in the 1960s, as the Beatles got involved, the Beach Boys got involved, and they hired this guru who came in and taught all this special type of meditation. As the Transcendental Meditation, you repeat tantric names of Hindu deities. And you have certain mantras like, Aum, Som, Ham, Rang. And according to this teaching, you will actually be in that meditative state, saying those from anywhere between 108 and 1,008 times. I don't know if while you're meditating you have to count. I don't know how you do that and still meditate.

I don't know. I haven't figured that one out. But I thought you might find that interesting. And something else I wanted to know is, when I was walking on the beach, I saw them in this lotus position, which I'm not going to get into right now. But they had this certain crossing of the legs. And then they had their fingers like this. And then I went down the beach a little bit, and I came to a person that had their fingers like this. And they're doing... And I'm going, well, wait a minute.

What's right? Do I need to do this? Do you need to do this? Ah! Then they had to find out that this is sa. This is ta. This is na. And this is ma.

Understand now? Saa is when you touch the first finger to the thumb, and this first finger is known as Jupiter.

And when you touch that first one like this, you are asking the powers that be for knowledge.

So if you see somebody, it makes me want to say, well, you're not too smart then, are you? But then you see someone else with the next finger, which you touch the second finger, which is known as Saturn. Are you getting the feel here where this is coming from? Where it came from? And that's ta. And when you do this, you're asking for the gods, the powers that be, to give you wisdom and patience. And then there's na, which is the third finger, which it actually represents the sun. And you're asking for vitality. And then there's the last one that I've seen. And that is ma, and it represents Mercury. And according to this type, you're asking for communication. All types of communication. Maybe you're asking for more communication. Maybe it's you. But it's interesting because in the Chinese, when they're into this meditation and their part, they believe in the natural five natural elements. So their fingers are actually different when you see the Chinese meditation. Because this means fire, this means air, this means space, this means earth, and this means water.

Okay? Now, why did I give you that? Well, it's interesting because the Chinese meditation is about transformation and circulation of inner energy. The purpose of it is to quieten the body and mind, unify body and spirit, find inner peace, and harmonize with Tao. Tao is nature. So you see the Mother Nature and these type of things where this comes from.

But the fourth one I found very, very interesting. I didn't know this existed.

It's existed for a while. It's called the I AM meditation. Can you understand what that meditation is about? So you can still do this. You can do any of that. But it's this I AM meditation. The focus is I AM. Not the great I AM, but kind of the great personal I AM, I guess. I, I, I, I want this. I need this. I want this power. I need I, I, I, I, I. So the whole focus is in here.

And if you do it long enough, the hope is that you will begin to come to the understanding that I, you yourself, you are the center of the universe.

It don't seem like I have a lot of takers out there. Nobody's eyes are like, oh, that sounds good, thankfully. But then there is yoga meditation that many of you have seen. Party yoga. Well, it's interesting because it's actually called the third I meditation. Third I meditation. I thought, well, how about that? And you must focus oneself in this type of meditation on the space between your eyes, the third eye. So supposedly you're going to meditate on this space in between these two, and there's something right here, and you just spend a lot of time trying to find it. Okay? I didn't make this stuff up. But then there, the number six, is the guided meditation. Guided meditation, and some type of audio is used to reinforce these thoughts in your head. As a matter of fact, a guy came up with in 1839 before they really had a lot of audio, but he would actually send a different wave in each side of your ear, like there would be one wave, different wave going here, a one wave here, and then somehow in your brain they're going to connect.

Okay. Now that we're through with that, he lists the seventh one. It's interesting he did a little seven, and it is called Christian meditation, as he was trying to say what this was. And it's a Christian tradition. The goal of contemplative practices is, one may say, moral purification and deeper understanding of the Word of God. And it also means close intimacy with God, slash, Christ. That's what he came up with. So meditate on God's Word. I think we have it. We understand it. Hopefully now you understand what these other type of meditations are. You've just given a glimpse of it. So you see how distant and how far they are from what God wants us to be. Because he should be the center of our universe. Not us. He should be our thoughts. His words, not our words, not Buddha's words, not any of this. Om, zom, hum. I always thought that was weird because I actually went to a temple one time and saw this guy in there going, but I never really understood. Well, they're just worshiping something else. They're not worshiping who we're worshiping, are they? Okay. So, as we ponder and rehearse and contemplate, I need your help today. It's going to be interactive, this part, to look at my watch. Make sure. Not too long. But I'm going to ask you to do something. Usually, I ask you to turn off your cell phones. I'm going to ask you now, if you have a smartphone, I'm going to ask you to turn them on. You mind doing that? I need at least a few people to do it to help me today. And I need you to use those words to access the Wi-Fi here in the hotel. DEC 2016. So, if you need to know next month, it'll be JAN 2017. Okay? Let me say, why are you doing that?

