Meditation Gives Life

It’s easy to spot the problems and sins of others but difficult (most of the time) to spot our own.  Proverbs 21:2:

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.

Jesus said, Matthew 7:3-5:

3  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4  Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

The mote is a speck.  The Word of God speaks in II Corinthians 13:5:

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.…

If I am to be perfected in Christ, seeking God’s revelation concerning my own may shortcomings is imperative for success.  When you get before the Lord in prayer, meditation, and the reading of His Word, take time to look inwardly and allow correction, and yes, seek the correction of God.  You will surely discover you are not who you think you are.  You’ll have so much constructive work to do that you won’t have time to judge others.  Have you been born a second time?  Have you been born again?  Jesus said in John 3:3:

...Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Make your decision for Jesus Christ today.  It will be the most glorious event of your life.  I am not exaggerating.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GodSaidManSaid is laden with beautiful subjects that prove the supernatural veracity of the Word of God.  Do you want proof?  Then welcome to GodSaidManSaid.  We are excited that you are here.  Those who seek proof that God is need not be ashamed, for God goes to great lengths to certify Himself to the inquiring mind.  I Thessalonians 5:21 reads:

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

The feature that you are reviewing today is GodSaidManSaid subject #452.  These subjects prove that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).  These subjects are preserved for you in text and streaming audio, and every Thursday eve, God-willing, they grow by one.  They are given freely for your edification.  You can print text or download audio at your leisure as long as you, in turn, give it freely.

Adherents to the words of the Creator have discovered that God has preserved for us, over thousands of years, His unchanging Word—a place to build a life.  In its pages is found the power to break every bondage and the love to set every captive soul free.  In its pages is found the purpose that makes every day an adventure, every trial a triumph, and the very promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus.

The startling new scientific discoveries that you will see in the next paragraphs have been laid out in the Bible thousands of years ago, and now appear as life-enhancing, cutting-edge neuroscience.  These Biblical insights that science is beginning to understand could only be made by the engineer of life.

Life-giving words—life-changing words—are laid out in the scriptures to give you life and life more abundantly.  Life-giving instructions include attending church services.  Major research declares that going to church more than once a week affords the faithful 11% more life, or eight years longer life than the unchurched; and not just life, but abundant life.  These church-goers get sick less often, and when they do, they recover more quickly, and so on.  Click onto “The Power of Going to Church” for more information.  Jesus said in John 10:10:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

And, of course, it’s true.

GOD SAID, Joshua 1:8:

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

GOD SAID, Psalms 63:6:

When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

GOD SAID, Psalms 119:15:

I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

GOD SAID, Psalms 143:15:

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

GOD SAID, I Timothy 4:14-15

14  Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

15  Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

MAN SAID: As man becomes more and more educated and sophisticated, he loses the need for the fictitious God of the Bible.

Now THE RECORD.  God says meditate.  Could meditation have any real measureable benefit?  New discoveries in neuroscience says yes!  In a 2009 book, How God Changes Your Brain, author Andrew Newberg, M.D. in neuroscience, and accomplished author, lecturer, and therapist Mark Waldman have begun to uncover startling benefits.  They measured brain activity and overall well-being of individuals meditating 12 minutes a day over a protracted number of weeks.  The following excerpts from their book highlight the mighty benefits of daily meditation:

Our research has led us to the following conclusions:

1.  Each part of the brain constructs a different perception of God.

2.  Every human brain assembles its perceptions of God in uniquely different ways, thus giving God different qualities of meaning and value.

3.  Spiritual practices, even when stripped of religious beliefs, enhance the neural functioning of the brain in ways that improve physical and emotional health.

4.  Intense, long-term contemplation of God and other spiritual values appears to permanently change the structure of those parts of the brain that control our moods, give rise to our conscious notions of self, and shape our sensory perceptions of the world.

5.  Contemplative practices strengthen a specific neurological circuit that generates peacefulness, social awareness, and compassion for others.

Scientists used to believe that neurons deteriorated with old age, but the mechanisms are far more complicated than that.  For example, we now know that certain neurochemicals wear out, and this alters nerve cell activity and growth.  Sometimes neural connections die off, and sometimes they become too active and overconnected, bringing chaos and confusion to our internal organizational maps.  Our research with memory patients suggests that meditation can help maintain a healthy structural balance that will slow the aging process.

Brain-scan technology allows us to watch a living brain in action, and what we see is amazing.  Each feeling and thought changes the blood flow and electrochemical activity in multiple areas of the brain, and it appears that we never repeat the exact same feeling or thought.

However, when prayer is incorporated into longer forms of intense meditation, or practiced within the context of weekly religious activity, many health benefits have been found, including greater length of life.

Some of our other subjects showed less improvement, but all of them showed enhanced abilities in memory recall, concentration, and verbal fluency.  The overall improvement averaged between 10 and 20 percent.   

This was our first real evidence that a meditation practice, even when removed from its spiritual and religious framework, can substantially improve memory in people suffering from cognitive problems.  This is good news for millions of aging Americans, because it is easy to get into the habit of meditating twelve minutes a day.

Today, Benson’s “relaxation response” has been incorporated into many aspects of medicine and psychotherapy because it effectively treats hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, chronic pain, PMS, insomnia, anxiety, depression, hostility, and infertility.  It even lessens the side effects caused by cancer treatments and AIDS.  This simple meditation also improves cognition in healthy aging adults.

But since there has been such widespread use of meditation in psychotherapy—where it has been proven to be especially effective in the treatment of severe depression—the evidence shows that it is a very effective treatment for mood disorders.  [End of quote]

When God says yes, wise men and women say amen.

GOD SAID, Psalms 143:5:

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

MAN SAID: As man becomes more and more educated and sophisticated, he loses the need for the fictitious God of the Bible.

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

 

 

References:

 

Authorized King James Version

Newberg, A., M.D., and M. Waldman, How God Changes Your Brain, Ballantine Books, 2009, pp6-7,15,28,31,45,56

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