To Your Success Part 2 "Mind, Body, and Soul"

Inspirational quote for today is: “When you do what you fear most, then you can do anything.” ~ Stephen Richards In my own journey dealing with anxiety; I learned that anxiety and worry were both attacks on my mind intended to distract me from the serving the Lord. You see I use to allow the enemy to use these torments to press my faith down, so it couldn’t rise up and help me live in victory. This was a huge mistake. In addition, we allow ourselves to have such a problem with worry it can lead to an addiction to worrying. Unfortunately, there are some people who tend to worry so much that if they have something of their own to worry about, they will worry over someone else’s problem. I remember when I was battling these issues that I could never enjoy the peace Jesus died for me to have. One thing I did learn in overcoming these issues and that it’s impossible to worry and live in peace at the same time. The reason is because I had to learn peace isn’t something that was put on me; it is a fruit of the spirit. As it states in Galatians 5:22 “but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and this fruit is the result of abiding Jesus. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me”. ~ John 15:4 (NASB) the word “abiding” relates to entering the “rest of God” and this information was spoken about in Chapter 4 of Hebrews as well as other places in the word of God. For example, Jesus gave us his peace in the book of John, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. ~ John 14:27 (NASB) In other words, I had to learn even though peace is present in us; I had to make sure it was chosen over what our fleshly mind thinks. You see we can choose to be peaceful by choosing to think on things that bring peace rather than things that bring on worry and anxiety. I believe the causes of anxiety and worry is many. The reason is because these are attacks from Satan upon the mind. In addition, there certain things we as believers are instructed to do with our minds, and the enemy wants to make sure that they are never done. As a result, the enemy attempts to keep our minds busy enough with wrongful thinking so that the mind never gets around to being used for the purpose which God designed it. In other words, anxiety is a fear of looking at the truth about our own thoughts, feelings, and motives. The Holy Spirit usually pushes the truth up. However, our deprived minds push the truth back down. Moreover, our tensions between the Holy Spirit and our deprived minds are true anxiety. One thing I learned through battling with anxiety is that it can come from a variety of ways. For example, it can come from the following: 1.) Internal, 2.) Behavioral, 3.) Spiritual, 4.) Genetic, 5.) Biological, and 6.) Medical. Here are few steps I’ve used to help me overcome anxiety. 1.) Read the Bible- Here are some scriptures to help you calm your soul: John14:27, Psalm 56:3, Psalm 34:4, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 27:1, 14, Matthew 6:25-34, and Philipians4:6-8 (NASB) I would suggest for you to memorize these scriptures and prey these verses back to God each day for about a week. When I started doing these things it helped me become strong again. “I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one”. ~ 1 John2:14 (NASB) 2.) Listen to some relaxing music- I would suggest listen to some music that warms your mind, body, and soul. Most people listens to music such as: Christian, jazz, R&B, and etc. Why not these words and melodies soothe away those anxious feelings you may have? 3.) Get Enough Adequate Sleep- This step was one of my biggest challenges for me because I wasn’t getting enough hours of sleep. I’m sure you can relate to this. I never understood how much anxiety may dissipate with adequate rest. When I started to sleep 7-8 hrs a day it made huge difference for me. As it states in the book of Job “When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise? But the night continues. And I am continually tossing until dawn”. ~ Job7:4 (NASB) and “when you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet”. ~ Proverbs3:24 (NASB) As a result, whenever I started to feel anxious I will get a good night’s sleep. 4.) Make time for Exercise and Recreation- This step helped me the most. The reason is because not only did it release the chemicals that helped me decrease my anxiety it changed my whole life. As a result, I’m 205 lbs. lighter than I was about 2.5 years ago my whole life began to improve. 5.) Living One Day at a Time- The best advice given for anxiety: Matthew 6:25-34 (NASB) I always have to remind myself to follow this advice and continue to work at living one day at a time, because I don’t know the future. No one does. I just stay focus on dealing with what has to be done today and try not to think about tomorrow. I trust you enjoy reading this blog, and I pray that it helps you as you begin to change your life and achieve great success. This is the beginning of a journey that never ends. I will present Part 3 at a later time. Talk to you soon, Gary R. Johnson.