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Life is short, very short. Is there a way to maximize the very short days you have upon this earth? We all know the old, jaded adage, “live life to the fullest,” but how do I do it? God’s Word gives explicit, workable instructions on how to truly maximize those very short days and, amazingly, transform them into beautiful, eternal life, where it is impossible to die. In these first few paragraphs, the secret formula will be revealed. Prepare yourself to make a decision.
Living life to the fullest requires the presence of the very essence of life, and that essence is Christ. John 14:6:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus Christ is God’s source of life to this earth and its universe because by Him, God “made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2) and because Colossians 1:19 reads:
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Jesus Christ is the life and to have life and life more abundantly as Jesus promised, and to maximize temporal life—even eternally—I need Him in the middle.
Jesus made what appears to be some outlandish statements to the spiritually dead, but be assured they are true in the most literal sense. John 8:12:
Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world:
Jesus Christ is known as the King of Glory; He is God’s Light to the world. He is called “the bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16). The sun is ashamed in His presence.
When you see strange groupings of words in the Scriptures, its time to take serious pause and ponder. John 1:6-9:
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
Microbiologists were recently shocked when they discovered that life springs forth in a flash of light. For the first time, they observed that when the egg and sperm come together, the union is marked by a spark of light—the light of life—and the Gospel of John calls it “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” Jesus Christ is the Light of life.
The Light that springs forth in the union of the egg and the sperm is a most literal occurrence, and when the soul is given life, the same thing occurs. God speaks of our condition prior to salvation in Matthew 4:16:
The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Have you seen the Light, the true Light? Have you been born again? Will today be your day of salvation where all sin and its shame are expunged from your record? Will today be the day Satan’s bondages are broken—and I certainly mean all? Choose Christ and walk in the Light. Why stumble around in the darkness? Follow this prompt: Click onto “Further with Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the glorious Kingdom of God. Live abundantly, even forever. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.
GOD SAID, Hebrews 10:23-25:
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
GOD SAID, Psalm 133:1:
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
GOD SAID, Proverbs 11:19:
As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.
GOD SAID, Galatians 6:7:
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
MAN SAID: I’ve got plans and God’s not in the middle of any of them—not anywhere close! If I’ve got questions, I’ll just ask my phone!
Now THE RECORD: Welcome to GodSaidManSaid feature article 935 where we earnestly contend for the faith. All of these feature of Light are archived here in text and streaming audio for your edification and as ammunition in the battle for the souls of men. Every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one. Thank you for coming today. May the goodness of God be multiplied unto you and your house.
Every time God’s Word is mocked and disobeyed—every single time—there is hell to pay. Every commandment, every precept, every directive—each has inherent within it a blessing or a curse. Because God’s Words are the inerrant truth, disobeying them yields the curse of doing the wrong thing. Because God’s Words are the inerrant truth, obeying them yields the blessing of doing the right thing. You cannot mock the Word of God without deadly consequences. It can’t be done. If one is honestly looking for proof of the God of the Bible, he or she needs to look no further than this principle, and this feature will once again make it abundantly clear.
In every instance of life, there exists a cause and effect. When I was a child in a secular public school, the day began with prayer and the reading of the Bible, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Problems in the public school were somewhat benign: They typically ranged from the occasional fistfight, smoking on school grounds, talking in the classroom, or truancy. Things have changed.
