The Spiritual Exercise of “Have Faith and Trust in God”

Carolina WrensThis morning I had the good fortune to see two Carolina Wrens make their first flight.  Janice, my girlfriend, and I have also had the good fortune of seeing the first flights of eastern bluebirds and chickadees over the last year.  It’s a cool thing to witness!  I had been observing these wrens poke their heads out of the bluebird box in my back yard over the last few days .  As I write his, two fledglings remain in the nest, slowly getting up the nerve to make their inaugural flight.

I imagine the wrens must have had a lot of trust that their wings would carry them to a nearby tree as they launched out of the nest. Trust.  It’s an important thing. That’s why I have identified Have Faith and Trust in God as a Spiritual Exercise. Imagine if you lived without the ability to trust. Life would be pretty nerve racking. The opposite of trust is worry and God tells us not to worry.  In Matthew 6:25-33, Jesus teaches that His Father will provide food for the birds. Those baby wrens will have all the food they need.  He also says that since we are so much more valuable than birds, that God will provide for all our needs.  As I wrote in yesterday’s post, worrying over a period of time will likely have negative consequences on our health.  I think that is one reason why Jesus told us not to worry.  He knew not only that it has health consequences, but that worrying also steals our joy and peace.

God knows all your needs and He’ll give you all you need if you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern. (verse 33)  Stay connected to Him.  Pray to Him.  Keep your thoughts  on Him.  As God will meet the needs of those little wrens that flew off this morning, He will certainly meet your needs because He loves you so much.

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Weekly Faith and Health Scripture: Philippians 4:8 The Spiritual Exercise of Healthy Thinking

ThinkingJames Allen, author of As a Man Thinketh, once said “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”

Our thoughts and emotions are represented in the body as electrochemical reactions. These chemicals are constantly floating around in our bodies and are stored in different places. The research is clear that negative thoughts, and the associated harmful chemicals, have detrimental effects on our health.

You can control the degree to which harmful chemicals float around in your body by adjusting your thinking patterns. Start by making a deliberate decision to change how you’re thinking. Commit to putting a concerted effort into this for a week and see if it doesn’t make a difference in your attitude, emotions and resulting behavior.

Begin to monitor your thinking patterns and identify when you’re thinking or meditating on negative thoughts or thoughts that cause you to be anxious or are connected with some other harmful emotion. Let those thoughts go and replace them with positive thoughts.

Read the Bible and meditate on scriptures. Believe what you read to be true and tuck these truths into your mind and your heart. Identify scriptures that are meaningful to you and create personal affirmations and speak them out loud. Here’s an example using Psalm 63:5. “You satisfy me more than the richest of foods.” When reading and meditating on scripture becomes part of your daily ‘diet,’ you’ll likely see a change in your thinking patterns.

Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8 “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

This spiritual exercise of healthy thinking is all important in living a healthy life. The more effective we can be at thinking as Paul urges us, the more likely we’ll live a full and healthier life.

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High Jumper - Adriane Stone

A few weeks ago I posted an entry about Adriane who was jumping in the Olympic TrialsAdriane Stone High Jumping High Jump and asked for prayers. How did she do?

On the 4th of July she jumped 6′ 1/2″, her best ever and tied for 8th place. A video of her jump is at this post on her blog. She communicated to me that she received several emails of encouragement by many readers of my blog and newsletter. Thanks for doing that as it meant a whole lot to her.

She is now having an opportunity to give talks about her trials experience and her life “turn-around”… with God’s help.

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Weekly Faith and Health Scripture: 1 Timothy 4:7-8 Spiritual Exercise

Most of us can imagine what a typical physical workout might look like. We’d first stretchDumbells a little to warm up the muscles we would be using in the rest of our session. Then there would be some type of cardiovascular or aerobic workout - repeated, nonstop contractions of a major muscle group over a period of 15 to 60 minutes or even more that would elevate your heart rate to a level that is measurably above your resting heart rate. That might be followed by resistance exercises to strengthen the muscles. If you were in a gym you’d perhaps use some equipment designed for that purpose performing two sets of 10-15 repetitions of about ten exercises working the major muscle groups. To end the workout, you’d want to again stretch out the muscles that were used. The workout might last an hour or an hour and a half. If you were working with a fitness professional, he would consider the FITT principle in developing your workout plan. He’d want to determine the frequency(F) of your workouts, the intensity(I) or how hard you’d perform the exercises, the duration or amount of time(T) you’d engage in the various exercises and the various types(T) of exercises you should perform. These are all basic considerations when working out physically.

How would working out spiritually or working out with God look? First Timothy 4:7-8 says “spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness. Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important for it promises a reward in both this life and the next.” ( First Edition of the New Living Translation of the Bible) In the context of how this word is used here perhaps your consider this as a definition of spiritual exercise - “It’s any belief or intentional behavior that helps one become more like Jesus, draw closer to Him, know Him better or that follows the principles or commandments of God.”

Over the course of the next several weeks, I’ll be writing more on this topic. In the meantime, I have a few questions for you.

What types of ’spiritual exercises’ are you including in your day to day activities to be spiritually fit?

What are you doing to work out your spiritual muscles?

Have a great week!

