Tag: An Attitude of Gratitude

The Innumerable Health Benefits of Being Grateful

by christopher briscoe, posted in Uncategorized

Chris Briscoe Publications

My caption: I wonder if the man in the empty line kiosk is writing his Gratitude Attitude Journal with the top entry, “Thank you that no one is grateful, today!”

Monday Revisited

I am sure we have all been there: you open your eyes, thinking it’s Sunday, but then it dawns on your senses – you have that dreaded sinking feeling as you realize it’s Monday. Yes, it’s Monday morning and the holiday feeling of the weekend is replaced by finding those unpaid bills on your coffee-ringed stained table, reflecting your dark-eyed ring eyes. There’s a knock on the door – you turn to scour your hallway leading to your front-door, or rather your landlord’s front door, as your senses recognise the height of the figure banging, frustratingly, outside his door, to remind you that your rent is due.

“YUK! Those dreaded Monday blues” revisited. You debate in your mind whether to open the door and your heart to your landlord and realize that as a Christian, that is the Christian thing to do – to always open your heart to everybody and bless even those who are regarded as combatants. You glance outside through your window and suddenly you realize the weather today is synching with your feelings.

It’s funny how in Britain the rain loves Mondays, especially Bank-holiday Mondays. Sorry, if you come from over the other side of the “Pond” and you don’t  understand my connection between Monday morning rain and Bank-holiday Mondays. I mean, that rather large pond Americans call, “the Atlantic.”

You have awoken to the reality of Monday. I am an Englishman who grew up to the sound of the number One song in the hit parade from “The Boomtown Rats”, “Tell me Why I Don’t like Mondays!” and now I was thinking, “Bob, what a stupid question.” Bob, is or was the lead singer, i.e. Bob Geldof)

As if we had no reason to hate Mondays or as if we were scratching around for a reason to hate Mondays, as you glance at your watch and its face is screaming at you to drag every resisting members of your tired body to your 8 to 5 job. A job you hate more than Mondays –  to face the devil incarnate – I mean your boss.

At these times, it’s so important to be grateful – in the good times and bad times – in the bitter as well as the better. At least, for the sake of your emotional well-being because numerous studies confirm that the health benefits your body and emotions derive from giving thanks, actually cannot be disputed. Even if you feel you don’t have a reason to be grateful, the very act of just beginning to count your blessings – even saying, “Thank you, Lord (whoever, Lord is to you) for giving me oxygen to breath” actually changes your metabolic and atomic as well as chemicals deposition – which is good news because it means you can actually change the longevity of your life and stretch it out by just sitting, lazily counting your blessings; because there was a study that found the difference between a group of people who didn’t actively give thanks, compared with those who kept what I call, “a Gratitude Journal”, twenty years later, the group who did and kept up the habit lived at least five years longer – WOW!

When you were a youngling and you couldn’t sleep, were you told to count sheep?

Well, studies show that counting blessings is far more effective.

The science says, when participants are hooked up to measuring instruments – when they give thanks, their brains are triggering healthy chemicals – for example, inside our brains are switches called neurotransmitters which activate our healing (chemicals which reduce pain and repair our bodies) chemicals and also help us sleep.

Giving thanks can induce our healing chemicals – also, it is a medical fact that laughter and a positive attitude of heart induces endorphins in our immune system which reduces or eases pain because they block our pain-receptors in our immune system. That’s why the Bible says in the book of Proverbs, 14:30 “A calm and peaceful and tranquil heart is life and health to the body, but passion and envy are like rottenness to the bones.”

(The Amplified Version)

In the following article from, the Utopian Life, it reads, “Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins are the quartet responsible for our happiness. Many events can trigger these neurotransmitters, but rather than being in the passenger seat, there are ways we can intentionally cause them to flow.”

