Winter Ailments ~ A Question

"We looked for peace, but no good came;
And for a time of health, and there was trouble! ..."
Is there no balm in Gilead, Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no recovery
For the health of the daughter of my people?
~ Jeremiah 8:15-22 (NKJV)

It's been one exceptionally long winter.

Back home in Colorado, winter's arrival isn't entirely certain until the occasion when you step outside, inhale, and every bit of moisture inside your nose freezes. Before then, winter teases with snow from the first dusting on mountaintops in September until the last of it disappears in July—while sunny days prevail the entire time, and 70 degrees plus can show up in January.

Here in Michigan, winter steals in slowly but surely, wrapped in clouds, settling in with a dampness to penetrate places in your body you didn't know existed. You're never quite certain that the cold has departed until heat and humidity descend in full weight and finally slam the door on it.

The heat may not bother me this year. I'm usually healthy enough to sidestep winter sickness, and rarely get even a cold. But I've been run down from emotional stress for many months, and for the first year in decades I've been dogged by respiratory illness all winter long. I avoid pharmaceuticals (especially antibiotics), relying mostly on natural methods to treat sickness. But back to back ailments finally got the best of me, and I'm now on the third Rx in as many weeks, for different problems.

I've wondered if there's any connection between my recent groans to God that I feel like I'm carrying too much in one matter and the body aches that settled in my shoulder for several days. Or between re-emergence of spiritual attack and a strong allergic reaction. Might all the respiratory sickness be connected to a struggle to breathe with the strength of God's Spirit rather than my own?

It wouldn't be the first time body and spirit suffered together. Two or three times in past years, when I was being stubborn about something the Lord wanted of me, I wound up with a bad kink in my neck, and then remembered that the Lord calls stubbornness being "stiff-necked." I wasn't surprised when I heeded Him and the neck pain immediately disappeared each time.

Throughout childhood and into adulthood, I suffered incapacitating migraines. It wasn't until sometime after I gave my life to the Lord that I noticed their disappearance. I'm aware that many headaches are a result of toxins in the body. I've never stopped wondering if mine had a association with toxins in my soul.

There's no question that ailments in body can result from not only strictly physical causes but also the condition of mind and heart. Yet the Bible also has several references to connections between sickness and spiritual matters, which makes me curious about how often that happens.

If you're willing to share, have you noticed any clear links in your life?

Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Question of the Week: Worldly Fear or Godly Fear?

by Anne Lang Bundy

Image source: science.howstuffworks

What is the difference between worldly fear and godly fear?
~ Russell Holloway, Blog Host
from the post Love is greater than fear

The short answer might be that worldly fear is motivated by self-protective pride and lust (a wide variety of self-indulgences), while godly fear is motivated by godly love. The Bible says that even Jesus experienced godly fear:

... in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
~ Hebrews 5:7-8 (NKJV)

If my love for another is self-centered, I recognize their potential to hurt me and am likely to limit myself to "safe" expressions of love which cater to the other person and still protect myself.

When my love is other-centered, I see the potential of my weaknesses to do injury to the one I love and have genuine fear of doing so. I am willing, if necessary, to both experience and cause pain if I am assured that doing so gives my loved one what is truly needed. The other-centered love—agape love—which accompanies godly fear values the relationship built up by reciprocal love and seeks to receive it. But agape love is stronger than my desire to experience temporal comfort or pleasure.

Godly fear only begins with the self-protective recognition that my heavenly Father's necessary discipline involves the training and correction which can be painful, and therefore attempts behavior to avoid discipline. (What athlete expects to excel without disciplined training that involves pain and correction?)

Godly fear holds a love for God that understands the injury to Him my sin has caused. Godly fear calls to mind the sufferings of Jesus on my behalf and has a heart which desires to cause Him no more pain.

For all that is in the world—
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life
—is not of the Father but is of the world.
~ 1 John 2:16 (NKJV)

The worldly fear which does not come from God also involves love—disproportionate love for self above love for God and others. Pride wishes self to be built up rather than use the power of God to edify others and exalt God. Lust for personal and temporal gratification does not possess the sound mind which sees the broader perspective of what provides lasting and unified peace among self, God, and others.

You may recall the verse about God offering not worldly fear, but rather power, love and a sound mind. The next verse explains what's also included:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.
~ 2 Timothy 1:7-8 (NKJV)

: : :

This post originally appeared at Bullets & Butterflies. To see ongoing dialogue in comments posted there click here.

What questions do you have about Christianity or the Bible? You're invited to leave them in the comments below (anonymous questions welcome), or email buildingHisbody [plus] @ gmail.com.

