Perhaps I’ll begin to occasionally send along an inspirational song…… as a reminder of God’s love and to encourage you to stay close to him.
If you have any suggestions or favorites, I’d love to hear from you so that I can share them with others.
Have a terrific day!
“I pray that you … may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” Paul in Ephesians 3:17-19
Today’s Wall Street Journal carries an article titled “Thinking Happy Thoughts at Work.” The author’s corresponding blog post uses the following title – “Workplace Blues? Call a Happiness Coach.”
“How would you feel if your employer brought in a happiness coach — a trainer or speaker urging you to practice new behaviors, cheer up and stop stressing out?” That’s how Sue Shellenberger’s blog post begins. She writes that trainers and coaches are “drawing on psychological research and ancient religious traditions to teach inner peace, gratitude, kindness and resiliency in the face of adversity” that is so prevalent at the workplace in today’s tough economic times. Shellenberger writes that coaches are placing an emphasis on the inner happiness of their clients and how they can control their own mood amidst turbulence or misfortune. Some techniques mentioned are writing emails to friends thanking them for something they’ve done, meditating daily to clear your mind, doing something for someone without expecting anything in return and focusing on the process of work rather than the outcome which you can’t control.
It’s true that we all can benefit from applying techniques and activities that will bring us peace, kindness and strength during tough times. Fortunately, God provides us many principles for this in the Bible. Let’s take a look.
What the Bible Says About Happiness and Joy
“Oh, the joys of those who …. delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” Psalm 1:1-2
“O LORD Almighty, happy are those who trust in you.” Psalm 84:12
“Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord.” Psalm 89:15
“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts.” Psalm 119:1-2
“As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands.” Psalm 119:143
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.” Philippians 4:6-7
“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….. then the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9
What You Can Do
Deep inner happiness or joy is what people are looking for. That need is greater than short term happiness which is typically dependent on our circumstances. So how do you come to a place of joy? Our creator, God, inspired the authors of the Bible to tell us that this kind of deep happiness comes from placing your trust in God and by following his principles or commandments.
Trust and faith in God require a decision deep in your will. It requires you to believe deep in your heart that God is who the Bible tells us he is…. a loving, forgiving, all-knowing, powerful and holy God. When you believe this, it enables you to place your trust in him and to follow his ways.
You can’t know his ways unless you learn them and the best source of this knowledge is the Holy Bible. The more you read it, the more you can come to an understanding of who God is and what his principles for living are.
The challenge then is to live in accordance to these principles. We might call this obedience. The Bible tells us that if we truly love God we will obey him. (1 John 1:5) Having a deep love for God and spending time alone with him will enable you to obey him more easily. The scriptures above remind us that it’s through following his principles that we receive deep happiness or joy.
Thinking “healthy” thoughts is also key to maintaining a good attitude and achieving an on-going level of peace. As you renew your mind by thinking more about God and His nature and truth and less about untruths and negative thoughts it will likely improve your day-to-day attitude and corresponding emotions, as well as your disposition on life. This ought to contribute to a sense of peace and may well impact in a positive way on your emotional and physical health.
So, receive God’s love deep in your heart, get to know him better, place your trust in him, pray to him, think about “things of heaven,” thank God and follow his principles found in the Bible. That’s the pathway to deep joy and inner peace.
I don’t know about you, but God is my Happiness Coach.
Have a terrific day!
Questions About Happiness and Joy to Reflect On
How are you handling the pressures at work or in your home?
Who is your Happiness Coach?
What books or materials are you reading as a source of truth on how to have joy and peace?
meditating on it day and night. 3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do.
When we have strength we can make it through tough times. This strength enables us to live a healthy lifestyle and to manage the stress that is present. Are you looking for insight about how God can be a source of strength? Today my devotionals led me back to two passages in Ephesians where Paul shares his understanding of how God supplies us strength. I’ll do my best to pass his wisdom along to you here.
