Growing Spiritually.......& becoming Alive!

The number one personal concern of people is to have good physical health.....

Many people also long for a happy home and family life.

However, to find these, we need to develop good emotional & spiritual health.

When a person responds to God's Call & Receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, he becomes spiritually alive and is a brand new person 'inside'.

As Paul said in the Bible.......,

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." 2 Cor 5:17

  [One still has his old self to contend with, but God has given him a brand new spiritual

life. ]

To grow and be healthy physically we know that we need to eat, sleep, relax, and exercise properly.

To grow and be healthy spiritually, we need to develop a close relationship with God and take care of our new Christian or spiritual life.

The following suggestions can help you do this:  Read ... Pray... Trust ... Obey

R ... Read

Jesus Christ said:

"Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matt 4:4 

Jesus was referring to the Bible, which is God's Word to mankind.

In it, we find spiritual food.

Its truth teaches us.....

.... about God &

.....principles for daily living, if we live by them,

 - guaranteeing us a greater sense of physical, mental, and spiritual health than modern man has yet devised....!

The best way to get to know the Bible is to read it on a regular, daily basis.

It might be helpful, to begin with .......

- The Gospels of Mark and John in the New Testament &

- The Psalms and Proverbs in the Old Testament.

P ... Pray

Communication is the key to all healthy relationships and needs to be two-way, not only with people but also with God.

God communicates to us through......

-  nature,

-  our inner spirit,

-  other people,

-  our circumstances &

-  various other means, but primarily through

-  His Word, the Bible.

But how do we communicate to God?

We do this through prayer, which is simply talking to God as you would to any close friend.

It includes ......

- Expressing love,

- Thanksgiving, &

- All our feelings as well as

- presenting our needs and requests.

[ For me, praying doesn't come naturally or easily.

So, many of my 'prayers' I crystallize my thinking & then eventually verbalize.... in writing this Blog: "Moose Chronicles.... from Afar"

I also find it helpful to visualize Christ being with me wherever I am. ]

As I need to spend quality time engaging in work, every day, I try to do the same with God....

To do this.......

I like to set aside a quiet time each? day to read Scriptures and other devotional material & to.......'Ponder' & engage in 'Conversing-with-God'...

If I neglect this important area of my life, I end up being 'Soul starved'...

Does prayer work?

John wrote in the Bible,

"This is the assurance we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything

according to his will, He 'Hears' us. 
And if we know that he hears us whatever we ask we know that we have what we asked of him." 
 (1 John 5:14-15)

Shalom.... & Maranatha