Full transcript
0:00When we [music] meditate and have it
0:02inside us in abundance,
0:05it necessarily
0:07produces something. There is a [music]
0:10result. It doesn't just you don't just
0:12meditate and start thinking what to do
0:15with your meditation. Meditation is a
0:17process that produces a result. Let me
0:20look at something. There's a there's a
0:22verse of scripture. It's 1 Timothy
0:25chapter 4 and verse
0:3015.
0:32It says,
0:34"Meditate
0:36upon these things.
0:39Give thyself
0:41holy
0:42to them that thy profiting may appear to
0:47all."
0:49says, "Meditate upon these things.
0:53Give yourself completely to them
0:57so that your progress
1:00may appear to all. So that your progress
1:04may become evident."
1:06God wants your progress to be evident.
1:10Which means you can be so successful
1:12that your success will become evident to
1:15others. There's no such thing as hidden
1:17[music] success.
1:20In fact, the Lord says, "Let your light
1:22so shine before men that they may see
1:25your good works and glorify your father
1:28which is in heaven." So when your
1:31success, when your progress becomes
1:33evident,
1:35God will be glorified. [music]
1:39Others will see your progress and
1:40glorify your heavenly father. Now says
1:43meditate upon these things and give
1:45yourself [music] completely to them that
1:47your progress may appear to all. Now
1:50what does it mean by meditate?
1:54He says meditate. [music]
1:56What does it mean?
1:59What does it mean to meditate? I just
2:01want to give you a few thoughts here
2:03[music] that will help you.
2:06It's first translated to us here from
2:10the Greek melau.
2:13It means to premeditate
2:15to imagine. That means that you were
2:18using your mind to imagine.
2:21To imagine.
2:23Now notice he's not talking about some
2:26stray [music] pictures coming to your
2:28mind. You are imagining.
2:31So you are actually visualizing
2:35in your mind to devise.
2:39See to [music] devise which means you
2:42actually create those pictures in your
2:44mind. You create them you [music]
2:45construct them. Another word is to
2:47contrive
2:50to contrive
2:52and then [music] it means to ponder for
2:55the purpose of putting to practice.
3:00to ponder for the purpose [music]
3:02of putting to practice. You know, some
3:04people think, they just think, they
3:06meditate on their fears. They meditate
3:09on something terrible going to happen to
3:11them. They meditate on some dangerous
3:13situation they might find themselves.
3:15They just keep meditating on the wrong
3:18things. They create the wrong
3:20imaginations,
3:21the wrong pictures of getting into
3:24trouble, [music]
3:25of failing, of getting sick.
3:28Nasty things come to their minds.
3:30Terrible things come to their minds
3:33and then they [music] say, "I don't know
3:34why these bad thoughts keep coming to
3:36me." You set those things in motion with
3:40your mind. There are a lot of people who
3:42have bad dreams.
3:44Terrible dreams. Somebody's running
3:46after them in the night. Someone's
3:47[music] trying to destroy them. I can't
3:50have any of such dreams. It's not
3:51possible. I can have such dreams because
3:55I can't I [music] don't create such
3:58I create dreams of progress, success,
4:02advancement.
4:04That's what he told us to do.
4:07To use our minds correctly. Your mind is
4:09a tool. Never forget it. You got to use
4:11your mind. God gave your mind with which
4:15to chart your course
4:18to decide where you're going to be. You
4:19know the spirit realm is something we
4:22need to understand how we live from the
4:26[music] spirit realm into the natural
4:28world. We create the spirit realm is
4:31where you create [music] anything. God
4:34didn't just put things there like okay
4:38uh these things are in [music] existence
4:40just for you with your name on them.
4:42That's not the way it works. [music]
4:45That's not the way it works. He gave you
4:48all the necessary tools to create in the
4:52realm of the [music] spirit whatever it
4:55is you want.
4:58[music] That's the way it is.
