So this is not a podcast where you can multitask while you listen. I’m not trying to give you new information or things to consider like other podcasts. I love those kinds of podcasts. But in this podcast I’m wanting to give you an experience. I want you to learn to reintegrate your body with your mind’s awareness so that you can notice the “red flag” when you feel tension or anxiety in your body. It’s a red flag that you’re experiencing a vertical disconnect with God. And I want you to experience what a vertical connection feels like through envisioning the unseen reality of God’s presence in this moment and his presence in your body by his Holy Spirit.

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Romans 12:2 (NIV) 

…Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

The big principle of neuroplasticity is this: Neurons that fire together wire together.

The longer you practice unchecked anxiety, the more you create and use and deepen the “anxiety pathway” in your brain. The more you use this pathway, the bigger and stronger it gets. The stronger this pathway gets, the more automatic your brain gets at producing more anxiety, even in situations that wouldn’t have produced it before! 

The good news has been in the Bible all along.

Romans 12:2 (NIV) 

…Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

Remember the context of this verse is Romans 11:36.

In a perfect situation/response, you would be able to say that to yourself whenever you felt insecure or anxious. 

Daniel 5:23 NIV

He is “…the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.”

But it’s super hard if our brain is already deeply wired to have an insecure, anxious, self-protective response. 

That’s why Christian meditation is the key to renewing your mind. It’s kind of like practicing your scales on piano or guitar.

Remember the apostle Paul writes in…

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)

And we all, who … contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Contemplate the Lord’s glory and feel that image into your body. Fire these neurons together: feeling your body from within and imagining the Lord’s glory of Romans 11:36 and Daniel 5:23. Together. 

Then after practice, when you get into a situation/circumstance where you would normally feel threatened, respond by feeling the Lord’s glory in/with your body. Wire a new kind of muscle memory in your brain. 

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Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecover

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Our audio engineer is Diego Huaman.

This podcast is a ministry of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri, a college town where the flagship campus of the University of Missouri is located.