Father, thank You for Your Word. As we prepare to share how to apply Your Word to our lives, open our minds and hearts to Your Holy Spirit. We invite You to be the true leader of our bible study time, to make us delight in Your Wisdom and Will. In the name of Jesus, amen.
That's right, we are nearing the completion of this topic of A Good Bible Study, but not the study itself. So, come back each day as we continue to study scripture and learn to apply God's wonderful wisdom to our lives, living with more joy, peace, and love, every day!
It's so powerful to activate our minds and our spirits, but we can't forget about our bodies. It's all connected and one without the others leaves us off-balance.
Getting active every day with something as simple as taking a walk, using light weights sitting in a chair, or even joining water aerobics at the local Y, helps to remove stress hormones like cortisol and adrenanline, and counteract the negative physical and emotional effects of stress. By the way, exercise can be even more effective at treating depression than medication!
It wasn't that many years ago that I suffered depression (and still have to be proactive during the dark winter months) to the point that I found it difficult to get out of bed during the day. I just felt so tired all the time that I didn't have the energy to do much more than care for my kids' daily needs.
If' you've read my book, Effortless Weightloss, you know that a big key to my recovery was getting up and moving for just 5 minutes every day. Now you know where that 5 minute concept began!
Read Isaiah 40:28-31 - don't skip this - read it!
Now, in the beginning, I didn't feel like getting up. Nope, didn't wanna do it. But, looking back I realize that I activated my mind and spirit through prayer and made a commitment to my own health. In the end, I made a choice to get up. And I made a deal with myself: 5 minutes and I was done.
That five minutes made a huge difference in how I felt. I really began to feel just a tiny bit more energetic, so it encouraged me to get up a little longer, and a little more often.
I started out just marching in place, then around my house, and when the weather permitted, outside to the yard. I didn't need any fancy equipment or a gym, just the resolve to help myself five minutes at a time. That's all you need, as well.
Read Philippians 4:13 and repeat it to yourself when you question your own resolve.
Physical movement builds up your immune system, your strength, your sense of competence, and your confidence. It makes you feel better, look better, and sleep better.
Read Romans 12:1
We can care for our bodies as a service to God. What a gift to our Creator to take good care of the body He has given us! Taking care of our bodies ensures we are fit and able to accomplish His purpose for our lives.
The biggest obstacle most of us face in taking good care of our bodies is our own feelings. We let feeling tired, fat, old, over-scheduled, or stressed affect the way we treat ourselves every day.
It's interesting: Our minds affect our feelings. Our bodies affect our feelings. Our spirit affects our feelings. As much time as we all spend thinking about our feelings we should be all over how to give ourselves the feelings we desire, you'd think.
We don't have to give in to feelings if we don't want to. In fact, we can change our feelings by submitting them to God, and asking Him to give us the strength, motivation, and desire to actively care for our bodies, just like any other area of our lives.
Read Ephesians 4:20-24
Put off the way you used to handle life; be renewed in the spirit of your mind; put on the new person God has made you!
We can take advantage of God's gifts - including a new attitude anytime we want it! You, me, all of us, we are never alone in our struggles and in our success.
Throughout this study we have shared 3 Keys to Stress Less. They are to Authenticate, Recuperate and Activate.
Authenticate: Be who you are in Christ, as intended by God and accomplished through the Holy Spirit.
Recuperate: Rest and recuperate both physically, mentally and spiritually, enjoying your God-given creative gifts and talents.
Activate: Actively use your spirit, mind, and body the glory of God.
And remember when you feel discouraged by others, by life, or begin to feel helpless and hopeless:
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (New International Version)
Come back tomorrow and be encouraged in the Word of God!
Love, Karen
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