The Ultimate Benefit Package (The Science is In)

My biggest enemy has always been myself.  If you were asked to list the biggest problem in your life, what would your answer be?  Ask around; you’ll find that people seldom list themselves.  King David writes about this issue in Psalm 51:1-3:

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

Psalm 51:9-10:

9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

The deliverance process begins at the place Jesus calls BORN-AGAIN, and it is an ongoing deliverance. 

🞛 I was delivered from being self-willed to God-willed. 
🞛 God delivered me from my unbelief.
🞛 God delivered me from my own lust.
🞛 God delivered me from my own slothfulness.
🞛 God delivered me from my own hatred and bitterness.

This is only a short sampling of the deliverances.  The full list of deliverances is long, but the point is that God delivered me from myself and this reconciliation process is ongoing. God delivered me—and continues to deliver me each day—from mine own iniquity. 

Have you yet to be BORN-AGAIN—born a literal second time, this time of the Spirit of God?  Today, all your sins and their shame will be washed away by Christ’s cleansing blood.  Today, all of the devil’s bondages in your life will be broken, and the bigger, the better.  Today, God will deliver you from yourself, and as you continue on in Jesus Christ, the beautiful purging power of the Holy Ghost will be ongoing.  In just a moment, I will invite you to follow me in a simple prompt, and as you do, everything—absolutely everything—will change for you.  Today will certainly be the best day of your life, and tomorrow will be better.  It is true. Here comes the prompt: Click onto “Further with Jesus”  for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Psalm 68:19:

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

GOD SAID, Hebrews 10:24-25:

24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

GOD SAID, Philippians 4:6-7:

6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

MAN SAID: When it’s over, it’s over—no “God,” no “judgment day,” no “hell.”  At least, that’s what my phone told me.  In spite of what I just said, I’m actually terrified of the idea of dying, and of the grave. 

Now THE RECORD: Welcome to GodSaidManSaid feature 1053 that will once again certify the perfect, supernaturally-authored Word of the living God.  All of these faith-building features are archived here in text and streaming audio for your edification and as ammunition in the battle for the souls of men.  Every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one.  Thank you for coming today.  May God’s goodness and His grace fill your heart with joy.

How marvelous!  How glorious is the written text found in the majority-text Holy Bible—so true and righteous altogether!  This Book is God’s owner’s manual, given that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).  This marvelous Book has been challenged and tried since the Garden of Eden by Satan himself, and his champions of unbelief have taken up his cause since then.  Still, there have been no successes to point to, not one.  God’s critics, struggle as they may, have never laid a hand on His Book.

Can you imagine that every book ever written, and every sentence ever spoken, must genuflect before the Holy Bible?  The reason for this, as you should suspect, is childlike simple.  Revelation 1:8:

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. 

The Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and every letter in between.  These letters make up every spoken and written word of man.  Philippians 2:9-11:

9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Every knee and every word will bow.  Matthew 12:36-37:

36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Thousands of years before science begins to understand why, God’s Word is already there.  This is not a remote occurrence—some anomaly—but rather, it happens very frequently.  Today’s feature will once again demonstrate this reality.  Several foundational paragraphs from GodSaidManSaid research follows. 

💣 GodSaidManSaid, “Scientists Shocked to Find God in Implicit Pattern Learning:”

The principles laid out in this feature are recurring on GodSaidManSaid because of their empirical importance.  When I have these simple, childlike principles down, the secret of amazing blessings becomes apparent and present.  No longer will you flee from God’s commandments; you will race to embrace! 

THREE PRINCIPLES:

1. God wants to bless you and me, more than we even know to ask.  Consider I Corinthians 2:9:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.      

His heart yearns to bless His children.

2. Inherent within every commandment and precept of God’s Word is a blessing or a curse.  Because every commandment and precept of God’s Word is the perfect and inerrant truth, obeying yields the blessings of doing the right thing.  Because every commandment and precept of God’s Word is the perfect and inerrant truth, disobeying yields the curse of doing the wrong thing. Inherent within is a blessing or a curse, and it is just that childlike and simple.

3. Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). It can’t be done. Faith in God is faith in His Word because He is the living, life-creating Word:

🕇 John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

🕇 Of Jesus Christ, Revelation 19:13 states: “…and His name is called The Word of God.”

🕇 John 1:14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Faith in God’s Word, followed by obedience, is called righteousness.  When we obey God’s Word, He can bless us because we are in a blessable place, and this pleases God.  It is just so childlike and beautiful.

The benefits of faith are immediate and also eternal.  Faith stands to the truth long before today’s science begins to understand.  The redeemed obey the Word of God because by faith, they know it is true and that obedience pleases the God of blessing. 

