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 The Calm Confidence of Being “Beloved” by God
22:59 | 10-25-2022
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.Hebrews 4:16 NIV“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”Luke 3:21-22 (ESV)“Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’”Henri Nouwen — reflecting on how often we read that Jesus would get away on a mountain top to be alone with God the Father“Solitude is being with God and God alone. Is there any space for that in your life? Why is it so important that you are with God and God alone on the mountain top? It's important because it's the place in which you can listen to the voice of the One who calls you the beloved. To pray is to listen to the One who calls you "my beloved daughter," "my beloved son," "my beloved child." To pray is to let that voice speak to the center of your being, to your guts, and let that voice resound in your whole being. Who am I? I am the beloved. That's the voice Jesus heard when he came out of the Jordan River: ‘You are my beloved; on you my favor rests.’ And Jesus says to you and to me that we are loved as he is loved. That same voice is there for you. When you are not claiming that voice, you cannot walk freely in this world.”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.
A Meditation on Having a Calm Confidence Through Imagination
31:57 | 10-20-2022
If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.God created you as a being of imagination. It’s part of our being created in God’s image. The very first thing we see of God in the Bible is that he first imagines, then makes it so. Genesis 1 repeatedly states how God said, “Let there be,” and then “and there was…” We can only imagine the reason God created us with such powerful imaginations. One day, in our resurrected bodies on a resurrected world in the kingdom of God, we’ll know the powerful good our imagination can create. But in this Genesis 3 reality your imagination’s power is always creating realities in your life in both good ways and bad ways. It empowers your idolatrous desires and greatest insecurities. And your imagination creates good and bad realities in your relationships. In your ambitions. And in your body’s physiology and chemistry. Your body is always responding one way or the other to your imagination.Imagine holding a lemon in your palm. Imagine cutting it in half, noticing textures and scents. Squeeze the sour, pulpy, yellowish juice into a glass and raise it to your mouth. Inhale the citrus scent. Take a big mouthful of lemon juice. Imagine the taste and texture on your tongue, the bittersweet juice, the pulp. Is your mouth watering as though the experience were real? In response to mental images, your brain’s olfactory (smell) and gustatory (taste) centers are activated, triggering the real, physiological response of saliva — but there is no lemon. You’re not tasting lemon right now. But your imagination of the reality of it is putting that reality into your body. That’s why the Bible gives you powerful imagery to imagine. Learning to imagine biblical, spiritual realities will affect your body’s physiology. Imagining the true reality will keep insecurity and anxiety from running in your mind and heart. When you imagine your regrets or conflicts by themselves, insecurity and anxiety are going to take charge. But when you imagine them in the context of the One Thing that really matters most, insecurity and anxiety lose their power in your mind and heart and body. AND in your relationships. They will be replaced by a calm confidence.Hebrews 4:16 NIVLuke 3:21-22 (ESV)Henri Nouwen — reflecting on how often we read that Jesus would get away on a mountain top to be alone with God the Father“Solitude is being with God and God alone. Is there any space for that in your life? Why is it so important that you are with God and God alone on the mountain top? It's important because it's the place in which you can listen to the voice of the One who calls you the beloved. To pray is to listen to the One who calls you "my beloved daughter," "my beloved son," "my beloved child." To pray is to let that voice speak to the center of your being, to your guts, and let that voice resound in your whole being. Who am I? I am the beloved. That's the voice Jesus heard when he came out of the Jordan River: ‘You are my beloved; on you my favor rests.’ And Jesus says to you and to me that we are loved as he is loved. That same voice is there for you. When you are not claiming that voice, you cannot walk freely in this world.”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.