Another article I read from the Time.com publication reads, “Gratitude can help you sleep;   ‘Count blessings, not sheep,’ Seppälä says. Research in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research has found that feeling grateful helps people sleep better and longer. That’s likely because “you have more positive thoughts before you go to sleep,” says Seppälä (who wasn’t involved in the study), which may soothe the nervous system. If you’re going to make a daily gratitude list, Seppälä recommends writing it before bed.  Gratitude may stop you from overeating ‘Gratitude replenishes willpower,’ says Susan Peirce Thompson, a cognitive scientist who specializes in the psychology of eating. The concept is similar to the Northeastern research that found a connection between gratitude and patience: Thompson says that cultivating feelings of gratitude can boost your impulse control, helping you slow down and make better decisions. If you find yourself taking slice after slice of pumpkin pie, for example, Thompson recommends excusing yourself from the table to jot down a quick list of things you’re grateful for, which can help you clear your mind and reset.  Gratitude can help ease depression. Thompson,a cognitive scientist, says experiments have shown that people who partake in the ‘three good things’ exercise — which, as the name suggests, prompts people to think of three good moments or things that happened that day — see considerable improvements in depression and overall happiness, sometimes in as little as a couple weeks. ‘If there were a drug that did that, whoever patented that drug would be rich,’ Thompson says. ‘Gratitude is very powerful.’ Gratitude gives you happiness that lasts.”

So, can you be thankful or can you start to see the importance of being thankful?” the article asks the reader.

Also Giving thanks has Emotional and Spiritual Benefits

Because you will then experience massive breakthrough – you will be able to see all those problems from an entirely new perspective panoramic view on your problems, instead of the usual suffocating presence of those problems engulfing you and exasperating you.For when you actually take your eyes off the problem and instead fix them on the problem-solver, your perspective becomes like a bird’s eye eagle-view instead of being cooped up with a chicken’s view; and you will be able to see the problem in a different light and angle, which will be so empowering, you might even see the easy way to tackle your problems, now you have such a better view.

I want to share with you further the amazing health benefits of having a thankful spirit – and not just physical health, but mental,  emotional and spiritual health. Of course, everyone knows it’s far better and joy-inducing to have a thankful spirit rather than always a complaining spirit, but did you know that BEING THANKFUL IS ACTUALLY EXCEEDINGLY HEALTHY FOR YOU? – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually – that is if your spirit is alive and active; I say this because in this world there are many people who have no inclination or feelings toward there spirit because, in fact, their spirit is long dead and remains unawakened, or quickened by God’s Spirit; and so here’s the remedy: everyone’s spirit needs quickening by God the Holy Spirit because our spirits are either dead, or if not dead, grown stone-cold; and that’s why so many individuals are so susceptible to being embittered and full of hate, because where a spirit has grown to become empty, another entity fills the vacuum. For whenever there’s a vacuum in the heart or mind of us or man, Satan or negative forces are lurking nearby for the chance to pounce and fill that vacuum.

But the best neutraliser of our anxious thoughts is explained in the Bible with these words:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but instead, in all things, pray and present your request to God, with thanksgivings, and then the profound peace of God will minister to your heart and mind, giving you a perfect peace as your guard.”

Philippians 4:6-7. (NIV Version, slightly changed to My Version)

Also, in the next Verse, the Bible tells us the importance of maintaining an attitude of fixing our thoughts on “noble thoughts”. Here is the full passage of Philippians,  Chapter Four, Verses Four until Seven:

“4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

That’s commanding us to be thankful and think positively, always.

The good news is once our hearts have been warmed and filled with the power of God’s  love, giving thanks becomes much easier and is a natural response to having our socks blessed off! Then our spirit and emotions can be filled – not with hate, and embittered bitter spirit,  but a spirit who sings an endless parade of praise and thankfulness, which is better than an endless tirade of hate.

And after being quickened by the Holy Spirit, our spirits are touched with God’s  healing and comforted, no end. We can see all our problems in a different angle and light: instead of focusing on all our problems and magnifying them with a microscope, we suddenly are empowered to see them as God sees them – like a bird’s eye view.

