![]() The best antidote to stress, worry, fear and anxiety is joy. When I say joy, I mean real joy that flows and bubbles from your heart. No matter how bad things may look or sound, there are still things you can be thankful for. No matter how difficult a problem or challenge may seek to weigh you down, you can respond and bounce back with a big smile; smile and laugh, and say to the problem 'you are not going to steal my joy. I choose to rejoice today and always'. How we see things matters. Whenever you encounter a problem, do you see: a huge mountain, a little problem, a small challenge or a huge problem. The way you see it will determine your reaction to the situation. Hence its important that we shift our focus, and shrink the problem to a very small size. No matter how small or huge a problem is, you are still bigger than the problem, and you can speak to the problem to be removed. Place your focus on the goodness of the God. God is bigger than all of your problem. He promised to may a way for you, even when there seems to be no way. Trust God completely. Have a Carefree Attitude On the practical side of things, after you have prayed and done all you know to do, just cast ALL of your cares to God, not just some of your cares, but ALL OF YOUR CARES. Cast everything over to God because He cares for you. Have a carefree attitude. Having a Good Laugh One good kick start to having a good laugh, is to watch a good clean comedy program, or play with friends and family, get active in sport to shift your focus from problem to getting fit. Then look at yourself in the mirror and smile, remember something that you did in the past that gave you so much fun and just laugh. Positive Affirmations Whenever anxious or problematic thoughts tries to show up, just say "I cast my cares over to God, He cares for me, I refuse to worry of be anxious, my situation is a million times better than what someone else is facing right now, I am grateful for my life, I am grateful I can speak, I am grateful I can walk, I am grateful I have a beautiful face to smile with, I am grateful for my children (if you have children), I am grateful for what I have, I am grateful Lord" Praise & Gratitude When we release praise and gratitude for what we do have and for what are going well in our lives, it shifts our focus from sorrow, sadness, regret, to a sense of anticipation, and of looking up to the big GOD who is greater and mightier than any challenges or problems. Reciting Scriptures Psalms 121 is one of my favorite scriptures, when you read and recite this scripture at least 3 times a day, your sense of hope and joy will begin to rise. When you know and are assured that God has your interest at heart and he is watching over you, this makes all the difference to how you feel. Psalm 121 New King James Version (NKJV) God the Help of Those Who Seek Him A Song of Ascents. 1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills-- From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore. Quiet Meditation Find a quiet place where you can meditate. Repeat the following quietly to yourself in quiet manner and in a relaxed state:
Take as much time as you need to meditate and quiet your soul before the presence of God. The more you practice this, the lighter the burden feels and the freer you personally will feel in your mind and emotions. You can take your time of meditation further, by doing what God told Abraham to do, begin to see the answers to your prayers manifested, connect your mind and emotions to the answered prayers and give thanks to God for it. Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Genesis 15:5 - 6 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. Genesis 13:16 -17 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Ephesians 2 : 4 - 6 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
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The Assurance of God's Love - You are not an Accident, You are Special to God. By Esther Simeon.7/2/2013 ![]() Over the years and ages, God has made several attempts to communicate to us of His unfailing love for each and every one of us, in so many different ways. One of his primary vehicles of communication has been through the scriptures. Isaiah 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When we look at the story of God’s relationship with Abraham and his offspring, we see the demonstration of the unfailing love of a covenant making and a covenant keeping God. The scripture is God’s love letter to humanity, it is timeless, ageless, ever relevant to past present and future; it radiates with the love, life and the power of God. Our understanding of God is primarily based on what we’ve heard or read from the scriptures. Isaiah 43:1 is a love letter from God to us, hence it’s important to personalize it. Here is a prayer of declaration and affirmation, read it, declare it, believe it and experience it. (God said whatsoever you desire when you pray, believe that you receive it, and then you will have it). God created me, I am not an accident, I am perfectly and wonderfully made in the image and likeness of God. God formed me, before I was formed in my mother’s womb God knew me, I am special to God. If God said, fear not, then I have nothing to fear, because I have God the Father, He is watching over me, like a mother will watch over her baby, I am save and secured, I can rest and relax. I am redeemed by God, I not trying to get redeemed, I am already redeemed by God, I am redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. God calls me by name, God knows me personally, I am unique and special to God. I have a special place in the heart of God. God is mindful of me. God is thinking about me, I am loved and accepted. My relationship with God is like a love of a father to child relationship, He cares for me, He takes care of me, He provides for me, He protects, defends and watches over me always. He is a loving Father, He never sleeps when He’s watching over His children. (He that watches over Israel shall never slumbers or sleeps) What we say to ourselves is more important than what anyone else says, what we say is a narration of what we believe, and we tend to believe more in what we say and meditate upon. So when it comes to our relationship with a loving Father God; we should practice reading his love letters to us in an empowering and affirmative way. When you do this and it becomes a lifestyle, your sense of safety, assurance, protection, love will increase significantly. You will move from the outer court to the inner court. You will develop a sense of confidence that you can approach God and He will give you, His full 100% attention. You can trust God with the most intimate and personal issues and he will never betray your confidence. You can commune and talk to God in a personal and intimate way, e.g. a silent prayer, a gentle whisper, a simple request for help and guidance, a call for wisdom and much more. You can rely on and trust God, He is faithful; He never ever fails. He is a dependable and reliable Father. You have a place in the heart of God that can never be replaced by anything or anyone else. You are not an accident, you are special to God. ![]() Fear of failure is one of the most common reasons why people hold back from trying something new. The new thing they desire could be:
