Are You Getting Sick?
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 nkjv
I feel a sinus infection coming on. Once I feel the symptoms of an achy head, burning throat, or stuffed sinuses, I get my armor on, ready for battle. With a few years under my belt, thankfully, I have gained a little bit of wisdom. I work quickly to try and stop any ailment in its tracks. Taking vitamin C, Airborne, and Zicam, I arm myself to beat it down before it starts. I know just how miserable it is to be sick and I will do everything in my power to not let my enemy advance.
So, why don’t I react the same way when my spiritual health is at risk? Spiritual illnesses such as anger, discontentment, pride,and fear, just like a cold or flu to our physical bodies, cause our spiritual bodies to come to a stop for awhile-holding us back from whatever service the Lord has purposed us for. Just like my achy head and burning throat, there are symptoms to warn us of their coming visit. The infection of anger usually begins with small irritations and annoyances. Discontentment begins with an ungrateful heart. Pride’s symptoms are selfishness, while the symptoms of worry and anxiety can become a full blown illness called fear.
Just as the treatment of vitamin C helps my body to defeat an oncoming infection, the greatest elixir for any spiritual illness is the Word of God. It never ceases to amaze me that when I am suffering from a spiritual illness, how fast these symptoms flee in the face of His word. When I feel symptoms coming on, I fight them by looking up all that God’s word says about that specific ailment. If I am suffering from anxiety I will looking up all that God has to say about them. If I am worrying or anxious, scriptures about anxiety, worry and fear speak straight to my heart, Phil. 4:6a “Do not be anxious for anything…” Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you…” Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Friends, are you suffering from anything today? Do you feel an illness coming on? Protect yourselves with the battle gear that God has given you. His Word is alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword to defend ourselves from anything that keeps us from feeling and being our best. Take a moment to check your heart for symptoms before they become full blown illnesses. Remember friends, when we get into God’s Word, God’s Word gets into us!
Faith Book
Have you joined yet? Do you have a Facebook account? Over the holidays, I finally gave in and created one. It seemed everywhere I turned; people were talking about their friends on Facebook. I guess I succumbed to the peer pressure. I must admit it is pretty addicting, even more so than blogging. The first few days, I spent hours searching for names of old friends I hadn’t seen in years. It was really a rush when I would find them. Seeing how much they had changed and all they had accomplished was really fun.
I began to type in the names of everyone I knew, from friends in kindergarten, to high school, to college, to my first job. I was overjoyed with each person I found. It was a letdown however when I would search and search for someone and was unable to find them. Especially when it was a person I was certain would be “into” the whole computer/technology world. I just knew there were people I should be able to find, but to no avail. They just weren’t there. I would look through the “friends” list of others, even some pages of their family members trying to find them, but couldn’t. Just because their friend or family member had a facebook account, it didn’t mean they did.
Spending all this time looking for people made me wonder what it might be like to look through Faith Book instead of Facebook. What do I mean by Faith Book you ask. Actually, I mean the Book of Life.
Revelation 20:12-15 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books… If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
If we had access to look through God’s Book of Life, I bet it would be similar to Facebook. We would find some people who had touched our lives in a special way that we hadn’t seen in ages. It would be so exciting to “see” them and know what happened in their lives. But, there would be some we would bet our last dollar (if we were the betting type) would make it - their names would be found there. But they wouldn’t. Just because we might find their friends or family members, doesn’t mean we will find them. And it will be a huge let down.
Maybe instead of spending so much computer time in the coming year looking for friends and encouraging others to join Facebook, I think I might spend more time trying to get more friends names in Faith Book. How about you?
Sweet Rest
Exodus 33:14
The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Through the holidays there has been so much hustle and bustle. At the end of the day I have found myself “spent.” Also during that time, it seems that I couldn’t keep up with everything so now I am playing “catch up” to get everything done. Again, exhausting!
If you read Exodus 33:14 you will see that GOD’s presence will go with us and ***HE*** will give us rest. That is the only TRUE way to get rest. You can lay in bed asleep all night and wake up exhausted and still not feeling renewed. But, you see, rest isn’t about how many hours are spent laying in that bed. *GOD* gives us rest. So even if our hours of sleep are less than we might desire we can still have that rest in GOD. That rest will renew you.
Sweet rest, renewing rest, that is what we as mothers and wives need so dearly. I hope to encourage you this week to not think of getting rest the way most people do, think of true rest.. the rest we have in God. May you be blessed and rested and able to do your best for those you love the most.
With love for Him,
