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9 Ways to Stay Young

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In our previous Wisdom Note, we explored 9 moments that bring happiness. These bits of wisdom help us to live a rich and satisfying life while creating a living legacy. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes please go to the blog to read past newsletters.

Although I am in my 60s now, it is hard to believe, as I do not feel that I have lived that many years. With the advancement of medical care and the ability to stay fit and trim, many of us may be able to live another 60 or more years. If that is the case, I am barely middle age. There are certain practices that we can take advantage of that will help us to stay young much longer. There are certain habits or character traits that will help you to feel and stay young. On our trail today we will explore and examine…

9 Ways to Stay Young

Youth is wasted on the young—or at least, that’s what has been declared, but it would be a travesty if it were true. Youth is not only a time of life; it’s also a state of mind. Paula and I often speak about how we still feel that we are in our 30s. We do still consider ourselves young—and we intend to stay that way.

You can have a youthful outlook and attitude at an older age, or an old-fogey attitude at a young age. The choice is yours. Want to stay young at heart and mind? Here are a few ideas to help you:

1. Keep only cheerful, positive friends.

You can pick your friends, and I like to choose those who are positive and those who challenge me. They make me feel good. They don’t drag me down or make me angry at the world. Negative people see the difficulty in every opportunity while positive people see the opportunity in every difficulty. We need to be choosy of who we become close friends with or spend a lot of time with. 1 Corinthians 15:33 tells us, “Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”

2. Keep learning.

I think Henry Ford put it best when he said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” You should consider that you are a disciple all of your life. Never stop learning.

3. Enjoy the simple things.

Don’t forget to take the time to enjoy the things that you like to do—go for a walk or to the movies, read a good book, watch a favorite TV show, or spend time with your family. To stay young, you have to have a good balance in life.

4. Laugh often.

Starting your day with a good laugh, or, at least, a big smile, is as beneficial to your health as it is to your mood. Scientific studies have concluded that laughter benefits the heart, lungs, stomach, and other organs. It relaxes tension, changes attitude, and increases the body’s natural painkillers. Plus, it has no harmful side effects.

5. Stay in shape.

Exercise is good for your mind as well as your body. Studies show that healthy employees have decreased absenteeism, improved performance, and improved morale. I’ve always felt that a healthy life is a dynamic life.

The human body is the only machine that wears out faster if it is not used. Cherish your health. If you’re healthy, do what you can to preserve it. If your health is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

6. Be happy.

You are responsible for your own happiness. We sometimes convince ourselves that life will be better after we get a better job, make more money, get married, have a baby, or buy a bigger house. Yet the accomplishment of any of those events might not make any difference at all. If you are not happy with the stuff you have now, you will never be happy with more stuff. There is no magic secret to happiness, but it starts in your head.

7. Don’t stress out.

You can’t escape stress, but you can avoid creating unnecessary anxiety. You just need to find a stress reliever. Mine is running, working on renovating The Big House, and working on the lawn. If the stress just doesn’t go away, then you have to make some changes in your life that might be more stressful in the short term but healthier in the long run. Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”

8. Don’t take guilt trips.

I remember a story about the worry tree. At night, an accountant would go home from work and place all his worries on a tree in his front yard. The next morning he would pick up those worries on his way to work, but surprisingly, they weren’t as heavy the next day. Taking trips can be enjoyable, but stay off the guilt trips.

9. Visualize yourself as youthful and with endless energy.

I learned years ago that visualization through life planning is the most powerful means of attaining personal goals. Visionaries can achieve whatever they want by determining a plan to attain it and expecting positive results. Visualization doesn’t do the planning, and it doesn’t anticipate the obstacles. But, it gives you a real idea of what is possible, if you want it bad enough. Vision is not so much what you think as how you think. If you can visualize it, you can make it happen. If you have a vision to build a house, you must take care of the preliminary requirements before beginning as it tells us in Proverbs 24:27, “Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house.”

Harvey MacKay put it into perspective, “If you want to stay youthful, stay useful.”

Along our trek today, we learned the 9 ways that will help you stay young. As we hike our next trail, we will search for the 9 signposts to turn endings into new beginnings. In addition to our Wisdom Notes, encourage your friends and family to also join us on our daily podcast for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Wandering in the Wilderness – Part 3

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Within our Wisdom Notes, last week we discussed explored part two of our three-part series wandering in the wilderness by faith. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes please go to the blog to read past newsletters.

