Author: kenlassblog.net

The New York City marathon is the largest running event in the world. In 2024, 55,646 runners took part. Of that multitude, less than ten participants actually had a realistic chance to win the race. The goal of most everyone else was not to win. It was to finish. Their competition was themselves. It didn’t matter what the crowd was doing. They had their own mission, and they were focused on it.

Good advice for us on our spiritual walk. There is a Bible verse that says: “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

It doesn’t matter what the crowd is doing. You know how to live the right way.

A group of physicians conducted a double-blind study on the effect of Christian prayer on healing, involving patients at San Francisco General Medical Center: Patients were randomly divided into placebo and test groups.

The test group was prayed for by Christians, while the placebo group received no prayer.

Results showed that patients who were prayed for experienced:

Less congestive heart failure.

Reduced need for diuretic and antibiotic therapy.

Fewer episodes of pneumonia.

Fewer cardiac arrests.

Reduced need for intubation and ventilation.

Coincidence? No way.

(Source: Rich Deem, GodandScience.org)

It is almost comical how your body begins to malfunction if you don’t get enough sleep. Some really silly things start to happen. I recently went through a period of three or four days when I couldn’t sleep. Too much on my mind. By the third day of sleep shortage, I noticed doing things such as, reaching to turn off the lights and missing the wall switch two or three times. Walking through a doorway and cracking my shoulder on the door frame.

I started dropping things. Everything. Car keys, phone, silverware, pens. I would grab hold of them, and drop them. Most of the time I would just laugh at myself, but continued lack of adequate sleep is no laughing matter. Eventually I started getting headaches, lost my energy, had trouble thinking, and was always grumpy.

You have to find time to sleep. If not overnight, take naps. Make time for it. Especially if you are older (I’ll let you define that). I finally got caught up and it made a tremendous difference. If you are trying to drink from a cup and wind up missing your mouth and spilling on your shirt, it’s time for a rest break.

I helped my grandson study for his spelling test last night. He’s in third grade. He spells words exactly as they sound. No tricky silent letters. No weird letter combinations that sound like something completely different, such as the letters e-i-g-h together, which for some reason, are pronounced like a long “a”, as in weigh, neighbor, and eight.

He would spell those words wa, nabor and at. The more I thought about it, his way of spelling makes much more sense. Simple, straight forward, logical. Why not make all vowels long all the time, and just come up with new letters for the short vowel sounds?

Sometimes we make life more complicated than it has to be. Just love one another, trust God, and be at peace. That’s p-e-a-c-e. Not to be confused with p-i-e-c-e.

See what I mean?

Life is like eating chocolate cheesecake. The first several bites taste heavenly and bring you much joy. But as you work your way through it, your body begins to tell you it is so rich you can hardly take another spoonful. It becomes too much of a good thing. By the time you finish, you may actually feel a bit ill.

Most of the material things in life have the same effect. They bring you great joy….for a while, then they either become routine or problematic. Love is different. Real love, that which you give, and which you receive, never becomes routine or problematic.

Love is chocolate cheesecake you can keep eating every day!

Sharon and I recently celebrated our fiftieth wedding anniversary. Wow. Half a century together. Life has taken us through so many twists and turns, peaks and valleys. We got through them together. I doubt we could have done so on our own.

Having a loving companion is a wonderful blessing. But even if you don’t have one on this earth, you never have to feel alone. God never abandons you, never gives up on you. If He is not your companion today, ask Him to be. There are holes in everybody’s life that only He can fill.

Sadly, one day we will part with our spouses on this earth. But that will never happen with God.

How do you feel today? Are you basically okay? If so, you are truly blessed. According to the National Institutes for Health, one of every five Americans wake up with chronic pain every day. Nearly one in twelve say their pain is so bad it affects their ability to function.

Lower back pain is the most common form, followed by headaches. If you are in pain, my prayer is that you will find relief and peace.

But if you feel good today, give thanks. Your health is not guaranteed. It is a blessing, not an entitlement.

Have you ever noticed that people are much better looking when they smile? There’s just something about it that highlights a person’s face and casts them in the most attractive countenance possible. I can’t tell you how many times I have noticed a woman or a man breaking into a big laugh or smile, and thinking to myself, “Gosh, I never noticed this before, but she is really very pretty”. Or, “he is quite handsome”.

There is a reason a professional photographer tells you to smile when they snap your picture. You just look better. Maybe it’s because a smile sends out good vibes. Gives you an aura of peace, contentment and joy.

So, if you want to look your best, smile. You just may find you light up the room.

Just got back from a routine visit to my dermatologist. She brings her “freeze” gun in with her and usually finds a few spots to zap. It’s comforting to know she can take care of any exterior skin problems before they get dangerous.

Now, if only we had something we could use to zap away internal problems, such as loneliness, anger, fear and depression.

Actually, we do have such a weapon. The word of God can be your freeze gun. Fire it up.

There are certain parts of your body that you cannot see. Sometimes it frustrates me to no end. For example, a sore on the underside of your middle toe. No matter how I would contort and twist my leg and neck, I couldn’t get a look at it. Even using a hand mirror, I couldn’t quite position it to enable me to get a decent view. I had to have somebody else take a picture of it and show me.

It got me thinking there are parts of our lives that nobody sees as well. Not even those closest to us. Secrets we may take to the grave. Some thoughts and feelings are so private we’re just not comfortable sharing them with anyone. We would do well, however, to remember that there is one who sees everything.

And one day we will be accountable to Him.