A Meditation on “Your Kingdom Come”
33:30 | 10-18-2022
If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.One thing – David in Psalm 27Psalms 27:4 (NIV)One thing — Jesus talking to Martha and Mary in Luke 10 — it says Martha was distracted… So Jesus says to her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the one thing that cannot be taken away from her.There’s something about saying Martha’s name twice that shows his care for her, and that he really wants her to hear what he’s getting ready to say. He’s talking about her whole life — being distracted by too many things because she has lost focus on the one thing she truly needs most.Anxiety is often hidden in our body and in our mind. But it happens when the one thing stops being the main thing and just becomes another thing on a long list of too many things.The very next sentence after Jesus talking to Martha is Luke 11…Luke 11:1-4 (NIV)Something about this shorter version gives us the main point. Your kingdom comeMatthew 9:35 NIV“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.”You can’t separate Christ from the kingdom of God because the word Christ means King. All of Jesus’s miracles in some way were signs of the good news of the kingdom of God.When he returns…Matthew 13:43 NIVSo use your imagination to picture this incredible image Jesus just gave you. He’s actually quoting from the book of Daniel in the Hebrew Scriptures. But this is an image Jesus wants you to have, so run with it with your imagination. Imagine your resurrected body that in some way is described as shining like the sun in the kingdom of your father. A body of glory. Radiance. Beauty. Power. Righteousness.If you have this one thing – dwelling in the presence of the I AM in his kingdom forever – you have everything.Luke 12:30–32 NIVLet your confidence in Jesus‘ words, replace anxiety and fear and self protective reflexes and stress in your mind and body with the security and comfort and peace and joy that your father is pleased to give you the kingdom. He knows everything you need and all you need is to have the one thing and that’s him — his kingdom. And everything else will be given to you if you have the one thing.Matthew 13:44–46 NIVJesus is talking about the one thing you need. Having joy because you have the one thing. You have found the one thing that you need to seek. And everything else will come when you have the one thing.CS Lewis quote in the very last part of Mere Christianity“The principle runs through all life from top to bottom. Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: …and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”Imagine having the one thing you need. You don’t need to be anxious about anything else if you have the one thing.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.
A Meditation on “Hallowed Be Your Name”
25:59 | 10-13-2022
If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.One thing – David in Psalm 27Psalms 27:4 (NIV)One thing I ask from the LORD,this only do I seek:that I may dwell in the house of the LORDall the days of my life,to gaze on the beauty of the LORDand to seek him in his temple.One thing — Jesus talking to Martha and Mary in Luke 10 — it says Martha was distracted… So Jesus says to her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the one thing that cannot be taken away from her.There’s something about saying Martha’s name twice that shows his care for her, and that he really wants her to hear what he’s getting ready to say. He’s talking about her whole life — being distracted by too many things because she has lost focus on the one thing she truly needs most.Anxiety is often hidden in our body and in our mind. But it happens when the one thing stops being the main thing and just becomes another thing on a long list of too many things.The very next sentence after Jesus talking to Martha is Luke 11…Luke 11:1-4 (NIV)“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”He said to them, “When you pray, say:‘Father,Hallowed be your name,Your kingdom come.’”Give us each day our daily bread.Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”Something about this shorter version gives us the main point. Father hallowed be your name“Holy” (Who God is) — Radiant, ultimate in splendor, beauty, glory, goodness, etc.“Hallowed” is the verb form of the word holy. It usually gets translated as “sanctify” in our English Bible (“hallowed” = “sanctified”).And we get a better idea what that verb means when used in poetic parallel in…Isaiah 29:23 ESV“[The children of Abraham] will sanctify my name [same phrase as “hallowed by your name” except in the first person]; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel.So hallowed means to be in awe of God. To see him as Ultimate. God is The Most… The most worthy. The most glorious. The most beautiful. The most radiant. The most trustworthy. God’s ultimate-ness supersedes everything else. And everything else takes its proper place when God is your Ultimate. If you have the Ultimate, then you ultimately have everything else.Same word used regarding Jesus in (Peter heard Jesus give the Lord’s Prayer)…1 Peter 3:15 ESV“…In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy…”κύριov δὲ τὸν Χριστὸν ἁγιάσατε ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν Christ is The Most… The most worthy. The most glorious. The most beautiful. The most radiant. The most trustworthy. The most important by FAR.“Hallowed” as a prayer also has the idea of “holy be in me.” “Holy be in me…” (WhoI am because God is my “Father”).When talking about something other than God, being sanctified means something that represents God. Connected to him in such a way that it represents his name and his presence. Christ enables you to honor/hallow God’s name, because…1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV — same exact Greek word. (“…In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ…”)“…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 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.
