God’s Rx –Dr. Jenny Lopez

God’s Rx –Dr. Jenny Lopez

Posted: July 27, 2015 by Dr. Jenny M Lopez 

 

“They will prolong your life many years … this will bring health to your body and strength to your soul.” Proverbs 3:2, 8 

It is recommended we schedule a physical exam, and at least 2 routine dental appointments every year. These recommendations are to detect any abnormalities in our bodies early, if there are any. The purpose that our bodies be maintained in a healthy stability.  Similarly God, through His Word, makes spiritual recommendations that, amazingly, have physical health benefits.

God tells us, “They will prolong your life many years … this will bring health to your body and strength to your soul …Proverbs 3:2, 8

God’s Rx
– Let thy heart keep my commandments v.1
– Let not kindness and truth forsake thee (integrity and love) v.3
– Trust in the Lord v.5
– Do not be wise in your own opinion v.7
– Honor the Lord with your wealth v.9 v.11
– Do not despise the discipline v.11

God’s prescription for good health and long life, is not based on natural drugs or expensive procedures. His prescription for a healthy and strong body is of a discipline, instruction and obedience onto Him. This list of tips give us very little room to live a natural life based on the conventional. His “RX” is directly linked to controlling the “I,” because it is the focus on the “Self” that limits us. An undisciplined focus on “Self” restricts us to the known, to anything that represents “security,” and anything our culture considers “acceptable.”

Our God is not of a limited perspective. His purpose is global. His guidance will expand a tunnel vision and will order the steps to a fulfilling future.

This morning, as we enter into His presence in fasting and prayer, I invite you to consider applying God’s prescription to a long and healthy life. The benefits are tangible and will not wait.

Prayer: Father, thank you for your sovereignty over everything and everyone. This morning I stand before you confident, knowing your guidance is faithful and true. Your authority reigns and is effective in the laws you have established. Thank you for the recommendations you give us, and thank you for the direct benefits you have commanded for our health. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 http://faithtime.me/2015/07/27/gods-rx-dr-jenny-lopez/

Does the World Know Your Name?

Ambassador Dr. Clyde Rivers shared a conversation that he and Tim Story had some time ago. Tim Story had an amazing ministry and was known throughout the church in America and many parts of Christendom throughout the world. Mr. Story made a statement that I will never forget, he said "Inside the church I was well known but when I got out into the world, no one knew my name."

That statement shook my world! The force of it hit me that we can be well known in the church and be a superstar in Christendom while no one in the world knows our name. Yet, Jesus said ^"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." That implies the world should know our name!

The Lord put in my heart the following list.

If the world doesn't know your name you might be:

1. A religious person who confines their Christianity to the insides of the four walls of a church building. 
2. Only motivated to serve Christ out of fear of Hell instead of being in love with Him and developing a relationship with Jesus.
3. Serving Jesus for what I can get from him but sacrifice nothing in return. 
4. Seeing the lost as enemies instead of potential Christ followers.
5. Self consumed that the effort required to win the lost is too much of an inconvenience. 

For the world to know our name we must interact with them, be friendly, show concern, and be available to them in their time of trouble. Alienation of people who are not of faith never influences anyone. Jesus Christ was known as a friend to sinners. They liked him for several reasons and knew his name well. The Lord took time with them, ate with them, listened to them, and invoked the power of the Holy Spirit into their situations. Interestingly enough, the religious hated him and couldn't believe he would eat with sinners and interact with the lowest of society. The Pharisees of the day did what they did best - found fault. All the while, the sinners were flocking to him and experiencing change in their lives.

It's not so much the world knows our name, but that they know the name of the one who lives inside of us. Our name and his name should become synonymous because we reflect his personage in every capacity. In other words, when they see us - they see the Lord!

Go out today and seek the lost of this world and spend time with them. Don't be afraid - greater is he that lives in you than he that lives in the world! Create a thirst in them for the fountain of salvation through Christ. I don't have to force anyone to serve the Lord anymore than a potato chip forces me to drink water. I eat a potato chip and the salt naturally creates a desire in me to go get a drink.

