Posted on

“The Sun That Shines!!”

A day…

There is nothing like a day where the sun shines.  It makes everyone more pleasant.  And it seems that more people smile.  There is something the sun gives that changes the life.

A couple of days ago was just such a day.  I was home alone for a few hours, which is unheard of.  We had just had a downpour just the day before so everything was green.  And now the sun was shining brightly.  It made for a wonderful morning.  I actually went out and laid on our trampoline in the bright sunshine.  It felt so amazing!  As I lay there soaking up the sunshine I was also listening to the nature sounds.  Many birds were singing and I could hear the buzz of many bugs.  It was so peaceful and pleasant.

But then…

The day was so pleasant you would think that nothing could change it.  But then I heard it thunder.  I was looking to see where it was coming from because the sky was so blue.  In the distance, there were some dark clouds coming my way.  I watched in amazement as those clouds came closer and the thunder got louder.  And what was so amazing?  It was the split between the sunshine with blue sky and the dark clouds.  There was a definite contrast.  On one side of the sky were the dark ugly clouds and on the other side the beautiful blue sky.

I was inside the house at this point.  And then it happened.  The burst of rain!  It poured rain!!  The rain was coming down so hard and fast that puddles were forming in seconds.  And yet I could still see some blue sky and the sunshine peeking through.  It is not often you see both together.  But there is the bright side.  The rain watered the earth and made things green.

Fear factor…

There is always the fear factor every time we have with thunder and lightning.  There is a fear of fire.  It seems that even though we are only into June things are drying out so quickly.  It would only take one strike of that lightning to cause a fire that could destroy everything.  I can say I don’t always think about it.  But when I do I pray for rain, because as the clouds burst forth with the rain and waters the earth it helps keeps the fire danger down.  And if a strike did happen the rain puts it out as quickly as it started.  We have been saved more than one time from fire, that we know about, and probably multiple times that we don’t know about because the rain came and put it out.

What about…

Then it made me start to think.  What about our lives?  Are there days that the Son is shining and the “sky” (our lives) is blue (going smoothly)?  Life is going great!!  We feel close to God and go on in life with no thought of anything changing.  Everything is so beautiful.  But there is this unsuspecting cloud coming that we are unaware of because we are basking in the Presence of God.

And then we hear the rumbles of a trial.  Sometimes we can see a trial coming and other times it is a total shock.  But there are those times where you sense or can see a forthcoming trial.  Sometimes we get more prepared other times we ignore it but it still comes.  We start to see the “lightning” and hear the “thunder”.  And it continues to draw closer and closer to us.

Fear factor…

Then comes the fear factor.  We wonder if we are going to be struck with “lightning” (succumb to the trial or temptation).  Is an evil “fire” going to start that will burn up our spiritual lives?  Have we become so dry that nothing can stop it from burning?  Are we going to get discouraged or reach out for more support and help?

We have to realize that there is help and we don’t have to succumb to discouragement or give in to temptations.  All we need to do is to call out for a power higher than ourselves.  We need to cry out to God.  And as we cry out to God “rain” (Holy Spirit) will come with power and will squelch out any spark of a “fire”.  God is our strength and He will fight for us.

Dear Father,

Thank You for always being there for us.  We are a forgetful people.  It is hard for us to give up our control and to allow You to control.  Continue to show us our need of You.  And help us in the process of surrendering to You in the good times as well as in the time of trial and temptation.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Make sure to reach out and stay connected with God at all times.  So that when the trials and temptations come it will be automatic to turn to God.

Love you all.

We have all had trial and temptations.  But is there one that has happened in your life where you called out to God and you have seen His work?  I would love to hear your story.  Share below.

Posted on

“Fear for the Future!”

Fear!

How often do you think about the future?  Do you have fears about what may happen next?  It seems that there are so many that fear more and more each day.  They see the things that are happening about them and they just can’t help but fear.

It is a fearful world in which we live without a doubt.  And we know it is way worse than we even know or can even imagine.  The atrocities that happen each day are beyond our knowledge and comprehension.  But we fear what we do know and what we don’t know.

There are people everyday that commit suicide because they fear and cannot handle the things that are happening around them.  But fear has a big part to play.  Fear that they cannot financially make it, fear for the future because a spouse, child, parent, someone they dearly love died, fear of being hurt again or killed, fear of failure and I could go on and on.  The fear is real and it is an overwhelming cloud that some can’t shake.

Failure…

I think for a lot of people the fear of failure drives them.  Every day they get up just to prove to the world and themselves that they are worth something.  Everywhere they turn they see or hear something that leads them to believe that they are not worth anything.

When you were a child you may have heard it said by your parents, schoolmates, or even friends.  They said things negative about you.  Some may have been joking and not even realizing how much it hurt.  Others did it to just hurt you or maybe make them feel better about themselves.  The idea is that you want to prove to the world that you are worth something and that you are better than they think.

Media…

Then there is the bombardment of media.  And it doesn’t matter whether you are a guy or a gal you need to look like the people seen on TV, Magazines, or billboards to be popular.  A lot of people try to imagine themselves looking like some actor, actress, or some popular singer.  There is this “ideal” look that becomes the “best” look and all you want to do is look like them.

The truth is that a lot of those people that you think you want to look or be like are the most miserable people.  Remember they are acting but inside they are dying.  And then we hear on the news that one of them committed suicide.  We should never look at someone’s life and think they have it better than we do.  We don’t know what is really going on in their mind and life.

The answer

Is the answer to fear simple?  I believe the answer to fear is simple but not easy.  You may be asking how can it be simple but not easy?  The answer is trusting and surrendering, which is simple but a lot easier said than done.  We are people that want to be in control of everything around us.  And to give that control to Someone else is the hardest thing to do.

Having trust in God and surrendering everything to Him is the answer that will bring peace and happiness.  It doesn’t mean all the troubles in our lives and what is happening around us will go away.  But what it does mean is we can have a life of peace and meaning.  God cares so much for us as well as those around us. We can’t even comprehend it.

Besides trusting God and surrendering, cut the negative out of your life.  Don’t listen to the news or read news magazines or newspapers.  Don’t spend time with those who are doomsayers.  Or make you feel you are worthless.  The devil doesn’t care where he traps us all he cares about is diverting us from the real goal in this life.  Instead, spend that time doing things that bring life to the soul.  Spend time in God’s Word and in prayer.  Pray for not only yourself but for those around you.  You can uplift the souls of others to the One who loves them.  Encourage them directing their thoughts to the One that can give them peace.

We can…

We can have peace in the midst of all the stormy blasts around us. Even though we may think we don’t “look” perfect, God dwelling in the heart is the greatest beauty.   It may not change the circumstances but life will be filled with joy even through the storm.  When we make Jesus our Captain we can weather any storm without fear, knowing that He is in full control.  And then He will shine through us making us the most beautiful people.  And then we bring the truth of peace and joy to others.

Dear Father,

We live in such a wicked world.  People are dying for lack of knowledge about the peace and joy that they can have.  Even as Christians, many times, we are lacking the joy and peace that we could have if we would stay focused on what You would have us do.  Continue to draw our hearts and minds back to You.  Help us to stay focused on the good and right so that we can shine for You and draw others to You.  Because it is only You that can give us true joy and peace.  And You are the only One that can bring us through the other side victorious.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender to the only One that you can trust today.  And let Him have full control.  Spend time out in nature.  I believe it to be God’s second book and we can be revived.

