Hi friends,
Welcome to the 27th episode of Christian Meditation with Anita Mathias.
I am Anita Mathias,
A writer,
Memoirist and Christian Meditation teacher living in Oxford,
England.
I'm glad you're here.
Let's sit quietly,
Breathing as our spirits,
Minds,
Emotions and heart rate slow down along with our breath.
Breathe in long and deeply.
Breathe out fully.
And again,
The deepest breath you've taken today.
Breathe out.
Breathe in the crashing waves of the love of God,
Which surrounds you,
Enwraps you.
Invisible,
But real,
Like the electromagnetic waves,
TV and Wi-Fi signals,
Which surround us.
Real,
Though we cannot see them.
Begin to breathe out stress.
God is on the throne,
In control.
Turn over your worries to him.
Things will sometimes work out your way,
Or even exceedingly abundantly,
More than you could ask or imagine,
As the Apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians.
And odds are,
If you are like me,
And every human being I know or know of,
Sometimes things won't go your way.
Either way,
God is in control,
On the throne.
You are held and wrapped in the love of God.
He can make painful events work together towards a spiritual goodness you never imagined,
And sometimes even a tangible,
Material goodness.
He loves you.
Trust him.
We do not have total control over our lives.
And as Jesus observes,
All our worrying cannot add an hour to our life,
Or an inch to our height.
So instead of fretting and trying to control events,
Outcomes,
Or people,
Breathe,
Relax,
And turn it over to your Father.
Breathe out your worries about your body into your Father's healing hands.
Breathe in his peace.
Breathe out your worries about your finances into your Father's hands.
Breathe in his creativity.
Breathe out your worries about your creativity into your Father's hands.
Breathe in his gift of brilliant ideas.
Breathe out your worries about your shortage of time and energy into the hands of the Lord of time and energy.
Ask him to stretch and transform your time and to fill you with his energy.
Today's meditation is from Matthew 23.
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
Everything the teachers of the law and the Pharisees do is done for people to see.
They love the place of honour at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues.
They love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.
But those who exalt themselves will be humbled.
And those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Those who exalt themselves will be humbled.
And those who humble themselves will be exalted.
And so Jesus states a law of life.
Those who continually broadcast their amazingness will be humbled,
Since God dislikes,
Scorns that as much as people do.
For to trumpet our success,
Wealth,
Brilliance,
Giftedness or popularity is to get sidetracked from the purpose for which we were created into pointless,
Worthless activity.
Those who love power,
Who are sure they know best and who must be the best,
Will eventually be humbled by God and life.
For their focus has shifted from loving God,
Doing good work and being a blessing to their family,
Friends and the world,
Towards impressing others,
Being enviable,
Perhaps famous.
These things are houses built on sand,
Which will crumble when hammered by the waves of old age,
Infirmity or adversity.
God resists the proud,
Scripture tells us.
Those who strive and struggle for the admiration,
Attention and power which is God's alone.
However,
He helps the humble.
So how do we resist pride?
We slow down so that we realise when sheer pride sparks our allergies to people,
Our enmities,
Our determination to have our own way or our grandiose goals,
Dreams and ambitions.
Once we stop chasing limelight or showing off,
A great quietness steals over our lives.
We no longer need the drug of continual achievement or to share memories or images of glittering travel,
Parties,
Prizes or friends.
We just enjoy them,
Quietly.
My life is for itself and not for a spectacle,
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote.
And as Jesus advises,
We don't sharp elbow ourselves to the most prominent place with the shiniest people,
But are content with the lower place,
With ordinary people,
Where we may learn new things and develop our character,
Kindness and empathy,
If not our network.
And then,
As Jesus said,
We will inevitably,
Eventually be summoned higher to where perhaps the conversation is most sparkling,
Or perhaps upwards to sit with those of a gentle,
Humble and radiant heart.
So,
How do we cultivate humility?
J.
I.
Packer suggests,
Consider everything you know about yourself.
If other people knew it,
Would they esteem you?
They would all think,
What a rascal.
So,
Why are you esteeming yourself better than anybody else?
One day,
Every knee will bow before the gentle lamb who was slain,
Now seated on the throne.
We will all be silent before him.
Let us live gently then,
Our eyes on Christ,
Continually asking for his power,
His spirit and his direction,
Moving,
Dancing in the direction we sense him move.
Let's conclude our meditation with a brilliant passage from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress,
On the beauty of choosing a quiet,
Meaningful life,
Instead of one with pride-driven pursuits.
Bunyan's pilgrim,
Called Christian,
Is humbled in the course of his life,
And finds himself in what Bunyan calls,
The valley of humiliation.
The omniscient narrator writes,
But we come again to this valley of humiliation.
It is the best and most fruitful piece of ground in all these parts.
It is fat,
Fertile ground,
And consisted much in meadows.
And if a man were to come here in summer time,
As we do now,
He might see that which would be delightful to him.
Behold,
How green this valley is,
Also how beautiful with lilies.
I have known many labouring men that have got good estates in this valley of humiliation,
For God resists the proud,
But gives more grace to the humble.
For indeed,
It has very fruitful soil,
And brings forth by handfuls.
Some also have wished that the next way to their father's house were here,
That they might be troubled no more with either hills or mountains to go over.
But the way is the way,
And there's an end.
Now,
As they were going along and talking,
They spied a boy feeding his father's sheep.
The boy was in very humble clothes,
But of a very fresh and well-favoured countenance.
And as he sat by himself,
He sang,
He that is down need fear no fall,
He that is low,
No pride.
He that is humble ever shall have God to be his guide.
I am content with what I have,
Little be it,
Or much,
And,
Lord,
Contentment still I crave,
Because thou saveth such.
Fullness to those a burden is that go on pilgrimage.
Here little,
And hereafter bliss,
Is best from age to age.
Then said the guide,
Do you hear him?
I will dare to say that this boy leads a merrier life,
And wears more of that herb called heart's ease in his bosom,
Than he that is clad in silk and velvet.
In this valley of humiliation,
Our Lord formerly had his country house.
He loved much to be here.
He loved also to walk these meadows,
For he found the air was pleasant.
Besides,
Here man shall be free from the noise and from the hurryings of this life.
All states of life are full of noise and confusion.
Only the valley of humiliation is that empty and solitary place.
Here a man shall not be so obstructed and hindered in his contemplation as in other places he is apt to be.
This is a valley that no one walks in but those that love a pilgrim's life.
I must tell you that in former times men have met with angels here,
Have found pearls here,
And have in this place found the words of life.
Thank you.
