by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com
Magnificent Mind at Any Age by Daniel G. Amen, M.D., is about the natural ways to unleash your brain's maximum potential. Amen says the brain and mind are two different things although they interact with each other. Our mind not only affects problems as attention deficit disorder, anxiety, depression, addictions, anger, but also being more thoughtful, creativity, energy, focus and effectiveness.
The first key to a magnificent brain is a balanced brain. Failure is often related to a brain gone wrong. The brain is very fragile and physical blows to it can affect its ability to function well. Avoid contact sports where the head can have blows to it like football, boxing, soccer. It's important to increase blood flow and your brain reserve. Brain reserve is building up neurons in our brain. This is done through
Making positive social connections,
Engaging in new learning,
Maintaining a healthy died,
Taking daily multiple vitamins,
Taking fish oil supplements,
Learning music,
Exercising regularly,
Dancing,
Expressing gratitude,
Meditating,
Controlling and balancing life is vital while eliminating daily habits that hold you back.
These bad habits affect you at all ages: Lousy diet, lack of exercise, risking brain trauma, chronic stress, negative thinking (worry, anger), poor sleep, cigarette smoke, excessive use of caffeine, alcohol, TV, video games, computer, cell phones, aspartame and MSG, and exposure to environmental toxins. All these, especially in excess, affect your brain's ability to function at its optimum.
The four circles of optimal health are your biological circle, psychological circle, your social circle and your Spiritual circle. Keep these in balance and active. Natural strategies for optimizing the brain are Multiple vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acid. Amen shares other natural supplements to aide ADD, anxiety and depression, insomnia, memory and pain.
Ignite new passion in life. Review what turned you on in your life, excited you or game you maximum fun in life in your past and present life. What would give you the same feelings in the future. Note them in these areas (your balance of life areas): relationships, work, finances, physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual life. Use this as your plan to follow to make your own miracles, to use your brain to define your dreams and make it a reality.
The rules to follow are to define your own success(specifically defined by you), success is a feeling and you must feel it, success at any price may not be success, it is a process that occurs in steps, success must be balanced, learned, defining success too low or too high will derail you, and success is having the ability to be honest with you. Now use the balance of life areas above. Tell your brain what you want and match your behavior to get it. Use your prefrontal cortex to plan it, do it.
Create a One-Page Miracle with the balance of life areas. Simply state what you want and what you are doing to make it happen.
In these areas, know when to put your brakes on. Know what is not taking you where you want and have the courage to say no. Saying no is okay if it takes you away from what you feel you want or need to be. Learn to use the phrase, "Let me think about it. If I want to do it, I will get back to you."
You don't have to live someone else's life. Know what you want and live it.
Embrace the truth and liberate yourself from the lies that pollute your brain. Amen calls these your ANTs... automatic negative thought. These negative thoughts may come in these ways. Always thinking and overgeneralizing, focusing on the negative, fortune-telling (predicting a negative future), mind reading or assuming you know what the other person is thinking, thinking with your feelings, guilt beatings, attaching negative labels to yourself and others, personalization which allows innocuous events to take on a personal meaning, and blaming other people for problems in your life. Each time any of these occur, turn on your internal logic part of your brain. Tell yourself and others the truth. Be a merciful judge to yourself, and express gratitude for things in your life and to others. When you do this, your brain actually works better.
To get unstuck, you can grease your brain by balancing your brain... consider herb and vitamin supplements, come back to problems later, think through answers before automatically saying no, write out options when you feel stuck, seek counsel, don't overreact to opposition, use reverse psychology on yourself.
Develop mental toughness and cultivate a resilient brain. Ten ways to do that are to gather informatoin on all issues, develop a personal sense of control by being proactive in solution action and not dwelling on mistakes of past, build self esteem telling yourself nice things about yourself, keep pleasure centers healthy, clear up traumas, face your fears, deal with adversity, use positive emotions such as laughter, rely on a moral compass, and nurture social support.
Brain trust grows when you enhance your social network. One of the best antidepressants is relating. Relating is an acronym for responsibility, empathy, listening, assertiveness, time, inquiry, noticing what you like the most, connecting with great groups. Be a maverick thinker and stop anxiety from allowing others to run your life. Maverick thinking is independent thinking, not accepting the norm just because it is the norm, creative thinking different than others, and the passionate belief you can make a difference.
The brain builds nerve cell networks tagged with names of people we see as honest and trustworthy or lying and unreliable. We can rebuild those brain connections by staying consistent and honest in our behavior. Behavior wins out over words and in time we can restore trust relations. This empowers the brain to know we are trusted. Your behavior tells the story.