Love you all.

Has there been a time in your life that you have feared something, yet, when you put your trust in God, He gave you peace?  I would love to hear your story.  Share below.

Posted on

“The Machine is Down Again?!!!”

Disaster!

Have you ever felt as if everything is against you?  Things don’t go well at home, school, work, etc.  It seems like every step you make fails in some way.  And of course, your stress level is through the roof.

The stress has seemed to build in the last week and a half at my work.  It has caused stress for all involved.  I run a digital machine at a print shop.  One day a little over a week ago I made, what I thought was a routine call for a repair.  It wasn’t a big problem I was having with the print quality but it needed fixing.  The repairman came out the next day “fixed” the problem and we were good to go.  At least we thought it was fixed.

The next day…

The next day the problem started again.  The shop foreman had told me to go ahead and put in a call near the end of the day forgetting the fact that the next day was the end of the month.  We are always pushing as much out as possible the last day.  When digital is down it brings a real problem in getting through the work.

This time when the guy came for repairs he brought a helper and they got into the machine and replaced a lot of parts along with cleaning the machine.  In the process of taking out one of the rollers, which has a small long bulb that runs through it for heat, he broke the bulb.  No big deal right?  Wrong!!  They did not have another one to replace it.  So they had to order the part from back east.  It should be in the next day around 10 am and then they would have to come in and finish the work.  This was around 12 am so for me that meant time off.  So I went home early and didn’t come back in until around 11 am the next day.  Things got back together and I was finally able to print again.

Or was it?

I did start printing and the guy stuck around for a little while to see if things were going to go well.  It seemed good so off he went.  I started to notice that there was some kind of debris coming out with the paper when I was printing.  It was a concern to me.  Then I notice another problem.  There were some marks being made on the paper as well.  I opened up the machine to see if there was anything that I could see and all this debris was coming out of the machine.  By this time it was near the end of the day again.  So again I put in another call to service.

The next day the repair guy came right away in the morning.  He opened up the machine and started to take some things apart.  As he took things apart debris just fell out.  He was amazed that the machine had not thrown an error code.  Something had happened and it had totally shredded a belt.

He got everything cleaned up and got things running.  He stuck around for a while and noticed that there was another problem.  The machine was not heating up right.  And it was leaving a rub mark on the prints as well.  He figured out what the problem was but he had no parts for it.  It was Friday by now and he would order the parts and then be back on Monday around 10:30 am.  In the meantime, I could only run a certain weight paper because the heat wasn’t working for the more heavy paper.

Monday…

On Monday I waited and went into work around 10 am.  There had been some other lightweight jobs that had come in so I started printing them.  My boss came to let me know the repair guy called and the parts he had ordered were not going to arrive from back east that day as they were supposed to.  He was driving to another location, which was a 4-hour round trip drive to pick up the part.  So he arrived at about 12 pm.

The unusual thing is that the heating problem had gone away and we couldn’t see the rub mark anymore.  So he was afraid to even touch the machine since it seemed to be working now.  We didn’t know why but it was.  He stuck around for a few jobs and everything seemed to be fine.  So he finally left.  He wasn’t gone long when I notice the rub mark again.  It was only in a certain area so I could only run certain things that it did not show up on, how frustrating.

By this time we decided to wait until the end of the day to call it in so I could get as much printing done as possible being we had so much downtime.  I tried to put in a request on the computer after 5 pm so that a repair guy would contact us in the morning.  The repair guy had not closed out the last repair so it would not let me put in a new one.  I had his phone number so I texted him.  He said how sorry he was about the digital print not being fix and that he would come first thing in the morning.

Tuesday…

When he got there it did not take him long to see that there was a roller that needed replacing.  It had just been replaced last week but with all the debris from the belt that shredded it probably did damage to it.  He was concerned because that was the roller that the other repair guy had been trying to fix when he broke the bulb that ran through the center.  The new repair guy planned to be very careful.  The way that it is put together is not the best.  He proceeded to remove the roller but yes he broke the bulb.  Afterward, he let me know that it was not a big deal because the other repair guy had ordered two when he ordered.  He said, “I will just go pick it up from him and be back in about 20 minutes.”

When he arrived back I was working in the back in the bindery.  We were all discussing what would happen if he broke the second and last one.  Within seconds the guy came back and told me when he opened the box the bulb was broken in 3 pieces.  The choices were to order another one, which would arrive the next day around 10 am.  Or he could take a 4 hour round trip to the different location, where he had gone the day before and get the part there.  Of course, we asked him to drive and get it.  We needed our machine up and running.

Home…

The repair guy headed off for his 4-hour trip while I went home for a few hours.  The frustration I felt was unspeakable.  Financially we could not afford for me to lose hours and I had lost so many already.  I knew that I needed to quit thinking about it and just make the best of my time doing things that needed to be done at home.  It actually felt good to be home and I do miss it a great deal.

Soon the time came for me to head back to work.  The repair guy was there and things went quickly.  When I started printing the repair guy stuck around for another 30 minutes just to be sure that things were going to run well.  Then he left.

More problems…

He hadn’t been gone 30 minutes when I noticed another problem.  My foreman said let’s try to get through as much printing as we can before we call in again.  So I waited another few hours until the end of the day.

He came the next morning and fixed the problem.  And we were off and running again for a few hours.  It is Friday now and we are now waiting until Monday for another part.  Another repair guy did a temp fix that we know could quick working at any time.  Every time I pushed the print button I prayed it would work and I made it through the day on the temporary fix.  The question is when is this going to be over?  I don’t know!  It has been frustrating.  I have lost money, my boss has lost money and it has affected 3 other guys also in lack of hours.  And it has affected our customers and gives the potential for losing customers.

Learning…

But with all these problems what can I learn.  Because we all go through trials every day, right?  We can always learn things in all our everyday experiences.  God wants to teach us things.  The number one thing He wants to teach us is to trust Him.  He is beside us to guide us through all circumstances.  We just need to reach out to Him.  I am planning on a miracle.  Because even though I made less money I want to see how He is going to bless that money to fulfilled the needs that it provides.

Another lesson that came to me in this experience is that the digital machine is a lot like us.  The machine is fairly new, maybe a year and a half old.  And it reminds me of when a person decides to give their heart to the Lord.  You may or may not have grown up in a Christian home.  But you have to come to a point in your life where you surrender and give your heart to God.  And you become a new creation, just like a brand new digital machine.

But then…

Everything seems to be going well with our brand new walk with God.  We are having victories and we are on fire for God.  But as time goes by we tend to get distracted.  The devil makes sure it happens.  Things in our life start to breakdown.  It starts out small, just a “little print” quality.  Maybe we fail to spend the quality time we need one day.  We realize we need to get back connected so we seek out the Repair Man.  God is always there to help repair our lives and the great thing; we don’t have to wait because He is too busy.  We make things right with God and go on our way.

But the next day something comes up unexpectedly and your time with God is cut short again.  Believe me, the devil will make sure there are distractions if we are not intentional.  We get a little stitch of time with God but not what it should be.  And sometimes it goes into days, weeks, and even months that our quality time is diminished.

Major repair…

Before we know it we have become so spiritually wore out that we need major repairs.  The great thing about God is that when we let Him He repairs everything the first time.  But a lot of times what happens is that we don’t allow Him to get in and do the repairs before we allow life to take over again and get in the way of spending that quality time.  And every time we do that the need for repairs become more major.  The outcome can be different for everyone depending on how long we keep letting things go and not allowing God to fully repair us.

