A HEALTHY BODY

AN INCREDIBLE CONCEPT

Proverbs 13:25
The righteous eat to heir hearts’ content,
but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.

If I desire to serve God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, my heart will desire that my body become healthy and strong. I will have energy to concentrate mentally and emotionally on the will of God. My heart will want my body to be healthy, energetic, and active in order to develop and carry out relationships with others.

As I discipline my heart, soul, mind, and body, I bring every thought into obedience to Your purposes for my life, now and forever. (2 Corinthians 12:1-3; Phil 2:5; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3)

Bringing my thoughts into obedience means changing the way I think to the way God thinks:

"Let this mind be in you as it is in Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5

And, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” Romans 12:2.

If I bring my thoughts, ideas, motives, and desires in line with God's, my behaviors will line up, too. As my heart, mind and soul begins to think more and more like You, my body will become healthy. My heart’s desires will include a healthy body, and I will deny unhealthy foods. I will deny “Fat Body Foods” and lose my Fat Belly.

PSALM 102:3-11 lists the incredible effects of “distress.”

The Hebrew word translated “distress” in 102:2 (NIV) is given in Girdlestone’s Synonyms to mean “go around in circles,” “revolve,” “to writhe in pain or pangs,” leading to confusion, fear, anger, addictions, and much, much more.
The Psalm lists the following effects of “distress:”
1. “My bones burn”
2. “My heart is blighted and withered
3. “I forget to eat”—loss of appetite
4. “I as reduced to skin and bones”—I lose weight
5. “I am like a desert owl”—I withdraw from people
6. “I lie awake”—I do not sleep well
7. “My enemies taunt me…rail against me…as a curse”--

I am criticized and given lots of “advice”

8. “I eat ashes”—food tastes terrible, indigestion, heartburn
9. “Mingle my drink with tears”—I cry a lot

10. ”Your great wrath”—I blame God
11. “thrown aside”--I feel rejected, unwanted, unaccepted, unacceptable—I am lost
12. “I wither away”--My life loses value and meaning—I don’t feel like getting up and going to work—just sleep all day—I am very, very depressed!

Some of the other effects the “distress” of Psalm 102 (and many other places) creates are:
1. Imbalance in total body chemistry
2. Weakening of Immune system
3. Loss of energy and motivation
4. Numerous blood conditions
a. Increased cholesterol
b. Hardening of arteries
c. Strokes and heart disease
d. Inadequate kidney and liver functions
e. Not all poisons are removed from blood
f. Brain chemistry becomes unbalanced
g. Synapses of brain cells are hindered, slowing reactions and contributing to deterioration and aging of the brain

There is healing for all this!

Psalm 103.3 tells us to praise God from our soul (“from my inmost being”) for all His benefits. Among the several “benefits” for which we are to praise God is that He “heals all (our) diseases.”

Realizing we are “distressed” and seeking God’s grace by faith in His goodness and with obedience to His wise counsel (as directed in other Psalms and Proverbs) will lead to healing of these diseases and the effects they have in many other ways on our health—diabetes, allergies, arthritis, headaches, nervous disorders, panic attacks…. There is an almost endless number of “diseases of distress” that are healed by faith in the greatness and goodness of our Creator, Savior, and Lord.

Faith is created by the Holy Spirit as we read Scripture that exalts God’s greatness, goodness, grace, and glory. If we will focus on faith in God as He reveals Himself in Scripture and obey His directions for our life, He will rebuild our distressed soul, heal our body and bring peace to our whole body, soul, and spirit.

We will be renewed in heart, soul, mind, and body, in genuine holiness of character and righteousness in conduct.

With peace of heart, mind, and soul, we will become peaceful and peaceable in our reactions to one another, and we will become peacemakers for those who have conflicts within themselves. We will provide “comfort and encouragement” for others, as we have been comforted by our Lord Jesus. We will help others grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We will together grow wiser, stronger, and better, building up one another, as Christ makes all things work together for our good. Ephesians 4.16; Romans 8.28

THE PERSISTANT PURSUIT OF GOD’S PURPOSES

Psalm 5

Vv. 1-2—I “cry for help.”


