Tag: thankful

September Tidbits

**Laugh yourself to life.
** Every day I’m thankful to be a child of God.
** Got hummus? Research shows that hummus has numerous health benefits. Plus, it tastes good.

*** Tidbit 1  Humor Time

A good laugh is sunshine in the house.
— William Thackeray

Christian One Liners
*Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited until you try to sit in their pews.
*Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisors.
*The good Lord didn’t create anything without a purpose, but mosquitoes come close.

Little Angel!
Little Johnny’s new baby brother was screaming up a storm.
Johnny asked his mom, “Where’d he come from?”
“He came from heaven, Johnny.”
Johnny responded: “Wow! I can see why they threw him out!”

Rest In Peace
One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. The plaque was covered with names, and small American flags were mounted on either side of it. The seven year-old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside him and said quietly, “Good morning, Alex.”

Good morning, Pastor,” replied the young man, still focused on the plaque. “Pastor McGhee, what is this?” Alex asked.

“Well, son, it’s a memorial to all the men and women who have died in the service.”

Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque. Little Alex’s voice was barely audible when he finally managed to ask, “Which one, the 9:00 or 10:30 service?”

*** Tidbit 2   Your Choice: Child or Slave   

John 8:34-38, NRSV
 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham, yet you look for an opportunity to kill me because there is no place in you for my word. 38 I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”

The Jews firmly believed they couldn’t be enslaved to sin because they had the Law. They believed that only the Gentiles were enslaved to sin. After all, the Jews were the children of Abraham and did not need to be freed.  Jesus explained that yes, they were Abraham’s physical seed, but he was not their spiritual father. Jesus let them know that everyone who habitually practiced sin was a slave to sin.

There were times I enjoyed being a slave. I thank God for a mother and father who made sure that I learned about God. Someone said, “I had a drug problem growing up. My mother drug me to church. She drug me to Sunday School, Sunday Morning Service, Wednesday night Bible Study, Choir rehearsal, revivals, etc.” I thank God for that drug problem. Because of that drug problem I couldn’t enjoy being a slave for long. The Word had been planted in me. 

God saw my heart. He knew that deep down inside, I didn’t want to be a slave to sin. He offered me freedom through His Son, Jesus. I accepted His invitation. He adopted me as His child. Now I am a member of His family, forever. I still sin, but I don’t habitually practice sin. When I sin, I repent. I don’t allow myself to be eaten up by guilt because I have been forgiven.

The living Word (Jesus) and the written Word (Scripture) keep me in check. I heard someone say, “Check yourself before you wreck yourself.” Every day I check myself. Every day I’m thankful to be a child of God.

*** Tidbit 3 Got Hummus?

Hummus is a popular Middle Eastern dip and spread. It is a plant-based protein, packed with vitamins and minerals. It is usually made by blending chickpeas (garbanzo beans), tahini (ground sesame seeds), olive oil, lemon juice and garlic in a food processor.

It can also be purchased in the store. Just make sure you read the label carefully. Buy it with as few ingredients as possible. Look for mostly whole food ingredients with names you recognize on the label. Research has shown that hummus may help:

  • Fight inflammation
  • Improve blood sugar control
  • Aid in weight loss
  • Lower heart disease risk
  • Improve digestive health
  • Prevent cancer
  • Keep you regular

Different ways to add hummus into your diet include:

  • Use it in a sandwich, substitute for mayonnaise.
  • Make hummus toast.
  • Use it as a salad dressing alone or (Use less salad dressing and add hummus).
  • Use it as a marinade. (Let your fish or chicken marinate for an hour then bake as you normally would.)
  • Experiment with different vegetables.(cauliflower, cucumbers, celery, sliced peppers, broccoli florets, snap peas, etc.)

Here’s a simple recipe for hummus. It can be made in less than 10 minutes and only requires a food processor.
Ingredients
2 cups of canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1/3 cup of tahini
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
A pinch of salt

Directions
Place the ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. You can also experiment by adding your favorite flavors including, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. Happy eating!

The information that I have shared with you is intended for informational purposes only.

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?  If you wait, it could be too late. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting live (John 3:16).

If you have already accepted Him, He wants you to get to know Him even better.

Bye for now. Thanks for visiting. Don’t forget to click the Follow button

Sources
Bible Humor: Good Clean One Line Humor (clean-jokes-and-humor.com)
https://www.pastoralcareinc.com/resources/sermon-helps/jokes-for-sermons/
https://unsplash.com/photos/p2OQW69vXP4
https://unsplash.com/photos/yr-sW_x9aHk
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-hummus-healthy#TOC_TITLE_HDR_10

A Healthy Lifestyle

There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.

