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Better Than A Hot Tub

9/4/2020

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Picture
Ever been in a hot tub? So relaxing. It increases circulation, helps relax you, probably increases the feel-good hormones in your body. Don’t know of anyone fighting or screaming at each other in a hot tub!
 
But, anyone noticed in the world lately …
  • a bit of turmoil?
pandemic?
  • economic disaster for many in the wake of the pandemic?
  • riots in some streets?
  • a testy, divisive political climate?
 
Not a recipe for peace, for sure! And you can’t put the whole world in a hot tub! But what if you could just bask in stability and be steadfast in security? Would you want that? Of course!
 
Today’s challenges aren’t unique, they are just different. We’ve had past challenges in this country, for sure, and we’ve gotten through them, as we shall these. But we have some additional pressure points we didn’t have to deal with previously…

  • the internet
  • the digital world – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and on and on
  • the 24-hour news cycle
  • the 24-hour society – stores, shops, eateries – all day, all night
 
This is causing stress levels in so many more people.
 
Stress:
  • fuels cancer
  • shrinks the brain
  • leads to premature aging
  • leads to depression
  • weakens the immune system
  • increases the risk of stroke and heart attack
 
It’s not just the big things causing it either. It’s the pressure of just everyday life…the fast-paced, 24-hour info cycle that is going on and on and on.
 
The “old days” had their challenges too – diseases that killed you, wild animals on your farmlands, infections, lack of food and water. But somehow that stress was different. Candles and lamps out at 8 pm and up with the rooster crowing at 4 am. The suicide rate back then was nowhere near what it is today.
 
Is there an answer for today? Yes – PUT ON THE BRAKES! If your car was flying down a hill, you would certainly hit the brakes, not sit there going, “whatever!” Well, if your life is flying down that hill…PUT ON THE BRAKES!
 
But how in the world do you do that? Well, if over stimulation of your senses is the curse of today, you have to back off. “But I can’t,” you say. Oh, yes, you can if you want to. If you break a leg and rehab hurts, you still have to do the rehab. You say you can’t, but your therapist says you can. IF you follow the therapy – you’ll have your restoration; if not, YOU WON’T.
 
Don’t raise your hand but how many of you start the day with a few moments with the Lord? You have to shut off the tv, turn off the phone, the games, the news, the laptop etc. Get into the Word, – get into His presence!
 
You CAN live in the visible world yet, with God’s glasses, see and receive the unseen…the peace you are longing for.
 
Start the day with some Bible reading, devotionals, prayer, soft devotional music – and do it as often as you can during the day. Heck, the world tells you to do Yoga, meditation, deep breathing etc. Yes, they help decrease stress, but they do nothing for a lack of a relationship with the Lord. Only by spending time in the presence of the only one true God can the peace that surpasses all understanding be yours. It won’t stop the turmoil around you; but it will stop the turmoil within. What security, safety, knowledge, authority, wisdom – and peace – you get from being in the presence of God!
 
Psalm 48:14
For such is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us until death.
 
Psalm 130:5
I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope.
 
Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.
 
No window breaking, looting, rioting, shouting, hitting someone in that. What a contrast God gives us.
 
But the hook here is that the raw, Adam nature will always lead to the deeds of the flesh (Gal 5:19-21 – immorality, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, factions, carousing etc.).
 
Whew! Isn’t that a perfect description of the videos seen on the news night after night? We should be driven to prayer for those people, not a political, partisan divide! That is raw sin nature at its worst. They are pawns of the adversary to try and destroy the plans of God.
 
Stress, strife, violence, murder, theft…no hot tub is going to quell that! Only a change of nature – the indwelling of the nature of God. Pray like you’ve never prayed before for the salvation of these precious, deceived souls.
 
What a difference God presents:
 
John 16:33
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but be of good cheer, take courage, I have overcome the world.
 
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; NOT as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubles, nor let it be fearful.
 
Now that’s a hot tub I’m going to jump into. Come join me.
 
God bless you always.

NOW GO LIVE IT!

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  • New Direction
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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Mission | Purpose | Vision
    • What We Believe
    • Membership
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    • Contact Us
  • Know Jesus?
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