The forward thinker

I recently got over a very bad flu that hit me unexpectedly. I hardly get the flu, but when it does happen, it hits me hard. Thank God I have my wife to look after me when I get like this.

Thinking back, I realise there were a few things that I could and should have done to avoid, or at least limit the chances of catching the flu.

Firstly, I could have avoided being close to that colleague of mine whom I suspected had the flu too. While working near me, he coughed unintentionally next to my face. Had I have known, things would have been different. I wouldn't have stayed as close to him when he was talking.

Secondly, I could have eaten more healthily, strengthening my immune system. I noticed that I hadn't been eating as many fruits and vegetables as I normally do. Also I hadn't been did drinking enough water, or orange juice, something that I personally know I need to drink.

Thirdly, I could have been more active, doing some sort of physical exercise to help strengthen my immune system also.

The thing is, we do not know when we will fall ill. If we did, we would do everything possible to avoid becoming sick. As the saying goes, prevention is better than a cure. Had I been more forward thinking and done all the things mentioned, I could have avoided becoming sick.

Why do people also do this when it comes to relationships?

Why is it that that a woman falls for the same type of man having had the 'x' number of previous relationships end because she could not see, or chose to believe that this time 'he' was different?

Why is it that although he is many years older than you are, you still end up in a relationship with him knowing like the others, he will eventually treat you like his child and not respect you or value your opinions?

Why is it that all women you are interested in or have been with in the past say the same thing about you - You are "stubborn", "proud", "arrogant", "mean", "jealous".

Is every woman you have been with wrong, including the Holy Spirit who says the same thing to you in the service?

Never think 'this time it will be different' when you have not thought, said, reacted to or done anything differently in relation to what you went through in your past. It doesn't work like that.

How can you end this repetition of failure that now makes you believe in your head it's everyone else's fault - even God's?

Firstly, learn from your mistakes! Listen to your gut instinct!

Learn from what you have heard in the church - the use of your faith with intelligence.

Be a forward thinker! Stop your feelings from guiding you to yet another disastrous relationship or even marriage.

By the way, have you been attending the Love Therapy on Saturdays? If not, what are you waiting for? Come and receive the Spirit of love.

If you have understood this message and are willing to attend or you are already attending, then you have caught the forward thinking spirit.

Flexing your muscles

Remember last week’s message? If not, here’s a quick recap on how to boost your spiritual metabolism:

1. Start your day by seeking the Holy Spirit. Start yours off by presenting it and all your plans to God before you do anything else. It’s the spiritual food for your soul.

2. Don’t starve yourself. You need to feed your body with spiritual food to keep you going during the day, e.g. Read a few verses in the morning and continue to meditate on them throughout the day.

3. Do more resistance training. Train yourself to resist negative thoughts.

4. Increase aerobic activity. Be alert to people, places and situations that will tempt you to sin, and if you find yourself in a tempting situation, run, run, run, so as to avoid sin and maintain a clean conscience.

5. Take supplements. Make sure you attend the Wednesday meetings, not just Sundays alone. It’s the extra boost you need to keep you going.

6. Build more muscle. Faith is this muscle, therefore the more you use it, the stronger you will become, burning away every doubt lurking in your mind.

7. Avoid burnout. Do not rush into doing everything at once; otherwise, you will lose interest quickly. It’s not a quick fix to look good for others, it’s not a 1, 6 or 12-month plan. It is for the rest of your life.

At the end, I asked this question: “What has this got to do with your love life?” Well, the spiritual metabolism refers to your faith. It is faith that is needed to receive God’s blessings for your love life. If you are constantly put down because your love life is “dead”, it will not change for the better, unless you use your spiritual muscle – your faith.

Let’s look at two examples in Hebrews:

“By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.” (Hebrews 11: 11)

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” (Hebrews 11: 24, 25)

Sarah through her own faith believed that she could give birth at 90, therefore received strength to conceive, carry and give birth to Isaac.

She believed God would come through for her in the end. It was Sarah’s faith that enabled her 90-year-old body to endure the back pain, irritability, mood swings, vomiting and all the other symptoms experienced in pregnancy.

