Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Faith Gives Substance to Hope

From things that are not seen, come things that are... faith gives substance to hope.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for Heb. 11:1. Faith gives substance to and brings about the manifestation of healing that is already ours/yours. Look at the words of Jesus. "All things are possible to them that believe, Mark 9:23... "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Mark 11:23.

In August 1991, an article appeared in The Readers Digest entitled "Patient Knows Best." It read, ...
A person's answer to the question, 'Is your health excellent, good, fair or poor?' is a remarkable predictor of who will live or die over the next four years according to new research findings.

People have an image of themselves. Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21. What you believe and speak not only affects your body but your immune system as well. your words become either a blessing or a curse to you.  Jesus put it this way: A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings froth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil; for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh Luke 6:45.
People do have an image of themselves, and it is a social construction. Look at television today, all we see are adds about drugs and then lawyer adds on how to get money from litigation / lawsuit due to the use of the drugs just advertised to us as good for us. If people have an image of themselves today, it is not a healthy one. And, yes, you can disagree and say that a friend or family member of yours was a kind person with kind words for everyone and always helping out and eating right. Then suddenly they are ill and dying. What can be overlooked by those of us observing others is that they may not realize that they have come under another power especially the worst kind of power which is reflected in our society today largely through mass media. It is not easy to have a positive image of yourself. Yet, I know that having a positive image is what God wants us to have.
As a sociologist, I know that a positive image is good for you/us. The article in Readers Digest pointed above was based on a study conducted by sociologist Ellen Idler, a sociologist at Rutgers University (I did a sabbatical there in 2002) and epidemiologist Stanislav Kasl of Yale Univeristy Shcool of Medicine. Their findings supported the connection between having a positive image of yourself and longevity. How would you answer that question above "Is your health excellent, good, fair or poor?"
Being a Christian requires that you show others your faith and that your faith is positive and produces positive results in you. Embrace that Christ loves you and profess that Jesus loves you and that He is your savior, and that He is God. Rest in Him, and have no worries, show others that it is not by 'works' that you have been saved...  for know that you have already been saved.

1 comment:

  1. Too often in our culture we use euphermisms that actually create our reality. We actualkly speak words of sickness and death and poverty and hopelessness over ourselves and family and friends.

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