God commands Joshua to meditate on the Torah book to encourage his obedience to it. They recognize that the cherubim on top of the ark are a symbol of God's power. Believers have the freedom under the new covenant to behold the "glory of the Lord."
The above sources reiterate how important the consumption of God's word is for the Christian.
Results
The third goal was to increase CHBC students' confidence in practicing biblical meditation by training them to meditate on the Bible. A major emphasis at the retreat for this project was the need to use the Bible in meditation. Seventy-two percent of respondents (13/18) indicated that they read their Bibles several times a month or more, while 42 percent (8/18) indicated that they read their Bibles at least once a week.
The same number indicated that the type of meditation described in the Bible is applicable to Christians today. This discrepancy between the perceived importance of biblical meditation and the students' understanding of what the Bible teaches about meditation also reinforced the need for this project. Eighty-three percent (15/18) agreed that they feel closer to God when they meditate on the Bible.
Finally, 83 percent (15/18) indicated that they better understand what God wants them to do when they meditate.
Results
Once these changes were made, the panel approved the curriculum with 100 percent "Satisfactory" or "Exemplary" ratings on each of the criteria measured (see table 6).
Results
17, the results of the pre- and post-withdrawal surveys were analyzed using a t-test for dependent samples to provide a statistical analysis of course effectiveness. The first session of the retreat provided an overview of the booklet used for meditation and taught students what each section meant and how they could use the booklet as they practiced meditating themselves.7 Next, students were introduced to the practice of preparing for meditation by asking for the Holy Spirit's guidance, confessing their sins to God, and recognizing that they are in God's presence when. Meditation workbooks for this retreat were based on several of the texts discussed in chap.
10 This definition of meditation does not include every aspect of the term as scholars and theologians have described meditation throughout the ages; however, it covered the basic understanding useful for CHBC students during the meditation retreat. Next, we discussed each of the benefits listed, and students were taught how to meditate by praying the Bible.18 Students learned how to turn what they read in the Bible into a prayer back to God , the Bible's author. In this chapter I evaluate this ministry project by analyzing the purpose, goals, strengths and weaknesses of the project.
This lack of structure, combined with the belief that Bible recording is of paramount importance to Christians, resulted in my choosing Bible meditation as the subject for this project.
Student Meditation Practices Assessment Practices Assessment
Curriculum Development and Evaluation and Evaluation
Four pastors completed a curriculum rubric that measured biblical faithfulness, appropriateness of the curriculum for the intended audience of grades seven through twelve, and the curriculum's ability to help students become successful practitioners of biblical meditation. With some adjustments suggested by the expert panel, this goal was met and exceeded the original goal set of 90 percent sufficiency. The suggestions made by the panel were valuable in creating a solid curriculum that stayed true to the Bible while being accessible to students.
The final meditation booklet used for the retreat had a good amount of reading, which can be a deterrent to many youths; but the first attempt at meditation booklet had a lot more reading and was less organized. I am indebted to the expert panel who pointed out these two areas and made suggestions on how the booklet could be improved.
Confidence in Meditation Increased Meditation Increased
First, every question in the survey increased on the Likert scale except for one (Q15: I better understand what God wants me to do when I meditate).1 The average response to this question remained the same (4.81 ). The final strength of the project was that it revealed the value of direct instruction for meditation. A weakness of the project was that the meditation retreat tried to cover too much.
Each of the five sessions included information about meditation, a discussion of a meditation method, a different biblical theme, and repeated instructions to the students. Another weakness of the project was the somewhat vague rubric used by the expert panel to examine the curriculum. Two of the panel members marked everything as exemplary the first time they read through the syllabus.
The biggest weakness of the project was not in its preparation or implementation, but in my failure to practice what I was going to teach the students.
Would Do Differently
Instead of covering five different biblical themes, I wanted to limit the project to two themes and give students time to explore each theme through different meditation methods. Although God through His mercy blessed this project, I believe that He and His people deserve the best from their pastors, and "the best" was not what the CHBC students received in this case. I began this endeavor knowing that what I knew about meditation was almost entirely influenced by the perspective of the world.