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Weekly Faith and Health Scripture - John 8:32 - True Freedom & Independance

We are truly fortunate to live in a country where we have so many freedoms. A big “thank you” toJesus with flag our forefathers who had the vision to write up our founding documents in such a way to pave the way for these freedoms. And, I am honored to have been a part of the Armed Services for 20 years in which millions of men and women are still serving throughout the world to protect our nation’s liberties. To them another “thank you!”

An even greater and more significant personal liberty is available to those who may struggle with any sort of destructive and unhealthy behavior and thinking pattern, feelings of unworthiness or a lack of being accepted or loved.

Many of us try to cope with the stressors of life and to meet our basic needs of self worth, acceptance and identity by our own resources and apart from God in ways that are unhealthy and can be self-destructive. These self-sufficient attitudes, thinking patterns and behaviors often become habits that have a negative impact on our emotional, spiritual and physical health.

We are so fortunate that there is a God that loves each and every one of us so much that He sent His son Jesus to live on the earth to teach others about God and of His love and then to die for us. Jesus came to set us free from our self-sufficient and sinful nature that hold many of us captive and in bondage. Getting to know Jesus in a personal way and believing in and embracing the truths of the Bible can set us free from our unhealthy attitudes, manner of thinking and habits that we may have developed over the years to meet our needs apart from God. See John 8:32

Then, if we stay close to Jesus and the Spirit of God is alive in us, we can be rewarded with love, joy, peace, kindness, self control and other such ‘fruits.’ Our life will be more abundant and meaningful. Finally, because our life will have been turned around, we’ll want to share with other people what Jesus has done and encourage them to turn to Him so that they might also experience true personal freedom and liberty. This will all bring tremendous glory to God.

Thank you Jesus for giving me the type of freedom that can come only from you!

Have a Happy Independence Day!

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Jumping for Jesus at the Olympic Trials

Are you discouraged? Feel like God has abandoned you? Wonder if you can turn your life around after making a mess of it? Read on …. and be encouraged.

So let me tell you what Goliath I slayed today. I stand before you today January 12,Adriane Stone Jumping 2008 delivered from alcoholism for the past year and 3 months, smoking, pills, obesity, loneliness, depression and it is all because of my Lord and Savior JESUS the Christ! So this blog is for anyone who thinks that God has forgotten about them.

The quote above is taken from a blog started by Adriane Stone, wife of an Army Sergeant stationed in Hawaii, and a finalist in the Olympic Trials Women’s High Jump scheduled for July 4th in Eugene, Oregon. (She jumped 5′ 11 1/2″ on Monday night in the preliminary round to qualify.) Her story is about how God can do wonders in a person’s life if she turns to God in desperation and humility. In her own words, her blog “documents my comeback to the high jump after 7 years of living a life that was a fast track to the pits of hell.”

Adriane StoneI’m going to add a few more of her quotes so you can take a peek into her heart and spirit:

You see going from a complete wreck to having the glory of God shine upon you in a public way is very intimidating and humbling at the same time.

Lord allow me to soar on wings of eagles as I feel your Spirit guide me along this path. You inspire me through you Holy Word. You give me a passion that I want everyone to yearn for. Come and taste what He has to offer. He brings life. He is Life!

The day she flew to Oregon for the trials: “Now is not the time to begin second guessing the mighty hand of the Lord. Now is the time to rest in His presence and trust Him. Please pray for me, and know that this is God’s great plan. Whether I qualify, lose, win or not even jump, nothing can take away the great testimony of my life changing death to myself (Galatians 2:20). We are already conquerors through Christ Jesus.”

About two months ago, Adriane came across my website and sent me an email, asking for prayers. Perhaps you’ll join me in praying for Adriane as she prepares to jump on Friday, July 4th…. for the glory of God. Or, consider sending her an email of encouragement.

To learn more about Adriane’s journey over the last year and a half and to see how God can turn around the life of someone who, on her own made a mess of hers, I encourage you to read her story on her blog.

Does life have you down? Be encouraged by Adriane’s testimony!

Have a great day!

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Weekly Faith and Health Scripture - Heb. 12:1-3 Run Your Race

Running Animated

“…. since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-3

The US Olympic Trials are underway. As I watch some of the highlights on television, I’m reminded of my competitive running days. What a good time that was. No, I would not have been competitive with the athletes vying for spots on this year’s US team, I just loved the hard training runs and enjoyed the competition.

This week’s verse in Hebrews urges us to run our race of life with endurance. To strip off everything that might hold us up, slow us down or get in our way. The author is talking about whatever might be dragging us down or preventing us from living the full life that Jesus wants us to have…. that He died on the cross for. He is especially talking about the sin that entangles us. The less sin we have in our life the smoother our strides will be and God will be glorified more.

How do we best minimize the sin in our life? By keeping close to Jesus, and looking toward Him to help us. We do it by surrendering, day in and day out. Jesus is the champion. He’s the only man who ran the “race of life” on this earth without sin and He knows more than anyone else what it takes to live the abundant life He wants for us. He calls you to run the race with Him.

We can also all have a wonderful prize when we finish our race on this earth…. we can be rewarded with eternal life…. if we acknowledge that Jesus died for our sins and rose from His grave. He did this to give us not only an abundant and rich life on earth, but an eternal one in heaven.

Believe in Him. Keep your eyes on Him. And remember, others are watching how you live out your faith. Be a good example for them. Run with Jesus during your race He’s set before you. He’ll be waiting at the finish line to throw His arms around you!

Have a terrific day!

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Conference of the Society for Spirituality, Theology and Health