A Christian Meditation on a Heart Cleansed and a Body Washed by Jesus in Hebrews 10:19-22
When you sprain your ankle in some way and spend the day walking around, by the end of the day it’s very sore. So you put on an ankle boot — a kind of temporary cast — for a while to help your ankle relax in the structure of the cast. It provides relie...
When you sprain your ankle in some way and spend the day walking around, by the end of the day it’s very sore. So you put on an ankle boot — a kind of temporary cast — for a while to help your ankle relax in the structure of the cast. It provides relief and helps with healing. That’s what Christian meditation does for your central nervous system. It’s like a boot cast for your central nervous system to relax in the structure of meditation to provide relief and help with healing. You might be...
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When you sprain your ankle in some way and spend the day walking around, by the end of the day it’s very sore. So you put on an ankle boot — a kind of temporary cast — for a while to help your ankle relax in the structure of the cast. It provides relief and helps with healing. That’s what Christian meditation does for your central nervous system. It’s like a boot cast for your central nervous system to relax in the structure of meditation to provide relief and help with healing. You might be tempted to think that a variety of different meditation styles is better because it helps your mind stay interested. But we’re intentionally doing the opposite in this kind of mediation. We’re trying to learn to discipline our mind to be able to focus on getting really good at one thing — a specific kind of meditation with a rhythm of deep breathing and progressive relaxation and biblically guided imagination, so we can reintegrate and recalibrate our body with the spiritual reality of God’s presence and love always IN us and AROUND us. This kind of meditation takes a lot of practice. A lot of new brain wiring through repetition over time. Neuroplasticity — neurons and fire together wire together. When you’re a beginner, your mind is always distracted and wandering and you’re not even quite sure what you’re trying to focus on. Our modern brains have been hardwired with all the quick distractions on our phones and all the fast moving media we are exposed to constantly throughout the day. As a result, our brain is less and less physically wired to be able to focus and concentrate on one thing – especially if it requires developing and using your imagination rather than just passively watching video. With more and more time and practice your mind will learn how to focus better and you will experience a deeper, more healing level of meditation. A more experiential relaxation and recalibrating your body with your mind and soul. And a deeper experience of feeling God‘s presence and love within your body and soul in the present moment. You always connect with God in the present moment rather than always having your mind wander into ruminating about the past or into the uncertainties about the future. This takes time and practice. It means to inhabit your body fully. To feel your entire body from within. Your body is meant to be filled with spiritual reality. Your body needs that or it unconsciously starts to malfunction with tension and stress and anxiety and self protection and clenched muscles and even some forms of chronic pain. This kind of Christian meditation helps your soul embrace your body — recalibrate your soul with your body — and fill your body with the spiritual reality of God’s life-giving presence and love. Hebrews 10:10 (NIV) …We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:19-22 (NIV) Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through …his body, …Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. This is all imagination language. So imagine yourself entering God‘s most holy presence. But without fear and shame because of the blood of Jesus completely “washing away” your guilt and shame. The body of Jesus taking ALL your sin and guilt and fear and shame upon himself and nailing it to the cross. Use your imagination to see yourself joyfully drawing near to God with full assurance and confidence because your heart has been cleansed from a guilty conscience and your body has been washed with the pure water of Jesus — the fountain of living waters. Imagine your body completely washed. Completely cleansed. All because of Jesus sacrificing his...
