Christian Meditation for A Bigger Life with Pastor Dave Cover
Christian Meditation can help refocus your mind and recalibrate your body to get the stress, anxiety and anger out of your heart and out of your body. Spend about 23 minutes to "be still" with God as each episode uses a different biblical image to e...
Recent Episodes
A Meditation on God’s Power Strengthening Your Inner Being from Eph. 3:16
12:16 | 11-30-2023
In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical viewperspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Listen to the apostle Paul’s prayer in…Ephesians 3:16 (ESV)“…That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.”Imagine “the riches of God‘s glory.“ Imagine the “power” of God‘s glory being in you by his Spirit in you. Imagine that power strengthening you by his Spirit in your inner being. Your inner being is the real you. There’s a real you inside you that wants to live in God’s glory, love, goodness, righteousness, joy.“Power” in the New Testament is almost always associated with overcoming evil. Imagine God‘s power overcoming evil in you — all the ways that evil has been deceiving you and lying to you. Your inner being is being strengthened.Imagine God’s Spirit in your inner being right now — with his infinite glory and power and love and Shalom. God‘s Spirit is infinite and abundant. The more God’s Spirit strengthens your inner being with “the riches” of his presence, the more God’s riches are still available to bring life and renewal to your whole being. Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it.Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecoverFollow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePodOur audio engineer is Matthew Matlack.This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.
A Meditation on Seeing Your Body Utterly Dependent On God in Acts 17:28
14:37 | 11-23-2023
In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical viewperspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Our brain is amazing. One of the amazing things about it that neurologists are only learning these past few years is how it is constantly changing its hardwiring to adapt to our behavior. What we see, what we say, the thoughts we allow ourselves to envision, repeated behaviors we do — is all creating new hardwiring in our brain. It’s interesting that the new testament even says this in Romans 12:2 when Paul talks about how the renewing of our mind is what transforms our lives. And when we understand the imagery we see in the Bible like in the Psalms, it seems clear that one way we renew our minds is to imagine biblical realities as realities in our life. Christian meditation is a way for us to use our biblically guided imagination to see biblical realities with the eyes of our heart as Paul says in Ephesians 1:17.Acts 17:28“In him we live and move and have our being.” Imagine this right now in this moment — In him you live and move and have your being!Right now your life completely depends upon God giving you life. Every moment. Every cell in your body. You are utterly dependent upon God for your very being. He is not just giving you breath, he IS your breath of life.Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it.Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecoverFollow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePodOur audio engineer is Matthew Matlack.This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.
A Meditation on How Disconnection with God Shows Up in Our Body and What To Do About It from Psalm 38
15:06 | 11-21-2023
In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical viewperspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Psalm 38:3-8, 10, 17-18, 22 NIV3 Because of your wrath (Rom 1:18ff - sin is its own punishment) there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.4 My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.5 My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.6 I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.7 My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body.8 I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart. 10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.17 …And my pain is ever with me.18 I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.22 Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.You are your body.One way to think of “sin” is trying to live against who God is and live against the grain of his universe. When we live against the grain of God’s universe, we may get good at suppressing our conscience but “our body keeps the score.”Anxiety. Feeling burdened, weighed down. Sometimes chronic pain. Elevated heart rate. Confession… v. 18,20 — “Jesus, you are my Lord and my Savior.”1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV…You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it.Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecoverFollow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePodOur audio engineer is Matthew Matlack.This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.
A Meditation to Embody Being God’s Artistic Creation for Good Works He’s Created for You in Ephesians 2:10
20:47 | 11-16-2023
In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical viewperspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Our brain is amazing. One of the amazing things about it that neurologists are only learning these past few years is how it is constantly changing its hardwiring to adapt to our behavior. What we see, what we say, the thoughts we allow ourselves to envision, repeated behaviors we do — is all creating new hardwiring in our brain. It’s interesting that the new testament even says this in Romans 12:2 when Paul talks about how the renewing of our mind is what transforms our lives. And when we understand the imagery we see in the Bible like in the Psalms, it seems clear that one way we renew our minds is to imagine biblical realities as realities in our life. Christian meditation is a way for us to use our biblically guided imagination to see biblical realities with the eyes of our heart as Paul says in Ephesians 1:17.Ephesians 2:10 ESVFor we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it.Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecoverFollow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePodOur audio engineer is Matthew Matlack.This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.
A Meditation to Embody Being Filled with Wisdom and Faith and Power in Acts 6
20:47 | 11-14-2023
In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical viewperspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Our brain is amazing. One of the amazing things about it that neurologists are only learning these past few years is how it is constantly changing its hardwiring to adapt to our behavior. What we see, what we say, the thoughts we allow ourselves to envision, repeated behaviors we do — is all creating new hardwiring in our brain. It’s interesting that the new testament even says this in Romans 12:2 when Paul talks about how the renewing of our mind is what transforms our lives. And when we understand the imagery we see in the Bible like in the Psalms, it seems clear that one way we renew our minds is to imagine biblical realities as realities in our life. Christian meditation is a way for us to use our biblically guided imagination to see biblical realities with the eyes of our heart as Paul says in Ephesians 1:17.Acts 6:3 NIV…Full of the Spirit and wisdom.Wisdom: Understanding the complex realities of living inside God’s universe. Understands the foolishness of the way people and culture try to create and live in an unreal universe. Understands how to apply the reality of who God is and what he promises in Jesus, to the challenges and opportunities in this Gen 3 world. James 3:17 (ESV)But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.Acts 6:5 NIV…Full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.Faith: Not just believing the right things but remembering to believe what is true of God, and all he is for us in Jesus, in how we see and respond to each circumstance in our life. Having a calm confidence instead of an anxious presence.Acts 6:8 NIV…Full of God’s grace and power.Grace: A humility and joy by knowing the riches of God’s grace toward me and therefore a kind graciousness toward others.Power: God’s power in overcoming evil in my own life and in helping others overcome evil in their lives.Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it.Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecoverFollow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePodOur audio engineer is Matthew Matlack.This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.