What the Bible Says about Strength and Power
Ephesians 1:15-21 is a prayer of Paul to the people of the church of Ephesus. He is especially praying that they be unified in their new faith so that they can be the body of Christ that God intended them to be. This prayer still applies to us today… and it is my prayer for you. I pray that you may know God better and that your understanding of him be deep in your heart. This deep understanding of who God is and of the love he has for you should be a source of hope – the kind of hope that can only come from God. Accompanying this deep understanding of God and belief in his character and nature should be great power. Paul tells us in verse 19 that this power is like the working of his mighty strength – the same strength that God used to raise Jesus from his grave. This same power, and strength, is available to you if you believe.
Further in this same book, in Ephesians 3:16-21, Paul again writes to these people in a prayer. We are also told that we can have this great power because God’s Holy Spirit lives in us who believe in Jesus. When you are deeply rooted in God’s love you are able to grasp how much Jesus loves you and cares for you. This is hugely important because as you embrace this love, you begin to realize the fullness and power of God. God’s Holy Spirit, who lives in you, gives your mind this ability. It’s not your power, but God’s power that is manifested in you and at work in you. (Ephesians 3:20)
Another important determinant of receiving God’s strength is our weakness. We are told that Jesus’ strength was made perfect in Paul’s weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) Paul came to recognize that it was his personal weakness and associated dependence on God that was key to him having power that came from God. So, it is in admitting our weakness that we affirm God’s strength.
Receiving God’s Strength
So, according to these scriptures, how do you receive strength that is available from God?
You believe in his Son, Jesus.
You begin to understand just how much God loves you and you receive this wonderful love.
You humbly acknowledge that you are weak and dependent on God.
You know that his Holy Spirit lives in you.
You believe that God’s power raised Jesus from his grave.
And, you believe that God wants to use this same mighty power for good in your life.
This is how you have strength – strength that comes directly from God. It’s about your faith, belief and trust – the essence of the Christian faith.
You were created by God as his masterpiece to do wonderful things through the salvation you receive by believing in Jesus. Ephesians 2:10 When you receive strength from God, through his mighty power that is available, you can make it through the challenges that life throws at you. When this happens, God is glorified. Ephesians 3:21
Do you love yourself? Do you really love yourself as God wants you to?
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he offered this.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul mind and strength, and love others as yourself.” (Mark 12:29-31) See also Matthew 19:18-19.
We can not love others in the manner God intends us to without loving ourselves in a God-honoring way. And, we are not able to sustain the types of habits God wants us to live by without this type of core, self-love that is received from God.
The love God wants us to have for ourselves is the agape-type love that God displayed for us when he sent his Son, Jesus, to die for our sins so that we might enjoy an eternal and abundant life. This is an unselfish - an unconditional type of love.
Many of us look to outward things and often resort to unhealthy often addictive behaviors in an effort to “feel good” about ourselves or to fill a very deep whole we have in our heart because we do not truly love ourselves. Some call this low self esteem. I think that God would say it’s because there is a deep root of low agape love of one’s self.
God loves you. His love is so wide and deep that you cannot measure it. (Ephesians 3:18-19) When a person accepts Jesus into her heart, God’s Holy Spirit begins to live in her. The more she turns her heart to God, believes in truths found in the Bible and surrenders herself to God, the greater the display of God’s love is present in her life. One such “fruit” is love, including a godly self-love.
The more the measure of self love we have, through the work of God’s Spirit, the more we are able to love others as God commands us. Additionally, the more love we have for ourselves, the more motivation and power we will have to make any desired behavior changes in our lives.
Maybe you desire to lose weight. Maybe you want to become more physically active. Or, perhaps you are challenged by an unhealthy addictive behavior that you’d like to stop. Agape self-love can be instrumental in providing the motivation to start these change of habits and in receiving the determination and power to continue with the new lifestyle.
This type of genuine agape love of yourself is best received from the God who created you. The best way I know to learn about God’s love is through spending time with him as I read the Bible and by praying to him in conjunction with that.
