How To Meditate As A Christian And Why You Should

Often Christians will avoid the word meditation because of the connection with Eastern thought. In things such as yoga people are taught how to empty one's mind. Biblical meditation has been around a very long time but the difference is we are encouraged to fill our mind with Scripture. So Christian meditation is when we allow the Scriptures to take preeminence over other thoughts as we open ourselves to the teaching of Holy Spirit.

The psalmist of Psalm 119 meditated on the Scriptures and prayed throughout the Psalm "open my eyes, "teach me", "help me understand".  James tells us that we must approach the Scriptures with an openness, believing the Scriptures are "anything is possible" Scriptures, written by "anything is possible" Spirit. When we open ourselves to Scripture by meditating on it we enable the Spirit to teach us by revelation in relationship (always in intimate relationship), orientating us to the Kingdom instead of this world.

Meditation changes us. It is not Bible Study. It is sitting at the feet of the Spirit and receiving what he is teaching and being changed by it.

How do we meditate? Allow me to share with you what I have found to be best practice, understanding there needs to be a shift away from a Bible Study approach toward a learning on the knee of our Father:

1. Set aside a week or so to meditate on one passage.

2. A passage should be one complete thought, perhaps smaller thoughts that add up to one overall theme (I will give you some suggestions at the end). Avoid a single verse.

3. Meditation does not have to be memorization but you may find that memorizing helps you to focus. However, you can simply meditate on the though or the theme that comes from the passage.

4. On day 1 read through the complete passage several times during the day. Perhaps twice in the morning, once in the afternoon and twice in the evening.

5. Have a note pad to jot down any thoughts or ideas you hear as you are reading.

6. On day 2, and every day thereafter, choose which verses you are going to review throughout the day. Always keep a note pad handy or keep notes on your phone. At the end of every day you should review your notes.

7. Use spare moments of your day to turn over the verses, asking Spirit questions and listening for answers. Such times may be while you are driving, taking the bus, going for a walk, taking a bath, preparing supper. It is anytime when you are alone and not engaged with people around you. If need be create such moments throughout your day.

8. Do not search commentaries or people's opinions online. Ask your questions to Spirit and look up any other Scriptures he may direct you to look up. You are his student and he will teach you.

9. Something you may find helpful is to partner with a friend to meditate on the same Scripture together. You can meet for coffee or go for a walk together to compare notes.

The biggest benefit from such meditation, besides learning to hear the voice behind the Scriptures, is the growing awareness you will gain of the Lord's constant abiding presence. You will become more and more aware of his voice and you will learn to obey. You will also quickly discover that the Bible is the Living Word of Yahweh, applying itself to every circumstance of your life today.

Here are a view suggestions to begin with:

Psalm. 1

Psalm. 8

Psalm. 103:1-12

1 Thess. 5:5-24

Hebrews. 4:9-16

1 Cor. 13

Psalm. 119:1-16

Proverbs.3:1-12

Psalm. 27

John. 3:1-16

Philippians. 2:1-16

Feel free to contact me for further suggestions if you finish with these. If you are looking to partner with anyone for this purpose of meditation I meet with a group three times a week in an online meeting. Contact me and I will send you an invitation to join with us. 

Shame On You?

It seems to be our nature to want to control people while defending our own freedom. From birth we want to be in control and we want others to meet our needs. Children learn from a young age how to manipulate adults. I am not saying it works but children fight for control over their environment. Adults are no different and one of the many tools in our arsenal of control and manipulation is shame.

You have been a victim of shaming as have I and, if we are honest, we have used this tool ourselves to get people to behave as we think they should. It is a horrible feeling to be a victim of it, but it also feels powerful to use it. Some people have even graduated from the master class.

Shaming is the tool of choice in this age of social media. It is used to control anyone who steps out of line with the current social norms. I think we all agree that it is ugly to witness and we may even speak out against it but it is very effective with politicians, celebs, corporations and the average joe all bending the knee to the pressure.

But is this a Kingdom tool?

I have heard many preachers using this tool to try to control their people. The Church as a whole employs this tool to control society. But is it pleasing to our King? Does it line up with Father's heart? Are we even suppose to manipulate and control people?

When I returned to the Lord at the age of eighteen years old I came as a prodigal son. When my King showed up in my bedroom that wonderful morning thirty-eight years ago, my rebellion was glaring in the light of his glory. I threw myself to the floor, face buried in my carpet, wrecked by shame, tears of remorse flowing freely. But the shame did not come from my King. The shame was my own. It was how I made myself feel, and rightly so.

