Emotional and Mental Health - Eliminating Anxiety

Life is insecure at best and terrifying at its worse. People say that bad things happen in threes, but at times in my life, I have counted five or six stressful catastrophes in a row.

I learned early on in life not to expect anything good to happen. That way, when good did happen, I was mildly pleased; but when it did not occur, I was not overly disappointed either.

As an authentic Believer, we learn to cast all of our anxious thoughts on God's strong shoulders - to leave them in His benevolent heart and to have faith in His faithfulness instead of in people (Mark 10:22; 1 Peter 5:7).

As we turn our attention away from our self and onto helping other people, we continue to heal from anxiety. This brings inner peace because we help to ease another's burdens and we find fulfillment in sharing our abilities and resources.

As we pray during each moment for God's will and direction, we acknowledge that God is in control of our life (Proverbs 3:5-6; Philippians 4:6-8). This reduces anxiety quicker than any mantra or affirmation we can repeat.

God orders our steps and gives us the grace to enter into His rest (Hebrews 13:5). His presence in our life allows Him to provide serenity in anxious situations. He helps us to set priorities and to follow them.

This habit is comforting and provides us with a routine to which we can establish and adhere. Routine limits anxious feelings and defines our responsibilities according to the will of God, rather than our own stressful agenda.

I do not hide from life any longer. I know from experience that our Daddy God is faithful, I experience security by walking in His presence and praying without ceasing, and I find fulfillment and peace in the comfort of the shadow of His wings.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that prayer is not created for us to manipulate You or to demand that You do our bidding in our way and timing. Our communication with You is for our benefit, however; and we do not need to wait for a crisis, which we can no longer control before we come to You. We wait in silence until we discover Your will for us during each moment of our day.

Thank You for giving us Your peace, which transcends any comfort the world attempts to provide for us. You are only a prayer away; and yet we fail to avail our self to the intimacy of our union with You. Thank You for abiding within us with Your presence and for filling us with Your Spirit and fruit.

Thought for the Day:

God is not our puppet to manipulate according to our will, but our Savior and King whom we willingly serve according to His will and way; He is not obligated to grant our wishes, but He chooses to give us only the best that we need to live a fulfilling life.

A Stress-Free Life

 

Prior to finding salvation through Jesus Christ we had little more than our own resources to rely on while facing the issues of life. We developed a routine of depending on our self, with a little help from our friends and family.

Life was hard, and every little bump in the road threw us off course, causing us to fight with all of our strength to regain our equilibrium. We stressed out under the strain and trials of daily living.

Once we came to Christ, we carried these same habits and defense mechanisms into our new Christian walk. We continue to overreact to life from our own energy and the reserve, which we build up within us.

Living life through human achievement is deadly! Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual exhaustion and illness are all the result of us living life through our own efforts.

Life is always hard as long we as depend upon our own inner strength to conquer its difficulties. We want to please God with our life; but even when we feel like we are doing His will, we often fail.

We get weary when we overly schedule our time or when we take on too many projects that God does not lead us to perform. We often feel like we are separated from God and He cannot help us, because He is too far away up in Heaven.

This separation is actually caused by our independence and self-reliance. God is always in us through Christ by His Spirit; however, we do not acknowledge His existence unless we get into trouble and turn to Him.

We get the optimal results from life when we seek the Lord with our whole soul - mind, will and emotions, we acknowledge Him before we do anything, we do not depend on our human resources, and we trust Him as He directs each step of our life (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Prayer:

Father God, when we are safely tucked under the shadow of Your wings, life is no longer a challenge, because it is now an adventure! Remind us that we are united with Christ in salvation and perfected by Your Spirit in sanctification. We no longer need to react to life from our lack, because You face life through us with all of Your power as the triune God.

You do not call us to live life for You, but to step aside and allow You to live life in and through us. You did not give us a faint, fearful spirit, because Your love, strength and self-discipline reside within us by Your Spirit (2 Timothy 1:7). Help us to recognize the moments of Your pure joy in our day and to focus on Your love and peace to guide us.  

Thought for the Day:

As long as we separate our life into two compartments: our humanity and His divinity within us, we are divided and weakened; once we realize that our humanity is already dead, and our life is now hidden with Christ in God, then we start to live only through His divinity within us. - Colossians 3:3 

God's Perfect Will

Sometimes we actually hate our life. Too many trials and disappointments rip at our heart and smother us with a blanket of insecurity, fear and trouble.

