A Bigger Life: Episodes

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 How God’s Steadfast Love and Purpose Replaces Anxiety in Psalm 138

24:15 | 12-01-2022

The purpose of Christian Meditation for A Bigger Life is to help 21st-century Christians in the always distracted digital age — to connect with God with your whole being — including your body — and to wire into your brain the reality of that embodied connection in each moment. And I think most of us as Christians are often living unconsciously anxious and tense lives with a kind of disconnection between our body and mind, and disconnection between our body and God’s Spirit. Where our “Christian faith” has become almost exclusively about certain beliefs rather than an embodied experience with God’s Spirit who is always 100% present with us and in us in the NOW.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Our real beliefs at any given moment are always held in our bodies. Even if they are not really our beliefs, the reality we’re envisioning/imaging in our mind (imagination) lands into our body. So if we are anxious, whether consciously anxious or anxious but not really aware of it, that anxiety still manifests itself into our body. Anxiety is when we envision/imagine a fearful future of some kind. It could be an immediate future, like something unfolding in the present, or it could be something we’re imagining happening tomorrow or this year or far from now.But usually when we are imagining a dreaded future, that imagination is missing ONE big reality — God’s infinite and intimate presence and purpose in our lives. But what if you envision Psalm 138 instead?Psalm 138:1–2 ESV1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; 2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.Psalm 138:8 ESVThe LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.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 @ABiggerLifePod

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A Meditation on God’s Hands Holding Your Life and Everything In It from Daniel 5:23

23:38 | 11-29-2022

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A Meditation on God’s Steadfast Love That Endures Forever with Psalm 136

24:30 | 11-22-2022

The purpose of Christian Meditation for A Bigger Life is to help 21st-century Christians in the always distracted digital age — to connect with God with your whole being — including your body — and to wire into your brain the reality of that embodied connection in each moment. And I think most of us as Christians are often living unconsciously anxious and tense lives with a kind of disconnection between our body and mind, and disconnection between our body and God’s Spirit. Where our “Christian faith” has become almost exclusively about certain beliefs rather than an embodied experience with God’s Spirit who is always 100% present with us and in us in the NOW.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.God’s steadfast love — enduring love — forever love is focused on YOU 100%, without being any less focused on anyone else, because he’s infinite. His love is infinite. No matter how much God’s love endures with you, there is an infinite amount forever available to you. As vast as the universe is, so too is the steadfastness of God’s forever love for you. Psalm 136:1–9 ESV1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. 2 Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. 3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; 4 to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; 5 to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; 6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever; 7 to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; 8 the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever;9 the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever.Christian Meditation is a quiet time for you to use your biblically guided imagination to envision the reality of God’s steadfast, enduring, forever love filling your body as his temple (1 Cor. 6:19). Your body is a physical presence of God’s steadfast, enduring, forever love on earth. 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 Diego Huaman.

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A Meditation on Recognizing You’re Not God Brings a Quiet Calm to Your Soul with Psalm 131

24:11 | 11-17-2022

My goal in this podcast — Christian Meditation for A Bigger Life — is to help 21st-century Christians in the always distracted digital age — to connect with God with your whole being — including your body — and to wire into your brain the reality of that embodied connection in each moment. And I think most of us as Christians are often living unconsciously anxious and tense lives with a kind of disconnection between our body and mind, and disconnection between our body and God’s Spirit. Where our “Christian faith” has become almost exclusively about certain beliefs rather than an embodied experience with God’s Spirit who is always 100% present with us and in us in the NOW.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Psalm 131 tells us the peace and calm confidence and quieted soul that comes when we stop trying to be God over our lives. Which means we don’t have to understand everything before we can trust God to be our God. We don’t have to have all the answers before we can humbly submit to him. Rest in him. We can stop anxiously stressing and instead quietly rest in God’s loving, wise, sovereign arms. Psalm 131 ESV1 O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3 O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.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 Diego Huaman.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.

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A Quiet Meditation to Re-submit Yourself to God with Psalm 130

25:00 | 11-15-2022

If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Sometimes Christian meditation is a quiet time to refocus our mind and body on re-submitting to God in this moment.Psalm 130:1–8 ESV1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD!2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.David writes about the negative effects on his body when he was living out of sync with God.Psalm 38:3–8 NIV3 …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.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 @ABiggerLifePod

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Resting on God to Build and Protect What You Care About with Psalm 127:1

23:36 | 11-10-2022

My goal in this podcast — Christian Meditation for A Bigger Life — is to help 21st-century Christians in the always distracted digital age — to connect with God with your whole being — including your body — and to wire into your brain the reality of that embodied connection in each moment. And I think most of us as Christians are often living unconsciously anxious and tense lives with a kind of disconnection between our body and mind, and disconnection between our body and God’s Spirit. Where our “Christian faith” has become almost exclusively about certain beliefs rather than an embodied experience with God’s Spirit who is always 100% present with us and in us in the NOW.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.What is something in your life that you’re wanting to happen, working to build, or trying to succeed in? It’s probably something that requires wisdom, careful thought and planning, and will likely require hard work. This is typically where anxiety, insecurity, stress, anger, and every other self-protective reflex come into the picture. For years this one principle has helped me greatly:Psalm 127:1 ESV“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”If God is in it, he will build it. If God is in it, he will protect it. And if God is not in it, why do you even want it?Question: Unless God is in it, do you even want it?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 Diego Huaman.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.