For more indepth look at how to make your magnificent brain click to
http://www.amenclinics.com/
In Practical Ministry, The Body of Christ by Dr. J. Robert Ashcroft, he says that everyone hungers for reality. We must go beyond theory. The program for practical ministry in the Scriptures is expressed in Acts 2:41-47. When Jesus' disciples gathered,
they were centered in the Scriptures. They continued steadfastly. It means they devoted themselves to the study of God's Word. We are to be doers of the Word, James 2:22 , and not just hearers. To accomplish this daily devotion is necessary. A personal discipline is required with specific times set aside just for this... every day. A personal Bible reflection time done daily is just as important as group discussions of the Scriptures. Their goal was to learn and obey the Scriptures. Deuteronomy 6 says we were to do this all day long, and then all would be well with you.
The early church learned the apostles doctrine through kerygma.. the proclamation of Jesus. We learn it, become the Word and the proclamation is natural when it's naturally part of us.
Deuteronomy 6:7-9. Instruction is vitally important to make the Scriptures a walking, living, breathing part of us. "Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." It is vital to be a powerful proclaiming group. We proclaim it to each other and all we come in contact with.
Staying continually in God's word and God's presence yields great power. It transforms our minds to be Minds of Christ. The apostles spent 10 days in prayer. Peter gave a 3-minute sermon and 3000 people were converted that day. In the modern day we may give a 3-minute prayer, have ten days of preaching and not have one convert. We may very well be doing things backwards. Prayer must precede and exceed our proclamation times.
Then in addition to being centered in God's Word, they continued in fellowship. Their fellowship was immersed in the power of Spirit. It was an unconditional sharing, sacrificial love. They were gathered together in His Name. Jesus promised when we do that, He will be among us, in person, right there with us. It made koinonia possible... the intimate sharing of fellowship.
People were more important than property or policies. Needs were common. Communion is more than a ceremony to acknowledge Jesus as part of our lives. The sharing of bread with those who are in need is the spirit of communion. The bread the world wants, is hungry for, is both physical and spiritual. When it was necessary to meet the needs of others they sold their possessions. It's not as important to know how they met needs but that they did it. Their willingness to do it is what stands out. Such willingness proved the unselfishness of those members of the Body of Christ.
The role of Koinonia is found in Ephesians 4:2,3 and 1 Cor 1:9,10. "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." (NLT)
Some think just having a place to meet fosters koinonia. The assembly is just ecclesia. The Church centers around koinonia... a close knit sharing of all things in common, and looking out for the well being of everyone there. It's not a legislated thing. But it comes from Spirit in and among each other as expressed in Love they have for each other. They are gathered together in His Name.
It is important again to remind us that unity is what is important; not the specific number.
In Acts, there were a number of homes mentioned where they met. The home was their central meeting place. They met together in the Word and in the Name of Jesus. He was there. They were internally and externally blessed. They faithfully went from house to house, breaking bread, and eating with gladness and with singleness of heart. It is most dramatic to see the sacrificial love they had.
Paul found such sharing in as well with the Macedonian Christians. They were people persecuted and disenfranchised. With no source of income, they had to find ways to feed themselves. In the midst of this abject poverty they were willing to share with other saints. When they needed to, they would liquidate a portion or all of their assets for the benefit of the dependent members of the fellowship. They did not consider what they had as too valuable to sacrifice for those in need. The real truth that should shine through all this is the spirit of sacrificial sharing, the willingness to give up our self-interests was the top priority.
"If anyone should come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23)
An expression in the early days of the Pentecostal movement was "being sold out." Being sold out was that you held nothing back. To hold something back illustrated our selfish priority. It meant physical death to Ananias. It means Spiritual death to us. These people recognizing their desperate need, sold their possessions as they saw the desperate need of the community to know Christ in a living, vital relationship. Is it any wonder they had such a response from the people?
In the midst of sharing they were praising God and enjoying their food with gladness. This puts into perspective the unity of the mind of each and all. They were not split between the sacred and secular. The supernatural result of people who are sold out, committing all that they are to Him, is that many come into the Kingdom of God. This is the supernatural result of koinonia. Such love was a magnet that drew people to Christ. Power exuded all around them. With great power they gave witness of the resurrection.
The unity of the believers in koinonia caused the presence of the Lord to draw near. As they acted in unity, they became the manifestation of the presence of the Lord. The early life of Jesus was the bodily form of God on earth.The unity of the believers becomes a new body of flesh where God manifests himself in the world, now in the place of the physical presence of Jesus. We, as a unit, now walk the earth as the physical presence of Jesus. That's why unity is essential to see the power of Jesus, when on earth, to be manifested now.
"The works that I do, you will do even greater works than these."
(Jesus)
This new man of Jesus, the believers unified in the Body of Christ, will do the works even greater than Jesus when He was on earth.
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