Discovering The God Of Peace Through Christian Meditation

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Someone very close to me once said that meditation was anti-Christian.  Their thoughts on this was that meditation is generally associated with far eastern cultures, namely Buddhism.  We all know that Buddhist monks can spend years meditating, trying to gain their eternal enlightenment.  I can see why people generally associate meditating with anti-Christian thoughts.  Did you know that the Bible also speaks of meditating?

My curiosity got the best of me today and I decided to do some research on Christians and meditation.  This all started out on a blog post about something called “The Daily Examen”  that I read on the Healthy Spirituality blog. (This blog has been added to my blogroll.)

The Daily Examen is a technique of prayerful reflection on the events of the day in order to detect God’s presence and discern his direction for us.  The Examen is an ancient practice in the Church that can help us see God’s hand at work in our whole experience.  (from Ignatian Spirituality)

Basically, this is a concept used to meditate on God about your daily life.  This religious activity was developed by St. Ignatius Loyola as a means to get very close with God, while sharing all of your highs and lows pertaining to a 24 hour period.  After reading about “The Daily Examen”, I began to wonder if meditating was actually against Christian beliefs.  I know that there are Catholic monks in the world, but I do not have a clue as to what their spiritual walk is like and if they meditate or not.

Ask, Seek, Knock

 

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One of my favorite passages from The Bible revolves around Mathew 7:7-8:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

We are told to ask, seek, and knock, for those things that we need.  When we accepted Christ in our hearts as Lord and Savior–we had to SEEK a different way of life, KNOCK on Heaven’s door hoping that Christ would answer, and then ASK him for total forgiveness of our sins and for a new way of life.  These aren’t merely words to inspire.  These are words that hold certain truths not only in Christ, but in everyday life.

Exodus Red Sea Parting Given Scientific Basis

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OurAmazingPlanet has posted an article today about a study that suggests that the Red Sea could have been parted by natural phenomenon in the Bible.  This goes back to the story of Moses, being led by God, taking the Israelites out of Egypt  (Exodus 13) by the parting of the seas.  The article goes in to some detail explaining that a continuous 65 MPH wind could have forced the sea back, just as the Bible describes, allowing Moses and the Israelites to pass, then as the wind stops-the waters would come rushing back in upon the soldiers making chase.

Here is my problem.  This is a HUGE moment in the Bible.  The Bible, to the believer, is 100% correct.  Did we really need a study to take place that would suggest that this could actually happen??  I didn’t. Their theories are interesting, yet, they are basing all of this on a scientific formula without suggesting that maybe God had a hand in this.  Does God not control the land and the seas?  Yes.  It could of happened, because it DID happen!

Related Articles

• Biblical parting of the Red Sea ‘may have happened’ (mirror.co.uk)
• The Bible – On The Waterfront (lostaddress.org)

Brief Moment #63

My quest to read the entire Bible is going rather well.  I have now read Genesis, Mathew, Mark, Philemon, and half of Luke in under a week.  It is odd.  The more I read, the more I want to read. I am finding the little details of Mathew, Mark, and Luke to be intriguing.  All the Gospels pretty much tell the same story-that of Christ and his life, but each of them add to the story.

Related Articles

• Transformation through Letting Go — A Lectionary Meditation (pastorbobcornwall.blogspot.com)
• Pastor Charles Kim to Head Giving Program for The Almighty Bible (prweb.com)
• Understanding gospels (slideshare.net)

Brief Moment #61

I have added a few things to the BMOH blog.  The biggest change is the “Just A Minute” feed that I have added to the right-hand sidebar.  “Just A Minute” is a nice segment featured on The Fellowship Room blog written by Ed Boggess.  It makes us think and look to the Bible about everyday trends and situations and always provides a point to ponder.  I have also added a couple of new links to sites that I find interesting.  Check out the blogroll, then let me know if you find something of interest.  I have added Glenn Beck‘s website, The NIV version of the Bible, and a new blog titled “Grabbing The Cow by The Horns”.  It is a good read.

Brief Moment #60

Genesis.  I have decided that I am going to try to read the Bible in it’s entirety.  I am not sure of the form or method that I will use, but I will be working towards that goal.  This goal is on my Life List.  I have tried to do this numerous times in the past.  I have a read a few complete Books of the Bible, but never attempted to do the whole thing.  I have tried to read Genesis at least three times straight through, and have never finished it once.  That is where I am starting.  The Book of Genesis.  I have currently read 35 chapters of the 50 chapter book, but already I am learning and advancing what I already know about the book.

When I got to the part about Abraham offering Isaac, his one and only son, as a sacrifice to God–it made me tremble.  I just had a daughter.  I was trying to put myself in that spot, trying to picture my reactions.  Would I have turned away from God?  Luckily, God spared Isaac.  Abraham had proved that he feared God enough to sacrifice his first and only son.  He raised his hand with the knife, and God stopped him because of his Faith.  How strong is our Faith that God is in control?  Would we be willing to suffer for our Faith?

Related Articles

• Genesis 12:1-4’s The Call to (and Obedience of) Abraham (schansblog.blogspot.com)
• Ten Chapters Per Day (challies.com)
• The Bible in 90 Days Challenge (debrakb.blogspot.com)

Brief Moment #59

For the first time in my life I am finally starting to understand myself and my faith.  I am noticing that many of my prayers are getting answered, I am understanding the Bible, and I am feeling renewed and energized–like I have made some huge discovery.  I have always heard people talk about faith, the Bible, God, listening to God’s words–yet, I had no clue what this all meant.  I now know that those who talk, were not bluffing.  It is a joy to be in God’s grace and guided by God’s will.  He can and will provide, he can and will protect, and he can and will open up unlimited possibilities if we are willing to follow through.  I am coming at all of this new stuff, this new found faith (that I thought I had before), with an open mind and heart.  God is leading me to people that share my spirit and allowing me to open up and reveal myself and who I am.  I am blessed to have a supportive family.  They all seem to like our church and all of us are starting to get to know a few people.  This past year has been a wonderful, wonderful time in my life!

Related Articles

• Bible Challenge – Teachings 3 (pjsprayerline.blogspot.com)
• Leighton Ford on a Christian Approach to Muslims (beliefnet.com)

Brief Moment #55

“The Gospel doesn’t first make bad people good; it makes dead people live.”

This quote was a twitter post on the LiveForgiven blog.  Awesome quote and 100% correct.  I thought I should share.

Related Articles

• “If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the Gospel you…” (contrararian.tumblr.com)
• Disunity in the Gospels (dc-agape.com)

Brief Moment #48

“Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities” (Col. 4:5 NET).

I read this scripture today (along with an article, based on this scripture) and it reminded me of my own prayer last night before bed.  I prayed that God would open up the doors of opportunity for my family and bless us with his favor.  I have given my life back to Christ and look forward to what he has in store for myself and my family.  Praying to God also means keeping your eyes and ears open for opportunities that may present themselves and being strong enough to walk through those doors without preconceptions and do God’s will.

You can read the article that inspired this brief moment HERE>>>

Brief Moment #40

I mentioned Pizza and a Book night in my last Brief Moment, but since we have had a few of these and I am starting to get a few books read, I thought it might be a good idea to get a Page set-up on Brief Moments of Happiness to list what I have read. This is mostly for my own amusement, but you may find something of interest there. I will try to post about each book I read, then link it up to The Reading List page.

I do read quite a bit from the Bible, too. I may record what I am reading there and give a list of verses. Once again, this is just to keep myself in line and to know what I have read.

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