How to Feel Good – Without Drugs or Alcohol

Good Works = Path Closer To God, Not Further!

Have you  ever seen another human not related to you, you know… a stranger suffering ? Have you ever tried taking time out of your busy day to be genuinely kind to this stranger? if so then God bless you… you are on a better path than most.  But for the most part most of us see angry people or disheveled people as useless annoyances. Pick someone one day study them, NOT LIKE A STALKER, from afar. Choose someone you feel truly could use a break. Try helping them, help from the kindness of your heart.  Watch how repeated actions of this nature will in turn bring you up, raise your spirits, your self esteem and allow you to see how BLESSED BY GOD YOUR TRULY ARE! Helping others make us as humans feel good, the Devil does not want you to feel good, he wants you not helpful, miserable, angry and festering in his lies he  perpetrates! He is a fraud! like most of us he lives a lie!

Over the years I have lost friends and family to drugs, a series of mistakes and poor choices. Over time I realized I can blame them for their dumb choices, or I can try to look at how it got that way.  Being kind and thoughtful of their situation.  I have 2 brothers, 1 dad, all raised the same! We did not all turn out the same. We all take input from our world differently. I grew up in church, very wet behind the ear, kind, thoughtful and truthful.  Overtime the world hardened me, sent me down horrible paths.  These paths allowed the devil into my life, once he takes hold he gets to work on making you less of you! Taking bits and pieces of your peace of mind and self esteem, removing courage from you and forcing defeat by sin into our lives.

Anyone who knows me knows I have been woke, NOT WOKE LEFTIST, but CHIRSTIAN WOKE.  The devil’s plan is to confuse and gray right from wrong away, causing us to sin without knowing. The Democrat Socialist Lefty’s aks demoncrats, promote WOKE as a phrase.  This steals from GODS word in 2 ways.  First it causes us Christians to hate the LEFT WOKE SYNDROME, therefor cringing when we hear GODS WORD WOKE, DIFFERENT MEANING ALL TOGETHER! Secondly, for those that EAT THE LEFTIST WOKE CRAP, they CANNOT SEE GOD’S WOKE for long as they believe in HATING WHITE MEN AND LOVING GAYS as an AGENDA!

WHITE MEN ARE NOT A PROBLEM, EVIL PEOPLE ARE THE PROBLEM, THEY COME IN ALL COLORS.

“Today is my son’s birthday, he is 11 he is a present from God, I must make sure his path is as clean as possible so he does not stumble!”

Study: Doing Good Makes You Feel Good

There’s a new incentive to doing good things for others: It makes you happier, according to a new study.

Michael Steger, a psychologist at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, has always been amazed by how differently people lead their lives. Pat Tillman, for example, left the NFL to enlist in the Army and fight in Iraq and later Afghanistan (where he was killed), Steger said, but celebrity and socialite Paris Hilton continually pursues “a public life of shallowness.”

Steger couldn’t help but wonder which behavior makes people happier—seeking pleasure or doing good?To find out, he and his colleagues asked a group of 65 undergraduates to complete an online survey each day for three weeks that assessed how times they participated in hedonic, or pleasure-seeking behaviors, versus meaningful activities, such as helping others, listening to friends’ problems and/or pursuing one’s life goals.

The surveys asked the subjects how much purpose they felt their lives had each day and whether they felt happy or sad. The subjects also completed two sets of questionnaires at the beginning and end of the study to assess how they felt about their lives more generally.

They found that the more people participated in meaningful activities, the happier they were and the more purposeful their lives felt. Pleasure-seeking behaviors, on the other hand, did not make people happier.

Realizing that some people may feel guilty about reporting pleasure-seeking behaviors, Steger and his colleagues then modified the survey questions slightly to make them seem less exceptionable, and asked a new group of students to perform the study again, this time over a four-week period. The psychologists got the same results.

