During my nearly twenty-seven years of being chronically ill, where my condition is very limited physically compared to a healthy person,<\/em> I have frequently been asked where I get the strength and will to keep going, even when the situations are thrown at me! As a child and teenager, I usually couldn\u2019t answer that question, or I simply said with a low voice \u201cI have no choice\u201d. Over the years however, I have realised that it\u2019s not about the choices we have in life, but about the choices we make in life! Today I know that the strength I have comes from the choices I made early in life to spend time with God and to become disciplined in this area It\u2019s when we feel sick, empty or burned out, that we tend to spend most time with Him, and I have seen this in my own life from an early age.<\/p>\n Obviously, the more we get involved in spending time with God, the more we can be disciplined about it, and this is what today\u2019s blog is all about\u2026 spiritual discipline There is no growth without discipline.<\/p>\n Do you feel worried all the time? Burned out? Do you lack motivation or feel that you don\u2019t have the strength to do anything? There is a great advice from Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30: \u201cAre you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you\u2019ll recover your life. I\u2019ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me\u2014watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won\u2019t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me<\/strong> and you\u2019ll learn to live freely and lightly.\u201d (MSG)<\/em> This is beautiful isn\u2019t it? Being a strong person starts on the inside, and that\u2019s where God wants to start work, the inside. He is thrilled to work in you and he absolutely loves it! But the choice of whether we allow him to work in us or not, is our responsibility. He reaches out to us all the time, he wants to hang out, wants to take our burdens and He loves to see us whole!<\/p>\n In Romans 12:2 it says: \u201c<\/em><\/sup>Don\u2019t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God\u2019s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect<\/em>!\u201c (NLT) <\/em>Today we have so many options to choose from when it comes to taking care of ourselves. There are medications, energy drinks and even unnatural products etc. that we can consume in order to get some strength! But I believe that the real strength comes by his Word only! Nothing against the products, but sometimes we tend to look to them for a quick strength fix, but the reality is that those products only last for a small amount of time. On the other hand, God`s Word and spending time with it will improve your health and strength, not just for a moment but for a long term period.<\/p>\n1. From the inside out<\/span><\/h3>\n
2. An everlasting outcome<\/span><\/h3>\n
3. It\u2019s worth it<\/span><\/h3>\n