God is the only one that can do the major repairs that we need.  But we have to make a total and complete surrender to Him and allow Him to do it.  And we have to commit to spending the quality time with Him.  Believe me, I am speaking to myself as I write this.  It is so easy to get distracted.  And God also gives us so many opportunities to connect with Him throughout the day.

Time…

We need to have that special time each morning where we spend time in prayer and study of God’s Word.  And if we don’t initially schedule it in it won’t happen.  Besides our scheduled time, we should take advantage of every opportunity to connect with God.

For those of us who drive to work, we can be praying during those times.  Praying out loud can keep us focused.  This is a great time to pray about those things that are really on your heart for yourself, family, friends, etc.  It is a great way to keep yourself on track with keeping connected with God and keep your sanity while driving with “crazy” people on the road.  You can also be listening to God’s Word while you are traveling.  Some may be able to listen to God’s Word while they are working depending on where you work and what you are doing.  I actually have that opportunity at work and I love it.

Dear Father,

We live in such a crazy busy world.  Forgive us for not making you the priority that we should. I want to surrender my time to You and make sure that my time is used wisely.  I pray for the problems with my machine at work and for those that may be having troubles at their work.  Help us to reach out to You more and be a witness to Your power.  Thank You for the lessons that You teach us through the trials.  And I am praising Your name to see how You are going to stretch my paycheck this pay period.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to God today.  Be intentional about your time with Him.

Love you all!

What trial has come into your life that you have learned some lessons from?  I would love to hear it.  Please share below.

Posted on

“How Dark is Dark?”

Darkness!

How dark is dark?  I mean really what makes darkness?  How much light does it take to see through the darkness?  Are there different kinds of darkness or different levels of darkness?  The reality is there are different kinds and levels of darkness.  Is darkness good or bad?  I believe the answer is that it can be good or bad.  Someone who lives in a city doesn’t even really know what true darkness is because there are always lights somewhere.  They can put blackout curtains on which helps.  But there is another kind of darkness that is more visible in the city.

Darkness is relative

I wear a Fitbit.  For those who may not know, a Fitbit is a kind of watch.  It not only tells the time but also keeps track of your heart rate and sleep patterns along with a few other things.  You can’t see the time without the light coming on.  So if you need to know what time it is in the night you just turn your arm toward you and most of the time it automatically comes on.  Or if I need to see in the pitch black I push a little button on the side to turn on the light.

At night our eyes get used to the darkness.  If you live in the country where it gets really dark you know what I am talking about.  You get up in the night to use the bathroom surprisingly you can see fairly well.

When I know…

Sometimes when I know some object, like the vacuum cleaner, has been left out in my room I will want a little light to make sure I don’t run into it.  My Fitbit doesn’t have a really bright light.  But when you are in a really dark place if I push the button the little light makes my path plainer.  I am astonished how much that little bit of light actually helps.  It appears to be so bright.

At times I have had to go from my darkroom to go check on something in the other room.  At that point, I had to have a bigger light so I have turned on a lamp.  Once I turn the lamp off and head back into the other room where it is really dark I noticed something.  When I have had more light the darkness seems even darker and the little light from my Fitbit seems so dim.  The light from my Fitbit no longer can help me through the darkness.

Darkness is good?

So Darkness is good isn’t it?  When it comes to your room at night yes darkness is good.  We can’t get proper rest if we don’t have a dark room.  God made darkness for a reason.  And when we put light into the darkness that He has created it messes with our bodies.  It affects our melatonin, serotonin, and our circadian rhythm and many other areas.

We have been bombarded with light everywhere to mess up our bodies.  We need to take control and make changes if we are going to help our bodies stay well.  Good sleep is foundational when it comes to being healthy.  Figure out a way to keep your room and the rooms of your family dark.

Darkness is bad?

How can darkness be good and bad?  Darkness is good for sleeping well to improve our health.  But evil often happens in the cover of darkness.  Why do you think there are so many lights in a city?  I don’t know what all the reasons are for having all the lights in the city.  But my guess would be that partly it has to do with trying to keep down the crime.  Most criminals want to do their mischief in the cover of darkness.  And those in authority want to be able to see if there is any mischief going on around town.  Darkness in and of itself is not bad.  It is the things that darkness can breed that are bad, right?

I believe that there is another kind of darkness that is bad and that is the darkness of sin.  I think of sin as darkness in the life.  And the more sin that controls us the more darkness we experience.  There are many that have felt the darkness so deep within their lives that they have finally ended their lives.  This kind of darkness is very dark.

More light needed…

When we get used to the darkness of sin that is in this world we find that our “eyes” have adjusted and things don’t seem so dark.  But when you flood your life with the Word of God and prayer you realize how dark the world really is around you.  You can’t see without the light.  The darkness seems even darker than before.  As we draw closer to Christ the darkness (sin) will become distasteful to us.

But the devil does not give up on us.  He wants us in full darkness.  So he makes us busy or throws some curveball into our lives.  And unconsciously we think a little light, that seemed to work in the darkness when we first started out, will work now that we have been flooded with light.  When you added a little amount of light from God’s Word or a little prayer you seemed to have seen a little better in the darkness of sin and didn’t stumble over the obvious.

Less time…

But as you spend less time with God you are going to notice that the little light is not as bright as it was when you first started.  After being flood with God’s Word and prayer, sporadic or less time does not clearly light the path.  And we start to stumble over what we use to see as the obvious when we first started with a little light.

When we first give our hearts to God he gives us just a little light.  If He flooded us with everything it would be overwhelming.  We have all experienced being in a dark room and then having someone turn on a bright light.  It actually blinds us at first.  That is why God does not give us all the light at one time.  It would be so overwhelming that it would blind us to more truth.  As we accept the little light He gives we will be given more light until we are so flooded with His light that sin will be distasteful to us.

This world…

The things in this world have become so much darker.  Sin has gone way beyond what my imagination could have imagined.  Atrocities that I would have never thought could possibly happen have happened.  But the reality is without God’s Word flooding my soul I can do things that I would have never thought I would do.

The devil likes to bring us into a creeping compromise.  He does things gradually so that we don’t detect what is happening, especially if we are not staying flooded with His Word.  As we gradually compromise different sins seem less and less offensive to us until we are doing things that we thought we would never choose to do.

The devil…

The devil works in reverse to God.  He gives us a little darkness.  We still seem to be seeing okay with the light that we have so we don’t notice when we finally accept that little bit of compromise.  He keeps doing this so gradually that before we know it the little light from the “Fitbit” seems to be bright but it really is not.  We are going to stumble and fall.  Discouragement will come and we will wonder what has happened.  Sin will not seem as bad.

Serious condition…

This is a very serious condition to be in.  We need to be constantly flooding our souls with God’s Word and being in much prayer.  With the technology that we have today, we have no excuses.  We can be flooding our minds with God’s Word constantly.  Besides reading it every day we can be listening to it as well.  As you drive to and from work, instead of turning on the radio listen to God’s Word.  Or spend that time praying.  To keep focused, if you are driving alone, you can pray out loud.  If you are a stay at home mom, listen while you are working in the kitchen.  Use your imagination and figure out ways to flood your soul.  As I write these words I am feeling the conviction in my own heart and I want to make changes.

