358 No One Will Take Your Joy, A Guided Christian Meditation on John 16:19-23 with the Recenter With Christ app

358 No One Will Take Your Joy, A Guided Christian Meditation on John 16:19-23 with the Recenter With Christ app

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 connecting with God. Let your stomach be a balloon inflate, deflate.

Bible verses for Meditation:

Hebrews 4

NIV 19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name

NRSV 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? 20 Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. 22 So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

Meditation on Scripture:

What do we rejoice about in life? What causes us to mourn? What are you pursuing in life? In my experience joy is deeply connected with what we pursue. The most simple summary I could give is that joy is the pursuit of light. Pursuit of eternal good. If we chase feelings instead of a relationship with the God of joy, how do we expect to have long lasting joy. If we are only concerned with this current moment without a concern for where we want to get long term, we will be unable to follow the path of God.

Those early disciples likely could not imagine anything worse than having Jesus go way. If the choice was left to them they would have prevented Jesus’ departure and thus would have halted His victory over death. Luckily God was willing to make them uncomfortable for a while and to put them through pain so that all humanity could live. Luckily he allows us to go through seasons of pain and struggle so we can draw closer to His Light. Jesus points to Motherhood as a supreme example of this kind of painful joy.

When they received the holy spirit, they finally understood and became able to rejoice in the earthly mission of Jesus. Our joy will be to be reunited with God. When that happens we will have nothing left to ask of Him because He will pour out His Love on us forever more. So for now, may we press forward in following His light, and sharing His loving light with all those we meet.

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 does the rest of the Lord look like?

Final Thought:

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