Category: Faith

COMPASSION

by ComeFullCircleblog, posted in Faith, Love and Compassion
Cultivate Compassion

The world today seems to be losing compassion; people have become cold and heartless. Hence the increase in violence, wars and atrocities against humanity resulting in human suffering, despair and even death.

It seems as though the more time progresses, the more people loose compassion. The cause of this being exposure to toxic environments, traumas, despair and the inability to heal from such. This really got me thinking.  If compassion can be lost, then the converse is true.

Compassion can be cultivated

If compassion can be lost, then the converse is true.

The most logical place to start is finding compassion. A Deep source of compassion that is true, unending, infinite, and eternal. This cannot be a human, man-made or artificial as human nature in itself is finite.

Our Creator is compassionate and gracious; slow to anger and abounding in love. His inherent nature is love and holiness. His judgments are just and righteous and He is merciful. His word tells us that He has loved us with an everlasting love. A love that is so deep it is unending, unchanging. That even when we die believing in Him, he provides a way that we may be united with Him in heaven and will dwell in His presence for eternity!

He not only has compassion but He is Love can teach us how to be more compassionate.
How you may ask?
Through the study of his word and meditation of the Holy Scriptures.

 “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him” and “Because of the LORD’s great love we aren’t consumed, for his compassions never fail they are new every morning.” Psalms 103:4 and Lamentations 3:22-23

The LORD appeared to us in the past saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3

The Lord is so compassionate that he also heals our wounds – all types of wounds; physical, psychological, spiritual.
Whatever wound you have, bring to the Lord for healing.

“But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 30:17

“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.” Psalms 103:2-4

Meditate on Compassion

The essence of studying scripture is to discover who God is, his character and attributes. To learn his ways, so that we can relate to our Lord better. To remember all that you have read, you would need to ponder on and meditate on His word for it is truth, and this truth sanctifies us.

The scriptures are awash with stories depicting the LORD’s compassion. Think of these as Compassion in action stories. The most well-known are drawn from the lives of Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus Christ. They not only share history, but they show the LORD’s compassion in dealing with mankind.

Noah

During the time of Noah the world was full of violence and the Lord decided to put an end to it all. He saved Noah by instructing him to build a wooden ark to protect his family along with all land creatures and birds.

The Lord gave Noah the exact dimensions of what he was to build; this was the first of its kind. Out of his compassion he saved a remnant and one pair of each species of animals. The clean animals however had seven pairs each.

The Lord’s compassion is evident as he sustains them in the ark all during the entire period of the flood (one year).In no instance did we ever hear that the lions and bears decided to gobble up Noah or his family for lunch.
 “The Lord is gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all that he has made” Psalms 145:8-9

He brought them out of the ark only when the earth had dried and new vegetation had sprung up. The Lord made a covenant with Noah and all life on earth, that He would never again destroy the earth and all living creatures with water again. He gave his bow in the clouds as a sign of this eternal agreement. The Rainbow.

Abraham

The Lord blessed Abraham and said that he would bless all the peoples of the earth through him and even grant him an heir. At this point, he was aged 75 and was childless. The Lord made a covenant with him and changed his name from Abram, to Abraham meaning the Father of Nations. Twenty five years later, is when Isaac was born.

During Isaac’s childhood the Lord asked him to offer him as a sacrifice in order to test him. Abraham did not hesitate and obeyed. He took Isaac to Mt.Moriah as directed by the Lord, his son pointed out that the wood and fire were present and inquired about the sacrificial lamb, to which Abraham responded   “The Lord will provide.”

He prepared the altar and placed his only son ready to sacrifice him when the Lord stopped him. Abraham had passed the test of obedience, the Lord provided a ram. The Lord showed Abraham compassion by blessing him to become the Father of Nations even before he had a single child. The Lord made sure that this prophecy came to pass according to his word. Today, many nations cane still trace their ancestry to him.


Moses

Abrahams’ descendants were later enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. The Lord called Moses to go deliver his people by confronting the Pharaoh.

