How to Reduce Stress

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There are a lot of things that cause us stress today.
Finances cause people stress. Prices keep going up and salaries don’t.
Health and Healthcare -
Immigration -
Politics in general - watch the news and you will think the sky is falling
Children - especially of they are teenagers.
People are stressed Out.
Philippians 4:4–8 TEV
4 May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. I say it again: rejoice! 5 Show a gentle attitude towards everyone. The Lord is coming soon. 6 Don’t worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. 7 And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus. 8 In conclusion, my brothers and sisters, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honourable.
Philippians 4:4 TEV
4 May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. I say it again: rejoice!
Is it possible for people to be joyful? Most people don’t enjoy life, they simply endure it. Their lives are filled with anxiety, pressure and stress and they have very little joy.
Paul gives us several stress relievers.

Four Stress Relievers

1. Don’t worry about anything.

Philippians 4:6 NLT
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
We tend to expect the worst. How do you feel if you get called to the bosses office at the end of a day? Ant-anxiety meds and anto-depressants are the largest sellers.
Worry is assuming responsibility that God never intended for me to have.
It’s actually playing God.
Research on Worry shows
40% of our worries never happen
30% of our worries concern the past
12% of our worries are needless worries about your health
10% of our worries are insignificant or petty concerns
8% of our worries are really legitimate concerns
Worry is worthless. It cannot change the past nor can it control the future. It just messes you up right now. It sterals your creativity and energy and makes things we worry about get bigger and bigger when we ought to focus on the Lord.
Some people have the gift of finding a problem for every solution. Worry is a learned behavior and it can be unlearned.
Matthew 6:34 NLT
34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
In order to relieve stress, live one day at a time.

2. Pray about everything.

Whenever God allows something to be taken from you, it’s because he has something better in mind for you. He always replaces something with something better.
Philippians 4:6 NLT
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Don’t panic - pray. If you stop worrying you will free up a lot of free time… some more than others.
Stop worrying and spend the time you were worrying in prayer.
Pray about everything. .
When you pray, be specific. General prayers are not effective. Tell God specifically what you need. He cares.
1 Peter 5:7 NLT
7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
Take all of your worries to the Lord and leave them with him. Just like uploading a file to the Cloud, upload your prayers to God.
Worry shortens your life, but trusting God and church attendance lengthens your life. Insurance companies know that people who attend church regularly live 5.7 years longer than those who don’t. Worry shortens life.
There is no problem that is too big for God's power or too small for God's concern.
James 4:2 NIV
2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

3. Thank God for everything.

Philippians 4:6 NLT
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
The healthiest human emotion is thankfulness or gratitude. It actually strengthens your immune system. Grateful people are happy people. Ungrateful people are unhappy people. Nothing satisfies them. They are always saying … then ??? happens, then I will be happy.
Extra - If you are depressed, make a list of things you can be grateful for. Ask God he will show them to you. It will take your ficus off of your problems and get it onto God and the good things he is doing in your life.
Develop thankfulness and gratitude and you will see your stress level go down.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
There is alway something you can be thankful for.
Silver lining around the cloud.

4. Think about the right things.

To reduce stress in your life, you have to change the way you think. Your stress comes from within… not from someone or something outside of you.
Your mind is amazing and God has given you the privilege of choosing what you think about. You can choose what you think about.
Philippians 4:8 NLT
8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Paul is telling you to choose to think about the right things… the good things…
It’s no mystery why people are stressed out today. Look at the news… tv shows… movies, etc. With what many of you put into your minds, it’s no wonder you are stressed.
Garbage in - garbage out.
What you think affects the way you feel. What you feel affects the way you act. THINK ABIOUT THE RIGHT THINGS.
Use these words of Paul as filters for your thoughts.
True, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, worthy of praise, excellent and worthy of praise. If something is not one of these, don’t think about it. Don’t allow them into your mind.
Proverbs 23:7 NKJV
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you.
Remember, Whatever I think about is what I am becoming.
If you don’t like the direction your life is going, change what you think about.

Here is the result

Philippians 4:7 The Living Bible
7 If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.
Write peace out to the side.
People are looking for peace of mind. They take pills, fads, therapy, stress reduction classes and more … trying to gain peace of mind. We try to fill our minds with all types of things find that peace, but only God can give it.
God made you to know Him… with a purpose. You are not here by accident.
The starting point is to know that He made you for relationship … with him.
1 Peter 5:7 TEV
7 Leave all your worries with him, because he cares for you.
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