Nov 8, 2020

280 The Wise Take Extra Oil, A Guided Christian Meditation on Matthew 5:1-4 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:

NIV
25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.

NABRE
1 Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
3 The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them,
4 but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.

Meditation on Scripture:

During times of unrest and uncertainty people start gathering things that they need. We see this during hurricanes, earthquakes, and pandemics. People hoard things that they think would help them sustain their way of life that they may not have access to. Fear can drive people to do things that they wouldn’t do otherwise. Yet preparation is not always based in fear, but often can be in wisdom. For example, when we lived on the East Coast my family always had extra stores of food and water in preparation for hurricanes, that way when the hurricane warnings came, we didnt ever have to stress or worry about grabbing those items at the last second. The thing is that we constantly rotated out the water and food so that they would be fresh and useful if they were ever needed.

Now applying these lessons to our lives we can begin to ask ourselves what the extra oil would be in our own lives. What is your oil, extra oil?

Jesus indicates that this oil has to do with preparation and entrance in with Him.

This is in reference to our spiritual preparation. We should not wait until times of catastrophe to cry out to God. We miss out on many spiritual blessings if we become complacent and stop developing our spiritual relationship and understanding of God. Some days our lives are in catastrophe, and some days they are calm. The question before us is what do we do to prepare spiritually. What do you do to replace your oil?

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 do you plan on doing to fill extra stores of spiritual oil.

Final Thought: God has greater desires for us than to profess saving faith at one point in our life and muddle through until we die. With the aid of His spirit we can continue to store up extra spiritual oil, not only that we can help people realize the need for them to build their own reserves. There are undoubtedly ways that you can positively influence those around you to more fully live in the love of God.

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