BE SPECIFIC!


V. 3—I “wait.”


Wait in “Refuge”—Somewhere Alone to Listen


Twice in the Sermon on the Mount—Mt. 6.6, 18—Jesus says the Father will meet us in “secret.” As the Father looks upon us in some quiet, private place, He will speak loving, truthful, and empowering words to us.


Vv. 4-6—I confront “évil.”


“Evil” is the translation of the Hebrew word rashah, which means the confusion, anxiety, destructiveness, error, misunderstanding, etc., and therefore the troublesomeness of the circumstances that surrounds us.


Vv. 7-8—I “come.


God will lead us into His righteousness. (Ephesians 4.22-24; Ps. 4.4-5).


Vv. 9-10—I “resist.”


Oppositions, hardship, weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12.9-10; Romans 8.26-37) within and without will always be present and must be resisted with persistent, disciplined endurance to find and follow God’s directions for His purposes in through, and beyond the issue about which we are seeking His Grace and Peace.


Vv. 11-12—I Rejoice.”


Gladness, joy, protection, love, and favor abound and the love of God fills our hearts and overflows to others like a river of living water (John 7.37-39)

THE GOAL OF HARDSHIP--Part 2

"WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME!?"

Consider it pure joy, my brothers,

whenever you face trials of many kinds,

because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Perseverance must finish its work

so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1.2-4

What's happening is

1. We are facing trials. The word for trials means circumstances that drive or distract us away from our faith and faithfulness. There are "many kinds" of trials. One of the best lists of "trials" is in 2 Corinthians 12.9-10: "weaknesses, insults, persecutions, hardships, and difficulties." The Apostle insists that these are the circumstances in which God reveals Himself to us in extra-special ways, called "grace." He says that God's grace makes us strong when faced with "weaknesses." Difficult and hard "trials" are the times that God reveals the greatness of His goodness and glory, wisdom and strength, love, holiness, and righteousness.

"Enduring hardship" is part of being "good soldiers of Jesus Christ." 2 Tim. 2.3-4.

Trials perfect our faith and result in praise, honor and glory for the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1.6-7.

What's happening is

2. Trials are for "the testing of your faith." "Trials" demonstrate , the genuineness, the sincerity, the strength of our faith. They are public demonstrations of how much we trust in God's goodness at work in our lives. Trials demonstrate how much we believe Romans 8.28-39 that says that God makes all things work out for good in our lives. Do we believe that we will become "more than conquerors" even though we are oppressed and dismayed by what is happening? Do we trust that "God is for us" and is still our good Shepherd, watching over us through dark days of pain, shame and guilt? Do we believe that He cares for us with a love that is exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think? Romans 8.31, 35, 39; Ephesians 3.20-21; Psalm 23. Can we do what is good and right in the face of "evil" ( harmful, wrong treatment), confident of God's eventual justification of our obedience? Romans 8.29-30; 12.21.

1 Peter has a whole series of statements about how suffering is used by God to demonstrate His goodness and glory in the lives of those who trust and obey Him.

Jesus' instructs us to respond with good works and words to those who who mistreat us (Luke 6.27-28). Peter says that to rejoice as Jesus' glory is revealed to us in our suffering for Him. 1 Peter 4.12-13. Paul says that in suffering we come to know Jesus more deeply than in any other way. Phil. 3.7-14; 1 Timothy 1.12-17.

Using James' same word for "test" in Romans 12.2, Paul tells us the transforming work of God allows us to "experience" and therefore demonstrate God's work and way as beng good, pleasing, and perfect.

Peter says that the enduring of suffering "proves" that our faith is genuine.

When we experience hardships, we can come to God and He will work with us throughout the time we are enduring. Our faith is perfected and God's real presence is demonstrated to and through our responses.

As we grow wiser, stronger, and better, all we touch experience the love and power of God to save and deliver and transform the lives of those who believe, trust, and obey Him.

It is no wonder then that James says we can depend on this--

Great joy comes to us
when we remain faithful to Jesus

in the face of difficult difficulties.

To be continued.

THE GOAL OF HARDSHIP--Part 1

WHERE'S THE JOY IN THIS!?

