Denise Loock shares with us, "I’m suffering from walk withdrawal.
Because my family and I recently moved from New Jersey to North Carolina, I’ve been preoccupied with packing, transporting, and unpacking.
Consequently, I’ve neglected my daily morning walks.
And it shows. When I wake up in the morning, I’m stiffer than usual.
When I go to bed at night, it takes me longer to fall asleep. My neck and joints seem tighter.
The lack of exercise also affects my mood. I’m more lethargic physically and less focused mentally. It’s been a lose-lose scenario.
A lack of spiritual exercise adversely affects our lives.
When we allow busyness or schedule changes to interfere with our spiritual exercise time, we experience a variety of setbacks.
If we neglect prayer and Bible study, our wills stiffen and we may resist the Spirit’s prompting. Our patience tightens, and we snap at family members, friends, and coworkers.
We’re lethargic about God’s faithfulness and goodness to us. We’re less likely to detect temptation and more susceptible to error.
Fortunately, both problems have a simple solution: start walking.
I’ve experienced walk withdrawal before. I know that as soon as I begin to take my morning walk again, I’ll feel much better, both physically and mentally.
 |
| Walk daily with God |
Sporadic exercise like climbing up and down stairs as I lug boxes and furniture around is no substitute for my longer outdoor walks, which increase my cardiovascular fitness, enabling my heart to pump blood and oxygen more efficiently.
The same is true in my spiritual life.
As soon as I take that extended morning walk with God again, my spiritual health will improve.
When I ask the Holy Spirit to speak to me each day as I read my Bible, my will becomes more supple and my attitudes relax. My resistance to sin strengthens and my desire to please God intensifies.
Investing twenty to forty minutes a day to my spiritual cardiovascular fitness increases the patience, love, mercy, and grace the Holy Spirit can pump through my life.
God knows our spiritual health depends on a consistent daily walk with Him.
That’s probably why the word walk is used over 200 times in the Bible. Like physical fitness, spiritual wellness requires dedication. Have you checked your spiritual fitness level lately?"
"Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:10 ESV
Walk Withdrawal – Denise Loock
Photo courtesy microsoft.com free image gallery
Denise K. Loock is a freelance writer and the author of two books: Open Your Hymnal and Open Your Hymnal Again.
She is also the founder of Dig Deeper Devotions, a website dedicated to encouraging and enabling Christians to dig deeper into God’s Words.
Read Denise’s devotions.
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Used by permission ww.christiandevotions.us
Our prayer today: Father, may I learn to walk worthy of You, my God. Help me become more faithful in my daily time alone with You, receiving Your guidance and strength, so my spiritual health will improve. Amen
My personal prayer note: Praise will begin to flow at times to express your heart’s gratitude for His blessing
My personal prayer note: Praise will begin to flow at times to express your heart’s gratitude for His blessing
Today’s quote:
Our thought for today: Stay true to the cause which you know is from God.
Tomorrow’s post: Practicing Gratitude Sharon Jaynes
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