Emotional and Mental Health: Be a Kid Again

 

When was the last time you acted like a kid, did something just for the fun of it, or did more on your day off than catch up on chores? We all have our favorite things from childhood.

That favorite toy, or the one you always wanted, but never received is a clue to what made you happy as a child. Consider purchasing that toy now; just google it and see what you can find. Put it on a shelf as a knickknack, or if possible play with it.

Blowing bubbles, casting a yo-yo, jumping on a trampoline, swinging at the park, playing board games, catching the wind with a pin wheel (windmill), making crafts with grandchildren or the children in your church Body, racing cars on a track, finger painting, flying a remote plane or drone, etc. are all very therapeutic.

Gazing at that favorite Tonka truck sitting on the bookshelf in your den will feed your soul. Dolls come in all sizes and shapes; buy one that catches your interest and get a few sets of clothes to redress her now and then as she sits pretty on your bedroom shelf.

Some men go mudding in their truck; ever wonder why? It is therapeutic to their soul. Women love to dress up and wear extensive make-up, high heeled shoes and sparkling jewelry, because it brings out the princess in them.

Give yourself time to play with friends - laugh, love, relax and unwind. Take time to ride the attractions at theme parks or to see the shows. Attend a concert or view a production by your local thespians.

Go skiing, surfing, fishing, hiking, biking, boating, fly a kite, etc. Play in the rain or run through the sprinkler; model at your local clothing store; take a music, cooking, baking or woodworking class, etc.

Volunteer at the local animal shelter or rescue; and give those frightened, lonely animals some attention. Serve food at a local soup kitchen or visit a homeless shelter or nursing home and show care to the people there.

Purchase an adult coloring book and felt markers to take time to color. Play a video game. Construct a cardboard puzzle, or buy a book of word puzzles and use it to wind down before bed. Giving the kid in us a chance to play improves our physical, mental and emotional health.

Prayer:

Father God, we are Your children, co-heirs with Christ of Your Kingdom, and You delight over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). You spoil us by providing all of our needs in abundance and keeping us safely tucked under the shadow of Your wings. As Christians, we tend to be stuffy, overly serious and we spurn good, clean fun.

Help us to connect with the child in us that You created, and who even now still dwells in us (Matthew 18:3). As we age, we often lower our defenses and allow the child-like part of our personality more freedom of expression; but please teach us to embrace the humility, creativity and innocence of that part of our self regardless of our age.

Thought for the Day:

Allowing our Inner Child out of whatever box, hole or closet we hid them in, so they would not embarrass us, is a very healthy step to take; we put away childish things and don the responsibility of an adult (1 Corinthians 13:11), but we should not attempt to murder or imprison that creative, fun-loving aspect of our personality (Psalm 131:2).

No longer a Sinner - Our Great High Priest

The devil, the flesh and the world are in the constant business of tempting us to sin. These three sources of temptation play on our human needs and desires, which are given to us by God.

They seek to pervert our needs and to tempt us into gross immorality. However, Christ in us enables us to withstand any temptation by giving us a way to escape it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Thankfully, we have Jesus, our great High Priest, who can empathize with our humanity. He lived on this earth and was tempted, suffered and died with circumstances similar to, but much worse than ours (Hebrews 4:15).

The initial sinful thought, which enters our mind, is not sin. It is merely a temptation to sin. Satan whispers the destructive idea in our mind, and we have a choice to entertain or to dismiss that thought.

Temptation influences us when pride and rebellion lurk in our heart and cause us to rely on our self, and draw us away from having faith in God's faithfulness to provide for us.

The sins, which easily lure us away from holiness, are strongholds in our life. These expose us to demonic attachments, which hold us in bondage. Also the abuse we receive in life will encourage us to believe Satan's lies.

We are freed from spiritual strongholds by confessing them as sin, surrendering our life to Christ and obeying His Word in our every thought, word and deed, trusting in His Spirit's direction for our life.

Christ promises to fulfill all of our needs according to His glorious riches. We do not have to trust anyone or anything else to provide for us (Philippians 4:19).

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus was tempted to meet His own needs, but He used Your Word to put Satan in his place (Matthew 4:1-11). Help us to hide Your Word in our heart, so that we do not sin against You (Psalm 119:11).

Remind us that we are crucified with Christ; and now we live in Him and by His faith (Galatians 2:20). Thank You for accepting us into Your family (Ephesians 2:19) and filling us with all of Your fullness (Ephesians 3:16-19).

Thought for the Day:

Our great High Priest increases in us as we decrease in our dependence on our self and others and trust only in Him.

- John 3:30

Living in God’s Presence

 

I used to think that God wanted me to work for Him. I ministered to my husband and three children first: keeping a casually clean home, cooking meals from scratch with my limited recipe base, minimizing mountains of dirty laundry, and participating in the life of my family at home, church, school and play.

I was under the impression that God also desired for me to spend all of my free time serving in the soup kitchen, going to Bible studies, taking abandoned children into our home, helping to lead worship in my church, teaching adults how to read, witnessing to everyone I met and a myriad of other activities as a Pastor's wife.

However, these very activities stole time away from my ability to actually live in the presence of God. Remember when Jesus went to the pool? He only healed one man (John 5:1-18).

Another time, when Jesus walked through the crowd, only the woman who touched his garment was healed (Luke 8:43-48). He could have healed everyone, but He lost a measure of spiritual energy whenever He did; so He paced Himself, used His power wisely and did only those things which God's Spirit directed Him to do.

Jesus taught the crowds, but He spent more time in solitary places communing with our Father God (Matthew 6:9-13, 11:25-26, 14:23; Luke 6:12, 22:32, 22:41-44, 23:34; John 11:41-42, 12:27-28, 17:1-26). He drew His strength, confidence and anointing from this relationship.

We can learn a lesson from Jesus’ life. He listened to God, heard His direction and did only what the Father said and did (John 5:19, 8:28, 12:49). He lived in the very center of God’s will. Now, He calls us to do this very same thing.

Sometimes, I actually argue with the Spirit’s leading, or discount it as a human thought which just floated through my mind. Maybe I am tired and I do not want to follow the Spirit’s leading. 

I have my own agenda for my day; so I decide to take a nap or go to the pool or make some craft instead of obeying my Father’s will. When I do, I quickly learn that I grieved the Holy Spirit and missed an opportunity to further the Kingdom of God and to receive His blessings.

Sometimes, God will lead us to nap, because of what lies ahead in our evening, or He has a person at the pool or golf course whom He wants us to talk to about Jesus. The point is to walk in the Spirit, so we do not reap the consequences of living in the flesh.

Prayer:

Father God, keep our thoughts centered on You as we learn to walk only in Your ways. Give us ears to hear and eyes to see the spiritual realm of life, so we do not walk in the flesh, but in Your Spirit (Galatians 5:15-25). We want to live for Your glory and to further Your Kingdom in the earth. You are our everything and we live to bring You pleasure.

We want to seek and to save the lost, just like Jesus did. We want to impact Your Kingdom in the earth every day that we reside on this earth. Remind us to smile at people, to engage strangers in conversation if they are willing, to minister to our neighbors' needs, to visit the sick and hospitalized, to do true religion that is pure and undefiled (James 1:27).

Thought for the Day:

We no longer rely on our human reasoning to direct our day, because we seek the Lord; He directs our path (Proverbs 3:5-6) as we walk through our day communing with our Father and following His Spirit’s direction even if it makes no human sense to us at all.