On this week’s trek, we will continue our focus on living by faith so that we do invest our time with purpose. This is part three.

The Faith That Saves

To have faith in our lives is of utmost importance. Faith’s importance to salvation is emphasized in Ephesians 2:8, where Paul writes, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” Faith plays a role in the entire process until we enter the Kingdom of God. It is the sum of what God is doing in our lives and is written in John 6:29, “Jesus told them, ‘This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.’”

The faith that saves has its beginning when God, on His own initiative, calls us and leads us to repentance. He does this by His Spirit guiding us into all truth. Stirring up our minds to knowledge, His Spirit enables us to perceive from a perspective we never before seriously considered. This, combined with the confrontation that occurs with the carnal mind when we are forced to choose what to do with this precious truth, gives birth to a living faith, a faith that works, a faith that walks in godliness.

As miraculous and powerful as God’s liberation of Israel from bondage in Egypt was, even more so and of greater importance is the breaking of our bondage to Satan, this world, and human nature. This is why Ephesians 2:8 says the faith that saves is “the gift of God.” Israel’s release from Egypt was God’s gift too. Regardless of how much they cried out to Him, the Israelites would never have left Egypt without Him. If God had not been merciful and faithful, if He had not been trustworthy, they would never have been freed.

What did God lead us to that sparked this saving faith in us? He led us to His Word. We can glean a measure of faith from observing God’s creation, but this faith cannot save because it does not reveal His purpose. The seeds of faith in us are planted through the proclamation of his Word as Romans 10:17 states, “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” As Christ-followers, our lives should reflect the Good News in both deed and word.

Of course, this does not mean that all who hear the message will understand and accept it. Without the message, however, there would be nothing to believe in, nothing that one could trust to lead him to salvation. The evidence that our lives are properly reflecting the Good News is found in the fruit that our lives produce which is located in Galatians 5:20-22, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

Is your faith reflected by the Fruit of the Spirit?

We Must Choose to Live by Faith

We must learn the valuable lessons regarding faith shown in the wandering of the Israelites in the wilderness because they have direct application to us. Romans 15:4 states, “Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.” Also in 1 Corinthians 10:11, we read, “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

The nation of Israel knew the history of their ancestors with whom God had worked, yet they chose to forget His graciousness to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. God demonstrated His presence to them, but the Israelites chose to disregard Him. They had the Good News proclaimed to them, and they chose not to believe it. They had among them the godly witness of men of faith, men in whom the Spirit of God dwelled, and the rebellious children of Israel chose not to follow them.

God has given us even more than Nation of Israel had. We have the entirety of God-written revelation to us. We would not even be in a position to read His Word had God not personally acted to stir our minds to understand things of His Spirit. He has given us His Spirit that we might know the things of God. Faith comes from hearing the Good News.

When we have faith, we trust God that what He has said and promised is true. Though we may at times feel all alone in the midst of a trial, we can take comfort that so did all those others who went before us. We have the full revelation of God through His Son (The Word). The faithful of the Old Testament chose to believe, even though they were waiting for the promises to be fulfilled in the future as is told to us in Hebrews 11:13, “All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.”

Now the weight of responsibility for making choices grounded on trust in God’s Word has fallen upon us. It is awesome to think of ourselves as baptized into the history of the same spiritual company of those greats of the past, men and women of faith whose names are emblazoned in our memories. We must not forget either their standing with God because of their faith or Israel’s failure in the wilderness because they did not trust Him.

Remember the warning and advice God gave to Israel in the days before they entered the Promised Land, which is written in Deuteronomy 30:19-20, “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

As we finish our third and final segment of the Wandering in the Wilderness by Faith trail, we learn that we must choose to accept and live by faith. On next week’s Wisdom Note, we will begin a several week trek that will cover several trails that are the Principles of Spiritual Growth. This information was instrumental in my spiritual growth as a young man seeking to create and live my legacy. Encourage your friends and family to also join us on our daily podcast for another day of Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Wandering in the Wilderness by Faith – Part 2

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On our trek last week, we explored part one of our three-part series on wandering in the wilderness by faith. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes please visit our blog to read past newsletters.

This week we will focus on living by faith, so that we invest our time with purpose. This is part two.

Living by Faith

How important is faith? In Hebrews 10:37-38 we learn that “…in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”

“My righteous ones will live by faith” is both a statement of fact about the basis of a Christian’s life and a command. It is so important that this same phrase is repeated once in the Old Testament and three times in the New (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11). In each case, the context is somewhat different, but its importance to a Christian’s salvation is not lost.

