What Is Possible with Christ Residing in You?

Experiencing the cutting edge of stress is due to being human. Scientists theorize that restorative sleep is one way to rid the mind and body of low-level stress and pressure. Repetitive thinking about problems inhibits sleep and rest as the mind searches for solutions.

It’s impossible not to take stress to bed when issues with finances, relationships, and health cannot be resolved. Self-defeating behaviors like negative thinking are a prime source for stress. Negative attitudes will perpetuate stress for the possessor and for all listening.

God in his wisdom designed you with the potential for change, to see problems from his perspective where solutions abound. God created you in his image with the ability to think and be creative and solve life’s problems. With Christ in you, you can do good things with the insight he will supply. 

So be receptive to what God will do.              

__________ 

God’s plan it to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God.

~Colossians 1:27 Good News Bible

__________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week. 

How Is It Helpful to Admit Stress Exists?

Stress is inescapable, especially in the presence of unexpected crises. While you may not choose stress, you choose your response. Overreacting with anger is a common reaction that can negatively impact your physical and emotional health. Migraine headaches, high blood pressure, and stomach problems can be caused by stress.

Children can be the source of immeasurable stress as they react to the pressures of life. Problem children cause stress for teachers because they interfere with the teaching plans for the class. Admitting to the existence of problems created by stress and accepting responsibility for solutions are steps for reducing stress.

Don’t be hesitant to talk with trusted family members and friends when pressures from stress begin building up. Listen to sound advice from professionals. Seek out fellowship with believers and ask for prayer. Believe that God is the source of your supply for help and intervention. 

Believe God cares for you and will send help.                     

__________ 

You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity.  

~Philippians 4:19-20 The Message

__________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week. 

What Causes Stress to Get Out of Bounds?

Stress is the product of a hurried, rushed lifestyle. My grandmother’s favorite quip for being stressed out was that she had “too many irons in the fire”. What she meant was that she needed a break from the stress and pressure she was experiencing. She realized it was her responsibility to make some needed changes.

Stress can produce impatience, irritability, even depression, when the pressures of life become overwhelming. Catching up at work or school may appear impossible when stress becomes intolerable. Whatever causes prolonged stress and anxiety, self-defeating thoughts and behaviors create even more stress.

A better strategy for stress management is to ask yourself, “Is what I’m doing honorable to God? If I am ‘God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which he prepared in advance’ for me to do, then I will focus on that promise.” 

Whatever God gives you to do, he will enable you to do it in a way that honors him.  

___________

May this God of peace prepare you to do every good thing he wants. May he work in us through Jesus Christ to do what is pleasing to him.

~Hebrews 13:21 God’s Word Translation

___________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week. 

Is Stress Management Worthwhile?

The cutting edge of stress is unavoidable, but it does not have to be overwhelming. Stress can be managed by taking immediate action when it is insignificant rather than waiting until it has gotten out of bounds. Highly stressful situations usually demand an immediate and intelligent response.

Some folks thrive on high levels of stress while others become overwhelmed if high stress levels must be tolerated for any significant time. One anti-stress technique is to periodically check what your expectations are of yourself to determine if they are in line with what others expect of you.

You do not have to be perfect to be acceptable, but you do have to be responsible for your choices. Ecclesiastes 7:8-9 offers these thoughts: “The end of a matter is better than the beginning and patience is better than pride. Keep your temper in control to prevent harboring a grudge.” Is it time to refocus, to have a reality check to see your situation from God’s perspective?

 __________ 

So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on the things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
~2 Corinthians 4:18 New Living Translation 

__________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week. 

What Role Does Strife Play in Creating Stress?

Strife causes stress, whether a current experience or a future possibility. Strife can be defined as conflict, discord or dissension between individuals or isolated within your emotional self. Stress creates mental and physical tension, ranging from minor to severe, depending on each person’s perception of a situation.

One way to manage stress caused by strife is to negotiate a solution to whatever caused the conflict. 

Genesis 13 tells how Abraham initiated a settlement between himself and his nephew Lott. “Let us end the quarrel between us, for we are brothers. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right.”

