United in Love

By Cheri Cowell –

To celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary, my husband planned this wonderful trip retracing our honeymoon journey along the Blue Ridge Parkway. As we meandered along the mountaintop we leafed through the pages of our photo album, reminiscing about the things we saw and did, and the carefree abandonment in which we approached life. One of my anniversary gifts to Randy was a recording of the love songs sung at our wedding and of our dating years. It was so much fun to remember the past and realize how far God has brought us. We remembered the tough times, the trying times, and the tender moments of those early years. Each evening and each morning we thanked God for the years He’s given us, and the years yet to come. True love is not always easy, but when genuine love is united with God’s love, that unity is a beacon drawing others to the One who is Love.

While this passage is offered as part of Christ’s prayer for His disciples and for all those who follow in their footsteps, we can also see how those who are united in married love share this same goal. Our loves: marriage, family, and brothers and sisters in Christ are to be a window into heaven. May our loves be that beacon for Him.

PRAYER: Thank You, God, for the loves in my life, for the way You show Your love through the relationships You’ve given. Help me focus more on the blessings my relationships bring than on the difficulties of becoming and staying united in love.

“I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:23 ESV).

A Cheerful Heart

By Judy Davis –

Laughter is good for the soul. Barbara Johnson author of “Mama, Get the Hammer! There’s a fly on Papa’s Head!” encourages the reader to look for laughter in the face of adversity.

It’s how you respond to the difficulties in life and Barbara Johnson has had her share. She lost two sons: one in Vietnam and the other in a car accident. Her third son vanished after informing her that he was a homosexual. Through the pain, she started a ministry of love to help other parents on the road to recovery.

She has staked her life and her ministry on the healing power of a positive outlook. She zeros directly in on the therapeutic benefit of a smile, a giggle, and a good old-fashioned belly laugh. She insists that laughing in the face of adversity is not a form of denial, but a proven tool for managing stress, coping with pain, and maintaining hope.

Barbara wrote, “Humor is to life what shock absorbers are to automobiles.” Enjoy the little things. One day you may look back and realize…they were the big things.

Karl Menninger, a well-known psychiatrist, was answering questions from the audience after giving a lecture, and one man asked, “What would you advise a person to do if he felt a nervous breakdown coming?” Most of those present expected Menninger to reply, “Consult a psychiatrist.” But to their astonishment he said, “Lock up your house and go across the railroad tracks to find someone in need. Then do something to help that person.”

We have been friends with Linda and Bill for over 40 years. Linda had a stroke several years ago and is on oxygen. She loves for me to come and sit with her. We go over and over the many memories of long ago. She can remember things that I can’t. She said, “You are like a ray of sunshine and minister to me in so many ways.” I try to make her laugh at some of the things we did in the past when we were much younger. But she is the one who makes me laugh most of the time.

Always remember: for everything that goes wrong, there are 50 to 100 blessings. Count them. One word or note brings more encouragement than a thousand thoughts never expressed. “God has not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain.” (From the hymn What God Hath Not Promised, words by Annie J. Flint.)

If you need a good laugh, go to the book store and buy any of Barbara Johnson’s bestsellers.

Laughter is to life what salt is to an egg. Take time to laugh at your mistakes.

“A cheerful heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit makes one sick” (Proverbs 17:22).

Shine

By Heather Allen –

I thought being a teenager was painful. I disliked the sense of awkward vulnerability that accompanied those years. I disliked being subjected to the sheer foolishness that is public high school. And I disliked feeling torn between the numb robotic actions expected of me, so I could fit the status quo, and the desire to flip expectations upside down.

So I tell my teenager the things I wish I had understood way back then, in the olden days. I tell her not to worry who likes her, that this is the time to develop into the woman God wants her to be.The answers to her identity questions are found in scripture. I tell her loneliness is a large part of the human experience. But that it can serve a big purpose if we allow it to. It can drive us away from trying to please others and straight toward God. And when we embrace His love, flaky acceptance we experience elsewhere tastes like saccharine. Once you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good there is no substitute.

At every age we need to know God’s word is true when it says we ourselves become a well-watered garden when we focus on meeting the needs of the needy instead of our own. When we pour out, God pours in. And when we strive to fill ourselves we are emptier than before. There is no shortage of alternatives we can cram our lives with and when we do the heart grows heavier and the spirit more afflicted.

I recently heard a man I admire say salvation is not just for Heaven but Earth also. Our freedom from sin and death are for the here and now. The more I wrestle with my sin nature, the more relieved I am that God can and will clean it up. And with precision better than a surgeon His words separate the bone and marrow. I lie down peacefully, gazing up at Him through a starry sky and wonder why I ever choose anything but His presence and an obedient life. Does it make me an old soul to say all else is meaningless, “a chasing after the wind”? (Ecc. 1:14 NIV)

I grew up doing all the right things and being in all the right places. I even went on a spiritual renewal retreat, when it meant not going out with a boy I liked. I remember thinking that living right was something we did, muscling our way through life. That to shine and be a light was mostly self-driven. But when I was broken beyond human repair, God began to speak through me. He began to heal and clean me. I eagerly participated, desiring to be whole and new. I still climb up on the surgeon’s table and hand Him any tool He asks for. I hand Him my confession, my desires, my fears, and my heartache. He cuts out the disease of sin, cleans the festering wound, and stitches the cut that I tried to cover with a band-aid. He did it yesterday, and He’ll be back tomorrow. When I call Him in the middle of the night He is there.