The believer didn’t know that their obedience to God’s commandments against all forms of fornication would mean that they would not participate in the curse of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), which marks nearly half of the world.  But the God of faith did.  (I Corinthians 6:18)

The believer didn’t know that their obedience to God’s strong endorsement of breast-feeding would result in healthier children and mothers, as well as children with higher IQs.  But the God of faith did. (Genesis 49:25)

The believer didn’t know that their obedience to God’s directive to meditate on His Word daily would result in the rebuilding of the brain’s grey matter in eight weeks.  But the God of faith did.  (Psalm 1:2)

The believer didn’t know that their obedience to God’s heavy reliance on olive oil would turn out to be one of the all-time greatest health elixirs.  But the God of faith did. (Deuteronomy 8:8)

The believer didn’t know that their obedience to God’s strong commandment concerning fasting would totally rebuild their immune system. But the God of faith did. (Isaiah 58)  

The believer didn’t know that their obedience to God’s direct commandment to attend church would result in life and life more abundantly.  They didn’t know that those who attended church more than once a week would live 11% longer than those who didn’t, which translates to 8 years or 2,920 days.  But the God of faith did. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

The believer didn’t know that their obedience to God’s commandment to be baptized in the Holy Ghost, where they would speak in new tongues as they did on the day of Pentecost, would result in boosting their immune system dramatically, as well as dissolving stress.  But the God of faith did. (Mark 16:17-18)

The summary regarding the Science Daily article titled “Unconscious Learning Underlies Belief in God, Study Suggests,” published September 9, 2020, reads:

Individuals who can unconsciously predict complex patterns, an ability called implicit pattern learning, are likely to hold stronger beliefs that there is a god who creates patterns of events in the universe, according to neuroscientists. [End of quote]

The believer didn’t know that their obedience to God’s commandment to believe in Him would result in implicit pattern learning.  But the God of faith did. (Psalm 19:7)

The benefits of faith in God and His Word are immediate and eternal. [End of quotes]

The inerrant precepts and commandments in God’s Word deliver life, and deliver it more abundantly, even eternally.  Inherent within God’s perfect instruction is a blessing or a curse, and I will choose which it shall be.  The GodSaidManSaid feature, “Inversely Proportional: Staggering Proof!” weighs in with the following:

The following sentences are from the November 26, 2008, article, “Religion May Help Extend Your Life,” published by HealthDay: 

The study participants came from the large Women’s Health initiative observational study, and included nearly 95,000 women from all over the United States.  The women were all between 50 and 79 years old at the start of the study. 

When the researchers adjusted the data to account for the physical health, age, ethnicity, income, education, social support, important life events, and life satisfaction, they found that weekly religious service attendance was responsible for a 20% reduction in the risk of death. 

Dr. Harold G. Koenig, founder and co-director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health at Duke University Medical Center, called the new research “a very well-done study that provides good, well-controlled evidence that religious attendance is related to lower mortality.” 

Concerning prayer, Dr. Dale Matthews of Georgetown University, author of The Faith Factor, reports that 75% of all research on studies of spirituality has confirmed health benefits.  He said, “If prayer were available in pill form, no pharmacy could stock enough of it.”  [End of quote]

The headline from the January 9, 2014, MailOnline reads: “Religious people take fewer sick days and are less anxious because spirituality ‘offers a buffer against the strains of modern life.’”  The sub-head reads:

✟ People who are religious are less likely to be stressed at work
✟ They are also less likely to be depressed or exhausted
✟ They are more likely to feel that their life has meaning

The research comes just after it was revealed that people who have a spiritual side have a “thicker” section of brain tissue than those who do not. 

The research, from Columbia University, also suggested that this thickening of the brain’s cortex could help to stave off depression.  The study authors believe this could suggest being religious changes the structure of the brain in a way which reduces depression risk.  [End of quotes]

From an article published by CharismaNews.com:

The proof of the power of prayer is overwhelming, says researcher and writer Tom Knox, a one-time atheist who became a regular worshipper after doing an in-depth study of the medical benefits of faith. 

“What I discovered astonished me,” admits Knox.  “Over the past 30 years, a growing and largely unnoticed body of scientific work shows religious belief is medically, socially, and psychologically beneficial.” 

Study after study backs up the benefits of having faith, especially in prolonging life.

In 2006, population researchers at the University of Texas discovered that the more often you go to church, the longer you live. 

“Religious attendance is associated with adult mortality in a graded fashion,” says Knox.  “There is a seven-year difference in life expectancy between those who never attend church and those who attend weekly.” 

The American Journal of Public Health studied nearly 2,000 older Californians for five years and found that those who attended religious services were 36 percent less likely to die during that period than those who didn’t. 

