The Healing Power of Love

By Joanna K. Harris

Joanna Harris is an author and blogger with a tremendous passion for God.  You can contact Joanna here.  For more on Joanna and her ministry, check out her website here.  There you can also find links to her other blogs.

I had a rather strange dream last night. Well, most of my dreams are strange, but this one still has me thinking.

In this dream, as often happens in my dreams, I was involved in some sort of conflict. As the "bad" guys came toward me, I somehow knocked down the first man, even though he was huge and obviously strong. Then, suddenly, he became the one who stopped all the other bad guys. I was surprised, but grateful. 

Then he looked at me. In his eyes I saw a love deeper and stronger than I can describe. He didn't say a word, but I knew he loved me. And, it wasn't the same look as someone who is simply "in love" with me. It was a strong, solid love that would protect me at all costs, even sacrifice himself for me. 

I was stunned.

The dream moved on, as dreams do. But the other bad guys hadn't given up. They tried to get me by pushing some kind of wall over on me. I was trapped in a tiny space as the wall slowly lowered on top of me. I crawled through the little tunnel space, trying to get to the end so I could get out. 

My hand was barely at the opening, and the wall was almost crushing me, when I was pulled out by strong hands. I looked up into the same loving eyes as before. Once again he spoke no words, just looked at me with deepest love. 

That was the end of the dream. There was no resolution to the original conflict, just the knowledge that I was loved, and loved more deeply than I ever expected.

I'm very grateful for all of the loving people God has blessed me to know. I certainly haven't had a lack of love in my life. 

Yet, I think that love is a gift that needs to be received, not just acknowledged. Knowing that someone loves me is different than receiving their love with gratitude. 

I think part of learning to receive love is understanding the source of love. 

God is love. All love comes from Him. And His love is higher, deeper, wider, and longer than anything we can imagine (Eph. 3:17-19)! 

God's love for us is so intense that He actually gave His own Son, Jesus, to die for our sins (John 3:16) -

*so that we would no longer be God's enemies (Col. 1:21-22)

*so that we could be rescued from death, despair, fear, loneliness, darkness... (Heb. 2:14-15)

*so that we could find everything we need in the vast riches of God's love (Ps. 63). 

God's love is powerful! 

As we understand God's love better, I think we'll recognize His love expressed to us through others. And, as we learn to gratefully receive love from God and others, it brings continual healing - to our heart, mind, soul, and even physical body. 

When I got up this morning, I wasn't feeling well, but I pushed myself to fix some breakfast. As I sat down to eat, I remembered my dream. I saw again those eyes of love looking back at me. And I couldn't help but smile. 

There is something very powerful in believing that I am loved.

So if you haven't heard it in a while, I want to tell you right now - You are loved. 

You are valued.

You are cherished.

You are treasured.

You are delighted in.

You are fully known and fully loved by an awesome God, with a love that is far beyond anything you've ever imagined! 

Please receive His love with gratitude. Let it put a smile on your face and a song in your heart. Let it heal things you never thought could be healed. Let it strengthen you. Let it flow through you to others who need to know they are loved as well. 

"This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us." -1 John 4:9-10, 16a

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." -Jeremiah 31:3

www.newlineministries.com 

Power of 5 Minutes a Day

By Joanna K. Harris

Joanna Harris is an author and blogger with a tremendous passion for God.  You can contact Joanna here.  For more on Joanna and her ministry, check out her website here.  There you can also find links to her other blogs.

Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. -Proverbs 13:11

I know this verse is specifically talking about money, but I think the same principle can apply to our time as well. Time can easily slip away from us, or we can harness time little by little to make it grow in impact and effectiveness.

One way to do that is to recognize the power of what we can do with just 5 minutes every day.

Jimmy Evans (marriage expert) says that 5 minutes a day of practicing empathy toward your spouse can resurrect a dead marriage. I've also heard that 5 minutes a day of praying with your spouse can greatly improve the quality of your marriage. 

You may also have heard that  

* 5 minutes a day of laughter can improve your health. 