“No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.”
James Allen

“There is always something to be thankful for. If you can’t pay your bills, you can be thankful you are not one of your creditors.”

I hope this video blesses you.  This is one of my favorite songs.

Six components of living a healthy lifestyle

There are many reasons to try to live a healthy lifestyle:

To lower the risk of disease.

  1. To relieve stress.

  2. To have increased energy.

  3. To increase the length of your life.

  4. To increase the quality of your life.

  5. To be fit for the Master’s use.

I am not trying to increase the length of my life, but I am trying to increase the quality of my life. I don’t do everything right. Some days are better than others. I love food. I love to eat. The problem is I eat too much. Anyway, I’m working on it.

If I had to pick the most important reason for striving to live a healthy lifestyle, I would choose #6. We all have a destiny to fulfill. We have been given gifts and talents to use for God’s use. I don’t think most of us truly grasp that. If we did, we would be doing more for Him.

Everyone won’t write a book, be a movie star, the president of a large corporation, or a great artist. The greatest accomplishment that any of us can do is to accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior and be found trying to fulfill our destiny. Life passes by so swiftly. We have only a limited number or years. I don’t want to die without at least trying to discover and use my gifts and talents. What you do may not be on a professional level. My videos and my blogs sure aren’t. But at least I can say – I tried.

I want to share with you six components of healthy living.

 Air is a component of health that we totally take for granted. We don’t go to bed and say, “I sure hope that I won’t run out of air while I sleep tonight or I wonder if I’ll have enough air in the morning.” We just assume that we will have air.

It is possible to go weeks without food and days without water, but six minutes without air and you’re a corpse. Air is so important because of oxygen. The blood and trillions of cells that make up the body perform the functions of life. They must be oxygenated regularly or death occurs. We receive our supply of oxygen by extracting it from the air we breathe into our lungs. This is called respiration. In tiny air sacs in the lungs, the blood is purified, supplied with oxygen, and sent on its way to the rest of the body. When we breathe out, we exhale carbon dioxide gas and a lot of other waste materials.

Even though it’s practically impossible to have really pure air in this day and age we can still do what we can to make the best use of the air that we breathe.

Deep breathing         breathing     is a component of health that supplies us with the fuel that keeps us alive. How we breathe affects how we absorb oxygen into our bodies. The oxygen feeds the brain, the nervous system, and every cell of the body.   Normally, we should breath abdominally. There are enormous benefits that accompany breathing the way the body is designed to breathe. Most people breathe totally from the chest.

Abdominal breathing clears your mind and relaxes you. It balances you. It’s the key to relaxation and to the correct oxygenation of your body. Abdominal breathing takes pressure off the heart, and has an amazing effect on the nervous system.  We want the abdomen to expand as we breathe in, and then we want the air to move up and out as we exhale.

Exercise    exercise    is a component of health that greatly assists in the oxygenation of your entire body, especially aerobic exercise, which accelerates the heart’s pumping action. There is an exercise routine for everyone. Bones are alive, and just like every other part of the body, they benefit greatly from exercise.

Life depends on the flow of blood in our bodies. Every drop of blood circulates through the entire body, every minute! A larger heart is a healthier and stronger heart. Any good exercise routine should address basically three areas of fitness: (1) cardiovascular, or aerobic, (2) strength, and (3) flexibility. Aerobic exercise is the form that strengthens the heart.

Water: There is not one function of the body that is not dependent on water. Approximately seventy percent of the body is water. The brain is 80.5% water, the lungs 80%, and the blood 90%. From the minute food enters your mouth, every process necessary to transform it from a food to blood, bone, muscle, and tissue – depends on water.

Water holds nutrients in solution and transports all food necessary for life to the various parts of the body. The body uses water to extract the vitamins, minerals, proteins (amino acids), carbohydrates, fats, and the other basic nutrients of life to the proper place and drops them off in the exact amounts needed at exactly the right time in the body.

Water holds wastes and toxins that it picks up from the cells and carries them to the organs of elimination. Water carries them to the four organs of elimination – bowels, bladder, lungs, and skin for disposal. Water brings in what we need and carries out what we don’t.

Without sufficient water you would have no saliva. You wouldn’t be able to swallow! The organs that perform the functions of life are all more water than anything else. Water is the chief agent in regulating body temperature, like water in the radiator of a car.

As to how much and what kind of water to drink, well the experts have different opinions. One thing is for sure, the less you get from your food, the more you have to drink.

 

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