Episode #887
890 I Spend My Life in God's Service, A Guided Christian Meditation on 2 Corinthians 12:14-16 with the Recenter With Christ app
890 I Spend My Life in God's Service, A Guided Christian Meditation on 2 Corinthians 12:14-16 with the Recenter With Christ app The purpose of this podcast is to help you find more peace in and connect with the true source of peace, Jesus Christ. Outline: Relaxation, Reading, Meditation, Prayer, Contemplation and Visualization. You can sit comfortably and uninterrupted for about 20 minutes.You should hopefully not be driving or anything tense or unrelaxing. If you feel comfortable doing so, I invite you to close your eyes. Guided Relaxation / Guided Meditation: Breathe and direct your thoughts to connecting with God. Let your stomach be a balloon inflate, deflate. Scripture for Meditation 2 Corinthians 12:14-16 KJV 14 Now I am ready to come to you this third time. And I will not be a burden, for I want not what is yours, but you. Children ought not to save for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be utterly spent for your sakes. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But granted that I myself did not burden you, yet I was crafty and got the better of you by deceit. 14 Look, for the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you, because I do not want your possessions, but you. For children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 Now I will most gladly spend and be spent for your lives! If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But be that as it may, I have not burdened you. Yet because I was a crafty person, I took you in by deceit! Reflection on Scripture: I was counseling with a person one time and they felt devalued by their spouse and they were talking about prioritizing themselves more. I have heard this repeated often. In that moment, I felt an internal conflict, or perhaps better said I felt the weight of the balance that Paul presents in these previous verses regarding his equality with other apostles. On the one hand he is no less valuable, and on the other, he is equally a fallen person. So one side is that we need to learn to not hate ourselves because that is a lie from the enemy, yet the solution to that is not to focus more on ourselves that is an influence from our unhealthy culture. Jesus taught us to love and serve others. He also told us to love others as ourselves. Other people are no more important but no less important than you are. I don't think in general the world has a shortage of people thinking about themselves. Learning to focus more on ourselves is often not the way to resolve these feelings. If we are willing to serve God would that also not be serving God's children. I think the solution to feeling devalued is to truly understand the value God places in us and now that we feel His love, that we look to Jesus for what he wants us to do with this stronger feeling of value and love. As two examples, consider a situation in which both people in a marriage feel as though they are not being focused on and loved enough. It is possible for both people to feel devalued at the same time. The solution to this problem would not be for both partners to focus on themselves more, but to learn how to receive unconditional love from God. Once fed by the love of God we can help to more clearly connect with another person and appropriately negotiate with our spouse on how to feel more loved from them. This is a profound oversimplification but consider it a metaphor. Another example is for people who struggle with social anxiety, if we transition to helping other people feel at ease in social settings it can actually lower our anxiety more than trying to put ourselves at ease. Again both of these are oversimplifications but they are examples. So take Pauls statement here about how he remains dedicated to the Church and try and discern how God wants you to balance your dedication? Meditation of Prayer: Pray as directed by the Spirit. Dedicate these moments to the patient waiting, when you feel ready ask God for understanding you desire from Him. Meditation of God and His Glory / Hesychasm: I invite you to sit in silence feeling patient for your own faults and trials. Summarize what insights you have gained during this meditation and meditate and visualize positive change in your life: This is a listener funded podcast at patreon.com/christianmeditationpodcast Final Question: If you consider the invitation and command to persevere in the faith, what change in your life does that bring to your mind? FIND ME ON: Download my free app: Recenter with Christ Website - ChristianMeditationPodcast.com Voicemail - (602) 888-3795 Email: jared@christianmeditationpodcast.com Apple Podcasts - Christian Meditation Podcast Facebook.com/christianmeditationpodcast Youtube.com/christianmeditaitonpodcast Twitter - @ChristianMedPod