The LORD showed his people compassion by fulfilling the rest of the promise he had made with Abraham, even though they were not in their best behavior. He  lead them out of Egypt in power ,parted the sea for them, fed them for 40 years in the wilderness, went before them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, defeated their enemies before them and got them to the promised land in Canaan.
“Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness” Nehemiah 9:19

 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.” Isaiah 54:7

Jesus

Jesus came on earth to reveal more to us about the Father and to reconcile us back to the Father by his sacrificial death on the cross. The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Jesus performed miracles and healed the sick and delivered those under demonic oppression. The gospel of Luke tells one of the many miracles he performed. Jesus was teaching and crowds came to him bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and he healed them all.
He then called his disciples and said, “I have compassion for these people, they have already been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry or they will collapse on the way.” Luke 15:32

They only had seven loaves with them and a few small fish. Jesus told the crowd to sit down, he gave thanks for the food, broke them and gave them to his disciples. They all ate and were satisfied, a total four thousand men besides women and children. They even had left overs! Seven basketfuls of broken pieces.

Later a woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus, during that time the punishment was death by stoning. But Jesus in his merciful compassion did not condemn her. “He told go and sin no more”

He also told parables to teach the people. That parable of the prodigal son depicts the Love and Compassion of God.

He is watching and waiting for us to go back to him, he is ready to received us with open arms and restore us to our rightful place as his children.

The death of Jesus on the cross was the ultimate display of love and compassion. He knew it was the only way for his blood to be shed for the forgiveness of sins and gain access to eternal life.
He did not resist but agreed to be the sacrificial Lamb of God. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son to condemn the world but to save the world through him.”
John 3:16-17

Become more compassionate

Now that you have the perfect example of what compassion looks like you can easily emulate that and apply it in your life. You can only give what you have; you can only give what you have experienced. Experiencing the love and compassion of the LORD and receiving it in your heart will enable you to have compassion for others and for yourself.

Jesus taught “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is just like it Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

All this does not come naturally to humans. We need the perfect help. The Holy Spirit of God was sent to us to help and strengthen us.

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self- control.” Galatians 5:22

Compassion can therefore be cultivated. In summary, in order to become more compassionate;

  • Learn Compassion from God’s example
  • Meditate on Compassion from the Holy Bible
  • Become more compassionate by accepting God’s love and loving God with your all
  •  Love your neighbor as you love yourself
  • The Holy Spirit of God enables you to bear fruit and have compassion

What Does It Mean to Test The LORD

Featured by ComeFullCircleblog, posted in Faith
Testing the LORD – When to do it and when not to

“Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the Test?” Moses posed this question to a people who had just been dramatically rescued from their oppressors. What was the quarrel about you may ask?
They were thirsty and were asking for water like so … “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

I guess by now you may be wondering how that amounts to testing the Lord. What does putting the Lord to the test mean in the first place? Could there be times when it is acceptable to test the LORD? To answer these questions read on…

DO NOT PUT THE LORD TO THE TEST

Let me take you back to where these people are coming from.

The people of Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, until the LORD sent Moses to face Pharaoh and demand for the release of his people. Their release did not come easy; but after 10 deadly plagues and the miraculous power of God in parting the sea to make a way for his people (approximately 2.5 Million) to cross the Red Sea, the entire army of Pharaoh in hot pursuit on their chariots all drowned in the Sea.

The LORD led these people with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They saw the miraculous power of God yet doubted his ability to sustain them in the desert. I may sound critical toward the people of Israel, but don’t we often behave in the same way. I know I do.

They quarreled Moses, not knowing that in doing so it was the LORD they quarreled, doubted and tested. That place was named Massah and Meribah by Moses because they quarreled and tested the LORD by asking themselves “Is the LORD among us or not?”  Exodus 17:7.

They were murmuring and complaining amongst themselves, quarrelling Moses and The LORD heard them.

The Psalmist says of them in Psalms 95: 8-9 “Today if you only would hear his voice. Do not  harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested me, they tried me, though  they had seen what I did.”

