The Science of Rejoicing

I love reading books about the brain and body (i.e. the mind/body connection) because I always learn something about why God tells us to do what he does.  Look at this (see below for the reference to the book I'm quoting)...

"Any form of negative rumination - for example, worrying about your financial future or health - will stimulate the release of destructive neurochemicals." (p25)

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?... Matthew 6:25-34

"Human brains like to ruminate on negative fantasies, and they're also odd in another way: they respond to positive and negative fantasies as if they were real." (p27)

"There is mounting evidence that strongly negative terms can interrupt the normal expression of genes that regulate one of the most important language centers of the brain, Wernicke's area.  This is where we learn how to interpret the meaning of words.  Hostile language also appears to disrupt specific genes that are instrumental in the production of neurochemicals that protect us from physiological stress, and if we are exposed to it during childhood, it can undermine our ability to fend off anxiety, depression, and fear." (p33)

In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.  But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Colossians 3:7-8

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7

"But imagination is a two-way street. If you intensely focus on a word like "peace" or "love," the emotional centers in the brain calm down... This is the neurological power of positive thinking, and to date it has been supported by hundreds of well-designed studies." (p27)

"Certain words - like 'peace' and 'love' - may actually have the power to alter the expression of genes throughout the brain and body." (p28)

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in you hearts. to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:14

"According to Sonja Lyubomirsky, one of the world's leading researchers on happiness, if you want to develop lifelong satisfaction you should regularly engage in positive thinking about yourself, share your happiest events with others and savor every positive experience in your life." (p31)

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice... Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:4-7


"...Concentrating and meditating on positive thoughts, feelings, and outcomes can be more powerful than any drug in the world, especially when it comes to changing old habits, behaviors, and beliefs." (p35)

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Colossians 3:2


And, the definition of some of God's favorite words:

Rejoice - to feel joy or great delight
Delight - to take great pleasure
Joy - the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, or by the prospect of possessing what one desires

When I know the reason why something should be done, it is so much easier for me to carry it out(which is great motivation for me to try to dig down to find out WHY God wants me to conduct my life a certain way!).  After ingesting all of the above information, I realized that rejoicing is a lot easier than I have ever thought it was.  In this case, the reason God wants us to manage our thoughts is because of how they can so dramatically affect our entire life.  His wanting us to think positively and trust him instead of worrying is clear proof to me that he wants us to be peaceful and healthy.  

When we dwell on and enjoy the well being that we have (especially our spiritual well being, since that is more real and lasting than any other form of health), it changes our perspective and heals us, as scientific research is now able to spell out in black and white.  

It is easy to enjoy life if we choose to fixate on every good thing that happens to us, and every kind thing that God and Jesus Christ have done and will do for us.  In the past couple of months, I have been able to experience this joy first hand as have finally started learning how to focus on good things and let go of unpleasant events, and my personal need to be upset, worried, afraid, etc.

I love how good science proves God every time!

Excerpts from:
Words Can Change Your Brain 
by Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman
Copyright 2012 Hudson Street Press

Jesus Listens

Time and time again, I find that if I actually seek God and Christ with my whole heart, they listen and answer.  For me, this has meant that I'm not searching outside of them for answers, but that I go straight to them (or I catch myself as I'm wanting to get advice or comfort from another source, and turn to them instead).

If I show them that I actually believe that they can solve my problem, they always do.  Not that a solution is what always solves the problem, and not that I'm looking for a quick fix for everything - I know that often, all I need to keep going can be provided by a word of comfort or encouragement from my Master or my Father.

But from there you will seek 

the LORD your God 

and you will find him, 

if you search after him 

with all your heart 

and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 4:29

Jesus, My Hero

I think I have been seriously overlooking something very important.  Another moment of re-learning!  

My Lord Jesus is powerful!  If anything is standing between me and him, he is able to get rid of the obstacle, or help me to do it. He is able to help me with anything!  ...Anything!  

He cannot be treated like just a friend to vent to.  He can't be looked at as simply a comforter or a back-patter, sitting by sympathetically.  He rises up on behalf of us if we ask him to.  He fights for us in the heavenlies!  We don't have to helplessly wonder why our relationship with him is not what it could be.  We can just ask him to do what needs to be done to help us enjoy a hindrance-free relationship with him.  

He is bigger than the distractions that seem to constantly plague me, and I am asking him to bulldoze them.  I have tried and tried to do it myself, and it is painfully tiring and frustrating.  It has been like running repeatedly into a locked heavy metal door in an attempt to knock it down.  But what joy it gives me to imagine Jesus using his pinkie to effortlessly tear the door off it's hinges, toss it aside, and smile at me, now ready for intimate fellowship.

Please don't skip the scripture!  Try to read it like you have never seen it before:

16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Ephesians 1:16-21 ESV (I added some emphasis!)


*

My Addiction

I've just been thinking recently about how much easier it is for me to hang out with God these days.... The reasons are endless, but here are a few that have made a huge difference:

1. Coming to understand the fact that I don't *have* to do anything for God!  Christ made me righteous (as in "having right standing in God's eyes") and loved, and I can do absolutely nothing to get more loved or more righteous on my own.  This is 100% freeing because I now have no authorization to judge other people as better or worse than me, and I can't be self-sufficient by doing all sorts of amazing things.  It makes my mind a lot less critical and a lot more dependent on God.  It's glorious!  I don't have to be perfect nor do I have to feel guilty for my inherent imperfection!  So it makes me much less scared of God and a lot more attracted to Him because I know He loves me unconditionally.

