Masking your Pain Pt. 1

“It’s estimated that between 26.4 million- 36 million people abuse opioids worldwide, with an estimated 2.1 million people in the United States suffering from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain relievers in 2012”

                https://www.drugabuse.gov

The definition of pain according to Merriam-Webster, “localized physical suffering associated with bodily disorder; a basic bodily sensation induced by a noxious stimulus, received by naked nerve endings, characterized by physical discomfort; mental or emotional suffering: sadness caused by some emotion or mental problem”.

Pain can be received or transferred be each of our five senses: sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing. With that, it is inevitable that we all must experience pain at some points in our lives. As a nurse I care for patients daily that have pain. As I give multiple doses of narcotics (as ordered) many patients do not question what I am injecting into their body. All they know is that what I am giving them will make the pain go away. But I know if given one dose too many, a person’s respirations can be suppressed to the point where their body forgets to breathe. In other words, pain medicine can kill you and we should not be taking them for long periods of time or high doses. Many people do not even realize that pain medicine does not suppress pain; the pills’ job is to trick the brain into thinking that pain is gone. Pain medicine’s job is to mask your pain for a period of time, it doesn’t solve the problem.

“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with, that we may also be glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” Romans 8:17-18

Jesus, the son of our Lord sacrificed his life for our second chance at life. He was nailed to a cross, with a crown of thorns set on his head, and put on public display for the public to treat him as they pleased. That hurts! Knowing that the people that you came to save are now ridiculing you and watching you die. That is physical, mental, emotional, ANY kind of pain that you can possibly think of on a whole new level! While nailed to the cross he had to endure each neurotransmitter eliciting his pain receptors. Most of us will never and have never experienced pain even close to this, and we pump our body full of drugs for much less, with me included. I have taken a low dose antidepressant for about 6 months for treatment of chronic tension headaches, and before that I took ibuprofen 800 mg 2-3 times a day for 6 years. I am now researching holistic pain control so that I will not be dependent on any medications. I was praying to God one night asking why these headaches keep coming back. He told me that they would be a blessing to others. He wants to use so many of us in his army but so many of us are hiding behind these masks and cannot work to our greatest potential at this point. He is ready to heal and bless you, so that you can then become a blessing to others! It’s the end times and we all must be ready, and be ready to take as many people as we can with us. So it’s time to wake up.

Back to Jesus, we must remember what happened after he suffered his pain. He overcame it, and was raised from the dead. Pain, whether it be physical emotional, spiritual or mental is not meant to break you. Pain exists to make you stronger. Even if the enemy is the cause of the pain, God wants to turn that suffering into your success.  When you are confronted with pain, find its source and handle it. Pain from a break up? Learn and pray to find your peace as a single. Don’t let yourself stay down, and then end up dealing with depression taking regular medications for that. Pain from a sports injury? Don’t mask it with medicine, and keep playing. Take the necessary measures for healing and come back even stronger instead of breaking yourself down slowly. The longer you wait to take care of the source of the problem, the harder it will be to deal with.

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

I began writing this blog a few weeks ago with the intention of putting it out after the New Year, but the Holy Spirit guided me to start this series now. I am currently learning about holistic pain control and am believing that many of us will be healed and made stronger in the New Year! This week I would like to challenge anyone dealing with chronic pain to start praying and fasting in the spirit. Diet is a key ingredient in holistic pain relief and reducing inflammation in the body, which we will discuss more next week. But I am not asking you to start off to drastic; fast something simple that you know is unhealthy whether it is soda, alcohol, sugar, carbs, etc. When you are feeling tempted during the day speak to God and ask him for his strength to overcome your temptations. Look up bible verses concerning pain and temptation. I will also be doing this fast. I love my Coke! And sprite, Dr Pepper, Mountain Dew…. any soda, so I will be fasting with you and praying for all of us and everyone dealing with chronic pain. Let’s end this year with a testimony, that will have a ripple effect that will last all of 2017!

Going to Heaven VIP!!!

Have you ever went to a club or concert and waited in line forever with the general public? While waiting in that line you watched another, shorter line of people walk right into the event. The VIP line! Believe it or not, there is a VIP line into heaven. It’s expensive and hard to get in to, but it’s worth the work!

“Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13,14).

It’s estimated that approximately 2.2 billion people out of the 6.9 billion people on this earth consider themselves Christian. Christianity is the world’s largest religion. If all 2.2 billion Christians were taking our VIP line to heaven that’s a lot of people. But the bible says that few will find it, right? Guess what,  just because you say that you are a Christian, does not guarantee your spot in heaven. Saying a prayer does not automatically mean that you are saved. Sorry to tell you that it is not that easy, because if it were, more people would be in that VIP line.

Obviously, to get into a club VIP, you must pay more. You cannot expect to get VIP treatment after only paying general admission. A quote that I love, “You cannot truly worship the Lord if you are still in love with this world”. Many “general admission” Christians, may say that they’re Christian because they believe in God, go to church every now and then, and celebrate Christmas. But they live in this world by cussing, not tithing, going to the bar every weekend, etc. Your daily actions must be pleasing to God.

Still don’t get it?  Lets say it differently shall we?

If God was your shadow for a day and you didn’t know it, would your daily actions please him? Would your words glorify him? If your answer is I don’t know, or no then it may be time for you to start paying your dues for that VIP line.

“His Lord said unto him, well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matthew 25:21).

Let’s figure out how to get into this line. My pastor was just speaking this evening, when you live your life according to God’s will, and fulfill his purpose for you; when you get to heaven you will have your own entry gates. All of your relatives and anyone that was special to you will be at that entrance applauding you for your work, then the crowd will part and Jesus will be there. He will say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant”. Now that’s the VIP entrance that I want to make! I’m not going in with the general admission, that said the prayers, lived an “ok” life but did not reach their full potential.

When we give our lives over to Christ, we at first become a baby Christian (the term being reborn). But from there it is your job to dive into the word, educate yourself, and build a relationship with God. Speak to the Father not just during your quiet time, but in your everyday life. Small inquiries, “should I go here?’, “should I apply for this job?” As your relationship grows you will learn His voice. Then you can get to the question, what is my purpose? BUT! But, you will not know if you do not ask. Many people will go down a path that they think is the right one. It may be a career that helps people and is rewarding, but if it wasn’t God’s will for you, then your full potential will not be reached and you will keep looking for more, because your spirit will not be satisfied.

Long story short, choose the will of the Father in your life, and all will be well. He wants to be close to you, but you have to communicate with him. You may have to be patient. In my own experience, after weeks of praying about my purpose, I literally got the urge to write in the middle of a sermon at church, but I didn’t know what to write. So I kept praying, and reading the Word and about two months later God told me to start a blog about health and the word, and now we are all here!

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21).

“Stop listening to my instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge” (Proverbs 19:27).

God has a specific purpose for all of us. It may bring one person to Christ or one million people. It is not your job to count, it’s just your job to trust the Father and follow his direction. That direction will lead to your VIP line!

Dear Heavenly Father we thank you for your word given to us to provide the knowledge that we need to become closer with you. We thank you for your urge to be close to us and to have a meaningful relationship. We pray for the knowledge needed to find and fulfill our purpose in life that you have chosen for us so that our blessings will become blessings to others. Amen!

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Pillow Talk

Relieving Stress

I have a job that sometimes wants to make me scream. My house is a mess, and I just want to run away. Oh, and don’t forget the never ending bills that make you contemplate stripping as a career choice. We all deal with stress, and we all deal with stress in different ways.

Not only can stress effect your emotions and thinking, but it also has physical manifestations that may present itself when dealing with stress for long periods of time:

-          Headaches

-          Insomnia

-          Depression

-          High blood pressure

-          Increased risk for heart attack or stroke

-          Increased risk for diabetes

-          Heartburn

-          Diarrhea or constipation

-          Muscle tension

-          Irregular menstrual cycles

-          Impotence

-          Decreased immune system function

Stress effects nearly every body system. What quality of life is that to live with daily stress, especially when Matthew 11:28 reads,  “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” Laden, means to be heavily loaded or weighed down, aka stressed. So God is telling us when we are stressed, give it to him and have your peace. Let it go, and your problems are taken care of.