* 5 minutes a day of tidying the house can keep the potential chaos under control (just ask my mom who raised 6 kids). 

* 5 minutes a day of reviewing your goals and strategies can keep you on track and more focused, helping you say "yes" to the right things and "no" to the distracting things. 

In my own life I can testify to the power of 5 minutes a day spent in simply delighting in God. It refreshes my focus and transforms my perspective. 

With 5 minutes a day of memorizing Scripture, over the last two years, I've memorized several Psalms and a few short New Testament books.

Andy Stanley explains that it is small deposits of time, over time, that produces significant results.

5 minutes a day of listening to your kids may go farther than one big outing once a month. 

5 minutes of stretches a day is worth more than one long workout now and then.

I think this principle can be powerful in any arena of life.

I know in my own life that if I don't plan for things, they usually don't get done. Thankfully, 5 minutes a day is something even I can plan for in my schedule, and 5 minutes a day is a good place to start for habits that we eventually want to increase in, such as prayer or Bible reading. 

So, some good questions to ask are,

* Can we use this habit of 5 minutes a day to move toward becoming who we want to be? 

* Can we use this habit of 5 minutes a day to work for what matters in eternity? 

* Can we use this habit of 5 minutes a day to practice doing our part?

The options are plentiful. Where is God leading you? How can you use 5 minutes a day as a powerful tool in your life this week?

Standards and Expectations

By Joanna K. Harris

Joanna Harris is an author and blogger with a tremendous passion for God.  You can contact Joanna here.  For more on Joanna and her ministry, check out her website here.  There you can also find links to her other blogs.

I think sometimes we need to raise our standards and lower our expectations.

Let me explain.

Modern culture continually sends messages telling people to lower their standards and raise their expectations.

Example: "Just live together before you get married. Then you can find out if you're compatible and if the other person will make you happy."

Lowering of moral standards – devaluing purity and commitment. Raising of personal expectations – someone else is responsible for your happiness.

I believe that during my lifetime there's been a dangerous shift in both standards and expectations.

My parents' generation grew up with high standards and reasonable expectations for themselves, others, and life in general. They valued character and integrity. They didn't expect life to always be easy. They were prepared for hard work, sacrifice, and delayed gratification.

In today's world, most people have few, if any standards, and many unrealistic expectations.

I think it's time we get intentional about reversing this trend. It’s time to start practicing raised standards and lowered expectations.

Here are some practical areas I've thought about where we can apply this:

- Raise our standards of what we put into our bodies (leave unhealthy things and junk food behind), and lower our expectations that what we consume is supposed to make us feel good.

- Raise our standards of how we treat other people, and lower our expectations that we'll never have conflict or challenging relationships.

- Raise our standards of personal integrity, and lower our expectations that everything in life will come easily for us.

- Raise our standards of how we invest our time, and lower our expectations that we can do everything we want.

- Raise our standards of financial stewardship, and lower our expectations of what we think we need.

Ouch. Did any of those prick you a little as you read them? What other areas can you think of where this principle is needed?

I'm really excited about this concept. Yet, the thought of trying to apply it to my specific situation is a little daunting. And it probably should be.

I think too many of us, perhaps unconsciously, have adopted a mindset of "easier is better" or "if it feels good, do it." But Christ has called us to a completely different worldview and lifestyle. He calls us to the highest standard: His life living through us, and His choice of humble and self-less expectations. 

This life is not about me – my comfort, ease, happiness, or personal fulfillment. This life is about God's glory.

If we lower our standards and pursue unrealistic, selfish expectations, we’ll only end up unhappy, unfulfilled and wondering where our life went.

But the good news is that as we rely on God’s power and grace to live with His higher standards and Spirit-led expectations, God Himself fills us with His comfort, His joy and happiness, and sweet satisfaction in seeing His plans for us fulfilled. What could be better?

So what is God saying to you? Where is He calling you to raise your standards and lower your expectations?

I want to heed His call. Is it easy? No. But by God’s grace and Christ’s life in me, it is possible. And I believe it will be well worth it.

