How To Easily Break Negativity Through Biblical Meditation
By Larry Martinez • January 7, 2021
As 2021 gets underway, people are usually doing the traditional things of making New Year’s resolutions and hoping to maintain them throughout the year. I’m also positive that people are hoping and believing that 2021 will be a lot better than this previous year. As 2020 ended, we can look back and realize that it was a year filled with a lot of crazy, roller coaster situations. The world globally entered a pandemic with COVID-19, and lots of people lost their jobs, homes and even their lives. The news was filling our minds with all the updates of how many people were infected pretty much 24 hours a day. We’re being bombarded left and right with bad news after bad news.
But as we step into 2021, we can make a conscious decision ourselves to start it off right and not allow our lives to be filled with fear, worry and other negative emotions. One of the simplest ways to do that is through meditation.
Look at what the writer says in Psalms:
Psalm 19:14 (NKJV) — 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
Psalm 104:34 (NKJV) — 34 May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the Lord.
For some Christians, meditation has taken on a negative connotation because it’s found in other religions.
In other religions, meditation takes on the idea of emptying yourself, while biblical meditation is about filling yourself.
You might think that meditation is something difficult, but it’s not. A well-known pastor made a statement that really sums up how easy meditation can be. He said,
“If you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate.”
It’s a very simple statement, but it speaks volumes once we understand that biblical meditation involves us learning to set our mind and heart on the things of God. It is something that we consciously and purposely do.
My goal in this blog is to help you realize how powerful and important meditation is for your spiritual well-being.
In Psalm 19:14 (the verse above) the Psalmist makes a connection between the meditation of our hearts and the words that come out of our mouth. When I read that, it reminded me of what Jesus said in Luke 4:26:
Luke 6:45 (NKJV) — A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Jesus likens our heart to a treasure, or how I see it, a treasure chest. When someone finds a treasure chest, it is filled with different types of gold or things of value. Jesus goes on to say that whatever our heart/treasure chest is filled with will eventually come out of our mouths. In other words, whatever the meditation of our heart is will be heard in the words we speak. I remember my former Pastor saying, “Open your mouth and let me hear what you’re thinking.” If you want to know what someone is thinking or feeling pay close attention to the words that come out of their mouth. The words of people are the result of what they have been meditating on.
If you encounter people who are always positive and praising God, it’s because they are filling their minds with God’s goodness and his word.
But if you encounter people who are always talking fear and negative things it’s because of what they have been meditating on.
I think we’ve seen a lot of this in 2020. People are fearful to go out or fearful of death because of everything they were meditating on from the news and others around them.
How can we in 2021 make sure that our hearts are filled with joy and peace and avoid the negative that will try to steal from us?
It’s by making sure that we have a healthy life that is meditating on the right things.
What are some things that steal our positive meditation on God?
1. What we see:
Matthew 6:22–23 (NKJV) — 22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
People don’t realize that the power of vision is a great gift from God. But it’s also something that we must guard, because the more we start to focus and look at the negative reports from the doctors or news, the more we start to fill our hearts with darkness that leads to fear, anxiety, and stress. These are the things that rob us of that joy and peace that comes from God. But it all starts by what we are spending time looking at.
If all you do is spend your time looking at all the reports of how many people are getting COVID-19 and dying, it won’t be long until you start to believe that you will be the next one to get it and die. This happens because you started to look and meditate on the wrong things.
2 Kings 6:8–18 (NKJV) — 8 Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.” 9 And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.” 10 Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice. 11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?” 12 And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” 13 So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” And it was told him, saying, “Surely he is in Dothan.” 14 Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 15 And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
What caused the servant to have so much fear? His perception. All he could see was the army. It wasn’t until Elisha prayed that God would open his eyes that he started to see how great of an army surrounded him.
You can focus on what’s coming against you or you can allow the Lord to open your eyes to see how he is for you, guarding and protecting you. Don’t allow what you see in the natural to rob you, but ask the Lord to open your spiritual eyes to see. Once this begins to happen you won’t be able to camp in the area of fear and doubt.
2. What We Hear:
1 Kings 19:1–3 (NKJV) — 1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
A small word from Jezebel sent Elijah running for his life. It just goes to show you the power of people’s words. This is why it’s so important for us to be careful what we listen to, because it will affect our meditation. You cannot be positive and full of faith while spending your time listening to voices of negativity and doubt.
This is why in 2021, I want to encourage you to step away some from watching so much news, politics, and other voices that will cause negative emotions and fear to get into your heart. Set your eyes and what you hear on the things of God. Allow Him and his word to be the meditations of your heart.
If you read the rest of the story of Elijah, he encounters the Lord through a still small voice. This also helps us to understand that sometimes you have to get alone with God and away from all of the loud things that try to shout in your ear and cause you to feel hopeless. Make some time in 2021 to get alone with God and listen to his still small voice speak to your heart.
These two simple things are so powerful that you’re able to see them in the story of Adam and Eve and their fall in the garden. In Genesis 3, you will see that before they partake of the forbidden fruit on the tree, they saw that the tree was pleasant, and heard the serpent talk about it. What they saw and what they heard led to their downfall.
In conclusion
As 2021 continues to roll on this year, I believe that it’s important that we start to look at and hear things that are going to persuade us and encourage us in the things of God. If 2020 was a year of dark emotions and thoughts of fear, I would like to encourage you to make that change this year by starting to meditate on the good. If you want to start the year off right, keep your mind and eyes on the right thing. You might need to cut the TV off or ignore some phone calls from people this coming year, not because you are trying to be mean or ugly, but it is because your emotional well-being as a Christian is important. Let’s meditate on all that God has done for us in 2021 and watch our lives flourish.
Proverbs 4:20–22 (NKJV) — 20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; 22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.
