In our fast-paced and entertainment-saturated culture, it’s easy to let book-reading fall by the wayside. In fact, many studies show that after college, the average person only reads 3 more books for the rest of their life!
And don’t be tempted to think that the reading of books is old-fashioned and no longer relevant. There is power in the written word. And whether you’re an entrepreneur, business person, or simply someone who wants to continue to grow, reading books is an effective way to continue your personal development.
“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” — Charlie “Tremendous” Jones
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Since developing Parkinson’s in 2011, I have been receiving deep-tissue massage therapy as part of my treatment. I started with once a month, then once a week, and these days I get 3 massages a week. Here’s what this has taught me: your body is the frame through which you see the world. If the frame is bent, twisted, or in pain… you will experience the world that way.
Get over your hangups, and go get a massage from a reputable massage therapist. Try it at least once per week for a month or more and let me know the difference it makes in your life!
Pray Prayers of Proclamation. When you have a need, do you pray or do you plead? Do you begin your prayers with words like, “Please God, please! God, I beg You to have mercy!” Prayers that plead and beg imply that your heavenly Father is not willing to help you. Yet, He is far more gracious and willing to give to you than you are willing to ask, think or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20) He desires above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:2)
In fact, long before you have a need, God has already met that need. Long before you knew you needed a Savior, He sent His Son to be your Savior. This is your God! He is a good God. So when you beg Him for something, you are actually saying that He is reluctant to give and needs to be persuaded strongly before He will move. Yet, He is not like that.
Jesus knew the heart of the Father. When He saw the woman bound with a spirit of infirmity, He did not pray, “Oh Father! She has been suffering for 18 long years! I beseech You, Father, have mercy on her. Please, please heal her!” No, when Jesus saw her, He immediately proclaimed, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity!” He spoke this way because He knew the heart of the Father. He knew that the Father wanted her delivered from her crippling condition.
At the end of a church service, I don’t stand and pray, “Oh God, please bless Your people. Oh God, do keep them. Oh God, be ever so gracious to them!” Instead, I proclaim, “The Lord bless you. The Lord keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you!”
Beloved, when you pray, proclaim your healing, protection and provision because your Father’s heart overflows with love for you. And when you declare it, He sanctions it. When you declare it, He establ