Sunday, August 3, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
Long Term Treatment for Panic and Generalized Anxiety
(Update 7/27: I inadvertently combined some information from Dr. Hart's Relaxation and Christian Meditation CD with his DVD message. Sorry about that. You can order his CD here .)
I watched Dr. Archibald Hart's dvd again the other day, Overcoming Stress and Anxiety, and couldn't remember if I posted his suggestions for the long-term treatment of panic disorder and generalized anxiety--both are biological forms of anxiety. With biological anxiety, Dr. Hart teaches you have to change some things in your life--become more proactive--in order the get the brain chemistry balanced again. He said in the dvd that stress plays havoc with the brain, and it will take some time to de-stress the brain. He suggests medication to treat the symptoms of biological anxiety but also urges us to go further to change our lives so that the root cause of the anxiety will be exterminated--the root cause being too much adrenaline and cortisol caused by too much stress. He mentions that relaxation techniques will help lower your adrenalin. He makes the point that research supports the best way to stop panic is to meditate.
Christian meditation helps slow down your brain, takes control of your thinking. He suggests taking a psalm like Psalm 23 and reading it through slowly one time. Then go back and take it phrase by phrase, pausing to meditate on what the phrase means. For example, "The LORD" from verse 1. Meditate on what LORD means to you. Ask yourself questions--Is He really my LORD? Am I loyal to Him?, etc. You can also take this time to dialogue with God--tell Him how thankful you are that He is your LORD.
After thinking about LORD, then go on to the next phrase, "is my shepherd." I tried this form of meditation this morning with my Sunday School class. When we stopped to meditate on the phrase, "is my shepherd", the word my jumped out at me. The LORD is my very own shepherd. I never thought about that before. Then I thought, what does a shepherd do? He feeds the flock, protects the flock, rescues the lost, guides the flock. I remembered Jesus said that He was the "Good Shepherd", and so I discussed that with my ladies. While we went through the first phrases of the psalm, the room was quiet and calm as each one of us were meditating on what the words meant to us. In the stillness, I felt a sense of reverent awe for God. And also contentment because of what His Word was saying to our hearts. Dr. Hart says if you go through the first three verses within five minutes, you're moving too fast. The point of meditation is to take your time and listen to what God might say instead of rushing through.
I hope you try this form of worship by yourself. It really does calm down the mind and I love what God's Word says in Isaiah, "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever." Meditating on God's Word brings healing to our minds, hearts, and souls as well as peace. It encourages and edifies us and develops our faith in God. It also places us in the position to hear from God. We will be able to hear His still, quiet voice.
Dr. Hart also suggests getting nine hours of sleep every night. And de-stress before bedtime--turn off the tv, take a hot bath, read uplifting material like a Christian book or the Bible. If you can't get a full nine hours each night, take naps during the week so that you average out nine hours a night. If you don't sleep enough your brain chemistry is not going to be in balance because sleep enhances the body's natural tranquilizers. It takes discipline to do these things, but they are so beneficial. I'm encouraged to start putting his suggestions into practice. Dr. Hart's dvd is called Overcoming Stress and Anxiety and can be purchased on eBay or Lifeway.
I watched Dr. Archibald Hart's dvd again the other day, Overcoming Stress and Anxiety, and couldn't remember if I posted his suggestions for the long-term treatment of panic disorder and generalized anxiety--both are biological forms of anxiety. With biological anxiety, Dr. Hart teaches you have to change some things in your life--become more proactive--in order the get the brain chemistry balanced again. He said in the dvd that stress plays havoc with the brain, and it will take some time to de-stress the brain. He suggests medication to treat the symptoms of biological anxiety but also urges us to go further to change our lives so that the root cause of the anxiety will be exterminated--the root cause being too much adrenaline and cortisol caused by too much stress. He mentions that relaxation techniques will help lower your adrenalin. He makes the point that research supports the best way to stop panic is to meditate.
Christian meditation helps slow down your brain, takes control of your thinking. He suggests taking a psalm like Psalm 23 and reading it through slowly one time. Then go back and take it phrase by phrase, pausing to meditate on what the phrase means. For example, "The LORD" from verse 1. Meditate on what LORD means to you. Ask yourself questions--Is He really my LORD? Am I loyal to Him?, etc. You can also take this time to dialogue with God--tell Him how thankful you are that He is your LORD.