When people hold back from trying something new because of the possibility that they might fail if they try, then they have to deal with the fear of failure. It’s better to try something new rather than just dream and wondered what could have happened if they had tried. When people struggle with an overwhelming fear of failure, they often pull back at attempting something new, some may call it playing it safe, but inwardly they are unhappy and are dissatisfied with the apparent stagnant condition they find themselves due to the fear, which is hold them back. If you have ever held back on a goal or avoided taking action that would lead to a positive outcome, you may have been fearful that you might fail. Fear of failure can be subtle because our minds can come up with endless excuses why it‘s not a good time to take a risk right now, or how the odds don‘t seem to be in our favor, and so on. Fear of failure is often rooted in negative expectation of failure and could be compounded by the fear of past failure repeating itself, if you have ever tried something that failed or did not work out as planned. Now is time to take Positive Steps to Overcome the Fear of Failure. 1. Write down what you are trying to achieve; 2. First present your desires and goals to God in prayer, asking for wisdom guidance and direction, and praying for God’s perfect will in your life; 3. Then begin to chip away at the automated fear of failure that prevents you from trying something new, by speaking directly to it in this manner:
Meditate on scripture found in Philippians 4:13. See and imagine yourself doing what the fear said was impossible. As you pray and meditate on the promises in God’s word, your confidence increases, you will begin to see the possibility of success, and the expectation of failure begin to fade. ![]() This article is an excerpt from Esther Simeon's book Unlocking Your Power Over Fear. REQUEST YOUR COPY ![]() Laughter is of great benefit to the human soul. It eases tension and stress, it releases endorphins that give us a feel good factor, it produces healing chemicals in the body. Science have confirmed what the bible has said all along about laughter. A merry heart is like medicine. Be merry, be happy, be joyful, and be healed. Learn to laugh, don’t take life or anything too serious. When facing challenges or difficulty just laugh and say “this too shall pass, its only a matter of time”. Develop an habit of thanksgiving to God, always focus on what is going well in your life and begin to thank God for it. If you see what is not going as planned in your life begin to thank God and say “Lord I thank you that there is no mountain too high for you to level down, there is no valley too low for you to raise up, I know you will remove every mountain and obstacles standing in my way, I know you will raise me up from any valley of defeat, I am thankful that you are working this situation out for me, and it will turn out for my benefit”. Then express an Ahh ahh ahh laughter with a big smile on your face. It eases the tension, and gives you perspective that things are not as bad as they may seem, it could have been worse, if not for the mercies of God, and God grace is more than sufficient to see you through and deliver you from every problem. Whenever the enemy try to get you focused on the negative, just laugh out loud, and repeat the phrase or add your own. The Lord of the breaking through is working this out for me. Proverbs 17: 22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones ![]() When was the last time you said I love me. Many people rarely think about the need to love themselves the way God intended. If you don’t love yourself, you will find it difficult to love anybody else. Lev 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD. We generally treat others the way we treat ourselves. When you learn to treat yourself right, you will learn to treat other people right. How can we love our neighbor as ourselves if we don’t love ourselves in a proper healthy way. Simple love boosters you can practice and repeat daily:
Then mention your name and say I love you (insert your name). For example, if your name is Susan, or Mary, or Andy, or Ben, say: I love you Susan; or I love you Mary; I love you Andy; or I love you Ben; and so on. As you practice this consistently, you will be amazed at how easier you will take things with yourself; you will treat yourself in a kinder and gentler way; which will compel you to treat others in the same way you treat yourself. The compulsive habit and need for self crucifixion, self accusation, negative self talk will totally diminish or go down to zero. Give it a try, and let me know how you feel after a week of repeating this exercise. The greatest commandment in both the old testament and the new testament is the commandment of love. If you love somebody, you will not hate them, accuse them, mistreat them, resent them, be hostile to them. So if you love yourself, you will not hate, accuse, mistreat, or resent your own self. Let love be the first word on your lip when you wake up, say:
Scriptural References: Matthew 5:43 Thou shalt love thy neighbour Matthew 19:19 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Matthew 22:39 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Mark12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. Scientists in Israel have shown that drinking a daily glass of pomegranate fruit's juice can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. ![]() There are no meaningless details in the Bible. During my personal bible studies I always have my pen and journal ready to take note of key points and to write down whatever I felt the Lord impresses on my heart. On one such occasion, the Lord drew my attention to the word pomegranate in Exodus 28 and 39. Exodus 28:34 A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. Exodus 39:26 A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in; as the LORD commanded Moses. Exodus 28 gave a detailed account of the instructions given to Moses by God to make holy garments for Aaron and his sons to serve in the priest office to minister to the Lord. In the Old Testament, ministering to the Lord in the priest office was a very serious matter. The Old Testament priest will go to the presence of God on behalf of the people offering sacrifices for himself and the people, which can only cleanse to a certain level, and the cleansing process had to be repeated often. Hebrews 9:13 -14 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Only the blood of Jesus is able to cleanse our conscience from sin and guilt; the blood of goats and bulls offered in the Old Testament were only able to sanctify and purify the body and not the soul of man from guilt and shame. The dangerous part of the Old Testament priest administration, was that if the priest omitted to follow precise instruction he could be struck down dead in the Lord’s presence. The Old Testament high priest goes into the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifices to God once a year, with the full understanding that he might not make it out alive, hence he lived with a sense of perpetual fear. Hebrews 9:6 - 7 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: Can you imagine the level of fear that can make the human heart literarily stop? This is what the Old Testament priests encountered. Aren’t we so thankful that we are now under a new covenant through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? Jesus entered into the Holy of Holies to make sacrifice for sins once and for all, with His own blood; and His blood speaks continually mercies over us; His blood is not crying out for vengeance, that is why the scriptures declared that the blood of Jesus speaks better things than that of Abel. Abel’s blood cried out for vengeance, while the blood of Jesus cries out for mercies. There is life in the blood, the blood speaks! I was quite drawn to research the significance of pomegranate and to my amazement found out that according to scientific report pomegranate can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The priest robe made for Aaron to wear while he minister to the Lord God had a golden bell followed by a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate round about the hem of the robe. I believe the pomegranate was to keep the priest heart calm without fear while he ministered to the Lord. As long as people outside can hear the golden bell while the priest moved around in the Holy of Holies ministering to the Lord, the ringing bell indicated he was still alive; if the golden bell stops ringing that means the priest is not moving and would be presumed dead. If the priest is fallen down dead and he would have to be pulled out from the presence of the Lord with the robe attached to his garment linked to the outer court. When Saul was afraid of the Philistines he stayed under a pomegranate tree. 1Sameul 14:2 And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men; Pomegranate trees are quite small, and not that big, hence for a man as tall as Saul to stay under a pomegranate tree indicated, he was trying to calm his heart from fear using the natural properties and scent from the pomegranate tree. According to a BBC News report on Pomegranates:“Pomegranates are being hailed as a super-food which can protect the heart” ![]() Scientists in Israel have shown that drinking a daily glass of the fruit's juice can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. "Pomegranate juice contains the highest antioxidant capacity compared to other juices, red wine and green tea," said Professor Michael Aviram, who led the team. This is good news, for antioxidants are the naturally occurring substances in plants that protect the body from free radicals - 'bad' Free radicals alter cholesterol in a process known as oxidation, which is thought to speed up the hardening of the arteries. In studies at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, the juice of the fruit was found to slow down cholesterol oxidation by almost half, and reduce the retention of LDL. That is the 'bad' cholesterol which forms atherosclerotic lesions, the fatty deposits which narrow the arteries and lead to heart disease. "Antioxidants can protect us against the oxidative stress in our industrialised world, such as pollution, chemicals, viruses and bacteria, and consequently cardiovascular diseases and cancer," said Professor Aviram. The theme is being taken up by a team at London's Hammersmith Hospital, who are launching a study to see if they can replicate the Haifa findings. Their work will focus on people whose arteries are currently healthy. Researcher Dr Richard Bogle said the fruit contained polyphenolics, tannins and anthocyanins - all compounds that could have a beneficial effect. Dr Bogle said: "This study will test the idea that drinking a glass of pomegranate juice every day improves the function of blood vessels, reduces hardening of the arteries and improves heart health." "Preliminary studies suggest that pomegranate juice may contain almost three times the total antioxidant ability compared to the same quantity of green tea or red wine." Many vitamins The round, leathery fruit is full of edible seeds nestled in tiny juice sacs. Brimming with vitamins A, C, E and iron, the pomegranate has been cultivated since pre-historic times. Thought to be native to Persia, the fruit is now grown everywhere from Spain to California. Oxidative Stress and Heart Disease: · Free radicals are the products of normal cell processes. · They wreak havoc in the body and are constantly controlled by the production of anti-oxidants. · There is a fine balance between the oxidants and the anti-oxidants. · Certain diseases tip the balance in favour of the free radicals. · When cholesterol is oxidised by free radicals it produces a type which triggers thickening of the arteries Conclusion: Eat well and be Healthy Your body can be a reflection of what you feed it. Take the time to plan what you are going to feed your most prized possession: your body. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It’s actually cheaper to eat healthy food rather than unhealthy food. Research and get information on healthy nutrition, and begin to make simple adjustment to your eating pattern. |
Esther Simeon
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