disease

At All Times~Part One

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As I began to memorize Colossians 3:12-13, the Holy Spirit showed me something that I had never connected before. The previous three verses were about putting on. Verse 12 says, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved…” The first part was written about our position in Christ which never changes.

However the second part was written about our state of mind which changes all the time. The verse continues, “…put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering.” Five character qualities that Jesus displayed at all times. 

Verse 13 says, “Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” This verse reminds us that at all times, and in every circumstance of our lives, we are to live in forgiveness. Forgiveness is a life skill. Many diseases are rooted in the destructive stress caused by buried unforgiveness.

Stress Reduction~Part One

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David was stressed. In Psalm 31 he described what the stress was doing to him physically. Verse 9-10 says, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye wastes away with grief, yes, my soul and my body! For my life is spent in grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.”

At one point in David’s life, king Saul hunted him to kill him. David was on the run, hiding in rock formations and caves. He lived a lot in his sympathetic nervous system. Yet David knew that the Lord was with him.

In Psalm 61 he wrote that he was overwhelmed. Then in verse 3 he recounted how the Lord has been his protector. It says, “For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy.” Psalm 144:1 says, “Blessed by the Lord my Rock…”