Mar 8, 2020

212 Life Does Not Consist in The Abundance of Possessions A Guided Christian Meditation on Luke 12:13-15

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:

Luke 12
KJV
13 And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
14 And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

NRSV
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”
14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?”
15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

Meditation on Scripture:

This scripture is interesting in many ways. Jesus asks who made him a judge, yet in the book of John he clearly states that the Father gave all judgement to the son. Also his focus and context was not on justice. There are times constantly when I parent that I have to decide which of the two children to correct first when they are in a disagreement. There is a value when the law protects the weak and powerless but there is also a need to help correct proud hearts. There are times when Jesus speaks to this. What he seems to be teaching above all is about greed and scarcity. Perhaps it is because he detected pride and greed in his heart and chose to focus on that because it would have more of an impact on his eternal soul than the possessions they were fighting over.

There are times when we clamour for justice. We expect God to resolve things for us and take care of those in the wrong when our hearts are not set on his ways. We seek peace when we place too much importance on the things of this world. We can be tempted to see the world as a fearful place. We seek control. We seek indicators of meaning and value. We seek stability and to remove fear in our hearts. All of these things lead us to seek abundance of possessions.

Jesus’ message to us is extremely timely. As we have too little money or too much God remains in control. Regardless of our earthly possessions God sent his son to die for us. Regardless of our physical need we will end up in an eternal heaven with a loving Father who cherishes us and will pour out his glory upon us as much as we are willing to receive it through faith. Justice is clearly important. It is also important that we act in wisdom regarding our stewardship of financial resources to reduce our suffering and the suffering of others, but it is far more important for us to root out fear and pride out of our own hearts.

Similarly

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: How do you feel you should adjust your relationship to earthly things?

Final Thought: Trust in God. He is eternally faithful. Even if we feel that he does not respond to our earthly need, as he did when interacting with this person. We can learn to put off our faith in money and our faith in possessions and we place greater faith in the eternal goodness of the God of the universe. Bad things do happen to good people. And sometimes those bad things teach us extremely valuable lessons. As we develop our faith in God we can fear and cling less to the things of this world. We can learn to detach from our desires and our things. Spend some time specifically placing the focus of our hearts on feeling the love of God and minimizing the fear and greed we experience in life.

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