A Meditation on God Loving YOU Just As Much As He Does Jesus
28:47 | 10-11-2022
If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Psalm 16:8-9 NIVJust imagine being alone right now with the Lord of Heaven and Earth, who rules over every detail in your life. “Not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from the care of your Heavenly Father,” Jesus says in Matthew 10:29, “and he has numbered the very hairs of your head.” Jesus’s point was the same as Psalm 118:1, that you can trust in his goodness and his steadfast love for you right now. He rules over everything in his entire universe, and he is right there at your right hand — Imagine this.Your entire body resting secure in the love and care of your Father in heaven.In biblical meditation, you’re intentionally focusing your thoughts and using the power of your imagination to experience the reality of God's presence and promises in your life. In addition to that, what we want to do in this meditation is mentally reintegrate our body with our soul. In modern society we live these bifurcated lives where our soul is often mentally disconnected from our awareness of and spiritual health of our body. Our bodies need spiritual health. They are part of our soul. When we are not doing well spiritually it affects our bodies. When this happens, we can store stress and anxiety in our body but our mind is not aware of it. King David talks about this a lot in the Psalms, like Psalm 38. In this meditation, we want to reintegrate our body/mind/spirit connection by using our biblically guided imagination to bring spiritual rejuvenation and strength to our whole being — mind and body as a whole. Embracing our whole body as an important part of who we are. And that way we can sense when we have stress and anxiety and insecurity and deal with it on the soul level. John 17:23 (NIV)Let’s make sure we slow down and really catch the amazing truth in Jesus‘s words — The God who created everything everywhere in the universe is in you by his Spirit — including your body — through Jesus. How all this works is a mystery we’re not really gonna understand. But the Bible tells us this so we can imagine this truth and live empowered by it. Even in our bodies.Luke 3:21-22 (ESV)I [am] in them and you [are] in me — you …have loved them even as you have loved me.If you have Jesus in you, and if, as Jesus says, God loves you even as the Father loved the Son, then this is what God says when he sees you! “You are my beloved child, with you I am well pleased!”Henri Nouwen — reflecting on how often we read that Jesus would get away on a mountain top to be alone with God the Father“Solitude is being with God and God alone. Is there any space for that in your life? Why is it so important that you are with God and God alone on the mountain top? It's important because it's the place in which you can listen to the voice of the One who calls you the beloved. To pray is to listen to the One who calls you ‘my beloved daughter,’ ‘my beloved son,’ ‘my beloved child.’ To pray is to let that voice speak to the center of your being, to your guts, and let that voice resound in your whole being. Who am I? I am the beloved. That's the voice Jesus heard when he came out of the Jordan River: ‘You are my beloved; on you my favor rests.’ And Jesus says to you and to me that we are loved as he is loved. That same voice is there for you. When you are not claiming that voice, you cannot walk freely in this world.”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.
A Meditation on Why Jesus Emphasized God as “Father”
39:12 | 10-06-2022
If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.In our last episode we looked at what Jesus said to his friend…Luke 10:41-42 (ESV)But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”He’s talking about Martha’s life — anxious and troubled about MANY things, but one thing is necessary, which will not be taken away from her.And then right after the story about Mary and Martha…No chapters in the original. So Luke arranges it so that this is the very next sentence…Luke 11:1-4 (NIV)“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”He said to them, “When you pray, say:‘Father,Hallowed be your name,Your kingdom come.’”Give us each day our daily bread.Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”Something about this shorter version gives us the main point. FatherGod of the universe…Matthew 11:25 (NIV)…Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth...”You may have some baggage with that term, Father, but Jesus has the ideal in mind. No one loves you more than your parents (in an ideal situation). And in an ideal situation as a child, your Father is the person you feel most protected by. He’s in charge and you’re safe. He provides everything you need.This is the ideal Jesus has in mind in…Matthew 6:6 NIV“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”Matthew 10:29–31 NIV“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”Immediately after Jesus rose from death and came out of his tomb…John 20:17 ESV“…Go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”Jesus is emphasizing that God relates to us as our Father with the same love and access as Jesus enjoyed.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.