“A lot of times we think that happiness comes about because you get things for yourself,” said Richard Ryan, a psychologist at the University of Rochester, who was not involved in the study. But “it turns out that in a paradoxical way, giving gets you more, and I think that’s an important message in a culture that’s pretty often getting messages to the opposite effect.”

In order to make sure that the relationship between happiness and doing good wasn’t the other way around—that happiness instead leads people to do good things—the researchers looked at which tended to come first. They found that the subjects became happier after they did something good, suggesting that happiness does, in fact, come about as a result of doing good things.

The results of the study, to be published in the Journal of Research in Personality, present an “enormously optimistic picture of people, that as a cynic, I was very happy to see,” Steger told LiveScience. cited

Have you ever felt a rush after doing a good deed? Ever noticed you were more relaxed after a day of volunteering? Did you ever feel motivated to do good after thinking about the last time you helped someone? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, there’s a good explanation for why – it’s called science.

International Good Deeds Day is almost upon us and it’s time to start rallying your friends, family, coworkers, and peers to join this global movement of doing good on April 10, 2016. If your fellow good doers are still in need of some convincing, here are seven scientific facts about the benefits of doing good to share with them.

WHY DOING GOOD MAKES YOU HAPPY: DO GOOD, FEEL GOOD PHENOMENON

Have you ever experienced the do good, feel good phenomenon? When you do habits you’re proud of, you feel happier. For example, when you help others, you feel a helper’s high – happy, proud, excited. And because you feel good, the cycle continues. Your happiness makes you want to do even more good.

But, when you are engaged in bad behavior, you feel kind of lousy. And then this bad mood simply makes you wind up doing even more negative behavior.

Guess what? A good way to snap out of this negative cycle is to do good for someone else – so you can tap into what researchers call:

“The Do Good, Feel Good Phenomenon.”

Researchers have discovered that the more people do acts of altruism, the higher they raise their self-esteem. And thereby the higher they also raise their happiness.

Researchers call this: helper’s high

(Scroll down for a poster I designed – which sums up this do good then feel happier philosophy!)

The “Do Good, Feel Good Phenomenon” works like this…

• When someone does something good for someone, they get a “happiness high” or what researchers call “helper’s high.”  (Note: I write about this more here. )
• This hit of feeling happier because you did something good makes altruistic people want to continue to do more positive, loving habits.
• By doing this good stuff, these people then continue to feel even better about themselves.
• By feeling better about themselves, this then makes these people want to continue to do even more acts of altruism.
• And onward the upward cycle goes!
  

  Unfortunately this cycle also works in the opposite direction.

  • The unhappy can become unhappier by indulging in negative behaviors.
  • When people do negative actions they then lower their self esteem.
  • When people lower their self esteem, they feel more unhappy.
  • As a result of this unhappiness, these people then want to do more negative behaviors.
  • When people do more negative habits, they further lower their self esteem, which then further makes them want to do negative behaviors – and soon they find themselves on a downward spiral.

  Down, down, down their bad mood, bad habit spiral keeps going.

  And down, down, down the results for their life goes.

  So, watch out for those downward spirals!

  Get yourself hooked on doing good and aimed in an upward spiral instead.

  Below is an inspirational quote poster I designed – which sums up this upward spiral philosophy.

  Think happier

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FACT: Doing Good Makes You Feel Happy

Have you ever heard of the so-called “do-good-feel-good phenomenon?” If not, here’s how it works.

When you do something good, you feel happier. A 2019 study revealed that performing acts of kindness – even to strangers – boosts happiness and well-being. So, let’s say, you help an elderly cross the street. There’s a part of you that feels genuinely happy because you know that you did an act of kindness to someone.

You Will Have Less Stress & Live Longer

That sensation is known as ‘helper’s high’ and is produced when your brain releases endorphins, the feel-good chemicals of the brain. When you do something good for someone else, your brain’s pleasure centers light up, releasing endorphin and producing this high.

So when you feel incredible because of altruism, you are more likely to do a selfless act to get that “happiness high” again. The feeling is very similar to the “runner’s high” where the brain’s pleasure centers light up.