When God was expelled from the public school system, things began to deteriorate quickly. Today’s problems in America’s schools are considerably different—as different as night and day. In today’s public schools, we need metal detectors and armed guards. The schools are plagued with child pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, a range of sexual perversions including sexting and porn infestations, drugs, psychological disorders, self-mutilation, suicide, and a sizable percent of the student body are medicated for depression and anxiety. Children are “confused” about whether they are boys, girls, or “somewhere in between,” and are encouraged to act out. One’s biology no longer dictates which bathroom they are to use—and these problems all graduate on to college. The following excerpts are from the GodSaidManSaid feature, “US Colleges New Mental Institutions:”
Man has separated God from his pursuit of knowledge and the results, as always, are deadly. The headline in the October 2015 feature in Psychology Today reads “Crisis U,” and the subhead, “Step by well-meaning step, colleges are being transformed into something more akin to mental health wards than citadels of learning.” Excerpts follow:
“Problems are more urgent than ever,” says Philip Meilman, professor of psychology at Georgetown University and director of its campus counseling center. When he took his first post after earning his doctorate four decades ago, he says, counseling centers mostly saw collegians struggling with developmental issues—homesickness, relationship breakups, lack of life direction. “That’s not what we see today,” he reports. “Students have more overwhelming concerns: ‘I’m cutting.’ ‘I’m anorexic.’ ‘I’m suicidal.’ ‘I’m an alcoholic.’ ‘I’m bipolar.’ Or combinations thereof.” Developmental problems have not gone away, they are just masked by more pressing turmoil.
Nationally, 22 percent of collegians now seek therapy or counseling each year, reports Daniel Eisenberg, an economist at the University of Michigan whose Healthy Minds Study annually samples 160,000 students around the country. The number of those in counseling varies from campus to campus depending on its culture—10 percent at some large schools, nearly 50 percent at some small, private ones. The figure has been steadily growing for two decades and shows no signs of slowing.
According to Benjamin Locke, associate director for clinical services at Penn State, one in three students now starts college with a prior diagnosis of mental disorder.
Eisenberg’s Healthy Minds Study indicates that 19 percent of all college students regularly take psychotropic meds—antidepressants, anxiolytics, and stimulants such as Adderall.
Distress on campus takes a variety of forms, but far and away the leading cause of concern in 2015 is anxiety—54 percent of all college students report feeling overwhelming anxiety, up from 46.4 percent in 2010, according to the latest semiannual survey conducted by the American College Health Association. That wasn’t always the case.
“For 47 percent of clients seeking counseling—which is available in seven languages—anxiety is the primary complaint. Students feel overwhelmed. They can’t manage.”
Self-harm is a staple of dorm life, and Eisenberg finds that nearly one in five students engages in cutting, burning, or other form of self-mutilation. According to the 2014 CCMH study, 24 percent of students purposefully injure themselves without the intent to kill themselves. The number is slowly increasing, up from 21 percent in 2008.
Experts find it difficult to pinpoint why. It may be that lacking the ability to emotionally regulate themselves, students feel things especially intensely—beyond their ability to articulate their feelings. In general, says Paul Grayson, head of counseling at New York’s Marymount College, “there’s more acting out of distress. Earlier cohorts were more internally tormented.”
In addition, lives are now presented publicly, stripped of the anxiety that churns beneath. “It’s generational,” says a Brown University student. “We are obsessed with social media. But it magnifies the comparison factor.” At a school with so many talented students, she says, almost everyone is stuck in negative self-evaluation—trapped in a hall of mirrors. Social connection is as necessary as air for health. But “we have to acknowledge it now has a dark side,” says Gregory Eells, director of the campus counseling center at Cornell University. [End of quote]
The God of the Bible has been expelled from America’s schools and universities and devil gods have filled the void. God is not mocked.
The headline in the January 11, 2019 issue of The Week reads, “An Epidemic of Loneliness,” and the subhead reads, “Nearly half of all Americans today say they are lonely. Why is that so, and what are the consequences?” A few paragraphs follow:
Essentially, if you feel lonely, you are lonely. One out of two Americans now falls into this category. In a recent study of 20,000 people by the health insurance company Cigna, about 47 percent of respondents reported often feeling alone or left out. Thirteen percent said there were zero people who knew them well. The US is not unique in this respect: Loneliness is reaching epidemic levels throughout the developed world. Forty-one percent of Britons say the TV or a pet is their main source of company, and the UK has created a cabinet-level minister to deal with the problem of rampant loneliness. A government study in Japan found that more than half a million people spent at least six months at home with no outside contact. “During my years caring for patients, the most common pathology I saw was not heart disease or diabetes,” said former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. “It was loneliness.”
