A January 29, 2009 report by Gallup indicates that overall, 65% of Americans say religion is an important part of their daily lives. Their report provides a state by state ranking to the responses by over 350,000 people to the question “Is religion an important part of your daily life?”
There is a wide range in the self-reported importance of religion, from a high of 85% for residents of Mississippi to a low of 42% for residents of Vermont.
The author of the report on the Gallup site writes about the implications of the data in an attempt to address why certain states have higher percentages. The real question is, what is the significance of being religious?
At the heart of any religion or spirituality, for any kind of significance to come from it, there must be a personal, thriving and intimate relationship with the one true God. Life is all about relationships. The relationship we have with God first and the subsequent relationship we have with our self. Out of this, we are to have relationships with others. It all begins, however, with a relationship with God.
I have written an article titled, “It’s About The Relationship.” If you are not enjoying a personal relationship with God, a caring relationship with yourself or are not living in vibrant relationships with others, I offer it for reading.
God loves you and wants you to experience His love through a personal relationship with Him.
Do you want others to experience the abundant life that Jesus came to earth, died and was resurrected for so that they might have it? John 6:63 says that “It is the Spirit alone that gives life.”
So, my question to you is this, “Is it your nature or God’s nature flowing through you that is touching the people around you and the people who you hope will experience this abundant and eternal life?” It is only when we relinquish our self-nature, when we yield our own self and allow God’s Holy Spirit to flow through our spirits into our souls and outward through our bodies that people will experience God’s Spirit and the life that Jesus wants them to have.
I have been reminded that it is important for me to start my day out asking God to help me surrender myself to His will and His Spirit so that He can live through what I do and what I say. That my living comes from His Spirit directly and by His power. As well, the more frequently than I can have this attitude and lift up a similar prayer throughout the day, the more likely it is that my actions and speech will be influenced by God’s Holy Spirit and not be of my own soul-nature. This will then increase the likelihood that the people I speak to and what I write about will be of God and His Spirit and will have His life in it.
This requires intentionality. It requires a choice to live like this. It requires a certain sensitivity, appreciation and an awareness of when we are living from our soul-nature versus living by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And then, it requires a degree of obedience to live out God’s will instead of our own nature. We can be sure, then, that if we are acting out of the promptings and from the direction of the Holy Spirit that lives in us, we will be extending true life to others who we interact with and serve. Only in that way can we be assured that we are being instruments, in the purest sense, of God and His love.
Are you being intentional and surrendering your own own nature and asking God that His nature, His Holy Spirit inside you, live through you?
When I study about a spiritual truth it’s exciting. When I am able to implement a spiritual truth in my life, it’s more exciting.
I am really understanding that the way to true freedom in the Christian faith… the way to experience true LIFE in the Christian faith… the life Jesus died for us to have(see John 10:10) is to yield to God’s Holy Spirit that is inside me.
And it’s one thing to know that this is a spiritual principle. It’s another thing to apply it. We must make a decision, deep in our will, to allow God’s Spirit to infiltrate our mind, will and emotion… to infiltrate our soul. And this decision must be made daily. We must ask God to help us with this, through His Spirit.
Before we accepted Jesus in our hearts, we lived a life dominated by our souls which were focused on our self. This life was not the kind of life we can now live with God’s Spirit and the life of Jesus in us. The old life was lived out of selfish desires and by our own abilities. The problem is that after we accept Jesus, we are challenged because our souls have the old nature. We have to learn how to allow God’s nature… His Spirit, to be dominate in us. This requires intentionality. It must be a deliberate. It must be ongoing. Read more of this article »
Top Keywords – Used by people in searches to land on pages were as follows:
faith and health
Bible scriptures on stress
faith and health connection
spiritual fitness
health scripture
scripture on health
stress scripture
scripture for stress
scripture for health
scripture on stress
I commented a few times toward the end of the year about the prevalence of the keyword of stress and how many people seemed to be searching the scriptures for information on that topic. Interesting!
Countries – Where people visited from most:
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Australia
Philippines
South Africa
India
Singapore
Malaysia
New Zealand
Current Demographics – I’d find it helpful to know who you subscribers are from a demographic standpoint. In that light, I hope you’ll take just 10 seconds to complete this survey. Only two brief questions. Thanks so much!
Today’s verse highlights one reason why we should care for our bodies. Paul tells us in Romans 6:13 that the different parts or members of our bodies are to be used as instruments or tools of righteousness to God. “Use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.”
It is by our feet (Romans 10:15) and through our mouths that we share God’s truth with other people. It is with our hands that we serve other people in love. In general, the more healthy we are and the more energy we have, the more likely we will be able to use the different parts of our body to do good things for God. Satan knows that he can put a kink into God’s work by attacking His workers and putting their tools out of commission.
One motivation for remaining healthy and taking care of our body and our health should be because we are commanded by God to love other people and to share the good news with them and this is done through our bodies. When we are in poor health, when we are extremely overweight or when we lack energy we will not be as effective in doing this.
As you start this new year, perhaps one motivation that you can apply to better care for your body could be your desire to do good things for other people and for the kingdom of God with the various “instruments” of your body. The better your health and the more energy that you have, the more likely you will be able to be effective in this.
So, go take care of yourself. Eat well. Be physically active. Get plenty of sleep. Manage your stress. Live for God!
Well, a new year has begun and I want to start it off on the right foot by prayerfully and publicly thanking God for the opportunity He has given me to share His truths through this website and blog over the past year. It’s by His grace that I’ve received wisdom and insight through the reading of the Bible that I’ve written the articles and Weekly Health Scriptures that many of you have read here. And I hope that you’ve been encouraged by what you’ve read. I know that some of you have been because I’ve received your emails.
During 2009 I suspect that I will continue to create blog posts as I did during last year. I will try my best to continue with a Weekly Health Scripture, writing about insights God gives me as I meditate on his Word. I will also continue to seek out relevant news stories on the topic of health, faith, spirituality and religion and comment on that when warranted.
More than anything, what I hope to be able to continue to do is share insights that I believe God gives me through the power of His Holy Spirit on topics that may be helpful to you readers.
Finally, as we begin this first week of the new year, I pray that all is well with your soul and that your health prospers also. (3 John 1:2)
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A January 29, 2009 report by Gallup indicates that overall, 65% of Americans say religion is an important part of their daily lives. Their report provides a state by state ranking to the responses by over 350,000 people to the question “Is religion an important part of your daily life?”
Do you want others to experience the abundant life that Jesus came to earth, died and was resurrected for so that they might have it? 
Thought that some of you might be interested in a few tidbits of information about the readership from 2008.
Well, a new year has begun and I want to start it off on the right foot by prayerfully and publicly thanking God for the opportunity He has given me to share His truths through this website and blog over the past year. It’s by His grace that I’ve received wisdom and insight through the reading of the Bible that I’ve written the articles and Weekly Health Scriptures that many of you have read here. And I hope that you’ve been encouraged by what you’ve read. I know that some of you have been because I’ve received your emails.
