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Guided Christian Meditation Our Great Challenge - Abide Meditation App · Abide Meditation App

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  Speaker 1: Welcome and thanks for meditating with a Bide. For more
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: guided Christian meditations, download the Abide app on the iTunes
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: or Google Play Store.
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  Speaker 2: What would you say is the greatest challenge that you face?
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  Speaker 2: I had a teacher once who described the difference between
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  Speaker 2: heaven and Hell with this analogy. She said, in both
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  Speaker 2: heaven and Hell, people have a great feast that can
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  Speaker 2: only be eaten using very long spoons. In heaven, it's
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  Speaker 2: no problem at all, because people just take turns feeding
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  Speaker 2: their neighbors and showing friendship to one another in that way.
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  Speaker 2: But in Hell people only want to feed themselves, and
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  Speaker 2: so they starve in loneliness. In Ephesians five, the apostle
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  Speaker 2: Paul reminds us to live a life that is filled
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  Speaker 2: with love, following the example of Christ. We know that
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  Speaker 2: he loved us, and he offered himself as a sacrifice
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  Speaker 2: for us, which was a pleasing aroma to his father. So,
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  Speaker 2: as God's people, one of our greatest challenges and one
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  Speaker 2: of our greatest privileges, is to lay down our lives
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  Speaker 2: for each other. Since we are human, we all have
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  Speaker 2: troubles that we need to overcome, of course, and every
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  Speaker 2: one of our friends has the same issue. They need
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  Speaker 2: to overcome their troubles as well, but together we can
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  Speaker 2: overcome them by serving each other through God's power. Or
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  Speaker 2: there's the option of trying to go it alone. Well,
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  Speaker 2: Fortunately for us, it's a whole lot easier to work together,
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  Speaker 2: and Jesus showed us exactly how to do that when
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  Speaker 2: he laid down his life for us. Do you ever
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  Speaker 2: feel like you're laying down your life but you're alone
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  Speaker 2: and you're getting trampled on, Or maybe you're pursuing dreams,
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  Speaker 2: great dreams, but they only serve yourself. Don't worry. You
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  Speaker 2: can lay those troubles down before Jesus and ask him
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  Speaker 2: which friends you can walk through life with today. Pray
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  Speaker 2: for great friends. He loves that prayer. He wants nothing
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  Speaker 2: more than for us to live in community. So we
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  Speaker 2: need to say, seek out those friends today and ask
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  Speaker 2: them how we can help, and make sure you'll let
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  Speaker 2: them know how they can help you. Our time will
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  Speaker 2: be directed by God, but I hope you'll pause the
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  Speaker 2: app often and ask the Holy Spirit to prepare your
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  Speaker 2: mind and your body in expectation of what God's going
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  Speaker 2: to do during this meditation time. Let's begin with a
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  Speaker 2: word of prayer. Jesus, I don't fully get how you
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  Speaker 2: laid down your life for me. Help me believe that
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  Speaker 2: this same holy spirit of selfless love is at work
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  Speaker 2: in me and in your other followers. Show me how
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  Speaker 2: to serve others well and strengthen me with your joy
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  Speaker 2: when I do, give me great friends God who will
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  Speaker 2: lay down their life for me, and let the feast
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  Speaker 2: of heaven break into earth so I can taste your
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  Speaker 2: coming kingdom with my sisters and brothers on earth today
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  Speaker 2: in Jesus' name, Amen. And that's it. Sacrifice, unselfish sacrifice
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  Speaker 2: for others. Focus today on sacrificial giving and what you
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  Speaker 2: can give to help others today. I really do hope
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  Speaker 2: this time of longer and deep meditation is going to
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  Speaker 2: help you find ways of seeing the Kingdom of God
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  Speaker 2: by how you help others. So as we begin, take
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  Speaker 2: a few deep and cleansing breaths, breaths of sacrificial love,
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  Speaker 2: Get comfortable, and settle into wherever you are, being fully
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  Speaker 2: aware of God, being fully aware of the love that
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  Speaker 2: He offers you. Consider your life for a moment. Is
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  Speaker 2: there anything keeping you from experiencing God's joy today? Is
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  Speaker 2: there anything blocking you from him well, confess that right now,
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  Speaker 2: and then they thank him joyfully for his forgiveness. God
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  Speaker 2: is love, The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to opportunities
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  Speaker 2: to serve lovingly, and Jesus is our living example of
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  Speaker 2: a living, sacrificial, loving life. Listen carefully to every detail
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  Speaker 2: as I read from Ephesians five, verse two. Live a
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  Speaker 2: life filled with love following the example of Christ. He
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  Speaker 2: loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us,
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  Speaker 2: A pleasing aroma to God. What stood out to you
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  Speaker 2: from that passage? Listen again carefully, Live a life filled
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  Speaker 2: with love following the example of Christ. He loved us
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  Speaker 2: and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing
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  Speaker 2: aroma to God. Reflect here on how God might be
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  Speaker 2: using this passage to touch your life today. As you
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  Speaker 2: rest in the presence of God, ask the Holy Spirit
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  Speaker 2: to give you a name someone you can serve today.
