770 You Became an Example to All the Believers, A Guided Christian Meditation on 1 Thessalonians 1:7-10 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.

Get into a place where you can sit comfortably and uninterrupted for about 20 minutes.You should hopefully not be driving or anything tensing or unrelaxing.  If you feel comfortable to do 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

1 Thessalonians 1:4-6

NET 7 As a result you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For from you the message of the Lord has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread, so that we do not need to say anything. 9 For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

RSV 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedo′nia and in Acha′ia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedo′nia and Acha′ia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us what a welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Reflection on Scripture:

What does it mean to become an imitator of Jesus Christ? When I was out driving today I saw a sign for a church that said they were a friendly church. Many people point to the acceptance of jesus Christ and claim that he would reach out to all and be friendly. I have heard other Christians resist this notion claiming that Jesus was not nice and that is just us reading our modern sensibilities into scripture and that Jesus holds people accountable and prefers confrontation with the Word to bring people to truth. 

Since we are trying to be like Jesus and as Paul says here, to be an imitator of Jesus, it is far from a philosophical point to wonder how Jesus would approach sinners. 

Jesus had an amazing ability to make sinners both feel challenged but also loved. I think a characterization that demands we choose between Jesus accepting sinners, and permitting sin is a quite limited perspective that does not align with Jesus’ actions in life. He wanted people to depart from activities that would cause them to be less like Him. Things that God calls sins do not become meaningless just because Jesus is willing to forgive us for them. 

I think it is a fundamentally important point that as we turn from our sin and try and reject the idolatry of the word, that this is one of the ways this scripture points to us following the example. Equally important is what it says in the verses we covered in the last episode, that we be filled with the Joy of the Holy Spirit. I believe that as we live in that joy it will pour out of our lives and help others to feel loved, but hopefully to aspire to the kind of relationship with God that feeds this joy. This week I was talking with someone who had engaged in something that they saw as a grievous sin. Both he and I agreed that it was a poor choice but due to the way I engaged with him, he felt completely loved but also completely convicted of that sin. He committed to bring it to God and return his heart to the Lord. I think this is an example of the kind of balance we can make between departing from sin but also rejoicing in the spirit. Above all the greatest invitation is for us to place our trust on the Son who was raised to heaven and will deliver us from the wrath to come. Let us ponder how we are doing with our goals to emulate this kind of loving faith 

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:

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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? 

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