JOY{:-)AWE! Kathleen S. Lewis

Breath Prayer Devotional

You Are A Temple

 You Are A Temple

^{1Co 3:16} Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple? God’s Spirit lives in you.   I Corinthians 3:16. (NIV)

*My body is your temple as you live in me.”

I have often wondered what does it means when the Bible says your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit when you live with illness.  I’m suppose to love my body that has betrayed me.

  I have asked church leaders if they know of any references about the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Finally, when working on a devotional intercessory prayer, I found material that helped me.

 Oswald Chambers in, My Utmost for His Highest, says, “We are energized by the Holy Spirit for prayer … we do not often realize that the Holy Spirit Himself prays in us prayers which we cannot utter.  When we are born again of God are indwelt by the Spirit of God.  He expresses for us the unutterable.”

Chambers goes on to add, “We have to remember that our conscious life, though it is only a part of our personality, is to be regarded as a Shrine of the Holy Ghost.  He will look after the unconscious part that we know nothing of, but we must guard the conscious part for which we are responsible.

 Only 10% of our thoughts are conscious.  The other 90% is unconscious.  My thoughts with chronic illness aren’t always healthy … a balance of negative and positive thoughts.  I can’t always think positive thoughts … it’s impossible! to think all positive thoughts.   

 Often I dip into negative thinking with my drunken monkey mind.  Every thought impacts many systems and parts of the body!  Research has shown that it takes 2 uplifts to 1 hassle to balance out stress. 

 I try to add in 2 breath prayers for every negative thought that I have to keep my body balanced and thtemple of the Holy Spirit in healthy shape!

 Breath Prayer- Take a scriptural promise, turn it into a seven syllable affirmation give or take a few, in present tense and second person, and say it on the perfect breath (in to a count of  3 out of a count to a count of 6) as you breathe out.                                           

 Kathleen S. Lewis, RN, MS, PC, MP: has lived with lupus and many other rheumatic diseases for 32 years; is the author of CELEBRATE LIFE … NEW ATTITUDES FOR LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS and PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING … BREATH PRAYERS; runs a counseling ministry, Celebrate Life, by phone and Internet; is a Stephen minister; has 2 sons and 4 magical grandchildren;  resides in Marietta, GA. with LB, the best Peek-a-Poo ever; and knows “In my weakness is Your strength.”  Check out and meet me for a chat at http://www.letscelebratelife.com

Breath Prayers Devotionals

Breath Prayers Devotionals

Plan

I plan to use this blog to post Breath Prayer Devotionals … I look forward to sharing! 

                                                 Visions

 

“ …. I saw visions of God” Ezekiel 1:1. NIV

        * “You are my vision!”

Throughout my journey with lupus my eyes and vision have been threatened over and over from medications and/or disease activity.  Several times I have developed Plaquenil toxicity that can progress to blindness.  I was taken off Plaquenil and after 6 months the problem resolved.

One Sunday when I was scared to death I was going blind, the first hymn of the service was “Be Thou my vision!”  It hit me between the eyes!  …  just what I needed to hear.  Recently, I’ve been diagnosed with dry macular degeneration with central and peripheral vision loss.  The prospect of blindness hangs over me!

Your vision of the world is very much colored by what you think.  Certain patterns of thinking can cause anger, anxiety, and depression.  Some thoughts that can cause depression are all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralization, mental filtering, disqualifying the positive, jumping to the conclusions, magnifying (catastorphizing) or minimizing, emotional reasoning, musterbating, labeling, and personalizing.

When the Lord is your vision your patterns of thinking produce joy and peace.  Among thought patterns that come from the Lord and produce joy and peace are love, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Your vision of the world when looking through the lenses of depression is dark, hopeless, and helpless.  Your vision of the world through the lenses colored by the thoughts of Christ is light.

I can choose to shut down and let my world be darkness, pain, confusion, and loneliness or can choose to be open to the light of the vision of the lessons I can let the Lord teach me: letting go and letting God;  taking one day at a time;  making God my vision; trusting that the Lord knows what I need and supplies all my needs according to His riches; and He redeems all things in His perfect wisdom, grace, and timing.      