A study of nearly 4,000 older adults by the U.S. Journal of Gerontology revealed that atheists had a significantly increased chance of dying over a six-year period than the faithful. 

Crucially, religious people lived longer than atheists even if they didn’t go regularly to a place of worship.  [End of quotes]

The fruit of God’s beautiful Book is now and eternal.  What happens if one is “foolish” enough to follow its dictums? Over 500 times, prayer is the focus in the Holy Scriptures.  Philippians 4:6-7:

6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

💣 GodSaidManSaid, “Prayer Power and the Quantum:”

Science, in an ever-increasing way, is proving its long-held skepticism of prayer as the ignorance it was, and in fact has proven, and continues to validate, the supernatural power of prayer.

According to an article titled "Emotional Wellness," on WebMD.com, prayer has a plethora of proven health benefits, including a considerably longer life:

But prayer is more than just repetition and physiological responses, says Harold Koenig, MD, associate professor of medicine and psychiatry at Duke and a colleague of Krucoff''s.

Traditional religious beliefs have a variety of effects on personal health, says Koenig, senior author of the Handbook of Religion and Health, a new release that documents nearly 1,200 studies done on the effects of prayer on health.

These studies show that religious people tend to live healthier lives. "They are less likely to smoke, to drink, to drink and drive," he says. In fact, people who pray tend to get sick less often, as separate studies conducted at Duke, Dartmouth, and Yale Universities show. Some statistics from these studies:

🙏 Hospitalized people who never attended church have an average stay of three times longer than people who attended regularly.

🙏 Heart patients were 14 times more likely to die following surgery if they did not participate in a religion.

🙏 Elderly people who never or rarely attended church had a stroke rate double that of people who attended regularly.

🙏 In Israel, religious people had a 40% lower death rate from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

A Woman''s Day magazine article titled "Giving Thanks," reads:

Saying grace with your family at dinner takes no time at all, yet studies show adding spirituality to your home reduces your loved ones'''' blood pressure by four points—enough to lower their lifetime risk of heart disease 20%. And doctors say daily prayer can cut their risk of ever developing depression by 81%!

"No one''s sure why, but kids who are plugged in to their faith can have better health their entire lives," says pediatrician William Sears, M.D., author of The Family Nutrition Book.

According to another Woman''s Day article, "Prayer Helps Heal Hearts," Duke University researchers have found that heart patients were profoundly impacted by prayer:

More evidence that prayer can work health miracles was reported by Duke University Medical Center recently. Researchers found that heart patients who were prayed for by different religious groups fared an amazing 50% to 100% better than patients who received no prayers during their hospital stays. The prayed-for patients experienced lower blood pressure and heart rate during their operations and suffered fewer serious complications and deaths afterward.

Doctor L. Dossey, former chief of staff of Humana Medical City, Dallas, reviewed 130 scientific studies that had been conducted over a 30-year period. His conclusion? Dr. Dossey said, "The evidence is overwhelming; prayer does work." It''s been proven to help people overcome everything from headaches to heart attacks.

According to an article in Reader''s Digest titled "Faith Is Powerful Medicine" the vast majority of doctors believe spirituality is directly connected to health:

Conferences on spirituality and health have been sponsored by Harvard Medical School and the Mayo Clinic. Nearly half of U.S. medical schools now offer courses on the topic. In a survey of 269 doctors at the 1996 meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians, 99 percent said they thought religious beliefs could contribute to healing. When asked about their personal experiences, 63 percent of doctors said God intervened to improve their own medical conditions.

According to an article in Psychology Today titled, "Can Prayer Get You Pregnant?", prayer will increase your chance of pregnancy exponentially:

Two separate studies reveal a surprising correlation between prayer and conception, on the one hand, and longevity on the other. A team from Columbia University was amazed to discover that prayer appeared to double the chances of pregnancy in women undergoing in-vitro fertilization treatments. Women who were prayed for had a 50 percent pregnancy rate, compared with a 26 percent success rate among those for whom no one prayed.

The study rules out the power of persuasion. Neither the women nor their doctors knew that people were praying on their behalf. In fact, the 199 women were in Cha General Hospital in Seoul, Korea, thousands of miles from those praying for them in the U.S., Canada and Australia. "The results were so highly significant they weren''t even borderline," says Roger Lobo, Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia''s College of Physicians and Surgeons. "We spent time deciding if it was even publishable because we couldn''t explain it." They opted for publication in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine to encourage others to investigate the phenomenon.

Prayer might not only hasten life but also stave off death, according to research from the University of California at Berkeley. A team there found that Christians and Jews who attended regular services lived longer and were less likely to die from circulatory, digestive and respiratory diseases.