My Lord only showed me his glory, his goodness and love. He wanted me to know his desire for me. In light of this I felt shame for my rebellion. But Jesus did not leave me there. As quick as shame had come upon me, his love and forgiveness washed it all away. He lifted me off the floor and he turned my mourning into laughter.

Shame is not part of the Kingdom. It is not a tool of my Father. It cannot be what I use.

When I read the Scriptures I see again and again this same method that Jesus used with me. He just shows up and reveals the glory of his love, mercy, grace, compassion and his desire for the lost and rebellious ones. We, his people, citizens of the Kingdom, the children of Father, are to lift up Jesus. We are to declare his glory to the nations. We are to preach freedom to the prisoners. We are to demonstrate the Kingdom of God. There is only One who convicts the lost about their rebellious ways and he does it by showing them a greater love.

There is enough shame being thrown at people. Let us show each other and the world that Father's ways are the best. "While we were still lost in our rebellion, Jesus the Christ died for us." 

What Do We Do When We Mess Up?

We all want to do what is right. We desire to love and honour people. It is a regular thing for us to sacrifice for the benefit of someone else. That is the heart of our heavenly Father. Dad is proud and pleased when his children carry his image well. But what about when we get it wrong? When we mess up? When we hurt someone instead of honour them?

It happened to me again yesterday.

Some of my children were over for a BBQ. We are a large family, twelve children and three grandchildren, and we very much love each other. But I come from a background of "quick whit" and "lightening fast sarcasm". 

Several years ago the Spirit convicted me about this because it did not line up with Father's heart. This kind of humour targets people and often causes hurt. I thought it was just fun teasing and a sign of my affection. How wrong I was. So I repented and surrendered this to the Lord. I have seen a marked difference in my capacity to love people in a way that honours them.

Except for yesterday.

There was a bit of banter and teasing going on as usually happens between my children. Before I even realized what I was doing I entered in. Sure enough, within a few minutes I verbally poked one of my daughters, an intended teasing. The look on her face told me I had failed her.

In my teasing I had potentially exposed I private situation she was not prepared for the others to know about. No one picked up on it but I saw the betrayal written all over her face and my heart was broken. She quietly left the gathering and retreated inside.

I messed up. The Spirit nudged me with the clean up instructions. A humble apology was in order. Dad is very good at handing us the mop for us to clean up the mess we make. It is what he does instead of tearing us down. It is how we know it is him, because the enemy is also speaking at us, tearing us down and helping us feel useless and miserable. But Dad is for us. He lifts us up from the mess and then shows us what to do with the mess.

It's kind of like when a child breaks a neighbours window and his dad takes him over to apologize. Usually the dad is going to pay for it to be fixed but at the same time the child will also probably have to mow the neighbours lawn for a month, in the form of an apology but also to honour the neighbour.

So I found myself speaking with my daughter, apologizing. I told her that I realized what I had done and I was sorry for my thoughtlessness. I did my best to convey my love and to honour her. She's that important to me. She is an incredible person, full of insight, compassion, tenderness and a sensitivity to the needs of others. I was absolutely wrong to crush that in careless banter.

It's going to happen. No matter how much we desire to love and honour people we are going to mess up. Trust will be broken. Relationships will be damaged. But when it happens we cannot afford to ignore it because we struggle with humility, or with acknowledging we were wrong wrong. When we mess up Dad does not condemn us but he does give us a mop to clean it up. If we really are people who desire to honour and love people then we will accept that apologizing is part of this process.

Is There A Time When Hard Work Is The Wrong Choice?

From the first day of our schooling we are taught to be organized and to make plans. Most of us thrive in an atmosphere of purpose, direction and clear planning. The enemy of such an atmosphere is clutter. 

We can find all kinds of examples in Scripture that speak of the reward of hard work and planning. The ant is often the poster boy of the acceptable attitude. Along with Scripture there are many fables and moral-teaching children stories that speak to the virtue of working hard in the good times so that we have what we need in the hard times.

But then there is Jesus.

Remember the parable of the farmer who had such a blessed year that he had twice as much of what he needed. It seemed wise that he would build a second barn to store it because, well, you never know. But Jesus did not find this to be wise.

Jesus said the farmer was wrong because his life was about to end so what purpose was there in the effort of building the second barn? It seems to fly in the face of what we are taught. Ward work is never a waste of time. But Jesus has a different perspective.

