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TGP Volume 19
(2019)

The Grace Perspective is sent to family and friends of GracePoint and also to past and present participants in our support programs as a follow-up supplement to the information provided on our website.

Week 52

GracePoinToday

We live in a broken body, also in a broken world filled with broken people. For this reason, we should not expect in this life to live without suffering pain - including physical, relational, and financial loss. But we can experience Christ, his Provisions of Grace, so that we do not suffer as others (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19L26

Did You Know:

  1. In Heaven, pain, death, and loss will not exist. “God will wipe away our tears” (Revelation 21:4).
  2. In this life, God has provided a way for us to be supported during times of loss: It is for us to
    • grieve, mourn, and cry (Psalm 130:1),
    • read the Psalms, 
    • turn to God,
    • confess our need for him (Denial of loss and need for God shuts the door to the flow of his Provisions into our life to support us.), and
    • open our heart during quiet time worship to receive his Support (Romans 5:17) into our life.
  1. God’s Provisions flow into our life primarily through
    • reading the Scripture in order to hear Truth,
    • our experience of Christ during quiet time worship,
    • the work of the Holy Spirit to produce faith in us concerning God’s
      • unconditional Love for us,
      • passionate interest in every detail of our life, and
      • unfailing commitment to provide for our health and happiness,
      • prayer (surrendering our will to God, receiving the flow of his Support Provisions for us), and
      • singing hymns and spiritual songs per Ephesians 5:19 (not the same as emotional or sensual songs).
 DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19L25

SlimSUPPORT

Exercise to offset a sugar rich diet puts us at risk for injury.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19L24

Week 51

GracePoinToday

Christ lives his Life in and through us in order to support us to be appropriate in all things - so that, to the one extreme, we are not careless about our appearance, what others think about us, or performance to achieve success, or so that, to the other extreme, we do not obsess over them.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19L19

Did You Know:

  1. Fasting does not mean to stop eating. 
  1. Rather, it means to stop or suspend any activity that is
    • sinful (harmful - rejects God’s Provisions for meeting our needs), or
    • superficial (not essential – has no Redemptive [healing] or Eternal value), or that is
    • secondary (good, but not best – does not increase our experience of Christ).
  1. The purpose for fasting is never in order to impress God how sincere or worthy we are of his “blessings.”
  2. The primary purpose for fasting is not even in order to
    • build discipline or self-control or to
    • increase health. 
  1. But the primary purpose for fasting is so that our extended time for reading the Scripture in order to experience Christ in quiet-time worship is not hindered. 
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19L18

SlimSUPPORT

According to trusted resources, heredity is only about a 30% factor influencing personal health – which means, inherited lifestyle choices influence health more than DNA.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19L17

Week 50

GracePoinToday

Our experience of Heaven begins in this life (per Matthew 6:10: “God’s Will on Earth, as it is in Heaven") with our experience of Christ during our quiet time worship (per John 4:10-21; Ephesians 3:19; 4:13).

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19L12

Did You Know:

  • We are not slaves to God attending to his needs (He has none!), but vessels he calls, prepares, and uses for the flow of his Redemptive Provisions to a hurting world.
  • This means, we do not serve God; rather, he serves us and others through us.
  • Also, we do not serve his Resources (in the home and Church); rather, they serve us to support our service to others.
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19L11

SlimSUPPORT

Injury may not be the result of overwork but underconditioning.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19L10

Week 49

GracePoinToday

The greatest need those we serve have for leadership support isn’t to feel valuable (“Good job!”), but to feel unconditionally valued (agapao) – which is possible only as Christ lives his Life in and through us – which he promises to do as we take time each day to be renewed by our experience of him during quiet-time worship per John 15:5.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19L05

Did You Know:

Basically, we have three relationships to Christ:

  1. “US IN CHRIST” - by virtue of our baptism by the Holy Spirit into Christ when we trust his Blood/death on the cross (as the only Payment God will accept to satisfy his judgment against us because of Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden).
  2. “CHRIST IN US (our spirit)” – the New Birth (John 3:3-7).
  3. “CHRIST LIVING IN US (our heart)” by merit of our opening the door of our heart (per Revelation 3:20) to receive the flow of his Life (per John 4:14) from within our spirit into our soul (heart).
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19L04

SlimSUPPORT

The energy that supports us for the performance of our duties is not perpetual (self-sustaining) but must be renewed regularly per our prayer “Give us (we receive) this day our Daily Bread."

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19L03

Week 48

GracePoinToday

God gives us opportunity to experience the Life of Christ within our heart so that we are not left only with religious rules to support our Christian living.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19K28

Did You Know:

  • Physically, you are primarily an organism with a secondary element of organization (skeleton).
  • The home and Church are also primarily organisms with a secondary organizational element.
  • The dynamics of leadership in an organism (relationship-focused support from beneath) is not the same as in an organization (rules-focused expectations and demands from above as in businesses, corporations, military, etc.).
  • In the Old Testament (Law), God related to his people as a Father of small children (mostly organizational, rule-based leadership).
  • Under the new covenant (Romans 7:6), Christ relates to us as the husbandman of his adult bride, the Church (Ephesians 5:22-33) – also, as a farmer and a shepherd (mostly organic, relationship-based leadership).
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19K27

SlimSUPPORT

We build muscle in order to lose weight – that’s because muscle burns more calories than fat. This means, without muscle, it will be difficult to lose weight – even if we reduce the number of calories we consume.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19K26

Week 47

GracePoinToday

Our most powerful support for living the Christian life is not church attendance or participation in programs to help others, but is our quiet-time connection to Christ to receive from him the flow of his Resurrected Life into our heart per John 15:5.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19K21

Did You Know:

  • Our experience of emotions moved by 1) music, melodrama, entertainment, or exciting events is not the same as our experience of emotions moved by 2) our experience of Christ during our quiet-time worship.
  • The first is
    • from without (worldly),
    • superficial, and
    • therapeutic to ease pain.
  • The second is
    • from within (from God – his Life within us) and
    • surpasses all other experiences (Ephesians 3:19).
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19K20

SlimSUPPORT

Sickness, troubles, and failures are not
  • punishment from God,
  • an act of God to make us stronger,
  • influenced by astrology,
  • the result of heredity, or
  • predetermined (predestined) by God.
Rather, they are the sowing and reaping outcome of not including God’s Provisions of Grace into our life.

“How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3).

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19K19

Week 46

GracePoinToday

Humans need affirmation. That’s because we are broken. But God has no need for affirmation - for us to brag on him. He calls us only to confess our brokenness to him and to receive his Support.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19K14

Did You Know:

There is a difference in 
  • what God says to us and 
  • what others tell us he says to us. 
For example, we are supported more for our understanding about God by what he says to us personally by the Holy Spirit through the Scripture during our quiet time than by what others say to us about him from the pulpit or in a Bible class.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19K13

SlimSUPPORT

Health is not the result of
  • God “blessing” us because we make him happy,
  • chance,
  • the influence of astrology (our “lucky stars”), or
  • predestination (predetermined by God for some but not for others).
Rather, it is the sowing and reaping (cause and effect) outcome of including God’s Provisions of Grace into our life per Romans 5:17 and Galatians 6:7.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19K12

Week 45

GracePoinToday

Grace Leadership is not self-serving, does not impose itself, or make demands, but offers its support unconditionally to all who receive it (Revelation 3:20; John 1:12; Romans 5:17; Hebrews 13:20-21; James 1:5-8; 2 Peter 1:3-4).

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19K07

Did You Know:

  • The Bible word glory (doxa) means “the ways and character of God produced in and through us by the Holy Spirit.”
  • To glorify God does not mean to applaud or exalt him in the way we do entertainers or celebrities.
  • Rather, it means to reflect (manifest) the Light of Christ (his Resurrected Life) into a dark world, illustrated by the moon (also a mirror) reflecting the light of the sun.
  • Christ is the glory (reflection) of his Father, man is the glory (reflection) of God, children are the glory (reflection) of their parents, wives are the glory (reflection) of their husband, and church members are the glory (reflection) of their pastors.
  • We glorify God, not by religious talk, but by our good health and godly life (John 15:5-8; also, Galatians 5:22-23, Philippians 1:20, and 1 Corinthians 11:7).
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19K06

SlimSUPPORT

Longevity and good health are not necessarily the same. Modern medicine can support longevity. But proper diet, exercise, lifestyle behavior, and supplementation support good health.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19K05

Week 44

GracePoinToday

Specifically, we do not have from God the Provisions he gives, but the Provisions we receive.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19J31

Did You Know:

  • God is in relationship to us, not for what we can do for him, but for what we will allow him to do for us.
  • God’s giving to us models his Plan for our giving to others – that is, he does not impose his Provisions upon us, but
    • makes them available,
    • identifies them to us, and
    • calls us to receive them.
  • He gives, not because of how it makes him feel, but in order to provide for our healing.
  • He gives, not as a reward to us for making him happy, but because of his commitment to our health and happiness.
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19J30

SlimSUPPORT

God’s Provisions will not fail to accomplish in our life the purpose for which he gave them (health and happiness). Modern medicine can help manage the pain of our brokenness.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19J29

