Healing The Mind-Body Connection Devotional

Day 1. Hopelessness to Hope
When God created us, He did so in a holistic fashion. The Bible describes us as soul, body, and spirit. You cannot dissect a human being and separate the three. Everything is interconnected. That is where the word holistic comes from; it relates to the belief that the parts of something are intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole. We cannot separate the effects of our living and thinking from our physical wellbeing. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 4:20–22 (TLB): “Listen, son of mine, to what I say. Listen carefully. Keep these thoughts ever in mind; let them penetrate deep within your heart, for they will mean real life for you and radiant health.” There is a mind-body connection.

What we think affects our physical bodies. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Hope is like a refuge that protects us from the adversary. It is the anchor of the soul. When our thoughts change, our bodies change. Our positive and negative beliefs impact every area of our lives. Norman Cousins, an author, professor, and journalist, did ten years of research on the biochemistry of human emotions, which he believed were the key to human beings’ success in fighting illness. He strongly believed that if you encounter a patient with a terminal diagnosis and give them a negative report, hopelessness fills their mind, and their immune system will not fight. However, if you put a survivor of the same diagnosis next to the patient, and they see that there is hope, their immune system will start fighting. They go from hopelessness to hope. Again we see the mind-body connection.

Many medical experts agree that our thoughts have an amazing impact on our health. A merry—cheerful, optimistic, excited—heart does good, like medicine, but hopelessness dries up the bones. Herbert Benson, MD, says that “negative thinking leads to stress, which affects our bodies’ natural healing capacity.” Everywhere in the Bible we find Jesus talking about hope and faith. We cannot have faith without hope. Our beliefs are like filters on a camera, changing how we see the world. Our biology—our physical being—adapts to those beliefs. In Mark 5 we see a woman with an issue of blood, who thought that if she could touch Jesus, she would be healed. That woman had seen in her mind that she was going to be healed. She said it within herself before it happened. And she was healed. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. When we understand the power of what we believe, we will change our beliefs to the positive.

Our physical body cannot distinguish between an actual scene and one lived out in our imagination. We can be somewhere and physically see it, or just close our eyes and see it in our imagination and it would have the same effect upon us. Have you ever heard of that? We do it with worry all the time. We do it in reverse. Worry is simply a bad thing played out in our imagination. Our fear goes up, our stress level goes up, and our high blood pressure goes up. That is the mind-body connection. We can shift from worry and fear of dying to trust and hope for living. This gives our bodies a chance to promote healing. Stress goes out and the peace of God comes in.

*Hebrews 11:1
*Proverb 17:22
*Matthew 9:29
*Ephesians 3:20
*Mark 5:25-34

Day 2. Go in Peace
There is so much sickness in this world. Our world is overrun with mental and physical agonies. People are filled with fear and worry over everything, which lead to stress. Stress is at an all-time high level. There are a lot of medical studies proving that stress shortens the life of human beings. The Bible has always been ahead of science; that is why we need to have a biblical perspective and build our lives accordingly. Since the human mind cannot distinguish reality from imagination, we should always fill our minds with good, positive, kind, and lovely thoughts. Our minds should be filled with the peace of God, which will bring healing into our bodies.

Why do you think that often in the Bible, after Jesus heals someone, He tells them to “go in peace”? Because that way they would stay healed. God’s peace is so important to us, and it can only come from thinking and thanking. These two words are really connected. If we think of good things, we begin to be thankful for them. If we think about bad things, we become unthankful. The more we think about God’s promises, and become thankful for all that He has done and all we have, the greater God’s peace within us will be. Peace in the Bible means safety, soundness, healing, deliverance, and freedom.

When our thoughts are filled with stress, fear, worry, anxiousness, and tension, we remove the peace of God from our minds. We are overly familiar with worry and stress, yet many of the things that we worry about never happen. As our minds clutter with the toxicity of stress, worry, and fear, our bodies start to lose energy, our immune system lowers, and we are more susceptible to diseases.

To break the hold of stress, worry, and fear from our minds and lives, we must gently but forcibly bring healthier and stronger ideas into our minds. When faith, rather than fear, becomes our practice, we will master worry. We were designed by God, and we were made to live, not die. That hopeful picture makes us see ourselves strong. Play a hopeful picture in the theater of your mind. Fill yourself with the image of a positive future, like the woman with the issue of blood who hoped for healing. When she acted upon what she first imagined, Jesus told her that her faith had made her whole.
Do not believe a bad report, do not lose hope, do not give up. Believe a good report. Read and write down scriptures that talk about faith each day. Absorb them, let them sink deep into your mind. You can be the person God wants you to be. You are God’s best.

*3 John 1:2
*Proverbs 15:30
*Ecclesiastes 11:10
*Jeremiah 29:11
*Luke 7:50

Day 3:  The Good Medicine

The greatest way that the soul can prosper is through the love of God. We need to be permeated with His love—a love that is kind, forgiving, hopes all things, and will never fail. American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Smiley Blanton, says in one of his books that without love man is likely to perish from a variety of diseases from the mind and body. Dr. Alfred Adler wrote: “It is the individual who is not interested in his fellow men who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injury to others.” And, we might add, to themselves as well. We read in the Bible that love is the highest and greatest commandment: love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor (Matthew 22:37–39).

To remove bad emotions from our lives and turn on the love of God within us, we need to follow the wisdom found in the Bible on a daily basis. We cannot eliminate wrong emotions like anger, bitterness, envy, resentment—all the emotions that are against somebody who hurt us, betrayed us, or said something that was untrue—by willpower. Our will does not have control over our emotions. We cannot will out worry or fear from our lives.

Our will does not have control over our emotions, but it does have complete control over our actions, and actions change emotions. Jesus teaches us to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, to do good, and to pray. He commands us to act against things that stir up bad emotions in us, saying, “Love, bless, do good, and pray.” All these require action, and action changes emotions.

We do not love in word; we need to love in deed (1 John 3:18). Love, bless, do good, and pray. When we involve ourselves in these good actions, bad emotions dissipate. Action can alter our emotions towards others, and it can also change our emotions about life. We can learn to have a happy life. We can learn to be happy.

Medical science has confirmed that when we are happy—in a state of mind fixed on good and pleasant thoughts—we perform better and feel better. People who practice thinking pleasant and positive thoughts can see, smell, taste, and hear better. Happiness improves the function of all of our internal organs. King Solomon said a merry heart is good like medicine (Proverbs 17:22). Good medicine is laughing, relaxing, being happy, taking it easy, and enjoying people. That is a mind-body connection.
In the Bible we are taught to receive our food with thanksgiving and prayer. Why do you think that is? It is because that way our digestive juices and our stomachs work better. God wants us to be healthy, and in order to be healthy we have to be happy. Happiness is not in our future—one day when our bills are paid, when we have everything we need. Happiness is in our present: it is right now. We can be happy now. It is a mental habit, a mental attitude. If it is not practiced in the present, it can never be experienced. There is so much to be thankful for. Thankfulness produces happiness that will promote health. Be that person God made you to be. Be filled with excitement, enthusiasm and joy!
*1Corinthians 13:4-7
*1Corinthians 13:13
*Matthew 12: 43-45
*James 2:13
*Matthew 5:43-45
*Luke 10:27