Meditation and Journaling

Today was a great day. Natalie had the day off, so we did a kind of date day. First we started off the day right by getting in the word with God together. That was awesome because not only was it nice to spend time with God but with Natalie also.Then we did a nice beach walk and walked down to the Holiday Inn (the one where I worked at the bamboo grill), and I got her a free lunch. Then we went to the library and read some books. It was a nice day. Then the whole project when to this really good barbecue place called Sonny's. All in all, a good day. Thursday night training is on Bible study, and tonight was my favorite. We learned about meditation and journaling, what it means and its important. The practice of meditation and journaling aids in allowing God's word to saturate your heart with truth. It is a learned skill and practice that requires self-discipline and patience. The process of meditation is clear in the scriptures, Joshua 1:8, take it literally. I rarely ever have a silent moment with God, and I need to. Our foundation is the word, and I need to get better about memorizing scripture. Psalm 1. Not to memorize it like a homework assignment but all day to think about scripture, dwell on it, when I am alone meditate on it. I need to apply it to my life. The word meditation can really throw some people off. Biblical meditation is not the kind practiced by many Eastern religions. It is not about going blank and letting yourself be free. It is also not the kind that is practiced by "Christians Mystics" which focuses all on you and not God. Biblical meditation is thinking deeply on some truth revealed in the Bible. This is not done at first glance, you must really sit down and think about what you are reading. Focus our thoughts on what the Bible says about God and the Gospel. We need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Romans 12:1-2. When doing this you need to be still, quiet, and process what the Bible is revealing to you. This isn't something you would do in the grocery store, or when out and about. It should be time set aside in your day where you can just be in the presence of the Lord. Practically, we should spend time daily meditating on what you are seeing in the Bible. This is something I need to work on, what do I think about after my quiet time, how do I apply it to my life. I need to be thinking abut is over and over.Spend time periodically in extended meditation and journaling. Meditate on the scripture you are memorizing. Scripture memory is not suppose to be shot off like a sports fact of trivia question. But something that you spend so much time thinking about that it becomes engraved in you. Lastly, spend time thinking on the qualities of God, and the Holy Spirit, knowing God more. After the talk they gave us 15 minutes of quiet time to reflect on the word. It was nice for me to go over my journal, and the scripture that Natalie and I had gone over earlier that day. Because it is important for me and her to get in the word together, it is even more important for me to spend time alone with Him. Something I have started here on project, actually since May 31, is i journal every time that I spend time in the word. I can write down thoughts, observations, interpretations, principles, and applications. This has really enabled my spiritual walk with Christ to grow even more. Last night was the first time I spent quietly reflecting on what I had written down. It was peaceful, and i really enjoyed it. Please pray that I will continue to do this, that I will continue to journal and meditate on His word, and grow in the Lord after project is over.

Serving Him,

Daniel