Remember what Jesus said about us believers

You are the salt of the earth

 




 

The Power of an Excuse is Deadening

 John 8:31-32 (KJV)
³¹  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
³²  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

An excuse is an attempt to justify one's actions or lack of when responsibility called for a different response. It's the verbal re-engineering in redefining the moral expectations on one's life. We may know the standard expected of us but we make the exception for ourselves, due to a lack of resolve to correct the issues that are keeping us from fulfilling them.

Be careful of excuses. They turn off the faucet for future growth. Why? Because excuses cause inward atrophy. Look at the following found in the US National Library of Medicine

Disuse atrophy occurs from a lack of physical activity. In most people, muscle atrophy is caused by not using the muscles enough. People with seated jobs, medical conditions that limit their movement, or decreased activity levels can lose muscle tone and develop atrophy. This type of atrophy can be reversed with exercise and better nutrition. Bedridden people can have significant muscle wasting. Astronauts who are away from the Earth's gravity can develop decreased muscle tone after just a few days of weightlessness.

Excuses are verbal shields that protect areas of unwanted change. After awhile of practicing a lifestyle of excuses we actually lose the ability to change due to the atrophy of inward fortitude to make a move to change. The pain incurred in trying to go back to the gym of truth and begin the reconstruction of a healthy spiritual life is too much of a price to pay for most unfortunately. However the temporal pain required for the lasting change is worth it. We all know the famous adage "No pain No gain!"

Excuses temporarily numb the senses to the impending problem my deficiency is creating or causing. Confronting the problem head-on shortens the journey time to success.Simply be honest with yourself. If we were as finicky about our own lives as we are of others... we would be further ahead.

James 1:22 (KJV)
²²  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Pray today that God will open our eyes and give us the courage to face our insecurities and turn us into people of great integrity letting the Word set us free in every area. God bless you!!!! 

Stop Doing This so you can Start Doing That

We often hear of things we need to do in order for us to create a better opportunity and future but there are things to stop doing that will create a prosperous future. In other words, no one can go back and start a new beginning but we can start today and make a new ending.

Stop running from problems!
It's not easy to face things but through Christ you can overcome challenges and experience the development of spiritual muscle. Building a habit of facing adversity creates a momentum towards maturity that brightens the light of witness beyond the average. The pain in the change from one level of maturity to another must be deemed worth it if I am going to grow.

Stop looking to others for happiness!
You have to possess the true source of happiness in your own life first - Jesus Christ. When he is your source of satisfaction, then stability and spiritual equilibrium becomes a place of solid footing for your life. Healthy communication with the Lord and daily practice of his principles results in an inward satisfaction being filled by God himself.

Stop letting others bring you down to their level!
Don't lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs. Many times we can spend wasted moments in being drawn into conversations, arguments, and debates that accomplish nothing in a positive way. Actually, the opposite happens and we drop to their level and lose the distinctiveness of Christ that sets us apart from those without him.

Stop being unthankful!
Regardless how good or bad you have it, learn to wake up each day thankful for your life.  Somewhere in the world a person is desperately fighting for theirs.  Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, try thinking about what you do have.

Philippians 4:4-6
⁴  Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
⁵  Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
⁶  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Once you stop the bad - now fill the vacuum with good! You will be glad you did. Your way will become prosperous.

Joshua 1:8
⁸  This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Pride answers by deception - Humility answers by truth

Dr. Reuben Egolf

 James 1:22 (KJV)
²²  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

We often think of deception being perpetrated from one person to another but usually not in the form of deceiving ourselves. I have often wondered how does a person do that. I mean, certainly one would know that they are lying to themselves. At least it seems to be a logical conclusion but yet it happens more this way than one deceiving another.

Pride is the most powerful force in the kingdom of darkness. It can filter everything and reshape it to justify my actions, thoughts, and motives, as long as self is benefited and not inconvenienced. Ultimately it creates a world in my mind that God is not needed and if things go wrong, then it's justifiable to blame him and it keeps me from dealing with my irresponsibility. Pride requires no change or adjustment in my life to come up to God's standard of living. It is the greatest excuse manufacturer there is.

