Thursday, January 6, 2011

Spiritual Health for this New Year!



As we begin a new year I know that many of us have made getting in shape or losing weight one of our main goals.  Don't get me wrong...this is a great goal and one we should make a priority everyday but how many of us have given our spiritual lives any thought.  The Bible says that as the years go by we should be growing in grace and "feasting" on the deeper things of God.  We shouldn't find ourselves in the same place we were when we first got saved or even a year ago.  We should be growing day by day. And as the Psalmist says in chapeter 1 we should be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bring forth fruit.  A tree's roots as it ages go deeper and deeper into the ground.  This in turn makes that tree strong, unmovable.  Likewise as Christians, the longer we have been saved the deeper our roots should be making us strong in the Lord, wise in His Word, grounded in our faith and focused on the race before us.  Here are some verses that I believe our like a spiritual prescription for our life...and I quote..."My son, attend to my words:  Incline thine ear unto my sayings.  Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.  For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh"  Proverbs 4:20-22.   Also...verse 23 of that same chapter..."Keep they heart with all dilligence; for out of it are the issues of life."  So our spiritual heart health if of the utmost importance.  Below I've listed some heart attitudes that we must have in our spiritual lives.  If we find areas where we lack...let's work on them.  I know mine and it would be of the utmost benefit for each of us to know our areas of weakness.

1)The regenerated heart-Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature:  old things are passed away:  behold, all things are become new ( II Cor. 5:17).  Has your heart been regenerated?  If it has are you living your life in such a way that says "Behold,"  All things are new...I'm not the same man or woman I used to be.

2)A merry heart-A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones, (Prov.17:22).  Are you merry?  There sure is an awful lot to be merry about.  The thing that makes the Christian heart merry is Christ's presence there.  If Christ is in our heart, we can certainly find something to be merry about.  Christ, himself, is the very essence of joy and true happiness.

3)A sound heart-Let my heart be sound in thy stautes; that I be not ashamed, (Psalm 119:80).  The word "sound" hear means blameless.  I think it is safe to assume that they way to have a sound heart is to have our sins confessed and to not be harboring any secret sins.  Guilt has a way of making us not have a sound mind, Christ on the other hand frees us from that guilt.  So if you want a sound heart, keep your sins confessed and keep your mind clean.  I have found from personal experience that confessing my sins and be very careful of what comes into my mind makes me have a sound heart and mind.  A sound heart is a happy heart.  "A sound heart is the life of the flesh," Prov. 14:30a.

4)A humble heart-"Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD," (Prov.14:5a). Being humble isn't always easy.  For some reason we humans just can't grasp the fact that in being humble we are lifted up.  Who is the most humble person you know?  I think of Christ.  Who has ever been more humble?  He was God in flesh yet he was born in a lowly stable.  He was the Son of God, but on earth he was the son of a carpenter.  In heaven he was adored, on earth he was despised.  In heaven he was rich, on earth he was poor.  In heaven angels were at his beckon call, on earth he had to carry his own cross on which he was to be crucifed.  In heaven he was robed with glory, on the cross he hung in nakedness.  In heaven he was the Light, on earth he became the blackness of sin.  Are we more humble than that?  And this he did all for us...people who were sinners.  We might sometimes feel like we don't get recognized for things we do in the church or for people (I know I have), but let's remember Christ.  There has never been one who was more humble...and now He is lifted up!  Let's serve with humility.  "Let this mind be in you , which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name,"  Phil. 2:5-9.

This is all I'm going to post for today, I'll try and finish up tomorrow.

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