How many women past forty years of age write themselves off as being “useless” or “past the age?”

Likewise, Moses chose to be a slave amongst his own people rather than live a lavish lifestyle, denying himself of the temporary sinful pleasures that would be offered to him on a plate by Pharaoh. He knew these pleasures were short-lived, believing that he would receive greater eternal blessings.

Moses’ faith enabled him to endure the headache of dealing with up to 3 million potential problems, sleep in a tent in the hot desert, living like a gypsy; moving from place to place, seeing his own people die in the desert, due to their stubbornness.

They both endured mockings, self-doubt, various trials and persecutions. They, and others like them, used FAITH. How much have you endured because of your faith?

Do you complain at every little problem, thought or unanswered prayer?

Stop whining at where your love life is taking you. Instead, start flexing and using your muscles (your faith) to drive your love life in the direction where you want it to go.

And this is only the beginning. You have to continue until you give birth to your blessing.

If you have not done any of the seven things above in this past week (at the very least), then your faith has been empty, dead and useless.

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:26)

Pastor ­Michael­ Boodram
Email ­me: ­love@uckg.org
www.partners4life.tv
michaelboodram.blogspot.com

7 Ways to Boost your Spiritual Metabolism



Everyone wants to lose, or at least maintain their weight at some point in their lives. However the key to achieving your goal involves something called 'Metabolism'.

Think of it as an engine that that has not been started for some time. It may take time to start up, but once it has warmed up, it will go where you want it to.

When overweight, our body does not feel like exercising. But once you push yourself you start losing fat and gaining more muscle, and that's when your metabolism starts working. The more muscle you gain, the higher your metabolic rate, therefore the more calories you will burn. And the good thing is that it doesn't only work when you are in the gym but even while sleeping your metabolism is working for you burning off those calories.

Our faith is like our body's metabolism. If it is not started then you will never reach where you want to go. But once you start putting your faith to good use, you've started something in you that God was waiting for, in order to answers your prayers.

It's the kick-start that is needed in order for God to work with those who want their faith to achieve big results in their lives - to lose the excess weight that most of the time puts you down, makes you sluggish and that brings doubts that you will not overcome difficult circumstances in life.

Get it going and it's all that God needs to jbe with you, even answering your prayers while you sleep.

Below are the '7 Ways to Boost your Spiritual Metabolism'.

1.    Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Before your bacon, eggs, toast and tea, start your day by seeking the Holy Spirit. Present your day and all your plans to God before you do anything else. It's the spiritual food for your soul.

2.    Don't starve yourself. You need to feed your body with spiritual food to keep you going during the day, e.g. Read a few verses in the morning and continue to meditate on them throughout the day.

3.    Do more resistance training. Whenever a negative thought pops into your mind, reject it immediately, rather than allowing it to take up residence in your subconscious, only to resurface later on. Train yourself to resist negative thoughts.

4.    Increase aerobic activity. Be alert to people, places and situations that will tempt you to sin and if you find yourself in a tempting situation - run, run, run. This will also keep your mind and heart clean and healthy by avoiding sin and maintaining a clean conscience.

5.    Take added supplements. Make sure you attend the Wednesday meetings, not just Sundays alone. It's the extra boost you need to keep you going, especially during those more hectic weeks.

6.    Build more muscle. The more muscle you have, the more unwanted calories you will burn. Faith is this muscle, therefore the more you use it, the stronger you will become, burning away every doubt lurking in your mind.

7.    Avoid burnout. Do not rush into doing everything at once, otherwise you will lose interest quickly. The key is to not lose focus in what you are setting out to achieve. It's not a quick-fix to look good for others, it's not a 1, 6 or 12 month plan. It is for the rest of your life. If you get it right early-on, the sooner you will enjoy the benefits of your spiritual investment.

Spiritual Health Warning:  If you have a bad reaction to change or you have an allergy to other forms of medication (using faith) or, if during treatment you experience bad side effects e.g. Doubts, thoughts of giving up, etc. then seek immediate advice from your Pastor.

Find out what this has to do with your love life next week.