As human beings our bodies are not meant to carry stress over long periods of time. Maybe God made us that way because he does not want for us to carry such heavy loads…

Now, don’t get me wrong, not all stress is bad stress. Sometimes God tests our faith to see how we will react to stressful situations and see if we turn to him. An example, when God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as an offering. Even though the Bible doesn’t say, do you mean to tell me that Abraham didn’t feel even a little uneasy about this situation? But he walked in faith, and gave the situation to God. He obeyed and God was pleased with this. Isaac was allowed to live and Abraham was presented with a sacrifice to give to God for his obedience.

“My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. Knowing this, that ye trying of your own faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2-4).

Stress is also needed for our bodies when we are presented with a threat or attack to our survival. This is known as the flight or fight response. The body releases hormones that increase the heart rate, increase breathing, constricts pupils and tightens muscles. This prepares us to either fight for our lives or run for our lives. In short term situations, the stress hormones are helpful. Over time, these increased hormones become dangerous to our health.

When God tests our faith through stressful trials, the goal is for us to win! So, we can either let the stress consume us or give it to God, remain steadfast, and be patient. And in the end he will give you everything that you need plus more!

I have an example. I moved to Atlanta in 2013. The job that I had set up fell through and I became late on ALL of my bills. I finally got a job after 2 months but then totaled my car 1 month later. Mind you, the job that I had gotten was working out of my car. Since I had just started this new job I was still behind on most of my bills. My insurance was not going to pay for the accident. My insurance had been inactivated because it was more than 30 days late. The accident was my fault and both cars were totaled. I hit rock bottom. I kid you not I went from being ok one second to being in a full blown depression the next. Thank God for my family back home that were in a position to help financially, so that I could get a rental car so that I could still work. About 1 week later, I got a call from my insurance company. They said that since the accident happened within 30 days of my account deactivation, they would cover everything! The explanation didn’t make sense to me, but that’s ok. I had a new car that weekend and was able to start fresh. Glory to God!

I wish I would have handled the situation differently. I let the stress get the best of me from the start, and God still brought me through even though I deserved none of it.

How will you handle stress? Will you let it get the best of you and cause it to make you have headaches, diarrhea, depression and a heart attack down the line? It will you give it to God, and live in peace and be physically healthy? Let the world have their problems, because we are not of the world.

Give your problems to God before you hit rock bottom and see how far he will sky rocket you to the top for your faith!

So what is pillow talk??? I don’t know about you guys but my comfy place is my bed. Some people find solice in the bathroom, the gym, on their porch, etc. Relationship therapists encourage couples to have “pillow talk” to help keep their relationship exciting and to continue to learn about each other. God also wants us to have this kind of relationship with him. I encourage you to have pillow talk with God on a regular basis. What rule says you need to always be on your knees to be in the presence of the Lord. Go to your comfortable place, and take God there with you. Tell him about your day, the good and the bad. Tell him your stressors, and then give them to him. Over time watch as your stressors become your strengths.

It is important for us to deal with our stress. In addition to pillow talk, there are other activities that can also be done. Find a hobby, this can include writing, sewing, exercising, group sports, volunteering, etc. It just needs to be an activity that brings you joy. Take breaks! At work we can get so busy that we also forget to take care of ourselves during the day. Then we clock out at the end of our shift and are physically and emotionally pooped. Every couple hours I take a bathroom break, even if I don’t have to use the bathroom. If we are not busy I will find a bathroom further away from my work station, so that I can take a small walk and clear my head for a few minutes before jumping back into the chaos.  Relaxation exercises such as deep breathing are great at relieving stress and tension, and can be done anywhere, even if you only have a few minutes to spare. And a great thing about living in 2016, learning how to deep breathe is only one youtube video away.

“ Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” Matthew 6:25-34.

Remember, we are God’s chosen. He wants to take care of us and live a happy, enjoyable life. Negativity, hardships and stress do not belong in our lives, and only stay present if YOU let it.