Breath Prayer- Take a scriptural promise, turn it into a seven syllable affirmation give or take a few, in present tense and second person, and say it on the perfect breath (in to a count of  3 out of a count to a count of 6) as you breathe out.                                            

Kathleen S. Lewis, RN, MS, PC, MP: has lived with SLE and eight other rheumatic diseases for 32 years; is the author of CELEBRATE LIFE … NEW ATTITUDES FOR LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS and PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING … BREATH PRAYERS; runs a counseling ministry, Celebrate Life, by phone and the internet; is a Stephen minister; has 2 sons and 4 magical grandchildren;  resides in Marietta, GA. with LB, the best Peek-a-Poo ever; and knows “In my weakness is Your strength.”  Check out and meet me for a chat at http://www.letscelebratelife.com.   

 

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He Gives Us A Spirit

                                            He Gives Us A Spirit

 

“He gave us a spirit that gives us power, love, and a sound mind”  2 Timothy1:7 (NIV).

*You give me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind!”

I was attending a body psychotherapy workshop at a mountain retreat center.  I was the only woman there who had been married, was Christian had children, shaved my legs, styled my hair, wore makeup, was on disability, and ran my nonprofit practice out my home … I was a duck out of the water.

At mealtime and at breaks, I’d try to initiate conversation with different people … no go!  I had many negative responses and overheard participants laughing and talking about me a very derisive manner.

In Bible study time alone in my room, the Lord gave  me the breath prayer “You give me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind!”  WOW!  Power, love … and a sound mind! … just what I needed to breathe over and over.

At the end of the workshop, we ended with a debriefing where everyone there was gushing about how wonderful the workshop had been.  I waited until I was the last person and said that I felt I had hard time connecting with anyone there.

We went around the circle and each person responded to me.  One said that she thought I was hiding behind disability and I could do more … her mother died with lupus as a teenager.  Another said she had worried I was overdoing it at the conference … she had experienced an episode of pericarditis that year.  Yet another one said she admired what I was trying to do.

Each person had responded to me out of their own experience that had nothing to do with me.  It had everything to do with them and what they were projecting onto me. 

Only with saying my new breath prayer over and over, was I able to stay calm and caring!  The Lord truly helped me fight that battle and many others since then with the sword of the Lord formed into a breath prayer!

Breath Prayer- Take a scriptural promise, turn it into a seven syllable affirmation give or take a few, in present tense and second person, and say it on the perfect breath (in to a count of  3 out of a count to a count of 6) as you breathe out.                                            

 

Kathleen S. Lewis, RN, MS, PC, MP: has lived with SLE and many other rheumatic diseases for 32 years; is the author of CELEBRATE LIFE … NEW ATTITUDES FOR LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS and PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING … BREATH PRAYERS; runs a counseling ministry, Celebrate Life, by phone; is a Stephen minister; has 2 sons and 4 magical grandchildren;  resides in Marietta, GA. with LB, the best Peek-a-Poo ever; and knows “In my weakness is Your strength.”  Check out and meet me for a chat at http://www.letscelebratelife.com.   

 

 

                                            He Gives Us A Spirit

 

“He gave us a spirit that gives us power, love, and a sound mind”  2 Timothy1:7 (NIV).

*You give me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind!”

I was attending a body psychotherapy workshop at a mountain retreat center.  I was the only woman there who had been married, was Christian had children, shaved my legs, styled my hair, wore makeup, was on disability, and ran my nonprofit practice out my home … I was a duck out of the water.

At mealtime and at breaks, I’d try to initiate conversation with different people … no go!  I had many negative responses and overheard participants laughing and talking about me a very derisive manner.

In Bible study time alone in my room, the Lord gave  me the breath prayer “You give me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind!”  WOW!  Power, love … and a sound mind! … just what I needed to breathe over and over.

At the end of the workshop, we ended with a debriefing where everyone there was gushing about how wonderful the workshop had been.  I waited until I was the last person and said that I felt I had hard time connecting with anyone there.

We went around the circle and each person responded to me.  One said that she thought I was hiding behind disability and I could do more … her mother died with lupus as a teenager.  Another said she had worried I was overdoing it at the conference … she had experienced an episode of pericarditis that year.  Yet another one said she admired what I was trying to do.

Each person had responded to me out of their own experience that had nothing to do with me.  It had everything to do with them and what they were projecting onto me. 