"Consider it all joy, my brothers ,

whenever you face trials of many kind..."

James 1.2

One of the burger places once ran an add about other places with the little lady asking, "Where's the beef?"

This has to be the question about tials, pressures, hardships, suffering, etc.--"What's the point? What's the purpose?

Or, "Why!?" "Where's God in this?"

The Psalms have about 150 different way of asking this question, so the question is legit. But having asked this question, it leads immediately to the next one--"Where's the answer?"

What appears to be senseless suffering begs for an answer: "Why, God! Why?"

I am going to present a series of ideas for an answer to the many questions around this problems of suffering.

In this post we will look at what the words of the verse are saying to us. The key words are trials, testing, developes, perseverance, work, mature, complete, lacking.

In these words God gives us an answer to our the most basic issue of pain and suffering: "Why?" "It is all so senseless!" "How could a good God allow so much suffering?"

We can begin with an apparent "simplistic" answer--

"Suffering makes us better people."

There are some obvious, immedediate objections to such simplicity; but, on the other hand, learning what is wrong and what doesn't work through the school of hard knocks is a pretty well established principle of growth and development, allowing for a lot of "I told you so" comments after the fact. "Experience is the best teacher" and "No Pain, No Gain" are universally accepted proverbs. Suffering does often make us better people.

Here's how Paul puts it:

Since we have these promises, dear friends,

let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit,

perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

2 Corinthians 7.1

"Purifying ourselves" and "perfecting holiness" are godly goals. "Perfecting" in 2 Corinthians 7.1 is the same Greek word that James uses as translated "mature." While we may think suffering "senseless" in some ways, James and Paul set forth a very specific, definable goal to be reached in and thorugh these times--"perfecting" our heart, soul, mind, and even body in God's own likeness or image, character, attitude, or qualities.

This would be the same as

Romans 8.28--working all things to produce good.

Ephesians 2.10--created in Christ for good works.

Psalm 23:4-Your rod and staff comfort, protect, and bring

goodness and love every day.

We are told how God uses the reality of suffering in this world. Suffering is a reality of this life. We can look to God for help to make us wiser, stronger and better. Growth and development, becoming a new and better person, being recreated in the image of God, is an incredible intervention of God.

God's intervention in suffering is a major part of the heart of the Gospel:

God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son

that whoever believes in HIm should not perish

but have everlasting life.

John 3.16

In summary, God enters the hardships that are common to this life and reveals His great love and compassion for us. He comforts and strengthens us in the face of everwhelming odds. We gain assurance that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

To be continued.

JOSHUA'S LAST MESSAGE

"Be very careful to love the Lord your God."

Joshua 23.11

Of all that Joshua said the the people, this was the most important:

"Love the Lord your God."

There is no greater Law. If we keep this one, we will keep everything else with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Our only concern this moment is, "Do I love the Lord my God?"

If we love Him, we will keep His commandments. And Jesus said that if we keep His commandments, He and the Father will reveal and do ever greater things for us.

Joshua points the people to what God has already done:

9 "The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as He promised."

Then he says, "Be very careful...."

The problem we face (23.12-13) is that the ways of the nations are designed to turn us away from our God. It is so easy for us to become complacent with God and become attracted to the attractions of our culture.

Without the discipline of "Be very careful," we will find ourselves just as tempted as Adam and Eve to believe "one little bit won't hurt." But from Genesis through Revelation we are warned of the attractive distractions of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

When we do love the Lord, the command to love Him resonates within us as an affirmation of our love. As we love Him and keep all His commands, we are kept safe in Christ as the Holy Spirit empowers us:

1) to resist and overcome the temptations of the world;

2) to deny our selfishness and put to death the lusts of the flesh; and,

3) to follow Jesus and grow in grace and knowledge of His gloriousness.

Paul said, "I (We) can do this (all things) through Christ," because He empowers us to do His will--Phil. 4.13.

Paul tells us that Christ will make all things serve His good purposes and plans for our eternal glorification--Romans 8.28-39.

"Onward, Christian Soldiers!"

HARD WORK IN THESSALONICA!