The Israelites also rebelled once again when they had reports about the Canaan the Promised Land. Moses had earlier sent over twelve spies who went ahead to explore Canaan for a total of forty days. They came back after that period bearing some of the fruit of the land and a detailed report of what they saw. Ten of the spies had a discouraging report saying the people were much stronger and that it would be impossible to attack and overcome them. They even described their defeated mindset   “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes and we looked the same to them.” Numbers 13:33

Only two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua showed bravery and trust in the LORD .They encouraged the people by saying “We should go and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” Numbers 13: 30

With the promise land in the horizon, you would think that the people would be elated. Far from it. That very night they raised their voices and wept aloud grumbled yet again against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt or in this wilderness!”
They blamed God for bringing them out of Egypt only for them to die by the sword. They were terrified of the giants that inhabited the land of Canaan and would have preferred to return to Egypt!

As they were talking about getting rid of Moses, the LORD showed up! His glory appeared at the tent of meeting. He had wanted to execute judgment on all the people, but Moses intervened and pleaded for their lives .The Lord relented and forgave them. There was however major consequences of the careless words they spoke. The Lord said that he will do the very thing he heard them say, they would fall in the desert. All those aged 20 and above who had seen the Lord’s signs He had performed and yet still disobeyed and tested God would never see the promise land, none of them who grumbled would enter Canaan except for Joshua and Caleb.

“..not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times – not one of them will ever see the land I promised…no one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it” Numbers 14:22 -23
The ten spies whose bad report caused the people to grumble, were struck by the LORD with a plague and died. This made me realize just how critical leadership is in the eyes of the LORD. He held the ten spies responsible for the bad report they gave to the people and they perished for it. On the other hand Moses interceded for the people and the LORD was able to forgive them.

As for the rest of the people, they were all to wonder in the wilderness for 40 years before he would allow them to reach Canaan. One year for each of the forty days they explored Canaan. This just goes to show how the LORD views complaining and grumbling.  Is your grumbling hindering you from getting to your promise land? What have you been complaining about to yourself when you think no one is hearing you?

The very next day, some of the people decided out of remorse that they were now ready to go to the Promised Land. They set out by themselves, Moses tried to stop them saying that they would not succeed as the Lord was not with them; they were disobeying Him yet again and would be defeated by their enemies. Nevertheless in their presumption, they still went ahead with their own plan. Needless to say, Moses’s words did swiftly come to pass.

The New Testament also records the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-10. They sold their property and decided to give part of the proceeds for themselves and brought the rest to the apostles. Peter however rebuked Ananias for having lied to the Holy Spirit. The man fell and died on the spot. His wife, Sapphira came a little later and after being questioned about the price they got for the land also laid. Peter said to her “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord?” She too fell and died at his feet.

These things put the LORD to the test and anger Him

  • Quarrelling, Complaining  out loud, to others, to yourself ,or  even behind closed doors
  • Rebelling against God and disobeying him, Hardening of the heart
  • Doubting God  In thought and action, privately and publicly
  • Treating God in contempt –disbelief in His power
  • Lying or trying to trick the LORD
  • Tasted and Seen God’s power and still remaining in doubt of his power to save

Negative Outcomes of Putting the LORD to the Test (Numbers 14)

  • Serious failure
  • Wondering  in extended  wilderness seasons
  • Death


WHEN IT IS ACCECTABLE TO TEST THE LORD

The scriptures show us that there are some instances where the LORD allows us to test Him. They may not be listed in the commandments but are as equally profound if applied in the daily life of every believer.

The first pertains to tithing. Malachi states that the people rob God by refusing to pay tithes and offerings.

“How are we robbing you?” “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse your whole nation because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be enough room to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe”, says the LORD Almighty.” Malachi 3:8 -11.

The second acceptable way to test God’s will is to offer your body as a living sacrifice.

“Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to the LORD- this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12: 1-2

The acceptable conditions of when to test the LORD

  • In tithing;- Offer your tithe as worship and test the LORD and see him bless you
  • In knowing God’s will; – Offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God and be transformed by the renewing of mind and test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Positive outcomes of testing the Lord (Malachi 3 and Romans 12)

  • Abundant &  overflowing blessings upon more blessings not only for you, but also for  your family, and nation
  •  Transformation by the renewing of your mind
  • Learn God’s good pleasing perfect will  in your life in all situations and pertaining all spheres  of your influence

The Lord desires that we offer Him not only our substance but our whole selves .This is the only instance when He permits us to test Him. Oh taste and see that the LORD is good!

