194 As For Me In My House, We Will Serve the Lord A Guided Christian Meditation on Joshua 24:13-15

194 As For Me and My House, We Will Serve the Lord A Guided Christian Meditation on Josua 24:13-15 I'm Chaplain Jared and I work as a hospice chaplain and an ICU chaplain, my purpose in making this podcast is to help you find more peace in your life and to be more open for your heart to be changed by the Spirit of God. By using centuries old form of Christian Meditation named Lectio Divina: 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 contacting God. Let your stomach be a balloon inflate, deflate. Bible verses for Meditation: Joshua 24 NIV 13 So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’ 14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” NRSV 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and towns that you had not built, and you live in them; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards that you did not plant. 14 “Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”   Meditation on Scripture: Each of us have blessings in our lives and many things which we do not deserve. Things which were prepared for us without our forethought and action. The very resurrection of our Lord is an example of this. This is the situation we find ourselves in. Despite this many of us face challenges. Perhaps even things things can be what is referred to here. Perhaps our fields do have some vicious weeds in them. Regardless, we have a life ideally suited to give us the experiences we need to grow and choose faith in God. During this time of introspection that follows the new year I hope that we can take this message to heart. It is natural and helpful to look deep inside ourselves for improvement. We can look deep in our hearts as thoughtfully as possible. We can ask ourselves in my home and in my heart, who do I truly serve. When confronted with temptation what do I choose? When confronted with doubt, what do I choose to do and to believe? I think an important concept here is who do we choose this day. You live only today. When tomorrow arrives it will be today then. When we die someday it will feel like a today. When we go to our final spiritual reward that will become our eternal new type of moment. In this moment we can choose. In this moment we can serve. As we made new goals and objectives may we not experience them with the fear and weight of the future. We can’t carry the weight of all future decisions in this moment. All we have to do is choose God this day, this hour, this moment. Set your goals to be big and then focus on what you need to do today. If one day you find yourself struggling against the weight of continuing your new habit or stopping old habbits bring your focus in and focus on just this moment. Today I can live a pure life. This moment I can choose God. This second I can release all inappropriate desire and urges. We can make goals for the future then live in this moment continually toward their fulfillment. 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 being 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 Updates: Final Question: What can you decide to do in this moment? Final Thought: I have found that something that gets in the way of our positive intentions is the worry of the future. How could we possibly do this forever? That is too much stress and pressure. I have found it immensely helpful to powerfully commit to the new behavior I seek or the new goal but not get burdened by the weight of all the future. In my heart I try and focus on the moment. 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