Only with saying my new breath prayer over and over, was I able to stay calm and caring!  The Lord truly helped me fight that battle and many others since then with the sword of the Lord formed into a breath prayer!

Breath Prayer- Take a scriptural promise, turn it into a seven syllable affirmation give or take a few, in present tense and second person, and say it on the perfect breath (in to a count of  3 out of a count to a count of 6) as you breathe out.                                            

 

Kathleen S. Lewis, RN, MS, PC, MP: has lived with SLE and many other rheumatic diseases for 32 years; is the author of CELEBRATE LIFE … NEW ATTITUDES FOR LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS and PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING … BREATH PRAYERS; runs a counseling ministry, Celebrate Life, by phone; is a Stephen minister; has 2 sons and 4 magical grandchildren;  resides in Marietta, GA. with LB, the best Peek-a-Poo ever; and knows “In my weakness is Your strength.”  Check out and meet me for a chat at http://www.letscelebratelife.com.   

                                            He Gives Us A Spirit

 

“He gave us a spirit that gives us power, love, and a sound mind”  2 Timothy1:7 (NIV).

*You give me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind!”

I was attending a body psychotherapy workshop at a mountain retreat center.  I was the only woman there who had been married, was Christian had children, shaved my legs, styled my hair, wore makeup, was on disability, and ran my nonprofit practice out my home … I was a duck out of the water.

At mealtime and at breaks, I’d try to initiate conversation with different people … no go!  I had many negative responses and overheard participants laughing and talking about me a very derisive manner.

In Bible study time alone in my room, the Lord gave  me the breath prayer “You give me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind!”  WOW!  Power, love … and a sound mind! … just what I needed to breathe over and over.

At the end of the workshop, we ended with a debriefing where everyone there was gushing about how wonderful the workshop had been.  I waited until I was the last person and said that I felt I had hard time connecting with anyone there.

We went around the circle and each person responded to me.  One said that she thought I was hiding behind disability and I could do more … her mother died with lupus as a teenager.  Another said she had worried I was overdoing it at the conference … she had experienced an episode of pericarditis that year.  Yet another one said she admired what I was trying to do.

Each person had responded to me out of their own experience that had nothing to do with me.  It had everything to do with them and what they were projecting onto me. 

Only with saying my new breath prayer over and over, was I able to stay calm and caring!  The Lord truly helped me fight that battle and many others since then with the sword of the Lord formed into a breath prayer!

Breath Prayer- Take a scriptural promise, turn it into a seven syllable affirmation give or take a few, in present tense and second person, and say it on the perfect breath (in to a count of  3 out of a count to a count of 6) as you breathe out.                                            

 

Kathleen S. Lewis, RN, MS, PC, MP: has lived with SLE and many other rheumatic diseases for 32 years; is the author of CELEBRATE LIFE … NEW ATTITUDES FOR LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS and PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING … BREATH PRAYERS; runs a counseling ministry, Celebrate Life, by phone; is a Stephen minister; has 2 sons and 4 magical grandchildren;  resides in Marietta, GA. with LB, the best Peek-a-Poo ever; and knows “In my weakness is Your strength.”  Check out and meet me for a chat at http://www.letscelebratelife.com.   

 

                                            He Gives Us A Spirit

 

“He gave us a spirit that gives us power, love, and a sound mind”  2 Timothy1:7 (NIV).

*You give me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind!”

I was attending a body psychotherapy workshop at a mountain retreat center.  I was the only woman there who had been married, was Christian had children, shaved my legs, styled my hair, wore makeup, was on disability, and ran my nonprofit practice out my home … I was a duck out of the water.

At mealtime and at breaks, I’d try to initiate conversation with different people … no go!  I had many negative responses and overheard participants laughing and talking about me a very derisive manner.

In Bible study time alone in my room, the Lord gave  me the breath prayer “You give me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind!”  WOW!  Power, love … and a sound mind! … just what I needed to breathe over and over.

At the end of the workshop, we ended with a debriefing where everyone there was gushing about how wonderful the workshop had been.  I waited until I was the last person and said that I felt I had hard time connecting with anyone there.

We went around the circle and each person responded to me.  One said that she thought I was hiding behind disability and I could do more … her mother died with lupus as a teenager.  Another said she had worried I was overdoing it at the conference … she had experienced an episode of pericarditis that year.  Yet another one said she admired what I was trying to do.

