This post is the second excerpt of Frank Hamrick’s insightful eight lesson study Mighty Through God. In this segment Frank summarizes the ways we can find daily guidance for life from God and His Word.

We have five basic spiritual needs in life, and all five needs can be met through meditation in God’s Word. They are:

We Need Victory Over Sin

How do we overcome sin and temptation? The answer is found in Psalm 119:9 &11: by meditation in God’s Word.

“There are special verses that deal with specific sins in our lives. These verses we call weapons verses.”

There are different weapons verses for different sins. As I meditate in the Word, I discover these various weapons verses and am able to add them to my spiritual armory for use against specific sins I may face in the future.

We Need Wisdom In Decision-Making

How do we make wise choices when we can’t see the end from the beginning? By meditating on certain specific types of verses in the Bible. Again, not all of God’s Word was written to tell me what to do in a particular situation, but some of God’s Word does give me special advice.

Psalm 119:24 tells us that God’s “testimonies” are our “counselors.” (Note the plural form of counselor is used.). That is, for every decision you will ever have to make in life, there is a particular verse, somewhere in the Bible, that will give you perfect advice. The problem is, how do you find that verse? By looking for principles in the Word.

Principles are found throughout the Bible and provide wisdom for decision-making.

We Need To Be Able To Live Above Our Circumstances

Some people are controlled by their circumstances. They have not learned, as Paul did, to be content no matter what their situation. If things are going well, they are happy. If things are not going smoothly, they are sad and ready to quit. They can’t rise above their circumstances.

Psalm 119:71 and 81 relate to this. David faced “affliction.” What it was, we don’t know. Maybe he was sick. Perhaps he is referring to the problem with his son, Absalom. Maybe it was the death of one of his sons or the constant threat on his life from Saul. Whatever it was, it didn’t get David down. He actually thanked God for the affliction. Why? Because (1) it drove him to the Word (verse 71) and (2) it made him hope in (depend on) the Word (verse 81).

How do I overcome my circumstances? By meditating on promises in the Bible. Promises, unlike principles and weapons, are designed for difficult situations.

Through meditation you will discover and use these promises to get victory in your life.

We Need Conquering Faith

Life requires faith. But how do we get such faith? Asaph tells us in Psalm 77:2-3. 5-6and 10-12 that his faith comes from his trust in God, his remembering what God had done in times past (verse 5) and his remembering the miracles and mighty deeds of God in his own life and in the lives of others in the past (verses 10-12).

What are these deeds Asaph is remembering? They are what we call providences. Asaph, through meditation, had discovered many great providences of God in the lives of others and in his own life; and when hard times came, he had faith to continue because he knew how God had saved in the past and that the God of the past was the God of the present.

…his meditation on providences had given him conquering faith.

We Need Godly Character

How do we become godly? The answer is…we focus on God, we will become like Him. This we see in 2 Corinthians 3:18:

…to develop godly character we must focus on the person of God.