5:00You create what you want in the realm of
5:02the spirit. Then you meditate. Set your
5:07mind on them. You cannot [music]
5:10meditate in a hurry. You see, if you
5:12meditate in a hurry, it's not
5:13meditation. You can't meditate in a
5:15hurry. You can say, "Oh, I want to
5:17meditate quickly now. I got No, no, no,
5:19no. It's some painstaking [music]
5:22effort. You ruminate."
5:25See, in your mind,
5:28you you revolve your those thoughts
5:31revolve in your mind. They take their
5:33time. There's no [music] such thing as
5:35fast forwarding your thoughts, you know,
5:38for meditation. No, you construct them.
5:42Then it becomes solid. If you have them
5:44in your mind, give time [music] to them,
5:47then nothing can stop them from becoming
5:51real [music] in the natural world.
5:54That's how you bring them from the realm
5:55of the spirit into the natural world. If
5:58you didn't complete the construction in
6:00the [music] spirit, you can't bring it
6:01into the natural world. You've got to
6:03learn to use your meditation. He says,
6:05"Meditate upon these things. [music]
6:07Give yourself completely to them that
6:09your progress may become evident." Look
6:12at the next [music] the the the next
6:14verse. The verse that follows it is very
6:17powerful because [music] it it's in the
6:19same line of thinking. I I want you to
6:21see it.
6:24That's the [music] 16th verse. He says,
6:26"Take heed unto thyself and unto the
6:29doctrine. Continue in them [music]
6:32for in doing this thou shalt save
6:35thyself and them that hear thee." Wow,
6:39that's so wonderful. He says, "Take
6:42pains with [music] these things. Be
6:44absorbed in them.
6:46Be absorbed [music] in them so that
6:49everyone will see your progress. Be
6:51conscientious about how you live."
6:54That's the [music] 16th verse. Be
6:56conscientious about how you live and
7:00[music] what you teach. Persevere in
7:03this because by doing so you [music]
7:06will save both yourself and those who
7:09listen to you.
7:10>> In this powerful message, Pastor Chris
7:13shared deep truth about the [music]
7:14things of God.
7:15>> Wonderful. Wonderful. Let me read it to
7:18you from the amplified
7:20version. It says, [music] "Practice and
7:24cultivate and meditate upon these
7:27duties.
7:29Throw [music] yourself wholly into them
7:32so that your progress may be [music]
7:34evident to everybody. Look well to
7:36yourself, [snorts] to your own
7:39personality [music]
7:41and to your teaching.
7:43Persevere in these things. Hold to them.
7:47For by doing [music] so,
7:49you will save both yourself and those
7:53who hear you. Let me tell [music] you a
7:57story.
7:58years ago,
8:00a lady went to her pastor
8:04who [music]
8:06uh really believed
8:09the teachings of God's [music] words and
8:12the power of meditation.
8:16She had a daughter
8:19who was behaving [music] very badly and
8:22would leave home for long periods of
8:25time and run off with some men
8:28somewhere, you know. And this Christian
8:31woman was so frustrated by the situation
8:35and she went to a pastor. She said, "My
8:40daughter
8:42[music] is driving me nuts.
8:45She's terrible.
8:48She's of the devil.
8:50I think the devil gave me this go." And
8:54the pastor said, "Sister, [music]
8:57you are in a bigger problem than your
8:59daughter." And she said, "Pastor, why?"
9:02He said, "Because
9:04as long as you see your daughter this
9:06way,
9:08that's what you're going to have." She
9:10didn't understand it. Then he said,
9:13"Haven't you been praying about it?" She
9:15said, "Yes."
9:17He said, "So why isn't there a change?"
9:21She said, "I don't know, but I've been
9:23praying."
9:25Then the pastor said, "Let me show you
9:27from the word of God how to make your
9:30prayers come true because there are some
9:33things you don't just pray. God already
9:36showed us what to do." So she was
9:39listening and the pastor said, "Right,
9:43my daughter is a wonderful girl and
9:47she's coming home." And he said, "No,
9:49pastor, she's not a wonderful girl.