Dear Father,

Thank You for the light that You have for us to lead us through this dark world.  Thank You for not blinding us with overwhelming light.  But giving it to us gradually as we surrender each area.  Help us to keep growing.  Continue to guide us as we struggle through this dark world of sin.  Protect us from the power of the evil one and his sly ways.  Open our eyes and let us see.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Make a commitment today with me to spend more time flooding your life with God’s Word and prayer.

Love you all!

Do you have an experience where you have had the light of God’s Word shine forth so vividly that you could see the obstacles clearly?  I would love to have you share.

 

Posted on

“Can You be Toxic Spiritually?” Part 10

Toxic?

The truth of the matter is we are bombarded every day with so many things that are toxic to our spiritual lives.  Even if we are striving to live a clean non-toxic life we are bombarded with ungodly music, advertising, food, people, emotional stress, etc.  You might be saying, “Food, what do you mean.  How can food be toxic to my spiritual life?”  I will get to that question in a few minutes.

There are so many spiritual toxins that we may not be able to control.  Every time we go shopping we cannot control what we hear, music is everywhere.  We may even have music to contend with at work and it may not be the kind of music that brings health to our spiritual lives.  And then there are people.  Can people be toxic?  Yes, they can!!  But we can’t always control what people we are around.  It could be someone at work or it may be someone right in your own home.

What can we do?

“Breathing” (prayer) is a key component.  For more details on this component read part 6.  Just like we need to have fresh air breathed into our lungs to deal with toxins in the body we need “fresh” prayer to deal with our spiritual toxins.  We can’t expect to do a quick prayer in the morning and maybe a short prayer at night and expect that to deal with the problem.  We should naturally be “breathing” (prayer) throughout the day.  What would happen physically if you stopped breathing?  I will take a big breath in the morning and I will be fine throughout the day.  Breathing once a day doesn’t work and neither does praying once a day.  Prayer is just as important as breathing.

What we “eat” spiritually can also affect the toxicity within our spiritual lives. Read part 2 for more details on this subject.   We need to be careful about what we take in.  We know that we can be safe with God’s Word.  But even then we need to be sure that we are being “washed” with “soap” (Holy Spirit).  Just like we need to wash the wonderful foods that God has given us to get rid of any toxins that may be present, we need to be “washed” by the Holy Spirit to get rid of any “toxins” that may be present.

You may be asking, “Are you saying the Bible has the wrong things in it?”  My answer is no.  But without the Holy Spirit, we can get toxic ideas that are really not good food.  So the good food of God’s Word can become toxic without the direction of the Holy Spirit.  We also need discernment about any other books that we read, other than the Bible.  There are a lot of spiritual books we can read but we need to make sure they are not toxic to our spiritual growth.  They need to be in line with God’s principles laid out in His Word.

The rest we get…

The rest we get physically is very important.  But the rest spiritually is just as valuable and important.  They are really both intertwined.  Lack of physical rest affects our spiritual rest and lack of spiritual rest affects our physical rest.  How many times have you stayed awake at night because you are not spiritually resting?  If we are not resting in Christ our spiritual lives will become very toxic.  We have to be doing all the foundational things that I have talked about above in order for us to have that spiritual rest.

Exercise is another aspect that helps in eliminating our physical toxic load.  The same is true in our spiritual lives.  As we exercise our spiritual muscles with memorizing God’s Word it will help reduce our toxic load.  It will also help us rest in Christ.  We will have the help we need for us to rest physically as well as spiritually.  I have been awake at night struggling with worry.  I have found that as I pray and dwell upon Scriptures that I have memorized I go to sleep and have a peaceful rest.  It can also help you resist temptations that will bring more toxins into your life.

Emotional stress…

Emotional stress seems to be more powerful than anything.  Because it doesn’t matter what you are going through it affects you emotionally.  Emotional stress can be the biggest toxic load to our spiritual lives.  I believe that our moral character is made up of two things, thoughts, and feelings.  Our thoughts affect our feelings and our feelings dictate how we respond.  So one of the big things we need to control is our thoughts because that is where things begin.  “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:…” Proverbs 7:7.

We need to control our thoughts.  Now, this is way easier said than done.  And that is where memorizing scriptures and prayer come in handy.  It is like anything in life.  If you want to do something you learn how to do it and then you do it.  Take any career.  You go to school or someone trains you into a position.  If you don’t work in the area that you have been trained you start to lose the ability to do it.

I know that prayer and memorizing God’s Word are keys to keeping my thoughts where they should be.  But knowing it does not accomplish it.  Doing is what brings about success.  It will be a challenge at first just like it is in any career.  But when you do it every day it suddenly becomes a habit and you tend to do it without even thinking about it.

We need to flood our bodies…

Just like we need to flood our physical bodies with water to help get the toxins flushed out we need to flush out our spiritual lives with God’s Word.  “…Christ…loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” Ephesians 5:25-27.”

God’s Word is like water washing out the toxins in our lives.  Drink from it daily and not just in the morning.  If you were to drink only a glass of water in the morning and not drink anymore the rest of the day you would become dehydrated.  It would affect your body in so many ways.  The toxins would buildup, your brain would not function as it should, and you would be all together sluggish.  You might be able to get by for a little while but your health would fail.  The same is true with our spiritual lives.  This is one of the reasons why it is so important to memorize God’s Word so you can drink it in several times a day.

What about…

What about the cleaners in our homes?  Now in my last writing, I talked about ridding our homes of the toxic things that we use physically, like cleaners.  How does this apply spiritual speaking?  If the washing of God’s Word cleanses are there other things that we use in its place to “cleanse” us, maybe to get our thoughts on something else besides our problem we may be facing.

We want to cleanse our minds of the toxic thoughts that we are having.  But do you use God’s Word or are we browsing Facebook, watching YouTube clips, movies, music, religious DVD’s, etc?  In and of themselves these may not be bad but can they become toxic in our lives along with many other things.  If they are robbing our time from doing those things God would have us to do, spend time with Him, family, homeless, widowed, helping others, etc., then they are getting in the way.  There are some things that we need to totally eliminate and others refine how we use them so that they don’t control our lives.

I am grateful for all the options for us to keep spiritually healthy.  God has given us His Word as our guide.  Another guide that has so many lessons for us is nature.  The health that we can gain spiritually as well as physically is profound.  It doesn’t matter what time of year it is there are lessons for us to learn through nature.

Dear Father,

Thank You for Your Word.  I give You thanks for the nature You have provided for our enjoyment as well as for great lessons that can empty us of the spiritual toxins within our lives.  Lord, show us those things that are toxic to our spiritual lives and help us to eliminate them.  Prompt our hearts to fill stay in Your Word and allow Your word to wash us clean from all the toxins of this world.  The worldly toxins are all around us Lord and we need Your help to guide us.  Convict our hearts and keep us in Your will as we surrender to You.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Cleanse your life of all those things that are toxic to your spiritual life.

Love you all.

Is there a blessing you can share of something you eliminated from your life that helped you spiritually.  Please share below.  If you feel uncomfortable sharing publicly feel free to email me.  I would love to hear your story.

This is part 10 in a several part series “Maintaining Healthy Immune Function”.  There are many things I have shared with you on how to support your immune system, both physically and spiritually.  Although what I have shared has not been exhaustive, I have been sharing just a taste from my own experience.  In part 9 I talked about the toxic products that we use in our home every day and things that we can eliminate to maintain healthy immune function.  This concludes this series on how to maintain healthy immune function both physically and spiritually.  I pray that you have gained a blessing.  And as you make changes in both your physical and spiritual lives I pray that you will be drawn closer to Jesus and be ready for His soon coming.