After thinking about LORD, then go on to the next phrase, "is my shepherd." I tried this form of meditation this morning with my Sunday School class. When we stopped to meditate on the phrase, "is my shepherd", the word my jumped out at me. The LORD is my very own shepherd. I never thought about that before. Then I thought, what does a shepherd do? He feeds the flock, protects the flock, rescues the lost, guides the flock. I remembered Jesus said that He was the "Good Shepherd", and so I discussed that with my ladies. While we went through the first phrases of the psalm, the room was quiet and calm as each one of us were meditating on what the words meant to us. In the stillness, I felt a sense of reverent awe for God. And also contentment because of what His Word was saying to our hearts. Dr. Hart says if you go through the first three verses within five minutes, you're moving too fast. The point of meditation is to take your time and listen to what God might say instead of rushing through.
I hope you try this form of worship by yourself. It really does calm down the mind and I love what God's Word says in Isaiah, "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever." Meditating on God's Word brings healing to our minds, hearts, and souls as well as peace. It encourages and edifies us and develops our faith in God. It also places us in the position to hear from God. We will be able to hear His still, quiet voice.
Dr. Hart also suggests getting nine hours of sleep every night. And de-stress before bedtime--turn off the tv, take a hot bath, read uplifting material like a Christian book or the Bible. If you can't get a full nine hours each night, take naps during the week so that you average out nine hours a night. If you don't sleep enough your brain chemistry is not going to be in balance because sleep enhances the body's natural tranquilizers. It takes discipline to do these things, but they are so beneficial. I'm encouraged to start putting his suggestions into practice. Dr. Hart's dvd is called Overcoming Stress and Anxiety and can be purchased on eBay or Lifeway.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Post from Beth Moore's Blog
http://blog.lproof.org/
April 19, 2014 THE WOMEN THAT SATURDAY
The place God carved out for women in the Bible’s account of Christ’s death and resurrection is astonishing. To be noticed in the scenes at all in the religious climate of their day was revolutionary. To be recorded by name, an immeasurable gift wrapped in the incarnation.
As women of Christ seeking to identify with those first female followers who were eyewitnesses of His life, parts of His ministry (Luke 8:1-3), His passion, His death, and resurrection, we try to place ourselves in the unfolding drama that has made room for our kind. Imagining what it was like to be Mary, the mother of Christ, on the lurching patch of ground near the Cross is soul-wrenching. To see your child, grown though he may be, thrashed into disfigurement, unclothed and exposed and hung by nails through the flesh of your flesh for hours on end, fighting for breath, is too much to wrap our imaginations around.The seconds must have dragged their feet like a suffering man dragging a cross.
To try to stare into the eyes of the women at the crucifixion of Christ and imagine the lung-heaving weight of their grief and the crashing of their hope is endurable only because we know the rest of the story. On the third day through the pool of a woman’s tears, the face of the risen Son of God was beheld, the sun piercing the black hole of an empty tomb.
Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?
Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.
And Jesus spoke just one little word to the woman from Magdala.
Mary.
She turned and said to Him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”
Stunningly beautiful. Haven’t most of us imagined being her?
The account of the women over that weekend of earth-altering events doesn’t skip from the Cross to the tomb. Luke 23:56 records a single piece of information that scripts hours of silence. I’ll include the surrounding verses here so that you can see it in a loosely draped timeline:
______
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. (Luke 23:50-24:11 ESV)
______
Go with me there again: the women saw how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
Then they had to sit and wait and bide their agonizing time until the Sabbath was over so that they could tend to the deceased body of their beloved.
No work. Just wait.
Sometimes waiting is the work.
Nothing makes us sweat like waiting.
Sometimes rest is imposed on us when what we want to do more than anything on earth is work.
I’ve got to do something.
To women, there is always something to do in a catastrophe.
Fix it.
If you can’t fix it, fret over it. Flail. Demand. Make yourself heard.
But do something.
To us the answer is never do nothing. I’m not sure womanhood had ever been put to trial more thoroughly in the Gospels than in the still shot of Luke 23:56.
I don’t want to wait and see. Let me see to it myself. Nothing mauls a sober woman’s sensibilities like staying put in a crisis.