Why trade Him for anything else? He is the only long-term satisfaction in life because He is life.
“In Him was life and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4 KJV).

Defining Love In 600 Words or Less

By Alan Mowbray –

1 Corinthians 13:13 (The Message)
“But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.”

When you stop to think about love, what comes to mind?

Affection—admiration—desire—need—attraction—overlooking the faults of others—forgiving—giving to the poor—helping others who are suffering—being a friend—going to battle for someone, etc.

Sophocles said, “Love frees us of all the weight and pain of life.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. called love, “…the master key that opens the gates of happiness.”

Playwright Karen Sunde pondered: “To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven.”

Since the instant love touched the hearts of Adam and Eve, mankind has been trying to define exactly what love is. Everyone has their own definition of it. When you search the word love on the web, you get conflicting results:

“An emotion of strong affection and personal attachment.” Yet, is it not true that neither affection nor attachment is required to love people? There are many individuals I have shown love to over the years and I guarantee you that for some, I had no affection nor was I particularly attached to them.

“To have a strong liking for.” Hmmm, I would have to say again, that a requirement like that would preclude me from loving a lot of people I know.

“Passion or desire.” Okaaaaay. Now the field just got narrowed down to one. Uno—as in less than two. Yeah, you guessed it, my wife. I would say that using that criterion would exclude everyone else on the planet.

So, love remains an elusive definition, yet, everyone knows about it.

There are at least eighteen characteristics of love given in the New Testament. Together they help answer the question, “What is love?”

Love suffers.
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love is not jealous.
Love does not brag.
Love is not arrogant.
Love does not act unbecomingly.
Love does not seek its own.
Love is not provoked.
Love keeps no record of suffered wrongs.
Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness.
Love rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things.
Love believes all things.
Love hopes all things.
Love endures all things.
Love never fails.
Love does no harm.
Love covers a multitude of sins.

We know one thing for sure—the Word of God focuses on love, teaching us that our goal must be to put love first, and that any spiritual gifts He gives us must operate out of love. Love is a powerful, but not an impersonal force. It is not a vague mist or a dreamy concept. It is not an idea, but an actual entity.

But what is love, really?

1 John 4:16 (NKJV) tells us: “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”

God is love.

There you go. It doesn’t say God has love, but that He is love. Don’t mix up the order. Love is not God. God is Love.

Let me show you the difference—it’s huge.

My dog is a girl.

My girl is a dog.

Do you see the difference? Don’t get ‘em mixed up.

There’ll be a war.

God is love.

These three words say so much yet only scratch the surface. Sigh, if only I had another 9000 words—

Benefits of Physical (and Spiritual) Cardio Training

By Laurette Willis –

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23 NKJV).

This proverb of King Solomon’s is not referring to physical cardio training, but spiritual. We want to keep watch over what we are meditating on in our hearts.

Is there unforgiveness or bitterness? Envy? Worry? If so, the answer is to exercise. Exercise forgiveness, repentance and then cast your cares upon the Lord.

Being what I call a “Fit Witness” is wonderful—not only for you—but the people around you. They will want to know your secret, and you can begin explaining your blessing with words like “by the grace of God.” Then you can mention how you like to combine faith and fitness (such as doing PraiseMoves or prayer-walking).

As a child of God, you are a steward or caretaker of the body the Lord has given you. Did you know your body actually belongs to Him?

“For you are bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20 NKJV).

Both your spirit and your body are God’s property. Don’t let that scare you if you haven’t been taking good enough care of His property. Instead, realize He has a vested interest in helping you take care of your body. Ask Him to help you and then cooperate with Him by doing physical exercise such as cardio training.

Physical Cardio Training

Cardiovascular training involves any activity that requires the use of the large muscle groups of the body in a regular and uninterrupted manner. It elevates the heart rate between 60 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. Some examples of cardio training include brisk walking, running, aerobics, cycling, elliptical training and rowing.

How Much Cardio?

Most experts agree that cardiovascular training should last for 20 to 60 minutes, with the normal range being 30 to 40 minutes per session. Cardio should be performed a minimum of three days per week, with four to five days being optimal.

What Are the Benefits of Cardio Training?

1. Burns calories
2. Helps you lose excess body fat
3. Strengthens heart and lungs
4. Elevates your mood (a real blues buster!)
5. Adds variety to your workout routine

When to Do Cardio Training?

Most people find exercising earlier in the day best—so you don’t put it off! Some find after work is best for them. But almost any time you exercise is fine. Just do it! Avoid doing cardio exercises before bedtime. You may have a difficult time sleeping if you exercise late at night as the energy level of the body will be elevated for a while.

If you are doing weight training, try doing some cardio exercises right after, not before.

A protein shake 30 minutes before cardio ensures that you’ll have energy and won’t burn muscle protein during your workout. It’s best to exercise two hours after a large meal.

Combine Physical and Spiritual Cardio

Select a scripture for the day and meditate on it while you are working out. Consider the scripture piece-by-piece and ask the Holy Spirit (our Teacher and Guide) to reveal hidden truths to you.

Build your faith muscles by speaking the scripture out loud as you are working out so you can hear yourself saying it. Remember, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17 NKJV).

Combining these two forms of cardio exercise will help you to keep your physical and spiritual heart with all diligence!

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