What does it mean to Fear the LORD?

Featured by ComeFullCircleblog, posted in Faith, Walk of Faith

We are told that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of Wisdom. But what does it mean really?

Perhaps you have been misled to think that God is unapproachable, too detached or even too busy to think of you let alone give an ear. The phrase “fear the Lord” has also been misunderstood and makes one flee from the Lord rather than run to him for help.

The fear of the Lord can be defined as having a specific sense of respect, awe and submission to God. To submit to him, you also need to obey and believe in his word and in his power. It sounds pretty straight forward but thankfully the scripture reveals more on this.

How to practice the Fear of the LORD

As believers it is imperative to study scripture thoroughly  and find what the Lord requires of us. After all the Lord promised that his Holy Spirit will help us and even teach us all things!

 Sadly many have confused the fear of the Lord with outward behavior and rituals, forgetting that it is a matter of the heart. Whatever is in your  heart eventually springs forth and will be visible to all. Today, you will see that despite your past, you can really learn how to fear the Lord.

Let’s take a look at a couple of verses from scripture that speak about Fearing the Lord

  • Psalms 34:11-14

Come, my children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life
    and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from telling lies.
Turn from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.

  • Job 1:8

“Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

  • James 3:9 -12

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

  • Matthew 15:17- 20

“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; 

Therefore we can deduce that Fearing The Lord is a matter of one’s Speech and Conduct.

  1. Speech

    a) Keep your tongue from Evil and Lips from telling lies
    Tame your tongue. The Lord despises a perverted mouth. I’m certain this goes for what we say about others as well as what we say and think about ourselves.
    The scriptures tell us that we should not use our mouths to both praise and curse. It seems that the curses spoken end up defiling the person, because out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. Jesus taught his disciples that the things that come out of a person’s mouth come out of the heart and these defile them.

    b) Praise God Alone
    The tongue and mouth should be an instrument with which we should praise God Alone and worship his Holy Name.
    If speaking evil defiles the heart then we can conclude that speaking  truth  sanctifies. Jesus prayed to God “Sanctify them by the  truth, your word is truth.” John 17: 17
    Hallelujah!! Let us use our lips and mouths to praise God and speak the truth.

    “Through  Jesus, therefore let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others for with such sacrifices God is pleased”  Hebrews 13:15-16
  2. Conduct

    a) Turn from evil
    Change your ways and shun evil. In the event that evil hurls itself to your face, do what Joseph of old did (Genesis 39:10 – 12). He avoided Potiphar’s wife and when she caught him, he fled! Don’t try to prove yourself as “strong”enough in such situations.
    b) Do good
    Avoiding evil alone isn’t enough, you need to do good. Do what is good in God’s eyes, not your eyes!

     If you follow the story of Joseph, (Genesis 39 – 43) he was wrongly imprisoned by Potiphar. While in the dungeon, he did not become bitter nor did he wallow in self- pity. Infact the prison warden put him in charge of other prisoners. Joseph cared for them and was concerned about their wellbeing. He even asked one of the new in mates  ”Why do you look so sad today”?  This question alone would go a long way in rekindling many broken family relationships that exist today!
    To cut the story short, it  led to a conversation about dreams that eventually caused Joseph to meet Pharaoh who promptly elevated him to Governor of Egypt!

    c) Seek Peace and pursue it
    Take the initiative to make peace, take the first step to apologize and  ask for forgiveness. Show grace to those who have wronged you, like Joseph. He made peace with his brothers and did not retaliate though he had the power to do so. He reassured them in his speech and his actions backed what he said.

    He  not only forgave them ,but went ahead to invite all his brothers their families and his father to come live with him in Egypt where they would escape the severe famine and death.70 Persons in all he welcomed who later grew into an entire nation, the nation of Israel!

    d) Avoid Pride and embrace humility
    The Lord hates pride and arrogance. Pride also always comes before a fall. In today’s world we so often mistake pride for confidence and humility for weakness.