Week 43

GracePoinToday

The world provides resources to support us for attaining worldly goals. But Christ, living his Life in and through us, especially supports us for experiencing outcomes that have eternal value.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19J24

Did You Know:

In the book of Revelation,

  • the dragon is Satan;
  • the first beast coming out the turbulent sea (representing strife and turmoil in the world) is the Antichrist, a human being who will
    • be attractive, charming, winsome, and cunning,
    • rule the world with deception and persecution, and
    • receive worship as the Messiah;
  • the second beast is the False Prophet, a human being and religious head who performs miracles in order to cause every person on Earth to worship the Antichrist (the first beast);
  • (the Dragon, Antichrist, and False Prophet are Satan’s counterfeits for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit);
  • the Image of the Beast
    • may be a robot (a machine with artificial intelligence), or an android (a robot / machine with human appearance and characteristics), or a cyborg (a human with robotic parts), or perhaps tv, and
    • is tasked by the False Prophet to demand worship of the Antichrist;
  • the Antichrist and False Prophet will be cast into the Lake of Fire at the Second Coming of Christ (at the end of the Tribulation Period, seven years after the Rapture of the Church);
  • during the Millennial Reign of Christ (Kingdom Age),
    • Christ will rule in righteousness as King of all the nations,
    • the curse upon the Earth will be removed,
    • Satan, the Dragon, will be bound in the Bottomless Pit,
    • members of the raptured Body of Christ, the Church, will serve as surrogates of Christ to provide government and ministry leadership,
    • many who were considered first by the world during the previous ages will be last and many who were considered last will be first (with regard to opportunity of service), and
    • for a brief time at the end of the Millennial Reign, Satan, the Dragon, will be released from the Bottomless Pit and given an opportunity to attempt a Last Revolt against God;
  • following the Millennial Reign,
    • the unsaved dead from all ages will appear before the Great White Throne Judgment for sentencing to the Lake of Fire,
    • Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire,
    • our present Earth, the first heaven (Earth’s atmosphere), and the second heaven (outer space) will be made new (in the same way our body is resurrected at the Rapture),
    • Time will end, and
    • Eternity will begin;
  • In Eternity,
    • vulgarity, obscenity, immorality, dirt and debris, sickness, dying, worldly music and entertainment, addictions, codependency, tensions, frictions, factions, racism, pettiness, and arrogance will be gone,
    • we will
      • live on the new Earth with people and in places we will recognize,
      • travel, learn, grow, and enjoy life increasingly in health and happiness, and
      • enjoy an ever-increasing experience of God, as Adam and Eve did before the Fall. 
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19J23

SlimSUPPORT

We have opportunity to make choices that
  • help manage the symptoms of our broken health, and/or that
  • support our healing. 
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19J22

Week 42

GracePoinToday

We may be what we say we are, or we may be what we say we are not. But Christ, living his Life in and through us, will always be who he is and do what he has promised.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19J17

Did You Know:

  • The Bible word “sin” can mean the condition of sin (Greek noun, hamartia, Aan inward element, the governing principle within us, producing thoughts and behavior opposed to the Will and Mind of God”).
  • Or, it can mean the behavior of sin (Greek verb, hamartolos, “to miss the mark, to err – essentially to disobey God’s instructions, willfully or in ignorance or weakness).
  • The sin of Disobedience is behavior that disregards / rejects God’s Will and Calling for us to
    • first, “come and receive” God’s Provisions of Grace in
      •  Creation (to meet our physical health needs),
      • Community (to meet the needs of our heart / soul for information, affection, and structure), and especially
      • Christ (to meet our spiritual and eternal needs – essentially to know / experience God), and then
    • second (and only then), to “go and give” (serve the redemptive needs of others). 
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19J16

SlimSUPPORT

Physical health is superficial health and psychological health (of the mind, emotions, and will) is secondary health. Our experience of Christ living his Life within us supports multidimensional (also synergistic) health (body, soul, and spirit) and is optimal health.
·         
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19J15

Week 41

GracePoinToday

God speaks Truth softly to us in Love by the Holy Spirit through the Scripture – because Truth communicated to us by the Holy Spirit 1) has its own power to penetrate our mind, so that it does not need to be barked, and 2) provides a model for our parenting so that we do not need to bark at our children but rather speak Truth softly to them in Love.

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19J10

Did You Know:

There are 10 things you can do and still not go to Heaven:
  1. Agree with everything the Bible says about God, Jesus, Heaven, and Hell (who is going there and why).
  2. Confess you are a sinner.
  3. Give up your sinful behavior.
  4. Obey the Ten Commandments.
  5. Faithfully go to church, tithe, read your Bible, and pray.
  6. Be a good parent, spouse, and employee/employer.
  7. Love your neighbor.
  8. Pass out Bibles and religious literature.
  9. Sacrifice your health and family to perform good works - including to
  10. Feed the hungry, give money to the poor, and care for the homeless.
 God’s Plan for your Salvation is to
  1. Confess (agree with his Word / the Scripture) that:
    • You are
      • sinful (broken) and
      • separated from God - the result of his Judgment against the human race (because of Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden – Romans 5:12-19);
    • Jesus Christ
      • is God, the Son,
      • existed in Eternity with God, the Father and God, the Holy Spirit,
      • was born to a virgin by the Holy Spirit,
      • lived a sinless life,
      • gave his life (shed his Blood and died on the cross) to satisfy God’s Judgment against us, and
      • after three days was resurrected to life. 
  2. Receive (say “I do” to) God’s Provision of Christ (his death on the cross) as the only Payment he will accept to satisfy his Judgment against you (John 1:12; 3:16-18; Acts 4:12). 
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19J09

SlimSUPPORT

Weight management is supported by exercise to:

  • run/walk four to five days a week to increase heart rate 50% to 80% above normal for a sustained 20-30 minutes, and
  • calisthenics (weightlifting using body weight for resistance – e.g., push-ups) three times a week (every other day) to increase muscle tone.
DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19J08

Week 39

GracePoinToday

God’s Provisions produce infinitely better outcomes for our life than the experiences we chase after or think we want (Ephesians 3:20).

DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19I26

Did You Know:
  • The voices we hear that inform us are either
    • man’s opinion (worldly wisdom) (1 Corinthians 1:18-31),
    • the thoughts of our own sinful nature, or
    • from Satan masquerading as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). 
  • But faith (conviction of Truth) concerning ourselves, God, his relationship to us, his Provisions of Grace for our salvation (Eternal Life and healing from brokenness), our need for him, and his Calling (Will) for our life is produced in our heart by the Words (Rhema) God speaks to us (sows in us) by the Holy Spirit through the Scripture during our quiet time (Romans 1:17; 10:17; Hebrews 11:6).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19I25

      SlimSUPPORT

      Weight loss / weight management is supported by
      • what we eat,
      • how much we eat, and
      • when we eat (after [not before] we sleep and before [not after] exercise or work).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19I24

      Week 38

      GracePoinToday

      During our quiet time, we read the Scripture, not as a textbook to learn information, but in order to hear the Holy Spirit
      • communicate Truth to us concerning God and our need for him and 
      • call us to open our heart to receive / experience Christ (worship).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19I19

      Did You Know:
      • Being filled with the Spirit per Ephesians 5:18 and being filled with the Resurrected Life of Christ per Ephesians 3:19 and 4:13 are the same experience – which we have during our quiet time for worship (opening the door of our heart to receive Christ who is knocking / asking for entrance per Revelation 3:20).
      • Experiencing Christ (being filled with the Holy Spirit) enables / makes possible (per John 15:5, Galatians 5:22-23, and 1 Corinthians 1:30) our
        • love for
          • God (his Provisions),
          • ourselves, and
          • others,
        • contentment (Joy and Peace),
        • responding appropriately to adverse people and circumstances (Gentleness and Longsuffering),
        • giving (Goodness),
        • conviction of Truth (Faith),
        • humility (Meekness),
        • endurance to make timely choices (Temperance), and
        • Wisdom (the Mind of God to support us for making wise choices).
       DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19I18

      SlimSUPPORT

      The body retains water to store it when we don’t drink sufficient amounts of it. Based on our weight, in order to be sufficiently hydrated, we can drink 16-32 ounces of water during four time periods in a day: by mid-morning, by noon, by mid-afternoon, and by early evening.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19I17

      Week 37

      GracePoinToday

      God has promised to provide to us all he has (our inheritance – Ephesians 1:11,14,18) when we connect to Christ (and his appointed Resources), through whom his blessings flow into our life.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19I12

      Did You Know
      • God is a Trinity, one Person existing as three Persons.
      • This means:
        • The Father is God,
        • Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son, is God, and
        • the Holy Spirit is God.
      • Each Member of the Trinity is no more or less God than the other.
      • In Heaven, we will not see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit individually as three separate Persons.
      • When the Disciples looked upon Christ (the same as we will in Heaven), they were looking at the only Member of the Trinity through whom God chose to physically manifest himself.
      • Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8-9).
      • Jesus repeatedly identified himself as “I Am!” - which meant (and as the Pharisees understood to mean), “I am God!”
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19I11

      SlimSUPPORT

      According to trusted sources, heredity is, at most, only a 30 percent factor for health - good or bad. The leading factor is our lifestyle choices.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19I10

