God put on my heart to remind His people about the importance of meditation. Some of you may already know or have heard about it, but some may not know how important meditating on the Word of God is. I’m reminded of Hosea 4:6 “My people have been cut off for lack of knowledge” (YLT). If you don’t understand how vital mediation is to your Christian growth, you can easily be cut off from what God has promised you. For those that do know, we must be careful to avoid what Hebrews 2:1 said and let it slip.

Without meditation, you cannot grow in the things of God and you won’t see manifestations in your life – whether it be healing, deliverance, breakthrough or prosperity. Meditation is something that must be done on purpose. Unfortunately, we still have a lot of Christians waiting for the Lord to do something. I say it all the time “we’re not waiting on God. God is waiting on us.”

What Does Meditation Do?

Meditation is what transforms your belief. What seemed impossible yesterday seems possible today and what was an obstacle is now an opportunity. Biblical meditation elevates your thinking to reflect the way God thinks and see the way God sees.

Meditation produces and inner programming or inner image on the inside of you. Meditating on the Word of God allows you to change any situation by focusing on what’s in your believing system instead of yielding to what’s going on around you. It’s a spiritual experience, changing how you believe, see and view things and an experience that will raise your level of revelation despite the information available. There is a huge difference between revelation and information. Revelation supersedes, or goes beyond, information. No matter your age, education level or how well you speak, you can receive revelation through meditation

Revelation operates on a higher level than education and information and can give you an answer within 24 hours that information couldn’t give you in a lifetime. There was a scientist named George Washington Carver who discovered hundreds of uses of the peanut and other crops. Carver was a Christian and spent his early mornings with God meditating before going to his laboratory, and God downloaded the revelation for him to discover all those creations.

Joshua 1:8 says “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.” This verse tells us several things: that there is a process, a time factor, an obedience factor and manifestation.

The Process

Again Joshua 1:8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night…”. Part of the meditation process is the Word has to stay in your mouth. Another definition for meditate is “to chew on”. For the word to not depart out of your mouth, you’ve got to keep chewing on it – like food. We’re not supposed to rush eating – we have to chew on the food so we can digest it properly. Meditating, or chewing on the word, is a process. That’s why we‘re to do it day and night. Some of us rush the process; if we don’t see a manifestation by tomorrow we’ll quit. Meditation is a daily process and we can’t rush it.

Meditation is not simply studying and reading the Bible every day or watching Christian TV. Some of us have a routine or ritual, and that’s good, but it’s not mediation. You can recite Genesis through Revelation in order and know all the stories… but how much of it do you believe? I’ll take a person who has revelation from one verse of scripture over someone who has memorized the whole Bible.

The Obedience Factor

Meditation is followed by obedience. When you get to the point where God has revealed something you, there will be an opportunity to obey an instruction. Obedience is always necessary for a manifestation to take place. “Well Dr. Pettis, I’ve been meditating on the Word for a while but I haven’t received an instruction yet.” You have to keep going. Whenever you get revelation, God is going to give you an instruction. I’ll give you an example:

In Matthew 9, a woman had an issue of blood for 12 years, spending all she had on doctors and didn’t get better but grew worse. In those times, those with her condition were prohibited from being in public, but she took a chance at physically retribution because she needed to see Jesus. I believe she meditated on the Old Testament scripture in Malachi 4:2 “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings”. From here she received a revelation that Jesus would be her path to wholeness. The ‘wings’ are the tassels at the fringe of Jesus’ robe and “she had been saying to herself, ‘If I only touch His outer robe, I will be healed’” (Matt. 9:21 AMP). In obedience to what she heard and now believed through revelation, she touched his robe and she was immediately healed and made whole.

Manifestation

Manifestations don’t show up unannounced or without permission, but they come after there has been some revelation. You can’t get any revelation until you have first meditated. As you get revelation and apply what’s been revealed, the manifestation follows. Many times, we wonder why it seems God isn’t working on our behalf. There hasn’t been a manifestation because there hasn’t been a revelation and there hasn’t been any revelation because there’s been no meditation.

This is a daily process, not when you just come to church, living from Sunday to Sunday. It is to be consistently done on purpose.

It doesn’t make natural sense that you just chew on the Word, receive a revelation, follow the instruction and produce a manifestation. But you’ve got to trust the process. Be singularly focused on what you’re meditating on. You will have good success.