9:50She's so bad." She interrupted the
9:53pastor. Her mind was still full of
9:55anger. The pastor said, "You want a
9:59solution, don't you?" She said, "Yes,
10:01[music] then follow the instruction."
10:05Right? My daughter is a wonderful girl
10:07and she's coming home.
10:11And so she wrote it down. Then the
10:14pastor said to her, "Write nice things
10:17about your daughter. Try." And so she
10:21tried [music] and wrote nice things
10:23about her daughter. Oh, she's a
10:26beautiful girl. She's coming home. She's
10:28doing nice things. She's helping other
10:30people. And she's writing all these
10:32beautiful things about her daughter
10:34who's in some hotel somewhere, you know,
10:36[music] misbehaving with some other guy
10:38somewhere. But the pastor said, "You've
10:41got to learn to have in your mind a
10:47picture of what you want. If you can't
10:49create it, it will never happen. So the
10:52lady
10:54wrote that down and the pastor said,
10:56"Read this every day. Several times a
11:01day and read it to yourself several
11:04times a day until
11:06you can say it without reading it. Until
11:09you become so excited about it,
11:12it's in your mind. You just so love it
11:16and you can see it.
11:19Then she said, "All right." So the
11:21pastor said, "That's when we will pray
11:22together. When you can't believe it, we
11:25will pray." [music] So she went back and
11:27for several days
11:30she's going through this difficulty
11:32of fighting between
11:35you know what she thinks in her mind
11:38about her daughter and the the
11:40circumstances and what the pastor says
11:43[music]
11:44this is how you can create what you
11:45want. But she's trying. She's going
11:48through it every day, several times a
11:50day. And you know what? After several
11:53weeks,
11:55and the girl wouldn't come home. She's
11:58like, she's gone. And she's not hearing
12:01from her daughter anymore. So, she came
12:04to church one day and she's so excited.
12:06She says, "Pastor, guess what?" And
12:08started saying all these things so
12:09[music] happily. My daughter's a
12:11wonderful God. She's so beautiful. She's
12:13coming home. She's helping other people.
12:15You know, she's so excited. The pastor
12:18had to say, "Come down. Come down. Come
12:20down. Has she come now? Oh, pastor,
12:24she's coming home. She's coming home."
12:26She's so excited. Then pastor says, "Oh,
12:29he got it." Then he says, "Now, let's
12:32join together and decree that these
12:35things that you have stated [music] will
12:37come to pass." And right there and then
12:41they decreed that this will come to
12:43pass. and she went back home. Three
12:46nights later, they're sleeping at home,
12:49there's a knock at the door. She just
12:52knew it had to be her daughter.
12:54She just knew it had to be. And [music]
12:57she comes to the door and right away,
13:01"Hello," she says. And it's her
13:03daughter.
13:05She walks in, [music]
13:06"Please forgive me. Please forgive me. I
13:09did this. I did that." And the mom says,
13:11"Don't worry about it. I knew you were
13:13coming. I knew you were coming [music]
13:15in the reconciled. She gave her life to
13:17Christ right there and received the Holy
13:19Spirit. Think about it. Think about it.
13:24Nothing is impossible.
13:26All we have to do is use what God has
13:29given to us. If you will meditate on
13:32God's word, you'll be amazed. You'll be
13:35amazed. It'll produce its message in
13:38you. It'll produce it in you. Think
13:42today what [music] do you want to see in
13:45your life? What part of the word do you
13:49want to see in your life?
13:51Is it more wisdom you want manifested in
13:54your life? Is it health? Have you been
13:57having health challenges and [music]
13:59you're thinking, I really want to be
14:00healthy. I don't want to be going for
14:02this drugs and those drugs and the other
14:04anymore. I want to be healthy and sound.