2. I've decided that He knows what He's talking about and that I want to believe what He says, because I'm a freaking basket case if I don't believe Him.  So I gravitate toward what He might have to tell me.

3. I've figured out that life is just plain NOT exciting if I don't have a good relationship going on with God and my Lord Jesus.  It really isn't.  It's not just boring - it's drudgery to the extreme.  I become really pathetic, weak and unhappy without that constant (Oh how I wish it was actually constant) connection.

So there you go.  I absolutely have to have God.  He's like crack!  Except I wouldn't know because I've never tried crack and God is not addicting in a debilitating way, but an empowering way - He's unbelievably, wholesomely nourishing to ones bones.

I can tell that this year will be so much better than last!

"Empty" just can't describe it...

You know those rare moments when you’re spacing out, thinking unsystematic thoughts and suddenly a long series of dots in your head connect, a short circuit is repaired and a happy little light (that one you thought was burnt out for all those months) switches on. I just had one! And I’m thrilled.

I was doing dishes, listening to Pandora, to a song I had never heard: “Something Holy” by Stellar Kart. [Just a side-note: I’m pretty sure God speaks to me more in the kitchen, while I’m doing dishes, than anywhere else, during any other goings-on.] My computer had become weary, and so was putting on a slideshow of my pictures, one of which I happened to glance at near the end of the Stellar Kart song. The picture was the catalyst of these thoughts.

We are hungry for God. That’s pretty hard to deny. We can look at any person and see their need for “more,” whether that need is fulfilled, lacking or being pursued. Sometimes this hunger drives us to take desperate measures, to do idiotic things because then we feel more alive in some way. Sometimes we have been so torn down that we have lost and forgotten the gleam in our eyes - what used to be the desire for wholeness – and we resign ourselves to the living dead.

And we know that God wants to fill us with every good thing that we need; that is, Him. But sometimes we don’t believe it. I think that’s what happened to that friend who was in the photograph I glimpsed while my hands were in the soapy water. I think she forgot that God could make her whole and give her everything she felt she was lacking. She decided she would pick the other things because to her, at that time, they seemed to be meeting her needs better than God.

I have done that so many times. I do it continually, in fact. I think everyone does.

But let me stay on track. My epiphany is simple.

AND WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD, BECAUSE ANYONE WHO COMES TO HIM MUST BELIEVE THAT HE EXISTS AND THAT HE REWARDS THOSE WHO EARNESTLY SEEK HIM. HEBREWS 11:6

But what does faith really mean? The dictionary says that it is “confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.” [italics not mine] I tell my husband that I can back his work van up into a tight spot in our parking lot, and he says “Hannah, I have confidence that you can do that!” So he lets me, and proves to me that he has faith in me to park his van. But what if he says “Hannah, I trust that you can do that, but go ahead and trade spots with me because I’d rather park the van”? I would feel like he didn’t honestly believe in my abilities! If he did, wouldn’t he have let me park his van?

I think God wants us to believe in Him to the point that we let Him have the say in our lives. I think that’s all He wants. Because if we seek Him and trust Him enough, we’ll actually follow His directions, whatever they may be, to the best of our ability. And that’s because we know that when we obey, good things happen, even if obedience hurts at the time. Of course, this is obviously not fool-proof, because our enemy prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8) and sometimes we just plain fail to remember that God sort of made the Universe and, you know, already bought us back from the devil and all that… a bit frustrating, since it seems so simple.

Going back to my friend, I just want to remark that I don’t know what her soul was searching for back when she was making the decisions she made, but I have a pretty good idea, because our souls have so much in common. This entry wasn’t supposed to be about her, but I am obviously still stinging from what happened, and I really miss the old her. Of course, I’m not the old me any more either, but my heart gets little leaky places in it when I imagine everything I have gained and she has lost as we have traveled our different paths. I want for her the fulfillment I know a choice toward God would have brought her. Thank you God for not treating us the horrible way we deserve to be treated, and that you can give back the things we have forfeited and that you love us just as much when we turn away from you as when we turn toward you. The reason the thought of her scares me these days because I know how easily it could have been me making the exact same choices she chose to make.

I see it now. Our Heavenly Father wants so much for us to be with Him in life, to protect us with the rules He’s set in place for us to adhere to for our own good. Think about it. He does things for US, the peoples of the world, not for HIM. The more we trail after Him, the more He is delighted because we become less and less lost. I’m sure of the fact that He wants and needs us to share His copious love with everyone, but I think that a relationship with Him must come first. Otherwise, why do we do good things? Because we feel guilty if we don’t? That’s not really loving, that’s an act of cowardice - trying to protect ourselves by doing the right things. And why would God want us to feel horrible if we didn’t “do His bidding”? We are His SONS AND DAUGHTERS! We can’t earn our salvation. Anything we do is just icing on the cake, although I think our God is a God who doesn’t like to settle for a naked cake.

Anyway, it’s like this verse….

SINCE YOU CALL ON A FATHER WHO JUDGES EACH MAN’S WORK IMPARTIALLY, LIVE YOUR LIVES AS STRANGERS HERE IN REVERENT FEAR. FOR YOU KNOW THAT IT WAS NOT WITH PERISHABLE THINGS SUCH AS SILVER OR GOLD THAT YOU WERE REDEEMED FROM THE EMPTY WAY OF LIFE HANDED DOWN TO YOU FROM YOUR FOREFATHERS, BUT WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, A LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH OR DEFECT. 1 PETER 1:17-19

We should live in the light which is shed in knowing that we are SO valuable that God would go to all the trouble of rescuing us by way of His son, and it should touch and humble us in a way that makes us eager to love our fellow person!