Well, I'd like you to go with me as we try to hook up those. I'd like you to be able to pull up a thesaurus or a dictionary, not the etymology of a word, because I'm going to ask you. Because I want to give an actual example of what we're talking about or what God is talking about when He says, meditate. Okay? So, if you will go with me to the book of Philippians, a verse hopefully that you are familiar with. I will read from the New King James. Philippians 4, verse 8. Philippians 4 and verse 8 said, Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of a good, if there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. So Paul is telling them, meditate on these things. Why would you meditate on these things? It's the inspired word of God. And he says, meditate. One of the translations said, set your minds on these things. Meditate. When you look at those words, you don't see a lot of negativity there, do you? Matter of fact, there are very positive thoughts, a positive mindset. God is wanting us to meditate on these things because it is so easy to get what? Negative. And God's not negative. Everything he says, everything he does is for a positive outcome. All the trouble that will come forth in this world before Jesus Christ returns, it has to happen for a positive outcome. So here, Paul is actually telling, Philippians is one of his favorite churches. They are pretty solid spiritually. They're not like the Corinthians, not like the Galatians. This is a pretty spiritual, spiritually strong church. And he tells them this, meditate on these things. So I'm going to ask you, anybody got their phone up now? Okay, because I did look these up on Google just to be sure because I wasn't sure exactly what would pop up.

What's the very first one? True. Right? What is true? What's the definition of true? Anybody? True? How would you define true? I mean, we're supposed to meditate on these words. Meditate on whatever things are true. So what is truth?

Accurate or exact? Do you think it describes the Bible? Describe the Word of God? That we know there are absolutes because, hey, basically the world looks at there, there's not absolutes. Two plus two equals in the around to four. Okay?

No, there are absolutes. This Word is the absolute truth.

And what did Christ say? You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. You're going to know what's true.

Noble. Anybody here noble? You meditate on things that are noble? What does noble mean? Anybody?

Say that again, Joe. Honorable! Right? Now, I don't know that he's a thesaurus, but I think he's pretty close. Anybody have that? Pull that up off the what does noble mean? Because I think that's pretty honorable. It's pretty good. Do we meditate on being what? Honorable? Would people say, well, that's an honorable person. Used to hear that word a lot. Do you hear it much today? No. No.

Ah, very good. Do we meditate on that? No, Colby says he doesn't.

He has no idea. But think about it. Think about noble. When's the last time you meditated on what is noble? What is honorable? These are the things when you go back and look at God's Word that He reinforces to us. But are we doing this just? What is just? Fairness, equity. Anybody else?

Even scales, which, yes.

What about pure? How do you describe? How do you meditate on pure? Now, I know there was a soap at one time that said they were 99. what? Percent pure. But what is pure? If you had to tell someone, you know what you need to meditate on? Purity. What would you say?

Okay. Mm-hmm.

What is morally right? Right? Because now who's to say what's morally right? There's like this big question out there today. Well, we believe that God tells us what's morally right. Am I right? Right. We believe that. Whatever things are lovely, lovely.

Nice-looking woman. A car that just has all the nice wheels and everything on it. Is that lovely?

How do you define lovely? Do we have a word? Well, yeah, everybody, like, this is lovely, and this, but what's lovely to God?

Creation. Okay. Nelly? Tender. Okay. Right. Right. But lovely. I mean, see, we read those words all the time, but even here, people aren't just spitting them out. Why? Because you've read over them so many times. Yet, Paul just says he gave that verse, and I've known that verse for a long time, but he says, meditate on these things. But when I started looking at him, I'm going, wow, if I had to write everything down for somebody, or somebody came and asked me, how do I define pure? How do I define lovely? How would I, as it said, good report? You know, I actually googled that, and it gave a definition of good report. It was something that was exact, something that was correct, something that was right. Do we dwell on what's right instead of what's wrong? Because, boy, it's so easy to start dwelling on the negative. Come on over to this side. Just listen to this gossip. Did you hear about this? Ooh, they have whole TV shows about that. Have you heard the latest gossip? Have you heard the latest trash on the Kardashians? Uh-huh. Is that where we set our minds? Is that what we meditate on? Or are we meditating on something that comes from this Word? Something that is pure? I think most of us that truly believe this is the Word of God would say this Bible is pure. You want to set your mind on it? I think that's what he's telling. And you know, I think it's a lovely thing that happens when God's power and His Word comes in force. It comes in force in our life and we see healings. We see miracles. We see things happen. It's a pretty loving God that we have. But then it says, if there's any virtue. Boy, that's a word you don't hear today. Virtue? Do you hear it in politics?

