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Article by Karla Downing
Most of us don’t do well with nurturing ourselves. We are experts at taking care of others’ needs and ignoring our own needs. Some of this self-neglect comes from four Christian codependency beliefs that prevent you from nurturing yourself.
Which of these beliefs have contributed to you not nurturing yourself?
1. It is selfish to take care of myself. We buy into the lie that God doesn’t want us to take care of ourselves. Ephesians 5:29 says, “After all, no one ever hates his own body, but he feeds and cares for it” (NIV). It is assumed that you will take care of yourself. Jesus took care of himself. He rested to renew himself spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally while caring for others.
2. I am responsible for other people. Galatians 6:5 says, “Each one should carry his own load” (NIV). You are not responsible for doing for others what they should do for themselves. We need to care for others that God brings into our lives but with a balance that protects ourselves and keeps us healthy. t is not our responsibility to fix people. Many of us are drawn to people that need fixing as a way of ignoring our own issues. We compulsively focus on others to avoid looking at ourselves.
3. I can’t say no. Matthew 5:37 says, “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your “No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (NIV). If saying no is hard for you, you need to work on strengthening your ability to say no. God doesn’t expect you to say yes to everything asked of you. Whether it is guilt, fear, obligation, or people pleasing, you have the right to choose what you want to do with your time, energy, emotions, and resources, because you are steward over them.
4. I don’t have enough money or time. Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will meet all your needs” (NIV). You may not have what you want to take care of yourself (money for new clothes, manicures, expensive trips, golf club memberships, etc.), but you have what you need: a desire. Learn to take care of yourself in simple ways: take a walk, take a long bath, read a book, attend to your emotional needs, find quiet time, add a break in your routine, meditate, get a video, or spend time with a friend.
Not only do you need to take care of yourself, God wants and expects you to take care of yourself. Take the first step into letting go of your Christian codependency: correct these four beliefs that prevent you from nurturing yourself.
About the Author
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Karla Downing is an author, speaker, licensed marriage and family therapist, and Bible study teacher. Karla’s passion is to help people find freedom in Christ in the midst of their difficult relationships and circumstances through Biblical truths and practical tools.
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Article by Mark Virkler
I received a question the other day from a pastor. He has been teaching about how to hear the voice of God, which includes using one’s imagination to visualize. However, he had received questions from several in his congregation asking where in the Bible we are told to ‘picture’ or visualize Jesus. After all, there are verses in the New Testament which say that we don’t see Jesus (2 Cor 5:6-7, 1 Peter 1:7-8). I know a lot of people who have read about how to hear the voice of God have this same question. So, where does the Bible tell us to visualize Jesus?
Seeing Inwardly Versus Seeing Outwardly
As you read the context of 2 Corinthians 5:6-7 and 1 Peter 1:7-8, you will note they are both talking about PHYSICALLY SEEING. When it comes to seeing with the eyes of our hearts, Paul tells us to look and see the glory of the Lord in the “unseen” world (2 Cor. 3:18; 4:18) and Hebrews 12:2 tells us we are to be fixing our eyes on Jesus. And seeing with our hearts is what we are really talking about when we speak about visualization.
Paul tells us that we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18). One chapter later, Paul confirms that this transformation occurs “while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen (2 Cor. 4:18).”
So, what (or who) is it in the unseen realm that we are to look at and, that by beholding, will transform us into the same image? The answer is that as I look with the eyes of my heart to see what Jesus is doing in the situation, and I take on His actions by saying, “Yes, Lord.” and do what I see Jesus doing, the result is that I am transformed from a person who does something out of self, to a person who is doing what I see Jesus doing in the situation. Notice we are seeing what Jesus IS doing, not what Jesus WOULD do. It is the present tense action of Jesus.
Abiding in Christ Involves Seeing Jesus
This is the way Christians are to live all the time. It is called “abiding in Christ” (Jn. 15) and it involves hearing, feeling, sensing and seeing Jesus in action, the One Who is walking with us down the road of life. It is simple. It must be simple enough for a child to do (Lk. 18:17), so don’t make it difficult. It is asking the Holy Spirit to show you what Jesus is doing, and then looking with the eyes of your heart into the unseen world, and honoring and accepting and believing the pictures that light upon your mind while you are in that poise. You have asked for them to come from the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ promise is that indeed they do (Jn. 7;37-39; Lk. 11:13).
What is the Precise Definition of Meditate?
Let’s look at the meaning of the Hebrew verb hagah “meditate, imagine, visualize,” in Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:2. As we will see in the paragraphs that follow, the standard Hebrew lexicon, Brown, Driver, Briggs, and Spanish Old Testament & Hebrew scholar, Dr. Jesus Arambarri, have proven the meanings “imagine” and “visualize” for this verb in the Hebrew Bible.
The other passages in the Hebrew Bible that demonstrate the “imagine”/”visualize” meaning are discussed in detail on pages 7-13 of “How to Release God’s Healing Power Through Prayer” by Greig, Virkler and Gaydos.
Visualizing is not a New Age idea: it’s a godly, heavenly idea that satan stole and counterfeited!! And the Hebrew hagah in Joshua 1:8 and Psalm 1:2 (and all the other passages in the Hebrew Bible where it is used) prove it!
Conclusion:
This is why we conclude that practicing biblical meditation means visually pondering and picturing what God says is true in Scripture, while we keep the words of Scripture in our mouths, memorizing key passages.
About the Author
Mark Virkler is with Christian Leadership University, an online Bible college/university which has several online Christian colleges of study, offering degrees including counseling degrees and Master’s of Divinity. https://secrets2meditation.com/goto/?url=http://www.cluonline.com
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whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.