Religion

Posted by AMusico — Religion / Self Help — No Comments
14
Sep 09

It’s Not Over Until He Says So!

Jonah 3:1-3 NLT “Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: Get up and go to the great city of Ninevah, and deliver the message of judgment I have given you. This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command…”

What an incredibly encouraging portion of scripture this is! Jonah ignored the Lord’s command the first time. How many times do we hear deep within our spirits that we should (or shouldn’t!) do a certain thing and just ignore or overlook it? Many times we find out later exactly why we got that warning and must pay the consequences for neglecting to pay attention.

 Haven’t we all experienced that awful feeling that we’ve blown it big time. We were warned – we just didn’t listen. It’s too late now. But God.

 Those are the two best words you can imagine. But God…always gives us second chances, and third and fourth and however many it takes to finally “get it.” He is so generous and so gracious. That is not to say we may not have to pay the consequences for disobeying the first time. But He doesn’t just give up on us as we so often do ourselves. Continue reading →

Posted by AMusico — Medical / Opinion / Religion — No Comments
21
Aug 09

Good Medicine

Proverbs 17:22 NLT: A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.

Much has been said about the power of laughter to heal. I want to share some research that links breast cancer and attitude. Recent research at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel provides this interesting finding: happiness and optimistic attitudes may reduce one’s risk of contracting the disease. In this study 622 women between the ages of 25 and 45 shared information about their life experiences.

The researchers assessed their optimism, happiness, anxiety and depression levels before diagnosis. They used this information to find the connection between life events, psychological distress and the occurrence of breast cancer. Of these 622 participants, 255 were breast cancer patients, while the other 367 had never had cancer.

Their findings revealed a clear link between outlook and risk of breast cancer. Optimistic women were 25 % less likely to have developed this disease. There have been other studies linking positive mental and emotional states and better health. Some studies have shown that positive emotions cause the body to produce more immune cells, while negative ones tend to suppress one’s immune system. The specifics of how attitudes contribute to health, are still not fully understood. What is known is that the body’s immune system is influenced by brain chemistry, which is in turn affected by emotional experiences. Continue reading →

Posted by AMusico — Medical / Opinion / Religion — No Comments
21
Aug 09

What Seeds Are You Growing?

John 12:24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

While this scripture is referring to the spiritual aspect of sowing seed, I find it relates very clearly to our physical health as well. Seeds are dormant until they are planted and given the proper environment in which to grow and flourish. You can keep an envelope of seeds for years and they’ll never become anything else.

Once you take those seeds and plant them into nutrient rich soil, water them regularly and let them get daily sunlight, the potential that was always resident within that seed is released and enabled to grow and flourish.

It works in much the same way in our bodies. Everyone has cancer cells in their bodies. They are dormant. As long as you provide a health-producing environment by feeding your body with nutrient-dense, whole foods, drinking clean water, getting fresh air, sleep and exercise, then those cells remain dormant. Continue reading →

Posted by AMusico — Medical / Opinion / Religion — No Comments
21
Aug 09

Don’t Be Afraid to Question the Source

I did an email to subscribers of my website about the dangers of artificial sweeteners, specifically aspartame and sucralose (Nutrasweet and Splenda). One reader raised a question. I mentioned that aspartame breaks down in the body into methanol (wood alcohol), formaldehyde (embalming fluid) and Phenylalanine. This reader noticed that this same substance (phenylalanine) is also listed as an ingredient in his whey protein and was concerned that this could create problems. I appreciate questions like this!  In fact God tells us in the bible to “Test all things; hold fast to what is good.”  (1 Thess. 5:21)

Phenylalanine is an amino acid – a building block of protein. That is why it is an ingredient in whey protein, as well as chicken, eggs or other sources of protein. However, in these real foods it is found in combination and proper ratio with the other amino acids. In diet soda, this synthetic chemical breaks down and there is a large amount of just this amino acid. The warning on the label is for people who lack the necessary enzyme to process and digest it. Since people drink large amounts of diet soda, this can pose a health risk (aside from just consuming diet soda itself!) Most people do not consume liters of whey protein daily. And if you lack this enzyme, you would have to monitor all your protein consumption as well – not just what is found in diet soda. Continue reading →

Posted by AMusico — Opinion / Religion / Self Help / Uncategorized — No Comments
20
Aug 09

K-I-S-S

“Keep it simple, sweetheart!” That’s a catchy phrase and acronym. There’s a lot of truth contained there. We love to be complicated – it makes us feel we are somehow more sophisticated, smarter. We want to impress with our knowledge. Most of us can take the most straight-forward, simple thing and complicate it beyond understanding. And think we’ve done a good thing!

The very best and most important things in life are actually very simple. But when something sounds too “easy” we have a hard time believing it. For instance, take God’s plan of salvation. It is straight-forward and simple. Nothing complicated about it. God’s ways are simple and clear-cut. Most times our ways are convoluted and confusing.

Rather than making everything in life more complicated than it needs to be, I believe we should embrace becoming simple people. That description tends to have a negative connotation – people don’t want to be considered “simple-minded” but being simple is something entirely different. If you don’t like that term, how about being uncomplicated? Continue reading →

Posted by AMusico — Opinion / Religion / Uncategorized — No Comments
20
Aug 09

Eternal Words

Once you speak a word, it exists forever. The laws of physics tell us that energy in the universe is never lost. It is transformed from one state to another. Sound waves never disappear. Sound is an energetic disturbance that causes a movement of particles. Because space is a vacuum with no matter, sound is unable to “travel.”

Think about the implications – if we had the right equipment voices from the beginning of time could be retrieved. We could actually hear the voices of Adam and Eve themselves speaking to God or Abraham Lincoln’s voice as he spoke the Gettysburg address or Jesus’ own voice speaking the Beatitudes! What an awesome thought!

Words may be spoken to a specific person at a specific time, but they exist in the atmosphere forever. Scripture tells us God’s Word stands forever; and the prayers of the saints are ever before Him. Your prayers exist forever and are before the Father continuously. Continue reading →

Posted by AMusico — General Topics / Religion — No Comments
11
Aug 09

You Have Not Because You Ask Not!

Recently, it has been brought home to me, once again, just how important it is to ask the right questions. Sometimes it seems we focus solely on getting the information, and formulating the solution. But how easily we can be misled by the results if we neglect to ask the right questions.

Asking effective questions is actually an art that we can develop and forms the basis for truly effective communication. Tony Robbins, the motivational expert, says that thinking is actually a process of asking and answering questions. Think about that. It’s true! You are constantly asking yourself questions and answering them. The quality of your questions, determines the quality of the answers.

Jesus was a master at this skill.
He asked the woman at the well – “Where is your husband?” (John 4:16);
He asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” (Luke 9:20); and
“Who is the faithful and wise servant?” (Matthew 24:45);
He asked the crowd, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” (Mark 3:33);
He asked His disciples, “Who touched My clothes?” (Mark 5:30); and
“Whose portrait is on this coin?” (Matthew 22:21; and
He asked the Pharisees, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?” (Luke 5:21). Continue reading →

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