We want to wrap things, even if they’re dead.
At our bravest and most selfless, we want desperately to bring fragrance to the pall of death and give it, if not beauty, dignity. If we cannot, we feel useless.We do not realize that our presence right there before God in the trust of our worklessness can be fragrance. It’s not in the spices and ointments. It’s in us.
It is Saturday. Not only a day in a week of seven but maybe a season in your own pain and bewilderment. Maybe something terrible has happened; that which could make many you love lose hope. Maybe it looks like God did not come through. You keep taking up for Him but He doesn’t seem to be taking up for Himself.
But you believe…because you’ve seen so much. You know God can work things for good and you volunteer almost violently for Him to use you to do it but, still, resurrection waits. Nothing you’re doing is working. Your hands are tied. You feel useless. After all, what good is a woman who’s forced to rest?
Go with me to one more scene of women. Rewind the sacred clock to the week before Christ’s death and resurrection. The place is John 11. 17
Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.
Moments later, that dead man came walking out of the tomb, grave clothes dangling.
Rest.
You cannot fix it.
All your panting will not resuscitate it.
Resurrection is divine.
We can’t help God with it. He alone can do it.
And He will. He is life. He cannot leave death well enough alone.
Rest.
Tomorrow is Sunday.
The place God carved out for women in the Bible’s account of Christ’s death and resurrection is astonishing. To be noticed in the scenes at all in the religious climate of their day was revolutionary. To be recorded by name, an immeasurable gift wrapped in the incarnation.
As women of Christ seeking to identify with those first female followers who were eyewitnesses of His life, parts of His ministry (Luke 8:1-3), His passion, His death, and resurrection, we try to place ourselves in the unfolding drama that has made room for our kind. Imagining what it was like to be Mary, the mother of Christ, on the lurching patch of ground near the Cross is soul-wrenching. To see your child, grown though he may be, thrashed into disfigurement, unclothed and exposed and hung by nails through the flesh of your flesh for hours on end, fighting for breath, is too much to wrap our imaginations around.The seconds must have dragged their feet like a suffering man dragging a cross.
To try to stare into the eyes of the women at the crucifixion of Christ and imagine the lung-heaving weight of their grief and the crashing of their hope is endurable only because we know the rest of the story. On the third day through the pool of a woman’s tears, the face of the risen Son of God was beheld, the sun piercing the black hole of an empty tomb.
Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?
Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.
And Jesus spoke just one little word to the woman from Magdala.
Mary.
She turned and said to Him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”
Stunningly beautiful. Haven’t most of us imagined being her?
The account of the women over that weekend of earth-altering events doesn’t skip from the Cross to the tomb. Luke 23:56 records a single piece of information that scripts hours of silence. I’ll include the surrounding verses here so that you can see it in a loosely draped timeline:
______
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. (Luke 23:50-24:11 ESV)
______
Go with me there again: the women saw how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
Then they had to sit and wait and bide their agonizing time until the Sabbath was over so that they could tend to the deceased body of their beloved.
No work. Just wait.
Sometimes waiting is the work.
Nothing makes us sweat like waiting.
Sometimes rest is imposed on us when what we want to do more than anything on earth is work.
I’ve got to do something.
To women, there is always something to do in a catastrophe.
Fix it.
If you can’t fix it, fret over it. Flail. Demand. Make yourself heard.
But do something.
To us the answer is never do nothing. I’m not sure womanhood had ever been put to trial more thoroughly in the Gospels than in the still shot of Luke 23:56.
I don’t want to wait and see. Let me see to it myself. Nothing mauls a sober woman’s sensibilities like staying put in a crisis.
We want to wrap things, even if they’re dead.
At our bravest and most selfless, we want desperately to bring fragrance to the pall of death and give it, if not beauty, dignity. If we cannot, we feel useless.We do not realize that our presence right there before God in the trust of our worklessness can be fragrance. It’s not in the spices and ointments. It’s in us.
It is Saturday. Not only a day in a week of seven but maybe a season in your own pain and bewilderment. Maybe something terrible has happened; that which could make many you love lose hope. Maybe it looks like God did not come through. You keep taking up for Him but He doesn’t seem to be taking up for Himself.