Why Fear the LORD?

  • He reveals his ways to those who fear him.
    ”The Lord confides in those who fear him and makes his covenant known to them.” Psalms 25: 14
  • You will lack no good thing
    “Fear the LORD you his holy people for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry but those who fear the Lord lack no good thing” Psalms 34: 9
  • Pathway to wisdom
    “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of Wisdom” Psalms 111:10
  • You will be protected and blessed by God
    “But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.” Psalms 33:18
    “Praise the LORD .Blessed are those who fear the LORD who find great delight in his commands.” Psalms 112:1
  • The Lord loves those who fear him
    “As a Father has compassion on his children so does the Lord have compassion on those who fear him” Psalms 103:13
    “From everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him” Psalms 103:17

I’m sure by now you are convinced that one can learn to fear the Lord, this is only the beginning of wisdom. You should be on track to enjoying a wonderful and intimate relationship with the LORD. God bless you.

IN SEARCH OF PERFECTION

by ComeFullCircleblog, posted in Faith, Mental Health, Social Issues

Perfect Perfection

If there was one unconscious desire that all humans had it would be the pursuit of perfect perfection. Many wish they were  born into the perfect family, attended the perfect school, got perfect grades ,perfect friends, perfect scholarship, perfect  internship, perfect job, perfect employer, perfect BFF, Perfect boss, perfect customer service, perfect neighbor, perfect date, perfect  dress ,perfect suit, perfect phone ,perfect car, perfect ring, perfect performance, perfect house, perfect spouse, perfect body, perfect child, perfect city, perfect country, perfect world .Let me burst that bubble right here. We are undoubtedly in awe of perfect perfection yet we are imperfect beings!

The irony of life is an imperfect being demanding for perfection ,yet they themselves fall short and are making zero attempts to improve.

  • A parent demanding absolute obedience from their children, yet they themselves are blatantly disobedient .
  • An unfaithful spouse demanding perfect loyalty from their partner.
  • Incompetent leaders demanding nothing but the utmost performance.
  • A citizen criticizing their government for corruption while disregarding  their own thievery
  • Decrying  the immoral state of the community yet one’s life is in the proverbial immoral gutter.

No one is Perfect

 Interestingly those who seem perfect to the rest of the world are seen as super human; the most disciplined ,the most accomplished, the wealthiest, the healthiest and strongest , the fastest, most influential. This is not entirely negative as it spurs progress and encourages humanity to reach higher heights .They may appear perfect but are instead committed to a serious pursuit of excellence. We should all aspire for excellence and applaud those who do as they show the rest of the world that excellence is achievable.

Acknowledging that no one is perfect should never be an excuse for us to knowingly continue living in apathy or in sin. We should instead admit to ourselves first that we messed up and admit the same to God and guess what, He NEVER Condemns Us. He is Waiting for us to come to him and he will receive us with open arms.

Many of Us find it difficult to do so as we have a distorted view of who God is, some may see him as aloof and too far off, a mean school principal or judge or even an angry old man  . These  are just wrong perceptions tainted by unfortunate incidents  in your past!

He is a Loving Father, The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He is a Faithful and Just God .We are also promised that If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Hallelujah!!

Despite Our Imperfection, We Are Made Righteous

God knows  that we are not perfect beings, he wants us to rely on him on his strength and his mercy. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

The Gospel reveals the righteousness of God – a righteousness that is by faith in Christ. The same Gospel declares the good news to all, that God sent his own  Son to die for all our sins. He took our sins to the cross and in exchange we got HIS Righteousness!

“ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Romans 3: 21 -24


The Only Perfect One

The Perfect One

The Perfect One

The Only Perfect One

He is perfectly Compassionate, He is LOVE

He perfectly True, He Is TRUTH

He is Perfectly Good, He is GREAT

He is perfectly Pure, He is HOLY

He is perfectly Right, He is RIGHTEOUS

He is perfect Power, He is POWERFUL

He is perfectly Strong, He is STRENGTH

He is perfect Glory , He is GLORIOUS

He is perfect Splendor, He is MAGNIFICENT MAJESTY

He is perfect Salvation ,HE is JESUS CHRIST

Comefullcircle.life

AFFIRMING YOURSELF

by ComeFullCircleblog, posted in Faith, Mental Health, Social Issues


It is said that affirmations encourage an optimistic and positive mindset thus enabling one to overcome fear, negative thoughts and reach their full potential. However for this concept to work, it must be applied daily and consistently for the affirmations to sink into one’s subconscious mind.

Affirmations have benefited many all over the world and thus I felt compelled to embark on discovering the science behind it and figure out how it works. Turns out it is been a topic that has been studied in depth and found these guys here who did a splendid job.

 According to the NCBI US National Library  of Medicine, self-affirmation activates areas in the brain associated with valuation and reward .The study involved testing groups of affirmed individuals  and non- affirmed individuals (control group) with a series of questions to test their values and responses in current, future and past scenarios all while undergoing fMRI(Functional magnetic resonance imaging).

The conclusion was that the affirmed group showed significant neural activity in the  brain valuation/reward network  as compared to the non- affirmed group. Additionally the affirmed group displayed significant neural activity in the self-processing network when viewing future and past oriented scenarios.

In a nut shell, the affirmed group performed better in assessing current ,past and future situations, thereby concluding their outlook was more optimistic. In layman’s terms their brains lit up like Christmas trees in all scenarios while the control group did not.

It’s interesting to note that the participants were assessed on what they perceived as true, and  not necessarily proven as fact. What  if one based their affirmations on solid fact?

Well here are some facts that you can chew on and consider as my version of daily affirmations that are based on factual evidence. I wonder what would happen if you tried these for a change.

DAILY AFFIRMATIONS
Daily Affirmations 2021
THE TRUTH BEHIND THESE AFFRIMATIONS

YOU ARE LOVED AND CHERISHED

“I have loved you with an everlasting Love, I have drawn you with unfailing kindness” Jeremiah 31:3

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”

John 3:16

YOU ARE REDEEMED AND SET FREE

“If the Son sets you free you will be free indeed!” John 8:36

“In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Ephesians 1:7

YOU ARE FORGIVEN AND EMBRACED

The Parable of the prodigal( lost) Son
“ So he got up and went to his Father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” Luke 15:20

YOU ARE TREASURED AND VALUED

“Since you are precious and honored in my sight and because I love you” Isaiah 43:4

YOU ARE SEEN AND HEARD

Hagar, Mother Of Ishmael running away from her mistress Sarai
She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her “You are the God who sees me”, for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me” That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi.
(Well of the Living One who sees me)

YOU ARE CARED FOR AND THOUGHT OF

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” 1Peter 5:7

God speaking to Jonah regarding Assyria
“And should I not be concerned for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred  and twenty thousand people..” Jonah 4:11

YOU ARE STRENGHTENED AND MADE WHOLE

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”  Isaiah 41:10

Prophet Isaiah speaking about Jesus
“..The punishment that brought us peace was  on him, and By his stripes we are healed” Isaiah 53:5

YOU ARE SHELTERED AND PROVIDED FOR

“I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”  Isaiah 41:10”

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most high will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty” Psalms 91:1

Abraham’s Test, God’s provision
“God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering my son.” Genesis 22:8

“..Put your hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” 1 Tim 6:17

YOU ARE GIFTED AND TALENTED

God empowers the workers to make the ark of the covenant
“I have filled him with the Spirit of God with wisdom and understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills to make artistic designs for work in gold silver and bronze….also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you” Exodus 31: 1-7

“But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift ,another has that.”1Cor 7:7

YOU ARE CALLED AND FOUND

“Do not fear for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” Isaiah 43:1

Parable of the lost sheep
“Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep” Luke 15:6

YOU HAVE RECEIVED MERCY

“Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” 1Pet 2:10

YOU ARE BLESSED

 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” Ephesians 1:3