Stress Relief A Lesson from The Bible

Stress Relief a Lesson From The Bible by Lynn Chapman (Bella Online http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art4588.asp)

Life is hard, in fact it can be very stressful. Stress is now accepted and thought to be an unavoidable consequence of life. It has even been described as America’s #1 health problem. In fact, over nine billion dollars are spent each year in the United States to cope with stress.

If you have ever made a New Year’s Resolution to begin some sort of stress management program, you are not alone. A survey by Prudential Health Care says that one third of the population have made such resolutions.

If you feel that your stress level is out of control and you can’t get out from under it, you are also not alone. That’s the way stress is. It is self-perpetuating and does not go away by itself.

I know of a Stress management program that will cost you nothing and may seem all too easy. It is found in the Bible, in the book of Matthew, chapter 11, verses 28 and 29.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls”

I have often felt weary and as if I was carrying a heavy burden. I have many times had to balance working enough hours to help to pay the bills, meet deadlines at work, keep up with chores at home, and make my husband, children, other relatives and friends feel loved and cared for. Add in anything extra, like an illness or car break down or any of the many other things that can go wrong in a day, and the feeling gets to be unbearable.

A yoke was a double harness in which two animals pulled together. Often, one harness was larger and meant for the stronger animal, while the smaller was used for the smaller or inexperienced animal being trained.

The larger side of the harness is for Jesus for He is stronger and He knows the way, the smaller side for us. This is God’s stress relief program and is available to anyone who believes what Jesus said and chooses to take His yoke. He offers to give us rest and to walk with us and to help to carry the load, to teach us and give us rest for our souls.

Take Your Medicine

Take your medicine…

Why is it so easy for me to give others advice but if the situation applies to me...why do I act so differently?

How long will it be that I have to deal with myself (my flesh tendencies powered by emotions)?

I like encouraging others and giving people those words that are inspired by the WORD, so they may be able to move up and out of their negative circumstances. I have such a high desire to see others grow and come into their purpose and potential...but have I forgotten about myself?

I feel like I am a pharmacist, who has been given authority to have the Great Physician’s (God) written prescription. With that access, those people I talk to can get their prescription filled and take their medicine as God uses me and this desire he put in me to encourage and distribute his healing medicine.
But why is so hard, for me myself, to take my own medicine that he prescribed to me individually?

Why is it so hard for me to swallow my pink pill of peace, my square pill of security, my purple pill of patience, or even my capsule of courage? Why am I able to swallow some of my prescribed medicine but decide to use something that is over the counter knowing that its strength could never equal the prescribed? Is it because I have gotten so use to the pain?

I must stand on HIS word His prescription for my life, in spite of my flesh. I must not be only a hearer and a distributor but I also must ingest the medicine he prescribed deep inside...

A small sample of my prescription of promises...

according to my earnest expectation and hope that I shall be ashamed in nothing, but as always now Christ shall be magnified in my body with all boldness, whether it is by life or by death. (Philippians 1:20)

For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ, (Philippians 1:6)

Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

casting all your anxiety onto Him, for He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

Spiritual Check-up

Spiritual Check-up
Devotions - Daily Devotions
Written by Betty Lightle

I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Jeremiah 17:10

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24

As we "grow up" in the Lord, we need to have a spiritual check-up occasionally to see if we are healthy. In our examination, we need the Divine Physician to check our heart to see if it is defective. If we have "not the love of the brethren," we need open-heart surgery. If we are open to the love of God, we can even love the unlovable.

If the cancer of bitterness, guilt, loneliness, or discouragement is eating away our joy and strength in the Lord, we must give our permission to allow the Physician to cut out all the abnormal growth that is destroying our victory.

If sores of hurt seem to pop up without warning and are so irritable and bothersome that we can think of nothing else, we need to saturate ourselves in the Word of God. If applied daily, no further treatment is necessary.

If our ears have become so hard-of-hearing that we can no longer hear the cries for help from others, we need to begin to wear and use the aid of the Holy Spirit to help us detect those sounds.

If we can no longer see the need for souls to be saved, we have become spiritually blind and need a transplant of a new vision and zeal to win others to Christ.

If the problem lies in a weakened spine, daily exercises of prayer will develop spiritual backbone of determination to live and do as God wants us to, no matter how heavy the load we must carry at times.

Good spiritual health is necessary in developing a strong, healthy growth in the Lord. Continued neglect only leads to the deterioration of our soul.

Our spiritual health is more important than our physical health as one can enter Heaven physically maimed.


http://titus2menandwomen.org/cms/index.php/devotions/610-spiritual-check-up

Beauty in Motion-Who we are

As a society we have abused both out physical and spiritual bodies through what we take in through our mouths, through our eyes, and through our minds. We lack the discipline to train our physical bodies by eating too much, taking in the wrong things, having increased amounts of stress and having little to no energy to accomplish our tasks. And with all that said our spiritual man tends to suffer becoming more malnourished as our physical man grows unhealthier, not having the endurance, stamina, or energy to accomplish our purpose. A lot of us are walking around carrying loads that are taking decades of our lives away because we choose to stay in a mindset that is not willing to change.

BIM is here to incorporate and help balance these elements by the glory of God through nutrition, health education, stress management, spiritual wellness, exercise and mind transformation to intertwine the physical and spiritual. Our bodies are gifts that God has given us so we can do the work he has called us to do. You may be saying to yourself it’s too hard to get in shape, or what’s the use I don’t like moving around and I like eating what I want.

Don’t think I don’t understand, I have been on a journey myself that has included not only weight loss, but my thinking about food and my health had to change, how I handled my stress that had to be channeled differently, my overall apperance from my hair, my dress, etc. a true mind transformation. I am still on my journey but I am definitely not where I used to be. I hope that this ministry can lead you on a path to a change and you will continue this for the rest of your life.