While there certainly can be physical causes of sickness that can be addressed in the physical realm, we see continually throughout the history recorded in the Bible that sickness is often the result of a spiritual problem: our sin. If the cause is spiritual, the solution and the healing are spiritual also. Seeking physical remedies will not result in healing if the problem is a spiritual problem.
There is a lot of debate today over the meaning of the word “natural” in certain circles, particularly in the marketing of food products. What the word “natural” means in communication depends on the understanding of the one using the term. For those starting from a Darwinian presupposition, for example, it means something like the “natural” course of the way things evolved. “Natural” in this sense is the result of random processes absent from any intelligence guiding it. For those starting from a creation or intelligent design presupposition, “natural” means something related to a design principle, and what the designer intended. Science, in the strictest sense of the word, cannot prove either starting presupposition. Both positions start with a belief about what is true. When we come to the term supernatural, however, there is no serious debate as to what the term means. The only debate is whether or not it occurs in real life.
Jesus has never given up his authority to heal. It remains today. It begins with forgiveness of sins. The principles for healing have not changed over time, only the “doctors” who desire to maintain their control over the people through their approved products for dealing with sickness. Jesus is still the one true Doctor who has the authority to forgive sins and offer true healing. His authority supersedes the authority of all other doctors and health practitioners today, just as it did when he walked the earth. So who are you trusting today for your health?
Medical practice here in the 21st century is primarily chemical based, with a strong educational foundation built upon Darwinian evolutionary biology. Yet, the products produced by the pharmaceutical industry are known to cause over 100,000 deaths per year, and injure millions more. As a result, many are returning to more natural healing methods. An older system of healing than the modern chemically-based pharmaceutical products revolves around the use of energy. Sometimes referred to in modern times as “energy medicine,” these healing practices look at the body’s energy fields, understanding that even the physical elements in creation have specific energy patterns. Perhaps one of the oldest forms of using energy in the body for healing is the Chinese practice of acupuncture, which has gained more wide-spread acceptance recently even in western cultures. A more modern form of energy-based healing would be homeopathy, which at one point early in the history of the United States was the more common practice used by “physicians,” until pharmaceutical-dominated trade unions like the American Medical Association drove most of these physicians out of business in favor of the more profitable pharmaceutical products. The purest form of energy healing, however, centers around the healing “touch” of Jesus Christ. Stories recorded in the Bible show that when Jesus walked the earth in human form, that simply touching him brought about healing.
Psalm 19 shows us three truths about how God communicates with us, and how we can know him.
Why an article on "wealth" on a website about health? Because the way we think about wealth and finances has a tremendous impact on our health. Some of the wealthiest people on earth are also some of the sickest people. This is probably due to the stress related to managing wealth. Stress also occurs when we are poor and facing an uncertain economic future. Fortunately, the Bible gives clear guidance in all areas regarding finances and wealth. This article summarizes the biblical view of wealth from a Creation perspective, which is essential to understand if you want to live a healthy life.
Are you caught in a circle of anger and frustration over the "unfair" circumstances of your life, and your powerlessness to be able to do anything about it? If so, then be assured that you are right where God wants you to be, in a position to come to him in faith and helplessness and to "wait patiently for him." Replace your frustration and anger by "delighting yourself in the Lord," and you will soon experience the joy and peace that comes from trusting in God.
The way sickness was viewed in Biblical Old Testament times and the way sickness is viewed today in the 21st century is almost in completely opposite terms. In Old Testament times, sickness was primarily viewed as a judgment from God for sins. This view primarily stemmed from Israel’s experience in the Exodus from Egypt, when God inflicted plagues on the Egyptians. In our modern day post-Darwin era, sickness is almost always viewed as strictly a result of natural causes, with no thought given to spiritual issues such as sin. Medicines and other cures are seen as the remedy for all sicknesses. If a cure does not exist in medicine, it is believed that one will be discovered in the future through scientific research. Both of these views are extreme and imbalanced. Read how King David, the most righteous king that ruled Israel in Old Testament times but nevertheless suffered from sickness, dealt with his illness, and how he was healed and restored. The principles he teaches for restoration from sickness still work today!
During the first century a small band of disciples of Jesus traveled from city to city healing people. This caused quite a controversy as the traditional health care systems in place started to lose money and power, since the healing being conducted in Jesus' name was so much more effective. Could the same thing happen today?