THE WORK OF THE SERVANT OF THE GOSPEL

We continually remember before our God and Father

your work produced by faith,

your labor prompted by love,

and your endurance inspired by hope

in our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 1.3

The apostle to the Gentiles--to you and me--has 24 references to the "work...labor...endurance" of the minister of the Gospel in this little letter. Twenty-one of these references occur in the first three chapters. This is a very concentrated focus on the work of ministry!

This letter from the heart of God shows us that the work of faith is so others can know, believe and become established in faith in Christ.

The work requires labor in suffering and struggling against endless obstacles and oppositions.

The labor is endured because of the hope we know awaits those with whom we work.

Passionate love for Jesus produces passionate work for men.

"Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again."

2 Corinthians 5.14-15

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15.58

"As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work." John 9.4

Our work is first with God for men and then with men for God.

BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL

THE MERCIFUL RECEIVE MERCY

MATTHEW 5.7

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy."

Mercy ministers to misery.

The Good Samaritan "showed mercy" to the man who was beaten and robbed and left on the side of the road.

We know what it feels like to be beaten, robbed, and left to die. The Sermon on the Mount assures us of the mercy of God being extended to the poor in spirit, to our spiritual poverty, to our personal inadequacy and failure, our misery, guilt, shame, pain, depression, discouragement, etc. etc. etc.

We know failure and its consequences.

We know we need mercy.

We know we need help.

The first Beatitude assures us that God will draw from His infiinte resources in Heaven to rebuild, renew, and restore us to the person He desires and designs us to be. The kingdom of Heaven is near, with all the King's power, wisdom, truth, and grace to save, deliver and restore to His image with love, joy, and peace with Him in His glory for the coming ages of eternity.

When we call out to God, He responds with compassion and mercy. Paul cried out, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me....?"

God's answer: "Jesus Christ, our Lord."

Jesus Christ will come to us in our poverty and wretchedness. He will set us free from the law of sin and death by the power of the law of the Spirit of Life.

But, we are not to be just recipients of mercy and grace

We are to be ministers of mercy to the poor, wretched, miserable, needy all around us.

Mercy in the Old Testament is directed to the poor and needy, to the orphans and widows, to those who cannot help themselves.

Like the man robbed, beaten, and left to die.

Like the burdened and weary, the troubled and helpless.

Like the sheep without a shepherd.

To those who have received mercy, Jesus says, "Lift up your eyes. Look at people. See their suffering? Care about them! Speak to them. Do something for them."

Jesus means it.

We have received mercy. We must now be merciful to others.

Only if we extend mercy to others will we continue to receive mercy.

Selfishness presumes God is here to make us happy so we can indulge in our personal pleasures with disregard for others.

The Pharisee and Levite were so busy with their own importance that they were willing to walk right past a dying man. He was probably on drugs, anyway, don't you think?

Ignorant, dirty; maybe dangerous?

No! Poor and needy!

How can Pharisees and Levites, "spiritual leaders," not be moved to do something to help a man?

Too busy with their own affairs!

When we are unmerciful, we are cut off from mercy.

Without mercy, we fall back into spiritual poverty and become more wretched and miserable than ever.

Poor, needy, weak, miserable, beaten, robbed, dying people are everywhere.

Do something. Help someone.

JONAH

WE CREATE OUR OWN STORMS!

Jonah ran away from God!

We are so like Jonah!!

God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach to them about their "wickedness," about how they were destroying their lives and each in the process. 120,000 people living self-destructive lives, and hurting one another in the process--"wicked."

And Jonah said, "No!" And ran away. Straight into the teeth of a storm.

Seeking to avoid God and His specificly stated will, Jonah ignored the people of Nineveh. But in running away, he took a shipload of people into his own storm.

Jonah's refusal to carry out God's purpose for his life resulted in dragging others into his problems, to say nothing of the people he could have been helping.

We, too, say "No!" to God, go our own way, create and add to the problems of our families, friends, and associates. We, too, deny the strangers in our lives and all who we will meet in the future from receiving the grace that God wants us to have and give to the troubled, poor, and needy of our generation.

Jonah is shown as blatantly rebellious.

We would never do anything that bad. Just worse!

We run from God and His purpose for our lives in this generation of this nation by "praying" for people.