What impact does loneliness have? It makes people sick. A 2010 study by Brigham Young University found that loneliness shortens a person’s life by 15 years, about the same impact as being obese or smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Other studies have found connections between loneliness and a wide range of health problems, including increased risk for heart attacks, stroke, and cancer. Lonely people are more likely to suffer from insomnia, depression, and drug abuse. They are also more likely to suffer from more rapid cognitive decline in old age.
Why is physical health affected? Stress. Stress leads to high blood pressure, increased inflammation, and a weakened immune system. Without an emotional support network, lonely people are also more likely to slip into unhealthy habits, such as substance abuse, overeating, and not exercising. [End of quotes]
What is the cause of loneliness and does God’s Word have a remedy? The cause is simple: God has been expelled from an ever-increasing number of American homes and, like our school systems, the results are not good. According to Gallup, church or synagogue attendance in the United States has declined from 70% in 1992 to 55% in 25 years. The headline from ReligionNews.com reads, “The Great Decline: 60 Years of Religion in America.” An excerpt from this feature, which only measured to 2012, follows:
The graph of this index tells the story of the rise and fall of religious activity. During the post-war, baby-booming 1950s, there was a revival of religion. Indeed, some at the time considered it a third great awakening. Then came the societal changes of the 1960s, which included a questioning of religious institutions. The resulting decline in religion stopped by the end of the 1970s, when religiosity remained steady. Over the past fifteen years, however, religion has once again declined. But this decline is much sharper than the decline of the 1960s and 1970s. Church attendance and prayer is less frequent. The number of people with no religion is growing. Fewer people say that religion is an important part of their lives. All measures point to the same drop in religion: If the 1950s were another Great Awakening, this is the Great Decline. [End of quote]
God has created a new birth in Christ Jesus and a spiritual/physical structure to support all the needs of His new family. He has created the church to house, and from which emanates an extended, nurturing home to support the family of God. Loneliness is absent from the true church; if isolated issues arise, they are easily remedied. This new living arrangement supports:
💓 New born-again hearts with a new Father;
💓 New eternal and fulfilling purpose;
💓 New power to reign over the work of the devil;
💓 New Godly love for one another;
💓 New fresh bread severed up several times a week in regular church meetings and fellowship opportunities;
💓 The promotion of a new and glorious everlasting life;
💓 The new and powerful baptism of the Holy Ghost where the Spirit of God actually dwells in our vessels, supporting us for all the minutes of our life during this pilgrimage—serious one-on-one communion;
💓 New outreach ministries where the redeemed learn to give; and
💓 In the family, we are addressed as “Brother Bob,” or “Sister Sandy”—no loneliness here!
God has been expelled from millions of American homes. His commandments and directives have been mocked—and as always, the results are deadly. God’s Word cannot be mocked without hell to pay.
Many features on GodSaidManSaid address the enormous benefits of participating in God’s directives concerning the Christian religion. A sampling follows:
🏰 From the GodSaidManSaid feature, “The Amazing Power of Going to Church:”
When man’s science digs deep, when man’s science peers into the visible and invisible, when his research is published, God’s children of faith are already there with their banners unfurled.
The following sentences are from the November 26, 2008, article, “Religion May Help Extend Your Life,” published by HealthDay:
The study participants came from the large Women’s Health initiative observational study, and included nearly 95,000 women from all over the United States. The women were all between 50 and 79 years old at the start of the study.
When the researchers adjusted the data to account for the physical health, age, ethnicity, income, education, social support, important life events, and life satisfaction, they found that weekly religious service attendance was responsible for a 20% reduction in the risk of death.
Dr. Harold G. Koenig, founder and co-director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health at Duke University Medical Center, called the new research “a very well-done study that provides good, well-controlled evidence that religious attendance is related to lower mortality.”
