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Pastor Rick Warren...God's
Prescriptions for Good Health
God has given you the gift of your body and it comes with an owner's
manual - the Bible. In it are all the instructions you need to take
care of yourself and live a long life.
You already know the basics - proper nutrition, exercise, a good
night's rest. Today I want to look at the first of four health factors
you may not have thought of for living long and well.
Trusting God is good for
your health. "Trust in the Lord with all your
heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5 NIV). Why
is trusting in God good for your health? When you trust Him then you
don't worry.
Psalm 116:7 says, "I said to myself, 'Relax, the Lord is going to take
care of you'" (NCV). If you really trust in God, you're going to
be less stressed.
You have a choice -
• You can either worry or worship.
• You can either pray or panic.
The more you pray, the less you'll panic. Relax, because God will take
care of you!
The Bible says in Proverbs 14:30, "A
heart at peace gives life to the
body, but envy rots the bones" (NIV). It's not just what you eat that
matters, it's what eats you. You can have all the right macrobiotics
and organic food, but if your body is filled with resentment, worry,
fear, lust, guilt, anger, bitterness, or any other emotional disease,
it's going to shorten your life.
The second biblical factor for good health is Confessing My Sin.
Any psychologist will tell you this - it's good to clear your
conscience and get things off your chest. Your body is not made to hold
it in. When you hold guilt inside you, it's like shaking up a soda can
with the top on. It will blow eventually.
David says it this way in Psalm 32:3-5, "When I refused to confess my
sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long. ...My
strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally I confessed
all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. ... And you forgave
me! All my guilt is gone"(NLT).
David internalized his guilt and it physically affected his body. If
you don't talk out your problems, your guilt, your bitterness with God,
you're going to take it out on your body. Doctors say a lot of
people could leave the hospital today if they knew how to get rid of
guilt or resentment over things they've done to others and things
others have done to them.
Spend a few moments in prayer today asking God to forgive you for the
things you've done to others. Then pray about any resentment and
bitterness you are holding against people who have hurt you. Ask God to
help you forgive those people so you can move on to better health.
But God wants you to live a joy-filled, healthy life. The last two
factors for good health should put a smile on your face.
Giving generously is good
for my health. Every
time I'm generous, every time I'm giving, it improves my health. You
know there are more promises in the Bible about giving than anything
else because
God wants you to be like him. God is a giver.
Everything you have is a gift from God. He's generous and he wants you
to be
generous too. The Bible says, A generous man will prosper; he who
refreshes others will himself be
refreshed" (Proverbs 11:25 NIV). Doesn't that verse just
make you smile? There's a reason why it always feels good to help
others,
whether you're giving financially, giving materially, or giving of your
time.
Having fun is good for
your health. God tells us in his Word that life is meant
to be enjoyed, not just endured. "A
cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the
bones" (Proverbs 17:22 NIV). I like to put it this way, "He who laughs,
lasts." Learn to laugh at yourself, put some play in every day, relax,
chill out, have some fun.
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Dr. James Denison...The
good news
is that Christians never die. When we
close our eyes here we open them immediately
in paradise. Our last breath here is our
first breath there. Scripture reminds us,
"Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the
death of his saints" (Psalm 116:15). Those
you love who have died in Christ, didn't. You
have Jesus' word on it: "Whoever lives and
believes in me
will never die" (John 11:26).
If you're in Jesus' hands, nothing can take you from
his omnipotent
grasp (John 10:28). Your eternal destiny
is guaranteed. You are immortal. As Justin the Martyr reminded his persecutors,
"You can kill us but you cannot harm us."
God urges us: "Do not be anxious about anything, but
in everything, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God"
(Philippians 4:6). What will happen when
you do? "And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will
guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (v. 7).
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Rick Warren...Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by
your thoughts. Proverbs 4:23 (TEV
To change your life, you must change the
way you
think. Behind everything you do is a thought. Every behavior is
motivated by a belief, and every action is prompted by an attitude.
God revealed this thousands of years
before psychologists understood it: "Be careful how you think; your
life is
shaped by your thoughts" (Proverbs 4:23 TEV).
When you try to change your
life with willpower; you say, "I'll force myself to eat less ... stop
smoking ... quit being disorganized and late." Willpower
can produce short-term change,
but it creates constant internal stress because you haven't dealt with
the root cause. The change doesn't feel natural. Eventually you give up
and go back to the way you were.
There is a better and easier
way: Change your autopilot; in other words, the way you think. "Let God
transform you
into a new person by changing the way you think" (Romans 12:2 NLT).
Change always starts first in the mind.
The way you
think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the
way you act, which means "there must be a spiritual renewal of your
thoughts and attitudes" (Ephesians 4:23 NLT).
To be like Christ
you must
develop the mind of Christ. The New Testament calls this mental shift
"repentance," which in Greek literally means "to change your mind."
To repent means to change the way you think - about God, yourself, sin,
other people, life, your future, and everything else, and you adopt
Christ's outlook and perspective on life.
Rick Warren…Spiritually, your mind is your most
vulnerable organ. To
reduce temptation, keep your mind occupied with God’s Word and other
good thoughts. You defeat bad thoughts by thinking of something better.
This is the principle of replacement. You overcome evil with good
(Romans 12:21).
Satan can’t get your attention when your mind is preoccupied with
something
else. That’s why the Bible repeatedly tells us to keep our minds
focused: “Fix your thoughts on Jesus” (Hebrews 3:1 NIV). “Fill your
minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things
that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable” (Philippians
4:8 TEV).
If you’re serious about defeating temptation you must manage your mind
and
monitor your media intake. The wisest man who ever lived warned, “Be
careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts” (Proverbs
4:23 TEV).
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Chuck Swindoll…”God never promised He would inform us ahead of time all
about His plan. He’s just promised He has one. Ultimately, it’s for our
good and His glory.” God works all things together for good. I know
that He is in control. And I know that He is good.
Writer
Katy Read asked in a recent AARP article if we ‘baby boomers’ have an
“Attention Crisis” also known as the “culture of distraction”,
“information-fatigue syndrome” or simply “modern life”. Researchers at
the University of California-San Diego recently said that, on average,
Americans hear, see or read 34 gigabytes worth of information a
day–about 100,000 words–from TV, the Internet, books, radio,
newspapers, and other sources. That has grown more than 5 percent
annually since 1980.
Worry>
Mark 9:17
Worry is a sin. Jesus told us not to do it.
Faith + Hope = Trust
Practice the presence of Jesus.
Don’t put faith in promises Jesus didn’t make.