Zephaniah 3:17 “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.”
MEDITATION/MESSAGE:
The majority of time we don’t have much control on the final outcome of things. However, having the awareness that struggles will continue to occur; we do have control over our thoughts, how we respond to the struggles, and our choice to continue believing……
As a simple start, we can believe in Gods promises to HIS children as laid out in the Bible. We may further begin to believe in God’s grace, love and all He has done for us; He has literally lived to die for His children! We then have the choice to go a bit deeper and find strength in the pain and to believe in Gods beauty no matter the circumstances. The beauty He has planted throughout creation; the mountains, the flowers, the ocean, a child’s smile, a man’s God given strength, or the simple beauty of a woman confident in herself and aware of her relationship with Christ. Then allowing this beauty to break our hearts, as we fall into a closer connection with the creator of all things, OUR God! We are restless until we find peace and rest in God. To be closer with God, all He asks us to do is just SIT with Him and let go of the weight of this world we try to hold onto. He hears us; we don’t have to do a thing except stay with Him, in His presence. He loves to be with His children and He is in love with us.
The same goes for yoga. We have the choice on how to approach our practice of yoga. The choice to make the practice more personal for ourselves and allowing the different postures to open our minds and bodies into unfamiliar areas; which in turn, will help us to become more aware and open to God’s presence. Having a mindful yoga practice and incorporating it into our everyday lives will help us to notice the things in the world that are unfair or difficult. Through Christ, not become wrapped up in the feelings of hopelessness. Even in the midst of crisis, we can still feel connected and comforted through the Holy Spirit which can empower, inspire, and strengthen us.
GATE POSE DESCRIPTION:
The pose for this week, is Gate pose. Gate pose stretches the hamstrings, adductor muscles, calf muscles, and the torso muscles. Also, opens the chest and shoulders.
1. Start in a kneeling position, with shins stretched out behind
a. toes may be curled under for more stability or place the tops of the feet flat on mat
2. Fully extend the right leg, towards the right
a. bring the toes the floor, facing forward
b. Keep the left thigh vertical, knee directly below the left hip and hip pointing forward
c. outwardly rotating at the hip of the extended leg to face the knee cap toward the sky
3. As you inhale, bring your arms out to the sides at shoulder height, palms down
4. Exhale, bending to the right over the right leg and lay the right hand down on the shin, ankle, or the floor outside the right leg.
5. Inhale and sweep left arm next to the left ear.
a. Turn the upper torso away from the floor
b. Turn and gaze up towards the sky, keeping the back of the neck long
6. Hold the pose, breathing comfortably for 30 seconds to a minute
7. Coming up with an inhale, dram the torso vertical and bring the knees together
8. Repeat with legs reversed
Matthew 7:13-14 ESV “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few”
Songs:
Hillsong United, You
Audrey Assad, Restless
Brian & Jenn Johnson, A Little Longer
Song of Songs....
Place Me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; For this love is as strong as death, it's jealousy unyeilding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench this love: rivers cannot sweep it away....
He won't relent until He has all of your heart! He places an ember deep inside of your soul and again and again throughout your journey He will set it ablaze. Each breath you take like a fan to its flame. Each breath a joyful adoration of "Yeh Weh". He gave us breath and fire to show His uncomparable LOVE. He set fire to your soul before you were even known to man. He placed a piece of His love so deep that nothing could ever remove it, not your indifference, not your doubt, and not even your shame can seperate you from the flame of His love. For it is inside of your chest, within the depths of your heart and every breath, whether aware of it or not you keep that fire burning. And if only you added some awareness to this ember of love it would ingite into a blazing, consuming fire. An unstoppable Fire; an unstoppable Love. A Love like no other, an everlasting, undestructable Love. This Love would fill you so completely that you never had a need outside of the Flame. The Flame would be enough, His Love would be your everything. So may each of us draw near to the Ember and Breath so that Love will spread like Wild Fire.... He won't relent; His Love won't allow Him to ever stop trying to get your whole heart! As you breath and practice the Cresent Lunge, Breath into the Fire and let it consume all of your heart! This poses exposes your heart and opens your soul up for God to kindle His loving Flame and reveal Who's you are.....Breath and let the Heat comfort you!
CRESENT LUNGE POSE DESCRIPTION:
~ Start from Mountain Pose
~ Lunge your right foot, right foot only, back. Staying on the ball of the foot.
~ Bending the left knee, but keeping it from extending out over the toes.
~ If this is too much, lower your right knee and flatten your foot
~ Next take both hands to prayer
~ Slowly reaching your hands towards the sky
~ Then if you have it available reach your hands back, slightly arching the spine
~ Continue to lengthen through the crown of the head and honor your low back
~ Again the right knee can be lowered and foot flattened
~ Breath deeply and feel the heat rising from within, relate this to His Love overtaking every cell of your body and until your heart is full. Hold here for 10-15 breaths
~ Repeat other side
SONG SUGGESTIONS:
White As Snow by Jon Foreman
Mystery by Phil Wickham
Love That Will Not Let Me Go by Ascend the Hill
mERRY ChRISTmAS....We lOvE yOu!!!
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