      Week 36

      GracePoinToday

      Everything that is true about us that has eternal value is the result of the Work God is doing in our heart by the Holy Spirit during our Quiet Time Worship each day to produce in us the Life and Likeness of Christ.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19I05

      Did You Know:
      • The Living Word, the Written Scripture, and the Spoken Rhema are not one and the same.
        • The Word of God (John 1:1-2) is Christ,
        • The Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17) is 
          • the words of God,
          • penned by men,
          • translations of which we hold in our hands and read, and
          • the sanctified Instrument God uses through which the Holy Spirit communicates Truth to and through sanctified vessels, and
        • The Rhema (Romans 10:17) is the Truth which the Holy Spirit communicates to and through us.
      • Translations of the Bible are not the same: Some are word-for-word translations (KJV, NKJV, NASB, ESV), some are word-for-word blended with thought-for-thought (NIV), and others are paraphrases (The Living Bible, The Message).
      • All translations of the Scripture are imperfect.
      • Only the Original Manuscripts, which are no longer available to us, were without error (inerrant).
      • But God has preserved and protected the Scripture (Psalm 12:6-7) so that translations are available to us that are sanctified instrument which the Holy Spirit uses to communicate Truth to us. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19I04

      SlimSUPPORT

      Good health (physically, psychologically, and spiritually) is not really our goal but the guaranteed outcome (by-product) of the choices we make each day to include God’s Provisions of Grace into our life, especially Christ per John 15:5.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19I03

      Week 35

      GracePoinToday

      We may miss hearing from God during our Quiet Time if we talk to him before we listen to him (communicate Truth to us by the Holy Spirit through the Scripture).

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19H29

      Did You Know:


      1. God calls us to
      • know (experience) him - through connection to his Resources (per John 15:1-8), and then to
      • surrender to him responsibility for the outcomes in our life - which
        • will always be according to his Redemptive Plan to support us - our health, happiness, holiness, and going to Heaven (Ephesians 1:11; Romans 8:28), and
        • is the secret to experiencing contentment and freedom from anxiety;
      2. God accomplishes his Redemptive Plan for us through
      • Problems (which motivate us to confess our brokenness and need for Christ);
      • his Provisions (including elements in the soil and atmosphere [food, water, oxygen, etc.], music, beauty of creation, and sleep);
      • People (family members, friends, and neighbors);
      • Professions (including teachers / educators, physicians / nutritionists, farmers, merchants, builders, manufacturers, maintenance / repair persons [mechanics, home improvement guys], scientists / researchers, and law enforcement officers);
      • Public groups and organizations (including charities, hospitals, schools, the military, Congress, and government agencies [CDC, FDA, DHS, DOT, etc]);
      • his Right Hand (leadership in the home, Church, and community [parents, pastors, husbands, and employers], and especially through 
      • Christ (his Blood/death and Resurrected Life),
      • The Scripture, andThe Holy Spirit. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19H28

      SlimSUPPORT

      Trusted sources say dehydration is the leading cause of insomnia - that, throughout the day, we should drink water in ounces equal to the number of one-half our body weight in pounds.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19H27

      Week 34

      GracePoinToday

      God has not left us alone,
      • in our own strength,
      • in a broken world,
      • without his support.
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19H22

      Did You Know:
      • God has provided Resources to support our
        • physical health:
          • provisions in the soil and atmosphere (food, water, and oxygen), and
          • farmers and others who facilitate their availability to us;
        • mental and emotional well-being:
          • leadership in the home and Church (parents, husbands, and pastors),
          • physicians and counselors,
          • teachers to support our increase in knowledge, and
          • friends and neighbors;
        • safety:
          • civic programs to help ensure quality products and services and
          • military and law enforcement;
        • going to Heaven:
          • Christ (his Blood/death on the cross for us), and
        • holiness (usefulness to God as vessels for his Redemptive Work in the world):
          • Christ (his Resurrected Life living within us),
          • the Holy Spirit, and
          • the Scripture.
      • Our experience of God’s Resources is the assured outcome of our taking time each day to include them in our lives. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19H21

      SlimSUPPORT

      Brokenness gravitates to brokenness, runs from its healing; health pursues health.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19H20

      Week 33

      GracePoinToday

      God’s relationship to us is not a power position over us but a support position beneath us - as a Vine relates to the branches and the branches relate to its fruit - and is the model for our relationship as parents, husbands, and pastors to those we are called to serve.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19H15

      Did You Know:
      • God’s Provisions to support our lives for health and happiness flow fully and freely from him to every person unconditionally (without respect of persons), and has been since the beginning of Time.
      • We have (experience) God’s Provisions in our lives, not just because
        • he provides them or wants us to have them, or because
        • we want them or ask for them or need them, or because
        • hundreds of people “pray” for us to have them.
      • Rather, we have (experience) his Provisions because we take time each day to receive.
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19H14

      SlimSUPPORT

      Good health is not automatic or the result of us making God happy, but the outcome of the wise choice we make each day consistent with God’s Law of sowing and reaping.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19H13

      Week 32

      GracePoinToday

      Religious legalism condemns our faults and failed past. Christ invests in our freedom and secures our future.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19H08

      Did You Know:
      • Protestant churches share a common theology, but also have distinctives, including:
        • Baptist – Spiritual immersion by the Holy Spirit into spiritual union with Christ (symbolized by water baptism).
        • Presbyterian – God’s sovereign rule over man’s choices and experience of outcomes.
        • Methodist – Man’s freewill to walk out of his new birth relationship to God (not the same as neglect to fellowship with Christ for daily renewal).
        • Pentecostal – Spiritual anointing of the Holy Spirit descending from Heaven to support holy living.
        • Charismatic – Spiritual gifts for prophesying and speaking in tongues, verbally asserting authority over Satan, affirming beliefs (positive thinking and speaking) for health and prosperity.
      • Church teaching to guide / support Christian living also differs - either 
        • Performance-based: Religious works and service (“going and giving”) to feel good about self, also to please God in order to win his favor with hopes to receive blessings, or
        • Grace-based: Christian living and service supported by (“coming and receiving”) Christ living his Life in and through us to fuller measure each day per John 15:1-8; Ephesians 3:19; and 4:13).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19H07

      SlimSUPPORT

      Good health is our goal. Proper weight is the outcome.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19H06

      Week 31

      GracePoinToday

      Our experience of Christ to be renewed by his Life each day during our quiet time worship is indispensable for the work we do that is redemptive (has eternal value) (John 15:5).

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G29

      Did You Know:
      • God’s Blessings
        • are his Provisions of Grace,
        • flow to us
          • unconditionally (without consideration of our worth),
          • for us to receive (or reject),
          • to save / recover / rescue us from his Judgment against us (separation from him) because of Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden,
          • begin with Christ (his Blood/death on the cross for us and Resurrected Life living within us) and
          • include all he has provided in creation (the soil and atmosphere) and community (leadership in the home and Church and also workplace).
      • Adversity is our experience of living
        • in a broken body,
        • with a fallen sinful nature – its 
          • religious notions and human wisdom,
          • poisoned appetite / lust / addictions,
          •  carnal pride, fear, guilt, anger, and hate,
          • apathy - lack of compassion for the redemptive needs of others, including family and friends (Matthew 24:12), and
          • powerlessness to recover itself by human effort,
        • in a fallen, sinful world,
        • with dysfunctional leadership (the unmet need for leadership support in the home, Church, and workplace with respect to information, acceptance, and structure, and
        • opposed by
          • Satan and the demonic world (1 Peter 5:8) – to deceive, discourage, and destroy,
          • the world’s system (culture and religion) – its hostility to God and his Redemptive Plan for our lives (Romans 8:7; 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16; Ephesians 6:12; James 4:4), and
          • the ever-present threat of persecution and death (John 15:18-25; Romans 8:36 in the context of vs. 35-39), and
      • God does not cause adversity in our lives but allows it for the purpose of calling us to
        • confess our brokenness and need for him,
        • turn to (trust) him (to receive his Provisions of Grace) in order to
        • experience his faithfulness to provide for our healing.
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G28

      SlimSUPPORT

      We exercise to increase our heart rate in order to increase energy; we exercise to build muscle in order to lose weight.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G27

      Week 30

      GracePoinToday

      God provides for us to meet every redemptive need (including nutritionally, relationally, and for watchcare and safety), but our most essential need is Christ - his substitutionary death on the cross for us so that we can go to Heaven and his Resurrected Life living within us so that we can be healed from brokenness (Romans 8:1-11).

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G25

      Did You Know:
      • God does not answers “yes” or “no” or “wait” when we look to him for support, but always answers “yes”.
      • That’s because, all of his Provisions to support our redemptive needs flow fully, freely, and faithfully from him to every person for us to receive – through our connection to functional resources, including in
        • Creation (elements in the soil and atmosphere) to support our biological needs and
        • Community (leadership support in the home and Church) to meet our need for information, affection, and support for decision-making (structure), but
        • especially Christ (his Blood/death for us and Resurrected Life within us) to meet our need to be reconciled to God and for sanctification (holiness: purity and usefulness to God as fit vessels for his redemptive work in the world).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G24

      SlimSUPPORT

      All calories are not the same: Some meals of 1500 calories support health and satisfy hunger; other meals with the same amount of calories increase hunger and leave the body starved for nutrition.  

