A Christian Meditation with Galatians 5:22

We wake up from dreams we don’t remember but often they have put anxiety, insecurity and anger in our hearts and in our bodies. That’s one reason I personally do this meditation first thing in the morning. I also do it at the end of my work day. That’s about 45 minutes. But I’d rather spend 45 minutes recalibrating my mind and my body on God’s presence through meditation than watching another 45 minutes of TV or scrolling through social media. And it makes a noticeable difference in my emotional and spiritual and physical wellbeing. (If your podcast app is set to skip over silent sections, disable that now for this podcast) Let’s begin by lying/sitting/you could be walking in nature. Breathe/Exhale/Awareness of your body’s tension (relax it more with each exhale). Try to mentally inhabit your body fully. To always have some of your attention in the inner condition of your body. To feel your body from within, so to speak. Body awareness reconnects your body to your mind/soul. Just do that for a minute while I say some things about meditation using biblically guided imagination… The Bible is filled with as much (if not more) imagery than it is straight propositional truth. The images are meant to appeal to our imagination. Our desires are driven by our imagination. Advertisers know this, of course, which is why most ads really aren't giving us information as much as imagination. Have this. Do this. Be this. So in meditation we want to use the images God gives us by his Spirit in his word — scripture — to help us see God with the eyes of our heart. And the more we do, through our biblically guided imagination, the more our hearts will desire him more than the false promises of sin that usually grab most of our imagination. One way to define prayer is awareness of and connection to God in our mind and in our bodies. Continue to focus on breathing deeply and being aware of and relaxing your whole body with each exhale… Let’s specifically focus on a few areas where we typically hold our tension and stress. Christian meditation focuses you on biblical imagery showing how you — your body — utterly depend upon God’s life-giving Spirit at every moment. Paul says, “In him we live and move and have our being” (Act 17:28). Of course most people don’t realize this or think of themselves this way, and even WE live our lives often ignoring God. But regardless whether we acknowledge it or not, it’s God who gives us life at every moment we’re alive. Every cell in our body. Continue to focus on breathing deeply and being aware of and relaxing your whole body with each exhale… Let’s recalibrate our mind and body to reality by imagining this reality and experiencing it in meditation. Imagine every cell in your body being given its life by God’s Spirit. This imagery can bring relaxation and relieve stress from your body. Let’s meditate on the imagery of… Ephesians 5:18 — “Be filled with the Spirit.” It’s an amazing thing to think – the God that created this universe is in me! In my body. The life-giving, universe-creating power of the Spirit of God is in me! I want his power to fill me! Fill every cell in my body! Continue to focus on breathing deeply and being aware of and relaxing your whole body with each exhale… Let’s imagine that now as we focus on a few more areas where we typically hold our tension and anxiety in our body. Your body is filled with God’s Spirit — No fear. No insecurity. No threat. Let’s meditate on the imagery of… Galatians 5:22-23 ESV …The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control. (This is what true holiness is.) Continue to focus on breathing deeply and being aware of and relaxing your whole body with each exhale… When you have God’s Spirit in you, then this is how God is toward YOU — loving, joyful, peace, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle....