Nourishing Your Spirit

How often do you really think about how much God loves you? Other than when I’m encountering the salvation message, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” I really don’t think about it much. Most of the time I just take it for granted. I think about loving God, being a spiritual Christian, and being led by God’s spirit quite often; but rarely do I meditate on and put into perspective just how important I am (and you are) to the Lord. Read the rest of this entry →

          

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It was Christian meditation integrated with the scriptures that helped me overcome 4 years of a deep depression. I remember so clearly the day my healing began. I was waiting for my kids to get out of school.  I sat there in my green mini-van wrenched with emotional pain so thick you could cut it with a knife.  As I waited, I began to take deep breaths and with each exaltation I would mentally affirm, “I release pain.”

Within 10 minutes the pain was gone and I experience a peace that had alluded me for so long. As I dwelled in the quiet, the spirit of God spoke to my heart. In a still, small voice, he said, “Rhonda, the reason you are so depressed is because of the thoughts you are thinking.” Prior to this I wasn’t paying much attention to my thoughts, but now aware of them I listened. They came faster than a parading machine gun and they were destructive, debilitating, and down right mean. Every day, I was beating myself down. I was saying words to myself that I’d never let another person get away with. Yet they were able to sneak into my sub-conscious mind day after day. Read the rest of this entry →

          

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by Stratton Jennings

          

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Meditation isn’t just for monks and priest anymore, many Christians are also enjoying the benefits of spending time with God in quietness and solitude. Christian Guided Meditations take the guess work out of meditation by providing believers with a method of meditating on God that doesn’t contradict with their Christian faith. Most Christian Guided Meditation Cds or recordings include a progressive relaxation and scriptural narrative that includes biblical stories, relevant scriptures, positive affirmations and relaxing music.

It is important that the Christian Guided Meditation Cd, mp3, or recording you choose begins with brief relaxation exercises that prepares you to receive God’s word. Deep breathing exercises that engage your diaphragm are one of the best ways to relax not only your body but your mind. Many guided meditations will have you inhale deeply, hold the breath for several seconds and then exhale. Next, they guide you through relaxing each area of your body from your head down to your feet. Once you are relaxed, your subconscious mind is much more receptive to receive God’s words. Read the rest of this entry →

          

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Romans 8: 38-39 Paul declares, “ ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I am also convinced that although nothing can separate us from God’s love for us, our own fears and insecurities can keep us from receiving the blessings of His love and His very best for us. Read the rest of this entry →

          

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Last week I wrote a post about intention and created a list of intentions that I read each morning. But lately during my quiet meditation time with God, I sense God taking my heart and thoughts in a new direction.  I believe the Lord is tell me we all have great intentions, dreams, desires, and goals, so the problem isn’t knowing what we want, the issue is “allowing”  God to bless us with these things.  Too often we become the pursurer of what we want instead of becoming a pursurer of God, who declares, seek ME first and I will give us ALL things.  Read the rest of this entry →

          

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Target your words and thoughts toward your desired outcomes

What is an intention? An intention is an anticipated outcome. Intentions can be different from plain thoughts, objectives, or goals in that when we create a goal, we usually create an action plan or specific steps to accomplish it.  When we create intentions, we leave the who, how, what, or when up to God or the Spirit. Instead of trying to figure out or make something happen, we allow the wisdom of God to manifest our desires in a perfect way at just the right time. That doesn’t mean that no action is required, but we wait for the inner promptings of God to guide our steps, instead of trying to figure it all out prematurely.  If we are patient, sometimes our desires will show up with no effort on our part at all. If our intention is internal transformation, we may begin to witness positive changes in our behavior without initially realizing it.   Read the rest of this entry →

          

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EFT is an acronym on for Emotional Freedom Technique. Occasionally, I am asked if EFT is something that Christians should avoid. I first became familiar with EFT about 10 years ago at a book signing event. At that time I had never heard of EFT, but participated in several tapping exercises to reducing sugar cravings. EFT is now taught and practiced world-wide. Just look on YouTube you will find 100s of EFT videos on reducing everything from stress and anxiety to losing weight and people swear by it.
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By Rhonda Jones

Recently, I receive a letter from a subscriber who asked what was the best way to incorporate Christian meditation into their daily life. In this article I want to outline ways you can include Christian meditation into your daily schedule that has made my life so much more rewarding and fulfilling. There are numerous benefits to meditating on God and spending time in His presence. These include developing a more intimate relationship with Christ, eliminating worry and stress, creating a space for God to speak to our hearts, and becoming more sensitive to the Holy Spirit to name a few. However this article places more emphasize on the logistics than the benefits and gives some ideas of making Christian meditation a daily reality in your life as well.

In this  article I will also share with you some tools I use that are indispensable to me and have made my time with God so much richer. These are not requirements because in actuality to meditate or spend time with God, all you really need is a willing heart and a quiet space.  Read the rest of this entry →

          

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“Well, Lord, I was told today at church that if I would get on my face and worship You, I could find some answers . . . that I could connect with You . . . that You would change me. Is this what they meant?”

My nose was beginning to get a little rug burned so I turned my head and let my cheek rest on the floor. I continued to lay there for almost two hours. You see, I was desperate. My history was more than a little embarrassing. I was 40 years old and here’s what I had to show for it: a divorce, a bankruptcy, a lost business, $500,000 of debt, and the prestige of being a convicted felon. It’s true that I now was married to a wonderful woman and had some great friends. But the shame of my past still dominated my thoughts.

My list of atrocities did not happen overnight. I strung them out over a 22—year period. What’s interesting is that during those years I consistently read my Bible, went to church or Bible studies, prayed, and openly spoke about my love for and commitment to God. Yet I was a mess. A terrible disciple of Jesus Christ. So, in many ways, lying on my face that day was a “retreat.” I had retreated into God’s presence to lay down my old life—and, hopefully, emerge with something new. Read the rest of this entry →

          

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  by Guest Writer Lynnis Woods Mullins

Having a quiet place within your home where you can go and meditate, pray, write in your journal, and just have quiet time is important. If you have some extra space in your house or an actual room you can use, try some of these ideas to create your “safe haven” of peace and tranquility.

Things You’ll Need:

• space within your home that will allow for quite time
• a spare room you can use
• candles
• chair
• pillows and throws
• personal items that have significance to you
• a small table
• CD player
• your favorite books on personal development, prayer, meditation, poetry, or other books that bring you a sense of peace
• shelf for your books
• plant

1.      A comfortable chair or small sofa is inviting and relaxing.  Select a comfortable chair or an easy chair to place in the room or space you have identified. If you have room a small sofa is always nice to have in the room for lounging or even a quick doze. The furniture you place in this room should be comfortable for reading and journaling also. Read the rest of this entry →

          

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Good Day Sacramento Channel 10 features  my Christian Meditation, Affirmation,  and Relaxation Cds.

          

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My love affair with God is growing and growing. Although my new love for God started in church almost 20 years ago, it wasn’t until God separated me unto himself and took me through a desert experience that I began not to just know of God, but truly experience Him on a personal level.

As new or immature believers in Christ, our walk is generally characterized by what we do for God. Although the gift of salvation is free, it’s hard for our natural minds to comprehend that we can get something for nothing. Our church leaders also weight us down with a litany of what good Christians do. Good Christians never miss a Sunday Service, attend weekly bible study, volunteer in several ministries, read their Bibles everyday, and the list goes on. As a result, when we fail to meet these standards, guilty feelings surface and fear sets in. We may even question whether we are saved.

The irony is that going to church doesn’t necessarily constitute a relationship with God just as not going to church suggests a lack of one. The first time I stopped going to church I was guilt-ridden. I must be in a back-slidden condition I ponderedt, although my heart was just as devoted to God as ever.  Scriptures like, “do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together,” surely meant I was on my way to hell. Yet at that time in my life going to church left me feeling empty. It was just a weekly ritual, a habit that I had been doing for years and I was tired of putting myself through its misery. Read the rest of this entry →

          

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“Come unto to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”- Matthew 11:28

I truly believe that depression is the result of internalized fear. Fear can take many forms such as anxiety, worry, guilt, regret, jealousy, and even anger. Usually we fear a loss or unwanted situation.  For example, fear of losing a loved one, wages, health, or even face can cause great anxiety. These situations, if not properly dealt with, steal our peace of mind and well-being.

As Christians, it’s important not to mask or deny our fears. Often we will try to cover our fears and insecurities with faith words. We often put on that Christian happy face and tell others we are blessed or everything is fine, even though there is deep pain in our heart.  In solitude, we may earnestly pray and ask God to take our pain away or sing songs of worship and praise, only for that heavy feeling to return again and again.

Though heartfelt, prayer and praise alone may not help in eliminating our negative emotions.  Instead of releasing them, they are buried further down into our subconscious mind, where they gnaw at us and weigh us down creating a perpetual dark cloud over our heads. 

If we look at this from a logical standpoint, if we focus only on the emotion, its like implementing solutions to a problem that has not been properly identified. In almost all cases, our negative emotions are not the problem but only a symptom of it. The presence of negative emotions is the indicator that something is wrong. Feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, fear, or sadness is our body’s way of saying we are out of alignment with God’s perfect plan for us or His spiritual well-being. If we stop only at the negative emotion or try to eliminate the emotion without going deeper, it’s like putting a band aid on cancer. Read the rest of this entry →

          

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