When you consciously give thanks, what you are doing is taking your eyes and mind’s eye off your problem and transferring them onto God. You are doing something which has endless benefits for you – emotionally, physically, mentally, and most importantly, spiritually: you are removing your concentration from the problem (instead of keep energising and feeding the problem) and placing your concentration on the God of all problems, so you are acknowledging something in your reality which changes your reality when you accept that God is bigger than all your problems; so, whether you believe in his existence or not, your first step is to acknowledge that there could be a God, who is bigger than all your problems, which is the first step to real well-being and healing. You are acknowledging that there could be a sovereign God, who is sitting on his throne, with all past, present and future problems in subservience.

At least, that’s the first step to what I call the most exciting journey of your life, namely the Christian life of comfort, joy and peace from God, tangibly by God the Holy Spirit.

If you pray like this – even if you don’t believe in God,

“I have heard about you God – that you exist. I am not sure if you exist but, in case you do, then please help me in my unbelief and so send a miracle by overcoming or smashing this problem which I surrender into your bigger arms; believing that if you exist, then you are more qualified to deal with this problem.I heard you love me more than anyone, so, if that’s the case, you will pour some of that love down to me and I will see a definite change in the texture of this problem;  I await and look forward to your reply.”

Well, if you have just done that, then I have good news: already that texture of the problem which was rock hard to you before is beginning to melt, now. And these few words, throwing up a challenge to God of testing his love will mean, because God is a God of love for you, he will respond to the tiniest atom of challenge of faith you direct to him.

Then just wait and see what happens.

If, in the meantime, if nothing happens, at least you would have refocused your mind from negative messages to positive messages, and the result will be, you will be far more at ease and peaceful, and your journey  to emotional health and sense of peace would have begun.

There have been numerous medical studies conducted researching the connection between keeping a gratitude journal and one’s health and sleep well-being.

Here in the following box is a record of just a few of these studies and the findings they point towards:

Whatever you do, today, one of the most important things you need to do, if not most important is to give thanks.Give thanks to whoever, God, preferable, or as for me, this morning, when I was just starting my day, my thoughts turned towards the importance of giving thanks, and so being a child of God, I said, “Thank You, Jesus, that you love me so much, you have planned a special day for me today. And as long as I am seeking your guidance and obedience, I am living in your greatest favour.

Amen!”

If you can pray like that, every day, then you will live in breakthrough because giving thanks is the greatest power to smash all the obstacles and negatives of your life. When we give thanks we are first of all acknowledging that God is the source of all our overcoming – thus, we have done something which has the potential to bring the breakthrough – because, as you know,  OUR ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING IN OVERCOMING – AND WE COULDN’T HAVE A BETTER ATTITUDE THAN GIVING THANKS.

If you are a Christian, you can receive endless and unlimited more bonuses when you give thanks to God your Father. Actually,  giving thanks is also obeying God your Father. It’s powerful in our heart because we have handed over all our problems to a much bigger and more powerful entity than us – someone who is more qualified to take care and smash all our burdens. Even if we don’t believe in God, the very act of surrendering our burdens and anxious thoughts to a perceived higher power brings an emotional pressure valve release which results in emotional well-being. And most importantly, for Christians, we have taken a significant step of faith, into the hands of our invisible Father and his visible love and power – actually powerful love; we have acknowledged God’s love and given him opportunity to work miracles in our lives because God is always pleased with our faith – in fact, without faith it is impossible to please God.Giving thanks is so powerful for you – it actually enables you to elevate yourself above the maddening or maddened crowd.

