Latest / Growing Closer to God with Guided Meditation / The Stillness of the Holy Night: | Meditation from John 1:14

Transcript

The Stillness of the Holy Night: | Meditation from John 1:14 · Growing Closer to God with Guided Meditation

• 0:14
  Pastor Robert Young: Welcome to this week's Guided Christian Meditation.
• 0:18
  Pastor Robert Young: If you're new to Guided Christian Meditation, then check out Episode 164, The Why and Even the Science of all of the stages of meditation that we practice.
• 0:34
  Pastor Robert Young: Today, let's settle into a quiet spot first.
• 0:40
  Pastor Robert Young: Let your breathing settle into a slow, natural rhythm.
• 0:46
  Pastor Robert Young: In this season of rushing, of shopping, traveling, and planning, let's pause to remember that God arrived not in a rush, but in the perfect fullness of time.
• 1:03
  Pastor Robert Young: Our scripture is from Galatians chapter 4, verse 4, and it reads, The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
• 1:18
  Pastor Robert Young: We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
• 1:30
  Pastor Robert Young: That is from John 1, verse 14.
• 1:36
  Pastor Robert Young: Galatians 4 and 4 says, But when the set time had fully come, God sent his son.
• 1:50
  Pastor Robert Young: Imagine, you are walking through the narrow, crowded streets of Bethlehem.
• 1:57
  Pastor Robert Young: It's late at night.
• 2:00
  Pastor Robert Young: The air is crisp and cold, stinging your cheeks.
• 2:05
  Pastor Robert Young: You can hear the distant noise of the overcrowded inns, laughter, shouting, the clatter of ditches.
• 2:15
  Pastor Robert Young: The world is loud and distracted.
• 2:20
  Pastor Robert Young: But you turn away from the noise.
• 2:24
  Pastor Robert Young: You step off the main road and find a path leading to a limestone cave used as a stable.
• 2:33
  Pastor Robert Young: As you step inside, the noise of the world instantly fades.
• 2:40
  Pastor Robert Young: It is dim here, lit only by a single oil lamp casting long flickering shadows on the stone walls.
• 2:50
  Pastor Robert Young: It is earthy, a mix of dry hay, old wood, and the musk of livestock.
• 3:00
  Pastor Robert Young: It isn't sanitized.
• 3:03
  Pastor Robert Young: It is real.
• 3:08
  Pastor Robert Young: Feel the temperature.
• 3:10
  Pastor Robert Young: See the couple.
• 3:21
  Pastor Robert Young: In the center, you see Mary.
• 3:25
  Pastor Robert Young: She is exhausted.
• 3:28
  Pastor Robert Young: Her face flushed with the effort of labor.
• 3:32
  Pastor Robert Young: Yet her eyes are wide with wonder.
• 3:36
  Pastor Robert Young: Beside her is Joseph, weary but protective, his hands rough and dirty from the journey.
• 3:46
  Pastor Robert Young: And there, in the center of this rough, earthly place, lies the baby.
• 3:56
  Pastor Robert Young: Visualize the manger, a stone feeding trough.
• 4:00
  Pastor Robert Young: It is hard and cold, but softened by scattered hay.
• 4:07
  Pastor Robert Young: Look closely at the baby Jesus.
• 4:10
  Pastor Robert Young: He is not a distant, glowing deity right now.
• 4:15
  Pastor Robert Young: He is a tiny, vulnerable infant.
• 4:20
  Pastor Robert Young: You can see the rise and fall of his small chest.
• 4:24
  Pastor Robert Young: You see his tiny fingers curl.
• 4:27
  Pastor Robert Young: In the silence of this cave, realize that this is the creator of the universe.
• 4:38
  Pastor Robert Young: He has crossed a galaxy to lie in a feed box just to be near you.
• 4:46
  Pastor Robert Young: The gap between heaven and earth has been closed.
• 4:59
  Pastor Robert Young: Repeat these words silently or aloud, letting them sink into your spirit.
• 5:06
  Pastor Robert Young: I do not need to be perfect for him to enter.
• 5:11
  Pastor Robert Young: I only need to make room.
• 5:15
  Pastor Robert Young: Again, I do not need to be perfect for him to enter.
• 5:23
  Pastor Robert Young: I only need to make room.
• 5:42
  Pastor Robert Young: As you look at the schedule of your life this week, is your inn too full?
• 5:48
  Pastor Robert Young: What is the one thing you can remove to make a space for his presence today?
• 5:55
  Pastor Robert Young: Two, Jesus came into the mess of a table, not a palace.
• 6:04
  Pastor Robert Young: What messy part of your heart are you trying to hide from God?
• 6:12
  Pastor Robert Young: Can you invite him into that specific area of your heart right now?
• 6:19
  Pastor Robert Young: Three.
• 6:22
  Pastor Robert Young: Can you give yourself permission to stop doing for the next few minutes and simply be with Jesus?
• 12:06
  Pastor Robert Young: Thank you that you did not wait for the world to be ready or clean before you came.
• 12:14
  Pastor Robert Young: As I walk through this week, help me to carry the stillness of the stable in my heart.
• 12:23
  Pastor Robert Young: When the world gets loud, remind me of the quiet manger where love broke through.
• 12:32
  Pastor Robert Young: Amen.