The Spirit and Health

This is probably the most important post in the series. As many of you know I am totally convinced that the Lord wants us whole and well. He is not in any way glorified if we are sick- how then can we be victorious in His service? How is that a testimony of a good and gracious God? There are many times when He can use a bad situation and turn it around for good, but God does not cause us to be sick or injured in some way for His glory- hogwash.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. " John 10:10

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:2

"Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways." Psalm 91:9-11

The entrance of sin in the world caused the creation of sickness and disease. Not only does the Lord give supernatural healing, but He's also given us knowledge about the foods He's placed on the earth and the body's natural healing methods. If given the right tools, most of the time our body can fix itself.

Many health experts and 'natural healers' all agree that no matter how perfectly you are eating, good health can't exist in someone with negative thoughts and words or someone who is filled with bitterness and hatred. The spiritual world is more real than we can comprehend.

"My son, pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.

Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;

for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man's whole body." 4:20-22

The Lord promises in so many places in the Bible that if we will feed on His Word that it will be life to our bodies and health to our flesh. When we are dealing with illnesses it's probably more important that we take our spiritual medicine as well. As we begin think and meditate on the Word, we fill our hearts and minds with His words, and will naturally begin the speak these healing words aloud-"calling things that be not as though they were." Rom. 4:17

"...for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Matthew 12:34

Most all of us are dealing with stress. I have been since the birth of my first child :) However she is special needs, so that's unique to me. But then I also had another baby that same year, had a miscarriage the next year, then finally had Sarah the next year. So, I had 4 pregnancies in 3 years. At the time we had Leiah and Alexa, we were remodeling an old house and living on a fairly tight budget because of all the medical expenses. How did I deal with all this stress? My body tried it's best, but I ended up having post partum depression, IBS, hormonal imbalances and a lowered immune system. Not to mention all the excess weight I had gained and couldn't seem to lose. Maybe I would have had all these things even if Leiah hadn't been a special case, I don't know. But I was rather forced to focus on health and how to get it back, this the reason I seem to know a lot about it, which I don't really :)

Over time I've learned to use herbs to help with stress (St. John's Wort and Sleepytime Tea), how to eat (apparently eating plenty of good fats is good for stress) and how to stand back and gain perspective on the situation before reacting emotionally. I'm not perfect though and still lose my cool at times. Recently I've begun exercising and this does help as well.

So, I hope all of this made sense. The main thing is that it doesn't matter how perfect your diet is, if you have 'stinkin' thinkin' your health will never be all it could and should be.