No, I didn't hear it during the last year. I don't know about you guys from either side. I don't hear it in sports either. You? How about praiseworthy? Meditate on something praiseworthy. Give me an example of something that's praiseworthy. Anybody? Loving God, that's fourth-praising. Praiseworthy, right? Yes.

Righteous conversation is praiseworthy, right? Iron sharpens iron and you're setting where God's words are what you're speaking. Pretty praiseworthy. Yes, I walk on the beach. I can look out at that ocean and I can praise God. I can see a sunset. I can see a sunrise. And I know who made it, who controls it, and who's all over everything. Answered prayer. Now that's very praiseworthy. Thank you. Answered prayer. When's the last time that you just praised God or spent your whole time? I've had to actually take time and set aside time to pray that just for praising God because there's so many other details that get in the prayer life and I'm like, this people and this people and this going on and this going on, God, what am I doing this? Oh, what this? That I forgot to spend time and go and I want to set aside this time and I'm just going to praise you. Praise you for.

Breath. Praise you for walking. Praise you for using my fingers. Praise you for having two legs. Praise you for this. Praise for what you've done. Praise for my family. Praise for the beautiful country you've given me that I can actually go out and walk and enjoy it. Praise that I'm not under a streetcar somewhere just trying to look for the next meal. How much should we praise? Is there a limit? Can you praise too much? You sure? Then why don't we do it? And why don't we do it? Let's make sure we wrap this up.

But I want you to remember Philippians 4 and 8. Hopefully you'll go back. Meditate on these things because Satan wants to. He wants to drag us to the negative side every day, every hour. And God knows that if we're not careful, He will drag us there. Next thing you know, where is our minds? Not meditating on these things, is it?

So I want to wrap this up today. I'd like you to tell me. You can turn the phones off, please, so we don't get full five phone calls. I appreciate that. I appreciate your help. But it also gives you some focus on a Bible study.

You can actually have family members that ask them, well, how does Satan get you to focus and meditate on his stuff instead of yours? Because he's good at it. He's a master.

He's a master at it. So, the longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119. Very good. I have not wasted five years here, have I? I've got that one. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. What is the theme of 119? Anybody? Obeying the law? And how would you do that? Do you know, he tells us in Psalm 119? Let's go there, if you will, with me, please, as we wrap this sermon up today. Psalm 119.

Joe was right, very first verse, said, Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with a halfway heart. Pure whole, whole heart. You see the pure, whatever things are pure, set your mind on these things. Ties back there. And you can read the rest of 119, but I'd like you to go with me to Psalm 119, verse 15. I will meditate on your precepts and contemplate your ways. I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word. I think he thinks we need it. Don't you? Meditate. I don't only read it, but meditate on his words. Go down to verse 23. Princes also sit and speak against me, but your servant does what? Meditates on your statutes. Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. When you want to know what to do, go to the Word. I think they're better than Dear Abby. I think they're better than getting on the phone at one of these numbers and call the psychic. But you see that on television. Don't know what to do. Oh, is love in my future?

Meditate on these things. Verse 48. Verse 48. My hands also I will lift up to do what? Your commandments? They're not done away with. My hands also I will lift up to do your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes. My mind is going to be thinking about these things. Haven't we all had a day that went so great? We got up in the morning, there was this positive energy. It's like nothing went wrong. Everything was good, no matter what happened. Wham! Wham! No matter even thing. Traffic. Whoa! There's none today. Yeah, straight line. Everything was great. And you get on that evening and it's like, wow, Mary's got my favorite dinner fixed. It was like, perfect day. Can I have this again? I need Groundhog Day, like that movie of whatever. We lived the day over and over again. And it felt so good. And you were right with God, you were right with your family, you were right with everything went right. Man, that feels so good. You want it again. But then you wake up the next morning and it doesn't go that way. And everything goes wrong. Traffic. Nobody's going to let you in. And when you put that turn signal on, they're all going to speed up. They're not going to let you in. And at work, everybody's in a bad mood. Right? And by the time you get home, you're going to make sure the family's in a bad mood. Because you're in a bad mood. Right? And it all is up here.