Lord thank you for your grace and the ability to take our burdens. Teach us to give those stressful situations, big or small to you, so that we may be able to live in peace. Let that peace be a blessing to others. Give us the patience needed to pass tests placed in front of us and come out of the storm with a victory. Amen. 

I met a Facebook Prophet!

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” Matthew 7:15-20.

This post obviously has nothing to do with health, but yesterday I had an encounter with a false prophet and wanted to share my story, in hopes that it will help guide you if the situation ever presents itself, so that you will be able to identify them and act accordingly.

There was a young pastor whose Facebook page I liked. I like for my timeline to be positive and uplifting so I follow many pages that are supposed to be influential people. I am not going to release his name, because doing research I believe that he actually does have a ministry in California and I do not want to put any bad words out about him, if it was not him that I was speaking to. But I got a friend request from his personal page, and I accepted it. Soon after he messaged me saying that he was praying for me and that God has many blessings for me but Satan is going to try and block those blessings. He told me to pray and fast more than ever so that I can remain close to God. I did think that it was weird that he was messaging me this and had an uneasy feeling in my heart, but I thought you never know, god may have put it on his heart to reach out. I thanked him for his guidance, and the conversation stopped there.

Later that night he messaged me again, saying that God wanted him to lead me on a 2 day fast and prayer because God wanted me to sow a seed for an orphanage in Africa. Now, if you are friends with me on Facebook, you know that I just recently returned from Africa and volunteered at an orphanage while there, that I am currently fundraising for. So in my mind I am thinking OMG God really sent him to be a mentor. So I went along with it, and told him that I would love to do the 2 day fast…. Now here came the catch. In his next message he said that it was an orphanage in South Africa (Not where I traveled to by the way). He gave me an email and a WhatsApp contact, but didn’t tell me any details about the actual orphanage. He told me to contact them about my donation and then send him back any information that they gave me.

So by this time all the red flags are going off in my brain, I knew that this was a scam. I did end up blocking him and deleted everything from my phone, but before that I went back and looked at our conversation. While in the midst of it everything sounded great, and too good to be true! I should have seen that as a sign. The messages that he was sending me were scripted and not personally talking to me. Looking at his fan page on Facebook, I could not see how many other people liked his page, and on his personal page I could not see his friends list, and no one ever commented on any of his posts or pictures. So he was an all around scam, and I am glad that I was able to see this before getting sucked in too deep.

When you are living your life for God, the devil is going to try and stop you in any way that he can.

“For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” Romans 16:18

Think if I would have actually let those words sink into my spirit as truth. I could have eventually given up my bank account number, debit card info, my address, and they would have control over me to break me down. I learned a very important lesson today. I had that uneasy feeling in heart to begin with but didn’t listen to it. Not all prophets are God’s prophets. Satan has the best actors working for him, because he knows that we are in the end of days and God is forming his army to bring his people home.

When someone shows you who they really are, believe it. Your boyfriend/ girlfriend don’t want you to go to church but stay home and spend time with them? Do your friends mock you for not going out, partying and drinking? I let my own family mock me about being a church girl and turned away from the church for years as soon as I hit 18, and lived my life in this world and got nowhere.

God’s chosen are few. If you feel like you are one of them, or you want to be one of them, let no man lead you astray. Do not let Satan lead you astray. My pastor taught us today, “ The enemy is supposed to be under your feet, if he gets above that he is too high. If you want to talk to the devil write a message on your shoe!” (K.Butler, Faith Christian Center, GA). When you choose to walk with God, stay next to him in your path, so that Satan will always be underneath you. And keep on the full armour of God, for when those demons come to stir you up, you will face them head on.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” Ephesians 6:10-13.

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Empty Prayers and Unhealthy Bodies

I have been praying for healing, why am I still suffering?

Since 2009 until recently, I have dealt with almost daily tension headaches. I was forced to wake up every morning with a headache, and having to take pain medicine multiple times per day just so that I could function. I would pray regularly for healing and whenever pastor would have an altar call for healing, I would be front and center. But nothing happened. I may have some immediate relief but that headache would always creep its way back in.

I was praying empty prayers.

“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed” James 1:6.

