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Discovering What Is Life-Giving 
Mark 6:31 / Philippians 4:8 / Isaiah 58:11 

​     During July I’m doing a preaching series.  It began with this topic: “Have You Ever Lost Your Alleluia?”  Last week was about the importance of lamenting, sharing our grief with God when we go through difficult times.  This week we’ll focus on “Discovering What Is Life-Giving”.
      I think we all know people who are thriving in some area of their life.  We notice and are glad for them.   They’re putting in effort and there’s some great results.   Who do you know and admire that’s in a strong, balanced, satisfying place in their life?  Do you think they got there easily, without thought or effort?   Probably not!  I have some pictures to show you that I think you may relate to; they reveal how messy and overwhelming life can be!  
       This morning we’ll use Scripture to help us discover what can be life-giving for our bodies, our minds, and our spiritual lives.  We’ll start with our physical body.  Listen to Mark 6:31. Jesus tells his disciples they must withdraw from the crowds, pause in ministry, go to a quiet place, and get good rest.  This is one of my favorite verses because it speaks truth to me, reminding me that I too must step back from ministry.  This is my Achilles’ heel: I have a love for God and a passion for serving that tempts me to keep pastoring.  I need to hear when Jesus quietly calls me to step away from ministry to rest my body.      
       We each need to respect our body, especially when it is asking for a break.  We usually don’t need a doctor’s help to tell us what we’re doing too much of, or too little of, each day.  We can listen to our various aches and pains in our bodies.   They’ll clue us in to what we’ve injured or have just been neglecting.  If we ignore the complex but very capable body God has given us, there will be natural consequences.  Put another way, “If we don’t make time for our wellness, we’ll be forced to make time for our illness.”
       One way we stay healthy is by putting into our body the fuel it needs.  Do you know that when visitors come from abroad, one of their first and most memorable impressions is how overweight many Americans are these days? We don’t tend to notice that because it’s our norm.   We do know the solution - we learn it in elementary school.  Eat a healthy portion of food each day. Some people have a written plan for their meals and snacks, and it helps keeps them on track. 
       Hydration is also key; it helps our bodies work at peak performance.  My doctors have told me this, and so did our kids’ pediatricians.  Chances are if we feel sluggish, or not able to focus, a lack of liquids is the culprit.  If we figure out how much we need to drink each day, then follow that plan, the results will be huge and immediate.  Don’t you like the sound of that?    
      Our bodies also need to be active.  There are days when we’re all tempted to put a sticker on our forehead that says, “out of order”, but when we’re up and moving we feel better.  I love that God designed our bodies to produce a chemical called serotonin when we exercise - it gives us a boost of happiness. It’s a reinforcement for us to keep on moving our bodies regularly.
      I’m amazed at what the latest smart watches and other devices can do to help us become and stay healthy.  You can calculate the calories you ate and how many you burned off with exercise. Your pulse is monitored, and how many steps you’ve taken.  Daily, weekly, or monthly charts can show your progress.  In real time you find out when and how you’ve gotten off-track or been successful.  One thing that intrigues me is that you can program alerts to remind you to get up and be active for a while because your body was sedentary for too long.  I think that’s a brilliant application for today’s world!
       Simply put, being in good health is a result of what we put into our bodies and what we do to keep them active.  There’s an abundance of food choices for us, and endless ways we can exercise our bodies.  There are umpteen ways to create an action plan and find support to follow through.  But it all starts with us; our mind must first decide that being healthy is important.   When you’re in that place of self-motivation, ask others to encourage you.  Ask God as well, for we are His “workmanship”.  Each one of us is divinely shaped; our bodies are intricate, marvelous miracles.   So, let’s respect our body, tend well to its needs, keep it fueled and moving.  We’re counting on them to take us the distance into (hopefully) old, old age.    
       The next thing I want us to think about is our mind.  Sometimes we may feel like this: “Life status:  currently holding it all together with one bobby pin.”  Or for others, currently holding life together with one short bungee cord!   I find that Philippians 4:8 is an excellent verse to read and apply when it feels like our mind isn’t settled or our thoughts are negative.  It says: “Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.”
      This is true wisdom, but it cannot begin to benefit us if we don’t start with a pre-requisite.  I first learned that word “prerequisite” when I was signing up for college classes.  As I read the course catalog, I’d get excited about registering for certain ones only to learn I wasn’t yet eligible.  I had to take other classes, prerequisites, to prepare me for the best ones.
      The pre-requisite that’s needed whenever we want our mind open and available is to first quiet down.  Quiet down on the inside and the outside.  Where we are -our environment - we can usually choose.  Some people like to be in a favorite chair inside; others prefer going for a walk, or simply being out in nature.  Once we’re separated from the noise of our daily life, we need to de-clutter what’s in our minds.  It’s like what we do in our own homes.  In living life we’ve put before us what we need on hand to work, do chores, or make a meal.  There’s mail and library books, and laundry to put in the dryer. 
      To quiet down on the inside we need to realize how many assorted thoughts are running through our head, and how we may also be trying to multitask.  This always reminds me of a computer with 47 tabs open on the top of the screen!  We need to close it all down.  Slowly, and intentionally. 
