Sleep by Rev. Janet Stobie

I woke up one morning feeling rested. Wow, I feel good, I thought. I looked at the clock – 6:30 a.m. My body had enjoyed seven and a half hours of rest. I could feel a thank you rising up from within me.

What was unusual about this?I may not be frugal with my money, but I am frugal with my sleep. I seldom am tucked in bed by eleven. Oh, I know I need sleep. It’s just that I usually have stuff to do every evening. When I finally say, that’s enough, I’m not ready to sleep. After my busy day, I deserve some relaxation time so I surf the net, or play a game, or read. Suddenly it’s midnight or one a.m. Just a few more minutes, I say to myself. I’ll check my emails. Another hour passes.

Science tells me that when my body has sufficient rest, my mind is more alert. In fact, it’s easier to control my weight when I regularly get enough sleep. Our Bible contains wisdom for living in relationship with self, with others and with God. Sometimes we leave ourselves out of the equation.

St. Paul said that our bodies are God’s temples. As such, we need to experience sufficient sleep, maintain a healthy diet, and enjoy regular exercise. We’re not caring for God’s temple if we’re always exhausted. When we value everything and everyone more than ourselves, we can easily ignore our need for sleep. Caring for others, spreading the Good News, doing God’s will is easier when we’re rested. Best of all, sufficient rest means we can serve with a joyful heart, because sleep lifts our spirits.

Shakespeare said, “Sleep precious sleep that knits the raveled sleeve of care.”

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. (I Corinthians 6:19-20)

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Author, storyteller, and ordained minister, Janet Stobie has written and published two books of short stories and two children’s books. She is welcomed as an inspirational speaker at worship services and group meetings. Visit her website and her blog

Do you wrestle with God? by Deborah McCarragher

The definition of wrestling is this: to contend by grappling with and striving to trip or throw an opponent down or off balance; to combat an opposing tendency or force (wrestling with his conscience); to engage in deep thought, consideration, or debate.

I was listening to a Christian radio program while driving home the other day, and I started thinking about how often I struggle with things I cannot control. How many times do I argue with God’s sovereign decisions and exert my pride in the form of suggesting a “better way” for Him to move in a particular situation? Am I alone here? Do you wrestle with God? Sometimes that can be a good thing!

Many of us know the story of Jacob in Genesis chapter 32. Jacob was returning to his homeland in Canaan with his two wives, Rachel and Leah. On the way, he sent messengers to his brother Esau to appease him. Remember, this is the brother he cheated out of his birthright. His servants told him that Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men. Jacob was distressed and divided his people, flocks and herd into two companies. He begged God to intervene and protect him from harm. He reminded God of His promise to bless him and make his descendants innumerable.

During the night, he took his two wives, his servants, and his sons and crossed over the river Jabbok. Genesis 32:24 says, “Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man [Jesus] wrestled with him until the breaking of day.” Jacob had struggled and held his ground – keeping the Angel at bay. His faith was not shaken, nor did he relent in the heat of the heavenly engagement. Hosea 12:4 declares, “Yes, he [Jacob] struggled with the Angel and prevailed; He wept, and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel, and there He spoke to us- That is, the Lord God of hosts. The Lord is His memorial.” That very day Jacob saw God face to face. He wanted God’s blessing, but God let him “struggle” that he might truly see who he was in the sight of Almighty God.

Jacob had been a deceiver and a scoundrel much of his life. God asked him, “What is your name?” It was a rhetorical question… Jacob knew who he was. God was causing Jacob to be off balance – that he might dig deep into the recesses of his soul and take inventory of his life up to that point. However, though Jacob persevered, he could not gain and maintain a superior position. During the struggle the Angel of the Lord touched him, placing his hip out of socket, and giving Jacob a limp for the rest of his natural life as a remembrance.

This supernatural encounter also gave him confidence for the difficult days ahead. Jacob had to face the harsh reality regarding his estranged brother and the reception he would soon receive. God now presented him with a new name – Israel – which literally means “Prince with God”. Jacob named the place of his struggle Peniel, which means “I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved.”

