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Janet's Blog
Janet's Blog
Blog
Biblical Ways to Deal with Stress
| Posted on 9 October, 2015 at 15:35 |
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Stress is a hot topic these days is’nt it, to almost everyone? So I seek to address this important issue in part. I am taking excerpts from a very good Christian website to base my post that will benefit some of you. While most major translations of the Bible don’t specifically use the
word stress, Scripture does speak to things such as anxiety, worry and
trouble and gives us clear answers on how we should deal with them. The
dictionary defines stress as “physical, mental, or emotional strain or
tension.” Everyone suffers from stress at one time or another. In fact,
research indicates that children who live in a stressful home environment are
at greater risk to become highly stressed by life’s challenges. Stress can
cause us to do things we would not normally do or cause us to shut down
completely. Anything that causes stress is called a “stressor.” (1) I have several translations, and one of them says that “times will be
stressful in the last days” The New Living translation says “You should know
this, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2For people will love
only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at
God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing
sacred. 3They will
be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control.
They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4They will betray their
friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than
God. 5They will act
religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly”. (2
Tim 3) We see the first half of those in every day life around us and the second
half is telecast over TVevery day, programming the minds of men, women and children at an
alarming rate. Please use some of this valuable time in the evenings and weekends for
family interests, pleasant music or praise and worship music, and valuable quiet-time with The Lord if this is possible. It will make you strong spiritually, mentally and emotionally. You can only be as spiritual as the time you spend with Jesus. Your faith, love, peace, hope and joy depend on that. You can’t plant radishes and hope for fruit! Many people become stressed because they don’t trust God to provide the
basic necessities of life. Jesus said, "Therefore I tell you, do not be
anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about
your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more
than clothing? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his
span of life?” (Matthew 6:25, 27). This
verse is a classic example of why we get stressed in the first place—we worry
about providing for ourselves and our loved ones. We stress over money because
we never seem to feel that we have enough. We worry about making ends meet,
often living paycheck to paycheck. Or we become consumed by materialism
and, in turn, it stresses us out too about how to maintain our lifestyle. (2) Yes, that is not the way to true happiness, contentment and joy. Yet
certain Televangelists (not all) encourage that – you give them a handsome down-payment first and you
could be in line to be the next wealthy Christian just like them. So you go in
for God’s lucky dip (forgive me) they make it sound so certain, just like the
ambassador multi-level marketers in the world's system. Well, The Lord does not run lucky dips, He is not a slot machine with irresistible candy.
He does not encourage greed or give in to bribes. More to say about Preachers Greed Such preachers schemes are devilish and deceitful. And I know that some
of you were honest and sincere with good motives. They made it sound so “holy”
using God’s Feast Days for Israel, saying that The Lord is restoring them to
the Church. Any good theologian will tell us that God deals with Israel and the Church separately in two different
covenants. In fact, Hebrews tells us that the former one is now obsolete and the
Glory of the Latter House (that’s us, a spiritual building) will be more glorious than the former
house (that’s Israel) for those Feast Days (accompanied by great and bountiful blessings) were “a type
and shadow of things to come” scripture plainly states. How dare these
Televangelists use God’s Holy Scriptures out of context to their gain. Now I want to tell you something to settle this once and for all: They
know plenty of scriptures, and preach good sermons often, but they are what Jesus called “hirelings”
(not to be trusted) because their hearts are no longer centered on Christ. They have no business preaching! Jesus also said “you cannot serve two masters. Either you love one and
hate the other” That’s because the other is the deceiver, the author of the Love of Money
and the spirit of the world that makes “lovers of self and money, lovers of
pleasure and disobedience” in these last days. All that is in the world – how dare they take it into
the Church and make it an object of disgrace. The Church who Jesus Died for and washed with
His precious Blood. You can be sure they will pay for that, so their riches perish with them
if they do not repent. For our God does not take it lightly when His Name is taken in vain –
especially for gain. Yes some of them dare to tell you that God blessed them with all of their
riches (from our pockets) and others just show it with their Limos and fancy
