Meditating

Hi friends!

Wow I am just LOVING this devotional! The reason I really liked this week's though is because mediation is something that I struggle with and then to just skip or not do at the ends of my quiet time. I never really understood what it meant exactly or what it should look like for me. I looked up the greek word for meditate earlier in the year and it said that meditate means "to chew," which I found odd but as I talked to my mentor about it, she referred it as really chewing on God's word to understand the full meaning behind each word and what God wants to reveal to you through that verse or song or whatever. But God made it so clear as to what meditating should look like while doing this study: allowing God's words to penetrate our minds, emotions, and our will. We meditate so that we can encounter Jesus... I mean THAT is awesome. We meditate so we can make every part of our being can reflect His glory and His love.

The other thing that I didn't quite understand and am still trying to figure out is exactly what you do during meditation. I know it must differ from person to person depending on what works for them but I struggled to figure out what works for me, which leads me to not meditating at all. Like it says it in the study, I turn to EVERY one of the things they listed (sleep, coffee, friends, no work, nature) to give my soul rest and to to stop for a moment and refresh. But nothing... NOTHING will refresh or fill us more than resting in God's love and His power in our lives: recognizing that only His overwhelming peace can truly give us rest. I, personally definitely need to sto.p relying on worldly things to give me strength and peace but to truly turn to God to fill my Spirit and provide me with true rest for my soul.

At the end of my study, I did my version of meditation on Ephesians 3:16-19 by rereading that verse and trying to just be still and listen to whatever God has to reveal to me. This might sound weird but it felt like the Holy Spirit was running through my veins and was alive and active in me. He revealed to me every version of how He showers us with love and strength so that we be overflowing with His presence. It was SO cool and it really did feeel like I was encountering Jesus. Definitely want to keep working on this and sees exactly what God wants to reveal to me. :)

thanks y'all!!

Allie