But you believe…because you’ve seen so much. You know God can work things for good and you volunteer almost violently for Him to use you to do it but, still, resurrection waits. Nothing you’re doing is working. Your hands are tied. You feel useless. After all, what good is a woman who’s forced to rest?
Go with me to one more scene of women. Rewind the sacred clock to the week before Christ’s death and resurrection. The place is John 11. 17
Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.
Moments later, that dead man came walking out of the tomb, grave clothes dangling.
Rest.
You cannot fix it.
All your panting will not resuscitate it.
Resurrection is divine.
We can’t help God with it. He alone can do it.
And He will. He is life. He cannot leave death well enough alone.
Rest.
Tomorrow is Sunday.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Become Empowered
You can meditate on fearful things and become fearful, or you can meditate on the power of God, His Word, and His love for you and become empowered. The most often used phrase in the Bible is "Do not fear". 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Jesus Our Hope
Whenever it's darkest, remember Jesus. He is your light. You're not without hope. His power goes beyond your ability to conceive. So does His love. He will fight for you. Cry out to Him. He is close to the broken. His compassion is unfailing. Eleven years ago, I thought I was a lost cause. He proved me wrong. And I give Him praise this morning.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
The Mind Controlled by the Spirit
One of the most effective ways for me to calm my anxious
mind and refocus my thoughts on Jesus is to meditate on the verses I found and
wrote down back in 2004 that speak truth to my soul. During my quiet time recently,
I wrote down a few; and as I wrote the words, I meditated on their meanings. I
used my NIV Hebrew-Greek Study Bible Lexicon to gain even more insight. You can
do this online here.
Here’s my example: Romans 8:6 “The mind of sinful man is
death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” (NIV84)
Life—zoe (Greek)—Life, the element or principle of life in
the spirit and soul. Distinguished from “bios”, life, the course of life, the
business and affairs of life. Zoe is used most often in connection with eternal
life. This life is the very life of God of which believers are made partakers.
Peace—Eirene(Greek)—peace, tranquility, repose, calm,
harmony, accord; well-being prosperity. It denotes a state of untroubled,
undisturbed, well-being. Such a state of peace is the object of divine promise
and is brought about by God’s mercy, granting deliverance and freedom from all
the distresses that are experienced as a result of sin. Hence the message of
salvation is called the gospel of peace, for this peace can only be the result
of reconciliation with God, referring to the new relationship between man and
God brought about by the atonement.
After reading about these two words and how they relate to
Romans 8:6, I applied it to my life: The mind controlled by the Spirit is God’s
life for me. It’s eternal life, life to my spirit and soul. It’s true life: it
keeps me alive to Christ and dead to sin. And it’s deliverance--freedom from
the distresses caused by sin in my life or by sin in others’ lives. It’s calm,
tranquility and harmony in my thought life. No fear, no striving, indecision,
anxiety, disorganization of my thoughts. No despair or dismay. No judging
others or thinking negatively about them. Only peace, a sense of well-being, thoughts
aligned with God’s Spirit. A mind
controlled by the Spirit is a praying mind—a mind stayed on God.
This is the kind of mind I want, but it takes yielding to
the Spirit and not insisting on my own way. That’s something we can pray about—asking
God to help us yield to the Spirit's control so that we may have His life and His peace.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
My Determined Purpose
Sometimes we get disappointed with ourselves because we’re
believers but our actions (or maybe reactions) aren’t what we want them to be
in certain situations. Sometimes we get disheartened because we know God could
change some things in us, but He hasn’t yet.
Sometimes the battle is an old one-- that “thorn in the flesh.” Sometimes we don’t feel like “more than
conquerors”, and yet, we know we have a Champion for whom nothing is impossible
and Who is “for” us, not “against” us. Sometimes trying to
walk like Jesus walked seems too hard, and it’s easier to say, “I give
up” instead of looking up and trying one more time.
Negative thoughts and feelings can really discourage us,
paralyze us, and drag us into despair. We need to take them captive and bring
them to Christ. We are not perfect human beings. We need to confess our sins
and shortcomings. We need to accept hardship as the Lord’s discipline, knowing
that we’re being changed for the better. Our hearts and our faith are being purified. In the meantime, Jesus says His grace is sufficient for us. God’s
Word tells us that He is indeed working in us to will and to do His good
pleasure. We’re encouraged to stand firm and to put on the armor of God in
Ephesians 6. And in order to think like Christ, we need to meditate on God's Word which contains whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable,
noteworthy, excellent. (We're told to think on these things in Phil. 4:8) Then we can trust God to take care of our concerns and problems
that we’ve laid out before Him in prayer. We can cast all our anxieties on
Jesus because He cares for us. We can trust Jesus. But it’s hard to trust Him
if you don’t know Him.
