Biblical Affirmations

An Introduction to Christian Meditation and Memorization

In my last post, I answered the questions of ‘what’s in it for me’ and what are the benefits of Christian meditation and memorization? In this post, we will explore how meditating on God’s Word leads to Biblical affirmations.

Christian Meditation involves renewing our minds and changing the content of our hearts and minds with the Word of God. “In other words, do not let yourselves be conformed to the standards of the ‘olam hazeh. Instead, keep letting yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your minds; so that you will know what God wants and will agree that what he wants is good, satisfying and able to succeed.” ~ Romans 12:2

One of my favorite verses penned by King Shlomo is, “Here is the final conclusion, now that you have heard everything: fear God, and keep his mitzvot; this is what being human is all about.” ~ Ecclesiastes 12:13 (CJB) Christian Meditation is meditating on His character, His ways and His will; gaining a greater understanding of what pleases God and at the same time learning how to walk in His will and blessings.

So what is a Biblical Affirmations?

According to Merriam-Webster.com, an affirmation is the act of affirming, a positive assertion. Synonyms include: protestation, assertion, asseveration, avouchment, avowal, claim, declaration, insistence, and profession. Fortunately, they also provide a definition for kids: an act of saying or showing that something is true.Biblical affirmations are nothing more than Bible verses stated in a positive, first person, present tense form. Daily confessing and speaking what the Word of God says about us can truly be life-transforming. Generally, we will concentrate on those passages that speak to a particular area of our life in need of help or encouragement.

In re-reading “Search for Significance” by Robert S. McGee several years ago I was reminded that we need to verbalize what the blood of the Messiah has done for us based upon Romans 5:1 and Colossians 1:21-22. We are deeply loved, completely forgiven, fully pleasing, totally accepted, and complete in Yeshua.

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~ Romans 5:1 (ESV) [1]

“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.” ~ Colossians 1:21-22 (ESV)

Based upon these two verses, I daily recite this affirmation during my morning devotions:

Because of the Messiah and His redemption, I am completely forgiven and fully pleasing to God. I am totally accepted by God.

The book of Psalms is a gold mine of positive affirmative verses. One of my favorites is based on Psalm 146:5. “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God.” ~ Psalm 146:5 (ESV) that translates into the following affirmation:

I am blessed because my help and hope is in the Lord.

It is vital to fill out hearts and minds with positive words of life from the Word of God in order to live a healthy and productive life as we strive to fulfill our calling from God within the body of Believers.

A Word of Caution

 When I was attending formal training for the ministry, we were taught to never take a text out of context. For example, an atheist can truthfully proclaim that the Bible states “there is no God.”   As a matter of fact, in the English Standard Version, that phrase is repeated in sixteen (16) different verses. [2] Of course, those four words are taken entirely out of context. Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.”

Taking a text out of context can be extremely dangerous. Let’s look at 1 Kefa 2:24. “He himself bore our sins in His body on the stake, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness — by His wounds you were healed.” I’ve seen too many people take the last phrase to affirmatively state that “By Yeshua’s stripes, I am healed.” With that phrase they are claiming physical healing.

But is that what Kefa is saying? John MacArthur has stated: “Through the wounds of Christ at the Cross, believers are healed spiritually from the deadly disease of sin. Physical healing comes at glorification only, when there is no more physical pain, illness, or death (see Revelation 21:4).” [3]

Unfortunately, I believe that many proponents of the ‘prosperity’ or ‘name-it-and-claim-it’ Gospel are in error and causing many immature Believers to develop positive affirmations out of context. I wonder how that ‘prosperity gospel’ plays in the worst slums in the world?  As you practice developing your own affirmations, ensure that you fully know the promise was meant as a universal promise to the original recipient(s).

“Let us continue holding fast to the hope we acknowledge, without wavering; for the One who made the promise is trustworthy.” ~ Hebrews 10:23

In my next post, we will look at some techniques that we can use to meditate on God’s Word.

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[1] As my regular readers know, I default to the Complete Jewish Bible as my primary translation for this blog. However, for my personal Bible reading this year I have has been using the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). For meditating and memorization, I have been using the English Standard Version (ESV).

[2] See Deuteronomy 32:39; 2 Samuel 7:22; 1 Kings 8:23; 2 Kings 1:3, 6, 16 and 5:15; 1 Chronicles 17:20; 2 Chronicles 6:14; Psalm 10:4 and 53:1; Isaiah 44:6 and 45:5; and, 1 Corinthians 8:4.

[3] The MacArthur Bible Commentary.