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G23

      Week 29

      GracePoinToday

      God calls healthy people to go and give. He calls broken people to come and receive. That’s because, we cannot give our way to health; we receive our way to health (Romans 5:17).

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G18

      Did You Know:

      Peace with God is not the same as the Peace of God.

      The Peace of God is one of the 9 Fruits produced in us by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It is experienced during our quiet-time to receive Christ (worship) – the same, for example, as experiencing hydration when we drink water.

      Peace with God is the status of our relationship to God (“nothing between”) when we trust in the Blood/death of Christ as God’s Provision to satisfy his Judgment against us because of Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden.

      The Steps to experiencing Peace with God (so that we can go to Heaven) are
      • Faith (conviction) produced in our heart (mind) by the Holy Spirit through the Scripture concerning the following:
        • The human race came under God’s judgment (separation from him) because of Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden;
        • As a result, every person is born spiritually separated from God;
        • Everyone who dies separated from God will be separated from him forever in eternity;
        • God, because of his unconditional Love (value) for every person, gave his “only begotten Son (Jesus)” to die on the cross for us as Payment to satisfy his judgment against us (separation from him);
        • God’s Judgment (separation from him) will be forgiven (removed from) everyone who accepts (trusts in) Christ (his Blood/death on the cross) as God’s Provision to satisfy his Judgment against us.
      • Repentance (change of mind) and Confession (agreement with God), produced in man’s heart (mind) by the Holy Spirit, concerning the above.
      • Calling (opening the door of our heart to receive God’s Provision of Christ as the only Payment he will accept to satisfy his Judgment against us).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G17

      SlimSUPPORT

      Exercise to offset eating the wrong foods at the wrong time will put us at risk for injury.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G16

      Week 28

      GracePoinToday

      Our health is the result of the redemptive investments someone (especially Christ) has made into our lives, and our happiness is the result of the redemptive investments we have made into the lives of others, beginning with family, friends, and neighbors.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G11

      Did You Know:

      • The GRACE OF GOD is the Resource Supports that God provides to meet our Redemptive (salvation) needs – primarily
        • Christ -
          • his Blood / death on the cross to satisfy God's judgment against us (because of Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden) and
          • his Resurrected Life (God’s Wisdom and the Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit) to live within us to support our holiness leading to health and happiness;
        • the Holy Spirit to
          • impart the Life of Christ into our spirit (for regeneration) and into our heart/soul (for sanctification),
          • teach and guide us, and to
          • secure (seal) us for going to Heaven;
        • the Scripture through which the Holy Spirit communicates Truth to us – primarily concerning
          • God,
          • our brokenness and need for him,
          • God’s Redemptive Plan for our health and happiness and for going to Heaven; and
        • the Home and the Church to meet our relationship and leadership needs – temperament needs for information, affection, and structure (support with regard to schedule / timely decision-making). 
      • The GRACE OF GOD is also
        • the elements in the soil and atmosphere to support our physical health,
        • the Law (summarized in the Ten Commandments) to teach us how we can live, the result of which is health and happiness; and
        • Government and Law Enforcement to protect our God-given rights and individual freedoms. 
      • The MERCY OF GOD is that Attribute of God from which his Grace flows into all the world and into our lives – which means, God’s Grace abounds because God is merciful. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G10

      SlimSUPPORT

      We schedule to make wise choices for our health first thing in the mornings because every wise choice we make supports us for making the next wise choice which supports us for making the next wise choice, and so on, so that making each wise choice becomes easier – this consistent with the concept of bio-momentum (movement, maintenance, and momentum).

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G09

      Week 27

      GracePoinToday

      We pray for others, not by pleading with God to help them, but by receiving his Provisions of Grace for our lives in order for us to be supported for helping them.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G05

      Did You Know:

      About Law and Grace, that:

      1. God’s Law can be
        • a power (for example: the law of sowing and reaping or the law of gravity) or
        • a rule (requirement or instruction).
      2. God’s purpose for the rule of Law is to identify for us the wise choices we can make, the result of which leads to health and happiness.
      3. The rule of Law (obedience to it) has no power of itself to accomplish our salvation (justification for going to Heaven or sanctification for holiness).
      4. The rule of Law has only influence to motivate us for making wise choices – through
        • fear (threat of punishment),
        • pride (promise of reward), and
        • guilt (accusation of failure).
      5. God’s Grace is his Provisions (Resource Supports) in Creation (the soil and atmosphere), Community (leadership in the home and Church), and especially Christwhich, when we include them into our lives, increase us in health and happiness. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G04

      SlimSUPPORT

      Impulsive choices do not support good health. That’s because good health is the result of making choices that we stop and take time for (schedule).

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19G03

      Week 26

      GracePoinToday

      Identifying broken behavior will not help (Romans 7:10), unless we also identify how to experience Christ for healing (Psalm 130:3-4).

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19F27

      Did You Know:

      There’s a difference.

      In the kingdom of the world, businesses
      • provide support to meet secular needs,
      • are committed to providing honest, competent, and caring products and service at a fair price,
      • are privileged to be supported by the patronage of customers, and
      • delight in customers and the opportunity to serve them.
       In the Kingdom of God, branches
      • provide support as parents, husbands, and pastors to meet redemptive needs in the home and Church,
      • are supported (made fit / competent / fruitful) by their connection to Christ the True Vine (per John 15:5 and 2 Corinthians 3:6),
      • delight in / honor Christ (per 1 Timothy 5:17; Ephesians 5:33; and 6:2), and
      • are committed to remaining connected to him for support.
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19F26

      SlimSUPPORT

      God created our body for movement. Our health cannot tolerate inactivity.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19F25

      Week 25

      GracePoinToday

      God’s Love for us is expressed by giving. Our love for him is expressed by receiving.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 18F01

      Did You Know:

      • GracePoint Counseling identifies five temperament types; Melancholy, Supine, Phlegmatic, Choleric, and Sanguine.
      • Each type manifests traits in the area of the
        • mind
        • emotions, and
        • will (decision-making / structure).
      • Temperament types/traits
        • are inborn,
        • have strengths and weaknesses (upsides and downsides),
        • may be different for the mind, emotions, and will,
        • are expressed as needs -
          • for information (mind), affection (emotions), and support with respect to decision-making / structure (will), and are
          • identified as both
            • wanted (the need to receive support from others) and
            • expressed (the need / desire / energy to provide support for meeting temperament needs in others).
      • The Melancholy temperament has
        • a low inborn need to receive support from others with regard to information, affection, and structure, and
        • a low inborn need / desire / energy to provide support for meeting those needs in others. 
      • The Supine temperament has
        • a high inborn need to receive support from others with regard to information, affection, and structure, and
        • a low inborn need / desire / energy to provide support for meeting those needs in others. 
      • The Phlegmatic temperament has
        • a medium inborn need to receive support from others with regard to information, affection, and structure, and
        • a medium inborn need / desire / energy to provide support for meeting temperament needs in others. 
      • The Choleric temperament has
        • a low inborn need to receive support from others with regard to information, affection, and structure, and
        • a high inborn need / desire / energy to provide support for meeting those needs in others. 
      • The Sanguine temperament has
        • a high inborn need for support from others with regard to information, affection, and structure, and
        • a high inborn need / desire / energy to provide support for meeting those needs in others. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 18E31

      SlimSUPPORT

      According to the theory of bio-rhythm (bio-momentum, I call it), our inclination or disinclination to make wise choices for health increases or diminishes as we do or don’t do them. That’s why we do what we do and don’t do what we don’t.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A15

      Week 24

      GracePoinToday

      Our fallen human nature is opposed to Truth, but confession of our brokenness opens the door of our heart to hear God.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19F13

      Did You Know:

      1. God calls members of the local church to “come and receive” in order to be supported to “go and give” in order to meet the redemptive needs of hurting people.