Questions to Ask Yourself (Consider commenting with your responses on this blog!)
Are you struggling with making behavior changes that have not been sustained?
Do you have a deep agape-type love of yourself that has been given to you by God?
Have you received the unconditional love that God has for you by accepting the love of his Son, Jesus
Training Materials – A workshop package to help share God’s love and his truths about the spirituality-health connection and equip others to make behavior changes.
Obesity and diabetes levels are still on the rise. That’s according to the State of the States Report released this week.
According to this Gallup Poll, my state, North Carolina had a nearly 2% increase since last year. Twenty eight percent of North Carolinian’s are now obese – a Body Mass Index of 30 or greater. (Calculate your own BMI) Almost 12% of the people in North Carolina have diabetes – the 9th highest state.
Obesity Rates in America - 2009
Certainly, many people in our country die of weight-related problems each and every day. These deaths are preventable. Let’s take a deeper look.
There are many factors that contribute to the high obesity and type 2 diabetes rates in our nation. Access to health care, the environment, annual income/poverty level and heredity all play a role. But the cornerstone of these two conditions are physical activity and eating habits. The bottom line is that these two lifestyle choices most contribute to both of these conditions and they are almost totally under one’s control. These are choices we make, day in and day out.
Faith and Health
High levels of body fat and high glucose both represent a form of “death.” The Bible tells us that we have a choice. We can choose between life and death. In the Old Testament, God tells his people -
“Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.” Deuteronomy 11:26-28
Later in the same book, God continues to share his instructions about the choices we have between life and death. He says “Today I am giving you a choice between life and death.” (Deut. 30:15) In verse 19 he urges us “Oh that you would choose life, that you and your descendants may live.”
We Can Choose "Life" or "Death"
We all have choices to make each and every day or our life – all throughout the day. We can make choices that are life-enhancing or death-enhancing; good health-enhancing or poor health-enhancing. The choice is ours.
With God in our life in a big way, it’s easier to make healthy choices. It’s easier to make the countless healthy choices that are important in managing our weight. But even that begins with a choice. We must make a conscious choice to involve God in our life day in and day out. It really all begins with this decision.
The more diligent we are in involving God in our life, the more strength he will provide for living and making wise and healthy choices. God can enable us - empower us – to choose to be more active and to eat more nutritious food. One key to this is to relinquish control of your life to God and to live in a more surrendered way to him.
The Bible tells us that God’s Spirit lives in us if we have accepted Jesus into our life as our Savior. Imagine, God lives in us. When we relinquish control to his Spirit, it is actually God that is empowering us as we live. In this case, it is God’s Spirit that helps us to get off our seats and be physically active. It is his Spirit that prompts us to buy and eat healthier food. His Spirit gives us greater discipline. It is God’s Spirit that comforts us when we are stressed and feel like opening the refrigerator and eating a carton of ice cream or devouring a box of cookies.
My hope and prayers for all of you who might struggle with your weight is that you lean more heavily on God and a deeper faith to assist you in making healthier lifestyle choices. That you’ll make a conscious choice to tell him in your prayers that you need his help and that you are unable to make these desired changes on your own.
I hope that you will experience the love of God in it’s full measure and that that you will be empowered by God to make the kind of healthy changes in your life that you might want to make. See the verses in Ephesians 3:16-19
Questions To Reflect On
If your health is impacted by your weight, what lifestyle changes could you make that will help you lose weight?
How much are you really depending on God to help you with these changes?
Does God’s Holy Spirit live in you that he might enable you to make any desired changes in your life?
Struggling with life as well as your weight? Desire to know God in a personal way? Desire to have God’s Spirit in your life to empower you to live? Read about God’s love.
People are looking for strength in their lives today as much as any time in the recent past. I see this played out in the number of times that people have landed on my site with searches for strength using search engines.
Take a look at the graphics below which summarize landings on my site over the last year with searches using the keyword “strength.” True, some of this has to do with the content I have added to the site, but nonetheless, the data is pretty convincing.