The high of helping others is comparable to the “runner’s high” where the brain’s pleasure centers light up.

It’s basically like a cycle. This hit of “feeling good” is what pushes you to continue making more positive habits. A study published in 2013 showed that helping others increases life-expectancy due to reduced stress.

It’s a positive spiral where the more you help others the less stressed you are, and the longer you live. And less stress means you feel good, and when you feel good, you do good.

The more you help others the less stressed you are, and the longer you live

10 Days of Doing Good is Proven to Increase Your Happiness

Happiness is 50 percent genetic, says University of Minnesota researcher David Lykken. What you do with the other half of the challenge depends largely on determination, psychologists agree.

Two studies show that doing good deeds makes us happy. So fill up your 50% with happiness.

In one of the studies in the Journal of Social Psychology researchers in Great Britain found that good deeds do in fact make people feel good—even when performed over as little as 10 days—and there may even be more benefits if you mix up your acts of kindness, as the novelty of doing good seems linked to happiness as well.

But kindness may have a longer, and even deeper effect on our happiness (according to the second study, published online in the Journal of Happiness Studies and conducted by researchers at Harvard Business School).
This study showed people in general felt happier when they were asked to remember a time they helped someone else or bought something for someone else—even happier than when they remembered buying something for themselves.

In other words, thinking about what you’ve given others – and not only what you’ve received – will motivate you to do good again and again.

Thinking back on how you have helped others in the past gives you a feeling of happiness even today.

Unfortunately, it works the other way around too.

Have you ever noticed that when you do something bad, you feel terrible? And when you feel awful, you are more likely to do something horrible to the people that surround you.

This is often when you get to a place that centers more around yourself or seeking pleasure.

This negativity, unfortunately, affects everyone. So, unhappy people will – intentionally or not – continue to do more negative behaviours.

So why continue to spread negativity to the world when you can spread positive vibes instead?

Having someone else to help or another greater purpose is proven better for your mental health.

Here are a few tips to get your started spreading happiness around you:

1. Take your mum and grandma out for lunch.
2. Send an email praising a friend of colleague who deserves recognition
   Researchers also found that individuals in their mid-30s who rated helping others in their work as important, reported they were happier with their life when surveyed 30 years later.
3. Donate food, clothing, or volunteer your time to help others
   BMC Public Health journal has concluded that volunteering is also good for mental health. The review found that – along with improved well-being and life satisfaction – volunteering is also linked to decreased depression.
4. Do something good for the environment (recycle, use eco, reuse).
5. Help an animal.

These are just a few of the acts of kindness you can do.

By Stine Smith

Good And Evil

What Makes God Angry?

#MeditationMonday‬ – Out of the abundance of a man’s heart, his mouth speaks.

Welcome, dearly beloved. I pray the mercies of God over you throughout this week. I hope to encourage and build you up in the Lord. I pray you gain a deeper understanding of these verses. As you grow in knowledge and understanding, may you be empowered to share your convictions with others.

Some think everything makes God angry, others believe nothing makes Him angry ‘cause he’s just so full of love’, both camps of people are terribly wrong. There are a definite number of things that piss God off. They’re listed in Proverbs 6:16-19, our passage over the next few weeks.

There are six things the Lord hates, even seven things that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift to run to evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who spreads discord among family members.

— Proverbs 6:16-19 [NET]

This is sort of a strange passage to many of us who are wondering, ‘how can the Lord “hate”?’ Well, I’m not making this stuff up, scripture clearly lists a number of things God hates. We’ll deal with the mechanics of how God can be angry/hate but not sin in another post. The list is commonly referred to as ‘the seven deadly sins’, ‘the seven worse sins’, or ‘Seven’, which is the title of a movie made about the list.

