True Spiritual Therapy (TST)-Part 1

Ministry Of the Word (MOW)

Improving Our Spiritual Understanding

Theme: True Spiritual Therapy (TST)-Part 1

Memory Verses:

“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts”(Jeremiah 15:16).

Beloved

This week you are moving higher in your relationship with God in Christ, in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. One of the functional titles of our Lord Jesus Christ is “higher than the highest”(Ecclesiastes 5:8).

The good news is that the Lord wants to draw us closer to Himself. He says:

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).

Beloved, true Christianity is about relationship and friendship with God in Christ Jesus ( John 15:14).

The moment you surrender to God and give your life to our Lord Jesus Christ, your first lover is Jesus. He becomes your first love. Please do not forsake “thy first love” (Rev 2:4).

Unfortunately many Christians lack understanding of this concept of first love; what you value most, you spend time with: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God , and his righteousness…”(Matthew 6:33)

When Jesus was on earth, the bible says many of His disciples left Him (John 6:66), when He  told them :

“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” (John 6:53). They did not have spiritual understanding of what Jesus meant. They must have really wondered how can they ‘eat’ the flesh of Jesus and ‘drink’ His blood?

In our memory verse the bible says,  when Prophet Jeremiah found the word of God, he began to ‘eat’ the word of God, and realised that eating the word of God produced a lot of joy and rejoicing  in his heart. Eating the Word is symbolic of meditating, digesting, absorbing and assimilating the word of God.

There is a NEW psychological therapy called Mindfulness Therapy(MT), currently being promoted in the Western world.

Mindfulness therapy is partly derived from the principle of meditation such as the Eastern Buddhist meditation.

Mindfulness therapy is now widely recognised as being effective in the treatment of mild to moderate anxiety and depression as well as stress management in most western countries . Many therapists are now combining the principles of Mindfulness with that of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy(CBT). CBT has long been recognised as an effective psychological therapy and is widely used.

Increasingly, science is now emphasising that what we daily focus our minds and thoughts on is important with regard to driving and controlling our personality.

In practical terms, Mindfulness Therapy is about focusing your mind and attention on the HERE and NOW.  Learning to live one second at a time; one minute at a time; one hour at a time; one day at a time. During this period, you learn to appreciate everything around you, far and near: the plant, the flower, the  sun , the moon, your body, your room, your family , your friends etc.

Interestingly, many practitioners of Mindfulness are not professed Christians. I have often wondered why non believers will use principles not strictly from the word of God to help many people in need , but you find Christians suffering but hiding away, perhaps due to shame and embarrassment . As a Christian, if you can understand and practice the principle of True Spiritual Therapy(TST),  embodied in true spiritual meditation, fear, anxiety, depression, doubt and worries will stay away from you completely. TST is based on the word  and purpose of Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life ( John 14:6).

There is a general saying in life that nothing good comes easy or that in life nothing goes for nothing. Learn the habit of true spiritual Meditation , and you will turn your life around.

True spirituality therapy is about focusing your mind, attention and thoughts on JESUS and bringing all your burden before Him( Matt 11:28-30). In  other word,  at all times, always “Looking unto Jesus… Hebrews 12:2.

If you have never done meditation or spiritual meditation before, you might think it’s very difficult. I can assure you, it is not. All you need is to start with commitment and to persevere . In practice, start in a very simple practical way following the suggestions below:  Find a very quiet place daily, where no one will disturb you; Switch off you phones, iPads, radio and television ; Start with graded duration such as 5 minutes daily for a few weeks, then 10 minutes daily, then 15 minutes daily, then 30 minutes, then 1 hour, until you master the process; Start with focusing your mind faithfully on common scriptures such as Matt 6:33; John 3:16, Psalm 119:11 and other scriptures that relate to your situation; You will notice your mind/thoughts wander away initially, keep directing your mind back to JESUS; As you focus on Jesus, the Word of God, imagine and consider His love, goodness, joy, peace, mercy, faithfulness, sincerity , righteousness, holiness, purity, wisdom, integrity and power. As stated, you can start with 5 minutes daily or even shorter, but gradually increase the duration as you master the process . As you practice this daily, you will be amazed about the benefits: joy, peace, calmness of mind, faith as well as the out pouring of more Holy Spirit. There is an unfolding body of evidence in scientific literature about the benefits of spiritual meditation, when done sincerely and faithfully. In practice, with training, you can learn to meditate any where you are: car, train, toilet, bathroom, kitchen, work etc, for 2 minutes or 5 minutes each time. Repeat this a few times daily. You may choose to close your eyes to reduce distraction.

Hopefully, further messages on True Spiritual Therapy or spiritual meditation will follow as the Lord leads.

Jesus Himself was a great meditator on the word of God while on earth. As you daily learn to meditate on the word of God, even your physical body gets refreshed in the process. The book of Proverbs says this about the word of God: “For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh” (Proverbs 4:22).

Apostle John says:

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life”(1John 1:1).

Yes, the word of God is the word of Life. Meditate on it day and night and you shall never die. Meditate on it  and you shall live for ever. Meditate on it and you shall live even when you die( John 11:25).

When God called Joshua, he was commanded to meditate on the word of God day and night:

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success”(Joshua 1:8). The prosperity you need is in the word of God.

There are certain things money can never buy. Learn to key into True Spiritual Therapy(TST) and let your life be transformed for good.

Recently, I had to explain to a Brother that in the MOW, we are guided by Matthew 10:8: “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” Jesus, Paul, Peter, John etc , were not collecting money from people in any form while preaching and teaching the word of God, unlike what is going on today in many organisational churches. That great preacher that God is using to do miracles, how much did he pay for the word of God or for the anointing of the Holy Spirit?

What I do is what I freely encourage others to do. Learn to meditatively ‘eat’ the word of God daily and your life will be turned around for good.

It shall be well with you this second half of 2015 in Jesus precious name. Amen.

To grow spiritually increasingly requires daily meditation in the word of God, with total fear of God. Train yourself yourself to be godly…(Tim 4:7-8, NIV). Learn to meditate on the word of God day and night ( Joshua 1:8).

 The Fire you need to burn the feathers of witches and wizards around you is in the word( Jeremiah 23:29).