© 2011 Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

My Eyes Have Seen the King

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart ...
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
~ Psalms 138:1-2 (NIV)

I write this as the clock approaches 2 a.m., exhausted yet exhilarated. After some two decades of my study on the names of God, a small business which produces Christian artwork has asked me to write the text for a Names of God project. I just completed and submitted the requested work.

My exhilaration is not due to the prospect of publication, but from the work itself. No matter how many hours I've spent on this study, I never fail to uncover new details or gain new understanding about the Lord through His name.

I once was blind. But now my eyes have seen the King.

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple... So I said:
"Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The LORD of hosts."
~ Isaiah 6:1,5 (NKJV)

I have yet to see the Lord in the same manner that Isaiah did. But through His exalted word and name, I have most certainly witnessed His splendor with the eyes of my heart.

My Lord and my God, Your majesty defies our comprehension and is not exhausted by words. Thank You for all the mercy and truth You have shown me, of which I am not worthy. Please use this labor of love to make Yourself better known—and more deeply loved—by all whom it touches.

Q4U: What is your favorite name of our Lord? Why is it special to you?

Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

A Peek at Dessert First

Image source: theidorendezvous.blogspot.com

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days ...
Many people shall come and say,
"Come, and let us go up to the mountain of YHWH,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways ... "
They shall beat their swords into plowshares ...
~ Isaiah 2:2-4

My read through the Bible over the course of a year alternates between Old and New Testaments, between history, poetry / epistles, and prophecy. I now venture into Isaiah.

Most striking is that a book with the breadth of Isaiah begins with a look at the end—as if the Lord YHWH is about to serve a week-long, full course feast, but serves a peek at dessert first. This particular feast will serve some of Scripture's most glorious passages as well as some of its most bitter ones.

We do well to remember the peaceful end God has readied for us to savor for all eternity when we stare down the bitter moments which must also be swallowed.

Father, Your every plan is perfect. Your timing may always be trusted. Please draw our hearts to be taught in Your ways. Please serve from this rich and glorious book the insights each and every blog reader needs for the present hour.

Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

I Love Them So

This post is dedicated to a spirit of diversity in Christ's church, and to the unity made possible by love. It is also the "Rest of the Story" behind yesterday's expression of thanks to God posted at Everyday Testimony.

♥ ♥ ♥

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
~ 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 (NKJV)

Though differences among Christians certainly can bring about divisions, how else could we possibly express understanding of a God as huge as ours? I am convinced that without such diversity, we would see much less of God than we do.

The same is true of expressions of love. Seven members of my diverse household each express love in different ways. Unless we value our individuality, we are certain to either miss the more subtle expressions of love we have for one another, or fail to appreciate the bold ones.

The Lord is Master of both.

He's teaching me new ways to be subtle. Yet I can't imagine that I'll ever weary of the frequent "I love you" or PDA (public display of affection) which either embarrasses or grows old with some people. I grew up amid a family fluent in this open love language.

♥ ♥ ♥

My mother, blind since birth, began playing the piano before she could walk, and can literally play a song by ear if you hum a few bars. Her gift for music includes the uncanny ability to remember nearly every song she's ever heard. The miles and years are often bridged by the music my mother shares with her grandchildren in various ways.

Musical skill skipped over me to my children. My love of music is devoid of the same breadth and comprehension shared by the generations preceding and following me. For example, I did not share my mother's affection for the 60-year-old cowboy tune she passed along to my kids several years ago.

Then on Sunday I did a post about social media, "Following." The same day, my 17-year-old daughter offset every pain in the neck social media has ever been with a simple post to my Facebook wall. It included four words, three hearts, and Youtube link:

I love you Mommy! ♥ ♥ ♥




Here are the words to a song which resounds with love reaching across the generations.

MOM AND DAD'S WALTZ
Words and music by Lefty Frizzell
© 1951 Hill and Range Songs

I'd walk for miles
Cry or smile
For my mama and daddy
I want them
I want them to know
How I feel
My love is real
For my mama and daddy
I want them to know
I love them so.

[CHORUS:]
In my heart joy tears start 'cause I'm happy
And I pray every day for Mom and Pappy—
And each night.
I'd walk for miles cry or smile
For my mama and daddy
I want them to know I love them so.

[violin bridge]

I'd fight in wars
Do all the chores
For my mama and daddy
I want them
To live on til they're called.
I'd work and slave
And never rave
To my mama and daddy
Because I know
I owe them my all.

[CHORUS]

I love them so.

♥ ♥ ♥

Comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.