      2. The church’s response to God’s Calling is expressed in its

      Church Covenant: Commitment (Mission) Statement:

      … to meet together regularly for the purpose of receiving support for learning how to
      • Read the Scripture in order to
      • Hear the Holy Spirit communicate Truth in order to
      • Experience Christ to a fuller measure each day during quiet-time worship in order to
      • Manifest God's Life into the community beginning with family and each other.
      3. Husbands and wives also have a Calling from God which is expressed in their

      Marriage Covenant:

      … that we, believing this to be God=s Will for our lives, most solemnly and joyfully enter into this Covenant with each other as husband and wife according to the following:

      Husband’s Proposal (Promise and Commitment)

      … to seek each day to be filled to a fuller measure of Christ through
      • Scripture reading,
      • confession of need,
      • prayer, and
      • quiet-time worship,
      and to receive and remain connected to God’s support resources for my life so that I may be enabled in ever-increasing measure
      • to make choices each day which help establish me in personal health – body and soul,
      • to live out Christ’s Calling for me to serve my wife as her husband,
      • to value, honor, invest for, and be an advocate for her redemptive needs, and
      • to support her for living out Christ’s Calling for her life in redemptive service to others, beginning with her children.
      Wife’s Acceptance

      … to seek each day to be filled to a fuller measure of Christ through
      • Scripture reading,
      •  confession of need,
      • prayer, and
      • quiet-time worship,
      and to receive and remain connected to God’s support resources for my life, beginning with my husband, so that I may be enabled in ever-increasing measure
      • to make choices each day which help establish me in personal health – body and soul,
      • to live out Christ’s Calling for me to serve as a support resource for our children,
      • to value, honor, invest for, and be an advocate of their redemptive needs, and
      • to support them for living out Christ’s Calling for their lives in redemptive service to others. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19F12

      SlimSUPPORT

      Weight reveals a lot about the status of our health, but weight is not our goal; rather, our goal is to make wise lifestyle choices each day for
      • diet (food choices),
      • exercise (to increase strength, endurance, and flexibility), and
      • quality supplementation (including MSM, raw apple cider vinegar, Vitamin C, coconut oil, probiotics, turmeric, grapeseed, and vinpocetin).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19F11

      Week 23

      GracePoinToday

      Our understanding of Scripture is influenced by:
      • Bible commentaries and footnotes,
      • favorite teachers and authors,
      • the notions of our religious nature (1 Corinthians 1:18-21),
      • Satan, the Angel of Light (as he did Eve), or
      • the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 John 2:27).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19F06

      Did You Know:

      • The choices we make are supported by our values.
      • Our values are influenced by
        •  tradition (family),
        • the world’s culture (news, entertainment, and social media), 
        • government schools,
        • religion (performance to please God),
        • codependency (addiction) needs, or by
        • our experience of Christ.
      • Christ, living his Life in us (our heart), transforms our values to be like his so that we are supported for making wise choices that establish us in health and happiness.
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19F05

      SlimSUPPORT

      God created our bodies with the potential to be increased in strength for meeting the demands of hard work, but heroic performance for showmanship will put our health at risk.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19F04

      Week 22

      GracePoinToday

      God identifies and calls us to his Resources for our lives - especially to the Scripture.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19E30

      Did You Know:

      • God promises to give us good outcomes – for body and soul and including also finances and relationships.
      • But the good outcomes God gives are not the result of our religious performances to make him happy.
      • Rather, they are the result of our compliance (obedience) to include into our lives his Provisions which produce those good outcomes according to his Law of Sowing and Reaping (Cause and Effect).
      • God identifies for us his Provisions by the Holy Spirit through Scripture (especially during our quiet time).
      • He also enables (supports) us for our compliance (obedience) to receive them by imparting the Life of Christ to live within us (per John 15:5) – this, so that we have Support
        • from God to us
          • his Love (Agape: “unconditional value”) for ourselves, his Provisions, and others (beginning with family), also
          • his Joy, his Peace, and his Wisdom (the Mind of God to support us for making wise choices);
        • from God through us to others
          • his Longsuffering, his Gentleness, and his Goodness (redemptive service); and
        • from God to and through us to him
          • his Faith (conviction of Truth), his Meekness (willingness to receive), and his Temperance (support for staying the course). 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19E29

      SlimSUPPORT

      If the demands of our duties could be represented by us walking up a 1% incline for 8 hours each day, we would need to schedule an additional time to walk up a 2% incline for a sustained 20-30 minutes (exercise) on most days so that we will be able to continue long term to walk up a 1% incline (perform our duties) without injury.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19E28

      Week 21

      GracePoinToday

      The Holy Spirit whispers Truth to us we need to know as we are patient for an extended time each day to sit quietly before him with an open Bible and open heart.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19E23

      Did You Know:

      Christ, the Scripture (the Bible), and the Rhema is each the "Word of God" - but may be considered with the following, sometimes subtle, distinctions:

      • Christ is the Living Word of God (John 1:1-2), the Seed of God (Luke 8:11) existing from eternity (John 1:1-2).
      • The Rhema is the Communicated Word of God (the Word of God when sown or spoken)
        • into the void to produce and sustain the creation (Genesis 1; Colossians 1:17),
        • into the womb of the virgin Mary to produce the Incarnate (physical body of) Christ (Luke 1:34-38),
        • to the 40 plus Writers to produce the Written Scripture (the Bible) - which we hold in our hands and read,
        • into the spirit and soul of man (who receive it) to produce the Life of God (Christ) for regeneration and sanctification  (James 1:18; John 17:17), and
        • through vessels God calls, cleanses, and chooses to proclaim it to others.
      NOTE: The Rhema is identified in Scripture as the “Sword of the Spirit” and as has having power (Ephesians 6:17 and Hebrews 4:12).

      NOTE: We have the same opportunity to hear the Holy Spirit communicate Truth to us (Rhema) as the Writers of Scripture did. However, the action of the Holy Spirit to superintend over their recording it, so that it was inerrant (without error), was a one-time event.

      Don Loy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19E22

      SlimSUPPORT

      Eating after work or exercise feels good. So does taking a nap after we have eaten. But eating after sleep or rest, and working and exercising after eating (for example, to walk 15 minutes), will help manage weight and extend health.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19E21

      Week 20

      GracePoinToday

      Christ, living his Life in and through husbands, supports them to support their wives for caring for their children and the homemaking needs of the family.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19E16

      Did You Know:

      FAITH (the Bible word “pistis”)
      • means “conviction or full persuasion” concerning Truth,
      • is a noun, not a verb, so
      • is not something we do (that is, we don’t “faith”),
      • is a gift, a Provision of God’s Grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) we can receive and possess,
      • is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), produced in us by the Word (Seed) of God sown into our heart (mind) by the Holy Spirit during our quiet-time to read the Scripture (Romans 10:17),
      • supports us for making wise choices (obedience) that increase us in health and happiness,
      • makes us useful as vessels for God’s work in the world (Hebrews 11:6a),
      • is necessary for having our needs met by God during prayer (Hebrews 11:6b; James 5:15; Matthew 9:29), and
      • is the substance (basis / foundation per Hebrews 11:1) of our hope (“confident expectation”) that Christ is transforming our lives so that we can manifest his Light (glory) in a dark world per Colossians 1:27; Philippians 1:20.
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19E15

      SlimSUPPORT

      God created our bodies with the capacity to survive our imperfect choices. But a rigid diet is necessary for healing and renewal.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D14

      Week 19

      GracePoinToday

      God called Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, Samson, David, Peter, and others when he knew they would fail, but he also provided support to restore them.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19E09

      Did You Know:

      1. The Infilling of the Spirit (being “filled with the Spirit”) is not the same as The Baptism of the Spirit.

      • The Baptism of the Spirit is the work of the Holy Spirit within our spirit
        • the moment we trust in the Blood/death of Christ as the only Payment God will accept to satisfy his Judgment against us (the human race) because of Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden
        • to immerse (or place) us into spiritual union with Christ so that we are “IN CHRIST” (by which we are secured for going to Heaven).
        • It can be illustrated by immersing a sponge into a bowl of water (or by a sponge being washed over by an outpouring of water) so that the sponge is in the water and the water is in the sponge.
      • The Infilling of the Spirit is the work of the Holy Spirit within our heart (soul)
        • (during our quiet time for reading the Scripture in order to experience [worship] Christ)
        • to produce in us (our heart/soul: mind, emotions, and will) the Resurrected Life of Christ per Galatians 5:22-23 and John 15:5. 
      2. Our relationship to Christ is not the same as our fellowship with him (1 Corinthians 1:9).
      • Our relationship to Christ is by virtue of his residence within our spirit and our spiritual union with him.
      • Our fellowship with Christ is by virtue of Christ LIVING his Resurrected Life within our soul (heart: mind, emotions, and will) per Revelation 3:20; John 15:5; 2 Peter 1:3. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D08

      SlimSUPPORT

      Optimal health is supported synergistically. That is,
      • our biological health is supported by the health of our mind which supports the health of our emotions which supports the health of our will (the timely choices we make) – called the psychosomatic factor, and
      • both biological and psychological health are supported by our experience of the Resurrected Life of Christ living within us – which means,
      • Christ is the foundation of our health (1 Corinthians 3:11). 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D07

      Week 18

      GracePoinToday

      God works within us to transform our values so we are not left without support for making the wise choices each day that increase us in health and happiness.

      “It is God who works in us to will and to do his good will” (Philippians 2:13).

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19E02

      Did You Know:

      • The Holy Spirit imparted God’s Life (the Life of Christ) into the spirit of Old Testament believers so that they were regenerated (born again) – the same as he does today for New Testament believers.
      • This means, Old Testament believers were born again just as New Testament believers are.
      • That’s why Jesus told Nicodemus (before the Age of Grace began), “You must be born again” (John 3:3-7).
      • But it was not until Christ was resurrected from the dead that his Life was provided (made available) by the Holy Spirit to live (take up permanent residence) within man’s soul (heart: mind, emotions, and will).
      • In the Old Testament, God’s Life descended upon man from Heaven to anoint (empower) him for service and obedience, but then ascended back to Heaven.
      • That is why in the Old Testament, the Psalmist pleaded with God, “Don’t take your Holy Spirit away from me” (Psalm 51:11).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19E01

      SlimSUPPORT

      Health is not perpetual – that is, life does not sustain itself but must be renewed, in some cases, continually, or as often as daily, not only for physical health, but especially for the well-being of our heart (soul: mind, emotions and will).

