What is Christian meditation?

What is Christian meditation?

With the influence of eastern culture now permeating our lives, it is imperative for us to examine one of the most important spiritual disciplines for the believer today—meditation. A common question is, “How does Christian meditation differ from eastern meditation?” Christian meditation is about “filling the mind”, whereas eastern meditation is about “emptying the mind”. Most eastern forms of meditation take the stance that life is an illusion. As a result, to free ourselves from the deception, we must empty ourselves of our identity and become one with the inevitable nothingness of reality. In contrast to this form of meditation stands the Christian practice. In it, the worshiper is to focus on ultimate reality, which is God. There are a variety of ways to accomplish this; through nature, through art, through studying people etc. however, the one meditation method that is practiced the most is contemplation on the “Word of God.”

How does meditation affect me?

The Christian form of meditation is the process of allowing the reality of God to permeate your essence. It is accomplished through contemplating on God and His principles. Being a former athlete, I will give an analogy from athletics that I believe will highlight this process - the struggle of a Rookie. The one challenge young professional athletes have in transitioning from the collegiate level to the pro level is the speed of the game. The rookie must learn how to take large amounts of information and utilize it as though it were a natural part of their performance. So instead of having to take time during the game and consider the appropriate response for a given situation, the proper course of action should flow naturally from them without hesitation. This can only happen when the Rookie’s training becomes instinctive or a part of who they are.

Is meditation important for the Christian?

The Rookie analogy is similar to meditation. In meditation we focus on some aspect of God---for example --- Psalm 118:28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. If you focus on the first phrase, “You are my God…” start to consider all the ways this truth impacts your life. How does it affect your hopes, your dreams, your future, your pains, etc? Once this truth becomes a part of you, it naturally flows out of you. Once you’re out where the rubber meets the road, and meditation has become a habit for you, godly responses will naturally permeate from you instead of having to rummage through the Scriptures for an answer to whatever challenge you are facing. Over time and through constant meditation, the reality of the spiritual life will become more evident. The result will be an understanding that life’s myriad of challenges necessitate a specific godly response out of your heart, which was prepared through meditation.

What is the goal of meditation?

Ultimately, meditation is one of the spiritual disciplines that conforms us into the image of Christ. David coveys this idea the best in Psalm 119:11 he says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Meditation helps to bring us closer to God through focusing on ultimate reality, which is God. If practiced consistently, living out the Christian life will be less of a challenge and more of a joy; because the fruit of meditation is that we are not living out of someone else’s relationship, but we can now confidently live out who we really are, in Christ.

The Desert

I have often thought that storms and deserts were synonymous; however, this is not the case. I think what I will do over the next couple of Blogs is contrast the two, which I believe will help in gaining a better understanding of our God...

I found this brief article regarding deserts by George J. Miller

When you learn of the desert experience, remember what, or who led you into it. That very same situation belonged to Moses, before and after he led the Hebrews out of Egypt. God brought him into Midian, he spent 40 years living nearby Mt. Sinai, his desert experience.
Then look at Elijah, after defeating the prophets of Baal, was put on the run by Jezebel and her promise to take his life. Guess where he went to experience his desert experience?
Yes! the same place where 200 years earlier God had sent Moses, only it was called Horeb, his desert experience.

Why does God require this desert experience for us all?

We usually have reached the end of our spiritual strength, and God places us where he knows we can be reached. It's a desolate place, that desert, it seems like the perfect barren spiritual place he wishes us in to listen.

Usually, but not always we put ourselves there in the first place. We tend to do things in our strength, without His anointing. He lets us do this, so we can realise we are out of touch with him, and must pursue self-examination.
We feel lost as though he's left us, when we made the first step away from his grace.
Two examples of powerful men of God placed in a position of deep humility, wondering, why?

Gods reason is one of revelation, not of what has taken place in both these lives leading up to their "desert experiences," but for them to examine themselves and their relationship with him.

For both of these great men were to need a great spiritual strengthening and preparation for what was to come. Moses was to lead the Hebrew children out of Egypt, and Elijah would receive the double portion upon himself, in order to bestow it upon his successor Elisha. No easy tasks in either mans future, but doable with Gods anointing, and blessings.

So a desert experience is not a punishment, it is a way to get one spiritually right again with God, and prepare for a great work for Him that is yet to come about. It is Gods way of recharging the human soul...

"Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice,and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him."
Deuteronomy 13:4

© George J. Miller
http://www.soon.org.uk/thought/desert_experience.htm

Our Wants

ACCEPTANCE – I want to be warmly received without condition.
GRACE – I want something good (e.g., forgiveness) that I don’t deserve.
CONNECTION – I want to be united to others.
COMPANIONSHIP – I want deep, intimate relationships.
SUCCESS – I want to achieve or accomplish something.
SELF-DETERMINATION – I want to have independence and free will.
UNDERSTANDING – I want to be known.
LOVE – I want to feel attractive to others.
VALIDATION – I want to be valued for who I am.
COMPETENCE – I want to have skills and ability that bring success.
RESPECT – I want to be admired and esteemed.
WORTH – I want to feel important.
HONOR – I want to feel like a priceless treasure.
COMMITMENT – I want to have unconditional security in relationships.
SIGNIFICANCE – I want to have meaning and purpose.
ATTENTION – I want to be noticed.
COMFORT – I want to feel a sense of well-being.
SUPPORT – I want to be cared for.
APPROVAL – I want to be liked and accepted.
WANTED – I want to be sought after.
SAFETY – I want to feel protected and secure.
AFFECTION – I want to feel fondness and warmth.
TRUST – I want to have faith in others.
HOPE – I want confidence that I will get what I love and desire.
JOY – I want to feel satisfied and happy.

http://smalley.cc/?s=affection+&x=0&y=0

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning to dance in the rain"

24"Therefore (V)everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25"And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
26"Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
27"The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."


The point of Jesus' words: Storms are coming...the question is are we wise? Have we prepared ourselves and those we love for them?

I received this title from a friend of mine during an unbelievably difficult time in my life. I will not go into the particulars of the issues yet. But, what I can say is that the pain is unbearable. Before this storm, I remember asking a friend, "what do you do to deal with life's pains?" At that time I accented to what I believed was the answer... depend on God to get you through, but now I am learning how to depend on God through the storm.
Experiential knowledge is part of what life is about. And learning how to live faithfully through every circumstance is what we are trying to accomplish. Like a person looking at his or her own x-rays life and especially storms are what reveal what is truly inside of us. It is the evidence of our foundation. Standing is our litmus test. If we can stand regardless of the circumstances Jesus says we are wise, but if we fall then his indictment is scathing. He says you are a fool.
God does not give us any say so regarding the veracity or frequency of the storms, but he does give us cart blanc as to the outcome. If you want to be victorious, you need to stand regardless of the storms intensity. If you want to endure, you need to put into practice the words of Jesus. So this is why this title is apropos...Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning to dance in the rain...and you can only dace if you are on your feet! Therefore..."Stand and dance"

Restoration, by David Brymer

You bring restoration
You bring restoration
You bring restoration
to my soul

You've taken my pain
called me by a new name
You've taken my shame
and in it's place, You give me joy

You take mourning and turn it into dancing
You take weeping and turn it into laughing
You take mourning and turn it into dancing
You take my sadness and turn it into joy

hallelujah, hallelujah
You make all things new, all things new

Love Your Enemies

38-42"Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: 'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
43-47"You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

48"In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."

How do you respond to pain the way God does?

Faith in Distress by King David

Psalm 6

A David Psalm

1-2 Please, God, no more yelling, no more trips to the woodshed.
Treat me nice for a change;
I'm so starved for affection.

2-3 Can't you see I'm black-and-blue,
beat up badly in bones and soul?
God, how long will it take
for you to let up?

4-5 Break in, God, and break up this fight;
if you love me at all, get me out of here.
I'm no good to you dead, am I?
I can't sing in your choir if I'm buried in some tomb!

6-7 I'm tired of all this—so tired. My bed
has been floating forty days and nights
On the flood of my tears.
My mattress is soaked, soggy with tears.
The sockets of my eyes are black holes;
nearly blind, I squint and grope.

8-9 Get out of here, you Devil's crew:
at last God has heard my sobs.
My requests have all been granted,
my prayers are answered.

10 Cowards, my enemies disappear.
Disgraced, they turn tail and run.

At the finish line

Once upon an average morn
An average boy was born for the second time
Prone upon the altar there
He whispered up the prayer he'd kept hid inside

The vision came
He saw the odds
A hundred little gods on a gilded wheel
"These will vie to take your place, but Father,
by your grace I will never kneel"

And I saw you, upright and proud
And I saw you wave to the crowd
And I saw you laughing out loud at the
And I saw you brush away rocks
And I saw you pull up your socks
And I saw you out of the blocks
For the finish line

Darkness falls
The devil stirs
And as your vision blurs you start stumbling
The heart is weak
The will is gone
And every strong conviction comes tumbling down

Malice rains
The acid guile is sucking at your shoes while the mud is fresh
It floods the trail
It bleeds you dry
As every little god buys its pound of flesh

And I saw you licking your wounds
And I saw you weave your cocoons
And I saw you changing your tunes for the party line
And I saw you welsh on old debts
I saw you and your comrades bum cigarettes
And you hemmed and you hawed
And you hedged all your bets
Waiting for a sign

Let's wash our hands as we throw little fits
Let's all wash our hands as we curse hypocrites
We're locked in the washroom turning old tricks
Deaf
And joyless
And full of it

The vision came
He saw the odds
A hundred little gods on a gilded wheel
"These have tried to take your place, but Father,
by your grace I will never kneel
I will never kneel..."

Off in the distance
Bloodied but wise
As you squint with the light of the truth in your eyes

And I saw you
Both hands were raised
And I saw your lips move in praise
And I saw you steady your gaze
For the finish line

Every idol like dust
A word scattered them all
And I rose to my feet when you scaled the last wall
And I gasped
When I saw you fall
In his arms
At the finish line