A story from the acts of the first disciples of Jesus in the first century clearly illustrates where true healing comes from, and how persecution from the "health authorities" invariably arises whenever people are healed outside of the prescribed medical paradigm of the day. Throughout history men have sought to control healing, and keep the healing arts out of the hands of the masses. The authority to heal in Jesus' name has always been a threat to profit-based healthcare, because it delegates healing to the common masses instead of profit-driven licensed medical authorities.
Jesus took the command of the “Golden Rule” to love someone as you love yourself to a whole new level. He loved others MORE than he loved his own life. He treated others as MORE important than himself. He gave up his very life for the sake of others – the most extreme expression of human love possible.
We live in a very polluted environment these days, and much of our food is mass produced and altered in such a way that we end up consuming toxins that our body needs to process and eliminate in order for us to enjoy good physical health. There are a variety of cleansing and detoxification protocols and products used today for these physical cleansings of the body. But your spirit also is subject to spiritual toxins, and we are all in need of spiritual cleansing on a regular basis to keep our spiritual life healthy.
We can’t rely on ourselves, and we can’t rely on others. We can only rely on God’s love. It is not enough to just simply know about God’s love intellectually. We have to have the kind of experience with God and his love where we rely upon it, because we are living inside God’s love, and his love is living inside of us through the Holy Spirit. That kind of experiential knowledge of God’s love will change our life, and the lives of those around us.
Being effective and productive in life begins with our minds, and understanding the “great and precious promises” that Christ has given us, and the “divine power” that is available to us. But it then moves beyond the intellectual knowledge, and produces faith in our life to put into practice the things we know are true. What good are great and precious promises and divine power if we never use them and put them into practice? When we put them into practice, we possess the qualities of an effective and productive life that are listed here by Peter: faith – goodness – knowledge – self control – perseverance – godliness – brotherly kindness – love.
Do you recognize that you need to depend upon God for your “daily bread?” Do you go to him in prayer asking him to supply you with the healthy food your body requires? Do you trust the people who supply your food? Do you even know who they are? Do they trust God? What will happen if you go to the store one day and find that the shelves are bare because those you put your trust in to supply your food have failed? Is the food you are now buying even healthy, in the form God created it?
The most important event in our life, however, is our physical death – the end of our life when our physical body can no longer support our spirit. It is also an event that we have little or no control over. We cannot prevent it. Death is a certainty, and it is not very predictable. After our body dies, we go on living into eternity. And yet an event as important as this seldom gets the attention in preparation that other less important major events in our life receive. So have you made preparations for this inevitable future event in your life?
Physical fitness and training is a huge business in our culture today, as we become a more sedentary population in the age of science and technology. Athletes must prepare and implement a specific plan to train physically in order to compete successfully. Likewise today, many of us who lead sedentary lifestyles must make specific plans to stay physically fit through regular exercise, or our health will deteriorate. But Paul told Timothy that training to be godly was far more beneficial for one’s health than physical training. He stated that physical training was only of some value, whereas godliness has value for all things. Physical training is only good for as long as your body lasts in this life, while godly training has value both in the present life and also in the future life to come. This principle is especially true in our modern society, as we exalt and emphasize the physical realm, and either ignore or deny the spiritual realm altogether. So what is “godliness?”
The heart of idolatry is looking to sources outside of God for our basic needs and desires in life. The idols that are erected flow out of our experiences in life, and the idol is an attempt to explain life apart from the Creator. The cure for idolatry is belief and trust in God our Creator and Redeemer. Faith in God our Creator and the Redeemer Jesus, is the opposite of idolatry, and recognizes that life depends on God the Creator, and that redemption, the forgiveness of sins and spiritual rebirth, comes from a relationship with Jesus.
The English word "pastor" today is most often used in front of a person's name as a title of someone in a leadership position within a church or religious organization. But is this common title used so often in modern culture really biblical? Would believers in Jesus Christ in the First Century, among whom are the writers of the New Testament portion of the Bible, have used this term as a title, representing leaders and authorities? Who will follow the one true Pastor Jesus, who is the rightful owner of the one true flock, and tend to his sheep under his leadership? Who will pray in faith with the power and authority of Jesus to affect true healing for the multitudes that are suffering in the 21st century? Who will deal with the disease and effects of sin and receive the forgiveness from Jesus that cleanses and heals?
There are the two biblical principles of dealing with anxiety and stress, and they are the guiding principles for mental health. No drugs are needed. It requires a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, however, and not just an intellectual knowledge about him. So the first step is the spiritual rebirth.