attire. Shame on them. They think they get away with it – but Judgement Day is
coming – and they have caused many sincere Christians to leave the Faith. Some of you have had high pressure sermons from pastors extracting more and more from your pockets and there seems to be no end to this. You should actually read my post on Find out the true facts from Scripture AND Early Church History. I have addressed that because it is a major source of stress. Thousands of Christians are hurting and some devastated by such preaching and it must stop. At-least for you who are reading this. Spiritual Recovery…. You need to Rest in God’s PEACE and not trouble yourself over them
anymore. For God says “fret not yourself over the wicked because it only tends to
evil”. There is a principle in that verse, that un-forgiveness will make us sick
if we let it – depression, digestive disturbances and cancer have now been found to stem
from unforgiveness, by scientists and neuro-scientists. Besides, unhealthy thinking makes us open receptors (so to speak) to
other schemes of the Evil One. That’s why God’s Word says to “give no place to the devil”……that
can make you emotionally unbalanced and keep you from experiencing the Peace
of Christ. No, leave their sins at the Cross of Calvary and walk with the Prince of
Peace. Let Him restore you and Bless you, bringing to you true happiness and
contentment money cannot buy and trust Him to meet your needs as you wait patiently. Encouragements to All Bring all your cares and concerns to Him for His shoulders are bigger
than ours. Become conscious through scripture reading that “The Lord is your Keeper”
and The Ways of The Lord are a Refuge for the righteous”……..”The Lord knows
the Plans that He has for me, to give me a hope and a future”……..”I trust in Him and I am
helped, I am saved from my enemies”…….”surely His Goodness and Mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”…….I will build up my treasures in Heaven by “setting my
thoughts on things above” instead of the concerns on this earth. The Lord is for
me, I will not be afraid – He is my Helper"……"Blessed are those whose Trust is in The Lord"…… "He is Good and Faithful is His Love, let the redeemed say so". Believing leads to trusting. Proverbs 3:5-6
tells us to “trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own
understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your
paths.” Leaning on “our own understanding” often means adopting the world’s
ways of relieving stress—things like alcohol or drugs or mindless
entertainment. Instead, we should trust His Word as our ultimate guide to a stress-reduced life. David says, “I sought The LORD, and he answered me and
delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). David knew that by seeking The Lord and
sharing his concerns with Him that he would find favor with Him. The Lord in
turn answered him and calmed him down. (3) If only those in the world could find refuge in this verse like we can. Make sure you put it into practice won’t you? Together with the following verses, it could really increase your joy-filled
days and bring you such peace. As His dear child, He desires you to live with His Peace in your heart every
day. at-least most of them. It is possible. Especially if you meditate on His
Word each day and evening like Joshua was instructed to. The original Hebrew word
for meditate is to say softly to yourself (verbally) the scriptures The Lord is
blessing you with. We have His promise that “Those who meditate on His Words each day and evening shall be like a tree planted beside streams of water that yields it’s fruit each season”..……is’nt that wonderful? There are two friends who stand out in my memory for years now. They do this and their speech to me drips like honey. This is not some fantasy or some mind over matter It’s very real. They always have Joy and Peace whatever their circumstances. I love to visit them! No Scripture better
captures how to handle stress than Philippians
4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the
peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus.” The Lord tells us not to be anxious about
anything, but rather to turn everything over to Him in prayer. Lifting our concerns
to a holy and righteous God daily will mitigate or eliminate the stress in our
lives. (4) There's something about when we give thanks with a grateful heart - it switches off the anxiety mode and we're able to ask in faith. Faith is activated trust. I’ll also tell you
what else will help you immensely to buffer you against stress. That is the next
verse….a favorite of mine. Let me paraphrase it for you: "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any
excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise think about these
things." Because that is the best pattern for thinking....it speaks
about having a Christ awareness .....appreciation of nature... the qualities
and giftings in others.....it speaks of renewing your mind
consistently.....loving His Words of Life..... having right attitudes and
healthy thoughts and company.....being creative .......having a desire for
progress. (Phil 4:8) We need to seek His
peace daily by filling our minds with His Word, lifting all things to Him in
prayer, and sitting at His feet in awe and reverence. It is only by His grace,
mercy and love that the stress in our lives can be managed. (5) 1 2 3 4 5 above is from an article called What does the Bible say about Stress? GotQuestions.Org |