You control what goes on up here. You can meditate on that which is good, that which is just, that which is lovely. Do we do that? See, God says we need to start. Remember what we talked about the first? How about when you get up in the morning? What are we meditating on? Oh, God, I've got to work. Oh, man, entire day. It's going to be the worst day. And putting up with people. And I work basically by myself. But I've got to put up with me. You see, we can define our day before we ever take a step out the door. Before we ever get out of bed in the morning. Because God wants positive priests. God wants positive priests. You know, part of my job is to be a priest 24-7. So when there's a problem, somebody calls. That's part of my, Mary and I discussed that last night. Part of the job is we hear when something's not going right. We hear a lot of bad. We hear when things are negative. And we have to turn them around. Wouldn't you hate to call a priest and go, oh, I got this problem. Well, you got problems. You out here are the ones I have, baby. You know, that's not what we're here for. Can you imagine? God has given this room full of priests. Now, give that priest some training. And we're to go out and touch and help people that God has given to us in your life. 100 people, 200 people. Do you think those people really need a negative priest, even if they do not recognize you as a priest? But you have to be one.

See, God wants us to be positive. I feel for Christ. I feel for Him. When He was on this earth for three and a half years, He had everybody. What? He had the leaders, the scribes, the Pharisees, Sadducees. All of them just negative every single day. They'd come out, yeah, but you, ah, but, but...

And He handled it magnificently. And He left us, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, to show us the way so that we can have His mind, so we can handle things His way.

When people call me all through the Caribbean or even here, locally, I thank God that I can help people. And I thank Him and ask Him to give me the wisdom and the knowledge for the people who need help and to study the Word and when the Scripture's common, all this kind of stuff. Do you? How about those people, maybe in your own family, that need your help? It's hard dealing with people who are negative, isn't it? Don't we all have one at work? I mean, yes, you do, Jeff? Yes. The whole city, He said. But we all work with people who, you know, are negative. And boy, it can affect us. Imagine God looking down and going, these are my chosen. Yes, I wish they would be positive.

The Kingdom's coming, but boy, it's going to be a tribulation before.

Wow! We need to be that way. This is what this is about. This is what meditation is so important, because pretty soon you train your mind to either dwell on the negative or the positive, and you have to battle. But once you become stronger and stronger and work out with that mind, and it becomes more positive and more positive, it's hard not to be positive.

Verse 78, Psalm 119, Let the proud be ashamed, for they treated me wrongfully in falsehood, with falsehood. But I will meditate on your precepts. Verse 97, Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day! Is it? I have to look at this. This is my job, and I fall down here. It's not my meditation all the day. I can be pulled away. You, through your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all the teachers. For your testimonies are my meditation. Finally, 148. I think this is great for all of us, and we'll end with this verse. Psalm 119, 148. My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on your word.

Even those people who had to stay up because there were night watches, they had to watch. Their thoughts are meditating on His word. Perhaps us, when we wake up because we can't go to sleep or something's bothering us, can we take this advice and meditate on His word? The word empowers us.

Meditation is meditation is a very important tool. It was for Isaac, as we saw. It was for Joshua. Joshua was instructed. It was for David. So important. Look how many times he put it in his words.

And it was for Paul, as Paul gave us at instruction in Philippians 4 and verse 8. So, brethren, I'm asking you to use a tool of meditation. And when you dwell on the things that are good, things that are pure, things that are lovely, things that are just, things that are a virtue, things that are praiseworthy, I guarantee you, you will be a delight for people to meet. Because they won't just say, oh no, here comes Joe Kovac. And they can actually say, here! Here comes Joe Kovac.

Kovacs. Sorry, I wanted to cut your name off.

Janae Dwight Peter Jesus It's important. You walk on this earth and it says, you are light of the world. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify Him. We need to have a smile on our face. We need to have a positive word. No matter how bad it is, I've seen incredibly sick people. I went to visit Elan in Nashville before he died, just weeks before he died. I knew for 40 years. Considered him a mentor in many ways. And when I went to visit him, I came away uplifted. He knew he only had weeks to live.

He was positive even in death. What an example. Brethren, let us be that way. Let us be an incredible example that God can use to show not only His way of life, but what His MPs are all about. Because meditation is a must for any MP.