Centering Words: A 4-Minute Centering Practice
Centering Words: A 4-Minute Centering Practice
Celebrating the greatest rescue of all time
Old Centering Words
Would you be willing to join me in reading this simple but profound sentence from Colossians 1:13 today? It is one of the best descriptions of God's rescue mission, which reached its climactic moment in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. (CJB)
We are told a few sentences about the crucial moment in this rescue mission: Christ’s death.
[Christ] released his supernatural peace to you through the sacrifice of his own body as the sin-payment made on your behalf so that you could dwell in his presence. (Colossians 1:22)
The rescue was not accidental; it was intentional, long in the planning (see Genesis 3:15). The rescue cost a life; Christ’s life. The death was not accidental nor unforeseen. It was intentional.
A Centering Prayer
And would you be willing to bow in prayer with me for just a moment in order to pray from the heart to Jesus?
Jesus, Son of God, thank You for dying for me. Thank You for absorbing in your body the punishment for sin that was mine to endure. Because of You, my address and home is no longer in the domain of darkness. I now reside in Your kingdom. This is unbelievable to me…but I salute You and thank You. Amen.
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Spiritual Formation Queries
Queries are old spiritual formation practices dating back to the 17th century, at least. They are a set of questions designed to help you stop and wonder. Here are some queries about this simple, but powerful, statement about Jesus:
Read Colossians 1:13 and Colossians 1:22 several times. Try different ways of reading: silently, audibly, listening, reading while walking, etc.
Pay attention to what draws your attention. What are you noticing?
What is your “gut response” to the fact that God has staged and pulled off rescue of you that required His son, Jesus, to take your place in death so you could live?
What difference is it making in your life that you now no longer live in, and are dominated by the “domain of darkness?” In what ways is it evident that you have been transferred into, and now live in, the kingdom of Jesus?
What prayer needs to be whispered that gives voice to your desire to live more fully in the kingdom of Jesus?