Concerning prayer, Dr. Dale Matthews of Georgetown University, author of The Faith Factor, reports that 75% of all research on studies of spirituality has confirmed health benefits. He said, “If prayer were available in pill form, no pharmacy could stock enough of it.” [End of quote]
Many marvelous things happen in a church where the Word of God is honored. In the house of God, a believer is instructed in righteousness and is ministered to in a myriad of ways. It is a place of community and powerful support. God’s house is the ultimate place for answers, vision, and encouragement. When Jesus Christ resurrected from Abraham’s Bosom, He gave gifts unto men for the perfecting of the saints. The gifts He gave are gifts of ministry: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Ephesians 4:8-12). The primary setting for these ministry gifts to operate is in the formal church setting. The benefits of congregating in God’s house are more than I could number, yet Americans have rejected God’s offer by the millions.
Hundreds of studies have been, and are presently being, conducted to ascertain whether there is any connection between religious faith and health. Some of the latest results are shocking to the unbelieving world. In 1999, the results of a study conducted by the University of Texas were published. Twenty-two thousand people were followed over a nine-year period. Those who attended church or synagogue more than once a week lived an average of eight years longer than those who didn’t. Let me say it another way: Those who attended church more than once a week lived 2,920 days, or 11% longer than those who didn’t.
A Yale study reported that churchgoers were less likely to become physically disabled. In a syndicated article released by Knight Ridder Newspapers, it was recorded:
Several studies concluded that people who attended religious services regularly are hospitalized less often and have stronger immune systems than people who rarely or never attend.
Again, the Knight Ridder article cites a 1996 poll of family doctors and found that 99% believed spiritual practices and prayer can be helpful in medical treatment. [End of quotes]
The headline from the January 9, 2014, MailOnline reads: “Religious people take fewer sick days and are less anxious because spirituality ‘offers a buffer against the strains of modern life.’” The sub-head reads:
• People who are religious are less likely to be stressed at work
• They are also less likely to be depressed or exhausted
• They are more likely to feel that their life has meaningThe research comes just after it was revealed that people who have a spiritual side have a “thicker” section of brain tissue than those who do not.
The research, from Columbia University, also suggested that this thickening of the brain’s cortex could help to stave off depression. The study authors believe this could suggest being religious changes the structure of the brain in a way which reduces depression risk. [End of quotes]
🏰 From GodSaidManSaid, “Meditation, Prayer, Church, and Words Make Big News Again:”
Has science proven any real, measurable benefit of prayer and of going to church? The headline in the April 6, 2015, article published by CharismaNews.com reads, “Healing power of Prayer Undeniable, According to 1,500 Medical Studies.” Much of the feature follows:
For the devout, there has never been any question that prayer has the power to heal.
Now, more and more medical research from leading hospitals and universities across the U.S. has shown conclusively a belief in God really IS good for you, making you healthier and happier, and helping you live longer.
“Studies have shown prayer can prevent people from getting sick—and when they do get sick, prayer can help them get better faster,” Duke University’s Harold G. Koenig, M.D. tells Newsmax Health.
An exhaustive analysis of more than 1,500 reputable medical studies “indicates people who are more religious and pray more have better mental and physical health,” Dr. Koenig says.
“And out of 125 studies that looked at the link between health and regular worship, 85 showed regular churchgoers live longer. There’s a lot of evidence out there.”
Dr. Koenig says a striking study published in the Southern Medical Journal demonstrated that prayer has a remarkable effect on patients with hearing and visual deficiencies. After prayer sessions, “They showed significant improvements based on audio and visual tests,” Dr. Koenig said.
He added: “The benefits of devout religious practice, particularly involvement in a faith community and religious commitment, are that people cope better. In general, they cope with stress better, they experience greater well-being because they have more hope, they’re more optimistic, they experience less depression, less anxiety, and they commit suicide less often. They have stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, and probably better cardiovascular functioning.”
The proof of the power of prayer is overwhelming, says researcher and writer Tom Knox, a one-time atheist who became a regular worshipper after doing an in-depth study of the medical benefits of faith.
“What I discovered astonished me,” admits Knox. “Over the past 30 years, a growing and largely unnoticed body of scientific work shows religious belief is medically, socially, and psychologically beneficial.”