14:07Is that what you want? Or is it your
14:09finances? Don't think about those who
14:12are paying you or not paying you. Those
14:13who are owing you. No, don't think about
14:15them. Think about our wonderful heavenly
14:18father who supplies all our needs, all
14:21our desires, everything we ever require
14:24for life and godliness. Think about him
14:27and think like this world belongs to you
14:31and all you want or need or require is
14:34[music] coming to you by free cause.
14:37>> Think like that. You'll be amazed at the
14:40results.
14:41What I want you to do at this moment is
14:43[music]
14:45take the next few minutes
14:48and contrive. Practice this. Use your
14:52mind. Try to think of something
14:55that [music] you want the way you want
14:58it to be. Not the way it is, but how you
15:01want it. Hold a picture in your mind of
15:04a situation that's [music] been on your
15:07mind. And I want you to think
15:10of how you really want it to be. What do
15:14you want to see next about this
15:16situation? Picture it. Try to create a
15:20picture and see will that picture make
15:22you happy? All right. Would it make you
15:25happy? [music] Would you be excited
15:26about it? What do you want this picture
15:28to be? Okay. So, set your mind on it.
15:32You just have a few minutes.
15:35Get a picture. That's just what I want
15:37you to get a picture of what you want.
15:41Whether it's about your job, about your
15:43life, about your body, what whatever it
15:45is, your finances, anything.
15:48Just think about it.
15:50In fact, you can even try to write it
15:54down if you want to. Just write what you
15:57want and then start having that picture
16:00in your mind exactly the way you want it
16:02to.
16:04So, let's go. Colossians chapter 2
16:09from verse 6. As you have therefore
16:13received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
16:16ye in him, rooted and built up in him,
16:21and established in the faith as you have
16:24been taught,
16:26abounding therein [music] with
16:28thanksgiving.
16:29Beware lest any man spoil you through
16:33philosophy and vain deceit. after the
16:36tradition of men, after the rudiments of
16:39the world, [music]
16:40and not after Christ.
16:42For in him dwelleth all the fullness of
16:46the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete
16:51in him, which is the head of all
16:54principality
16:56and power. And I said for us to meditate
17:00on this portion
17:03of the Bible because it's loaded with
17:06information with truth
17:10and we will discuss this. I want to
17:13point something to you there in that
17:16sixth verse.
17:18It says as you have therefore received
17:20Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him.
17:26is in verse six it says as he have
17:30therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord
17:33[music] to walk ye in him. Now when it
17:37says as he have received Christ Jesus
17:39the word is paralano and paralano means
17:43to receive into association.
17:46It means to join yourself with to
17:49receive closely.
17:51So it's a word of association, a a word
17:55of relationship. So you're actually
17:57coming into a relationship. So you're
18:00joining yourself with him or he is
18:03received in such a relationship that you
18:06become one with him. That's what that
18:09word means.
18:11So it says [music] as he have received
18:14the Lord.
18:16He's talking about [music] Jesus. You've
18:17received him. You've joined yourself
18:20with him. You've come into a close
18:23relationship with him. That means
18:26receiving him into nearness, into
18:28association. See, he says, "Now, walk in
18:32him. Live in him. Walk in him." In other
18:36words, we've been born into a new
18:39environment called Christ.
18:42See, you you no longer think like you're
18:45of this world because you're no longer
18:47of this world. When you're born again,
18:49you're born into Christ. You're born
18:51into a new environment.
18:53See, think about it this way. Imagine
18:56that you were born in England. There's a
19:00certain way you would think. That's
19:02different from if you were born in Ghana
19:07or if you were born in in France,
19:13you think differently.
19:15See, your place of birth matters a great
19:18deal.
19:20Your place of birth, it says something
19:23about your heritage.
19:26It says something about what belongs to
19:28you and it says something about how you
19:31may live.
19:34And that's why God wants us to know what
19:37we've been born into the environment,
19:40the nation. He says this man was born
19:43there.
19:45See, says when he writeth of the people,
19:49he would say this man was born there. Of
19:52Zion, it shall be said this man was born
19:56there. You were born in Zion.
