Manning Pastor Sam Livingston: Overload
Your phone is taking too long to pull up information. What's the problem? It could be a number of things. Some of the problems could be: too many apps, pictures and/or videos. You need to back up your phone or delete some apps, a few hundred pictures and a handful of videos to free up some data space. The other thing you could do is to move pictures and videos over to the cloud! Utilizing the cloud allows you to free up space on your device while storing your personals in another data center. The cloud is internet-based computing in which large groups of remote servers are networked so as to allow sharing of data-processing tasks, centralized data storage and online access to computer services or resources (Dictionary.com). The cloud access increases the lifespan and usability of our electronic devices. Despite the amount of space you have on your device, at some point it will max out.
As humans, we can only retain but so much information. In fact, WebMD states that, "One in nine Americans aged 45 and older say they are experiencing thinking declines. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noticing a decline in your mental abilities ("cognitive decline") is one of the earliest signs of impending Alzheimer's disease or dementia." I agree with this partially, mainly because the brain, as intelligent as it is, will come to a point that it just cannot pull up information through all that we have stored over the past decades. Think about it; we have been adding to our knowledge for 30, 40 or 60-plus years. We do not have a place to back up all this information that we have loaded in our minds. So what happens is, just like a cellphone that may be near capacity, we begin to process things slower. I am not discounting mental illnesses at all because millions of people suffer from it on a daily basis. I am, however, saying that we may not be utilizing the one thing that is a gift from God to assist us in this aging process. Brain overload and old age cause us to be a little slower pulling up information. God wants to present us with this gift called the Holy Ghost. The gift of the Holy Ghost and the possession of it is another teaching altogether.
However, I do think that it is important that we acknowledge the many benefits of this gift. The Holy Ghost is the third part of the triune God. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. I personally thank God for the Holy Ghost which bring things back to my remembrance. I am over the half-century mark now, and things don't process as rapidly as they used to. So I try to exercise more, eat right, challenge my mind, get the proper sleep and rely on the Holy Ghost to all help me with my memory. All of these are proactive tools that each of us can use to prolong or prevent mental diseases.
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" John 14:26.
Thank God for the Holy Ghost; it is the ultimate mental storage center! Any time you feel that your mind is reaching capacity, back it up in the HG (Holy Ghost) data center.
I am not a physician, psychiatrist or some mental guru, but I do know about the many functions of the Holy Ghost.
In God We Trust!
Sam Livingston is pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Manning.