Posted on

“The Rest That Can Bring Complete Rest!!” Part 8

Rest?

Yes, rest!  There is a rest that can give you the most out of each day and out of each night sleep.  And this rest goes beyond just relaxing.  The fact is we can do all the right things for our bodies to be healthy, eat right, exercise, get plenty of sleep, etc, but if we do not learn how to deal with the stresses of everyday life it will affect our immune systems and ultimately our health.

The question is how can we get rid of our stresses.  We are bombarded with different stresses every day.  But I believe there are some stresses that we can eliminate.  I don’t know what those might be for you.  Maybe you have a very stressful job that you need to eliminate.  How about the news, maybe you need to eliminate it.  There are always some things that we can control.  We are bombarded with so many negative things that bring stress and we don’t need to fill our minds with those things.

But the question is what about the things we can’t eliminate.  At that point, it boils down to trust. And I am talking about trust in Whom, not what.  I am not talking about trusting in you, that is the worst kind of stress you can bring on yourself.  “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give your REST.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find REST unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” Matthew 11:28-30.  Now there is some serious rest.  We need to be yoked up with Christ.  As we lay our burdens on Him, He will carry them for us.   And we need to trust Him with our burdens and quit taking them back.

While Resting

There is a difference between physical sleep and the rest that Jesus wants to give us.  We should sleep a certain amount of hours every 24 hours.  But resting in Christ should be 24/7.  There are so many things that take place when we are resting in Christ.

The growth that takes place in our spiritual life is best accomplished when we are resting.  As we rest in Christ in all circumstances healing begins to take place in our spiritual life.  The toxins of our past begin to evaporate and repairs take place.

Now we can’t just rest in Jesus.  We need to be doing all the foundational things that I have already talked about in previous writings.  We need to be feeding ourselves wholesome spiritual food, reading God’s Word being the best option.  Exercising our spiritual muscles by memorizing God’s Word helps us in time of temptation, especially when we are struggling with resting in Christ.  And most of all, we need to make sure that we are “breathing deeply” (praying).  These are foundational for getting the rest we need in Christ.

Our spiritual immune systems can’t even begin to keep up with the toxins of this world.  And the repairs, if we are bombarding our spiritual life with things that our poisons to us, will never be accomplished.  We can’t avoid or control everything we are subjected to every day in this world but we need to control what we can.  Evaluate your life and make sure that you are not poisoning your spiritual life with the choices that you are making.  We can’t get proper spiritual rest when we are filled with toxins and poisons.

Preparing for proper rest

It is so important what we put into our spiritual life.  And we are not going to be able to rest properly if we are putting in the wrong things.  Just like it is good to eliminate bad foods for our physical health, we need to eliminate bad reading material.  We should not be filling our minds with things that do not uplift us spiritually or draw us away from God.  Most of us know deep within our hearts that we cannot have proper spiritual rest if we filling our minds with ungodly things.

There is another factor that can affect our spiritual health and whether we can rest properly.  How much time do you spend in God’s Word compared to other material?  There are many wonderful foods that we can eat for our physical body.  But when we eat too much at night too close to going to bed it affects whether we get proper rest.  I believe it works the same for our spiritual life.

There are many writings out there that are good and wholesome.  But as we are approaching “night” (Christ coming) we need to make sure that we are “eating” less of the good wholesome writings and more of God’s Word if we are going to be able to have proper rest through the darkness of night.  We need to know God’s Word so well that when we no longer have it to read it will be hidden in our hearts to bring us through the night in restful peace.

More Factors

For proper physical sleep, we need to have a room that is void of all artificial light so that we have total darkness.  But for proper spiritual rest, we need something a little different.  We do need to have our lives void of any “artificial light”.  But we do not want any darkness in our spiritual lives.  Proper rest for our spiritual lives we need to be void of all “artificial light” and filled with the light that comes from God.  God’s light will shine in all the corners of our lives and sees all the dark corners that need to be eliminated with His truth.  And when we are filled with His light we get the proper spiritual rest we need.

Now some people may think I am crazy on this next point but I have seen the results in my own life.  There are studies that show that we have to be off our electronics 1-2 hours before going to bed to get proper rest.  It is best if you are going to read before going to bed to read an actual book.  I believe this it is true spiritually as well.  Now don’t get me wrong I think electronics have helped us in many ways when it comes to studying God’s Word, in one sense.  But I also believe it has been a hindrance.

I thought it was really great when I got a smartphone.  I could carry my Bible with me everywhere.  But I started to use it all the time instead of opening up my Bible.  What I found started to happen is that when I did pick up my Bible I couldn’t remember where to find the books of the Bible.  As “night” is drawing near, I think we need to be more in the Word in its natural state.  There is something about picking up that sacred Book and holding it in our hands and actually reading from its pages.  I believe we can rest better.  What screens do to our brain compared to just picking up a book is profound.  We can rest better physically as well as spiritually if we pick up the actual books and read them.

Helpers

God has given us things in nature that we can do that can help calm us or relax us so that we can get good physical rest but what about spiritual rest.  What are the helpers that we can use?

Believe it or not when our bodies are in the physical condition that God would have us to be in it actually helps us with our spiritual rest as well.  So it is very important for us to be following God’s health plan.  And even if we are eating all the things that God has made for us to eat but there is one of those food items that our body can’t handle we need to eliminate it.  We live in a degenerate world.  And because of that some of us may have sensitivities to some foods that we need to eliminate.  When we feel good physically it is amazing how much that affects our spiritual life.  And the same is true when our spiritual life is where it should be it affects our physical life.

Resting in Christ is really a choice.  No one can force us.  And it takes faith in the One Who created us, trusting that He knows what is best for us.  “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” 1Peter 5:7.

Reading the promises that God has for us can be a helper in resting in Him.  A really good book in the Bible to use for this is Proverbs.  The great thing about Proverbs is that it has 31 chapters.  Now take that book and read one chapter each day of the month, matching up the day of the month with the chapter.  Some months you will just read through 30 chapters and other months 31 chapters.  You can either read it just before going to bed or in the morning.  Better yet read the chapter twice in the day, once in the morning and once before going to bed.  After a while, you will have the book of Proverbs memorized.  Proverbs is full of wisdom, instruction, and comfort.

Getting out in God’s nature can help us rest in Him.  When we see the birds of the air and how they are filled with joy we see God at work.  Look at the flowers and how beautiful God has made them and how they still give off their beauty even in a storm.  Nature is God’s remedy for our physical as well as our spiritual lives.

Dear Father,

Thank You for being there for us.  And for being Someone we can rely on in every situation.  Thank You that we can rest in You if we so choose.  You are the only One that can give us rest.

Thank You for Your patience with us.  Continue to guide us through our lives.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

No matter what your circumstances give all to Christ and let Him carry it.  You can find rest in Him only when you realize Your weakness without Him.

What do you do that helps you rest in Christ?  Please share below.

This is part 8 in a several part series “Maintaining Healthy Immune Function”.  There are many things I will be sharing with you on how to support your immune system, both physically and spiritually.  Although what I am sharing is not exhaustive, I am sharing just a taste from my own experience.  In part 7 I talked about how important proper physical rest is and how it helps us maintain healthy immune function.  Coming up in part 9 I will be talking about toxic load.  We are bombarded with toxins every day and our bodies can become overwhelmed.  What can we do to help reduce toxic load so that we can “Maintain Healthy Immune Function”?  Stay tuned!

