Got Anxiety? Get God!
According to the Calgary Herald, a new study has been done producing evidence that religious brains are more calm in the face of anxiety:
These days, anxiety of the severest magnitude is being generated at exponential rates and very few see things getting better any time soon. Where do you turn for some peace of mind? Big Govt? I don't think so. It's the current leadership who's promising worse things to come. How inspiring is that for your peace of mind?
There really is something to the above mentioned study. Believers innately know this and scoffers may scoff, but if and when things really get tough, even many scoffers come to grips with the probability of God's existence and hope He'll come to their aid. You've heard the axiom there are no atheists in a fox hole and sadly too many only seek God under duress or when every other option has played out. For many He is merely the God of dire straights.
For the sake of conjecture, let's say you believe in God but don't really have a relationship with Him. By that I mean you might not pray very often and maybe you never read the Bible. Furthermore, let's suppose things just might get worse for all of us here in the USA and around the world. After all, the writing does seem to be on the wall, doesn't it. (I'm not suggesting we're living in the end times, nor am I suggesting otherwise; I'm just looking at the calamity that is beginning to form around us and I see we're going to need all the help we can get, including help from God on a national and personal level.)
That being said, wouldn't it be wise to deepen whatever relationship you have with God right now and not wait until you're in that proverbial fox hole or worse?
Think of it in these terms: what if you're a parent with kids you'd love to spend more time with but they never come around; that is, unless they need your help. O' sure, most loving parents will want to help out their kids, but what if the kids treat their parents like crap? You might be less willing to come to their aid if they've stopped coming to visit or have been disrespectful or even abusive. There might be a time when the parent will refuse to help if the kids have shut the parents out of their lives.
Scarily, that could happen to us if we shut God out of our life, personally and/or nationally. Look at how the "powers that be" in this country have kicked God out of virtually every govt controlled institution. God and Jesus Christ have become virtual persona's non grata in this country. So why should He come to our aid when we have continually told Him to get lost?
It's not too late for us to turn back to God individually or nationally, but scripture warns us that there is going to be a time when we're not going to be able to find Him (Isa 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.)
He's still out there, willing and able to help but for the asking.
About that loathsome anxiety which can lead to dispair, depression and so many other health problems, Jesus offered some very comforting advice in Mat 6:25-34;
The brains of religious people are calmer in the face of error and uncertainty than doubters, Canadian university researchers have found.What a timely study!
“This is the first set of studies connecting individual differences in religious conviction to basic (brain) processes,” say authors Michael Inzlicht and Ian McGregor, psychology professors at the University of Toronto and York University, respectively.
Compared to non-religious subjects, the highly religious had 33 per cent less activity in the anterior cingulated cortex, the part of our brain that regulates anxiety. Those certain of God’s existence had 45 per cent less activity in this region compared to those convinced that there is no God.
The religious people weren’t just calm, they were more accurate.
“The more participants were zealous, the fewer errors they made,” said the paper, Neural Markers of Religious Conviction, published in the March edition of the academic journal Psychological Science.
“We suggest that religious conviction buffers against anxiety by providing meaning,” said the authors.
These days, anxiety of the severest magnitude is being generated at exponential rates and very few see things getting better any time soon. Where do you turn for some peace of mind? Big Govt? I don't think so. It's the current leadership who's promising worse things to come. How inspiring is that for your peace of mind?
There really is something to the above mentioned study. Believers innately know this and scoffers may scoff, but if and when things really get tough, even many scoffers come to grips with the probability of God's existence and hope He'll come to their aid. You've heard the axiom there are no atheists in a fox hole and sadly too many only seek God under duress or when every other option has played out. For many He is merely the God of dire straights.
For the sake of conjecture, let's say you believe in God but don't really have a relationship with Him. By that I mean you might not pray very often and maybe you never read the Bible. Furthermore, let's suppose things just might get worse for all of us here in the USA and around the world. After all, the writing does seem to be on the wall, doesn't it. (I'm not suggesting we're living in the end times, nor am I suggesting otherwise; I'm just looking at the calamity that is beginning to form around us and I see we're going to need all the help we can get, including help from God on a national and personal level.)
That being said, wouldn't it be wise to deepen whatever relationship you have with God right now and not wait until you're in that proverbial fox hole or worse?
Think of it in these terms: what if you're a parent with kids you'd love to spend more time with but they never come around; that is, unless they need your help. O' sure, most loving parents will want to help out their kids, but what if the kids treat their parents like crap? You might be less willing to come to their aid if they've stopped coming to visit or have been disrespectful or even abusive. There might be a time when the parent will refuse to help if the kids have shut the parents out of their lives.
Scarily, that could happen to us if we shut God out of our life, personally and/or nationally. Look at how the "powers that be" in this country have kicked God out of virtually every govt controlled institution. God and Jesus Christ have become virtual persona's non grata in this country. So why should He come to our aid when we have continually told Him to get lost?
It's not too late for us to turn back to God individually or nationally, but scripture warns us that there is going to be a time when we're not going to be able to find Him (Isa 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.)
He's still out there, willing and able to help but for the asking.
About that loathsome anxiety which can lead to dispair, depression and so many other health problems, Jesus offered some very comforting advice in Mat 6:25-34;
Do Not WorryAlmost everyone has read or heard of the the 23'd Psalm. Last week a good friend of ours forwarded a line-by-line simplistic explanation of that short chapter written by King David. It's a very encouraging and uplifting piece I like to read every morning just as a reminder. Here it is:
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
To overcome your toughest obstacles remember Psalm 23 !
The Lord is my Shepherd = That's Relationship!
I shall not want = That's Supply!
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures = That's Rest!
He leadeth me beside the still waters = That's Refreshment!
He restoreth my soul = That's Healing!
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness = That's Guidance!
For His name sake = That's Purpose!
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death = That's
Testing!
I will fear no evil = That's Protection!
For Thou art with me = That's Faithfulness!
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me = That's Discipline!
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies =
That's Hope!
Thou anointest my head with oil = That's Consecration!
My cup runneth over = That's Abundance!
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life =
That's Blessing !
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord = That's Security!
Forever = That's Eternity!
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