638 Why Do You Gaze Into Heaven, A Guided Christian Meditation on Acts 1:10-12 with the Recenter...
Published 2024-04-14
The purpose of this podcast is to help you find more peace in your life and connect with the true source of peace, Jesus Christ.
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.
Scripture for Meditation
ACTS 1
NIV
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” 12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.
KJV 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.
Meditation on Scripture:
Recently I went to Texas to observe another total solar eclipse. During totality the sun is completely covered by the shadow of the moon. I was dark and it appeared as night. After it had passed I continued to look up at the sun with the solar glasses with awe and wonder. And this as something that had predicted with exactness and I have seen it before. I had a solid understanding of what was happening and yet I was in awe.
When I read this passage I imagined a group of people staring into heaven in wonder, struggling to come to terms with their expectations so radically being altered and then to have Jesus come and go into the sky. This was not how they expected it to be. It did not meet what they had guessed would happen. I can only imagine the wonder they experienced. I can only imagine that after asking about him restoring the Kingdom of Israel he then refused to answer the question they asked in they way they wanted the answer. Then he has the ability to come and go from beyond this form of existence. I visualize a group of people staring up. Waiting in expectation of what would come next. Then as they are gazing, two people in white clothes (who seem to be heavenly beings) ask them why they are looking up to heaven. Jesus would come again. I often wonder what they were thinking. How much did they understand about what was to come? It is likely that before the Holy Spirit came, they really had no idea what was coming.
There are times when we don’t understand God’s next move. In fact that is probably much more often that we would like to admit. There are undoubtedly times when things are much harder than we expect. Equally there are times when things have been planned with much more precision that we could have expected also. I hope that as those moments happen that we can peer into heaven with wonder. Not with doubt but with humble expectation of the fulfillment of all the words written in the Bible. I hope that as the moments of wonder pass, that we can constantly turn our minds back to the coming of Jesus, as was recommended here.
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 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
Final Question: If you consider the invitation and command to persevere in the faith, what change in your life does that bring to your mind?
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