Abraham offered a positive choice that could not be rejected. His faith in God was strong and mature, so he knew God would bless him for settling the dispute. This is a positive way to manage stress and reduce harmful strife. Believe right now that God will bless you abundantly for following the same method.  

____________ 

Abram said to Lott, “Let us not have fighting between us…After all, we’re family. Look around. Isn’t there plenty of land out there? Let’s separate. If you go left, I’ll go right; if you go right, I’ll go left.” 

~Genesis 13:8-9 The Message

__________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

How Can Stress Be Good for You?

Stress management is what every person attempts to do each day. Infants who feel stress have a way of the alerting parents or caretakers to their discomfort. Stress continues to be an issue at every phase of life since society is continuously changing and will generate feelings of fear and uncertainty.

Yet change can be challenging, even helpful, if hope for the future is built on faith in God’s promises. So stress can be good when it promotes a healthier lifestyle plus serves as motivation for trusting God’s purpose for your future. Life is not easy, but if you actually expect God to intervene, your faith will be your security.

There are individuals who believe all stress is bad because of the ways it affects their thinking and feelings. One way to reduce stress is to redefine your life based on God’s purpose for you. 

Can you say, “God knows every detail of my choices and still approves of my life?” If not, make the necessary changes so he will approve.          

__________ 

He has saved and called us to a holy life not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.

~2 Timothy 1:9 New International Version

__________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week. 

Is God Interested in Where You Fit In Socially?

It’s perfectly normal for parents to see their infants as exceptionally gifted. The family can, however, become a prime source of stress for a child when parents are inordinately focused on achievements rather than loving each child for who they are and what they are becoming.

Status-seeking is often loaded with stress, especially when parents depend on their children to fit in socially. The older a child, the more important it is that the child fits in with a particular group. Social status continues to be a source of stress due to our competitive nature. We measure up if we’re accepted into certain groups.

Yet, God’s word warns about thinking of yourself as being above others, which conveys social striving. 

Knowing that Jesus loves you and all others unconditionally should reduce this striving. God’s love compels you to love and accept others regardless of their social position. Because God loves his creation unconditionally, we are all precious in his sight. 

__________ 

[Jesus said,] “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”

~Luke 13:24  English Standard Version

__________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

Is Status-seeking Through Children Harmful?

Parents want their children to be successful, which may translate into status for the parents. Status-seeking surfaces early in life, often prompted by parents. Status is defined by how well you measure up compared to others in a particular social group. Status most often aligns with what is possible rather than what is out-of-bounds.

A Little League boy or girl would not try to measure up to a major league baseball hero, but with others in that age group. Imagine a seven-year-old becoming despondent over failing to throw a baseball as fast as a major league pitcher! That would be like you comparing your finances to Bill Gates’ finances.

Seeking status through a child can set the child up for a lifetime of hardships. God’s word encourages parents to bring up a child according to their temperament, personality, and talents. This will enhance their chances for success as an adult. Status is becoming the person God intended for you to become.          

___________ 

Do not conform yourself to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God – what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect…So we are to use our different gifts in accordance with the grace God has given to us.

~Romans 12:2,6 Good News Bible

___________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

Are Comparisons Detrimental to your Well-Esteem?

Comparisons are difficult, if not impossible, to avoid. Parents compare their children to other children’s performances, especially in athletics and academic achievements. Siblings compare themselves with each other, especially in terms of parental approval. Comparing who you are and what you are was initiated by God’s first family.

Cain and Abel, sons of Adam and Eve, set the stage for the rest of humanity to follow throughout the ages. Cain became jealous because Able presented a more acceptable offering to God, so he lured his brother to an isolated place and murdered him there.

The sad truth about comparisons is that you diminish yourself by overlooking the gifts and talents God has given to you. You are unique in God’s perception, and that truth can bring you security and peace when you forbid comparisons to take place. 

God told the Christians at Corinth to stop comparing themselves to each other because it stole their joy. So give thanks to God for what you have and are.                               

__________ 

We don’t dare to…compare ourselves with some of those who speak highly of themselves, but when they measure themselves by their own yardstick and compare themselves with themselves, they don’t show good sense.