Also, it has numerous health benefits because when we just say those words, “Thankyou you for this Monday – thank you that I can live another day, healthily, and do my work or whatever with enough health, strength and breath in me” when you just say, “Thank you, God”, something significant moves inside your immune system. Inside you that message that you appreciate actually empowers special healing drugs or triggers them to fill your brain and body with healing chemicals, which is so different to when you receive the message, “Oh, No, I’m worried – what am I going to do, Oh, hell I am heading towards trouble here” If you say that to yourself, or whatever negative message you give to yourself, your immune system responds and sends messages that you are not healthy as a result. Or these have a detrimental effect on your body, or have the opposite effect.

Here, I will now share with you, what happiness is because there is alot of misunderstanding about what creates happiness.

As you can see, the least an attitude of gratitude can do for you is enhance your emotional well-being.

If you still need further convincing on the benefits of an attitude of gratitude, then the following quotation from the pages of the Bible about what happened to King Jehoshaphat when he was facing defeat and God told him to place his worship team on the front line. Yes, giving thanks really is the front line of our battle in the mind, and every other battle!

This is how Israel’s King, Jehoshaphat, Defeated his Enemies. (from the Second Book of Chronicles, Chapter Twenty)

1 After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat.

2 Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi). 3 Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. 4 The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.

5 Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard 6 and said:

“Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. 7 Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8 They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your Name, saying, 9 ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’

10 “But now here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade when they came from Egypt; so they turned away from them and did not destroy them. 11 See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. 12 Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.

14 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.

15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”

18 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord. 19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

20 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” 21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his[c] holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord,

   for his love endures forever.”

22 As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. 23 The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

24 When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. 25 So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing[d] and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. 26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, where they praised the Lord. This is why it is called the Valley of Berakah[e] to this day.

27 Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. 28 They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpets.

29 The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. 30 And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.

(2 Chronicles 20: 1-30, New International Version)

Pastor Greg Laurie also endorses the power of placing our worship team on the frontline, although I am not sure if he does it literally to his enemies, like King Jehoshaphat!

Anyway, the Following few words I have taken from the Site of Harvest Ministries, and the wonderful  ministry of Pastor Greg Laurie, which I will include, first their copyright:

Copyright © 2017 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved:

“In the Old Testament, we find an interesting story of how King Jehoshaphat took an uncommon approach when his enemies waged war against him. Instead of sending in his army first, he sent the choir and musicians.  Imagine the scene: “All right, guys, here’s the plan today. An army is out there, armed to the teeth. So we are sending in the choir and the musicians.” If I had been a choir member or musician, I might have wondered whether the king liked our music.   But God had directed Jehoshaphat in this unusual battle tactic. We read that Jehoshaphat appointed people to sing to the Lord, praise the beauty of holiness, and go out in front of the army saying, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever” (2 Chronicles 20:21).   

So that is exactly what they did. The Bible tells us that when they began to sing and praise, God sent an ambush against the enemy, and they were destroyed. God’s people were able to go into this situation giving thanks, because He was in control.  In approaching God to ask for new blessings, we should never forget to thank Him for the blessings He has already given. Have you recently come to God for help and He came through for you? Did you come back to say “thank you”? If we would stop and think how many of the prayers we have offered to God have been answered, and how seldom we come back to God to thank Him, it just might amaze us. We should be just as deliberate in giving thanks to God as we are in asking for His help.”

So, the conclusion of the matter is:

A) to keep a journal of things you are grateful for and, especially you are grateful to God for.

B) Every night, about half-an-hour or you could do it in 15 minutes, after practice,  before you sleep, write about at least three things you are grateful for and just pray – for example,

1) Thank you Lord, that you gave me my health, today.

2) If you don’t have you daily health, then say, or pray: Thank You, Lord for the breath you have given me.

3) Thank You, Lord, for all my family members, including my brothers and sisters (include everyone –  even if it’s more difficult,m to include your snotty-nosed sister – because it’s good for your enitional, physical and spiritual health).

As a result, your health and sleeping will improve, in leaps and bounds!

Chris Briscoe Publishers ©
If you enjoyed this Post and you would like to read Chris’ book on how to experience the more exciting joy and peace of God, then please check the following Link:

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js