What this represents to me is that a whole lot of individuals are looking for information, especially scriptures, on how they can receive strength during difficult times. Fortunately, scriptures in the Bible are a great source of strength. Scriptures are the Word of God and truth – something we can all benefit from when times get tough.
Earlier today, I read a teaching from David Wilkerson’s World Challenge Pulpit Series titled – “If Foundations Are Destroyed, What Can the Righteous Do?“ Wilkerson reminds us that God is to be a source of strength during difficult times. “Go home, my people, and lock your doors! Hide yourselves for a little while until the Lord’s anger has passed.” Isaiah 26:20 Wilkerson suggests that the “secret hiding place” is a chamber in your mind.
If that is so, how can that spot in your mind be comforting? I would propose that the only way your mind can really be a respite for what’s happening in the world around us is for it to be filled with the truth of God’s Word. Reading the Bible is the most ’sure-fire’ way that ou can get to know God and His character and nature. It’s in the Bible that the disciples and other authors write about their experiences with Jesus and their interactions with God.
Paul tells us in one of his letters to Timothy that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
This scripture reminds us that the Bible prepares us and sustains us for living and for handling the stress we encounter. It’s through reading scripture that we can get a better understanding of who God is and how He wants to work in our lives. When we read the Bible, we have an opportunity to draw close to God and to sense His presence. And it’s when we are in God’s presence that we can have peace and receive strength that will sustain us through tough times.
The more frequently we read scripture, the more likely we can recall the truth that we read when we need to be reminded of who we are in God and His Son, Jesus. Frequent reading of the Bible will cause the ‘chambers in your mind’ to more likely be filled with His truths rather than the lies of the enemy. It’s what you constantly think about that really impacts on whether you are at peace or whether you are fearful and anxious. And, over the long haul, these two mindsets will have radically different impacts on your emotional and physical health status.
Yes, God can be a source of strength in your life … and one of the best things you can do is to regularly read the Bible so that you can be reminded of His truths. Hopefully, your thinking patterns will also be affected in a positive way.
“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Ephesians 6:10
Questions to Ask Yourself
To what degree is God a source of strength during your difficult times?
How often are you reading the Bible to better understand the nature of God and to be reminded of how much He cares for you?
What is one scripture that is a source of great strength for you?
This Q and A with Billy Graham appeared in the Charlotte Observer newspaper today.
Question: I’ve tried every trick in the book to get rid of some of my bad habits. A friend tells me to try God. What difference would God make?
Answer: You’ve learned you don’t have the strength to overcome these habits. No matter how hard you try, their grip on you is too strong.
Even if you’ve never thought about him very much or had him as a part of your life, down inside you know God is much stronger than you are. You need him, because he can give you the strength you need to overcome these habits. He wants to help you – and he will, as you turn to him and submit your life to Christ.
Begin by telling God that you know you have sinned, and you know you need his forgiveness and help. Then ask Christ to come into your life and help you. He’ll give you a new desire to live the way you should, and strength to resist temptation.
Then surround yourself with friends who will help you instead of pull you down. Flee from temptation when it first appears. In addition, fill your life with good things that will push out the bad.
There is a new report out by the Robert Woods Foundation and the Trust for America’s Health organization titled F as in Fat 2009 – How Obesity Policies in America are Failing. (Link provided is to the 108 page report.) A shorter Executive Summary is available here.
An MSNBC article provides insight into the report which indicates the the obesity epidemic in America is still worsening. In 31 states, more than one in four adults are obese according to the report. Obesity rates among adults rose in 23 states over the past year, and no state experienced a significant decline. It’s a national crisis that “calls for a national strategy to combat obesity,” suggests Robert Wood Johnson vice president Dr. James Marks. Read more of this article »
There are probably a few hundred reasons that might motivate you to care for yourself and to be healthy. Here are five, actually four, reasons that motivate me at a really deep level… and I think that these are reasons why God would want us all to be motivated by.
