Thursday, August 25, 2016

How to Improve Your Mental, Physical, and Spiritual Health


To begin improving your mental, physical and spiritual health start by making some realistic goals, and begin implementing small steps towards these goals.


The most important goal you can make is taking care of your spirit. Make goals towards spending daily, intimate time with God. Let all that distracts you and deters you from this time be put aside. Allow at least 30 minutes per day of quiet time with the Lord. Start a Bible study to aid in your spiritual growth, and if you are married make a goal to pray together daily and have a Bible study that you can do together. Do whatever the Lord leads you to do, but do something that will feed your spirit and cause you to mature spirituality. This may look different for other people. That is okay, do what will cause you to grow and mature. If you need spiritual healing in this season, then take some time where you pull back from ministry positions and leadership roles, and allow God to “pour back into you,” and restore your soul. If your “cup is empty” you cannot effectively help anyone. There is a season to be on front-line ministry and a season to allow God to pour back into your cup. You may need to be refilled in this season. Go before God and ask Him, “What season am I in?” This may not be the time that you are serving full-force, but a time that God is going to bring refreshment into your dry places.

 Take care of your spirit first, and everything else will come easier.

Next take care of your mental and emotional health. Start by saying, “No,” more often. Do things just for fun and pure enjoyment. Listen to your favorite music, read, garden, or paint. Try and spend at least 10 minutes outside in the sun. Set boundaries and limits with other people and on your time. Limit your time with negative and draining people. Set a guard on what causes you stress, and limit what stresses you as much as possible. Do not allow other people’s problems to become your problems! Do not carry the burdens and responsibility of other people. Cut out all unnecessary things in your life, make priorities.

Finally, take care of your physical body. Get at least 8 hours of sleep. Eat balanced meals with daily fresh fruit and vegetables. Stay away from fried foods and sweets as much as possible. If you do not exercise, start walking at least 3x per week. Take a multi-vitamin and B vitamin daily.  Drink plenty of water and drink green tea daily. Take warm baths to relieve tired muscles and to relax you.

The mind, body and spirit are connected so, implement goals to improve not just your physical health but your mental and spiritual health as well. 

Monday, August 22, 2016

Live in the Moment



How many of us live in the regrets of the past, or in the future we are projecting? Imagine living in the moment, not going back and not going forward. Just enjoying each moment as it comes, and not allowing the unknown of the future to steal our own joy today. I believe if we can live in the moment, we could experience peace, calmness, joy, and find contentment.


Excerpts taken from my book, “Wilderness Mentality, Stop Your Stinkin’ Thinkin,” Chapter 7: Don’t look back, keep going forward: One day at a time.
           
God tells us not to worry about anything. Today is ALL you have. The things that you go through are temporary. It is how you react to them that can cause you to lose your joy and peace.

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things that are true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly, things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you have learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into His most excellent harmonies. Philippians 4:4-9, MSG

God wants us to come to Him with our worries and struggles. We are not to try and figure things out, analyze everything or worry. God wants us to enjoy right where we are. Don’t worry about the past or future, take hold of today. Embrace today; take it one day at a time. If something in your life has not worked out, then God has a new plan. Don’t waste any more time regretting the past or what lies ahead. That kind of thinking will lead to anxiousness and fear. Living one day at a time, and one moment at a time keeps us from being consumed with worry. Choose to give your anxieties to God, choose to pray specifically for things instead of worrying.

When we begin to think about tomorrow and the “what if’s,” we can lose our grace for today. God gives us His “manna” daily, not weekly or monthly. Don’t be consumed with yesterday’s junk and tomorrow’s what ifs. Don’t dwell on yesterday. Dwelling means focusing on what you should have done, what you could have done and what you ought to have done. Take it one step at a time, one day at t a time.

Sometimes we think we need to see the end of our path, maybe so we can be reassured it’s a good path. But God’s guidance is step by step. We can rest and trust God will light our path, one step at a time. Whatever comes your way, know you can handle it, one day at a time. Don’t “stockpile” tomorrow’s provisions for your life. Face your challenges one day at a time. Looking too far down the road tends to overwhelm us in our thinking. Trusting God requires we believe He gives us our “daily bread.”

Live in peace and not anxiousness and fear of the unknown. Do you really know what is going to happen? I mean really? We can formulate what we think will happen, but that is called worry. Yesterday may have been troubling, but shake it off today. Remember today is a brand new day.

Enjoy your journey as it unfolds, and take life as it comes. Don’t project what you think may happen, and don’t stay bound to your past. Stay present in the moment.


·        To order a copy of my book, “Wilderness Mentality, Stop Your Stinkin’ Thinkin’ go to www.createspace.com/4036785


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