The following excerpt is from an article titled, "Does Prayer Really Work?" published in the magazine First For Women:

Doctors at San Francisco General Hospital divided 393 coronary-care unit patients into two groups. The first were prayed for by prayer groups unacquainted with the patients; the second group were not prayed for. Neither the doctors nor the patients knew which patients were getting the prayer therapy and the prayer group never met the patients—they were given names and brief illness descriptions. They discovered that prayer, combined with the proper medical treatment, provided the added boost patients needed to recover.

Specifically, they found that the prayed-for group:

💪 were less likely to have a cardiac arrest (heart attack).

💪 were two and one-half times less likely to have congestive heart failure.

💪 were five times less likely to need antibiotics.

💪 suffered fewer complications. [End of quotes]

Prayerful, mental/spiritual intentions can move mountains, but don’t confuse that with “mind over matter.”  When God’s Word, mixed with our faith, is articulated as prayer, big, fourth dimension motion is put into play.  Prayer sits at the intersection of energy and matter, and it is not just mental intentions affecting things like gray matter, or the placebo and nocebo effects, or living 11% longer.  No, it is so much unimaginably more—even to harnessing the power and favor of God, the energy and life source of heaven and earth. [End of quotes]

The benefits of the beautiful Book are far beyond staggering.  Today, anxiety, despair, depression, suicidal tendencies, alcohol and substance abuse, are all out of control.  Satan has placed a deadly chokehold on the world’s inhabitants, and he is enjoying every moment of it.  But wouldn’t you know it?  The God of the Bible offers the remedy.  Today’s science is discovering that God’s commandment to His children to attend church is the antidote.  The headline in Science News reads: “Regularly Attending Religious Services Associated with Lower Risk of Deaths of Despair, Study Finds.” The article was submitted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on May 6, 2020.  Excerpts follow:

People who attend religious services at least once a week were significantly less likely to die from “deaths of despair,” including deaths related to suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol poisoning, according to new research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 

“Despair is something that can confront anyone dealing with severe difficulties or loss.  While the term ‘deaths of despair’ was originally coined in the context of working-class Americans struggling with unemployment, it is a phenomenon that is relevant more broadly, such as to the health care professionals in our study who may be struggling with excessive demands and burnout, or to anyone facing loss.  As such, we need to look for important community resources that can protect against it,” said Tyler VanderWeele, John L. Loeb, and Frances Lehman Loeb, Professor of Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School.  VanderWeele is also director of the Human Flourishing Program and co-director of the Initiative on Health, Religion, and Spirituality at Harvard University.  

The study will be published online in JAMA Psychiatry on May 6, 2020.

Religion may be a social determinant of health, and previous research has shown that attending religious services may be associated with a lower risk of various factors related to despair, including heavy drinking, substance misuse, and suicidality. 

For this study, researchers analyzed data from the Nurses’ Health Study II on 66,492 women as well as data  from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study on 43,141 men.  Among the women, there were 75 deaths from despair: 43 suicides, 20 deaths from poisoning, and 12 deaths from liver disease and cirrhosis.  Among the men, there were 306 deaths from despair: 197 suicides, 6 deaths from poisoning, and 103 deaths from liver disease and cirrhosis. 

After adjusting for numerous variables, the study showed that women who attended services at least once per week had a 68% lower risk of death from despair compared to those never attending services.  Men who attended services at least once per week had 33% lower risk of death from despair. 

The study authors noted that religious participation may serve as an important antidote to despair and an asset for sustaining a sense of hope and meaning.  They also wrote that religion may be associated with strengthened psychosocial resilience by fostering a sense of peace and positive outlook, and promoting social connectedness. 

Other authors from Harvard Chan School include Howard Koh and Ichiro Kawachi.  Michael Botticelli of the Grayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center was also a co-author.  [End of quotes]

The marvelous fruit of God’s Holy Bible yields for today and its benefits last for all eternity.  Those who bow their knees, and their ears enjoy its magnificence.  Quit contending.  You’re not smart enough.

GOD SAID, Psalm 68:19:

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

GOD SAID, Hebrews 10:24-25:

24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

GOD SAID, Philippians 4:6-7:

6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

MAN SAID: When it’s over, it’s over—no “God,” no “judgment day,” no “hell.”  At least, that’s what my phone told me.  In spite of what I just said, I’m actually terrified of the idea of dying, and of the grave. 

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

GodSaidManSaid, “Inversely Proportional: Staggering Proof!”

GodSaidManSaid, “Prayer Power and the Quantum”

GodSaidManSaid, “Scientists Shocked to Find God in Implicit Pattern Learning”

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, “Regularly Attending Religious Services Associated with Lower Risk of Deaths of Despair, Study Finds,” Science Daily, May 6, 2020

 

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