In the bible Jesus said that the Son of Man would gather his elect from the four winds of heaven, from one end of the earth to the other and then the end would come.
So I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the four winds were. I came to a conclusion this week - after researching bible prophecy and Daniel prophecy for 9 years, independent of second hand sources.
So to me the four winds of heaven are:
a) Meditation
There are different biblical virtues and regulated virtues you have to keep like honesty, charity, supportiveness, service, authenticity etc... Meditating on the personal virtues you glean from the moral prohibitions in the bible so that you can awaken your conscience and purify your emotions. It also leads to joy and meaning
b) Fasting
I don't mean abstaining from food because some people are obese or underweight and have difficulty skipping a full day or weeks worth of meals. There are other ways of fasting, like sleeping 4-6 hours later than usual so you can spend the night in prayer or bible study or joining a 24 hour prayer meeting at church. Other forms of fasting instead of food abstinence or sleep deprivation could mean giving up material indulgence for a month where you go a month without watching t.v. or eating a certain type of food such as meat or grain. You could also try a partial fast where you eat 800 calories less than normal for a full week. Or you could fast by doing a very difficult exercise or physical discipline - for example - showering in cold water instead of warm water. Only requirement is this is done in secret. The primary fasting I do is mental discipline - where I force myself to abandon my pleasures and personal desires and interests to meditate on God's word and force myself over and over again to grapple with spiritual and biblical conundrums until I can solve the problem.
c) Prayer
I don't believe prayer is always verbal because Jesus said to pray in secret and when you verbalize your prayers - people who live in adjacent rooms might be able to hear the words you utter with your lips which would decrease the privacy and secrecy of your prayer. A good way to anonymously pray for somebody is to secretly pour your emotions to God about a matter in your life. Pour your worries out to God when you see a friend in trouble. Pour your sadness out to God when somebody dies. Say something your head silently to God if you have difficulty forgiving somebody. Humble yourself by kneeling by your bedside and then thanking God for the spiritual blessings God has given you.
d) Worship
Now there are different forms of worship - You could meditate on God's severity - You could meditate on the poverty of Jesus when he was on earth as a humble servant who died on the cross - you could meditate in humility on your own guilt and shame at having hurt somebody - you could meditate on God's inspiration and purity - You could meditate on God's luscious ability to satisfy your heart and soul. You could meditate on God's warm and welcoming confidence. You could find God's presence to be satisfying.
These Are the Four Winds of Heaven:
Prayer, Meditation, Fasting and Worship
e) Cleansing
This can come either through worship or through dispositional transformation - however this is extra - not part of the four winds.
If you are a Christian and have some free time - make an attempt to include these things in your daily walk.
I also came up with
- 18 principles for meditation
- 12 principles for fasting
- 7 principles for prayer
- 40 principles for worship
But I decided I won't share them with the world in an explicit and collective form but will share them slowly one by one in different ways and in different forms
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