May 2, 2021
330 Rejoice Always, Pray Continually, A Guided Christian Meditation on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 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 connecting with God. Let your stomach be a balloon inflate, deflate.
Bible verses for Meditation:
1 Thessalonians
NIV
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19
Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt
21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind
of evil.
NRSV
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise the words of
prophets, 21 but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22
abstain from every form of evil.
Meditation on Scripture:
What simple words of wisdom. Rejoice always. And pray without ceasing. What is it that we are meant to rejoice for? For the goodness of God to us in all circumstances. God’s will for us is that we rejoice and find gratitude for our many blessings. This is not an antidote for struggle, this is more of training of our mental and spiritual habits. It takes a concerted effort to develop these habits. When we encounter beauty no matter how small, we can practice giving thanks for it. Not as a denial of the difficulties of other parts of our life, but to honor the good that also exists alongside the challenge. The more we place our focus on the good the better we will be at spotting it. As we build these habits stronger we will be able to do this easier.
When you see a sunset, rejoice. When you feel a gentle breeze on your skin, rejoice. When you feel the love of God despite many failings and challenges, rejoice the most and give thanks to God. These efforts that we have to find joy and thanksgiving don’t cheapen our suffering. They give it context. Do not quench the spirit. Let it burn within you. Engage in the challenging work of continuing in the path of Jesus and receiving his saving grace. We can test things to ensure they are from God and hold fast to what is good while rejecting what is evil.
If you struggle with this, pray to God continually. Ask God for help. The glory and love of God are all around you at all times, sometimes we just need to develop the muscle to see it.
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 is something you can rejoice about?
Final Thought: God transforms us. Many scriptures talk about this. This comes about as we trust our lives to Christ. We learn to follow. We learn to listen to the spirit by rejecting what we know to be evil and by learning to Love as Christ did. We learn to rejoice always and pray unceasingly.
FIND ME ON:
Download my free app: Recenter with Christ
Website - ChristianMeditationPodcast.com
Voicemail - (602) 888-3795
Email: jared@christianmeditationpodcast.com
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