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In
need of strength and energy? The
Bible holds the key.
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God's
Formula for a Healthy Life
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a
Excerpts of an article by Norman Vincent Peale with Donald T.
Kauffman (Bible Power for Successful Living) |
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The
wisest men throughout history have been aware of the relationship
between good attitudes and good health. Four centuries before
Christ, Hippocrates, who might be called the father of medicine,
taught his students to note the emotional states and the general
background of their patients. He believed that health is affected
by the mind, and that to be whole a person must get into harmony
with himself and with the world around him.
The Bible teaches us that
positive spiritual attitudes enhance health. Attention to God's
Word and His principles is given as the key to "life unto those
that find them, and health to all their flesh" (Proverbs 4:22
KJV). The therapeutic effects of laughter and joy are extolled
in Proverbs 17:22: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:
but a broken spirit drieth the bones."
Dr. Tohru Ishigami, a Japanese
physician who worked for ten years with victims of tuberculosis,
noted the connection between his patients' emotional lives and
their disease. "The personal history," he reported in The
American Review of Tuberculosis, "usually reveals failure
in business, lack of harmony in the family, or jealousy of some
sort. Nervous individuals are especially prone to attacks of
this type, and the prognosis is generally bad." On the other
hand, wrote Dr. Ishigami, a number of patients who recovered
from severe cases of tuberculosis were "optimistic and not easily
worried." |
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There appears to be a growing consensus that the mind and emotions
are a great influence on our health and well-being. It has often
been demonstrated that if psychological factors can contribute
to disease, they can also lead to healing. John D. Rockefeller,
Sr., at the age of 53 was among the richest men on earth. But
his relentless, solitary pursuit of money took its toll on his
health. With an income of over a million dollars a week, he
lost all his hair and could eat only crackers and milk!
Then Rockefeller began
using his vast wealth to benefit others. As he turned his thoughts
from making money to the |
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John
D. Rockefeller, Sr.
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good
that money could accomplish, Rockefeller's health improved.
"He began to sleep, to eat normally, and to enjoy life in general,"
says Dr. S. I. McMillen (author of None of These Diseases),
adding that "into the soul of John D. came refreshing streams
of love and gratitude from those whom he was helping." The billionaire's
health changed so radically that he lived until he was 98.
Dr. Bernard S. Siegel,
a remarkable surgeon who teaches at Yale University, is a strong
believer in the close connection between health and attitudes.
Sometimes he asks a patient: "Why do you need this disease?"
Once the person recognizes the dynamics of his life situation,
he is able to cooperate more effectively in the healing process.
In his book Love, Medicine and Miracles he says: "We
must remove the word 'impossible' from our vocabulary." As David
Ben-Gurion once observed in another context, "Anyone who doesn't
believe in miracles is not a realist."
The process of using the
mind to energize the body is clearly taught in the Bible. One
woman, believing that just getting close to Jesus and touching
His robe would heal her, did just that. Jesus became aware of
her effort and said, "Daughter, your faith has made you well"
(Mark 5:34 RSV).
No one, of course, is immune
to the problems and vicissitudes of life. But if some malady
attacks us, we can remember that God is the source of health
and healing. |
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