Devotional - Let All Blessings Flow

Read Psalm 100

“And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessings.”
-Ezekiel 35:26 (KJV)

I had hit a dark time. It seemed that I could not escape a sadness that had taken over. I had spent so much of the past months helping with my mother’s care that when she died, I did not know how to go back to my “regular” life. Everything became a chore – something to get done so that I could get to the next thing. I knew I didn’t like being this way, but I could not seem to break the gloom. I decided that I needed to change my perspective, to start seeing God’s blessings again. I started to literally count my blessings. Each night before I went to bed, I listed at least five blessings that had occurred in my day. At first it seemed hard. One and two usually came quickly, but I really had to think of three, four, and five. But then as I continued, I could almost feel the Holy Spirit fill me. He hadn’t left me before. He had carried me or I most surely would have collapsed, but now He took a new role. As I asked for Him to fill me up, he did. As I took one step forward, He took two toward me. It wasn’t long until I could not only list 5 blessings a day, but could often fill full pages. God’s blessings were simple things like the flutter of a butterfly. They were concrete like cuddling with my children. They were spiritual like the feeling when singing hymns in church. I was awake again and in God’s light. It had always been there, but now I could see it.

Prayer: Dear God, You are always with us in dark days and joyous. Thank you for always being there. Please help me to continue to see the many blessings that you pour onto us. Amen

Thought for the Day:
Blessings are all around us, if we would just stop to look.

The Secret to Long Life & Happiness

People have searched high and low for the secret to long life and happiness. Ponce De Leon thought he found long life in the springs of Florida. Will Smith was Oscar nominated for his Pursuit of Happyness. But both still seem elusive to the masses until now. Apparently, the secret has been in front of us all along. The secret according to a couple of studies is religion.

In a study published in the March-April 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, a study at the University of Pittsburg found that people who attended religious services could add 1.8 to 3.1 years to their life. The study compared the affect religious attendance, exercise, and statins (a specific kind of medication) on life expectancy both in time and in cost. The study concluded that, “The real-world, practical significance of regular religious attendance is comparable to commonly recommended therapies, and rough estimates even suggest that religious attendance may be more cost-effective than statins.” It is important to note that the study does say that “there is no evidence that changing attendance causes a change in health outcomes. Furthermore, even if a patient did start attending church to get well, there are ethical, theological, and methodological problems with this instrumental approach to the associations between faith and health.” However, the study goes on to explain that if people made a life change of their own accord for non-health reasons, the authors could not asses if such a change would accrue the positive results over time.

Futhermore though, religion does not just increase your life expectancy, it makes your life happier. According to an article by Michael E. Nielsen, PhD, Religion and Happiness, “people who are involved in religion also report greater levels of happiness than do those who are not religious.” This seemed to be true universally, except for cases of mysticism and times of religious conflict. Nielsen synthesizes studies on religion and happiness reporting that the “extra” happiness may be a result of social support, firm beliefs, and religious experiences themselves.

I encourage you not to keep this information to yourself but to share it. Certainly, one should not come to faith for personal benefit. But if you come because you believe that there is benefit to religion, then perhaps as you look for the benefits, you may find the Truth. For those of you that are already reaping the benefits, albeit as a side effect of your natural behavior, isn’t this better than sit ups?