Emotional and Mental Health - Christ Triumphs over Evil

Rather than to allow our mental and emotional health to gain its influence from the world, the flesh or the devil, we can glean as we read from God's Word and adopt its Biblical principles and concepts as our own.

Writing verses on 3x5 cards and carrying them around with us enables us to focus on scripture while waiting at traffic lights, retail lines at the check-out, doctor's offices, school pick-up lanes to retrieve our children, etc.

Rather than to fume about wasted time, we constructively focus on the Word of God, which is life to our spirit and soul. As we set our mind on things above, we grow in our faith, hope and love, and we increase our intimacy with our Lord.

Our trials in life give us the perfect opportunity for God to prove His love and sustaining power to us, it draws us together as a couple, a family and as the Body of Christ, if we pray together for our needs.

We are all falsely accused, misunderstood, and people make incorrect assumptions about us and our motives. Yet, evil will not triumph over us, because Christ in us is greater than Satan and the people in this world (Ecclesiastes 3:17, 12:14).

God will right all the wrongs when our righteous King takes His throne to rule and reign for eternity. There will be no more tears or sorrow; no more emotional of mental distress; only peace and joy for eternity.

Prayer:
Father God, You give us respect in our city, when we support one another as Your Body, and when we walk in Your ways (Proverbs 31:23). Yet, at other times, people around us hate You, and then hate us because we love You (Psalm 31:11-13).

We do not need to please people or lead people to You; we simply need to share Your gospel with whomever will listen; allow Your Spirit to do a work in their heart; and then, let our light shine in such a way that our family, friends, associates and neighbors will see our good works and glorify You (Galatians 1:10; 1 Peter 2:12; Matthew 5:16).


Thought for the Day:
When we choose to walk in God's rest and peace, we are paving the way for difficult, evil people to encounter the Prince of Peace Himself, because He abides within us; so we can choose peace over worry and walk in serenity instead or unrest and anxiety.

The Joy of the Lord

Is it really possible to be happy all of the time? It is my experience that the answer is "No." However, it is possible to rejoice in the Lord always and to maintain a positive attitude (Philippians 4:4,8).

The key words here are "in the Lord." God makes everything right, no matter how jaded or off kilter they are. Through the lens of eternity, with a spiritual mind and in the presence of God, we see everything differently.

We enjoy a Heavenly focus and can truly rejoice regardless of our negative circumstances. Even when all odds are against us and there is nothing positive to rejoice over, we know that everything will work out for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:11).

When we feel anxiety rise up in our soul, we can immediately take it to the Lord in prayer, giving thanks for what He has already provided and knowing that His blessings are just around the corner (Philippians 4:5-6).

God's peace guides us through the troubled waters and rocky mountain paths, making our ways straight (Philippians 4:7; Psalm 27:11). Even when the circumstances make no human sense, God floods us with His peace.

We struggle with feelings for which we are responsible. We worry for our well-being and that of our children and family. The truth, however, is that God will take responsibility to provide us with all of our needs (Philippians 4:19).

He gives us wisdom on what to do each moment of the day and he guides us through uncharted waters and tumultuous seas to the safe harbor of His love.

Prayer:

Father God, our light and temporary affliction on this earth cannot be compared to the glory, which You already prepared for us in Your glorious Kingdom (2 Corinthians 4:17). We stop attempting to keep our self safe, and we trust our self, our loved ones and our church family to Your safe-keeping.

We know without a doubt that You care about us, so we put our worries in Your capable hands. You equip us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We rejoice in our risen Savior and sit with Him at Your right hand even now (Hebrews 10:12).

Thought for the Day:

We trust in God's plan for our future and bathe all of our requests to Him with gratitude and joy.

Conscious Choices

The theme in the epistle of James is encouraging us to release our hold on worldly possessions and pursuits, in order to unreservedly love Christ. We make a conscious choice to pursue God's Kingdom.

God is our fountain of living water, which exceeds any stale, human cistern we can build for our self (Jeremiah 2:13). Jesus is God manifested in human form (1 Timothy 3:16). He is our example of who God is and how He relates to us in this world (Acts 10:38).