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Using Imagination to See Hardships Vertically with Psalm 126:5

28:02 | 11-08-2022

My goal in this podcast — Christian Meditation for A Bigger Life — is to help 21st-century Christians in the always distracted digital age — to connect with God with your whole being — including your body — and to wire into your brain the reality of that embodied connection in each moment. And I think most of us as Christians are often living unconsciously anxious and tense lives with a kind of disconnection between our body and mind, and disconnection between our body and God’s Spirit. Where our “Christian faith” has become almost exclusively about certain beliefs rather than an embodied experience with God’s Spirit who is always 100% present with us and in us in the NOW.If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Psalm 126:5 ESV“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!”Psalm 126:2 ESV“Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.”Psalm 121:1–2 ESV1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.Psalm 123:1 ESV“To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!”Psalm 124:8 ESV“Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”Psalm 125:2 ESV“As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.”Matthew 5:3–12 ESV3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.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 Diego Huaman.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.

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A Meditation on Being Able to See Vertically

31:56 | 11-03-2022

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A Meditation on the Spirit’s Redemption of Your Body

32:03 | 11-01-2022

If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Have you ever woken up sweaty from a nightmare, your heart pounding? It was just your imagination, but your body physically reacted as if it’s real. This happens because of the powerful connection between your imagination (your mind) and your body. Your body responds physiologically to the thoughts and images in your head, putting your central nervous system in a fight or flight or freeze state and resulting in physical changes such as altered heart rate and muscle tension. This happens with our anxiety and frustration and anger and insecurities because of our imagination in our mind. But the opposite can also happen through our biblically guided imagination. And the more you practice that, because of neural plasticity, neurons that fire together wire together — the more you use your biblically guided imagination to imagine/envision/feel God‘s Spirit and God‘s love in your body — the more you will mentally integrate/connect your body with God’s transcendent spiritual reality in every moment. Too often we adopt a very unbiblical and unchristian view of our body somehow being separate from or at least unrelated to our soul and our salvation. But the Bible teaches that your body is actually a vital part of your eternal soul. God created your body when he created you (Ps 139:13-16) and your body is a key part of your eternal salvation and redemption in Christ. Romans 8:22-24 (NIV)We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Right now you have the Spirit in your body, but there is also a Genesis 3 kind of groaning that knows this world and your body and your life is not all the glory and beauty that it was meant to be. You are awaiting restoration and resurrection. But right now God’s Spirit within your body is the firstfruits of that new creation.You are your body — you are more than just your body but you are not less than your body – and your body is part of the eternal you. Philippians 3:20-21 (ESV)And right now your body is a holy (1 Cor 6:11) temple of God‘s Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19)! So really more than any other worldview or religion, Christians of all people should embrace their body right now as an important part of who they are forever! But also as a glorious, very real presence/embodiment of God’s Spirit. God’s physical temple. God‘s presence on earth. And to imagine/envision/feel that into your body in every present moment.Christian meditation is to re-integrate your body with your mind and soul. Sensing your God-created body as an important part of who you are. And recalibrate your body with the reality of God‘s presence in you and around you in every moment. Acts 17:28 (ESV)“In him we live and move and have our being.”So envision/feel into your body an awareness of God‘s intimate presence with you and infinite love for you by using your biblically guided imagination. Because the present moment is always the moment when we connect with God. He’s the I AM. He is always in the present tense in the present moment. And the present moment is always where we connect with him. And understanding and experiencing that will change your 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 Diego Huaman.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.

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A Meditation on How Jesus Emphasized His Presence in the Present Moment

26:26 | 10-27-2022

If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Remember Jesus says in Matthew 6:6 NIV“…When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.”Jesus wants you to imagine/envision a reality that you can’t see.So in this moment, you’re entering into a quiet time to be alone with God. Biblical prayer is NOT just asking God for things. It’s a time to be particularly aware of God’s presence and to connect with his presence through imaginative meditation. Using your biblically guided imagination to envision and feel and experience God’s presence with you and within you in a way that replaces stress and anxiety and worry and anger with the calm confidence of God’s peace and joy and love. Sometimes as Christians we think our faith in Christ is mostly beliefs about the future. And certainly it is that. But the faith in Christ that the Bible teaches is about a real and experienced connection with God that is always in the present moment. He’s the I AM. His name in the Hebrew Scriptures is YHWH, an ancient Hebrew word for HE IS. His very name means he is always in the present tense — always present with us. When Jesus came walking on the water at night to the disciples in the boat, they were afraid, and he said…Matthew 14:27 (NIV)“But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I (just “I am” in the original Greek). Don’t be afraid.’”This is Jesus‘s deliberate repetition of an often repeated phrase from God in the book of Isaiah and Jeremiah in the Hebrew scriptures.The last words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew…Matthew 28:20“Surely I am with you always.“He is the I AM. His name is HE IS. Always in the present tense, fully present with us in every present moment.It is essential to your faith that you are able to imagine/envision God 100% present with you right now in every present moment. That’s what the Bible’s teachings are all about. Yahweh/Jesus present in every present moment.And it is a presence in our very body, because the NT teaches that in this very moment Jesus by his Holy Spirit dwells in your body as his holy temple. 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 Diego Huaman.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.

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