A Meditation to Embody How God Sees You in 1 Corinthians 6:11
15:09 | 11-09-2023
In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical viewperspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.1 Corinthians 6:11 NIVyou were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESVOr do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? …So glorify God in your body.Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it.Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecoverFollow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePodOur audio engineer is Matthew Matlack.This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.
A Meditation to Stop and Listen to What God Says to You in Isaiah 45:18
18:49 | 11-07-2023
In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical viewperspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Isaiah 45:18 NIVFor this is what the LORD says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.”Isaiah 45:22 NIV“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”Isaiah 46:3-4 NIV“Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob, all the remnant of the people of Israel, you whom I have upheld since your birth, and have carried since you were born. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”Psalm 46:10 NIV“Be still, and know that I am God.”Psalm 146:10 NIVThe LORD reigns forever.“The LORD” (all caps L O R D) in the Old Testament of our English Bibles indicates that in Hebrew God’s name, Yahweh, is used. Yahweh is the ancient Hebrew verb form for “HE IS.” God’s name in the Hebrew scriptures is used more than any other term for God. More than “God” is used. When we survey the various truths associated with God’s name, HE IS, in the Hebrew scriptures (what we call the Old Testament), four important aspects of God are emphasized. HE IS the Creator and Sustainer of ALL that exists, including this entire universe. HE IS the Giver and Sustainer of ALL life everywhere always. HE IS Eternally God. HE IS ALWAYS 100% present with you and focused on you in every present moment (without being any less present or focused anywhere else in the universe, because HE IS infinite). These four realities of what God’s name means are easy to memorize, and so to remember them when you “Praise the LORD” will help you replace anxieties and self-protective guarding with a calm confidence and peace.Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it.Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecoverFollow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePodOur audio engineer is Matthew Matlack.This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.
A Short Meditation to Contemplate the Lord’s Glory from 2 Corinthians 3:18
11:03 | 11-02-2023
In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical viewperspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.2 Corinthians 3:18 NIVAnd we all, who…contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.“The LORD” (all caps L O R D) in the Old Testament of our English Bibles indicates that in Hebrew God’s name, Yahweh, is used. Yahweh is the ancient Hebrew verb form for “HE IS.” God’s name in the Hebrew scriptures is used more than any other term for God. More than “God” is used. When we survey the various truths associated with God’s name, HE IS, in the Hebrew scriptures (what we call the Old Testament), four important aspects of God are emphasized. HE IS the Creator and Sustainer of ALL that exists, including this entire universe. HE IS the Giver and Sustainer of ALL life everywhere always. HE IS Eternally God. HE IS ALWAYS 100% present with you and focused on you in every present moment (without being any less present or focused anywhere else in the universe, because HE IS infinite). These four realities of what God’s name means are easy to memorize, and so to remember them when you “Praise the LORD” will help you replace anxieties and self-protective guarding with a calm confidence and peace.Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it.Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecoverFollow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePodOur audio engineer is Matthew Matlack.This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.
A Meditation on God Erasing Your Sins for His Sake from Isaiah 43:25, 44:22-23
16:36 | 10-31-2023
In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical viewperspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Isaiah 43:25 (NIV) “I, even I, am he who blots outyour transgressions, for my own sake,and remembers your sins no more.”Isaiah 44:22-23 (ESV) “I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloudand your sins like mist;return to me, for I have redeemed you.Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it;shout, O depths of the earth;break forth into singing, O mountains,O forest, and every tree in it!For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,and will be glorified in Israel.”“The LORD” in our English Bibles is indicating that in Hebrew God’s name, Yahweh, is used. Yahweh is the ancient Hebrew verb form for “HE IS.” God’s name in the Hebrew scriptures is used more than any other term for God. More than “God” is used. When we survey the various truths associated with God’s name, HE IS, in the Hebrew scriptures (what we call the Old Testament), four important aspects of God are emphasized. HE IS the Creator and Sustainer of ALL that exists, including this entire universe. HE IS the Giver and Sustainer of ALL life everywhere always. HE IS Eternally God. HE IS ALWAYS 100% present with you and focused on you in every present moment (without being any less present or focused anywhere else in the universe, because HE IS infinite). These four realities of what God’s name means are easy to memorize, and so to remember them when you “Praise the LORD” will help you replace anxieties and self-protective guarding with a calm confidence and peace.Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it.Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecoverFollow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePodOur audio engineer is Matthew Matlack.This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.
A Meditation with Grace Albritton on Matthew 11:28-30
17:46 | 10-26-2023
In Christian meditation, we are re-aligning ourselves vertically. We're remapping our horizontal realities with a vertical viewperspective. Enabling us to embody that vertical perspective replaces anxiety and tension with a calm confidence.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it.Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecoverFollow A Bigger Life on Twitter @ABiggerLifePodOur audio engineer is Matthew Matlack.This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.