At times, God will use nature and circumstances to judge, discipline or alter our behavior. He will use Satan for this purpose as He did with Job. However, He put spiritual and natural laws in place to protect us from most calamity.

When we choose to walk contrary to God's spiritual or natural laws, we always sow to the wind and reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7). Our reckless and rebellious behavior reaps for us the negative consequences of our choices.

Although we usually reap what we sow, God's unconditional love covers a multitude of our sins (Galatians 6:7-9; Jeremiah 31:3; Romans 5:8). God freely loves us all, but He desires that we live in righteousness and prove our love for Him by obeying His commandments (John 14:15; 1 John 2:1-2).

God rescued us from the dominion of darkness, sits us on a hill and uses us as His light to the world (Colossians 1:13). He exhort us not to hide our light under a mesh of worldly cares, but to let it shine out through our good works, so people will glorify Him (Matthew 5:14-16).

When we make conscious choices to follow the spiritual, rather than any earthly call on our life, we reap the blessings of God and the fulfillment which only comes from serving Him with our life.

Prayer:

Father God, use us as Your ambassadors on the earth as we allow the light of Christ within us to shine out into the dark world which surrounds us (2 Corinthians 5:20). Give us opportunities to share our light with our family, friends, neighbors and workmates. Make us ever mindful of divine opportunities to share Your Truth.

We praise You for all You do in our life each and every day. We want to give You the love and appreciation You deserve from us. Yet, we often get too busy with worldly pursuits to spend time with You. Remind us that we are the ones who miss out on Your blessings when we choose to dabble in the world instead of sitting at Your feet.

Thought for the Day:

Call to the Lord and He will answer you and show you the great and powerful results of His dealings in our life and in the world around us. - Jeremiah 33:3

Sowing to the Wind

The theme in the epistle of James is encouraging us to release our hold on worldly possessions and pursuits, in order to unreservedly love Christ. We make a conscious choice to pursue God's Kingdom.

God is our fountain of living water, which exceeds any stale, human cistern we can build for our self (Jeremiah 2:13). Jesus is God manifested in human form (1 Timothy 3:16). He is our example of who God is and how He relates to us in this world (Acts 10:38).

At times, God will use nature and circumstances to judge, discipline or alter our behavior. He will use Satan for this purpose as He did with Job. However, He put spiritual and natural laws in place to protect us from most calamity.

When we choose to walk contrary to God's spiritual or natural laws, we always sow to the wind and reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7). Our reckless and rebellious behavior reaps for us the negative consequences of our choices.

Although we usually reap what we sow, God's unconditional love covers a multitude of our sins (Galatians 6:7-9; Jeremiah 31:3; Romans 5:8). God freely loves us all, but He desires that we live in righteousness and prove our love for Him by obeying His commandments (John 14:15; 1 John 2:1-2).

God rescued us from the dominion of darkness, sits us on a hill and uses us as His light to the world (Colossians 1:13). He exhort us not to hide our light under a mesh of worldly cares, but to let it shine out through our good works, so people will glorify Him (Matthew 5:14-16).

When we make conscious choices to follow the spiritual, rather than any earthly call on our life, we reap the blessings of God and the fulfillment which only comes from serving Him with our life.

Prayer:

Father God, use us as Your ambassadors on the earth as we allow the light of Christ within us to shine out into the dark world which surrounds us (2 Corinthians 5:20). Give us opportunities to share our light with our family, friends, neighbors and workmates. Make us ever mindful of divine opportunities to share Your Truth.

We praise You for all You do in our life each and every day. We want to give You the love and appreciation You deserve from us. Yet, we often get too busy with worldly pursuits to spend time with You. Remind us that we are the ones who miss out on Your blessings when we choose to dabble in the world instead of sitting at Your feet.

Thought for the Day:

Call to the Lord and He will answer you and show you the great and powerful results of His dealings in our life and in the world around us. - Jeremiah 33:3