Each person had responded to me out of their own experience that had nothing to do with me.  It had everything to do with them and what they were projecting onto me. 

Only with saying my new breath prayer over and over, was I able to stay calm and caring!  The Lord truly helped me fight that battle and many others since then with the sword of the Lord formed into a breath prayer!

Breath Prayer- Take a scriptural promise, turn it into a seven syllable affirmation give or take a few, in present tense and second person, and say it on the perfect breath (in to a count of  3 out of a count to a count of 6) as you breathe out.                                            

 

Kathleen S. Lewis, RN, MS, PC, MP: has lived with SLE and many other rheumatic diseases for 32 years; is the author of CELEBRATE LIFE … NEW ATTITUDES FOR LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS and PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING … BREATH PRAYERS; runs a counseling ministry, Celebrate Life, by phone; is a Stephen minister; has 2 sons and 4 magical grandchildren;  resides in Marietta, GA. with LB, the best Peek-a-Poo ever; and knows “In my weakness is Your strength.”  Check out and meet me for a chat at http://www.letscelebratelife.com.

Kathleen S. Lewis- JOY{:-)AWE!

I hope to share Breath Prayer devotionals with you.

The Battles of Life

                 The LORD will go ahead of you and lead you Isaiah 52:12 (NIV).

I am going there to prepare a place for you. John14:2 (NIV). Isa 53:4 Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains. Isaiah 53:4 (NIV). The LORD will fight for you. Just be still. Exodus 14:14 (NIV).

*”You go before me, prepare the way, carry and fight for me.”

This story may seem silly insignificant! I was fighting for my balance emotionally, physically, and spiritually. The year before I had fought my way through a broken ankle that had triggered a severely painful lupus flare. I had to crawl to the bathroom, up and down the stairs to get something to eat, and put out my dog, Beamer. I was unable to use my crutches due to carpal tunnel, inflamed lungs and ribcage. I prayed to the Lord to let this pass from me … I didn’t think I could make it.

In a couple of months I took my licensing exam to be a Licensed Professional Counselor, my youngest son got married, and world events played out before me with massive loss of life … the bombing of the Denver Federal Office Building, the crash of plane full of people died in a senseless crash. I cried out to the Lord, “Why have I been spared ,” feeling like my life was useless.

The Lord lit a fire under me. I was determined to make the gift of my life count. I changed churches, became a Stephen Minister, and immersed myself in teaching divorce recovery workshops and leading support groups. After church one night, my beloved Beamer hemorrhaged out in my arms in 3 hours at the vets. My tears showered down on him!

Beamer’s death seemed more than I could bear. I walked through the house and screamed his name … “BEAMER where are you?” The Lord gave me the combination breath prayer … “You go before, prepare The Way, carry, and fight for me!!!” That breath prayer got me through this time, led me to LB (Little Beamer), … little baby, little boy, little brat, etc.

This breath prayer has become the sword of the Lord to fight many other battles of life!

Breath Prayer- Take a scriptural promise, turn it into a seven syllable affirmation give or take a few, in present tense and second person, and say it on the perfect breath (in to a count of 3 out of a count to a count of 6) as you breathe out.

Kathleen S. Lewis, RN, MS, PC, MP: has lived with SLE and many other rheumatic diseases for 32 years; is the author of CELEBRATE LIFE … NEW ATTITUDES FOR LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS and PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING … BREATH PRAYERS; runs a counseling ministry, Celebrate Life, by phone; is a Stephen minister; has 2 sons and 4 magical grandchildren; resides in Marietta, GA. with LB, the best Peek-a-Poo ever; and knows “In my weakness is Your strength.” Check out and meet me for a chat at http://www.letscelebratelife.com.

Blessings

                          Blessings  

 

^{1Ch 4:10} Jabez cried out to the God of Israel. He said, “I wish you would bless me. I wish you would give me more territory. Let your powerful hand be with me. Keep me from harm. Then I won’t have any pain” (1 Chronicles 4:9-10) (NIV) 

                                                      *”You bless me indeed!”

 I had just been for a repeat mammogram.  At the parking lot cashier I asked the teller “How are you?”  Her reply was “I am blessed!”  That response rang in my head as I left and still echoes to today.

