Jul 14, 2019

144 Will We Receive Only Good A Guided Christian Meditation on Job 2:7-10

I’m Chaplain Jared and I work as a hospice chaplain and an ICU chaplain, my purpose in making this podcast is to help you find more peace in your life and to be more open for your heart to be changed by the Spirit of God. By using centuries old form of Christian Meditation named Lectio Divina:

Outline: Relaxation, Reading, Meditation, Prayer, Contemplation and Visualization.

Get into a place where you can sit comfortably and uninterrupted for about 20 minutes.You should hopefully not be driving or anything tensing or unrelaxing. If you feel comfortable to do so, I invite you to close your eyes.

Guided Relaxation / Guided Meditation:

Breathe and direct your thoughts to contacting God. Let your stomach be a balloon inflate, deflate.

Bible verses for Meditation:

Job 2:7-10

ESV
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
8 And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.”
10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

NRSV
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
8 Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.”
10 But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Meditation on Scripture:

In last weeks scripture it stated that God does not tempt people. Here Job argues that we should be willing to receive both good and evil from God. I enjoy the nuance in understanding that this contrast provides. Many people speak of the patients of Job as though he did not complain or question what God allowed. I believe that these verses represent the true purpose of Job’s story. When everyone he knew questioned his life and choices he maintained his integrity.

Each one of us go through our own challenges in life which are a struggle for us. At times we may even feel as though we have failed against them. I have something to tell you. You have survived everything you have gone through. Regardless of our success or failure against our challenges we live on. We have been assured that through Jesus Christ we will overcome this world. All our struggles will be turned to victory. When you feel the weight of the pressure of the world heaped upon you, remember this. We can receive both the good times and the bad with the understanding that we can overcome with His help.

There is nothing in heaven or hell that can stop us when Christ is with us. No matter what you fears tell you, you will survive. You will overcome. You will be able to develop more internal skills and resources also. God’s goal does not appear to drag us into heaven as though we were being dragged by our hair. It seems more likely that he gives us goals, choices, and even commandments so that we can get up after we have been dragged for a while and learn to walk by His side. When we enter heaven with His grace it will be because he has created a new being in us with this work. God is doing this to you even today. You will survive and overcome.

Meditation of Prayer:

Pray as directed by the Spirit.

Dedicate these moments to the patient waiting, when you feel ready ask God for understanding you desire from Him.

Meditation of God and His Glory / Hesychasm:
I invite you to sit in silence feeling being patient for your own faults and trials.

Summarize what insights you have gained during this meditation and meditate and visualize positive change in your life:

This is a listener funded podcast at patreon.com/christianmeditationpodcast

Updates:

Final Question:
What are things, if any, that we should be unwilling to receive from God.

Final Thought:
When people write in to me through the podcast so many of them tell me about their struggles with fear, anxiety, and depression. Regardless of your own struggles you are not alone. You are not the only person who struggles, even while hearing messages of God’s grace. I want you to know something. You were created by the most glorious being in the universe. You are His child and He calls you His friend. You are worth Him dying for you. My greatest prayer for you is that you, not only find a moment of calm in these moments of meditation but that you also come to more fully understand God’s love for you and how that love can move in us to change us. His love motivates us to love others and to follow the words He gave us in the scriptures. We don’t need to worry about law versus grace if we follow Him in love.

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