Almost a year ago, I placed a card on my
refrigerator that had this verse on it: “[For my determined purpose is] that I
may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately
acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders
of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way
come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts
over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually
transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death.” (Phil. 3:10; Amp)
“For my determined purpose” caught
my attention when I read it again recently. If I’m going to continue this
spiritual walk I’m on, I’ve got to be determined and turn away from anything
that would keep me from knowing Jesus my Lord deeply and intimately, as well as
knowing His spiritual power. I can’t imagine a better example of someone more determined
than Paul, the writer of Phil 3:10 and Phil. 4:8. Beaten, flogged, jailed, chained, chased, surviving shipwrecks,
ridiculed, rejected. He must have been determined since he never gave up. It inspires me and convicts
me to make knowing Jesus my determined purpose because Jesus went through much
worse for me. Beaten, flogged, ridiculed, rejected, spit upon, crucified,
pierced. But that wasn’t the end. He had to endure the cup of God’s wrath for
the sins of the world in addition to the physical suffering. I can’t even
imagine what all He went through for me and for you. And then, victory—just as
He promised. Resurrection. Hope. Eternal life.
Paul says something else about his trials
as he continued in his determined purpose—“But the Lord stood at
my side and gave me strength….” (2 Tim.
4:17, NIV) We can count
on the Lord standing by us. As soon as we cry out, He strengthens us. Jesus
loves us with an unfailing, unending, unconditional love. He is worthy of our
love, our devotion, our determined purpose to know Him.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
A Prayer
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Focusing on Jesus in the Midst of Difficulties
How do we keep our minds on Christ in the midst of
difficulties? For anxiety-prone people like me, the answer to this question is
extremely important. John Ortberg talked about this in If You Want to Walk on
Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat. He reaffirmed what I’d learned from one of Beth Moore's studies: whatever we focus our minds on, whatever we meditate on continually, determines
the way we think. I love this excerpt from Ortberg’s book: “Psychologist
Archibald Hart writes, ‘Research has shown that one's thought life influences
every aspect of one's being.’ Whether we are filled with confidence or fear
depends on the kind of thoughts that habitually occupy our minds. The way you
think creates your attitudes; the way you think shapes your emotions; the way
you think governs your behavior; the way you think deeply influences your
immune system and vulnerability to illness. Everything about you flows out of
the way you think. I believe this is one of those cases where we are simply
coming to confirm what the writers of Scriptures knew quite clearly all along. Paul
said, 'Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your minds.'
The law of exposure is as inviolable as the law of gravity.
No one is surprised by the law of gravity. No one says, 'Hey, I dropped
this priceless antique crystal vase on cement and it broke. What are the odds
of that?' But amazingly enough, people react to the law of exposure in
total shock. People are surprised that what their minds are constantly exposed
to, attend to, and dwell on eventually comes out in how they feel and what they
do.
The events you attend, the material you read (or don't), the
music you hear, the images you watch, the conversations you hold, the daydreams
you entertain-all are shaping your mind and, ultimately, your character and
destiny. This is supremely true when it comes to hope.
Is. 26:3 says, 'Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on thee.' It all depends on where your mind stays.
The good news is that you can put these laws to work for you. If you really
want to become a certain kind of person--a hopeful person focused on Christ--you
must begin to think thoughts that will produce those characteristics. So we
understand why Paul said, 'Think about these things.' When you focus
on Christ, these are the kinds of thoughts he will inspire you to think.
Therefore you must put your mind in a place that will lead you to think
hope-producing thoughts. You need to expose your mind to those resources,
books, tapes, people, and conversations that will incline you toward confidence
in God. Your mind will think most about what it is most exposed to.”
