Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Healthy Living”
Our Bible verse for today: “For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.” Philippians 2:13 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “God will enable you to make lasting change.”
We already know that God has a wonderful plan for each of our lives (Jeremiah 29:11); and that through Christ we can accomplish it (Philippians 4:13). Here in Philippians 2:13 Paul reinforces that truth but he adds a new wrinkle – not only is it God working in us to accomplish He good purposes for us, but He also gives us the desire for that change to occur and to stick. This is important. Once you have a deep desire for something achieving it becomes much easier.
So be encouraged, God has your best interests in mind. He wants you to be the best person you are capable of being in all areas of your life. If you are making a genuine effort to drop bad habits and replace them with good ones, you can be sure He is at work helping you to do so.
In “The Daniel Plan”, Rick Warren and his team offer us five tips to making lasting change in our lives:
1. Build your life on the truth (John 8:31-32). In other words, have a firm foundation of faith in Christ. Make the spiritual disciplines a part of your daily routine and be sure to include the care of your body as part of the practice of your faith.
2. Make wise choices (Ephesians 4:22-24). This actually means make Biblical choices. Know your Bible and live according to it. If the changes you are incorporating into your life are Biblical, you will have a much better chance of succeeding.
3. Adopt new ways of thinking (Romans 12:2). This includes new ways of thinking about a healthy lifestyle.
4. Rely on the Holy Spirit to help you (Galatians 5:18). It’s the Spirit’s job to help you live in accordance with God’s will. Call on Him for His help. Remember, taking proper care of yourself is a spiritual discipline – it is part of how you practice your Christian faith. So involve the Spirit in every step of the changes you are working on.
5. Be part of a support group (Hebrews 10:24-25). The fact is that we are stronger and better together than we are alone. We need each other and we will be more successful at achieving our goals if we have others helping us.
It is God’s desire for you to be as healthy as you can, for as long as you can. That doesn’t mean you will never get sick and it certainly doesn’t mean that you will never die. You will age, and your body will slowly deteriorate, and someday you will die. But still, there are many things all of us can do on a daily basis to stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible. The Bible teaches very clearly that that is God’s desire for us. So take good care of your body.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 