Love And Nourish Yourself

Thank you for joining In the Flow Meditation,

A biblical meditation practice.

I am Regina Queen and I will be guiding you today in a meditation regarding loving and nourishing yourself.

Let's welcome the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

I'd just like you to breathe with me and relax your mind,

Relax your body,

And receive all that God has available for you.

In the name of the Father,

In the name of the Son,

And in the name of the Holy Spirit,

We welcome you,

Almighty God.

You are timeless.

You are limitless.

You are almighty.

You are all-powerful.

You are our peace.

You nourish us and you invite us to nourish ourselves.

Just thank you for your presence,

For your kindness,

For your love.

Dwell in us.

Be with us.

Unite us with you.

In the name of Jesus.

Our foundational thought is,

I love and nourish myself.

I'd like you to say that with me.

Just say it out loud.

I love and nourish myself.

Jesus gave us many instructions.

He told us to love our enemies and to pray for them in Matthew chapter 5.

He asked us to serve one another in love in Galatians chapter 5.

The Bible also instructs us in Philippians 2 verse 3 to prefer others above ourselves.

The greatest commandments.

The greatest commandments are found in Luke chapter 10 and 27.

As Jesus himself commanded us to love the Lord,

Our God,

With all of our heart,

With all of our mind,

With all of our soul and all of our strength.

And then he said to love others as we love ourselves.

John 15,

Jesus instructs us to love one another as he loved us.

He said,

Love one another as I have loved you.

So we can conclude that we should love others as we love ourselves.

We should love others as he loves us.

Then ultimately we should conclude that we love ourselves the way that Jesus loves us too.

Let me say that again.

We should love others as we love ourselves.

We should love others as Jesus loves us.

So ultimately we should love ourselves the way that Jesus loves us as well.

You cannot feed me if you're starving.

You cannot clothe me if you're naked.

You cannot love me fully if you do not love yourself completely.

You cannot give what you do not possess.

Again,

You cannot feed someone if you're starving.

You cannot clothe someone if you are naked.

You cannot love someone fully if you do not love yourself completely.

You cannot give what you do not possess.

There's a quote from Maya Angelou that says,

I do not trust people who don't love themselves,

Yet tell me I love you.

There is an African saying,

Which is,

Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.

Embracing self-love is necessary.

It's essential and it is a commandment.

Now let there be no misunderstanding,

We are called to be humble and not self-centered,

But we're not called to disrespect our humanity or become self-loathing.

Self-centeredness is conceit and really it's considered a form of idolatry.

Being or embracing low self-esteem or doing more for others without taking care of yourself can also be camouflaged as a form of pride or a distorted view of God's commands.

I have a dear friend that consistently reminds all of us that we are queens and a queen recognizes her value.

A queen does not become self-absorbed or a queen doesn't think that she's better than someone else or a queen doesn't walk around with a prideful disposition.

A queen embraces her beauty,

The beauty that God has showered us with.

The Song of Solomon chapter 2 verse 4 reminds us that God has a banner over us and that banner over us.

His love,

His love protects us.

His love nourishes us.

His love completes us.

Now we cannot do all the things that Jesus has asked us to do in our own strength.

This is why it's imperative to sit and listen for a divine instruction and wisdom as to how to implement all of the commands into our lives.

So let's begin as we get in a comfortable position and allow your feet to touch the ground,

Making sure that your back is straight but comfortable and place your hands on your knees with your palms facing upward in a position to receive.

If you're ending your day and you're retiring for the evening,

Feel free to allow this meditation to saturate your subconscious mind and do as much of it as you can before you enter into a deep sleep.

You can lay on your back if that's more comfortable for you,

But just meditate with us.

Close your eyes and breathe.

Inhaling with your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

Inhale as deeply as you can and exhale as completely as you can through your mouth.

Take the focus off of the busyness of your mind as you may have already started thinking about the task of the day or what happened during the day or what may be about to happen.

Just bring your attention.

Bring your attention to the one most important life-giving activities,

Which is your breath.

Just inhale deeply and exhale completely.

Close your mind and release any emotions or tension that restricts you.

Let's do that several more times.

You can even inhale through your nose and exhale through your nose if that's more comfortable for you.

Just get still.

This is your time with God.

Know that as you breathe and as you sit quietly,

You are shifting the atmosphere of your mind and giving yourself permission to relax and experience the gift of being still,

Of getting refreshed,

The gift of staying present and receiving answers from the Lord.

As you continue to breathe,

Release every issue that causes disturbance,

Worry,

Concern.

Just release it.

Release it in this moment.

Cast every battle,

Every care on the cross and leave it there.

Visualize yourself as you exhale that you're releasing everything that concerns you,

Remembering that God is perfecting everything that concerns you.

And as you inhale,

Welcome the peace,

The rest,

The stillness,

The divine help,

All the gifts that God has waiting for you in this place.

Now if you're sitting with your feet touching the ground,

I'd like you to start with your head and rotate your head comfortably clockwise in a circular motion.