 I began to respond to those who ask me “How are you” … “I am blessed!”  It was such a magnificent way to side step that thorny moment and witness. 

 I’d ask in return  “How about you?”  It would kind of startle some folks.  I didn’t need to go into my life’s multiple ring circus … new diagnosis of macular degeneration, kidney failure getting worse, the son I live with facing the possibility of losing his home, etc., etc!  I also feel blessed!

 My Vandy Nursing School roommate had me to share dinner with her dying elderly mother. Mama Hopkins instructed “You don’t say ‘You have a nice day.’  Life isn’t a smorgasbord.  You make a choice.  You need to say “Make a nice day!’” 

 The Lord lead me to put the 2 together and say “Make a blessed day” or “You make a blessed one!”  It’s taking time for those responses to become automatic.    

 People really respond to that comment whether it be a computer technical support person, check out teller, etc!  They seem surprised and even thank me!

 As I was beginning to write this I realized that “I am blessed” is a breath prayer from Jabez’s prayer!  An awkward moment in automatic social interchange has been made into surprise interaction that affirms my blessings and passes them on to others.

 Breath Prayer- Take a scriptural promise, turn it into a seven syllable affirmation give or take a few, in present tense and second person, and say it on the perfect breath (in to a count of  3 out of a count to a count of 6) as you breathe out.                                           

 Kathleen S. Lewis, RN, MS, LPC, CMP: has lived with SLE and many other rheumatic diseases for 31 years; is the author of CELEBRATE LIFE … NEW ATTITUDES FOR LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS and PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING … BREATH PRAYERS; runs a counseling ministry, Celebrate Life, by phone; is a Stephen minister;  has 2 sons and 4 magical grandchildren;  resides in Marietta, GA.  with LB, the best Peek-a-Poo ever; and knows “In my weakness is Your strength.”  Check out and meet me for a chat at http://www.letscelebratelife.com.

Vision

                                                 Visions

 

“ …. I saw visions of God” Ezekiel 1:1. NIV

        * “You are my vision!”

Throughout my journey with lupus my eyes and vision have been threatened over and over from medications and/or disease activity.  Several times I have developed Plaquenil toxicity that can progress to blindness.  I was taken off Plaquenil and after 6 months the problem resolved.

One Sunday when I was scared to death I was going blind, the first hymn of the service was “Be Thou my vision!”  It hit me between the eyes!  …  just what I needed to hear.  Recently, I’ve been diagnosed with dry macular degeneration with central and peripheral vision loss.  The prospect of blindness hangs over me!

Your vision of the world is very much colored by what you think.  Certain patterns of thinking can cause anger, anxiety, and depression.  Some thoughts that can cause depression are all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralization, mental filtering, disqualifying the positive, jumping to the conclusions, magnifying (catastorphizing) or minimizing, emotional reasoning, musterbating, labeling, and personalizing.

When the Lord is your vision your patterns of thinking produce joy and peace.  Among thought patterns that come from the Lord and produce joy and peace are love, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Your vision of the world when looking through the lenses of depression is dark, hopeless, and helpless.  Your vision of the world through the lenses colored by the thoughts of Christ is light.

I can choose to shut down and let my world be darkness, pain, confusion, and loneliness or can choose to be open to the light of the vision of the lessons I can let the Lord teach me: letting go and letting God;  taking one day at a time;  making God my vision; trusting that the Lord knows what I need and supplies all my needs according to His riches; and He redeems all things in His perfect wisdom, grace, and timing.      

Breath Prayer- Take a scriptural promise, turn it into a seven syllable affirmation give or take a few, in present tense and second person, and say it on the perfect breath (in to a count of  3 out of a count to a count of 6) as you breathe out.                                            

Kathleen S. Lewis, RN, MS, PC, MP: has lived with SLE and eight other rheumatic diseases for 32 years; is the author of CELEBRATE LIFE … NEW ATTITUDES FOR LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS and PRAYER WITHOUT CEASING … BREATH PRAYERS; runs a counseling ministry, Celebrate Life, by phone and the internet; is a Stephen minister; has 2 sons and 4 magical grandchildren;  resides in Marietta, GA. with LB, the best Peek-a-Poo ever; and knows “In my weakness is Your strength.”  Check out and meet me for a chat at http://www.letscelebratelife.com.   

 

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