After you’ve mediated on these things, you’ll make your way. The way has already been made, but there’s a process for us to make it manifest in our lives. After you’ve mediated on healing, you’’ll make your way healthy. When I meditate on prosperity, you’ll make your way prosperous. Anything you want to change in your life can be found in Scripture – you must first find out what the Word says. When you’re seeking a manifestation, find verses of Scripture (2 or 3 witnesses so every word shall be established) and start meditating on them.

Revelation works above information, statistics, rules and regulations. Without revelation, we’re bound by these things. As a child of God, we need meditation to “make our way”.

How long should an engagement last?

Biblically, an engagement is when a husband finds a wife and they come into agreement to say, “this is the wife I am going to be a husband to” and vice versa. However, most people were not taught what being a wife or husband truly is. Before entering into an engagement, or even seeking a mate, the couple must already be a husband and wife, just as to apply for a position within a law firm you already have to be a lawyer. When you become engaged you are already ready to be married, not preparing for it. An engagement is the period of time that one takes to prepare for the wedding. Entering into an engagement is a husband and a wife coming together to be married and simply prepare for the wedding, which means it should only last the period of time it takes to plan and pay for the wedding. This period should not be preparing yourself to be married.

How do I raise a child in the Word of God when the other parent does not raise them in the same manner?

Unfortunately, this is a heavy consequence that arises when things are done out of order such as having children out of wedlock or marrying someone who is not equally yoked. These situations can be difficult, so clear discussions must be had between parents to prepare them and bring awareness to the possible struggles. However, this is not the end and all is not lost. Like all things, you pray and continue to trust and believe God while you stand on Scripture because this is your child and you have to protect them. Be sure to instill the Word of God in the child because there is power in the Word. In areas where the world pulls at your child, DO NOT BE LENIENT and afraid to be the “bad” parent. Stand strong on the Word of God and do not waiver.

How do I deal with rejection and not succumb to the feeling of being “not enough”?

You have to change your perception and how you receive things from people. Second Corinthians 4:9 speaks of being “persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed”. Without saying it explicitly, this scripture speaks about perception. There are many ways to look at a situation – one can see a situation of losing a friend or partner as “I have been rejected” and another can see the same situation as “I now have a better opportunity to find someone better”.
If rejection is rooted within you, you can get used to being rejected and not even ask or expect things. Rejection is a choice and comes usually when self-esteem is low. Also, what some people say should not matter or hold a lot of weight to you.
Lastly, insecurities and issues should not be pushed under the rug or avoided. You have to be your own biggest supporter and the biggest critic. No one can cheer you on like yourself and no one can make you feel worse than you.

How can you tell if you are in a “faith fight” or if God is preventing something from coming your way?

When you are in faith fight, patience shows up when your faith is tried. Patience shows up so you can endure and not be moved by trials. If the trying of your faith stops you, you have to question if you were really in faith. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but it is important to know where you are at. Count it all joy when your faith is tested (James 1: 2-8).

God will also let you know if this is Him intervening; ask God for wisdom. Remember the Bible says “there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). God will direct your path. Don’t end up with an Ishmael and not an Isaac – remember, good or bad, God will allow what you allow.

Why is it hard or challenging for some fathers to assume primary responsibility for their children?

It is always assumed the mother is always the one who is primarily responsible for them.
It can depend on the structure of the house and family. Does the wife stay at home or do both parents work?
The husband’s outlook on the family can be based on how a man sees their own father and what part he played in their family. Even though the husband may have this outlook, that does not make it right. Make sure you talk and come to an understanding.
Keep in mind, when your husband or wife keeps the kids, this is not doing your spouse a favor. The children are both your responsibility.

If you’re being honest, on a scale from 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your life? Before you answer, let me say that this message is for you only. It’s not for your friend, your spouse, your boss or anyone in the room with you. Just you. I want to declare that everybody is looking for something in life. But the most common thing we are all looking for is identity. Many are on a search for love, peace, prosperity, happiness, purpose, etc. but most people don’t know you’ll never find these things in life until you first find yourself. One of the biggest mistakes on this journey of life is searching for things on the outside when you’ve never searched for self on the inside.

How do you know what makes you happy or what you want or need if you’re still not confident in who the real you is? I’ve been there myself: searching for the external without settling the internal. I too, used to believe people, places and things were the missing link in life. If I had more money, a better job, bills paid, a spouse, a house, a car, if I lose weight, were taller, was younger…
We must understand that people, places or things were never designed nor have the power to complete your life. None of us would actually say that we depend on these things to complete our life or feel fulfilled but the truth is that many of us do.

