Emotional and Mental Health - The Whole Person

 

A lady, who has been in our church Body since before I started writing this blog, found out this week that I write a post as a nightly devotion. She said, "I'll bet it is a good read, because you are very spiritual, aren't you?"

I answered, "I write about what I'm learning at the time. I include the body and soul, as well as the spirit. I believe in ministering to the whole person." She stared at me like I had two heads.

I have a Biblical precedence for my ministry goal with my blog. God includes the body and soul with the spirit in his ministry to people as well (Psalm 23-all). During His ministry on earth, Jesus regenerated the spirit from death to life, forgave sins in order to free the soul and healed the sick in body and soul (Matthew-all; Mark 2:9).

Paul taught us to include the body and soul in our spirituality when he admonished, " So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:13). 

We can successfully accomplish nothing in this life apart from the Spirit of God. God even uses some unregenerate people to accomplish His will, although they do not even realize it (Ezekiel 29:4, 38:4).

If it is necessary, God will cause a donkey to speak by His power (Numbers 22:21-39).  He is a creative God, as well as a caring and loving God. He wants what is best for us. That is why He created Paradise as our original dwelling place.

It is the wayward, prideful choices we make that block God's blessings from our life. We want to do things our own way, controlling our own life and being responsible to or answerable to no one, not even to God.

God's ways are certainly higher than our ways, beyond human comprehension sometimes, which makes it harder to trust His wisdom and intentions. Yet, if we totally surrender to God's will, we find our self blessed beyond our most vivid imaginations.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for caring about our body and soul as well as our spirit (Psalm 23:1-3). You provide for all of our needs according to Your abundant riches (Philippians 4:19). You are worthy of all of our praise, service and attention. You want only what is best for us, even if we do not recognize Your intentions at the time.

We usually, eventually see the wisdom in Your answers to our prayers, even if we do not understand while we are in the midst of our trials. You send the right people at the right time in the right place to bless us beyond our expectations. We thank You for saving us through regenerating our spirit, sanctifying our soul, and we look forward to You glorifying our body when we see Jesus face-to-face.

Thought for the Day:

God gives us joy beyond words and new mercy every single morning. - 1 Peter 1:8; Lamentations 3:22-23

Words are Precious

 

Words are very precious to me. I love to write, I love to learn new words and use them, and I love to read God's Word. Last night, I inadvertently deleted several posts I had written for my blog.

I was devastated. I backed up my files four days before this, but I had a writing spurt between then and the catastrophe and the Holy Spirit helped me to write some inspired words. All lost.

I called my sons and between them, they did their best to recover my precious words. The files did not go to the recycle bin. My computer just wiped them out.

I also lost the Google Talk phone capability on my computer. This made me realize that if I felt this loss so deeply, I will be devastated if I ever lost the Word of God through persecution of the church in America.

At my age, I do not have a good memory anymore. Much of the Bible, which I memorized in the past is no longer in my conscious mind. I will not be able to fall back on that if the precious Word of God is taken from us.

Therefore, I purposed in my heart that I will go back to the verses that I could once recall at will and refresh my memory every night, because those words are stored in my subconscious mind.

As I reread them, I am easily recalling them into my conscious mind. Many of them were set to music by friends in my past, which makes it easier to remember them.

I want to make God's Word a priority in my life, so if we ever lose the written Word, my spirit and soul can find nourishment from the Words I hid in my heart (Psalm 119:11).

Prayer:

Father God, let us never take Your Word for granted. Our freedoms in America over all of these years lulled us into a sense of security that is no longer guaranteed. Many other countries across the globe lost their freedoms in small increments over time and we are losing them also. There is not a Christian nation left in our world today.

We look forward to Christ's imminent return; but if You tarry any longer, America may fall into enemy hands and we may lose our hard won freedoms. Help us to hide Your Word in our hearts so that it will sustain us in our times of trials now and in the future.

Thought for the Day:

The Word of God speaks to our spirit and soul like no other words we could ever read or hear; it sustains us through every trial.

- Psalm 119:116