Study after study backs up the benefits of having faith, especially in prolonging life.
In 2006, population researchers at the University of Texas discovered that the more often you go to church, the longer you live.
“Religious attendance is associated with adult mortality in a graded fashion,” says Knox. “There is a seven-year difference in life expectancy between those who never attend church and those who attend weekly.”
The American Journal of Public Health studied nearly 2,000 older Californians for five years and found that those who attended religious services were 36 percent less likely to die during that period than those who didn’t.
A study of nearly 4,000 older adults by the U.S. Journal of Gerontology revealed that atheists had a significantly increased chance of dying over a six-year period than the faithful.
Crucially, religious people lived longer than atheists even if they didn’t go regularly to a place of worship. [End of quotes]
🏰 GodSaidManSaid, “If You Want to be Happy for the Rest of Your Life:”
August 14, 2015, the WashingtonPost.com headline reads, “Want ‘sustained happiness’? Get religion, study suggests.” The feature follows:
A new study suggests that joining a religious group could do more for someone’s “sustained happiness” than other forms of social participation, such as volunteering, playing sports, or taking a class.
A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology by researchers at the London School of Economics and Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that the secret to sustained happiness lies in participation in religion.
“The church appears to play a very important social role in keeping depression at bay and also as a coping mechanism during periods of illness in later life,” Mauricio Avendano, an epidemiologist at LSE and author of the study, said in a statement. “It is not clear to us how much this is about religion, per se, or whether it may be about the sense of belonging and not being socially isolated.”
Researchers looked at four areas: 1) volunteering or working with a charity; 2) taking educational courses; 3) participating in religious organizations; 4) participating in a political or community organization. Of the four, participating in a religious organization was the only social activity associated with sustained happiness, researchers found.
The study analyzed 9,000 Europeans who were older than 50. The report that studied older Europeans also found that joining political or community organizations lost their benefits over time. In fact, the short-term benefits from those social connections often lead to depressive symptoms later on, researchers say.
Although healthier people are more likely to volunteer, the researchers found no evidence that volunteering actually leads to a better mental health. Benefits could be outweighed by other negative impacts of volunteering, such as stress, Avendano said.
The researchers noted that it is unclear whether the benefits of participating in a religious organization are connected to being in the religious community, or to the faith itself. [End of quote]
When America’s commitment to the Christian religion declines, you will see a very proportional and predictable increase in:
🔺 Loneliness;
🔺 Mental illness;
🔺 Divorce;
🔺 Adultery;
🔺 Fornication;
🔺 Homosexuality;
🔺 Depression;
🔺 Suicides;
🔺 Bitterness;
🔺 Sexually transmitted diseases;
🔺 Murder;
🔺 Rape;
🔺 Drunkenness;
🔺 Addictions both legal and illegal;
🔺 Ridicule of the righteous;
🔺 Slothfulness;
🔺 Sickness of all forms;
🔺 Shortened lifespans.
You get the idea.
Galatians 6:7:
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
God’s house is a house of life and life more abundantly. God’s house is a perfect place to build a life that will last forever—with no more loneliness.
When God’s command to assemble in His house is mocked and rejected, the benefits of obedience disappear and the curse of disobedience begin to yield its fruit—and the descent into hell begins. It’s proportional and predictable.
GOD SAID, Hebrews 10:23-25:
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
GOD SAID, Psalm 133:1:
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
GOD SAID, Proverbs 11:19:
As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.
GOD SAID, Galatians 6:7:
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
MAN SAID: I’ve got plans and God’s not in the middle of any of them—not anywhere close! If I’ve got questions, I’ll just ask my phone!
Now you have THE RECORD.
References:
Authorized King James Version
“An Epidemic of Loneliness,” The Week, January 11, 2019
“The Great Decline: 60 Years of Religion in One Graph,” ReligionNews.com, January 27, 2014
GodSaidManSaid, “If You Want to be Happy for the Rest of Your Life”
GodSaidManSaid, “US Colleges New Mental Institutions”
