Jan 14

Psalms 1:1-3
1Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.

2But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.

3They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

What does it mean to meditate? Well, it doesn't mean to put your mind in neutral and go "ohm." That's not meditation. Meditation means seriously thinking about something.

Our Scripture passage today says that a person who meditates on God's Word is "like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers" (v. 2-3).

I want that to be true in your life. I want whatever you do to prosper, but the Bible says the premise for this promise is your commitment to study his Word.

Today's action point is this: I want you to get involved in Bible study. If you already are, that's great! Keep it up! But if you aren't, I would encourage you to find a Bible study group and join it. You will be amazed at how much studying God's Word in a small group blesses your life.

I think meditation means to channel your thoughts into one. That being said, meditating upon the Word doesn't give God more attention, it enables us to remember and apply that knowledge into our everyday lives. Instead of skimming through notes regularly, productive meditation could allow you to remember things fairly quickly and effectively.
We HAVE to know the bible in the back of our minds, not just to defend ourselves but to evangelize, especially we're taking part in the spring missions.
In our retreat group, Yeni really strongly emphasized the idea of reading the bible and how it SHOULDN'T be a change in our lives, yet we should already be doing so.
If not, coming to church would be meaningless.
Can't really just dip our feet into the water.

I think there was a really big important idea on the 3rd verse "They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season"

I personally thought of it as us having to watch out for where we position ourselves and how that really affects our faith. In missions we go to some dangerous places and places which are lacking of people with faith in Christ, and it's understandable. Missions are meant for us to spread the gospel in places which need it. But really, otherwise, we shouldn't really be putting ourselves in a position that could potentially jeopardize the safety of our faith. When we put our faith in places that really aren't pro faith or are extremely detrimental to it, it gets hurt. Alot. Faith is a lot more fragile than we'd think, especially if we're more on the "smarter" side than a "believing" side.

So yeah. Watch out for your faith, and what environment you put it in.

Today's passage placed emphasis on scripture reading
One thing I took note of in our praise team is that a little too often, some say "I didn't get much" and not really reflect
There are those days. Then, there are those times where we're tired, and we simply want to dismiss the devo.
That's a little bothersome considering that the main point is literally right there in the daily devotional.

Effort is all we really need to put in. I liked how it was pointed out, that meditating isn't zoning out. It's thinking.
Meditation is more often than not thought as, "I'll blank out, God do the rest"
When we meditate on God's word, we should be thinking of the main message, subliminal ones, and see how it speaks out to us.
Time and effort is all it takes, and I think truly then, Will God do the rest.

After doing devotions daily, it will eventually seem like a chore. In my experience anyways.
But it's passages like these:

Our Scripture passage today says that a person who meditates on God's Word is "like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers" (v. 2-3).

That constantly remind us, why we do these devotions. To grow and prosper and that we don't wither spiritually.

2But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.

For this little line, taking delight was what stuck out. If we know that something needs to be done daily, make the most out of it.
If we know we're going to be doing anything at all, what's the harm in taking delight in it! Better to do it with a good attitude.
And having the opportunity to learn about God, and in some ways, have him communicate to us through scripture is something to be delightful about.

meditating on god's word helps strengthen our faith and prepares us for what is ahead.
we are able to learn more and have more knowledge in our our faith when we start to meditate on the word.

as it says:
"They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season"
We are growing well in our faith when we take time to listen and take what God wants you to know.
A healthy relationship with our lord is what we should go for.
It's hard to sometimes put aside some time for him and meditate. Especially as we are nearing exams, there's so much to do.
But the more often we get into that routine, the easier it can become.
stay strong in your spirit and stay commited to him.
~Audrey~

I think that verse 3 really stood out to me
3They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
Because this is saying that When we meditate we are planting new relations with God which will grow and prosper. And as well our relationship with God will never wither away. Meditating isn’t just blanking out and hoping that God speaks to you. It is when we think hard upon a certain message or passage. To reflect upon it and do a little checklist
thats what i got
gnite

3They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

Meditation is when you really try hard to think about tone certain thing. It says that people who meditate are like the trees in scripture. I think this means that when you meditate you are coming across so many different ideas and thoguhtts to help support the church or bring others closer to God. So you bear fruit each season when you lift others up to God or help the church. They will never lose faith in God and always stick with. THey love what they do and wont give up wanything for it.
We should be more like this beacuse we are leaders of our church. I think its importatnt to know that the congregation looks up to us even if they are older than youguys. We should be able to spread Gods word help the church with no problem what so ever.. We are one family and it should be easy for us to bear fruit in Gods house. We just need to try.