Meditation is considered to be one of the best stress relievers and relaxation methods of all time. Although, it is considered to be a buddhist technique. Why is it that the best relaxation technique leaves God out of it completely? It does not make sense to me, so I researched it. I personally love meditation, but I did not want to feel like I was leaving God out of it! After a little research I realized God is very much involved in meditation! He just tells us to do it differently than the buddhists do.
In Joshua 1:8, God says to meditate on His word day and night. And Psalm 1:2 says ...and in His law he meditates day and night. The bible actually mentions meditation about 20 times!
Psalm 77:12 - I will meditate on Your works and consider all Your mighty deeds.
So, considering all of this I have put together a simple "how-to" do a God centered meditation, rather than the buddhists method of "finding your inner peace". God IS your inner peace!
Step one: As any other meditation, find a quiet place with no distractions.
Step two: Sit or lay in a comfortable position for you and close your eyes.
Step three: Clear your mind by focusing on your deep breathing.
Step four: Once you've cleared your mind, start praying. Do not pray for anything or anyone just thank your Father for the blessings in your life. Do NOT complain! Search for the good and praise Him for it. Since you are focusing on your deep breathing, thank Him for every breath you're taking. Take every breath for Him.
And in this, you will acheive "inner peace" through Christ Jesus.
Psalm 145:5 "...And I will meditate on Your wonderful works!"
~Heather~
Friday, October 2, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
It's just another manic Monday...
On days like today, when I feel like staying in bed until Friday, I have to think of why I am doing what it is that I'm doing.
I went looking for some answers and found an awesome website yall should check out called ChrsitianFinanceBlog.com.
Awesome blog!
~Heather~
I went looking for some answers and found an awesome website yall should check out called ChrsitianFinanceBlog.com.
Awesome blog!
Colossians 3:23-24 (NKJV)
"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ"
My Monday Verse!
From the Life Application Bible:
Since the beginning, God has given us work to do. If we could regard our work as an act of worship or service to God, such an attitude would take some of the drudgery and boredom out of it. We could work without complaining or resentment if we would treat our job problems as the cost of discipleship.
Oh! Don't you just love that?! That kinda changes your perspective on Mondays, huh?
~Heather~
Sunday, September 20, 2009
My Spiritual Growth Spurt
In my younger days I seriously thought that I could live without God. my thoughts were, "Other people do it everyday and are happy! They can do whatever they want". That's how I lived my life for longer than I am willing to admit to. That whole time I kept thinking something was missing. There was a certain void. I tried to fill that void with anything I could. Anything but God. Because I knew what he would want me to do. I would have to change, and I didn't want to change. That's been a few years back. God saw this resistance and responded. He took everything from me. I had nothing, and I had no choice but to fall back on Him. (That's what Mom says anyway, I think she's right.) That was the best thing that could have happened to me.
I got to a point where I hated who I had become and grew an anxious, serious hunger for God. That's when I joined the Media Ministry and the Link group (a fellowship of 20-somethings) at Pantego Bible Church. By surrounding myself with godly people I thought I myself would become a godly woman.(Acts 2:44-47) I ditched all my friends who were bad influences (Which were basically all of them.) and noticed even though I was lonely, I was happier being right in the eyes of God than being around a bunch of people that were just bringing me down.
After a while, people started to notice this change in me. First, of course my family. They were actually proud of me! Something I had not experienced since I was a little girl. People that didn't know me personally but saw me everyday at work or every Sunday at church started noticing a brighter beauty around me and mentioned it to my parents. (1 Peter 3:4)
I noticed in myself this change. The realization came to me that this is one of those "Defining Moments" that changes who you are. Except my moment was turning into a Constant Change. I was continually looking for God, listening to God, talking to God about everything!
He started talking louder and clearer and it was easy to know what God wanted from me. It would have been just plain disobedient not to do what he was clearer telling me. He was telling me to Never Stop Praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
So, I did just that. I never stopped praying. That's when I changed my way of praying. Depending on the subject depends on how I pray. Usually, I just talk to him like he's sitting right next to me. He talked back.
