taylorbriaun

Sickness Isn’t Only Physical!

The Bible teaches that Jesus came to heal our wounds, to bind up and heal our broken hearts, and to give us beauty instead of ashes and the oil of joy instead of mourning (see Isaiah 61:1-3).

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” (Isaiah 61:1-3)

Many Christians read this scripture and know that God wants to heal us from physical and spiritual sickness, but there’s more to it than that. The truth is that our emotions are part of our makeup and they can become sick like any other part of us.

The world today is full of people who are suffering from emotional pain. The cause is often abuse, rejection, abandonment, betrayal, disappointment, judgment, criticism or other negative behavior by others. This emotional pain can be more devastating than physical pain because people feel that they have to hide it and pretend it isn’t real.

If you have an emotional wound in your life, you need to know that Jesus wants to heal you. Don’t make the mistake of thinking He is interested only in your spiritual and physical life. Take your wounds to Him. Jesus wants to heal you everywhere you hurt!

Lord, thank You for caring about every part of me, including my emotions. Any emotional pains and wounds that I have, I bring to You. I know that You can heal and restore me.

kidwiththebulletsoul:

I’m sorry, Jesus for my idol factory of a heart that brings me to tears today. I’m sorry I want so many things other than You. I don’t know how to turn my heart towards wanting You above all else every minute of every day.

The people around me and the opportunites You’ve placed in front of them drain me dry. All I see is things I’ll never experience and that makes me sob more for You than anything else.

When did I become like this? I thought I’d been freed. When did I reattach these shackles onto my hands? These hands that feel empty but I know are clinging onto so many things.

Father God, I am so sorry for my unfaithfulness! Never have I been so broken over my sin before. I want to love You, but I need You to love You. I’m chasing after plans and dreams, not You. When did I become this? I am so so so sorry.

Here I am, broken at Your throne. Please, I count this all as a loss. Africa, Russia, photography, missions. It’s all nothing compared to knowing You and loving You. I realize today that my life goal is to bring glory to myself. Not to You. Oh, how I desperately want this to change…please, turn my heart away from my self.

This is exactly how I feel, but can never put my emotions to words.

Make God Your Source of Approval

An epidemic of insecurity is stealing the joy of life from many people in our society today and causing major problems in their relationships. I know the effect insecurity can have on lives because I experienced it myself. I know what it does to a person.

Those who are insecure, often seek the approval of others to try to overcome their feelings of rejection and low self-esteem. They are approval addicts.

When we struggle with insecurity, only one thing will set us free, and that is God’s truth. The truth is that we don’t need to struggle to get from man what God freely gives us: love, acceptance, approval, security, worth and value.

He is our Refuge, our High Tower, our Strength, our Stronghold in times of trouble and our Hiding Place (see Psalm 9:9; 31:4; 32:7; 37:39; 46:11). Our worth, value, acceptance and approval come from Him. As long as we have those, we have the most valuable things in the world.

As you look to Him, you will be lifted to new levels of freedom, becoming the confident, mature person you were created to be.

Lord, I look to You for security. I focus on the truth - You are my refuge and strength. You give me love and acceptance. In You alone I am completely confident.

Love Everyone Differently

The Bible says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,I know that full well. (Psalm 139:14) God spent time and exercised His creativity with each of us, so it would stand to reason that He didn’t create us all exactly the same, wouldn’t it?

Unfortunately, we Christians sometimes try to love others as if they are all the same.

You’ll find that not all people need the same thing from you. One of your children, for example, may need more of your personal time than another does. One friend may need more encouragement on a regular basis than another. Some people just need different forms of love.

Respecting individual rights is also very important. Selfish people expect everyone to be like they are, but love respects the differences in people. If God had wanted all of us to be alike, He would not have given each of us a different set of fingerprints. I believe that fact alone proves we are created equal but different.

We all have different gifts and talents, different likes and dislikes, different goals in life and different motivations. A loving person respects and encourages the differences in others.

God, help me to appreciate the differences in others and then love them accordingly. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made. Thank You for the amazing creation of each individual You have placed in my life.

The Trademark of a True Christian

“One of the most important facets of love is unselfishness, which is characterized in Romans 12:16 as the willingness to adapt and adjust to the needs and desires of others.

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. (Romans 12:16)

People who have grasped the meaning of this Scripture and applied it in their lives have learned what it means to be reduced to love. They are not selfish. They have learned to be adaptable and to adjust to others.

On the other hand, people who think more highly of themselves than they should find it difficult to adjust to others. Their inflated opinion of themselves causes them to see others as “little” and “unimportant.” They selfishly expect others to adjust to them, but they are often unable to accommodate others without becoming angry or upset.

Which type of person are you? I used to be so selfish, but now, I can tell you from experience that living unselfishly is a much more satisfying way to live.

The trademark of a true Christian is the ability to adapt to others. Will you unselfishly adapt to someone else today?

God, show me daily how to lovingly adapt to others. I don’t want to be a selfish person, so I choose to be unselfish and adaptable, loving others as a true Christian.”

spencerortega:

     Financially, a tithe is perhaps the worst investment one could enter into. Think about it, a person “invests” 10% of their income for absolutely zero monetary return. Let’s remember that I’m speaking from a purely secular position. A position that doesn’t hold fast to the provision of God. I personally try my best not to subscribe to this position. I’m just speaking in a hypothetical.

     I’m in an economics class this semester. There are many assumptions that economists make about the population concerning decision-making.  One of these assumptions is that people do not intentionally make decisions that will put them into a poorer state (monetarily, spiritually, emotionally, etc.)  For Christians, this assumption rings true in a unique way. We Christians are called to intentionally decrease our monetary wealth by participating in a tithe (which we’ve established as an “awful investment”). But the spiritual gains that we will most likely receive as a return will be the provision (and possibly even a financial blessing is in store for some).

     Let’s avoid the assumption that we can buy spirituality. That was never God’s purpose for the tithe. God, in His infinite wisdom knew that man would have this awful temptation to become enslaved by his pocketbook. So our Loving God provided a way to be free from the shackles that money can easily put around our weak ankles.

     We must intentionally put ourselves into a place of dependency. Depend on the all-loving Father.