20:00So where you're born matters. Now when
20:04you're born again, he gives you this
20:06light. He says, "Now that you've
20:08received Christ Jesus, now that you're
20:11born again, now that you have this new
20:13life in Christ, he says, walk in him."
20:18In him, because Christ is a place. See,
20:21Christ is a person.
20:23Christ is also a title.
20:26But beyond all of that, Christ [music]
20:29is a place. Did you know when Jesus
20:32said, "I will go and prepare a place for
20:35you, and if I go and prepare a place for
20:37you, I'll come again to receive you
20:39[music] unto myself, that where I am,
20:41there you may be also."
20:44Now, what Jesus was saying there was,
20:47I'm going to prepare a place, a place
20:49called Christ.
20:52That's the city that we've been born
20:55into. That's the environment [music]
20:58that we now belong to. So he says live
21:01in this environment. Not only are you
21:03born here, he says I want you to live
21:05here.
21:06So you become a native of this
21:09environment. [music] You know you can be
21:11born in a certain country and live in
21:12another country. You can be born in one
21:15environment and live in another
21:16environment.
21:19He knows that. So he says, "Now that
21:22you're born in this environment called
21:24Christ, [music] I want you to live here.
21:27I want you to have the mentality
21:31that you have, that you're supposed to
21:33have, that you develop, that you're
21:35given through the [music] word and the
21:38Holy Ghost in Christ." And here, one of
21:42those very powerful statements in
21:45[music] verse 10, ye are complete in
21:48him.
21:50Ye are complete [music] in Christ. How
21:52powerful this is. It's um it's a
21:56climactic statement.
22:00Something you run with. You hear it and
22:03[music] you never again should think
22:05differently. It's like the revelation at
22:09the summit.
22:11You see, because he says you're complete
22:14in him, meaning everything
22:19that is necessary for life and
22:21godliness, that's the way Peter put it.
22:25Everything that's required for life and
22:28godliness
22:29has been granted you in Christ. You've
22:31got everything.
22:34Everything. Never again think that
22:38something [music] is missing in your
22:39life. Never again.
22:42Did you know [music] when a Christian
22:45thinks like, "Oh, there's something I
22:47don't have." Or even something missing
22:50in your body, maybe you think, "Okay, I
22:52don't have this or I don't have that."
22:54You're thinking wrongly in Christ,
22:59you're complete.
23:01That's the way God sees you. He's
23:04granted you all things. And you've got
23:06to have this mentality. [music]
23:09You've got to have this way of thinking.
23:13You're not allowed to think differently.
23:15Now, to think differently means to think
23:17like those outside of Christ, those
23:21outside our environment.
23:23We have a mentality. We have a
23:25reasoning. Our mentality is called the
23:27wisdom of the righteous. See, it's the
23:31wisdom of the righteous. We walk with
23:32the wisdom of the righteous. That's what
23:35the Bible tells us that we should renew
23:38our minds.
23:40See, every Christian has the
23:42responsibility to renew his mind. When
23:46you come to Christ, when you're born
23:48again, now you're born into this
23:49environment. You've [clears throat] got
23:50to renew your mind. You can't live in
23:53Christ with the same mind that you had
23:56in the world. You can't think like them.
24:00You can't talk like them. It's not
24:03allowed. You can't use the wrong
24:05language. But you [music] see, if you
24:07don't know the word of God, you can't
24:08have the language. The language isn't
24:11dropped in your tongue. You got to learn
24:13it. You learn it from the word. You're
24:17trained in the word. You renew your mind
24:20through the word. [music] It It's an
24:22exchange.
24:23You give up
24:25your way of thinking [music]
24:27for his way of thinking.
24:30You give up your thoughts for his
24:32thoughts. You give up your opinions for
24:35his opinions. That's Christian growth.
24:38As long as you have your opinions that
24:40are different from God's opinions, you
24:43are still thinking like the world.
24:45You're still thinking like the
24:46environment
24:48of the world.