…we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. -2 Thessalonians 1:11

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. -Hebrews 3:1, 12:1-2

www.newlineministries.com

Are You Eating An Organic Spiritual Diet?

By: Joanna Harris

Joanna Harris is an author and blogger with a tremendous passion for God.  You can contact Joanna here.  For more on Joanna and her ministry, check out her website here.  There you can also find links to her other blogs.

                                                                      

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

-Romans 12:2a

My church recently went through Chip Ingram's book True Spirituality as we studied through Romans 12. Ingram's chapters on how to renew our minds were very thought provoking. He writes about how what we put into our minds – our mental and spiritual "diet" –determines our mental and spiritual health.

I can relate to this concept because I'm very careful about what I eat and what I put into my body. Though I indulge in a piece of cheesecake once in a while, my main diet consists of healthy, organic, home-cooked food. Because I've been eating this way for so many years, I don't even like "junk" food anymore.

Comparing my spiritual "diet" to these same standards is really helpful for me.

Is what I'm allowing into my mind "organic," as in God-created and approved, or is it man-made and corrupted?

Am I feeding myself from God's Word or just taking in spiritual "fast food" that other people have prepared?

Do I still enjoy mental or spiritual "junk" – things I know aren't spiritually healthy for me?

Good questions.

Recently I watched a program where an evangelist interviewed people on the street. Only two of the people stated that they were atheists. The rest claimed to be Christians. When he asked if they ever watched R-rated movies, without exception they all said yes.

I know some of the people only claimed to be Christians while others probably were genuine in their faith. Yet I was shocked and saddened that there was no apparent difference in their behavior. They all watched R-rated movies, all admitted to lying at times, along with other sinful habits the evangelist asked about.

How can this be?

Don't you think we, as Christ’s followers, should act so differently from the world that regardless of their theological understanding they wouldn't dare claim to be a Christian because they know it means a radically different lifestyle?

Paul wrote to the Roman Christians centuries ago not to be conformed to this world. He explained that the way not to be conformed is to renew our minds.

Our actions and behaviors are a result of the way we think. And the way we think is determined by what we take into our minds and hearts. We cannot feed on a diet of spiritual "junk" food and expect to have a healthy spiritual life.

If we eat the world's “food,” we will live like the world. And the more we consume a worldly “diet” the less appetite we’ll have for what is good and true. But the more we feed on God’s Word, the hungrier we’ll become for things that are pure and eternal. And when we eat a spiritually "organic" diet, consuming God's truth, we will live differently as the Holy Spirit works transformation in us.

Thankfully, our outward behavior doesn't affect our standing with God. We are declared righteous in Christ by God's lavish grace (Rom. 5:1-2). But our outward behavior does reveal our inner thoughts. That is what we are called to renew.

I know it isn't easy. We're bombarded by worldly messages and values 24/7. Renewing our minds requires evaluating what specific media we need to eliminate. It requires purposing to fill our minds with things that are noble and lovely (Phil. 4:8). And it requires assessing healthy limits of what we take in, because even with a good mental diet, sometimes just the sheer volume of information and images can overwhelm our spirits.

That's why sometimes I take a week and practice a spiritual fast/feast. I fast from TV and movies, and I spend extra time reading God's Word, listening to sermons online and just being quiet. When I do this, cutting out the noise from the world and soaking myself in God's truth, the results are amazing. I can think more clearly, hear God's voice more distinctly, and I have a greater peace and joy in my spirit.

I want to live like this every week, but the pressures of life often crowd in. Still, those seasons of fasting/feasting are always precious and help refocus me and prepare me for what's next.

I really do want to live differently than non-Christians do. I want to think differently. I want to be continually transformed and filled with more of Jesus' beautiful life. Maybe then those who only think they are Christians will see Jesus living in me and come to truly know Him – as the wonderful Savior, Healer and transforming God that He is.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever he does prospers.

-Psalm 1:1-3

www.newlineministries.com