Christian Meditation and Contemplation

Christian Meditation and Contemplation - Revelation of the Divine Self

Whoever thinks correctly, the mind will surely lead him to God. Christian meditation and contemplation do not serve to develop the ego and cultivate the personality, but to reveal the divine self. In it, knowledge is not sought and achieved, but rather certainty and divine wisdom. Our family tradition is to find the "church in one's own spirit and God in one's own self." A traditional teaching of self-cultivation that has long been forgotten by many in the East and long lost in the West.

Jesus Christ - Symbol of the SELF

The symbol of the self is Christ, who enables the mature human soul to penetrate the boundary of duality and thus return to unity. The self therefore has a dual nature with two views or perspectives: The lower one is the perspective of the psyche, which is still caught up in the separation and experience of duality. The upper one is the perspective of the self, the divine reality that the psyche is still unable to live.

The self is, so to speak, an intersection point between appearance and "pure being", between form and idea. Man must therefore break through the boundaries of his consciousness and leave them behind if he wants to approach the self. If this leap in consciousness is not made, the old opposites continue to exist as separate from one another. And so good and evil also remain in the world.

Christian Meditation - Faithfulness, Courage and Determination

A faithful man will be blessed by many. So be courageous, strong and determined.

The wicked flees even when no one pursues him; but the righteous is as fearless as a young lion. Because of the sin of the land, its masters often change, but through a wise and sensible man justice prevails. A noble who oppresses the poor is like a torrential rain that destroys the crops. He who abandons the law praises the wicked, but he who keeps it fights against him. Evil people understand nothing of law, but those who seek the Lord understand everything. Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than the rich who walks in perverse ways. He who keeps the law is a wise son, but he who is a companion of the glutton brings shame to his father. (Luther Bible - Christian meditation and contemplation)

Responsibility - Loyalty, Mercy and Grace

But the Spirit says clearly that in the last times some will depart from the faith and follow seductive spirits and doctrines of demons, led by the hypocrisy of liars who have a searing mark on their conscience. They command not to marry and to avoid foods that God has created, to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything God has created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (Luther Bible - Christian Meditation)

Willingness to Forgive - Constancy, Honesty and Reliability

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on earthly things. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ, who is your life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory. Therefore put to death the members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. For such things the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. In all these you also once walked, while you were still in them.

But now you also must put off all these things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, filthy words out of your mouths; do not lie to one another, for you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. There is no longer Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and in all. Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, put on hearts of compassion, kindness, humility of mind, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

But above all, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ, to which you were called in one body, rule in your hearts. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thanksgiving in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Luther Bible)

Diligence - Humility, Self-Control and Willingness to Suffer

Whence come strife and war among you? Is it not from this, from your passions which war in your members? You covet and do not obtain; you murder and envy and do not gain; you quarrel and fight; you have nothing because you do not ask; you ask and do not receive, because you ask with evil intent, that is, that you may spend it on your passions. You adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever wants to be a friend of the world will be an enemy of God.

Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The spirit which he has placed in us leads to envy, but God gives greater grace." Therefore it is said, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and sanctify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and weep; let your laughter turn to weeping, and your joy to sorrow.

Christian Meditation and Contemplation

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Do not slander one another. Anyone who slanders his brother or condemns his brother slanders and condemns the law. But if you condemn the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. One is the lawgiver and judge, who can save and condemn. But who are you to condemn your neighbor? Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city and spend a year there, and trade and make a profit,' and you do not know what tomorrow will bring.

What is your life? You are a vapor that lasts for a little while and then vanishes. On the contrary, you should say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, if someone knows the good thing to do and does not do it, it is sin for him. (Luther Bible)

Christian Contemplation - Justice, Compassion and Truth

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, to be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not use vain babbling as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Therefore, like this, you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Luther Bible - Christian Meditation)

Obedience - Gratitude, Fear of God & Steadfastness - Christian Meditation

Remind them to be subject to those in authority, to be obedient and ready to do every good work, not to slander anyone, not to quarrel, to be kind and to show all gentleness toward everyone. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and passions, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous works we had done, but because of his mercy.

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying. Therefore I want you to stand firm, so that all who have believed in God will be careful to excel in good works, which is good and beneficial for people. But keep away from foolish questions, genealogies, strife and arguments about the law, for they are useless and futile.

If someone wants to divide the church, reject him after he has been admonished once and again, knowing that such a person is completely wrong and sins, and thereby condemns himself. (Luther Bible)

Christian Meditation & Values - Faith, Hope and Love

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to the poor and give my body to boast, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy, love does not boast, is not arrogant, it does not behave rudely, it does not seek its own; it is not provoked, it takes no account of evil; it does not rejoice at unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it bears all things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, it endures all things. Love never ends, though prophesying will cease, and speaking in tongues will cease, and knowledge will end. For our knowledge is in part, and our prophecy is in part.

But when the perfect comes, the in part will cease. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, and thought as a child, and understood as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. Now we see in a glass, darkly; but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know even as I am known.

Now faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (John)

Christian Meditation and Contemplation – Revelation of the Divine Self