Nov 10, 2019

178 Love One Another as I have Loved You A Guided Christian Meditation on John 13:33-35

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:

KJV
33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another

NIV
33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Meditation on Scripture:

How do you do at loving others? This is the greatest question we can ask. I ask myself this question often. I fail. I try really hard to bot be angry at others when I am treated badly. I dont always succeed. When others are kind it makes it much easier. The reason why this is so important is because this is the greatest mandate we have. Of all the commands Jesus gave the greatest of all was love.

It seems like this is a great thought when we hear it church. When we go into our lives we sometimes don't apply that message. We get some idealized version of a person in out mind but tjay annoying person from school isn't included. The person we don't get along with at the office somehow doesn't count.

Once we identify this tendency in ourself the question is how do we deal with this? For cases that are more intense such as abuse it is important to involve trusted helpers such as a pastor or counselor. When we fall short of what Jesus asks of us we can pile on the shame or we can realize that what God truly wants is that make things right and learn to love. In this moment focus on releasing anger from your heart. Let hate go from your heart. Let the love of God into your heart. As you ponder those you struggle to love breathe slowly and deeply. Ponder on how to bring the love of God into their life. Breath in calm and peace. Breath out anger and hate.

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:
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Updates:

Final Question: Can you let go of hate?

Final Thought: the mandate of God to learn to love is central to life. If you struggle with this it means you are human. The more we can learn to love the more we are learning from Jesus. The more we are learning to be like Jesus. As you go through your day make note of who bothers you the most. When you have an opportunity to pour your heart out to God, ask Him to help you learn how to love that person. Practice some meditation and release the tension of anger and hate. As we learn to overcome that we will be closer to the image of Christ which we seek. If you have been harmed or abused by someone this guidance is not meant to diminish the very real and understandable struggle you suffer with. Find someone to walk with you on this process. Love helps our hearts which is why Jesus asks is to do it.

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