Posted on

“Prayer, The Key That Unlocks?” Part 6

Breathing!

In my last blog, I talked about the importance of breathing.  And you may be thinking what does breathing for our physical life have to do with prayer.  I believe that prayer is just as important in keeping our spiritual body alive as it is for breathing to keep our physical body alive. And both are intertwined.

I remember the day that I woke up and I felt so depressed I didn’t want to get out of bed and I did not.  It is hard to even explain the feeling I felt.  And you might be thinking, “You can’t go by your feelings.”  There is truth to that but I can say only those who have dealt with deep depression can begin to understand.  It is something that is out of your control.  Believe me, it was one of the most devastating times of my life.  It is like being in prison and unable to get out.  The panic is unbelievable.  I couldn’t “breathe” (pray) and I felt the life draining out of me and I couldn’t stop it.  I would try to “breathe” (pray) but my “throat” was closing up and I was suffocating.

Thankfully I had a friend that had been through a time in her life with deep depression.  She was someone who understood and would encourage me.  My friend got me a little journal.  She told me that every time I would read something in God’s Word or something would happen that was encouraging to me that I should write it down so I could look at it again and again when needed.  To be honest, I was seeing nothing in God’s Word that was an encouragement, all I could see is condemnation.  I even read the story of the prodigal son and I could not see the love of God.  But I kept being persistent.  I didn’t read my Bible every day but I would try to keep picking it up and reading now and then.

This went on for weeks and weeks.  Then one day I read a verse that actually penetrated my heart.  It is a verse that is so famous and we all know.  This is my entry in my journal May 2, 2000,  “ ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’ John 3:16.  This is the first thing that I have been able to read in a long time.  The Lord brought this to me.  He loves me.”

Fresh air

I compare prayer to breathing.  It is the breath of the soul and without it our spiritual life is dead.  As I was going through my time of depression I kept crying out to God in desperation just like I cried out to my husband when I couldn’t breathe.  It was like God was saying to me, “It is okay I am here.  Slow down, take your time and breathe in slowly.  I will give you life.”

After I found that verse things started to move very slowly.  I was taking little gasping “breaths”.  But I was still getting “oxygen”.  How could this verse seem like I had never read it before?  I grew up a Christian I had known this verse all my life.  But at that moment it felt like something different.  I was able to go to God and breathe in the “fresh air” he was giving me.

Then I picked up my journal to write again.  God had filled my lungs with the “fresh air” of continual prayer that I was able to see even more clearly what He had for me.  Here was my entry, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.  Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.  The Lord is thy keeper:  the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.  The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:  he shall preserve thy soul.  The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore” Psalm 121:1-8.

The amazing part about this entry is that it took place on May 5, 2001, almost 1 year to the day of my first entry.  From that day I was able to put more entries in more often and I no longer felt like I was suffocating.  My “breathing” (praying) was no longer shallow and hard to do.  My “breathing” (praying) changed that day, I started receiving “fresh air” and I could “breathe” (pray) deeply now.  And prayer started to unlock the windows of heaven.

Daily need

Prayer is needed daily.  Just like we cannot go without breathing we cannot go without prayer.  It says in 1 Thessalonians 5:14, “Pray without ceasing.”  This doesn’t mean that we will be on our knees 24/7.  But we need to always have that continual connection with God throughout the day.

How long can you hold your breath?  Most untrained people cannot hold their breath more than around 30 seconds before gasping for air.  And it is more about the build-up of carbon dioxide than it is of lack of oxygen.  The longest holding breath on record to date is around 22 minutes and he did it underwater.  Most of us would die before we made it through that experience.  God has given us a body that has a need for fresh oxygen constantly.  And when we don’t give our bodies the oxygen that it needs damage starts to happen.  Your brain begins to be affected after 6 minutes without oxygen.  That is why there is such a concern to get oxygen to someone right away because of the brain damage it can cause.

The same is true of prayer.  Prayer is like oxygen to the soul.  How can we go without prayer?  “Carbon dioxide” (sin) starts to build up in the life and it will cause damage to our brain spiritually speaking.  We no longer feel a need for prayer and we start slowly dying spiritually.  “Breathing” (prayer) is so important.

I don’t have time

You might be thinking, “How can I pray without ceasing?” I don’t have much time to pray.  And now you’re saying I need to be praying all the time”  What I would as is, “Do you have time to breathe?”  You don’t want to die so you breathe.  How desperate are you to live, spiritually speaking?  We need to become how I felt when I couldn’t breathe physically.  I was desperate for air and I was not getting it.  We have to be so desperate for spiritual oxygen that God becomes the priority in our lives.

One thing that I have learned is choosing to take time for prayer time expands my time.  I am an early riser and spend time in prayer and study.  I have always had a time of prayer, maybe 5 minutes.  But I have felt the need many times to spend more time in prayer with things that are burdening my heart.  And the more time I pray the more time I have.  You say, “What? That is impossible.”  But what I say, “With God all things are possible.”

A lot of times I will have a short prayer time before I get into studying God’s Word.  And the plan is that after I study I will have a longer prayer time.  When I do things that way I never have more time.  But I have found that when I have a longer prayer time first I have plenty of time for my study.  As I pray it is almost like time stands still.  It seems impossible but that’s God.

Pray without ceasing

But what about the “without ceasing” part?  It is really about the attitude of prayer.  We are so in connection with God we are constantly lifting up praise and request throughout the day.  But, you might be thinking, what about at night?   One thing I like to do, which I am not as consistent as I want to be, is be thinking on God’s Word or praying as I drop off to sleep.  I have that when I do this my nights are different.  The dreams I have through the night are different or I may not even dream, at least that is what it seems like.  And might night of sleep is still better.

The most amazing part of going to bed with your last thoughts on God is what happens when you wake up throughout the night.  When I wake up my thoughts immediately go back to prayer or thinking upon God’s Word mode.  And as I get up to use the bathroom I choose to continue those thoughts instead of diverting them to other things.  When I get back in bed it is seconds and I am back to sleep.  All I can tell you is that it is amazing!  I want to strive to have this experience more often.  I have not experienced this the majority of my life but I want to be.

In this earths history, we don’t have time to stop “breathing” (praying) or to “breathe” shallowly.  We have got to take deep “breaths” all day long.  When we learn to breathe physically as we should with deepness rather than shallow breathing it brings physical life and health.  The same is true with prayer.

Dear Father,

We tend to get caught up in the things of life that keep us from “breathing” deeply, forgive us. Help us to strive to do better so that our spiritual life will become healthier in You.  We have but a short time.  Game playing is over!  Help us to realize how much we need You.  Thank You for the power that You have given us availability to.  It is most amazing!  Thank You for Your love and forgiveness.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Commit today to “breathe” more so that your spiritual life will live.

Love you all!

What do you do to help bring your prayer life more meaning and help you remember to do “deep breathing”?   And what were the benefits you received?

This is part 6 in a several part series “Maintaining Healthy Immune Function”.  There are many things I will be sharing with you on how to support your immune system, both physically and spiritually.  Although what I am sharing is not exhaustive, I am sharing just a taste from my own experience.  In part 5 I talked about how fresh air and breathing right helps us maintain healthy immune function.  Coming up in part 7 I will be talking about how important proper rest is for the body and how it helps us maintain healthy immune function.  Stay tuned!

 

Posted on

“Can I be Spiritually Sick?” Part 2

Sickness!

