Monthly Archives: February 2015

The Value of Perfect Love

Thoughts

In 1 John 4:18, John wrote “Perfect love casts out fear.” The truth is we fear many things. We could put these in two categories: Things we talk about and Things we do not talk about with just anyone. Let’s take this a little further.

Group #1: Things we talk about (several examples)

  • Mice
  • Snakes
  • Escalators
  • Elevators
  • Spiders
  • Heights
  • Being found out
  • Guns
  • Evil people
  • What might be

 

Group #2: Things we do not talk about

We really need not elaborate much here because these are things we do not talk about. These might include the fear of dying, the fear of having a serious disease, etc. The only time we might talk about things in this group is when we are with a very close friend, a counselor, or a doctor in professional setting.

But Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 1:7, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power love, and a sound mind.” So, these fears are coming from someplace or someone other than God. Couple 2 Timothy 1:7 with 1 John 4:18 and we have a powerful combination.

Early-onset Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer’s disease primarily affects older people. However, up to 5% of the 5.2 million people in America with AD are in their 40s and 50s. People at this age are referred to as having early-onset Alzheimer’s (a.k.a. younger-onset). We sometimes hear of a familiar television or sports personality having this stage of Alzheimer’s. In the USA it is believed that approximately 200,000 people have early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Often, early-onset AD is misdiagnosed as stress related, having too many projects one is trying to juggle, or other lifestyle practices. For those reasons and more, it is good to know the 10 signs of Alzheimer’s.

  1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life
  2. Challenges in planning or solving problems
  3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure
  4. Confusion with time or place
  5. Trouble understanding visual images and judging distances
  6. New problems with words in speaking or writing
  7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps
  8. Decreased or poor judgment
  9. Withdrawal from work or social activities
  10. Changes in mood and personality

If you believe you might have Alzheimer’s or early-onset Alzheimer’s all hope is not lost. It is too early to “throw in the towel.” The top two goals of The DADS Project are prevention and reversal of the disease. Be watching for a DADS Project workshop coming near your location.

  • To know about participating in a workshop click here

God’s Love is Everlasting

Thoughts

In Jeremiah 31:3 we find God saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Another way to say this is God’s Love is Eternal.

Let’s remember our 1 Corinthians 13:13 passage. There we read … “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Let’s recap a bit before we look at this post.

  • God is the personification of love; He is love
  • Love comes from God
  • He perfectly demonstrates love
  • His love is to be replicated

Now we see, God’s love is everlasting & eternal. Since God is eternal and God is love, then the love He demonstrated in Jesus Christ is unending. That’s why Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

As long as you can read these words and appreciate the truth in them, it is not too late for you because, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

The Seven Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer's Disease

The following stages of Alzheimer’s disease, developed by Barry Reisberg, M.D., was designed to help us know more about and help us share with others the development of the disease in their loved ones. It should be understood that symptoms vary from person to person. This a basic or general idea of how abilities change during the course of the disease. For more detailed information, feel free to call or send me an email.

The Seven Stages

1. No impairment: No memory problems; medical professionals detect no symptoms of dementia.

2. Very mild decline: The person feels they have memory lapses; other than familiar words, no other symptoms are detected.

3. Mild decline: Friends, family members, and medical professionals detect difficulties coming up with the right name or word, greater difficulty performing normal tasks, loss in comprehension, losing valuable objects.

4. Moderate decline: During a medical interview clear-cut symptoms are detectable including forgetfulness of recent events and impaired ability to do complex mental arithmetic. Slight personality changes detected.

5. Moderately severe decline: Gaps in memory are detectable and individuals need help to perform day-to-day activities. Some of the gaps include inability to remember one’s own address or the high school they attended. They are still able to remember significant details about themselves and the family. They require no assistance with eating or personal hygiene.

6. Severe decline: Memory continues to worsen, more personality changes are detectable, more help is needed with daily activities. Changes include loss of awareness of surroundings; remembers their own name but difficulty with personal history. Has difficulty with facial recognition of spouse or caregivers.

7. Very severe decline: Individuals lose the ability to respond to their environment, carry on a conversation, or control movements. The person needs help with daily personal care including eating and personal hygiene. They may lose the ability to smile or sit without support. Reflexes become abnormal. Muscles grow rigid. Swallowing is impaired.

I am praying for you and continuing my research as you pray for and care for your loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease and the various forms of dementia.

Love Is To Be Replicated

Thoughts

Since God is love and love comes from God and is perfectly demonstrated by God, we need to replicate love.

During His earthly ministry, the Bible tells us a lawyer approached the Lord and asked Him what is the greatest commandment. Jesus said “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments, Jesus said, hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

We can see here, we are to replicate love. God perfectly demonstrated His love by Jesus dying on the cross for us. We replicate or return love to Him by loving Him with our whole being and loving our neighbor as ourselves. To do this we need to know what love is. We need a definition of love. How would you define love?

As you think of your definition of love, how does the world define love? If we were to take a clipboard and survey people, how would they define love? In different words than these, they would most likely say “Love is getting my needs met” or “Love is giving me what I want.” We see the self focus here.

Notice the words of 1 John 4:19. “We love Him because He first loved us.” When we examine the Scriptures and specifically 1 John 4:19, we find a biblical definition of love. Love is giving a person what they need.

How do we make that leap? How do we come to that definition? God gave us what we needed. We were lost; dead in trespasses and in sin. We needed a perfect sacrifice. We needed a Savior. He sent His only begotten Son to be our Savior; to be that perfect sacrifice. He gave us what we needed. To replicate the love of God we must ask …

  • What does God need from me?
  • What does my spouse need?
  • What does my child need (or) What do my children need?
  • What does _______________ need?

You get the idea. You can keep filling in the blank. You could keep asking those questions because we are to replicate the love of God. To love God and to love others we need to know what they need. To know what they need, we need to spend time with them and get to know them in the most personal way possible. That will lead us to replicating, repeating, and duplicating the love of God in wholesome and Christ honoring ways.

Facts & Stats Continued

Alzheimer's Disease

Continuing with more Facts and Stats,

  • 500,000 people are dying each year due to complications related to Alzheimer’s disease
    That is way too many people and we are seeking to see what we can do to lower that number.
  • A discouraging statement
    According to the Alzheimer’s Association, “Alzheimer’s is the only cause of death among the top ten in America that cannot be prevented, cured, or even slowed.” When I read that, I thought “Wow! That is a huge statement.” If that is true and not overstating the case, does that prevent some researchers from going the second mile to find a cure? With The DADS Project and other steps of implementation, we are seeking God for a cure and applying some biblical principles to change that trend and that statement.
  • Alzheimer’s is not a normal part of aging
    Up to 5% of people with the disease are in their 40s and 50s. However, the greatest known risk factor is aging. We are asking more questions and seeking to see what is going on. Is the brain shutting down due to aging or is it shutting down because as we age we do not feed the brain what it needs?
  • Live expectancy
    Those with Alzheimer’s live, on the average, 8 years after beginning to show signs of the disease. People with Alzheimer’s survive 4 to 20 years depending on other heath matters.