September 22 – Pleasing Meditation

“May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.”  Psalm 104:34 (NIV)

The Psalmist who wrote Psalm 104 expressed in verse 34 a desire which we might apply to ourselves. We know it is very important that we who follow the Lord think right thoughts so that we can express the same desire that the Psalmist did here.  I think we all want our meditation to be pleasing to the Lord.  Our verse reminds us how this can be true.  It is God's will that His people be happy.  It is also His will that we find our happiness in knowing Him, in sensing His presence with us at all times. Our Lord Himself is the source of our true joy. When we enjoy God's presence and the assurance of His constant love and reflect on the promises He has given to us, we can't help but think of it, can we?  It becomes a part of our meditation and that is pleasing to the Lord. 

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March 31 – Drawing Near

“and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:21-22a (NIV)

These words are part of a letter to Christians of the Hebrew race, who we might call Jewish Christians. They knew well and were very familiar with the function of the high priest in representing people in the temple before God.  For Christians who first received this letter, and for us today our representative before almighty God is Jesus Christ. Our verse today encourages us then to draw near to God trusting in Jesus as our representative in God’s presence. Yes, it is possible for us to draw near to God through prayer, meditation, reading and studying the God's word the Bible. Let’s take advantage of this possibility today for it is one way to see how the ministry of Jesus affects our lives each day.