We pray, "God bless the people. Save them. Send them missionaires and witnesses. We commit them to You. In Jesus Name. Amen."

And we then go on our merry way, having done our job and "left it at Jesus' feet."

Jonah was filled with anger, resentment, and bitterness; probably a lot of fear of what people thought about him; a consuming desire for personal, selfish pleasure; and, the stupid, foolish audacity to rebel against God and His direct commands.

The strength of our selfish, sinful nature and desires for personal pleasure and self-will is incredible!

How hard is it to "Deny yourslef, take up your cross daily, and follow Me"?

Luke 9.23

In runnning away from God and the people of his life, Jonah ignored and disregarded the hardship, difficulty, pain, shame, lostness, and destructiveness of the Ninevites.

He callously led a shipload of sailors into a storm and saw them throw the treasures of their cargo "out the window."

He hid out in the bottom of the ship, wishing he could die and blaming God for it all.

Amazing.

But we do exactly the same thing.

We know we are not following Christ's will for our lives.

We know we are not seeking His will and way for us.

We know we do not love Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And we certainly don't love our neighbors, the strangers, or even our families more than we love ourselves.

We want to "trust God" to take care of and "fix" their problems so we don't have to be troubled about anything.

To "go" to the people Jesus has put us here to take care of is not in our "play book."

To "Lift up our eyes, look at the fields and pray to go seek lost sheep who are weary and burdened, helpless and hopeless, lost and undone," as Jesus directly commands us (Matt. 9, 11, 28; Luke 15) is something we avoid and run from and rebel against.

We become angry when things don't go our way.

We panic when people we do care about get into trouble and need help.

We know we are failing God and the people about us are failing and falling into great and awful trouble every day.

We wring our hands in dispair while our hearts turn way from God would have us do.

We say "No" to God and turn our eyes away from people all around us who are hurting themselves and each other.

We say "No" to God so we can avoid the problems of others and do what we want, without regand for what is happening to the people all about us.

Like Jonah, we know we are to do something. And this "something" is not hard.

God asks us to love Him so we can love others.

It is so simple.

With all His heart, Jesus says, "Come. Follow Me."

The Words of the Lord--Psalm 119.97-104

When I Meditate on Your Words

Psalm 119.97

Jesus came full of Grace and Truth--John 1.16-17


In His prayer in the Garden, He asked the Father for our "sanctification" through this same Truth, which He then affirmed to be found in Scripture:



John 17.17 "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. "



We find this Grace and Truth for our hearts and lives by the very simple process of just reading Scripture thoughtfully. "Thoughtful" reading is called "consider" in Psalm 119.6:



"..I consider all Your commands."



We can "consider--thoughtfully, prayerfully--read " all the Scripture.

This is often called "meditation," as in Ps. 119.97--



"I will meditate on (Your Law) all day long."



We can do this! Memorize or carry a card with a verse of Truth that God the Holy Spirit wants to put into your heart and life and relationships.



As we read, with prayerful consideration, we learn with understanding and "light" what God is saying to us about specific areas of life and relationships, with Him and those we are with day by day.



"I will praise You with an upright heart as I learn Your righteous laws."

Ps. 119.6



With peace, hope, encouragement, and confidence, we will begin to believe and trust our God, Savior, and Lord. We will recognize and obey His leadership and directions for our daily needs and issues.



119. 8--"I will obey Your decrees."



This will lead us through Psalm 119.97-104 which tells us that we come to love the Law of the Lord because it gives us His

wisdom

insight

understanding

freedom from evil

sweet words

and avoidance of every wrong path.



For this working of Grace we are to

meditate all day long

keep commands with us

obey precepts (specific words for specific issues in our lives)

and learn as He teaches.



The time and place that all this takes place is called "Abide in Me," or "refuge," or "rest," or simple "think about things above where Christ sits on the right hand of the Father"--Col. 3.1-2. Or, in the words of the Palms a quiet place to be alone with God, without distractions, where we can read, consider, meditate, learn, find grace to help in time of need from the truth the Holy Spirit reveals to us.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to this blog. I hope to share my thoughts and insight about God's Word!