I was praying but not believing in what I asked for. I was going to the altar but not expecting change. When believing you must remain steadfast in your faith. You cannot pray but then continue to live as if that problem still exists. I would pray that night and wake up the next morning. I might not even be hurting but would still take pain medicine in preparation for a headache. Since when does faith work like that?

Something else I would do. I would go to the altar for prayer, and think because pastor prayed over me and touched me, and then a miracle was going to happen. The pastor is there to help. To give a little extra when you are believing for something. Your pastor is your helper, not your healer. God is your healer.

Some people may think, “what if I have faith? I don’t need treatment, God is my healer!” Well God may heal your diabetes, but if you continue to eat unhealthy and not exercise then that diabetes is going to come back eventually. Or the healing that someone is believing for may come from the treatment of a specialist. I know a few pastors that were diagnosed with cancer, had their treatment and remained steadfast in their faith that they would be healed. They began to eat healthy and take care of their bodies, and they defeated cancer. Yes God is our healer, but sometimes the people and treatments that he has made available to us, can be the answer to our healing. Or he may decide to do the job himself. God works in MANY different ways! And he has different paths for us all to take. So please take care of your body. Eat healthy, exercise, and see your doctor if you suspect something is not right with your body. It is not God’s job to continually heal us from the damage that we inflict on ourselves regularly. Prevention is key to physical healthiness, and our Father wants us to be healthy.

“And this fame went through all of Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had palsy; and he healed them” Matthew 4:24.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” Romans 12:1.

As God’s chosen we are instructed to use our bodies, as a sacrifice, as in our bodies are to be used for God’s work. By keeping our physical bodies healthy we are making ourselves presentable. Before any job, you must have an interview. You don’t walk into a job interview with grungy clothes on, unbrushed teeth, and dirt under your nails. You clean up well, to make yourself presentable physically. And they can only see your outer appearance. God sees our appearance inside and out, our good and bad traits, our ailments, our addictions, our idols, etc. Even though God can use any person, in any state in their lives and make a testimony of them, we must learn to rise from that beginning state. So it is important to maintain our physical, emotional, spiritual and mental as much as possible so we can be presented at our best every time we got before him. And that should be on a regular basis.

Lord I pray for anyone suffering from disease or ailments that you will lead us to a path for healing, physically and spiritually. I pray we learn the true value of our temples to continue on into good health. Help us to stay  away from those things that give us disease and renew our mind to way of thinking that pleases you. Amen. 

Welcome!

 “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” 3 John 1:2.

In the biblical sense many people don’t see the connection between their spiritual and physical health. God gave us these vessels (our bodies) to give life and have a purpose. And while living that purpose it is also imperative to not only live for God, our family, and the people we come into contact with everyday but also to live and care for ourselves. What we ingest can have a direct connection to our mind. And if the mind is clouded then our heart also becomes clouded. Our body is the barrier that protects our spirit. A damaged body will make it harder to maintain your spiritual health.

“What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

Each and every one of us is bought at a price. We are all an investment of God; can you not see your worth? Our body is a temple, an extension of the Holy Ghost. We are all brought forth from royalty. How amazing is that? So why would you want to pump you and your family full of processed foods, alcohol and drugs. That would be like using your brand new Mercedes in a Monster Cars show. A waste! So why treat your body, the only you get in this lifetime like trash? A body that God invested in at that. We are so much better than that, and we must do better and teach our children better.

That is what we will be learning and discussing in this blog. How to rebuild your temple so that we are able to live this life to the fullest. This will include a whole wide range of topics:

                Eating well

                Staying active

                Dealing with stress

                Health as it pertains to different body systems

                Encouraging your children to be healthy

                Being a caregiver for loved ones

                The value of rest

                And whatever the Lord leads us to discuss!

We will always use the scripture to help validate and lead our discussions.

I would like to end this welcome blog with a prayer that I am believing will help this community grow and learn.

Dear Heavenly Father we give thanks to be given another day to live this life in your likeness. We pray that this blog will evolve and grow. We pray that lives will be transformed. People will learn the skills needed to maintain optimal health so that we will have optimal spiritual and physical health. Guide us in the path that you see planned for us. Amen!