Sometimes God allows us to struggle with Him in prayer, and we are often crippled for our own good. Spiritually speaking, our view of ourselves and our problems need to be bent and dislocated in order for our struggling to cease. Our pride and bad judgment can cause us to live a life that distorts what God has planned for us. He desires for us to “walk a different way” after we have wrestled with Him and He has prevailed.

Submitting to God’s plans often involves grappling with our own ideas and remedies. This is evidenced in the lives of some of the Bible’s great heroes. Abraham’s faith was tested when he dialoged with God about the wickedness in Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18). Moses pleaded with God on behalf of Israel when they began worshipping a golden calf and foreign gods (Exodus 32). We read about Elijah and his struggle with depression. After God miraculously displayed His power on Mount Carmel, Elijah withdrew into the desert to die. While hiding in a cave, and wailing “woe is me”, God revealed Himself to Elijah in a small, still voice (I Kings 19.) David was alone and often lived on the run during his darkest days. He lamented to God in many of the Psalms including 35, 55, 56, 57, and 59. David despaired of his life and longed for the peace of death. Praying to God for deliverance seemed to be a lesson in futility.

Prayer often represents the anguish of the soul in the presence of God. Wrestling with God in prayer exerts tremendous energy and positioning. Ultimately, as we bend our will to His, we allow Him to “pin us to the mat” of our struggles and claim victory in His Name. In Colossians 4:2 the Apostle Paul admonishes the church to “continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving”, and in Colossians 4:12 he tells them that Epaphras, one of their fellow servants “always labors fervently for them in prayer”.

The bottom line is this: prayer and petitioning God is often engaging and deliberate. It’s emotionally draining and often exhausting. It’s exhilarating and soul-satisfying as we wrestle with a Holy God who sees our frailties and embraces our humble efforts to gain His Blessing.

What a mighty God we serve…

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Deborah is the author of a Christian non-fiction book titled “Mission Possible”. It is written for women who love the Lord Jesus, but their spouse doesn’t share their passion. It will encourage and challenge the reader to embrace God’s promises for their spouse and future together.

Swimming by Francis Ruiter

Swimming

I went for a swim one day
In Edmonton’s YMCA
Arizona I swam in an outdoor pool
Edmonton temperature is too cool
Prefer to swim in an early hour
When one has much more power
All lanes in the pool were in use
With joggers, not swimmers, obtuse
In one lane, I spied a lone swimmer
Looked like a mermaid but thinner
A woman graceful had a gentle stroke
Caused forgotten feelings to be evoked
“ Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”
They say: As I who am getting older
Entranced I was, her grace and speed
Sliced the water: A Barracuda indeed

I entered the pool, goggles in place
Ready to swim and gave chase
Followed a creature well endowed
Goggles fogging up my snout
Did not prevent to dream away
Just allowed the image full sway
Thoughts encroaching in a way
Keeping sober preventing a fray
One needs an open mind I stress
Ambivelant thoughts make a mess
God’s creation we should not miss
Allow ourselve its sights and bliss
Finished our swim with elation
Elicited a smile of appreciation
We’d swam in perfect formation
During a forty minutes duration


Francis Ruiter May 2004

Fitness and Faith Go Hand in Hand by S. E. Gregg

Today, we hear a lot about how we should be physically fit. Just what does fitness mean and how does it relate to our faith?

Being fit means that we are healthy and in good physical condition. Which encompasses every area of our lives including eating and drinking healthy, getting enough sleep at night and exercising. Because the more fit that we are the better we will feel physically, emotionally, and spiritually. When we are physically fit it makes it easier for us to do our daily task at home or at work. And it is especially beneficial to be physically fit for the special work that God has assigned for us through the exercising of our special talents and spiritual gifts.