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D30

      Week 17

      GracePoinToday

      Truth is whispered to us by the Holy Spirit as we are patient to wait quietly before him each day with an open Bible and open heart.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D25

      Did You Know:

      1. Tithing and Grace Giving are not the same.

      2. Under Old Testament Law, tithing (at first, of agricultural produce) was expected, mandated under threat of punishment and with promise of favor with God.

      3. Grace Giving
      • may be less or more than 10% of our time, produce, or financial income,
      • is enabled (supported) by
        • the Heart of Christ within us for meeting the Redemptive (healing) needs of broken people, and by
        • our financial ability to give (out of the overflow of our abundance – 2 Corinthians 9:6-8).
      4. We give
      • first, to invest in the redemptive (health and healing) needs of ourselves,
      • secondly and subsequently, to meet the redemptive needs of those in our family we are called to support,
      • next, to meet the redemptive needs of our neighbors, and
      • then, extending eventually, to meet the redemptive needs of hurting people in all the world.
      5, Grace giving
      • supports sacred (redemptive) needs, not secondary or superficial (feel good) needs,
      • does not support sinful needs, and
      • is never sacrificial – for example, it does not neglect our own health (redemptive) needs in order to give to others, even to our children. (That’s because the best we can give others is a healthy us.)
      6. Grace giving may be
      • direct - to meet the redemptive needs of a broken person, or
      • through a proxy – for example,
        • to a parent, as a proxy, to support the redemptive needs of their children or
        • to a church, as a proxy, to support ministry for providing the redemptive needs to others which we do not have opportunity or ability to provide ourselves.
      7. Understanding the concept of Grace Giving is deep-rooted in our theology (understanding of how God relates to us, especially during this Age of Grace – that he is in a support position beneath us, like the Vine is to the branch, and not in power position over us).

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D24

      SlimSUPPORT

      Good health is not a reward from God to “bless” the disposition of our heart towards him, but of the sowing and reaping outcome of the wise choices we make for

      • diet (food choices),
      • exercise (including to get our heart rate up at least 70 percent of maximum [220 minus age] for a sustained 20 minutes on most days),
      • lifestyle (scheduled / structured, low-risk behavior), and
      • supplementation (for example, raw apple cider vinegar).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D23

      Week 16

      GracePoinToday

      We can know when a choice is wise if it supports (increases) us for fulfilling God’s Calling for our lives in the home and community.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D17

      Did You Know:

      The Blessings of God and the Blessed of God are not the same.

      The BLESSINGS of God are God’s Provisions of Grace
      • to support our lives,
      • promised
        • unconditionally to everyone - which include
          • elements in the soil and atmosphere (rain, sunshine, and oxygen) and
          • his sovereign care of the Earth and the heavens (universe), and
        • conditionally to
          • God’s children – by virtue of
            • Christ’s Blood/death on the cross (NOTE: The Grace of God by which we are saved [Ephesians 2:8-9] is not only God’s Provision of the Blood/death of Christ to satisfy his Judgment against us because of Adam’s transgression, but also the faith [conviction of Truth] and repentance [change of mind] he gives which enable us to receive/trust in Christ.) and
            • our immersion into spiritual union with Christ (“Us IN Christ”), so that
              • God’s Judgment against us (because of Adam’s transgression) is forgiven (removed), and our
              •  spirit is born again, and to
          • the saints (sanctified) – by virtue of
            • God’s Provisions of Christ’s Resurrected Life
            • LIVING within our soul (heart: mind, emotions, and will) (Christ LIVING in US) which we
            • experience in quiet-time worship (to receive him).
      The BLESSED of God are the beneficiaries/recipients of God’s Blessings (Provisions of Grace) – which we celebrate and are renewed by
      • every Sunday (on the First Day of the Week) during the meetings of the Church,
      • every day during our quiet-time worship, and also,
      • in a special way, on Easter Sunday.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D16

      Addendum:
      1. The BLESSINGS of God are God’s Provisions of Grace (in Creation, Community, and Christ) to support our physical, psychological, and eternal wellbeing.
      2. The concept of God’s Blessings (their FLOW and our EXPERIENCE of them) is central to understanding the Message of Grace.
      3. The FLOW of God’s Blessings (which is based upon God’s Mercy) is not the same as our EXPERIENCE of his Blessings (which is based upon our response to receive them).
      4. Every BLESSING (Provision) of God FLOWS (is provided / made available) unconditionally to every person to support our lives - that is, without consideration of anything good or deserving in us - including
        • God’s provision of elements in the soil and atmosphere (in Creation) that makes life possible (for example, rain, sunshine, and oxygen),
        • God’s sovereign care of the Earth and the heavens (universe),
        • God Provision of The Scripture and of the Holy Spirit (its Author and Teacher),
        • God’s Provision of Christ - his
          • Blood/death on the cross for us (as the only Payment God will accept to satisfy his Judgment against us because of Adam’s disobedience) and
          • Resurrected Life living within our hearts (as our only hope for Holiness [purity and usefulness to God as vessels for his use in Redemptive service to others]), and
          • God’s Provision of the organic home (family) and Church.
      5. Some BLESSINGS (Provisions) from God which FLOW unconditionally to us are also EXPERIENCED unconditionally by us (for example, [as stated above] rain, sunshine, and oxygen and God’s sovereign care of the Earth and the universe).
      6. But, some Blessings (Provisions) from God which FLOW unconditionally to us are only conditionally EXPERIENCED by us – that is, they are experienced in our lives to our benefit only by virtue of us opening the door of our hearts (minds, emotions, and will), and also sometimes hands and mouth, to receive them.
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D16

      SlimSUPPORT

      We go to bed at night in order to be rested in the morning so that our quiet time for Scripture reading and worship to experience Christ is not hindered because of fatigue.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D15

      Week 15

      GracePoinToday

      What we believe is what we do – that is: Scripturally, it can only be said we believe a matter to be true when we live like it is true.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D11

      Did You Know:

      • Membership in Heaven, the Kingdom of God, the Family of God, and the local church is entered into by Covenant (Solemn Agreement) 
        • between God and man,
        • initiated by God through Invitation (Calling of the Holy Spirit),
        • according to God’s Redemptive Will (for the Holy Spirit to serve as a Support Resource), and
        • solemnly responded to by man (privately in the heart, and then publicly in formal ceremony [water baptism]). 
      • A Marriage (Home) is also established by Covenant (Solemn Agreement) 
        • between 1) God and 2) a man and woman,
        • initiated by God through Invitation (proposed by the groom),
        • according to God’s Redemptive Will (for the husband to serve as a Support Resource to his wife),
        • solemnly entered into (responded to) by the bride and groom (privately in the heart and then publicly in a formal wedding ceremony), and
        • sanctioned in Heaven by God and licensed on Earth by the State.
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D10

      SlimSUPPORT

      Our health is
      • ruined by exposing ourselves to adverse elements,
      • renewed by excluding harmful choices / high risk lifestyle behaviors, and
      • recovered by including God’s Provisions of Grace (the Daily Bread) into our lives each day.
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D09

      Week 14

      GracePoinToday

      God’s Blessings (Provisions of Grace) to support our existence is unconditional (Matthew 5:45), but his Blessings to support us for optimal health and happiness (especially for Eternal Life and Holiness) is conditional, based upon us connecting to his Resources in Creation, Community (leadership in the home and Church), and especially Christ (his Blood/death and Resurrected Life) through which his Blessings (Provisions of Grace) flow into our lives.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D05

      Did You Know:
      1. God’s Blessings (Provisions of Grace) to make possible our redemption (recovery from brokenness) flow into our lives through
        • conviction (the work of the Holy Spirit) and confession (our response) concerning
        • God’s Love for us and our need for him, and
        • connection (opening the door of our hearts to receive per John 1:12 and 15:5).
      2. The Bible word “blessed” can be
        •  a verb (“God blessed me”) or
        • an adjective (“blessed are the meek”) to identify our status (who we are) by virtue of
          • US IN CHRIST:
            • justified - so that the judgment of sin is removed (forgiven), 
            • regenerated (spiritually born again) - so that we are children of God, and 
            • adopted - so that we are sons of God and co-heirs with Christ of all God has, including eternal life, and
          • CHRIST IN USWisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30; James 1:5), and alsoLove, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, and Temperance (Galatians 5:22-23). 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D03

      SlimSUPPORT

      God’s Provisions of Grace may not taste or feel good at first, but as we dare to include them into our lives (obedience / compliance), they
      • transform our appetites to favor them and also
      • produce good outcomes (health and happiness). 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19D02

      Week 13

      GracePoinToday

      The suffering of a husband because of his wrong choices is not the fault of his wife. She may grieve and offer care as God gives her strength, but it is not God’s Calling for her life to be the support resource person in the home responsible for his recovery. If she tries, she will in time, sooner or later, suffer her own brokenness.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19C28

