Last week we talked a lot about the activities of demons in our world, their habits, practices and tactics. Today we want to look at how a follower of Jesus can overcome spirits of darkness. You may be surprised at what makes the list, and what doesn’t. Our Lord doesn’t desire us to become demonologists (Ephesians 5.11-.12), or to rejoice in our authority over them (Luke 10.20); instead God’s desire for us is to be holy and unblemished (Ephesians 1.4). Is it any wonder that those things which increase our holiness also help protect us from evil spirits?

The first of these is the one that is most often forgotten by modern Christianity. Christian meditation is something very different from the forms taught by yoga classes, which are actually spiritually dangerous. In a college speech class my professor intended to have the class participate in the eastern form of meditation. She had us all close our eyes and first focus on our toes, thinking only about those 10 appendages. Then she instructed us to think only about out feet, ankles and so forth. Finally she said, “Now I want you to empty your mind…” I’d had enough of the nonsense and broke her quiet voice with a stern question, “Would it be alright if instead we took every thought captive to the obedience of Christ?”

The difference between eastern and Christian meditation is the role of one’s mind. In a yoga class you’ll be told to “empty” your mind, to become thought-less so to speak. This deactivates one’s normal ability to judge thoughts as they come and go. The grid one uses to understand the world around them is shut down. All association of right and wrong is deactivated. On the other hand, the Bible teaches us to discipline our mind by thinking about Scripture, or to evaluate goals through the standard of God’s character. It isn't just asking “what would Jesus do?” but plots a course to do as Jesus did.

That last bit is most important. When turning a verse or passage over in your mind the goal is to understand it as completely as possible without the assistance of aides like commentaries and such. It is pondering the meaning and asking how it applies to life. In high school at a church camp the leader read a verse and then went around campfire asking each student, “what does this verse mean to you?” It started out alright with the first couple students taking into account the verses meaning but it quickly got off track as others began making up meanings that had nothing to do with the context of the passage the verse was taken from. Once again I took it upon myself to straighten the mess out by answering, “it doesn’t matter what I think it means, what matters is what the verse means. What did the author intend to communicate?”

You might be thinking at this point that I’m not a very good student as I’m always challenging the teacher’s exercises. I excuse myself by blaming it on my spiritual gift, which causes the impulse to protect God’s words. The point remains, however, that meditation is the art of taking a thought captive to the obedience of Christ, not making God’s word say whatever we want it to.

Biblical meditation may be practiced in a quiet place, away from others (it’s not a spectator sport), with an open Bible and a mind ready to inquire of the Holy Spirit that lives in us and guides us. It asks the following questions of the verse or passage: What did the author intend the original writers to understand? What does this say about the readers? What does the passage say about God? How should I change as a result of the answers to these questions?

This can be done with eyes open or closed, but must be performed in a quiet, prayerful state of reverence for God’s word and instruction. In following this guide we will find that God’s word is indeed as sweet as honey (Psalm 119.103).

Tomorrow we’ll discover more ways to accomplish the dual purpose of becoming holy and overcoming our adversary.