These blogs seem to be getting more difficult for me to do.... simply because I'm taking so many notes and there are so many inspiring thoughts and so many things that I would love to comment on or go deeper on.
Proverbs is so rich.... and then there's Psalm 91... one of my favorite Psalms. But this isn't a Bible commentary... it's just a place for me to share a few thoughts from each day, so....
I'm going to comment on Prov. 17:22 - "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine!"
How true this is! I know that I've literally seen this true in my own life, when I'm going through a time of discouragement, or I'm feeling down, it is then that I have the tendency to get sick, to start fighting a sore-throat, or something else... but when I'm doing well, and my heart is at peace, I stay well. I very rarely get sick. But if I'm upset or emotionally hurting.... yep... that's when I start to feel the edges of a cold or something coming on. There is such a mind/body connection....
I read the following in the margin of my Bible from the book Ministry of Healing.
The relation that exists between the mind and the body is very intimate. When one is affected, the other sympathizes. The condition of the mind affects the health to a far greater degree than many realize. Many of the diseases from which men suffer are the result of mental depression. Grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust, all tend to break down the life forces and to invite decay and death.
Disease is sometimes produced, and is often greatly aggravated, by the imagination. Many are lifelong invalids who might be well if they only thought so. Many imagine that every slight exposure will cause illness, and the evil effect is produced because it is expected. Many die from disease the cause of which is wholly imaginary.
Courage, hope, faith, sympathy, love, promote health and prolong life. A contented mind, a cheerful spirit, is health to the body and strength to the soul. “A merry [rejoicing] heart doeth good like a medicine.” Proverbs 17:22.
In the treatment of the sick the effect of mental influence should not be overlooked. Rightly used, this influence affords one of the most effective agencies for combating disease. (Ministry of Healing, p. 241)So today's thought: Let us cultivate cheerful minds and hearts of gratitude. Let's guard our words -- for as I was also just reading in this chapter in Proverbs, "death and life are in the power of the tongue." When we speak words of faith and hope and love, those words react in our minds on our bodies. They not only bring healing to the mind but healing to others. And the reverse is also true.
Tomorrow's Reading: Prov. 19-20 and 1 Thes. 1
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