Last week I talked about the possibility of getting sick, what to do to help support your body to prevent sickness, and things you can do when you’re sick to help you get through it sooner.  What about spiritual sickness?  Are there things you can do to support your spiritual life to help prevent sickness?  And if you do get spiritually sick what can you do to get spiritually well.

Actually, there can be some similarities between our spiritual and physical bodies. They are intertwined in many ways.  I know for me that when I am fighting spiritual sickness it brings on some physical reactions, the most common is a depressed feeling.  Now I am not saying that all depression comes from a spiritual sickness but there are times when they are related.

For myself, I have never been really far from God or come from some of the evil things of this world that people experience before they find the Lord.  So I can’t share what that is like.  But I have had those times where I have been fighting a spiritual sickness.  A time when I wasn’t fully committed and taking preventative measure to stay spiritually well.  When I look back at those times they are not pleasant memories.

There can be all kinds of excuses.  I don’t have time to “exercise”, “eat right”, etc.  But it seems we always have time for those things we really want to do.  So what it really comes down to is how important is it for you to stay well.  Is it more important to eat your “sugar” or “junk food” rather than eating lots of “fruits & veggies” and more healthy “foods”?

Foundation

What is the foundation for spiritual health?  We keeping our physical body healthy with good wholesome food that God has made for us to eat.  In the same manner, the foundation for keeping our spiritual health is good wholesome spiritual food.  The good wholesome spiritual food that God has given us is His Word.

The digestion of our food starts in the mouth as we chew.  That is why it is so important for us to chew our food well before swallowing it.  In the same token as we read God’s Word we should be “chewing” it thoroughly.  Then we can properly digest it.

When you sit down to eat a meal and you are in a hurry how do you feel after you eat?  I don’t feel so well myself.  When I rush through my meal it affects my digestion.  But we know we need to eat so we just sit down and shovel it in as fast as possible.  The reality is that it would be better for us not to eat.  And then come back later when we can relax to eat and spend the time it takes.

In the same turn if we sit down to spend time in God’s Word and we feel rushed but we know we need to do it we are not going to gain much.  We should be thoroughly “chewing” each verse so that it can be properly digested.  “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts” Jeremiah 15:10.

Real Food

Just like you want to eat real food for your physical body, the same is true when it comes to your spiritual life.  When it comes to our physical health we need to stay away from refined foods, junk food, and eat less of the processed foods.  The same is true for our spiritual health.  The Word of God is the real food that our spiritual health needs.  We need to stay away from material that is refined to fit the taste, junk that fills our minds with unholy thoughts, and we should be careful of the material written by others, “processed food”.  The more we stick to God’s Word the safer it is for our spiritual health.

Supplement

Are there other writings that we can read beyond the Word of God?  There are many other writers that God has given great insights to that can help us grow spiritually.  Just like when you are looking for a good supplement for your physical body you want to make sure that it is whole food and not synthetic you want to be careful with other writers.

When it comes to your spiritual health it can be detrimental to be reading things that seem good but there is some “synthetic” things sprinkled throughout that can be unhealthy to our spiritual health.  There are also “synthetic” reading out there that is very detrimental to our spiritual health.  That is why this needs to be our criteria, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” Philippians 4:8.

We need to make the Word of God our foundation for everything we read.  As it says in Isaiah 8:20, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”  The Word of God is what we should compare everything to that we take in, whether it is reading, listening, or watching.

Digestion

Prayer is really a foundational part also to our everyday lives.  And we should be much in prayer.  But prayer is also what helps us in the digestion of God’s Word.  We can chew on God’s Word but it is the Holy Spirit that helps us in the digestive process.  This is why it is so important to ask God for His Spirit to guide us into all truth.

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you” John 16:13.  And God is so willing to give us the Holy Spirit if we just ask.   “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke 11:13.

Dear Father,

We want to strive to fill our minds with the best spiritual nutrients.  We need your Spirit to help us be discerning and to understand Your Word.  Guide us with Your Spirit.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Do those things that are going to give you the best spiritual nutrition so that your spiritual immune system is strong.

What do you do that helps support your spiritual immune system?

This is part 2 in a several part series “Maintaining Healthy Immune Function”.  There are many other things I will be sharing with you on how to support your immune system, both physically and spiritually.  Although what I am sharing is not exhaustive, I am sharing just a taste from my own experience.  In part 1 I talked about the foundation of how to support a healthy immune system physically.  Coming up in part 3 I will be talking about how physical exercise plays a role in maintaining healthy immune function.

Posted on

Maintenance Required!!

Maintenance!

There is really nothing in life that does not require maintenance.  If you want to keep your car in running order it requires maintenance.  Things in your home start going bad and it requires you to maintain it.  Some examples are if you want a toilet, sink, or lighting working properly. The other thing that we have to maintain is our body.  We can’t just go on with life as usual without maintenance.

For me, I fall into the latter category.  As a child, I got Scarlet Fever and Rheumatic Fever.   These brought damage to my immune system and my heart so I had to be more careful than others.  Then in 2008, I got Lyme disease and it did more damage to my body.  It has made it more of a struggle for my immune system.  So maintaining a healthy lifestyle has been a must.  But it also did damage to nerves and muscles that affect the right side of my body.  It totally deformed my body on the right side, which took therapy to get it back to some normalcy.  But it requires maintenance to keep the pain at a minimal.  It brought more damage to my heart so exercising is paramount.  And trying to have less stress is also helpful but seemingly impossible.

Requirements

With those that are generally healthy you can get away with a lot of things for a long while and it seems okay.  But it will eventually catch up with you in your older years.  For me, it is work to stay where I need to be.

For me, there are requirements if I want to stay in less pain and to be functional.  All my muscles have never been the same since I came down with Lyme.  But my right side is the worst.  The muscles stay very tight and easily pull things out of alignment.  So there are two things I need to do to get back to somewhat normal.  I need to go to a deep massage therapist who gets really deep into the muscles to try to loosen them.  Anything other than that will not get them to loosen up some.  Then I also need to go to a chiropractor (I have a great one)  and get an adjustment.  I do have to do these fairly often to maintain.  But because I want to save the money, I often don’t which causes me more discomfort.

Daily Routine

Once I am loosened and adjusted there is a daily routine that helps keep things where they should be for longer and that is exercise.  And I am not talking about just walking, although that is great and needed.  I am talking about muscle strengthening exercises.  I need to do weights and anything that will strengthen those muscles.  It does help make the adjustments and message last longer.   But I still have to get that maintenance every so often.

Our bodies are amazing!  Our spines have nerves running through them.  And it sends messages to the brain and the brain sends messages back.  Like if you poke your finger it travels to the brain.  Then a message is sent back to say that it is pain and what to do about it.  Wow!  And it happens in less than seconds.

Misaligned

Think about if your spine is misaligned.  What exactly will happen?  There are so many things that can go wrong.  The nerves that have certain jobs to do get crimped and those jobs are not done as they should be and things go wrong.

I understand that very much because of my own health.  When things are not aligned as they should be I feel the results.  I already have nerve damage from the Lyme and it increases the results when there is crimping of the nerves going on.

Example

I have a good example from my daughter.  Just before she was born I got into a rear-ending accident.  I was hit pretty hard and it took therapy for the damage that had been done. I was still receiving treatment when my daughter was born.