Scripture mentions six things God hates and adds a seventh as a sort of appendix. There are two schools of thought about how the seventh fits. Some scholars say the seventh is simply an addition and all are equally hated by God. Others suggest the seventh is actually worse, placing it in a different category. Although the vast majority of translations don’t support this position, some lend themselves to it.

For example, Eugene Peterson’s Message Translation translates:

‘Here are six things God hates, and one more that he loathes with a passion’

Whether the seventh is more hated by God or not is not really the focus of this post. The fact remains that these are seven things He clearly hates. Hate is a strong word but it is exactly what scripture makes use of with regards to this list. The actions listed in this passage are a manifestation of satan’s influence over people. This is why they are things the Lord hates. God is a loving, caring heavenly father but that doesn’t mean He cannot hate. You can walk in love and still hate. God loves what is right and hates what is wrong. You have probably heard the politically correct statement “God loves the sinner but hates the sin”.  Sadly we often quote this not realising (or failing to mention) that you aren’t separated from your sins unless you repent of them.

The love God extends to a sinner only extends far enough to offer them an opportunity to repent.

Studying the list of the things God hates helps reveal the things He loves! As we begin to hate the things that He hates, our minds become more and more like God’s mind.

1. Haughty Eyes: A Proud Look.

The first thing listed is pride – a proud look. A proud look emanates from those whose hearts are filled with a high opinion of themselves. They look down at others with piercing eyes, and their words carry condescending tones.  Today, we say such people are “full of themselves” and that is an accurate description. Scholars suggest that it is listed as the first sin here because it was the first sin in heaven (by satan and the non-elect angels) and the first sin committed by man (Adam & Eve).

An arrogant person is a satan look-alike!

Proverbs 16:18 famously reminds us that “pride goes before destruction… ”  When pride comes, destruction soon follows. According to Psalm 101:5 God will not tolerate a haughty look. Psalm 119:21 and Proverbs 16:5 tell us that God rebukes the arrogant for they are cursed ones who wander from his commandments. They are disgusting and exceedingly offensive in the sight of the Lord and they will not go unpunished.

Arrogance can easily come from thinking that your superior talent, wisdom, intelligence, wealth, or charisma (whether real or imagined), makes you more worthy than another person. Some are arrogant simply because they were born with the “right” skin colour or are associated the “right” religious corporation.

Malachi 4:1 describes in detail what God has in store for the arrogant.

 For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant (proud, self-righteous, haughty), and every evildoer shall be stubble; and the day that is coming shall set them on fire, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. [AMP]

The Opposite:

Rather than having a proud look, make every effort to remain humble. Those who capture God’s affection are those who have more humility.

Humility is controlled confidence!

This definition is very timely, especially in the ‘selfie‘ age we live in. Our confidence must always be controlled. There is a thin line between confidence and arrogance and even the best of us cross that line from time to time. It is best to receive nourishment, guidance and direction from The Word; that we might obtain the necessary correction needed to stay on the proper course (the narrow path).

Pride is the silent killer of the church because it often goes unnoticed by others.

Pride may go unnoticed by others, but it does not go unnoticed by God; He looks at the heart and discerns the true motives behind all we do. The quickest way to promotion in the kingdom of God is down (humility) and the quickest way to failure is up (pride).

Appreciate everything God enables you to do, but you don’t have to go around telling everyone about it.  If you are good at what you do, allow others to say so. For example, when Jesus was asked by the high priest on whether or not He was the Son of God, Jesus answered, “that is what you say” [Matthew 26]. We should learn to follow Jesus’ example.

God will openly exalt those who are consistently faithful. 

Be humble in the presence of God’s mighty power, and he will honour you when the time comes [1 Peter 5:6]

2. A Lying Tongue.

The second thing our passage lists is a lying tongue. John 8:42-44 tells us lying tongues come from the devil’s influence. The devil is a liar and the father of lies.

Lying is satan’s native tongue!

Most people don’t think their words are all that important but in Luke 6 Jesus said, “Your words show what is in your heart”.

You and your words are one entity.

