Universal Life Church Monastery of Massachusetts

Thursday, September 27, 2012

MARRIAGE: The Institution

Have your ever thought that perhaps marriage is an institution that helps us to become more like God? We can learn about things like unconditional love, forgiveness, character defects, growth, servant hood, humility, strength, and so much more. By serving our spouse, no matter what, we learn to be more like God.

You are not responsible for your spouse’s actions, but you certainly are responsible for your own. Make choices that please God and bring honor to him. Your marriage can shine bright and radiate the love of God if you will simply follow God’s plan laid out in his word.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

HEALTH: Reduce risks

According to the Center for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, people who exercise regularly throughout the week reduce the risk of developing symptoms of the leading causes of illness and death in the U.S. such as heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

Combine that with eating a healthier diet and risks are reduced even further. Why does exercising and eating healthy give people such a hard time? Why can’t people commit to a healthier lifestyle?

It’s easier to not exercise. It’s easier to eat whatever we want. We live in a culture that wants instantaneous gratification and is not always willing to pay the price for good health. Nothing of value comes cheap though. The Bible tells us to take good care of our bodies and it does so for good reason. No one wants to be sick or develop a condition or disease. If God tells in his word that eating healthy and exercising are good for our well-being, then we ought to take this serious and begin making changes today toward a healthier lifestyle.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Blessing/Prayer requests

Blessing/Prayer requests are accepted any time via email @ ministry@ulcmm.com

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Thursday, September 6, 2012

HEALTH: Principles

Some churches are taking serious the Bible’s directive to treat our bodies as God’s temple and are merging faith and fitness together. Churches have begun to teach healthy living principles from the pulpit as well as offer fitness groups, weight loss classes, and Bible study groups on fitness topics.

There are even some that are adding gyms onto their buildings so that members of their community can come and play sports and exercise. This provides people with a great opportunity to learn about how to live a healthy life as well as partner with others in their endeavors. Accountability and partnering together make it easier to make the necessary changes toward a healthier lifestyle.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

WORK: Negativity

It is time that you began weeding out the things that hold you back in life. Just as weeds will overtake a garden, negativity and things that stifle you will overtake your dreams. Be sure to get to the root of what holds you back and make a plan to move forward.

Be strong and rely on your inner source. God will help you and orchestrate all that needs to happen. Fight against the urge to give up or slow down. Day by day, see your dreams fulfilled in your mind and feel the excitement. Don’t allow the weeds to rule you any longer. (I ching reading)

Thursday, August 16, 2012

LIFE: THINKING

God separated humans from the animals by giving mankind brains to think for them. The distinguishing factor is the ability to think for one and make smart decisions. Everyone has their own perception, and their own rationale for their actions. Everyone has had different experiences in this world. The wise are those who have used those experiences and learnt their lessons from them. The fools are those who let their judgments be clouded by their own bias.

“Speak not into the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words” clearly states what is obvious in this world. The people who choose to remain oblivious of the truth will not listen even if you whisper in their ears. They will choose to ignore it and remain in bliss of ignorance. Therefore, do not close your minds to what may be the truth, listen and see around, and then keep an open mind to the world around you, for you may have once been a fool yourself.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

WORK: Career path

If you are wondering if you are in the career that God has called you to fulfill, you will know by your passion. Do you look forward to going to work? Do you feel productive? If you are not passionate or dread going to work, perhaps you are not doing what God would like you to do.

Take some time to evaluate your options. Do you have to stay in your current job? Perhaps you may for a season, but not necessarily forever. Ask God to lead you to a career path that you would love and that you’ve got gifts and talents for. You have every right to change careers if you are not satisfied with your current one. Just do it.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

MARRIAGE: The power of prayer

If you want a strong marriage then you would benefit from learning about the power of prayer. Couples that pray together tend to keep God at the center of their marriage and act as partners with him. Problems can be taken to God and each partner can be held accountable for their part in possible solutions.

It takes humility to pray together before God as a couple. God will honor your humble hearts as you agree in prayer. Jesus said if two people agree in prayer, God would hear and answer their prayer according to his will. (Matthew 18:19-20) Sit down with your spouse and discuss when and how often you’d like to gather together to pray. Make a commitment to follow through with what you decide.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

HEALTH: Start early

Oftentimes people wait until it’s too late to begin eating healthy and taking care of their bodies. Perhaps they go to the doctor and are told they have a serious condition or high blood pressure, or are obese and it is affecting their health. It is always hard to hear such news, but it also can motivate people to begin making lifestyle changes at that time.

Little by little, step by step, we can make changes that can help prevent sickness and disease. Drinking more water, eating healthier foods, and exercising more are all things that will benefit your health.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

LIFE: Get inspired.

As creatures of habit, we can get trapped in a “think/belief rut” as I like to call it. What this means is that we can get in the habit of allowing negative thinking to dominate us and as a result, we sink lower and lower into disappointment and frustration.

One way to replace the negative with positive is to read and/or listen to encouraging literature. Our nation has multitudes of self-help, inspirational, and motivational books, videos, and audios so finding resources is easy. I assure you that listening to positive information over and over can help you change your thinking from negative to positive and give you hope. I like to find a variety of inspiring quotes, print them out, post them around my house, and memorize them. This helps me to redefine my mind and not allow negativity to camp out.