Howard Butt, a well-known Christian layman, puts it this way:

It's my pride that makes me independent of God. It's appealing to feel that I am the master of my fate. I run my own life. I call my own shots. I go it alone. But that feeling is my basic dishonesty. I can't go it alone, I have to get help from other people. And I can't ultimately rely on myself. I'm dependent on God for my very next breath. It's dishonest of me to pretend that I'm anything but a man, small, weak, and limited. 

Humility looks in the mirror of self and sees with accuracy the depleted and strengthless  abilities of a human-being torn by sin's number one quality of pride. It produces a cry from deep within the human soul for relief from this bondage and imprisonment. In its desperation it accepts God's way of deliverance through the blood of Jesus, and when the will responds in obedience, the Lord's power is immediately dispatched to change the person.

Now when it looks in the mirror it sees a frail person but able to do ALL things through Christ who provides the strength!!! Remember, it's not a regimen, rituals, or religious steps to success, but it is through Christ and Him alone.

Romans 10:13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Passing Through the Altar

Matthew 23:19 (KJV)
¹⁹  Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

In this particular verse, what was given (gift) was to pass through the altar before acceptance in the temple. The word sanctify is a word meaning to consecrate and dedicate to God, to convert from a profane use to a holy one.

The altar is a place of sacrifice and prayer. It's where my selfish influences cease and the Holy Spirit's desires are manifested. The altar is a place of humbling, submission, and death to all conflict with God. A true altar experience is God's insurance policy for the right use of His gifts producing the desired effect of His glory.

The non-material gifts we possess such as the various gifts of the Spirit listed in 1st Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 along with the fivefold ministry gifts of Ephesians 4 are to pass through the altar before use. The altar experience purges self from the equation of prostituting the gift for selfish gain instead of Kingdom gain.

A healthy prayer life cannot be underestimated. It keeps the person spiritually pliable thus usable to God; it maintains the deadening of selfish perspectives from clouding the clarity of God's purposes for us. It aides the bearing of the fruit of the Spirit to create an attraction to the one who lives in us.

The altar produces unity of life. In other words, unlike the Pharisees who are referred to in the above verse, our intimate time spent in prayer dissolves the separation of life and makes us congruent in all areas of our life. Prayerlessness is evident when people become critical, judgmental, and divisive, because prayerlessness is synonymous with Godlessness. But, prayer is evidenced by love, patience, and unity in our lives, family and church.

Make it a habit when you wake up everyday to have a personal altar time with Jesus Christ and watch your effectiveness for his kingdom increase dramatically. Why, because your gifts and talents have passed through the purging of self and into God's full control.

A Bad Investment - Bitterness & Unforgiveness

Dr. Egolf speaking in the Philippines on Spiritual Leadership

A certain tenant farmer had worked hard for many years to improve the production of the land he leased. Then something happened that caused him to become very bitter. When it was time to renew his lease, the owner told him he was going to sell the farm to his son who was getting married. The tenant made several generous offers to buy it himself, hoping the man's decision would be reversed, but his pleading got nowhere. As the day drew near for the farmer to vacate his home, his weeks of angry brooding finally got the best of him. He gathered seeds from some of the most pesky and noxious weeds he could find. Then he spent many hours scattering them on the clean, fertile soil of the farm, along with a lot of trash and rocks he had collected. To his dismay, the very next morning the owner informed him that plans for his son's wedding had fallen through, and therefore he would be happy to renew the lease. He couldn't understand why the farmer exclaimed in agonizing tones, "Oh, Lord, what a fool I've been!" 

The poison of bitterness always fuels the eventual embarrassment of one's self. It deceives by masquerading as the rightful spirit of vengeance and promises fulfillment in the end. Unfortunately, it leaves the perpetrator with the unbelievable guilt of trusting a heated emotion instead of principle. 

Stop giving access to the enemy of your soul through uncontrolled passions. Instead, submit your whole being to the Lord and permit him to glorify himself through your submission to his authority. Don't become easy prey to the excuse of "they really hurt me" or "you don't know what they did to me." None of these things rectify the situation and reestablish a healthy connection to God. 

Forgive and forget! Walk on and don't give the Devil another day of satisfaction for a job well done, but let go and destroy his plan over your life. 

Jesus was flogged, mocked, insulted, humiliated, and left for dead on a cross. Yet, he said concerning all the perpetrators of his pain 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 

Remember the following verse:

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.