We attempt to control our circumstances, but that is not any easier than grasping for the wind (Ecclesiastes 2:17). It is impossible to do; and therefore, crazy to attempt.

Solomon, the richest and wisest man who ever lived on this earth, realized that he could not buy happiness. He tried to find it by amassing worldly goods, marrying a multitude of wives, and even by worshiping false gods.

Eventually, he applied the wisdom from above to his own life and realized that this world's riches are fleeting at best. Total surrender to God is our only hope of attaining unending joy in this life.

Before He even created the universe, God specifically chose each one of us to walk in holiness according to His will for our individual life and to live for His praise and glory (Ephesians 1:4; Isaiah 43:21).

God created us for a purpose (Ephesians 2:10), not just as a cruel joke or at some random selection. He designed each of us with His perfect will in mind and He attempts to lead us to walk in His ways (Hebrews 13:21).

Too often we take a sidetrack from His intended route and waste valuable time and resources on pursuing our own dreams and goals. We end up spinning our wheels and making our self miserable.

We can walk in lasting happiness only as we follow God's plan for our individual life. It takes time to seek His will for each moment of our day, but the results are totally worth any effort on our part.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to receive what You offer to us rather than trying to manipulate You into giving us what we want. Work in our life to draw us closer to Your heart each day. Create in us a clean heart and renew a Godly spirit within us (Psalm 51:10) until we can truly say with conviction and veracity, "Lord, You are all I need".

Show us the times that we attempt to manipulate You and use You for our own gains. Remind us that You have our best in mind (Jeremiah 29:11). You remove our defenses and affirm Your love for us by Your acceptance of us even while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). You build us up and meet all of our needs until You remove all doubt from our heart (Colossians 2:7).

Thought for the Day:

Once we decide to totally submit to God's will for us, regardless of where, with whom or how it plays out, we eventually find true contentment and fulfillment in this life.

Spiritual Pursuits

Old Testament Saints were given seasons of the presence of God's Spirit within them; but in this new dispensation of time, we enjoy the presence of God dwelling within His temple within us every moment of our life (Romans 10:9).

God's Spirit brings to our cognizant thoughts an increasing awareness of His wisdom, direction, presence and truth (Colossians 1:27; Galatians 2:20). This consciousness affects our thoughts, words, attitude, behavior and feelings.

We often drain the resources of our body and soul by over-extending our time and commitments beyond what God's Spirit leads us to do. This weariness causes us to neglect our times of prayer, Bible study and worship with other Saints.

We are so caught up in the affairs of this world that we forget to communicate with God until we fall exhausted into bed. We take God for granted, trusting that He is always there and will bail us out of any negative issues.

Yet, He often allows us to boil in the stew of our own making. The fountains of Living Water within our spirit dry up and we ignore our thirsty soul, getting more parched with each passing moment (John 4:14). We stubbornly continue to pursue worldly gain and advantage.

Thankfully, God loves us enough to discipline us, in order to teach us lessons and to cause us to walk only in His Spirit and not to rely on our human reasoning (Proverbs 3:5-6).

It is important for us to understand that the most vital aspect of our life is spiritual advancement. Our spirit longs for a deeper relationship with God. Prayer, Bible study and Christian fellowship are the key vehicles for our spiritual maturity.

No amount of worldly gain can satisfy us as much as immersing our self in spiritual pursuits will fulfill us. God created us as spiritual beings and our entire body, soul and spirit long to return to this intimate relationship.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for wooing us back to Your presence when we wander from Your chosen path for our life (Ephesians 2:10). Help us to remain focused on the pursuit of Your Kingdom rather than building our own kingdom on this earth. We thank You for Your love, kindness, supply, presence and spiritual leading as we progress through each moment of time.

We want nothing more than to know You more deeply and to understand Your ways. We draw all of our strength from Your Spirit within us and we delight to do only Your will with the life You provide for us both now and throughout eternity. We enjoy the intimate fellowship with You, which You provide for us all day long.

Thought for the Day:

Mankind is so convinced of the laws of science that they believe these laws can exist without the Creator of it all; yet, God holds His entire creation of the cosmos together in the span of one of His hands. - Isaiah 40:12