In today's My Faith and Health Edition - NEW Crossword!

• 🦸 Crossword: Relationship with Jesus

• 🙏 ️My Faith: Heart Over Habit: The Call for Deep Relationship

• 🍏 My Health: Sugar's Sour Side on Health

• 🦁 Mighty Man: Journey with John Lindell

• ✝️ Bible Verse of the Week: Psalm 34:8

• 🎁 Rewards: Share and win 

First time reading? Click Here to Sign up for FREE

_{My Faith and Health Crossword}

_{THEME: Relationship with Jesus! How Fast Can You Solve It?}

_{Varies depending upon your email provider.}

🌱 Heart Over Habit: The Call for Deep Relationship 💬✨🌱 

The 🌱 Heart Over Habit: The Call for Deep Relationship 🌱

Every morning, we wake up and make choices. Do we hit the snooze button or rise early? Coffee or tea? Take the bus or walk? Just as we make these decisions in our daily life, spiritually, we also have the power of choice: to nurture a life-giving, enjoyable environment or remain confined within the boundaries of learned behavior. But what guides these choices? 🤔

The compass of our spiritual journey is the heart. ❤️

Many believers have a vast reservoir of scriptural knowledge but often, there's a risk of missing the forest for the trees. While being well-versed in theology is commendable, the essence of our faith isn't merely to amass knowledge. Christianity at its core isn't a subject to be studied but a relationship to be experienced.

Consider this: A person can read all about love, study every romantic poem, and even understand the biochemistry of affection. But unless they've experienced love, can they truly claim to know it?

Jesus, in John 5:39-40, speaks directly to this sentiment: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”

The scriptures point towards Jesus, beckoning us to deepen our relationship with Him. It's not just about the words on the pages but the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us.

Consider these reflections:

• 📚 Scripture as a Gateway, not the Destination: Use the scriptures as a map leading to a deeper understanding and relationship with Jesus.

• 💬 Converse with Jesus: Foster a daily dialogue with Him. Not just in times of distress but in moments of joy, gratitude, and even mundane routines.

• ❤️ Heart Check: Regularly ask, "Is my pursuit of knowledge drawing me closer to Jesus, or is it becoming a barrier?"

In the end, it's not about how many verses we can recite, but about how deeply we've allowed those verses to shape our relationship with the Savior. Let's make a conscious choice every day to prioritize our heart-to-heart connection with Jesus over simply going through the learned motions.

Deepen your faith, nurture your relationship, and let His love and guidance permeate every aspect of your life. 🌟🙏📖 

It’s not about the Chapters, it’s about finding Jesus IN the Chapters!

You can fulfill the commands of the Bible better by falling in love with God rather than trying to obey everything! Amen 🙏

The Bittersweet Truth: Sugar's Sour Side on Health  🍬 🚫

Ah, sugar! 🍭 The sweet seductress of our taste buds, but a foe to our bodies! You might want to think twice before adding an extra spoonful to your morning coffee or reaching for that sugar-coated donut. Why? Let's take a deep dive into the not-so-sweet side of sugar.

The Sugary Facts:

🎭 Deceptive Sweetness: While sugar satisfies our immediate sweet craving, it can ignite inflammation throughout the body.

🚑 Inflammatory Offender: Inflammation is a primary factor in many chronic conditions, including arthritis, heart disease, and more. A high sugar intake can worsen pain and inflammation.

🧠 Brain Drain: Overconsumption of sugar may lead to decreased cognitive function and mood swings. Yes, that means a brain fog after a sugar binge! 😱

Research studies and references related to the bittersweet truth of sugar's sour side on health are as follows 🩺📋:

• Sugary Drinks | The Nutrition Source | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: This article highlights the risks associated with sugar-sweetened soft drinks, including the development of diabetes, premature death, and a higher risk of early death in people with type 2 diabetes. The Nurses’ Health Study and a long-term study of 37,716 men and 80,647 women in the U.S. are cited as evidence.

• The Impact of Free Sugar on Human Health—A Narrative Review - PMC - NCBI: This review paper discusses the impact of sugar consumption on human health, including its association with obesity, metabolic disorders, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, depression, and cognitive impairment. The paper also highlights the lack of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in humans relating to this research topic.

• The sweet danger of sugar - Harvard Health: This article discusses the effects of added sugar intake on health, including higher blood pressure, inflammation, weight gain, diabetes, and fatty liver disease. The article also highlights the association between a high-sugar diet and a greater risk of dying from heart disease, as found in a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

   🙌💪

Psalm 34:8 ESV

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

In the vast tapestry of life, there exists an offer, a beckoning from the Almighty that remains unparalleled and unsurpassed. When the Psalmist declares, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!” he presents not merely an assertion of God's goodness, but an invitation to a firsthand, experiential knowledge of it.

The act of tasting is intimate. It is direct. One does not taste through hearsay or through another’s account. It is a personal endeavor, where one actively engages in the act. Thus, when we are called to 'taste', it is a plea to step beyond the realm of passive faith or distant admiration and to plunge into an intimate communion with our Creator.

But, dear brethren, why should we taste? The answer is lucidly present: to see. To see that the Lord is good. This is not the seeing of the physical eye but the deeper, transformative seeing of the soul. A realization that moves past the cerebral and anchors itself in the very core of our being.

How many of us remain content with merely hearing of God's goodness? We attend our church services, we read our Bibles, and we nod in agreement. Yet, it's another thing entirely to delve deep, to accept that invitation and to truly, profoundly, and personally understand His goodness.

And, the blessedness that awaits those who find their refuge in Him is not just a fleeting emotion but an enduring state of being. It is an embrace of a Father, a shield against the tempests of life, and a promise of eternal solace.

Let us, then, not stand on the sidelines. Let us not be mere spectators in this grand narrative of divine love. Let's be participants, actively responding to this divine invitation.

Oh, taste! Oh, see! For in the tasting, we see. In the seeing, we believe. And in believing, we find our refuge in the eternal embrace of our loving Lord.

Amen. 🕊️💒🎁💫👥

WIN FREE REWARDS - Just Share the newsletter with your friends (using your unique link - see below)

Give us some feedback!

What Bible verses do you want to be in our Bible Trivia game? What Faith topics are important to you? What Health topics would you like us to dive into? Add a comment below and let us know!