      Did You Know:
      • The requests for help we make to God (the same as children do at Christmastime sitting on the lap of Santa Claus) do not result in our needs being met.
      • The Holy Spirit knows what our needs are and it is the calling he makes to the Father for us and through us (which we sometimes express with “groanings” per Romans 8:26) that
        • God hears and responds to and that
        • assure our needs being met.
      • That’s because the Holy Spirit only petitions the Father to meet our Redemptive needs (those needs which increase us in health and holiness for the purpose of us being made competent as vessels for God’s use in his Redemptive service to others).
      • Romans 8:26-27: “We do not know what we should ask for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us… And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”
      • 1 John 5:14-15: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his (redemptive) Will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.”
      • James 5:16:“The Spirit-enabled prayer of a righteous man (who seeks first the rule and righteousness of Christ per Matthew 6:33) accomplishes much.” 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19C27

      SlimSUPPORT

      Our busyness at work or at home is not a substitute for our workouts. (Famous last words: “I get my exercise at work.”) Our work is the daylong movements we make during our workweek to support our livelihood / live out our Calling. Our workouts are the 30-45 minute intensified movements we make 4-5 times a week that increase our strength so that we are supported as we age for doing our work without injury.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19C26

      Week 12

      GracePoinToday

      God does not call us to earn his favor, but to receive his support.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19C21

      Did You Know:

      • God is Sovereign in creation and also in the affairs of man over every outcome.
      • That means, God was free (autonomous) in Eternity, before Time began (“the Beginning”), to ordain any law (power) or plan he determined to best govern outcomes –
      • this, in order for everything to work out (for him to work out everything) in conformity with the Purpose of his Redemptive Will (Romans 8:28; Ephesians 1:11) –
      • that is, for outcomes to be either the result of
        • God’s intervention to impose his Will on man so as to control his behavior (determinism) or of
        • the cause and effect consequences of man’s free will choices.
      • God also has Foreknowledge – which means he knew before Time (foreknew) in Eternity every act of every person and also the outcome it would produce.
      • But God’s Foreknowledge is not causative – that is,
      • although man makes the choices during his life which God fully foreknew in Eternity he would make,
      • man does not make choices because God foreknew he would make them.
      • (Reminds me of the old joke about the man who fell in a hole, then said, “Thank God that’s over with.”)
      • Conclusion: God in Eternity, before Time began (“the Beginning”),
        • predetermined (predestined) to create man with a free will and
        • foreordained his Law of Sowing and Reaping to govern the outcomes of man’s choices – including his choice to receive God’s Provision of Christ (his Blood/death and Resurrected Life) for our salvation (both for our Regeneration / Justification for going to Heaven and Sanctification for healing from brokenness in this life).
      • NOTE: God does not impose Regeneration / Justification on the lost sinner - no more than he imposes Sanctification on the saved sinner: Our experience of both aspects of salvation is the result of us receiving God’s Provision of Christ (his Blood/death and Resurrected Life).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19C20

      SlimSUPPORT

      Good health, including physically, psychologically, financially, and relationally, is the result of us
      • taking time each day to receive from God during our quiet-time worship (James 1:5) his support (Christ who is made unto us Wisdom per 1 Corinthians 1:30) for
      • making wise choices that produce good outcomes according to his Law of Sowing and Reaping (Galatians 6:7-9).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19C19

      Week 11

      GracePoinToday

      God does not call us to surrender to his control but to receive his support.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19C14

      Did You Know:

      God, by the Holy Spirit through the Scripture,
      • communicates his Truth - to man’s heart (mind) in the way a farmer sows seed (Matthew 13:3-9) – which is powerful (“dunamis”) per Romans 1:16 so that it
      • calls (draws) man to open his heart to receive it (the decision of his free will) so that the Seed of Truth is sown into his heart – which is effectual (“dunamis”) to produce
        • conviction (faith) concerning Christ and our need for him - which is powerful (“dunamis”) to produce
        • change of mind (repentance) – which is powerful (“dunamis”) to produce
        • confession (agreement) – which is powerful (“dunamis”) to produce
        • conversion (the freewill act of turning from trusting in self to receiving Christ) - which is powerful (“dunamis”) to produce
        • calling upon (receiving) Christ (per John 6:44), which results in our
          • Justification,
          • Spiritual Baptism (immersion) into spiritual union with Christ, and
          • Spiritual Regeneration (new birth). 
      This means, Faith is not the result of Regeneration (as taught by Calvinist doctrine); rather, Regeneration is the result of Faith (conviction) produced in us by the Holy Spirit through the Scripture.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19C13

      SlimSUPPORT

      At birth we inherit a measure (deposit) of health which can be recklessly wasted or wisely invested so that we are supported for making timely choices for diet, exercise, lifestyle, and supplementation (DELS) that increase health.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19C12

      Week 10

      GracePoinToday

      We do not support our Resources but are supported by them. This means,
      • we do not support God,
      • wives do not support their husbands,
      • children do not support their parents, and
      • members of the Church do not support their pastors. 
      Rather, we are supported by our Resources for living out God’s Will for our lives, especially for learning how to experience Christ for health, happiness, and going to Heaven.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19C07

      Did You Know:

      • The meaning of the word “servant” in the Old Testament is not the same as in the New Testament.
      • An Old Testament servant is
        • owned property,
        • under rule,
        • without identity,
        • fear motivated,
        • imposed upon,
        • performance-oriented to please, and
        • under threat of imminent punishment.
      • A New Testament servant is
        • a valued vessel,
        • invested in for growth,
        • supported for redemptive service to others (Galatians 5:22-23; John 15:4-5; 2 Peter 1:3), and
        • a member of the family and friend (“I no longer call you servants but friends” – John 15:15). 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19C06

      SlimSUPPORT

      A successful weight loss/management regimen, like a chair or table, is best supported by four legs: diet (food choices), exercise, a structured (scheduled) lifestyle, and supplementation.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19C05

      Week 9

      GracePoinToday

      Pain, both physical and psychological, is not really the result of adverse people or circumstances present in our lives, but of supports that are missing which would sustain us regardless of the adversity.   

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19B28

      Did You Know:

      • Our bodies are primarily organic and only secondarily organizational. That is, they are supported
        • primarily by their connection to an organic resource (like fruit to a vine), but also
        • secondarily by an organizational component (a skeleton).
      • The home and Church are also primarily organic and only secondarily organizational. That is, members of the home and Church are supported primarily by their connection to (dependence upon) Life flowing from a Living Resource (Christ).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19B27

      SlimSUPPORT

      The choices we make that support good health are supported by the choices we make that support good health – this according to the theory of bio-momentum (I call it) that, we tend to do what we do, and not do what we don’t.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19B26

      Week 8

      GracePoinToday

      We express Investment Love (God’s value) for our children, first and foremost, by giving God opportunity to live his Life in and through us - so that,
      • our parenting is supported by him – that is, so that
      • he parents our children through us. 
      It is not by indulging their impulsive, feel-good needs, or our own need to be loved by them, or to be champion parents; rather it is by taking time to identify and to meet
      • their physical and material needs (for safety and supply),
      • the psychological (temperament) needs of their minds, emotions, and will (for information, affection, and decision-making support), and especially
      • their need to experience Christ (for justification and sanctification). 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19B21

      Did You Know:

      • God instructed Adam and Eve to produce children for the purpose of populating the earth (and, specifically, so that, in time, a Redeemer, the Seed of a woman, would be born), and
      • he gave esthetic value (enjoyment) to sexual intimacy,
        • not for the purpose of indulging man’s base desires, but
        • as a kindness, and
        • in order to provide a proper encouragement for obeying his instructions to procreate –
      • the same, for example, as he gave esthetic value (taste) to food,
        • not for the purpose of gratifying the cravings of man’s broken appetite, but
        • in order to encourage his obedience to God’s Plan for him to eat in order to receive nourishment. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19B20

      SlimSUPPORT:

      Weight management is supported by what we eat (low glycemic foods) and also by when we eat (after rest/sleep and before exercise).

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19B19

      Week 7

      GracePoinToday

      The heart of Christ within us transforms our values so that the purpose / goal of our relationship to others is either to
      • provide support to them or to
      • receive support from them
      for learning how to experience Christ.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19B14

      Did You Know:

      • The Bible word “glory” (gr. noun doxa) means “the ways of God (who God is), produced in us by the Holy Spirit and revealed through us into the world (in the way a mirror reflects light and the moon reflects the sun), so that others may learn about God and seek to experience him.
      • To glorify (gr. verb dokeo) God does not mean to make him look good in the way
        • company bosses sometimes expect of workers in the workplace or
        • authoritarians and dictators demand of those they attempt to rule over.
      • Rather, it means
        • to manifest God’s Light (“God is Light” – 1 John 1:5) into a dark world – that is,
        • to radiate / reveal / reflect Christ who is
          • the Glory (Light) of God (John 8:12; 14:10),
          • the exact image of the Father (Hebrews 1:3).
      • This in the same way that
        • the Body of Christ (the Church) manifests Christ (John 5:16, 15:8; and Philippians 1:21) and
        • a local church reflects the servant / support leadership of its pastors, also
        • wives reflect the servant / support leadership of their husbands (1 Corinthians 11:7) and
        • children reflect the servant / support leadership of their parents. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19B13

      SlimSUPPORT:

      The best Valentine gift and expression of love husbands and wives can give to each other is a healthy spouse. 

