Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. – Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
Why must we think about these things?
John Hopkins Medical School has found that 70% of disease is psychosomatic. What does that mean? The word psyche means “the mind,” and soma is “the body.” This is not to say that 70% of diseases are not real, but rather that the origin of these diseases is not found in a physical cause. The origin, in nature, first occurred in the mind. As a person begins to harbor and foster negative thoughts in the mind, these manifest in the body. Thoughts have the ability to make us well or to poison the body. Negative thoughts weaken the immune system and poison the bloodstream. Complementary, Stanford University found over 2000 different chemical secretions that were released into the body, from the brain into the bloodstream, which were all based on a person’s thoughts – good or bad.
Conversely, the featured Scripture above is a mandate issued to us by the Apostle Paul, it is a command, and it is compulsory. This means that not acting on this command is to be disobedient to God. Disobedience is sin and the wages of sin is death. Death may not necessarily mean physical death, even though it may lead to that. Death here refers to Spiritual death. Like what occurred when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. This caused the fall of man, which led to the broken world we live in today.
One of the hardest things about being human in this broken world is experiencing pain without quick-fix answers and consistent happy endings. We all face challenges that feel overwhelming. We struggle when we don’t know what to do. For those with mental, emotional, or physical health concerns, the feeling of saturation can seem never-ending. But even so, there is hope. We have hope in God. There is goodness. Our God is bigger and better than we know. One thing we are guaranteed is that the presence of God is with us through every challenge and struggle we face. He can deliver. Believe it.
Read: Psalm 27:13; Psalm 142:7; 2 Peter 1:3
Bible Reading Guide: Psalms 119:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 1; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16; Jeremiah 18; Jeremiah 19; Jeremiah 20