It glorifies God
You’re taking care of your body - His temple
It’s being a good witness
You’ll have more energy – be better equipped for what God has planned for you
I need your help with a 5th reason?
It Glorifies God
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that whatever we do we’re to do it to the glory of God. It also tells us in Isaiah that we were created and formed by God to glorify Him. This is our primary purpose in life – to glorify God. We do that when we care for our body and live a healthy lifestyle.
Our Body is God’s Temple and for Us to Care For
One scripture that reminds us that our body is God’s temple is 1 Corinthians 19-20. God’s Holy Spirit lives inside a believer. After we accept Jesus into heart, God gives us His Spirit to help us live the kind of life He wants us to live. Since God actually lives in us, Paul tells us in htis verse that our body is His temple. Since God “bought” us with a high price, Jesus’ death, than we are obligated to care for our body which is His temple.
If you are not a believer in Jesus but want to join His family, read more here.
Being Healthy is Being a Good Witness
Acts 1:8 reminds us that we are to be witnesses for other people. People look for us to be models of the Christian faith. We ought to desire to live our lives in a way that represents our faith well. Taking care of our health is one way that we can be a good witness.
You’ll Have More Energy to Do God’s Work
Ephesians 2:10 helps us see that we are God’s masterpiece, created to do the good things that He had planned a long time ago for us to do. We all know that the more fit and healthy we are the more energy we will have. The more energy that we have, the more we can put into whatever task we are doing. We’ll also be better able to sustain ourself for the long haul.
What’s a 5th Reason?
What is one other reason that you think God wants us to be healthy? Comment by adding a 5th reason that you think would be pleasing to God.
Something to Reflect On
What we believe determines what we do. I suspect that if you believe what I’ve written above, and you value your relationship with God, it’s likely that you are taking good care of your body and your health.
How well are you taking care of yourself and your health?
If your relationship with God is important to you, and you’re not taking too good care of your body, could you use this post as an inspiration to better care for your body?
Researchers on Friday made public a large study with a finding that we should not find surprising: Losing your job may make you sick.
In a study by a Harvard School of Health researcher, workers who lost a job through no fault of their own, she found, were twice as likely to report developing a new ailment like high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease over the next year and a half, compared to people who were continuously employed.
Only 6 percent of people with steady jobs developed a new health condition during each survey period of about a year and a half, compared with 10 percent of those who had lost a job during the same period.
David Williams, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health who was not involved in the research, said the study is a reminder that job loss and other life stressors have a tremendous impact on both mental and physical health and contribute to the development of chronic conditions.
“We know that stress affects health,” said Dr. Williams, director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America. “It causes changes in physiological function in multiple ways, and it can lead to alterations in health behavior. People no longer exercise, they eat more, they drink more. People who smoke, smoke more on high stress days.”
If you’ve lost your job recently, how are you handling your stressful situation? Are you excluding God in your “battle” or distress? Are you attempting to manage on your own by falling back into an unhealthy habit or an addictive behavior to cope? Or, are you turning towards God by asking and relying on His help?
God wants us to choose Him as our source of strength when times are tough.
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Today’s Wall Street Journal carries an article titled “Thinking Happy Thoughts at Work.” The author’s corresponding blog post uses the following title – 
If that is so, how can that spot in your mind be comforting? I would propose that the only way your mind can really be a respite for what’s happening in the world around us is for it to be filled with the truth of God’s Word. Reading the Bible is the most ’sure-fire’ way that ou can get to know God and His character and nature. It’s in the Bible that the disciples and other authors write about their experiences with Jesus and their interactions with God.
This Q and A with Billy Graham appeared in the 
There is a new report out by the Robert Woods Foundation and the Trust for America’s Health organization titled 
There are probably a few hundred reasons that might motivate you to care for yourself and to be healthy. Here are five, actually four, reasons that motivate me at a really deep level… and I think that these are reasons why God would want us all to be motivated by.
Researchers on Friday made public a large study with a finding that we should not find surprising: Losing your job may make you sick.
