To View the Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pnjcgrxl3Ss
SHOW NOTES
Welcome to a new week of the Hope Rescue Podcast. This week we are continuing our series breaking down some of the concepts Tim explains in his new book “Breathe.” If you’re interested in purchasing the book, follow this link: https://www.hoperescue.org/product-page. This week Tim and Kimberly are sharing what Tim expresses as possibly the most important tool the Lord gives us for our mental health. Keep reading to find out what it is.
Tim starts by explaining that this tool they are going to discuss is life-changing. It’s a concept that is known but not always practiced, and the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Can you solve our riddle? It’s thankfulness. Thankfulness is the number one tool for our mental health.
Thankfulness comes up 71 times in the New Testament. Thankfulness is vital to Christ-followers and is a theme laced throughout the entire Bible. First Thessalonians 5:18 says, "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Kimberly explains that our human nature is not naturally bent towards a heart of thankfulness. Thankfulness is a choice that we have to choose over and over again.
Tim explains that he had a nurse tell him recently that she has seen patients who express thankfulness heal quicker than patients who were bitter about their situations. Thankfulness will not only heal your soul but also your physical body. Studies literally suggest that grateful people have better sleep, healthier hearts, and fewer aches and pains. Gratitude is not only a key to psychological well-being but also a key to physical health. Proverbs 17:22 says, "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."
One of Tim’s most life-changing tips is to start a thanksgiving journal. Tim recommends writing in a thanksgiving journal every day, and explains how it has radically transformed his thinking and his life. It forces him to start his day with a thankful heart, giving gratitude for the big and small things that the Lord has provided, whether it be for his family and children or simply a hot cup of coffee in the morning. Daily writing in a thanksgiving journal in the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day.
Philippians 4:6-7 says, "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” We are encouraged to go to God with all of our requests because he is the God who provides. Our requests are to be coupled with thanksgiving. When we go to God with our requests, it’s important that we also know in our hearts and express that what we already have been given is enough. Be thankful for the things the Lord is already providing. Tim says, “The pervasiveness of gratitude will dislodge anxiety.” Thankfulness teaches us to be in the moment and allows us to recognize that what we already have is enough.
Tim closes by reading Matthew 6:25-34 which says, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
QUOTES
“The pervasiveness of gratitude will dislodge anxiety.” -Tim
“Thankfulness teaches us to be in the moment and allows us to recognize that what we already have is enough.” -Tim
REFERENCED SCRIPTURE
1 Thessalonians 5:18 "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
Proverbs 17:22 "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."
Psalm 1 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
Philippians 4:6-7 "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Matthew 6:25-34 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