Anytime I pray for selfish things, he will interrupt me and tell me to pray for someone who has a real need! The first time I experienced this it was like a slap in the face! He yelled at me and told me to stop what I was doing and pray for this person that he set on my heart because she needed prayer.
Talk about RANDOM!! Lol! Seriously!
After that, I decided to have lunch with an old mentor of mine that I haven't talked to in years. (Proverbs 11:14)
She just happened to call me out of the blue about a week earlier.
Coincidence...? I think not!
I told her what I had been experiencing and she knew the answer before I even finished my sentence! Without skipping a beat she said, "Heather, God's using you in an amazing way! You're an intercessor!"
She was excited to be telling me this. I was just confused.
My first reaction was "Huh...?? What is that??"
She told me, " intercessory prayer is the act of one person praying for or on behalf of another"
That would definitely make sense because of my personal beliefs in the power of prayer.
After many years of searching, I have finally found my spiritual gift! VERY exciting!
This whole area of my life I have labeled as my "Spiritual Growth Spurt"
My Spiritual Growth Spurt is what I will continue to blog about, mostly because this is very exciting to me!
God has been working in me in ways I never thought possible!
I can not wait to share with all of you who read this about the continual growth spurt I'm going through. I just hope and pray that what I'm telling you, helps you in your own spiritual growth spurt!
I got to a point where I hated who I had become and grew an anxious, serious hunger for God. That's when I joined the Media Ministry and the Link group (a fellowship of 20-somethings) at Pantego Bible Church. By surrounding myself with godly people I thought I myself would become a godly woman.(Acts 2:44-47) I ditched all my friends who were bad influences (Which were basically all of them.) and noticed even though I was lonely, I was happier being right in the eyes of God than being around a bunch of people that were just bringing me down.
After a while, people started to notice this change in me. First, of course my family. They were actually proud of me! Something I had not experienced since I was a little girl. People that didn't know me personally but saw me everyday at work or every Sunday at church started noticing a brighter beauty around me and mentioned it to my parents. (1 Peter 3:4)
I noticed in myself this change. The realization came to me that this is one of those "Defining Moments" that changes who you are. Except my moment was turning into a Constant Change. I was continually looking for God, listening to God, talking to God about everything!
He started talking louder and clearer and it was easy to know what God wanted from me. It would have been just plain disobedient not to do what he was clearer telling me. He was telling me to Never Stop Praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
So, I did just that. I never stopped praying. That's when I changed my way of praying. Depending on the subject depends on how I pray. Usually, I just talk to him like he's sitting right next to me. He talked back.
Anytime I pray for selfish things, he will interrupt me and tell me to pray for someone who has a real need! The first time I experienced this it was like a slap in the face! He yelled at me and told me to stop what I was doing and pray for this person that he set on my heart because she needed prayer.
Talk about RANDOM!! Lol! Seriously!
After that, I decided to have lunch with an old mentor of mine that I haven't talked to in years. (Proverbs 11:14)
She just happened to call me out of the blue about a week earlier.
Coincidence...? I think not!
I told her what I had been experiencing and she knew the answer before I even finished my sentence! Without skipping a beat she said, "Heather, God's using you in an amazing way! You're an intercessor!"
She was excited to be telling me this. I was just confused.
My first reaction was "Huh...?? What is that??"
She told me, " intercessory prayer is the act of one person praying for or on behalf of another"
That would definitely make sense because of my personal beliefs in the power of prayer.
After many years of searching, I have finally found my spiritual gift! VERY exciting!
This whole area of my life I have labeled as my "Spiritual Growth Spurt"
My Spiritual Growth Spurt is what I will continue to blog about, mostly because this is very exciting to me!
God has been working in me in ways I never thought possible!
I can not wait to share with all of you who read this about the continual growth spurt I'm going through. I just hope and pray that what I'm telling you, helps you in your own spiritual growth spurt!
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