Sep 6, 2020

264 Their Own Conscience Bears Witness, A Guided Christian Meditation on Romans 2:12-16 with the Recenter With Christ app

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:

Romans 2:12-16

ESV
12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

NRSV
12 All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. 15 They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all.

Meditation on Scripture:

What is your conscience? This scripture contrasts the conscience with the heart, in other words it is something beyond the human heart. When you feel that you have done something wrong or are being tempted to do something wrong, how is it that we can know that? This above scripture is difficult to parse the exact meaning, there are others more skilled than I, but I think it is important to wrestle with this idea of conscience and how we can respond to it. Similarly, what are the effects of responding, or failing to respond to it?

The challenge is that, because of the fall, our will as humans is at odds with the desires of God. How is it then that people who are not Christians can have moral laws that share major components to the Ten Commandments and even the love of neighbor that Jesus taught? The challenge of reconciling this with the above scripture has a lot to do with where a conscience comes from. When Jesus said that we should let our light shine for others, what light is it that we are sharing? Is it the same light that Jesus said he was in John 1? In this way our conscience which guides us may be a representation of invitations from God’s light to take a certain action, or avoid a certain action. As we deny these invitations we become increasingly unable to perceive it. We become hardened even beyond our nature. Even those who

Our goal then is to adjudicate our conscience in the context of the light of God’s teachings and determine what action the Love of God is inspiring us toward. This requires an immense amount of humility and determination.

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: How do you treat people who reject God or Church?

Final Thought: In life we are not always the villains or the heroes. We are however, always in need of the help of God regardless of what we are doing. Over the coming days take time and think about specifically how you treat others who struggle with faith, doing things ’right, or who dont treat others well. Perhaps remember this scripture and realize the true goal is to bring joy to the lives of all we can and help them find lasting peace. God can help us find ways that we can do that in our lives. You can do that in ways I can’t and vice versa. Invite God to help you.

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