The concept is not difficult to understand. Paul further clarifies it in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we live by believing and not by seeing.” A simple definition of “faith” in Webster’s New World Dictionary is “complete trust, confidence, or reliance.” At the end of the definitions, “belief” is listed as a synonym. “Belief” means “faith, esp. Religious faith; trust or confidence.” The dictionary definitions show that the two words are virtually synonymous. However, in the Bible and in the practical application a very wide difference separates merely believing and living by faith.

The practical application of faith is more than simply acknowledging the reality of God. Living by faith involves qualities that are better expressed by the word “trust.” This kind of faith produces loyalty or faithfulness expressed in the Christian’s life by works of obedience.

Do you think for a moment that the Israelites in the wilderness disbelieved that God existed? A few may have argued that the miracles they had experienced from the arrival of Moses in Egypt until they died in the wilderness were nothing more than natural phenomena. There are always some doubters and scoffers of that sort as is mentioned in 2 Peter 3:3, “Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.”

The vast majority of Israelites could not deny to themselves God’s mighty acts on their behalf. They had heard the voice of God at Mount Sinai, had seen the wind from God part the Red Sea, and had escaped death on Passover while the Egyptian firstborn had died. But when God required a higher level of obedience to follow His cloud across the wilderness and depend on Him to supply their every need, the record shows they did not trust Him. Their loyalty dissolved, and they rebelled! They did not have it within them to live by faith.

Living by faith is an outward manifestation of an inward belief that everyone will see. Romans 13:13 put it this way, “Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see.” And Ephesians 4:1 reads, “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.” Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 10:3 reminds, “For we live by believing and not by seeing.”

The Israelites of the Exodus definitely lived according to the flesh, fulfilling the desires of their bodies and minds. Somewhere along the way, they lost the vision of entering the promised homeland. They forgot about settling on their own property and living free under the government and laws of God. Yes, that older generation literally lived in following the pillar of fire and cloud as it moved toward the Promised Land, but their manner of life under the bright fire and cloud corresponded to living in darkness. So, they never made it to Canaan.

The Right Kind of Faith

We can tell whether we have the right kind of faith. Hebrews 11:1 provides a definition, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” This confidence and assurance are the very bedrock of the Christian faith.

Paul is saying that, for Christians, faith underlies what is seen externally in the conduct of their lives. Underneath a building is its foundation, and in most buildings, the foundation is rarely seen. If it is seen at all, usually only a small portion is visible, but it is there. If no foundation exists, the building soon becomes crooked and warped. In most cases, it will collapse and be completely unusable. We understand that underlying the conduct of a Christian’s life is not merely believing that God is, but a constant and abiding trust in Him.

How much of what you do is really motivated by an implicit trust in God’s Word? This is how we can tell whether we are living by faith. We must be honest in our evaluation, though. We find it very easy to shade the truth through self-deception. We justify disobedience by rationalizing around God’s clear commands or examples, saying that our circumstance is special because . . . (fill in the blank). Remember when we rationalize we are telling ourselves rational lies that we choose to believe as truth.

The great examples of faith that are listed in Hebrews 11 were not perfect people by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, many of them had significant flaws in their lives. But in their cases, faith undergirded how they lived even when the going really got rough.

We like to think of ourselves as rising to the occasion when a time of great crisis arises. We all hope to emulate what the examples of faith did. But as great as they were, Jesus specifies what living real faith is in John 15:13-14, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.You are my friends if you do what I command.” Our obedience to God through loving Him and others is one sign of living by faith.

Matthew 22:37-40 also sums up a life lived by faith, “Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Jesus made it very clear that if we are His friends, we will show it in our obedience to His commands. But before we can obey, we must trust Him. If we trust in Christ, he is more than a friend, we are a close family. Matthew 12:50 says, “Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

Many in the nation of Israel did not trust God by faith and obey Him because they still considered themselves slaves, and not family.

As we finish part two this week, we explored living by faith and having the right kind of faith. Faith is required for all aspects of life even to the smallest of actions like having faith that the chair you sit in will not collapse. We must learn to live by faith, not by sight. We have the entire revelation of God’s Word in the Bible, yet many times we struggle with faith and obedience as well.

On next week’s trek, we will explore choosing to live by faith. Encourage your friends and family to join us each week in our Wisdom Notes, and then come along for our daily podcast.

