The purpose of Christian Meditation for A Bigger Life is to help 21st-century Christians in the always distracted digital age — to connect with God with your whole being — including your body — and to wire into your brain the reality of that embodied connection in each moment. And I think most of us as Christians are often living unconsciously anxious and tense lives with a kind of disconnection between our body and mind, and disconnection between our body and God’s Spirit. Where our “Christian faith” has become almost exclusively about certain beliefs rather than an embodied experience with God’s Spirit who is always 100% present with us and in us in the NOW. 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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We know from the Gospels that Jesus was a morning person.

That’s why it was Jesus’ practice in…

Mark 1:35 (NIV)

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Whenever you get up in the morning, it’s a good practice to set aside some time to enter a kind of solitary place – maybe you’re doing this meditation in the morning. 

This is a solitary time for you to meditate — to become aware and sensitive to spiritual realities and impressions — to re-integrate your body with your mind and spirit, and re-calibrate your soul — mind, body and spirit — with the reality and the presence of God’s Spirit. 

In his book the ruthless elimination of hurry, John Mark Comer writes…

“I can’t think of a worse way to start my day then a text from my work, a glance at email, a quick scroll through social media, and a news alert about that day’s outrage. What I’m saying is, let prayer set your emotional equilibrium and scripture set your view of the world. Begin your day in the spirit of God‘s presence and the truth of his scriptures.“ 

That’s what we’re doing now in this meditation.

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Follow Dave Cover on Twitter @davecover

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Our audio engineers are Matthew Matlack and 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.