Acts 2:44 And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything with each other, selling their possessions and dividing with those in need. They worshiped together regularly at the Temple each day, met in small groups in homes for Communion, and shared their meals with great joy and thankfulness, praising GOD.
[Living Bible Translation]
Summary
According to the Bible, the early church was extraordinary. They were “believers.” They believed in the power of the HOLY SPIRIT. They believed in the WORD OF GOD. And, they believed in demonstrating GOD’s love in the community. The Bible states that there was “a deep sense of awe on them all.” See, Acts 2: 43 (Living Bible translation)
Initially, there were about 3,000 of them. See Acts 2:41. The world around them was turbulent. These Christians lived in evil times. There were all sorts of reasons to be afraid for their personal safety and their souls, if they were bent toward following the practices of the world or if they looked to the world for their hope and salvation.
Instead of dependence on their world leaders, they became a community of believers. They devoted themselves to GOD, worshiped together, ate meals together, met in each other’s homes for Communion and praised GOD. They showed the city around them what LOVE looked like, by responding to those in need, by sharing, and by believing GOD. And, because they believed, others started to believe too, and GOD added to their number.
Believing is Important- In Exercise
Not only is exercise good for you, but believing that exercise will have a positive effect is important too.
In a study performed by psychologists from the University of Freiburg’s Department of Sport Science, researchers found that subjects derive more benefits mentally and physically from exercise if they already had a positive mindset about the exercise.
The researchers in the study invited a group of 76 men and women, between the ages of 18 and 32 to their research lab to exercise on a bicycle ergometer. The subjects were separated into groups. Some were shown short films that praised the positive effects of cycling on health. Some saw films that did not praise the positive effects of cycling. The subjects were also given a questionnaire that asked about their well-being and their mood before and after exercising. During exercise, the researchers also measured the participant’s brain activity.
The researchers found that those test subjects who believed that exercise would have a positive effect on their health before exercising enjoyed exercise more, the exercise improved their mood more and reduced their anxiety about exercise more than the less optimistic subjects. The brain measurements showed that the participants with the greater expectations were also more relaxed.
The researchers concluded that beliefs and expectations can possibly have long-term consequences in terms of a person’s motivation to participate in a sport and that belief may even be a determining factor in a person’s willingness to exercise next time or “decide instead to stay home on the couch.” See, “Believe It or Not: Exercise does more good if you believe it will,” August 11, 2016, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat Freiburg, www.sciencedaily.com/news/health_medicine.
In other words, like a self-fulfilling prophecy, you may be undermining your own exercise program or the benefits you could derive from exercise by the “negative” things you may be thinking or saying even before you start to exercise.
Don’t let it happen to you!
Read about the joys of exercise. Read about the benefits of exercise. Watch people have fun in an exercise class. Stop saying negative things about yourself and your body. Believe….
STUDENTS ARE RETURNING TO SCHOOLS – BELIEVE
Just as we have to be optimistic about exercise, we also have to believers in other aspects of our lives and the lives of students in our community attending and returning to schools. We have to believe that they can learn, will learn, that our schools can make a difference and that we and our schools can form a community so that we can enrich the lives of every student at every school in our community and place of worship. We have to believe it is possible and then with love, and our ability and willingness to share, make that belief happen.
BELIEVE
Perhaps as the song goes: “It’s time to make that change.” But, instead of waiting for the world to suddenly change, perhaps the change has to start in believing. Perhaps we all need to work on having a different mindset.
So today consider where you “need to be.” Consider “what your church needs to do.” Consider “what needs to happen in your community.” Consider the thousands of children, youth, young adults, older adults, teachers and professors who will be returning to the classroom. Consider…. and then just believe. Believe and pray that GOD will also make you an instrument of GOD’s WORD in your community. Pray to become an active believer, like the members of the early church.
Perhaps it is time to think about how much you will benefits if you return to Sunday School or find a Bible Study. Perhaps it is time to stop thinking about how much you don’t exercise and start thinking about what benefits you will derive from having fun at exercising.
Let the HOLY SPIRIT guide and direct you.
BELIEVE…and know you are already BLESSED!
