How We Treat Ourselves

 

Do you not know you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16

We are a temple of God and we need to be mindful of how we treat ourselves.  

Taking care of our bodies and minds, is taking care so that we can better serve God and be open to receiving His blessings.  We can take care of our bodies by doing what is health - eating health foods, exercising and in general avoiding things that are harmful.  We can take care of our minds by taking care regarding what we read, watch on TV and keeping our thoughts positive and centered on living a godly life.

God says His Spirit dwells in you, and all you have to do is keep the door open for Him.  

Before We Call

 

...Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear....

Isaiah 65:24

Sometimes, when things are not going well, we question if God is paying attention to us.  God promises that before we ask, His answer is on the way. 

So, do not think it is too late to ask for God's help.  Every day He is working to help you.

Remember, God never leaves us alone.  He is with us and for us. 

Not Fear, But Power, Love and Self-control

 

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:7

Wow!  We all need this - self-control.  

I cannot count the times that my lack of self-control has caused me to behave badly when I don't know what to do in a difficult situation.  Yet, here it is - God will put the breaks on our fear response and help us operate from a place of power and love and self-control.

And, for this we are grateful. 

  

 

There Is Liberty

 

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

2 Corinthians 3:17

Many years ago, I was a very conservative Christian, with many ideas of what was right and what was wrong and very vocal regarding these.

However, as time went on, I was frequently persuaded that some of my views were wrong and I became much more merciful in my view of mankind's shortcomings.   

This change came as a surprise to some of my friends, one of whom said to me, "I am surprised that you being so conservative, have some views that are so liberal."  

My answer was, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

May we all be sensitive to the direction of the Spirit of the Lord and know when to change direction.   

When We Cry For Help

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

Psalm 34:17-20

What a good and tenderhearted God we serve.  He does not blame us for our troubles, but delivers us.  He tends our broken hearts and repairs our crushed spirits.

We know that even the righteous suffer pain and illness and hard to define bad times.  Yet, all the while God is there ministering and protecting and saving us over and over and over again from life's pitfalls.

God is with us, and for this we are grateful.  

 

Run Well

 

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

We do somethings for personal gain. We go to work get money to take care of our needs. We buy car insurance so if we have an accident we do not suffer a huge financial lost. Most of what we do is for our own benefit.

But the Apostle Paul points out that while we are doing these things we need to consider that we are children of God, and act like it. This means we operate with honesty, we treat people fairly and in some cases better than we think they deserve. We are generous and merciful. We treat others as we want to be treated.

And, we do not hesitate to share why we do this. We do this because Jesus is our Lord, Master and Savior, and we invite others to know Jesus, too.

Our purpose is not to gain great wealth, but to serve God.

Joy In Heaven

 

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Luke 15:7

God loves everyone and He seeks those who are lost.  It does not matter what sins a person has committed, God forgives all who repent and turn from sin and ask Jesus to be their Lord, Master and Savior.  Ask God to forgive you today, and experience His love and there will be joy in heaven for you.