Wandering in the Wilderness by Faith – Part 1

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On our trek last week we asked “How heavy is your backpack?” I must follow up this week with the question, “Have you taken steps to lighten your load?” This concept will be important during the next three weeks as we explore wandering in the wilderness by faith. If you miss any of our Wisdom Notes, you can go back to prior installments on our blog.

It has taken many years to build a lifestyle business where we can work as we do. We still work hard, which usually includes many hours each week, but being location independent has been a reality for over 10 years now. It allows us to wander from various locations and still be able to complete our work.

As we consider the concept of wandering, we want to ponder what it means to be…

Wandering in the Wilderness by Faith

When I hear the phrase “wandering in the wilderness,” it brings to mind how the nation of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years on their way to the Promised Land. This was due to their lack of faith that God would help them occupy the Promised Land. They could have possessed the land in less than a year from leaving Egypt, but because of their disbelief, the trip stretched out 40 times longer.

We see that the older generation of the Israelites whom God had freed from slavery in Egypt die in the wilderness. The story of their journey through the wilderness shows that they never overcame their slave mentality, the mindset they brought with them from Egypt. They were set free, but in their minds, they were still as shackled as if they had never left. Their thinking—and thus their attitudes and conduct—constantly reverted to the way it had been molded in Egypt.

The nation of Israel witnessed the terrible plagues that were God’s punishment on the Egyptians. They also witnessed awesome miracles that demonstrated God’s mercy upon them. The Red Sea opened up for them. They lived under a cool cloud during the day and a warm pillar of fire at night. They had their daily needs supplied directly by God, and yet the Israelites found the wilderness to be nothing more than a huge cemetery in which they wandered for forty years.

It is not unusual for all humanity, and even Christ-followers, to be slaves to past practices, teachings, and mindsets. We need to be free from our mentality of slavery. Galatians 5:1 tells us, “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.”

What the nation of Israel experienced in their period of wandering in the wilderness serves as an example for us as is mentioned in I Corinthians 10:11, “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

In this spiritual journey, Canaan, the Promised Land, represents the Kingdom of God to us. But those older Israelites never made it there! They fell short of the goal because of a lack of faith that was controlled by their mindset of slavery.

In graphic language, the apostle Paul writes in Hebrew 3:17, “And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness?” To use a modern phrase, they were dropping like flies.

According to some commentaries, the last phrase indicates a scattering of dismembered bodies as if they had been left unburied. These “corpses” were the same people who came out of Egypt with great joy, exulting in their new-found liberty. They yearned for a settled and free life in a land that was their own. But, instead of knowing the joy and plenty of the Promised Land, they chose to sentence themselves to live a life of homeless wandering in a barren land and to die and perhaps be buried in an unmarked grave. They were chosen to be the beneficiaries of God’s great blessings in a rich land, but they instead lived poor and hungry in the wilderness, discontented and often at war because of their sins. Their example ought to be a sobering warning.

As Christ-followers we are promised by Jesus in John 10:10, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” Are you living that rich and satisfying life, or are you still wandering in the wilderness?

Paul puts his finger on the source of their problem of why their heart could not be changed, why they consistently and persistently sinned and rebelled in Hebrews 3:19, “So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.”

Paul later turns this thought into an admonition for us in Hebrews 4:1-2, “God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God.”

Not only did Israel have the witness of numerous demonstrations of God’s presence and power among them to provide a foundation for faith, but they were also given the Word of God by His servants Moses and Aaron. In addition, they had living examples of faith in Moses, Aaron (most of the time), Joshua, Caleb, and others. God supplied these men with gifts by His Spirit as a testimony that should have provided more incentive for the Israelites to believe Him. But Hebrews 3:17 says He was angry with them forty years! If ever a people almost drove God to the point of exasperation, it was Israel in the wilderness.

We must not allow such a powerful lesson to pass by unheeded. Paul tells us in Romans 15:4, “Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.”

The lesson is clear. Those who believe God reveal their faith by obeying Him. Those who do not believe, disobey. Hebrews 3:12 warns, “Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.”

As we finish part one this week, we explored wandering in the wilderness by faith where the young nation of Israel struggled in their faith and obedience, even though God showed them many miracles. Let’s put it in perspective. Are we that different today? We have the entire revelation of God’s Word, in the Bible, yet many times we struggle with faith and obedience as well.

On next week’s trek, we will explore what living by faith means through the right kind of faith. Encourage your friends and family to join us each week in our Wisdom Notes, and then come along for our daily podcast.