God sends missionaries to foreign countries where they have to walk for miles and miles before they reach the next village. If they are physically fit then their legs and feet will be strong enough to keep mobilized for the long journeys ahead. Pastors know that preaching is not only spiritual, but it also involves a lot of physical work to stand up and deliver a sermon. Which is why many pastors take Mondays off after preaching on Sunday to rest and get refueled. Therefore, ministers have to take care of their physical health to continue to be used of God. Those that God has graciously bestowed upon the spiritual gift of helps may require a lot of hard physical work. And without being physically fit most of the task that they are assigned will never be accomplished.

A weak physical condition can also cause depression as in the case of the Prophet Elijah who was running for his life according to 1 Kings 19:1-4. After a day’s journey he was hungry, exhausted, and wanted to die. When our physical state is depleted things have a tendency to seem worse than they really are. And we feel helpless and our faith in God fails. And if we act on our feelings in a depressed state, we will regret it when we are revived. But thankfully Elijah’s wish was not granted and after he nourished his body with food, water, and rested, he was no longer depressed, his faith in God was renewed and he was able to fulfill what God wanted him to do.

Prayer is an activity that takes us into the spiritual realm, but it involves a lot of physical work. Prayer warriors know that they have to be physically fit just to stay awake in order to pray for hours in intercessory prayer for all of saints. Especially when they add fasting to their prayers along with the agony and travailing that accompany extremely intense prayers for more serious situations. In fact, operating in the spiritual realm can sometimes ware down the physical body more than any other activity. Especially our spiritual battles against the devil and his demons (Ephesians 6:12). This is why we must take the time out to keep ourselves physically fit so that we do not become vulnerable and susceptible to yielding to the temptations of the devil. And fulfill God’s calling for our lives.

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S. E. Gregg is a marathon runner in the Christian Olympics for several decades, a Bible school graduate and the founder of Sound Doctrine Christian Ministries. An award winning author, gifted Bible teacher and Bible curriculum writer, Gregg has authored the best-selling books,"Evangelism Counseling- How to Counsel People About Salvation","The Christian Olympics-Going for the Gold Crowns" and the salvation tract,"God Became A Man". The salvation tract has been translated into the Burmese language and over 100,000 have been printed. Gregg lives in the Philadelphia,PA area.

On becoming full by Kendal Privette

on becoming full

i started hating myself in february, 2005. i was 35 years old.
the reasons are irrelevant, the consequences critical.
i committed to swimming and speed walking everyday.
i wanted to lose ten pounds by my check-up in august. because ideal weight was too much.
and i lost it.
life-altering change hit me head-on in the fall
and i stopped eating altogether.
i lost 20 more pounds.
and ed (eating disorder) had grabbed right hold,
crippling my hands to keep me from reaching for food
crippling my mouth to keep me from chewing
crippling my mind, handing me over to the deepest, darkest fears of my life.
i told some friends, thinking i could fix it by saying it out loud. or googling it.
exercise addiction. i wouldn’t say anorexia.
but my husband would. and did.
but my doctor would. and did.
and then i was in therapy. a christian. a teacher. a mom. in therapy. for a mental illness.
it lasted forever it seems - the refeeding. the mothers bringing lunch to my classroom.
the weekly weigh-ins. the crying sessions about fat.
25 pounds. i gained that. i was proud. i was horrified.
then the therapy was about okayness. which took longer than gaining the 25.
i began loosening the rules.
the clock no longer dictated when we ate.
the food pyramid no longer dictated what we ate.
i allowed my children, my boys, my hank and jack, the freedom of choice.
i touched dirty dishes.
i touched meat.
i ate doughnuts.
2008 and i was better. mostly.
and writing. listening to the god call to write it.
2009 and i published.
so i had to tell the boys.
by then hank was 14 and jack was 10,
and i had kept it all from them.
i knew they wouldn’t understand - i didn’t understand,
and i was ashamed.
i mean, good moms don’t fall.
but i told them,
and they didn’t get the why.
and they asked but you’re okay now?
yes. yes!
and we all believe it.


Read Full - comprised of sixty-one vignettes, Full reveals the story of an adult's battle with anorexia.

Visit Privette's blog A Spacious Place - He brought me out into a spacious place. He rescued me because he delighted in me.