A Meditation on Why Jesus Says You’re Anxious
27:55 | 10-04-2022
If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Our body’s tension and tightness and clenched muscles are signs that too many things are occupying our place of trust. Our body will always manifest our incongruity when we seek security in things that cannot give security.Steve Cuss (Managing Leadership Anxiety)“Anxiety is a signal, not a root cause. Anxiety is generated when we think we need something in any particular moment that we don’t actually need. Anxiety is not just worry and fear. It’s how you react when you don’t get something you think you need.”“The point is that anxiety becomes a marker that something other than God’s presence and love is at play in my mind and body.”Compare that to what David wrote 3,000 years ago…Psalms 27:4 NIVLuke 10:38-42 (ESV)This passage always kind of frustrated me because somebody still had to cook and do the dishes. I’d want to just sit and listen too. But I don’t think Jesus’s point is just be a hippie and don’t worry about the work. The key is in the words he uses, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” I think when God walks into your home and he says something like this too you, he’s talking about a lot more than just the dishes. He’s talking about Martha’s life — anxious and troubled about MANY things, but one thing is necessary, which will not be taken away from her.I think Jesus is alluding to what David wrote 1,000 earlier in Psalm 27. This is the ONE THING that you cannot lose if you have it. But if you don’t have this one thing, you will lose everything in the end. But if the LORD is your ONE THING, you end up with everything in the end.So take a deep abdominal breath in …and when you let it out focus your mind on imagining the ONE THING you need most and that’s dwelling with the LORD in his house and his beauty forever. And let that ONE THING replace the distractions and anxieties and feelings of trouble in your body, and instead feel your body fall into the secure rest and relaxed calm of knowing that you only really NEED ONE THING. Psalm 16:8-9 NIVMartha’s life was distracted, anxious, and troubled about too many things because she was forgetting the ONE THING that was necessary. So when anxiety strikes (elevated heart rate, muscle tension, mental distraction, anger fantasies), ask yourself:1) What do I feel I need that’s being threatened right now?2) Why do I feel that I need it?3) Do I really need it?Maybe my problem was Martha’s problem. And Jesus’s words to her are his words to me that I need to hear: “You are distracted, anxious, and troubled about too many things because you’re forgetting the ONE THING that is absolutely most necessary.”And this is an issue of the heart. What do you want most? What do you really need most?Maybe your desires are being hijacked by too many things that are trying to replace the ONE THING.So right now, you can trust God‘s presence and love and care for you that is far greater than your plan for yourself and your “wants” that have disguised themselves as “needs” that drive your troubled heart — your anxieties and fears and insecurities and anger and anger fantasies and stress.Right now, you’re choosing to seek the one thing you can trust that’s forever.Say aloud to yourself…“God is 100% present. He is IN this moment with me. And I can trust him.”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.
A Meditation on Trusting It ALL Into God’s Hands from Psalm 31:14-15
34:09 | 09-29-2022
If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.David writes…Psalm 31:14-15 NIV“You are my God” doesn’t JUST mean that David is putting God first above all other desires and potential idols in his heart. It is that. But in the Bible that phrase is used by God over and over to also mean that God is committing himself to be our God forever. OUR GOD — our protector and provider and our joy and meaning and happiness. Our caretaker and the one who controls all things. That’s his eternal commitment to us when he promises to be our God. And that’s the way David means it in this passage. “I trust in you, LORD.”Right now you’re trusting in something for your best life. Maybe it’s in your plans. Your abilities. Maybe it’s a particular thing you want right now. A success. A relationship. A plan you have that you really want to work out. And perhaps it’s a good thing. But whatever it is, if you make it “your God” in some way it will let you down. Your imagination has created a future false reality that is a perfect exaggeration. All your life, whenever you trusted in your own plans and desires and in a way made them “your God,” every time in some way your expectations were always let down. A disappointment. That’s because finite things cannot meet our God need. And because we’re not God, we’re never in control of even our own plans. Trusting in your own plans and desires of what you need to be happy will always ultimately bring anxiety and insecurity and sometimes anger. Because you know deep down you’re NOT in control.Anxiety comes when we are afraid we’re not going to get something that we think we need, but we really don’t need. We just think we need it because of the plan we have for our lives. It’s what we’re “trusting” in. But the creator of this universe sees everything in all of time.So David found the better way in Psalm 31…LORD — in Hebrew it’s God’s name, Yahweh — HE IS…the I AM…Creator of everything. Source of Life itself. 100% present with his people he’s promised to be their God.It’s amazing — while God is present and in control of an exploding star in some galaxy light years away, at the same exact time God is also present in the details of your life. We take it for granted that we get to talk to YHWH as “you” like David does here. And like with David, Jesus promises that God is with you and listens to you. You get to talk to him. When you use your imagination to envision God as his name, it becomes easier to trust in him. Who else would you trust instead? Ultimately YHWH is the only one you CAN trust with your life forever. Your best life forever. There’s a sense in which “trust” is to surrender your plan, your will, to the LORD. It’s a resolve to let go of having to have things OUR way. This is cheesy, but it helps us remember — Do I trust MY WAY or YAHWEH? Yes, you might be rolling your eyes inside your head. But it does clarify what David is saying…Right now, put ALL your times into his hands. ALL your plans. ALL your anxieties. ALL your insecurities. ALL your anger. ALL your hopes.Put it ALL into the hands of the LORD of the universe who is also your God — committed to you forever. And trusting them into his hands will replace anxiety and stress and anger and insecurity. 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.