      Being still, inside and outside, is the prerequisite for God to show us and then guide us toward what is life-giving.  I’m choosing just three things named in the Philippians verse; if our minds are attuned to just these we’ll be blessed.  And the more regularly we do this, the more life-giving it will be for us.  The first one is to ponder what is lovely.  How much time on a given day, or week, do you empty yourself of all your cares and ponder what is lovely?  
       A newer practice for me has been to pause at different times during my day and ponder what is lovely by using my five senses. I’ll close my eyes and listen; I’ll usually hear birds chirping, a car slowly driving by, or the two little kids next door who giggle and squeal as they chase one another. I then focus on what I smell, it can be lovely things like burgers on the grill, sunscreen on my skin that protects me from sunburns, the scent of roses on a nearby bush or apple crisp fresh out of the oven.  I then think of what I’ve felt that day: maybe it’s the smoothness of a boiled egg as I peel it, the slippery bar of soap as I use as I wash up, the warm fur of my cat as he lies in the sunshine… and I love to feel the comfortable way that my husband’s hand holds mine.  Now for sight, I see clouds float by in the sky, leaves moving as the wind stirs them before a storm; I notice how blue my daughter’s eyes are, and the red ripeness of a freshly sliced watermelon.  Then comes taste… ponder what French toast with maple syrup is like, or licking an ice cream cone with your favorite flavor.  Think about biting into a steak, or tasting the freshest of berries, fruits, and vegetables in the summer.  Once we are still on the inside and the outside, we can ponder what is lovely and appreciate it using our hearing, sense of smell, touch, sight, and taste.   I find this to be life-giving, and you may too.
       We’re also encouraged to think about what is right and true.  As we reach adulthood, we’ve been shaped by the people and experiences we’ve known in earlier years.  Some of what we grew up believing may change once our world is wider.  How we talked to and disagreed with others in our home may be a pattern we want to re-think as we move out and meet other people.  Counselors and other trained professionals can be great resources for helping us see what is right and healthy.  They can ask questions that help us come to understand what is good for our lives.   We may need to learn how to say no and set boundaries with demanding people, if that’s something we never learned to do. 
      Another way we can discover what is right and true in life is to spend time being with and learning with other Christians.  We’re meant to know one another and build each other up.  We’re to grow in holiness of thought and live a distinctive and principled Christian life.  I encourage you to think about that when you come to church, and to make time before or after worship to really get to know others.  A new acquaintance can become a friend over time, and good friends can become a life-giving presence in your life.   
       The third word from Philippians is to consider what is praiseworthy. I always think of this as having an attitude of gratitude.  I believe that expressing our thanks to God is a linchpin in a Christian’s life.  I know many of you are thankful every day; you encourage others and set a good example.  
      I’ve recently been experimenting with new ways of expressing my gratitude to God.  Perhaps you’ll try these yourselves.  The first one I think of as Eureka Praise.  “Eureka” is a word that’s said when you discover something new or original.  I’m including this in my evening prayers before I go to sleep.  After thanking God for what is uppermost in my thoughts, I pause and try to think of something I have never thanked God for in my entire lifetime!   A “eureka”, new, original discovery for me one evening was to thank God for the workers that came decades ago and dug a very fine well in my backyard.  Fresh, clean water flows through pipes into my home for washing, cooking, and drinking.  I’ll never identify the workers who used their energy and skills to provide my family with water, but I am very grateful for them.   I hope you’ll try some Eureka prayers, then come share them here in church on Sunday mornings!                         
       God wants us to do things that are life-giving for our bodies, our minds, and our souls.  Isaiah 58:11 says that God will satisfy our needs - we’ll be like a well-watered garden, a spring whose waters never fail.   I love this image of fresh water soaking into dry, thirsty soil, of water bubbling up to the surface from a deep vein of water underground.  In our lives things are usually up to us, and our efforts have predictable outcomes, for better or for worse.   But here is a reminder that God is the Giver: the giver of what we need for life. 
      I learned a lesson this week; I’d thought I knew what was best but found out I wasn’t.  I was wrong for a lot of years.  You see, I’ve had hydrangea bushes over the years.  I love to cut their large, lovely flowers and put several in a vase.   I carefully put cold water in, then try to artfully arrange them.  No matter where I put them, it brightens up any room.   Then this week I read about how hydrangeas lose their vitality in cold water, but they perk up if it’s hot water.  I’ve seen that happen with my own eyes.  I wasn’t giving them what was life-giving because I really don’t know much about hydrangeas!
         God, on the other hand, knows us very well.  He wants us to receive what is refreshing in our inner being, our soul.  If we’re going to be nourished by God, soaking up what is life-giving, I think it helps to curate our life.  Curate has been another one of my favorite words lately.   Do you know that museums have massive collections in storage?   The staff will carefully curate, or select, which precious items will be taken out of storage and put on display.  If everything was out it would be a jumbled mess, and nothing could be appreciated.   In much the same way, I think our soul benefits when we curate what we allow to be in our lives. 
     We can all be prone to excess, am I right?  It’s discipline that helps us refine and simplify.  While many things can be good, we realistically cannot do or have all things.  Our space is limited, like walls in a museum.  So we should choose thoughtfully.  It’s up to us to have open space in our lives, to be available, so God can bring refreshment into our souls.   If we curate our life, God will help us be like a well-watered garden, or a cool spring whose water never fails.  Our souls will be refreshed!  Thanks be to God!

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