Jul 19, 2020

250 With His Stripes We Are Healed, A Guided Christian Meditation on Isaiah 53:4-6 (continued from episode 158) Recenter With Christ

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:

Isaiah 53
KJV
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

NRSV
4 Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

Meditation on Scripture:

This scripture came to me in an flash. I had nearly finished preparing another one when it became clear that I should change to this one. We need to be reminded that Jesus bore our grief. He carried our sorrow. Yet even in that, we don’t see it. Some people find themselves asking God where are you? When we are in this mindset we are willing to ignore the horrors of the Cross because we are having a hard time of life.

Yet even in the midst of this, Christ was wounded for our transgressions. The reason and the method of our redemption was a literal weight upon his back, that his mortal frame struggled to carry. Yet it is though those stripes that we are healed. This is far from a theological turn of a phrase. When we struggle to wonder were God is, this question is known to Him. He asked it too on the Cross when he cried “My God my God, why have you forsaken me?” Even in this declaration Jesus was quoting Psalm 22.

Remember this, in the middle of our struggle, God declares that His stripes heal us. Ponder in this moment how the challenge of life would be much greater with the knowledge that our lack of purity would cause us to be cast out from God’s presence forever the moment we die. As it is we struggle from time to time on earth. Sometimes we struggle more than we think we can overcome, yet even in the middle of that, we can trust in the Mercy of a God who forgives despite our failings. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

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 did you experience today as you pondered on the offering of God’s redemption?

Final Thought: Many people have reached out to me due changing situations that have brought unfold emotional and even spiritual hardship. Even in the middle of this, there is hope. There is promise of a better day ahead as we have faith. This is not a time when we need be somber and sad. It is a time when we can regather our strength, rise up and put off the things of this world as we place our focus on the Lord and what He has done for us. May gratitude replace the struggle in our hearts and may we experience His peace.

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