Just rotate your head as you continue to breathe slowly and gently.

Rotate your head.

In a circular motion.

Giving yourself permission to relax.

Giving yourself permission to release any tension that may be in your neck.

Just breathe.

Just breathe.

Now I'd like you to rotate your shoulders,

Slowly rotate your shoulders backwards in a circular motion.

Do that at least five times.

Now rotate them forward,

Continue to breathe.

At least five times.

This is a mini exercise to help you release any blockage or stiffness as we enter into God's presence.

As we continue to deeply enter into God's presence.

Now rotate your feet clockwise in a circular motion.

Just imagine yourself allowing your feet to stretch as you rotate them clockwise at least five times.

Continue to breathe and rotate your feet counterclockwise the other direction.

As you wait in a state of expectation of what God has for you.

As you continue to breathe I'd like you to place your right hand on your heart.

As if you're saluting the flag or comforting yourself.

This gesture reinforces the fact that you will honor yourself.

You will honor yourself with kindness and compassion during this time we spend together.

And as we prepare for the meditation with your hand on your heart I'd like you to say out loud,

I love and nourish myself.

Just say that with me with your hand on your heart.

Remind yourself say I love and nourish myself.

Now just rest comfortably.

I'd like you to think about a blessing.

A blessing from the Lord that brings you joy preferably not a material item like a house or a car or an article of clothing or purse but something intangible that happened organically in your life.

An experience or relationship like your relationship with a pet dog or cat or a feeling of being unconditionally loved by your husband or a child or memory of watching your child sleeping or watching your child commit an act of kindness or even the innocence of a little baby.

The innocence of a child telling a funny joke or a stranger even a stranger providing a smile or assistance as you may have had a heavy product or even the first time that you fell in love.

Maybe someone saw you in need one day and helped you if your car broke down or you needed to change your tire.

Something that allows you to see the beauty in life.

Something that makes you happy.

Something that brings you joy.

This blessing that you can reminisce or recreate that feeling and relive the moment.

Continue to breathe.

If you can conjure up multiple memories embrace them all right now.

Right here.

And as you allow yourself to remember that feeling I'd like you to remember and relive that memory when we enter into our complete silence at the end.

Allow the feeling of that memory to be vivid in your mind.

Now continue to breathe and allow yourself to receive the words that I will begin to share with you.

Always remember if your mind begins to wander just gently redirect your thoughts redirect your attention to your breath and the words that I'll be sharing with you now.

You don't have to remember everything that I'm saying.

Just allow yourself to receive and let the words resonate in your spirit.

Even if you're headed to bed just allow this to replay to replay over and over throughout the night.

And silently say to yourself I will love and nourish myself.

After I state each phrase silently say to yourself I will love and nourish myself.

I am worthy of love.

I deserve to be treated with respect.

I am valuable.

I deserve to be safe.

I am entitled to experience rest.

Peace belongs to me.

I deserve to be seen.

I deserve to be heard.

And silently say to yourself I will love and nourish myself.

These are gifts and expectations that you deserve because you are the daughter of the Most High King.

You deserve to experience these privileges so that you can extend the same grace the same grace and gifts to others.

You are worthy of love.

You deserve to be treated with respect.

You are valuable.

You deserve to be safe.

You are entitled to experience rest.

Peace belongs to you.

You deserve to be seen.

And you deserve to be heard.

Allow these allow these privileges and these statements and these words to echo in your heart and mind.

Know that you are accepted and beloved by God.

You are beautiful.

God was pleased when he made you.

Ephesians 2 10 says that you are his masterpiece.

You are created in Christ to do good works.

Your value is far above rubies and pearls.

Proverbs 31 10.

His banner over you is love.

You are the apple of your father's eye.

Psalm 17.

God has a picture.

He has a picture of you inscribed in his hand.

Isaiah 49 10 16.

Continue to breathe and know that the Lord wants you to realize how valuable you are because he paid an enormous price just for you.

He loves you with an everlasting love.

Jeremiah 31.

God has forgiven you for mistakes that you have made.

Silently say to yourself,

I will love and nourish myself.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.

His mercies,

They never come to an end.

They are new every morning.

Lamentations three.

Choose to be kind to yourself.

For God has drawn you with his loving kindness.

Silently say to yourself,

I will love and nourish myself.

Commit to nourish yourself with quiet time.

Continue to breathe,

Commit to nourish yourself with laughter.

Commit to nourish yourself with proper amounts of sleep,

Nutritious food,

Quality relationships,

Where there is reciprocity and other things that you enjoy.

First Timothy 6 17 tells us that God richly provides everything for your enjoyment.

Silently say to yourself,

I will love and nourish myself.

I'd like you to sit in silence and know that as you love and nourish yourself,

You are capable of surrendering yourself to serve God with your whole heart and give thanks to your heavenly father for loving you and revealing to you how much you should love yourself.

After you sit in silence,

I'd like you to journal about exactly what God is showing you to do to love and nourish yourself.

Walk in peace.

And that concludes our meditation.