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  Speaker 2: Listen again for something familiar, affirming, comforting. Listen carefully for
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  Speaker 2: more as I read from Ephesians five, verse two. Live
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  Speaker 2: a life filled with love following the example of Christ.
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  Speaker 2: He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us,
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  Speaker 2: A pleasing aroma to God. What did you hear this time?
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  Speaker 2: Focus there even deeper in quiet meditation. The passage begins
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  Speaker 2: with the phrase a life filled with love. If someone
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  Speaker 2: were to look at your calendar, what most fills your day?
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  Speaker 2: Where do you go? Who are you? With an even
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  Speaker 2: deeper question, when no one's watching, what are you doing?
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  Speaker 2: How much of your answer could be described by living
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  Speaker 2: a life filled with love? Let this be a time
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  Speaker 2: of confession and reflection. Listen one final time as I
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  Speaker 2: read and you meditate on Ephesians five two amplified. Walk
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  Speaker 2: continually in love that is, value one another, practice empathy
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  Speaker 2: and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others, just as
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  Speaker 2: Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us,
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  Speaker 2: and offering and sacrifice to God slain for you so
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  Speaker 2: that it became a sweet fragrance. The passages expanded to
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  Speaker 2: define love as valuing one another, practicing empathy, and seeking
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  Speaker 2: the best for others, and to do it continually. How
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  Speaker 2: far back do you have to go to find an
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  Speaker 2: example of how you showed that kind of kindness and
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  Speaker 2: love to another? Is it minutes or hours, days, weeks longer?
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  Speaker 2: Pray now for the opportunity to show that love today.
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  Speaker 2: What does it mean to continually show that love? We
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  Speaker 2: are human, We live in a broken world rarely defined
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  Speaker 2: by love, so we know that's hard. But how do
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  Speaker 2: you do that? Perhaps by what we do, but maybe
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  Speaker 2: two by how we think, how we view the world.
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  Speaker 2: What is your view of the world and is it loving?
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  Speaker 2: It's said that our sense of smell is tied most
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  Speaker 2: directly into our memory. Using your imagination, just look for
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  Speaker 2: the face of God as he rejoices in the sweet
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  Speaker 2: fragrance of your love for him and his creation. What
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  Speaker 2: does the fragrance of love smell like? Is it sweet? Warm, lasting?
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  Speaker 2: Imagine it? Let it soak into your memory so you
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  Speaker 2: can always recognize it and long for it. Would you
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  Speaker 2: join me in prayer, Father in heaven, like you sent
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  Speaker 2: your son into the world, would you send us into
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  Speaker 2: the world in the power of your Holy Spirit, as
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  Speaker 2: ministers of reconciliation and ambassadors for your kingdom. And as
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  Speaker 2: we go, please bless us God and keep us. Make
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  Speaker 2: your face to shine upon us, and be gracious to us.
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  Speaker 2: Lift your countenance upon us, and give us peace in
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  Speaker 2: the name of your son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen,
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  Speaker 2: you may be facing a day full of feelings of
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  Speaker 2: anxiety or frustration, and maybe you even feel like you're
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  Speaker 2: doing all of the heavy lifting and no one seems
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  Speaker 2: to be carrying their weight. Well, just find a moment
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  Speaker 2: today to recognize that feeling and intentionally and humbly serve
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  Speaker 2: someone else anonymously, with no expectation. Just do something nice
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  Speaker 2: and then step aside and watch what God does in
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  Speaker 2: your heart. I do hope the assurance of God's mercy
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  Speaker 2: and love and forgiveness will keep you here just a
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  Speaker 2: bit longer, no rushing or timers or clocks, just listening
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  Speaker 2: to the music or the sounds, or maybe you want
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  Speaker 2: to journal whatever God places on your heart. And I
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  Speaker 2: hope the assurance of God's mercy, love and forgiveness will
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  Speaker 2: keep you here just a bit longer, no rushing or
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  Speaker 2: timers or clocks. Just listen to the music or the sounds,
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  Speaker 2: journal whatever God places on your heart. But I hope
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  Speaker 2: you allow the Holy Spirit to hold you right here
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  Speaker 2: in this place, this beautiful, RESTful place, for several more minutes,
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  Speaker 2: a profound peace, rest, and alignment with God as you
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  Speaker 2: meditate and abide in Christ.
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  Speaker 1: We hope this meditation brought you peace for more Christian meditations.
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  Speaker 1: Download the Abide app in iTunes or the Google Play Store.