A Meditation on Why You Need Just One Thing from Psalm 27:4
30:58 | 09-27-2022
If your podcast app is set to skip the silent sections, disable that in your podcast app for this podcast.Psalms 27:4 NIVPoetic, imaginative language. David is using his imagination because there was no physical temple in David’s time. We can experience God’s temple that way too, but not about some earthly temple. Genesis 1 presents all of creation as God’s temple. And the last two chapters of the Bible do the same.This is the ultimate promise of the whole Bible’s story. That one day when Jesus returns to bring heaven back to earth, all the earth will be God’s temple. For us, to dwell in the house of the LORD is to belong in his family, and to one day live with the joy and wonder and awe of his visible presence. To experience “the beauty of the LORD.” But for now, like David, we can experience this ultimate joy and wonder and awe for our lives through Christian meditation. Using our imagination — the eyes of our heart. John Mark Comer“Worship and joy start with the capacity to turn our minds’ attention toward the God who is always with us in the now.”Daniel Levitin in his book, This Is Your Brain on Music, writes…“Petr had just completed a study in which he kept track of people’s brain waves while they listened to music and while they imagined music. He used EEG, placing sensors that measure electrical activity emanating from the brain across the surface of the scalp. Both Petr and I were surprised to see that it was nearly impossible to tell from the data whether people were listening to or imagining music. The pattern of brain activity was virtually indistinguishable. This suggested that people use the same brain regions for remembering as they do for perceiving.”Envisioning God being with us and in us is a kind of seeing with what Paul calls “the eyes of our heart“ in Ephesians 1:17-18. Christian meditation is a time to spiritually focus your mind and your body on God‘s presence and all that that means for you. Psalms 27:4 NIVRight now you are in the temple of the LORD by being inside his creation, and as the NT says, your body is also a temple of the LORD. So make this verse, given to you by God’s Spirit, your imagined reality right now. Remember, you’re using your imagination to see invisible realities. You’re in the presence of the One Being who is infinite. The One Being is the Source of all existence, the Giver of all life, who is God forever and is 100% present with you right now.Christ has brought you into “the house of the LORD” through his bodily death and bodily resurrection. When God looks at you, he looks through the eyes of his perfect and eternal love for you.“One thing” — the Ultimate pursuit. It’s kind of like when Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God … and everything else will be given to you too” — when you seek other things first, ultimately you will end up with nothing in end, and end up with nothing but anxiety and insecurity along the way. But if you focus first on the Ultimate Thing, ultimately you get everything.To have Yahweh forever (the I AM, Source of all existence, Giver of all life, God forever, 100% present), to belong to him and his “house” “all the days of” your forever life, to have your forever life filled with his love and beauty in his restored creation, THAT’s the Ultimate you were created for and that you’re heart wants whether you realize it or not. So realize it now in this meditation.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.
Overcoming Anxiety By Lifting Up Your Eyes in Meditation from Psalm 121
24:18 | 09-22-2022
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.A good biblical image of what you’re trying to do in meditation…Psalm 16:8-9 NIVWith [the LORD] at my right hand, I will not be shaken. …My body…will rest secure.Your entire body resting secure in the love and care of your Father in heaven.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.“I lift up my eyes…“Ethan Cross — psychologist and neuroscientist, writes in his book, Chatter on overcoming the voice in your head that is bringing anxiety, insecurity, anger, resentment, etc. Not a Christian from what I can tell from reading the book, but has an interesting point from his research…“Seek out awe-inspiring experiences. Feeling awe allows us to transcend our current concerns in ways that put our problems in perspective.”Just imagine being alone right now with the Lord of Heaven and Earth, who rules over every detail in your life. “Not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from the care of your Heavenly Father,” Jesus says in Matthew 10:29, “and he has numbered the very hairs of your head.” Jesus’s point was the same as Psalm 118:1, that you can trust in his goodness and his steadfast love for you right now. He rules over everything in his entire universe, and he is right there at your right hand — Imagine this.Psalm 121:8 ESVThe LORD will keep your going out and your coming in 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.