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19B12

      Week 6

      GracePoinToday

      God calls husbands to LOVE their wives (expressed by supporting them for making wise choices that increase them in health and happiness, beginning with learning how to experience Christ, and is not the same as “telling them what to do”).

      God calls wives to
      • identify his resources for their lives, beginning with Christ, but including also their husbands, and then, to
      • RESPECT them (expressed by giving them the opportunity to provide support to them [which is the Bible definition of the word “submit”]) per Ephesians 5:22-33.
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19B07

      Did You Know:

      • God provides salvation to us – both for going to Heaven (justification) and healing from brokenness (sanctification) – through our obedient response to receive his Provision of Grace (per John 1:12, 15:5, and Revelation 3:20), beginning with Christ (his Blood/death and Resurrected Life).
      • This means, obedience to God is more than performance to read and study the Bible, go to the meetings of the Church, preach and teach the Gospel, make disciples, give money to the poor, care for the sick, feed the hungry, house the homeless, care for widows and orphans, or rescue the endangered.
      • That is, obedience to God begins, not with “going and giving” to others, but with “coming and receiving” from him.
      • “If I give all I possess to the poor; even if I sacrifice my health and the wellbeing of my family in order to help others, but have not Love (which we express in our relationship to God by receiving from him), I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19B06

      SlimSUPPORT:

      Good health is not the absence of sickness but our experience of the presence of God’s Provisions in our lives, the same as light is not the absence of darkness, but the presence of God, who is Light (1 John 1:5). This means, good health is more the result of including in our lives the good that helps than excluding the bad that hurts.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19B05

      Week 5

      GracePoinToday

      The question with regard to dying is: In whom, and in what, is your hope (confident expectation) for eternal life – in yourself and your performance to please God, or in Christ and his death on the cross for you? With regard to living, the question is: In what, and in whom, is your hope for Christlikeness, health, and happiness – in your self-enabled determination and performance to do good, or in Christ living his Resurrected Life within you to transform your heart and to support you for making wise choices?

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A31

      Did You Know:

      • The term “man” means “mankind” and is an appropriate term to identify both men and women.
      • Also, Christian men and women are spiritually both
        • brides of Christ and
        • sons of God.
      • This does not mean we do not have a distinct gender, but that God has a positional (hierarchal) order for us in our relationship to him and to his leadership for us in the home and Church in order for us to be supported.
      • That is the reason
        • a Christian is not the “husband” of Christ (because we do not support Christ; rather, he supports us), and also
        • a Christian is not the “daughter” of God, but, by virtue of our spiritual union with Christ, we (as children of God) are adopted as the “sons” of God per Ephesians 1:5-11 (because it is God’s Order for the first son to receive the inheritance and then to provide support to other family members).
        • This means, a Christian woman is positionally an adopted son of God so that she is included in the inheritance of Christ as a co-heir of Christ.
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A30

      SlimSUPPORT:

      We lift weights (anaerobic exercise) to build muscle in order to lose / manage weight. But we walk/run (aerobic exercise) to increase cardio vascular health in order to increase energy.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A29

      Week 4

      GracePoinToday

      We take care not to substitute devotional readings, religious tv/radio programs, Christian music, internet postings, and church programs for personal quiet-time to read the Scripture at the beginning of each day in order to hear the Holy Spirit communicate Truth to us, especially that
      • God loves us unconditionally and
      • has made Provisions to meet every need we have, especially for experiencing Christ so that we can manifest his Likeness into our homes, communities, and workplace. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A24

      Did You Know:

      • Sin is not the choices we make that make us bad or God mad, but that make us sick.
      • That’s because sin, by definition, is the choices we make that disregard God’s Provisions to support our health needs.
      • This means, man is not lost (separated from God for eternity) because he is bad or makes God mad, but because he rejects God’s Provision of Christ (his Blood / death on the cross) as the only Payment God will accept to satisfy his Judgment against us (the human race) because of Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden (Romans 5:12-19).
      • This means, also, that man is not saved (reconciled to God) by giving up his bad behavior and promising to do better in order to make God happy, but by receiving (trusting in) God’s Provision of Christ’s Blood / death on the cross for us. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A23

      SlimSUPPORT:

      • Our bodies were created for moving, so cannot tolerate too much sitting, especially for weight management.
      • But standing up, or moving about, or even busy work is not totally the solution.
      • Good health and weight management are supported by taking time each day for exercise to increase our heart rate to 60-80 percent of maximum (which is roughly 220 minus age) for a sustained 20-30 minutes, 5-6 days a week.
      • For a 50 year old, a heart rate between 102 and 136 is 60-80 percent of 170 (220 minus 50). 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A22

      Week 3

      GracePoinToday

      A husband or wife who wants a happy marriage more than good health risks losing both.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A17

      Did You Know:
      • Scriptural fasting means
        • to give up choices (including for entertainment, recreation, charity or church work, and even eating)
        • that hinder / compete with taking time for scheduled quiet-time worship (during which we experience the flow of Christ’s Life into our hearts [soul: mind, emotions, and will]
        • in order for us to be increased in his Likeness to fuller measure each day for sanctification / holiness [usefulness to God as a vessel for his Redemptive work in the world]).
      • (We do not fast for the purpose of attempting to please God or to win his favor, or to demonstrate our sincerity to him.)
      • Fasting essentially means to give up harmful choices, but it also includes giving up even good choices that interfere with us taking time for the best choices (so that, "the good does not become the enemy of the best") – which means
      • hindrances can be sinful choices, but also superficial and secondary choices.
      • But hindrances are never sanctified choices (which support good health).
      • Also, the issue is not always the specific choices themselves, but the time consumed doing them.
      • Helpful Scriptures are Matthew 17:21 (and context) and Hebrews 12:1-3 (in the context of Hebrews 11). 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A16

      SlimSUPPORT:

      “Intermittent fasting” for health purposes
      • means to restrict eating to (most recommended)
        • one nutritious meal and two healthy snacks,
        • within a 6-8 hour window,
        • mid-day,
        • seven days a week;
      • supports numerous benefits for health, including for improved
        • immune systems,
        • physical and cognitive energy, and
        • weight management;
      • debunks the necessity to eat three hardy meals (as farmers and others who do hard labor 12-16 hours a day).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A15

      Week 2

      GracePoinToday

      A man’s attempt to be masculine or to be a leader will be successful to impress / influence his wife only when he takes time each day during quiet-time worship to be renewed by the Heart of Christ. Otherwise, she will be disappointed.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A10

      Did You Know:

      • We are born broken and in bondage to our sinful nature (Psalm 51:5).
      • The choices we make to accommodate our sinful nature compound our brokenness and intensify our bondage (Romans 6:16-23).
      • Our commitment to religious rule-keeping (compliance to the Law) or to a health regimen may have benefit to slow the progression of our brokenness, but it does not have power to set us free from our bondage.
      • God’s Plan for the healing of our brokenness and for us to be freed from our bondage (addictions)
        1. begins with our spiritual immersion into union with Christ and the subsequent regeneration (new birth) of our spirit (the moment we trust in the Blood / death of Christ as the only Payment God will accept to satisfy his Judgment again us because of Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden - Romans 5:12-19 [that is, we are not born again by “giving up” bad behavior we think makes God mad]), and
        2. is followed by our experience of Christ to heal (sanctify) our mind, emotions, and will during our quiet-time worship to receive his Life flowing up like a fountain from within our spirit to the door of our hearts (John 1:5; 4:14; Revelation 3:20; Psalm 36:9).
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A09

      SlimSUPPORT:

      Success to make our first scheduled choice in the morning will support us (build cadence / bio-rhythm / momentum) for making the next scheduled choice. Missing a scheduled choice makes each follow-up choice harder – the same as running a race with an injury or wrecked vehicle.

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A08

      Week 1

      GracePoinToday

      A man has not failed but is successful who influences others to consider / desire / trust / receive Christ, especially
      • his neighbors and friends, and especially
      • his family – especially
      • his children, but most especially
      • his wife. 
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A03

      Did You Know:

      1. At least four Greek words identify the different aspects of the one English word “love.”
      • Philia (brotherly love)
      • Storge (family love)
      • Eros (romantic love)
      • Agape (God’s love) 
      2.  Philia, storge, and eros are “give and take” expressions of love.

      3.  Agape is 
      • altruistic love, focused selflessly on the needs of others, and is
      • unconditional, not based on the need for a return or response. 
      4.   Each of these loves can be expressed in different measure (large or small) by both born again and unregenerate (unsaved) persons.

      5. God is Love (agape) (1 John 4:8). His Life within us sanctifies / transforms / enhances philia, storge, eros, and agape so that they are expressed through us as Christ expresses them.

      6.  God’s Love (agape) for us and through us to others is always expressed by giving. His Love (agape) in us for him is always expressed by receiving (his Provisions of Grace).

      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A02

      SlimSUPPORT:

      Exercise today that
      • makes a moderate muscular and cardiovascular demand on us
      • for support (without which we risk injury) 
      • from our nutritional intake and reserves
      • for a sustained 15-20 minutes,
      • and doing it again at the same time on most days,
      • increases strength, endurance, and flexibility for performing the duties of life without injury.
      DonLoy Whisnant/The Grace Perspective 19A01

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