This is the man who was constantly turning cultural tradition on its ear. Do you remember when he was over at Mary and Martha's for a meal? The place of the women was in the kitchen, preparing the meal for the guest of honour. The place of the men was to sit with the guest. Hard work was expected of the women. But Mary chose differently.

Mary chose to sit at Jesus feet to listen to the lessons. She abandoned her sister to the hard work while she stayed with Jesus. When Martha asked Jesus to correct Mary he refused. Instead he told Martha that Mary had made the better choice. To understand this we need to consider another encounter Jesus had with a woman.

While Jesus was a guest at another home a woman came in and covered him in an expensive perfume. This woman was criticized by the disciples because they said this was a waste, that the money could have been used to help the poor. Jesus told them to leave the woman alone and that what she had done would be spoken of until the end of time. He told them that they would always have the poor among them but they would not always have him.

Jesus taught about seasons. We need to be paying attention to seasons. Mary chose correctly because this was the season of instruction and it would not last. The woman with the perfume chose to honour Jesus before his death. It was prophetic because there would be no time to anoint his body after death. There is nothing wrong with hard work and it is a great virtue, unless it interferes with the season that we are in. My daughter Mia reminded me of this last night.

I have been working hard to fix our pool so that my children can enjoy the summer. We have had lots of problems with it and it is taking a lot of time. Last night, as I was putting the children to bed, my daughter reminded me about seasons.

"Daddy, tomorrow will we have time to play?"

"I don't know."

"I like it when you play with us."

"You do?"

"Yes. Do you like playing with me?"

"Of course I do. We'll find the time to play tomorrow."

"Good. I love you daddy."

A child grows up very quickly. The season of them wanting to play with their daddy only lasts for a short time. Working hard on a pool for a child can look very much like an extra barn if I forget the moment I am in. I need to enjoy each moment, finding the time to enjoy where the child is today and not let the plans of tomorrow rob us (her and me) of this moment. 

It can be difficult because it often means going against what we have been trained to do in our society. But the Kingdom of God is based on other principles that highlight what is important in the Kingdom:people. When a child asks you to go for a walk, ride your bike, play dress up, have a tea party, please, drop whatever you are doing and live fully in that moment. All too soon that moment is gone and the season is over.

The Real Danger Of Covid-19

It has been some time since I have tried my hand at blogging. Let's see if I can shake the dust off these fingers of mine by asking the question "do I have anything to say?"

COVID-19 has been around for a few months now and most of us have grown tired of keeping our distance. We are seeing out governments slowly removing the restrictions because they are realizing we have to learn to live with this virus. It is a tough call because the risk is potentially high, but we all need to get on with living.

This is the reason I felt somewhat joyful the other day as I listened in on the daily briefing from our provincial government. I was in the car running some errands when I heard them announce that they were permitting outdoor gatherings of up to ten people from no more than three households. My first thought was, my son and daughter could come over this Sunday. It has been three months.

I have three grandchildren, two of whom live within thirty minutes of me, but I had not seen them for three months. That is an eternity of time in a small child's development. I felt a warmth inside of me at the thought of seeing them.

So many people have paid a very high price to slow down this pandemic. People have died separated from those who longed to sit by their bed. No last embrace. No goodbyes. So many people have been hidden away, groceries delivered, sofa sitting, television fatigue. Long lines outside of stores. Cheap gas with nowhere to go. Lots of different thoughts running through my head as I processed this new information.

When I arrived back home I noted a small gathering of people on my neighbours front lawn. He's a really nice guy. I got out of my car just in time to hear my neighbour come out of his house. "Hi dad." "Hi son." I almost started to cry. What?

Life is not about careers, accomplishments, wages. Life is not about houses, cars and possessions. Life is about relationships. Young or old. Rich or poor. Male or female. Black or white. The thing we all need, want and long for is connection. We need to be connected with people who love us and who we love in turn. We need people who "see" us and appreciate us. We need family and friends, not for context but for purpose. We were created that way.

We were created for relationship. Our Creator made us to be in relationship with him, to love him and to be loved by him. It is the foundation on which everything else was built. We were also made for each other; to love. We are complete when we love our Creator and we love each other. So it seems the government almost destroyed us in their attempt to save us.

I don't blame them and I don't accuse them. They were and are in a very difficult place. Yet, there is a point where we just have to start living again. Some would point to the economy and the need to get back to work. But I point to my neighbour. I point to his front lawn. I point to his simple greeting with his son and I say in that we find life. In that we find our purpose. In that we find our joy.

We need each other. 

We were created to love.