In 1980, country singer Johnny Lee recorded a song “Looking for Love (in All the Wrong Places)”. Could it be that what you’ve been looking for in life you’ve been looking in the wrong place? Here are some troubling statistics:

• In 2016 over 10 million American adults have dealt with depression
• On average, there are 123 suicides per day in the U.S.
• Over 9 million people had a suicidal thought in the past year
• 4 out of 5 women have low self-esteem
• Only 2% of women think they are beautiful
• 80% of men are affected by their body image and are unhappy with the way they look
• One of 3 adults admit fear of being alone.

I could go on, but it’s clear that most people are looking for something or someone to bring some contentment to their lives. What you should understand is the problem has never been about what you think you don’t have. The real problem is that you haven’t found you yet – and it doesn’t matter what your age is, be it 21 or 91 years old. Why is it that we still see people with seemingly everything they would want in life but are still living with an empty hole in their heart?

John Chapter 4 tells a story of a Samarian woman who realized that what she had in life wasn’t fulfilling. She came to a water well where Jesus is sitting and he asks her to give him a drink. With Jesus being a Jew and her a Samarian, she felt unworthy to even pour him a drink. Jesus, knowing that she’s already had 5 husbands and was still searching for something in life, told her he could provide her “living water” which after drinking, she’d never thirst again. Of this living water, Jesus said in v. 14:
”the water I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life”.
This Samarian woman knew that there was a void needing to be filled and asked Jesus for this living water “that I may not thirst” (v.15).
This woman represents most people. Going from one husband to the next, she was looking for fulfillment outside of the Living Water. Jesus said, “the water I give, you’ll never thirst again”. Without the Living Water that’s rooted in our identity in Christ, we will always be thirsty.

Many of us are looking for something to satisfy or fulfill us when in truth it doesn’t have the power or ability to do that. The reason this letter has the title it does is because, truth be told, you can’t really love or encourage yourself if you haven’t found yourself. You may ask “find myself how? I’m not lost”. At one point or another, we all can get lost in the challenges of life as well as the expectations of our existence and lose ourselves in the midst of what we’re going through – even lose yourself in the midst of your duties and obligation to others. You find yourself only going through the mechanics, the motions and routines of life, be it the husband wife, father, mother, work, school, church and even ministry leader routines. But even in all that you’re saying to yourself “I’m not sure if I see me anymore.”

One of the ways the enemy can get you is when you’ve lost your identity. Low self-esteem, an inferiority complex, and insecurity are only manifestations of a lost identity. I’ve found out that the moment you can no longer find yourself, you have automatically weakened your capacity to encourage yourself. Whenever you start forgetting your self-worth and value (especially as a child of God) you start leaning towards and looking to people, places and things to find you and bring you back. As we’ve discussed, drinking that water will keep you thirsty. We’re currently selling a 3-part series called “Find Yourself, Encourage Yourself, Love Yourself” where we will dig deeper on the keys to finding yourself. I believe many people are dealing with general dissatisfaction and I believe these keys can shed light on some solutions. Click hereto receive your copy on MP3, CD or DVD.

Q: What do you think about husbands and wives having separate bank accounts?
A: If both spouses are in agreement and it’s not done maliciously or to hide funds, this can definitely work. Whether it is separate or joint accounts, it is important that both spouses agree and are open and honest with what they have and with what they are purchasing. Sometimes a joint bank account can be a strain on a marriage if one spouse is not a very good financial steward. Both ways have their benefits – sometimes separate accounts can be better for surprise gifts. The key is that both spouses are in complete agreement to have separate accounts while allowing your spouse insight into your account and what you have.

Q: I’m an adult, but I feel I didn’t have a good upbringing as a child. Should parents ever apologize to their children for their mistakes?
A: There are many adults who still carry issues from their childhood and these things will never go away unless you address them and face them head-on. Keep in mind there is no such thing as a perfect parent because there such a thing as a perfect person. Most people, including parents, make decisions based on the knowledge they have at that point in their life. Mistakes can be made based on the lack of knowledge at that time. Also, ignorance plays a part and can leave room for mistakes. In some cases, parents simply did not know how to be parents. This can sound like an excuse but one cannot give something that is not in them (such as parenting).
Mistakes can also be made due to selfishness on the parent’s part and the fact they did not make their child a priority. By the same token, some children also have a selfish mindset. For example, they get upset 20 years later because they didn’t get the latest name-brand clothing that their peers did.
This issue really is situational but it is not out of order for a parent to apologize. If this is bothering you, discuss it with your parents and ask God to help you with understanding and to get past this – He will. It is not good for anyone to carry past hurts because this will cause issues in your future.

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