It also forced me to study the text repeatedly before going to the commentaries, as I tended to lean too much on the commentaries early in my study. The many benefits of meditation are excellent, but my students' growth of one point on the Likert scale of feeling closer to God as a result of meditation taught me in a practical way how powerful biblical meditation can be. This project succeeded in its stated goal: to equip students of CHBC to meditate on the Bible.
The following survey was used to determine CHBC students' knowledge and practice of meditation before and after the meditation retreat.
CHAPARRAL HILLS YOUTH October 5, 2019
Notes
You can write down what you learn from different verses and at the end make a meditation on the topic that covers a lot of what the Bible says on the subject. Second, accomplish this by spending time in God's Word to renew your mind so that your desires are touched, resulting in your obedience to God's Word. Admit that you are in God's presence and that you want to spend time with him.
Our purpose is to read and think about what the Bible says about sin in order to understand the gravity of sin, the evil of sin, God's wrath against sin, God's judgment of sin, the consequences of sin, etc. Stephen Yuille, “Conversing with God's Word: Meditating on Scripture in the Devotions of George Swinnock,” Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care 5, no. Sin has caused God's curse and causes God's wrath to be kindled against the sinner.
God's Spirit works with our Spirit to understand and believe what the Bible says.
Notes
At the point of Adam's sin and because we are born with a sinful nature, every person has a broken relationship with God. Those of us who have received God's salvation through Christ, our relationship with God is now reconciled - that is, our relationship with God has been restored, despite our sin. As you read and think about reconciliation, ask the questions to determine the Holy Spirit's guidance.
In your notebook, after you answer the questions that analyze what these verses say about reconciliation, copy one or two verses in your notebook that stand out to you. In your meditation notebook, answer the following questions after spending time meditating on reconciliation with God. Now that you've spent some time meditating on reconciliation, copying verses that struck you, and applying your meditation to yourself, write a meditation on reconciliation in your notebook based on what you've learned.
20 Tilpasset fra en kombination af følgende kilder: Coe, "The Controversy over Contemplation and Contemplative Prayer," 140–53; Davis, Meditation and Communion, 10–64; Kyle Strobel, "In Your Light They Shall See Light: A Theological Prolegomena for Contemplation," Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care 7, nr.
Notes
Love conquers all." "All you need is love." But let's see what the Bible says about God's love. Look up the following scriptures one by one and see what can be taught about God's love. Follow the meditation headings that is suggested and spend time really thinking about every aspect of God's love as revealed in the Bible Write your thoughts in your notebook.
Think about the fact that God's love for us is perfected when we love one another. In your meditation notebook, answer the following questions after you have spent time meditating on God's love. Now that you have spent some time meditating on God's love, copying down verses that struck you, and applying your meditation to yourself, write a meditation on God's love in your notebook based on what you have learned.
Saxton, God's Battle Plan for the Mind: The Puritan Practice of Biblical Meditation (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books.
Notes
Praying in the Bible simply consists of turning what you have read into a prayer back to God. Lord, thank you for the free gift of justification and redemption you have given through Jesus. Look up the following scripture references one by one and see what you can learn about reconciling sinners to God.
Read the following verses, think about them, and turn them into prayers back to God. Before turning this into a prayer, think of some specific sins you have committed that you can openly confess to God.). Thank you for cleansing me of all the unrighteousness I have accumulated through my sin.
In your meditation notebook, answer the following questions after spending time meditating on salvation.
Notes
Don't be too quick to try and judge the exact meaning of the verses, just read and allow the Holy Spirit to work in your mind and heart through Scripture. Allow the Holy Spirit to work in your mind and heart through the words of the passage. Remember that the same Holy Spirit who inspired the writing of the Bible lives within you and that he wants to make his will known to those who belong to him. 38.
The eternal rest of the saints : or a treatise on the blessed state of the saints in their enjoyment of God in glory. To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord': the evangelical defiance and the retrieval of contemplation. Journal of Spiritual Formation & Soul Care 7, no. 5 of The Expositor's Bible Commentary: With the New International Version of the Holy Bible, edited by Frank E.
Letter to the bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian meditation." October 15, 1989.
