Psalm 119:148 says, “My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise” (ESV). Biblical meditation is finding time to be alone with God. It’s using meditation to recalibrate your mind and heart and even your body with the vertical reality of God’s presence and God’s promises. Using “the eyes of your heart” — your biblically guided imagination — to experience God’s presence and promises to you in a way that replaces stress and anxiety with God’s peace and joy and confidence. This is something God’s people have been doing for thousands of years. Let’s take the time to do something like that now. (But first, if your podcast app is set to skip silent sections, disable that now.) This is a time for you to meditate and focus your thoughts and imagination on the light-giving, life-giving presence of the I AM. There'll be other times to think about things. Plan things. Do things. To fix things. You can do all that later. But put all that aside for now and focus on God being present with you right now 100% — focused on you 100% — without being any less present and any less focused anywhere else. This is God’s promise to you everywhere in Scripture. Even in his very name — I AM. God’s presence is always in the present tense — always present with you fully. Let’s meditate on God’s promise in… Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV) The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. He is the Giver of your life. The Source of rest and peace. Shalom. Imagine God’s Spirit speaking his word in that verse to YOU — “The I AM with you. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you.” God says this in his word to his people. So imagine him saying it to you… Now imagine him saying the rest of that verse — “Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged.” Imagine every part of your being — every cell in your body — resting in that verse. Anxiety is a kind of fear. A kind of discouragement. Instead of listening to anxiety, listen to God’s promise — “I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. So do not be afraid.” The New Testament quotes that verse in Deuteronomy 31 that we just read and directly applies it to all those who believe in Jesus. Let’s meditate on a New Testament promise found in… Hebrews 13:5-6 (NIV) God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” There’s a kind of inner confidence that comes when we decide to believe God’s word. A kind of calm even in the chaos of life because we remind ourselves we can trust that he is always present with us 100%. Nothing touches us without his presence and love and care in control of everything. Fear comes when we imagine the worst. But confidence comes when we imagine the best because we’re trusting that God is committed to our best. God promises you ultimately the best. That verse in Hebrews was also quoting… Psalms 118:6-7 (NIV) The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. …The LORD is with me; he is my helper. In all your uncertainty about your life, you can trust and rest in God’s promise to you. Say quietly to yourself… “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. …The LORD is with me; he is my helper.” Say quietly to yourself… “Because I have Jesus, the things that matter most are not threatened. I am not in danger. I am secure forever because the forever God is my God forever.” And when you’re done, you can get up and walk with all the confidence that, because you have Jesus, the forever God is your God forever. Who can you share this podcast with? If you found this episode helpful, consider sharing it on social media or texting it to a friend you think might benefit from it. Follow Dave Cover on Twitter https://twitter.com/davecover (@davecover) Follow A...