~2 Corinthians 10:12 Beck – New Testament in the Language of Today

__________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

Can Self-deception Be Overcome?

When I first began to read the Bible, one of the many words I had trouble understanding came from John 1:47. While Jesus was assembling his disciples, Philip found Nathanael and brought him to Jesus. As soon as Jesus saw Nathanael he declared, “Here is a true Israelite in whom there is no guile.”

Guile actually refers to deceit or deception. It means lacking in honesty, deliberately lying to cover personal flaws and failures so others will only see what is acceptable. Everyone is afflicted with a touch of guile, if only in a moment of vulnerability, but for some people it’s a serious disability.

Fortunately, God provides help to fight against duplicity when there is a willingness to face the truth about failing to live up to God’s expectations. 

He knows you and everything about you and still loves you. Now that’s the perfect motivation for loving God and committing your life to him. Do that now. It will last a lifetime.  

__________ 

Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him and remarked, “Now here is a true man of Israel; there is no deceit in him!”

~John 1:47 Phillips – New Testament in Modern English

 

The Lord hates liars but is pleased with those who keep their word.

~ Proverbs 12:22 Good News Bible

__________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

Can You Escape from a Life of Duplicity?

When my children were in middle school, a keen sense of rivalry existed for who could hurl the most stinging insults and put-downs. It was crucial never to show hurt feelings, even when insults cut to the bone.  The sad fact was, some children had to live a life of duplicity – feeling a certain way but acting contrary to that feeling.

Not only did these children have to be shrewd in dishing out insults, but in projecting strength that was above being put down. The objective was to disguise hurt feelings. Thank God this behavior tapered off following middle school but, for some, it served as training for living a life of duplicity.

While these insults were issued in humor by some children, humor can be treacherous. So be careful when you throw stones, for they may inflict pain that never heals. Isaiah 53:9 portrays Jesus as having no deceit or malice. So follow his lead and permit kindness and gentleness to replace all malice and deceit.               

__________ 

[Jesus] died without a thought for his own welfare, beaten bloody for the sins of his people…even though he’d never hurt a soul or said one word that wasn’t true. 

~Isaiah 53:9 The Message

__________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

What Causes Generosity to Fail?

I recently observed a confrontation between two adults over a parking space at a medical complex. Both drivers had been waiting for the occupant to vacate the space. The one who deserved the space took possession, but the other person became angry and threatened violence with insulting words and gestures.

The issue ceased to be needing a parking place but transformed into defending one’s personal rights and being threatened by another person’s outrage. As the issue became distorted in this emotional environment, the ability to think rationally evaporated, which opened the door for displaced aggression.

I wonder what the outcome would have been if the one who was in the right had generously given the space to the other person. Remember these words of generosity? “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only son and whoever believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life.” God’s blessings and personal satisfaction come from being generous.

___________ 

This is how we know what love is: Christ gave his life for us. We too, then, ought to give our lives for others! If we are rich and see others in need, yet close our hearts against them, how can we claim that we love God? My children, our love should not be just in words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.

~1 John 3:16-18 Good News Bible

___________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.  

Can Self-deception Be Avoided?

Self-deception becomes a major player in your life when you convince yourself it’s acceptable to engage in behaviors that betray a code of conduct honored by God and society. Betraying spiritual boundaries and Christian values to satisfy the desires of the heart should result in guilt and shame.

Self-deception is pervasive, whether it’s defined as insignificant or atrocious. Does God care what you think or do as long as you accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? Galatians 6:3 issues this warning: “If anyone thinks he is something when he is not, he deceives himself. Each should test his own motives and actions.”

Listen to the truth of God’s word from Jesus: “Broad is the way that leads to destruction…but narrow is the way that leads to life.” God’s desire is that you face the truth and live within that truth. You are not alone in this difficult task. The Holy Spirit will strengthen and guide you as you commit yourself to continuously live for him. 

__________ 

Always do what the Word says; don’t merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves.

~James 1:22 Beck – New Testament in the Language of Today

__________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.