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 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
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.
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.
A Meditation on Being Able to See Vertically
31:56 | 11-03-2022
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 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.”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 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.
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.
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.