She had a problem right from the start that seemed really unbelievable to me.  I was nursing her but she was not pooping.  I finally took her into the doctor and he told me that I would need to use a depository to get her to poop.  He told me that this was a condition that some people have and that she would have to deal with constipation for the rest of her life.  I was really devastated with that but went forward and did what I had to do.

I was at one of my chiropractic treatments one day and somehow the subject got brought up about my daughter.  The gal told me to bring her in the next time and let her take a look at my daughter.  I did so and she did an adjustment in her hip area.  I was so amazed it took care of her problem and I no longer had to use a depository for her to poop.  The gal had me bring her in one more time and that was it.  I asked her how that would happen.  She told me that when a baby is born it can be rough on their bodies and sometimes misalignment takes place.

Due to my condition, I must have ongoing maintenance and I am so grateful that chiropractic and message are available to help me through my journey in life.  And as I exercise with walking and weight lifting I can help maintain my health so that I don’t need as much of the maintenance.

Thinking

But all this got me to thinking about my Christian walk.  The concept for our Christian walk is the same.  Lyme disease is not much different than sin. Lyme disease attacks the heart, mind, muscles, nerves, etc. And sin “disease” also attacks the heart, mind, muscles, nerves, etc.  I have to spend time in prayer and study of God’s Word to keep my spiritual muscles strong.  If I don’t do it every day my spiritual muscles start to get weak and I get misaligned with God.  When this happens things don’t go as well.

In order for me to get back in alignment, I need to go to the “Chiropractor” (God) and get an “adjustment” (forgiveness).  Sometimes if we have allowed ourselves to get too far those spiritual muscles have become so hard and stiff that it takes more than just a simple “adjustment”.  You really have to get in and get a “deep massage” (agonizing on your knees).  Sometimes we need God to dig deep into our lives and reveal to us those things that are causing the misalignment.  Our spiritual muscles have become so tight we can’t see why but God knows and can show us.  Just like a deep massage can be physically painful for a temporary time, when we go to God in need of a deep spiritual “massage” and “adjustment” it can be emotionally painful as we allow Him to show us why our spiritual muscles are so tight.

Just like if we try to exercise and lift weights when our body is misaligned it will do damage so spiritually if we try to get close to the Lord without first aligning ourselves with His will it will do spiritual damage.  It will make us feel like we are okay because we are doing the “works” but we are not.

Maintain

Once we have made things right with God we can maintain our connection by spending that time each day in prayer and the study of His Word.  So the question is do we still need to get a spiritual “massage” and “adjustment” if we are exercising and building our spiritual muscles every day?  I believe that we do.  I believe that now and then we need to go to God asking for Him to reveal to us ways that we can have a deeper relationship with Him.  He will give us a spiritual “massage” and “adjustment” that will give us an even deeper connection with Him.

I am grateful for His grace and mercy that does not reveal to us every aspect that we need to change in our lives all at once.  He brings things to us as we can handle them.  So now and then He does a “deep massage” and “adjustment” when He can see that we are ready.  So one time you may go to Him and He reveals nothing and the next time He does.  And you may wonder why He didn’t show you that the last time because it was in your life then too.  It is His grace and mercy.  He knows when the time is right to show us the changes that we need.

Dear Father,

Thank You so much for Your grace and mercy.  I am grateful that I can come to you for a spiritual “massage” and “adjustment” and I know that You will not give me more than I can handle.  It may seem, at times, that it is more than I can handle but I know that I can trust You and that You will walk through it with me, for which I am thankful.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

You can trust God with your life.  Go to Him today and allow Him to give you a spiritual “massage” and “adjustment” so that you can be fully aligned with Him.

Love you all.

Do you have an experience that you can share that would express God’s grace and mercy?  Share it below in the comments.

 

Posted on

“Get Rid of the Clutter?!!”

It’s hard to believe…

It is hard to believe that we are already in 2019.  Time has passed so quickly and now we have to get started writing a new year.  Just about the time I am doing well at remembering the correct year to write the year it changes again.

Most people make some kind of New Years resolution or change that they hope to keep.  It seems that it is not always easy to do.  One of mine has been to exercise more regularly.  Exercise is so important and the older I get the more I realize it.  I know that when I regularly do cardiovascular and aerobic exercise, which I do by getting on my treadmill and lifting weights, I create more energy, have less pain, and get more done in a day.  You may be thinking, “How can you get more done in the day?”  It is really simple.  If you feel better and your mind is clearer you can accomplish more in less time.  It’s amazing.

Clutter

The other area that I wanted to work toward is to de-clutter my home.  With me working part to full time and homeschooling, besides doing a home business and helping my husband with his businesses, things have gotten out of hand.

One of the excuses I have made for not exercising is that I can’t even get to my treadmill because stuff is in the way.  So I took some time off of work to work on de-cluttering.  Now that my kids are older there have been lots of things that I could take to a second-hand store or just put in the trash.  So I have ended up with several boxes of second-hand items and several bags of garbage and I am not even done yet.

What I have learned through this whole process is that it would be easier if a person de-cluttered more often.  Maybe make a commitment to do a little de-cluttering every day or once a week.  It is less overwhelming when it is done a little at a time than waiting years and then doing it.

Our lives

It made me start to think about our spiritual lives.  Do our spiritual lives ever get cluttered?  I believe we do.  And it is easy to keep ignoring it.  But as we ignore it, it gets harder to actually make changes because it looks and feels too hard to do.  And we also start to get comfortable with the clutter.  But we don’t need to get discouraged or have it feel as if it is impossible.

As I have been de-cluttering areas of my house I have gotten some help here and there from my family but most of the work has been done by me.  My daughter was going to help me and she did some but she ended up getting sick.  So the main bulk of everything I de-cluttered was left to me.

God is our helper

But in our Christian walk, it is not the same, “Praise the Lord!”  Although doing stuff ourselves may be hard but it seems easier and automatic.  Humanly speaking we want to be in control so it is hard for us to let go and let God.  But He is the One that does the bulk of the work if we allow Him, and we are just His helpers.  So what is our part compared to His?

1.  Be much in prayer.

We need to be in prayer each day.  Asking God for forgiveness, cleansing, and for Him to fill our lives with His Holy Spirit.  We need to ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth before picking up and studying God’s Word.

2.  Study God’s Word

We need to be in the word everyday.  As we are studying God’s Word He will show us areas in our lives that need to have a cleaning.  The great news is that He does the cleaning as we cooperate with Him.  Our job is to surrender each area of our lives to Him as He shows us.

3.  Memorize His Word

We need to hide God’s Word in our hearts.  If there is an area in our lives that we are struggling with we can find a verse that we can claim whenever we are tempted.  Believe me, the devil is not going to leave you alone.  But you can have peace in surrender.

Let God clean

When God shows you areas of your life that need cleaning surrender it to Him.  Ask Him to take away the desire, claim His promises, and let Him work.  One thing about God He is a thorough cleaner.  We don’t have to worry about any area being left no matter how deep it is buried.

It is not easy to allow God to do the cleaning because that means we have to die to self.  Self has to go.  But God can even help us get rid of self as well.

Dear Father,

I want to surrender every area of my life to You starting out this new year.  Give me the strength to allow You to work within my life.  I do want to be clean so that I can be ready for Your soon coming.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Surrender all to God today and let Him thoroughly clean up your life.

Love you all.

Do you have a testimony about how God has helped you in the cleaning process?  I would love to hear it.  Write it below.  Also, do you have a favorite promise that you cling to in time of temptation?  Please share it.