If you constantly speak lies, it is an indication your heart is not filled with the truth i.e. God’s truth – Jesus Christ. We will be held accountable for every idle word we’ve spoken [Matthew 12:35-37]. Let that sink in. You will be justified or condemned by the words you speak.

The popular saying is ‘all liars end up in the lake of fire’. Those whose audio (words) don’t match their video (actions) are people of flawed character. Such people lack integrity.

Integrity = the state of being coherent, whole and undivided, having internal consistency or lack of corruption

We are spirits, we possess a soul, and live in a body.  If our spirits desire one thing, but our souls another, and yet our bodies are pulling us in a third direction, then we are not fully integrated.  

This internal struggle eventually leads to a conflict and violation of our integrity.  That’s why scripture says in James that if we can learn to control our tongue; we will literally learn to control our lives, because what comes out of our tongue is an outward representation of what is going on inside us. 

Believers who lie are those who are losing the inward battle.

The Holy Spirit says: speak the truth! but the soul urges us to operate lying tongues. This is a dangerous thing because lies don’t come from God. Bitter water and sweet water cannot come from the same well. [James 3:10-11]

The Opposite:

Rather than having a lying tongue; listen to you inner witness and follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Speak the truth in love, and you will be the person of integrity – fully integrated – that God desires for you to be.

On the last day, honesty will be an identifying sign amongst the special people whom God calls because speaking the truth is a rare virtue, it demonstrates that a person is not under the influence of satan.

But speaking the truth in love [in all things—both our speech and our lives expressing His truth], let us grow up in all things into Him [following His example] who is the Head—Christ.

Ephesians 4:15 [AMP]

We’ll examine the remaining items in today’s passage over the next couple of #MeditationMonday blogposts. Understanding these things is not reserved for the so-called ‘spiritually woke’. God has instilled a basic sense of fairness into every conscience. Interestingly, the seven abominations are listed in context of obeying the latter six of the 10 commandments pertaining to human relationships and they illustrate the exact opposite behaviour and thought patterns of the wicked (who are under satan’s influence), which is why it is important to identify and counter such behaviour in our personal lives.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for loving me, even while I was under the influence of satan. I praise you for delivering me out of the kingdom of darkness into your marvellous light. I declare by faith, that sin does not rule over me. From now on, I love what God loves and hate what He hates. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!
https://gossipforjesus.com/2016/06/27/what-makes-god-angry/

Grace & Peace!

Things that God absolutely hates – 7 abominations to the Lord

Proverbs 6:16-19, NIV There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty

eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Romans 1:16-20, ESV For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

God is sad and angry when we are stubborn…

And if we don’t have faith, we can’t please God.

Mark 3:5,ESV He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

Hebrews 11:6, KJV But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

God is mad when we don’t honor him, when we dishonor him

Romans 1:21, ESV For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

John 2:14-16, ESV In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

“Jesus Wept” ~ When we are sad, hurt, grieved

John 11:32-35, ESV Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.
Angry God is angry when we give his glory away to another

Romans 1:22-23, ESV Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Jeremiah 9:23-24, NKJV Thus says the LORD: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.

God is sad when we don’t repent of sin

Genesis 6:5-6, ESV The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

Ezekiel 18:23, NKJV Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? says the Lord GOD, and not that he should turn from his ways and live?

Ezekiel 18:31-32, NKJV Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies, says the Lord GOD. Therefore turn and live!

In Summary –

Things that make God sad are things that show that we’re not living the way he desires for us to live. What makes God cry? Things that make God cry include our sin, our hurt, and our pain and grief.

It is always helpful to remember that God’s commandments for us are for our own benefit, God loves us so much and he always wants what is best for us. God wants us to glorify him in all we do… Dear Friends, we can trust him :)!

Jeremiah 29:11-13, NIV For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Amen.
www.jollynotes.com

https://tribuneonlineng.com/7-things-that-make-god-angry-sad-mad-and-cry/