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| photo by Valerie Jones |
Ok, so you may be wondering what Spiritual Health has to do
with natural living. As I explained in my introduction to this series, my pursuit
of natural living is a pursuit of a healthier life. And I fully believe that
living a healthy lifestyle is not just about taking care of the body – it involves
the spirit, soul, and body – our entire being (1 Thess. 5:23).
So before I start making changes to how I care for my body
and things that are in my physical environment, it is important for me to do a
spiritual health check-up.
Here is why:
1) I have learned
that the healthier my spirit is, the healthier my body is …and in fact, every
other aspect of my life benefits as well.
I plan to expand on this in my healthy living series (which
will most likely come after this one). But to give you a basic idea of what I
mean, here is an example:
I believe a strong relationship with God = positive / righteous
thoughts and choices = health, prosperity, peace of mind and many other
blessings.
God is, afterall, my Creator (knows everything about me), my
Healer (removes sickness from my body), my Redeemer (restores emotional health
and peace in relationships), my Protector (keeps me from harm) and my Provider
(supplies everything I need).
The strength I have from a relationship with God is
priceless and unmatched by anything on this earth. I cannot ask for a better
foundation to living a healthy and blessed life!
(Natural Living Bonus: God's love comes without chemicals and additives. Just fresh, pure, sweet communion with Him.)
2) I desire to honor
God in all I do and I need His guidance to do so.
Honoring God means being obedient, diligent and wise in the
choices I make. This includes the decisions I will be making as I learn about
natural living.
For me, obedience to God is not a chore. At times it can be
very challenging, but I take joy in knowing my honor toward God is an
expression of my love and gratitude toward him. I want to please him because I
love Him. I have not always viewed obedience and honor in this way…and I missed
out on a lot of precious moments with my God because of it.
In addition, my journey to natural living is going to be a
learning process that will require our time and resources. Choices we make will
affect our health and comfort. I’ve been through experiences like this before….
Either I can enter into it blindly and become frustrated with foolish
decisions, or I can ask God to lead me to the right methods and trust Him to provide
what we need to accomplish the task. I choose the second option! Then I can be
certain that what we do is the best God has for us….there is a peace that comes
with knowing that and a reason to praise His Name!
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So back to that spiritual health check-up…. :-)
To make sure I have a good basis for moving forward I ask
myself these questions:
1) Am I reading the Bible daily?
2) Am I praying daily?
3) Do I take time to listen to what God has to say to me?
4) Am I following His commandments, obeying His leading and
the Holy Spirit’s promptings?
5) Am I ready to surrender my desires, change my habits, or challenge
my beliefs when God says so?
I want to make sure most, if not all, of the answers to
these questions are YES. I want to be certain that I am making myself available
to God so He can show me His will for me. When I am not meditating on His Word
and talking with Him daily I am more likely to be confused about what I am to
do.
Today I ask God to
show me what to focus on as I start learning about natural living. I pray that
He will reveal the best methods for my family to implement and save me the
trouble of going through things that don’t work. I know that sometimes the best
things in life we have to pursue with diligence, so I pray for strength for the
journey. And may God protect me from falling into unbalanced living. Amen!
If you have decided to take a similar journey to learning
about natural living…or anything else God shows you…let me know! I will be
happy to pray for you as you get started!
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