So true! When I
begin the day by praying to God and then reading His Word, and when I sit in
silence and listen with my heart to what He’s saying to me, or while I’m
engaged in memorizing a few verses, or singing praises to Him, or meditating on
a psalm, there is a marked difference in the peace and joy that I have and in
my awareness of God's faithfulness and love for me. My blood pressure goes
down, and so does my heart rate. My thoughts are pleasant and faith-filled. I
feel the peace of God and His Presence. John Ortberg has much more to say about
feeding your mind and soul in his book.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
What is Truth?
The Bible can tear you up or it can heal you. It all depends on your relationship to the Lord. It's not head knowledge that counts--it's heart knowledge. When you become a friend of Jesus, when you make Him Lord of your life, then the Word becomes alive in you, and the Bible confirms what you already know in your heart--God is real, Jesus is alive, and God's Word is true. Healing begins. Having the Spirit of Jesus Christ as your moment-by-moment Counselor, Friend, Shepherd, Sustainer, Helper, Healer is worth giving up your own self-made belief system which will destroy you in the end and rob you of the Greater Glory--Christ living in you.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
The Truth that Defeats The Lies I've Told Myself
All Scripture in NIV unless otherwise noted.
LIE—I am all alone
with no one to help me.
TRUTH
Hebrews 13:5-6 “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never
will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will
not be afraid.’”
Joshua 1:5 “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I
will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Isaiah 49:15-16 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”
Matthew 28:20 “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
John 14:15-17 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
Psalm 9:10 “Those who know your Name will trust in you, for
you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.”
LIE—I am going to lose my mind.
TRUTH
Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (NKJV)
Romans 8:6b “The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”
Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
1 Corinthians 14:15 “So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.”
(See also, 1 Corinthians 2:16; Romans 8:27;)
LIE—I am not safe!
There is no place where I can be safe!
TRUTH
Psalm 18:2 “The Lord
is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find
protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.
(NLT)
TRUTH
Psalm 85:8 “I will
listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints— but let them not return to folly.”
Isaiah 32:17 “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness
will be quietness and confidence forever.”
John 14:27 “Peace
I leave with you; my peace I
give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be
troubled and do not be afraid.”
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you
may have peace. In this world
you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
(See also, Psalm 29:11; 34:14; 1 Peter 3:11; John 20:19, 21,
26; Ephesians 2:14)
LIE—I’ll never
change; I’ll always be afraid.
TRUTH
Isaiah 43:1-2;4 "Fear
not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When
you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the
rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you.”
you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you.”
Isaiah 43:19 “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it
springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams
in the wasteland.”
2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen
those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
Ephesians 6:10-11;14-18 “Be strong in the LORD and in His
mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled
around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with
your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In
addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit….”
(See also, Isaiah 35:4; 41:10; 41:13; Joshua 1:5-7; Jeremiah
30:10)
Friday, March 1, 2013
An Unexpected Guest
The other morning I was having my quiet time when my chihuahua walked in. She knows I won't pick her up until I'm finished with my prayer time, but sometimes she likes to test me. When I ignored her paws on my pajama leg, I assumed she'd leave; however, she began sniffing around the room. She stopped in front of my chest-of-drawers and began to growl. It was low, menacing, and long (when you're sitting in a room by yourself and it's early morning and really quiet, you don't want to hear a growl like that).
I glanced over and she was staring underneath the chest-of-drawers. Not really wanting to, I carefully rose praying it wasn't a snake or something. Then I had to bend down, which I did slowly. After a quick sweep with my eyes, I saw the shadowy head of a lizard raise up from the floor. Yikes! I ran to the kitchen for an empty coffee can. When I came back, the lizard had moved out from under the chest-of-drawers and was hanging onto the floor molding. Thankfully, I was able to capture it and toss it outside. I felt quite proud of myself. My little dog got an extra hug and treat after that. :)
I glanced over and she was staring underneath the chest-of-drawers. Not really wanting to, I carefully rose praying it wasn't a snake or something. Then I had to bend down, which I did slowly. After a quick sweep with my eyes, I saw the shadowy head of a lizard raise up from the floor. Yikes! I ran to the kitchen for an empty coffee can. When I came back, the lizard had moved out from under the chest-of-drawers and was hanging onto the floor molding. Thankfully, I was able to capture it and toss it outside. I felt quite proud of myself. My little dog got an extra hug and treat after that. :)
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