MY FIRST DIAGNOSIS
DIAGNOSIS: You have a body but you are a spirit. As you must exercise your body to maintain physical fitness; you must exercise your spirit to maintain a healthy spirituality. One of the best ways to activate and energize your innermost being is with the daily practice of praise.
PRESCRIPTION: Take a big dose of John 7:38, “Whoever believes in me out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” Notice, this prescription is for any and every believer. It’s not limited to super-star Christians who are gifted with special enlightenment. This promise is for you. You have locked up within yourself, not just tiny trickles but rivers. Living a life-style of praise is not a matter of getting more of God into your life. Rather, a vital spirituality is a matter of opening the flood gates of your soul and letting out what you already have flowing within you.
PROGNOSIS: Think of a garden hose lying in the sun. When you first turn on the faucet, the water is warm and tastes like plastic. As it flows, it gets cooler and sweeter, loosing that artificial flavor. That’s my prognosis for you fellow traveler. As you become a practitioner of praise so much of the superficiality and staleness in your life will be washed away, bringing refreshment to yourself and others.
PRACTICE: As a general practitioner I subscribe to the therapeutic principle that love will find its way into an open heart. But as a praise specialist, I like to emphasize a reverse therapy. Love will find its way out of an open heart. As love flows out, the stream becomes a river, which carries us along on the current of caring. So find someone that you discern is gifted in some area. Perhaps they don’t recognize their gift but you have observed it in action. Without flattery (which is manipulative) affirm that person in a simple and direct way. You don’t want to spread it on too thickly causing them embarrassment. Just let them know that you appreciate their attitude of kindness which has lifted your spirit.
CHALLENGE: Why should any believer stand on the bank and just observe, while others are splashing and frolicking in a river of living water, which cleanses the soul and inspires praise in the heart? We can find ways to release the indwelling spiritual resources which are flowing just below our level of consciousness.
PRESCRIPTION: Take a big dose of John 7:38, “Whoever believes in me out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” Notice, this prescription is for any and every believer. It’s not limited to super-star Christians who are gifted with special enlightenment. This promise is for you. You have locked up within yourself, not just tiny trickles but rivers. Living a life-style of praise is not a matter of getting more of God into your life. Rather, a vital spirituality is a matter of opening the flood gates of your soul and letting out what you already have flowing within you.
PROGNOSIS: Think of a garden hose lying in the sun. When you first turn on the faucet, the water is warm and tastes like plastic. As it flows, it gets cooler and sweeter, loosing that artificial flavor. That’s my prognosis for you fellow traveler. As you become a practitioner of praise so much of the superficiality and staleness in your life will be washed away, bringing refreshment to yourself and others.
PRACTICE: As a general practitioner I subscribe to the therapeutic principle that love will find its way into an open heart. But as a praise specialist, I like to emphasize a reverse therapy. Love will find its way out of an open heart. As love flows out, the stream becomes a river, which carries us along on the current of caring. So find someone that you discern is gifted in some area. Perhaps they don’t recognize their gift but you have observed it in action. Without flattery (which is manipulative) affirm that person in a simple and direct way. You don’t want to spread it on too thickly causing them embarrassment. Just let them know that you appreciate their attitude of kindness which has lifted your spirit.
CHALLENGE: Why should any believer stand on the bank and just observe, while others are splashing and frolicking in a river of living water, which cleanses the soul and inspires praise in the heart? We can find ways to release the indwelling spiritual resources which are flowing just below our level of consciousness.
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