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Jesus Christ, who created all things by the Word of the Father (Hebrews 1:2), is the center of the universe. Everything spiritual and physical revolves around Him—and I mean everything. All things are either pro-Christ or anti-Christ. Down through time, Christians have been ridiculed for making Jesus and the Bible the answer to every problem. In the face of such mockery, we do not shrink: for in fact He is the answer. Those who refuse Christ’s centricity are simply living a lie. Choose Jesus Christ and live. Click on to "Further With Jesus" on this website for details.
A literal flood of information continues to pour in confirming the supernatural accuracy of the Biblical positions cited here at GodSaidManSaid. In this update report, we will review some of the new information dealing with subjects previously published on this website. The subjects follow:
NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.
GOD SAID, I Thessalonians 5:18:
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
GOD SAID, Proverbs 17:22:
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
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: The concept of God is irrelevant. Man is a product of evolution and its doctrine of time and chance, and the Bible has no credibility.
Now THE RECORD. The verse quoted earlier read, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:" An article in the publication Healthsmart Today cited research under the title, "Laugh and Your Body Laughs With You." The article leads with a quotation from 17th-century physician Thomas Sydenham. He said, "The arrival of a good clown exercises more beneficial influence upon the health of a town than twenty asses laden with drugs."
Norman Cousins, a well-known advocate for humor in healing, found that ten minutes of belly laughing produced two hours of sleep free of pain.
The article in Healthsmart Today reports:
Laughter also reduces the stress hormones implicated in heart disease. It lowers blood pressure, increases vascular blood flow, and draws more oxygen into the bloodstream. Most importantly, it jump-starts the body’s drive for self-healing. When you’re laughing hard, you’re exercising the diaphragm, abdomen, lungs, face, and the leg and back muscles. If you feel drained after a long belly laugh, it’s because you’ve gone through a vigorous aerobic workout.
Enormous emphasis is placed on joy in the Word of God and that’s long before science stumbled over its truth.
Again from Healthsmart Today:
Research confirms the health benefits of mirth, and conversely, the risk associated with humorlessness. In a study, 300 subjects filled out two questionnaires. One assessed their anger and hostility; the other evaluated their readiness to laugh. The subjects, who had coronary heart disease, were significantly less likely to laugh during daily activities, unexpected situations, or social interactions. Previous research has demonstrated a link between Type A personalities (e.g., hostile, angry, impatient) and an increased risk of coronary heart disease. In the above-cited study, the authors concluded, "These data...raise the possibility that the propensity to laugh may contribute to cardioprotection."In a study at Stanford University, medical students had a catheter inserted, and blood was drawn every couple of minutes while they watched the comedian Gallagher on videotape. Their laughter was correlated with increased white blood cell activity, which boosts the immune system.
The accuracy of the scriptures is of course phenomenal, for it records, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine," and so it is.
Author of Laugh After Laugh: The Healing Power of Humor, R.A. Moody said, "Over the years I have encountered a number of instances in which, to all appearances, patients have laughed themselves back to health, or at least have used their sense of humor as a very positive and adaptive response to their illness."
Laughter, happiness, joy, thanksgiving: all aggressively promote health, whereas anger, ungratefulness, and other emotions such as sorrow and depression create the overall demise of health. Research cited in the January 2003 issue of Consumer Reports on Health weighed in with the following on depression:
Depression may disrupt not only emotional stability but physical stability, too, by undermining the skeleton. Researchers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) evaluated seven observational studies and found a consistent link between depression and osteoporosis—even in studies that controlled for such bone-weakening habits as smoking and inactivity. The researchers note that depressed people often have high levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that theoretically may contribute to bone loss.
The Word of God said well over 2,500 years ago that "a broken spirit drieth the bones" (Proverbs 17:22).
On the subject of prayer, I quoted 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.
7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Note that the prayer of faith generates peace. The prayer of faith shifts the load of stress and anxiety to the capable hands of Jesus Christ. Our Lord said in Matthew, 11:28-29:
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Remember, the prayer of faith shifts stress (which is one of prayer’s supernatural benefits). Stress is truly a giant of destruction. Stress is complicit in regard to heart disease, high blood pressure, weight gain, digestive disorders, peptic ulcers, ulcerative colitis, insomnia, headaches, migraine headaches, and much more. Stress is also known to damage the immune system which makes one susceptible to a myriad of other maladies and premature death. Prayer shifts stress and brings peace to the troubled.
Concerning prayer, Dr. Dale Matthews of Georgetown University, author of The Faith Factor, reports that 75% of all research on studies of spirituality have confirmed health benefits. He said, "If prayer were available in pill form, no pharmacy could stock enough of it." [End of quote]
The following excerpts are from a March 2003 article in Parade magazine titled, "Why Prayer Could Be Good Medicine."
- In a study at Dartmouth Medical Center, one of the best predictors of survival among 232 heart surgery patients was the degree to which they drew comfort and strength from religious faith and prayer.
- According to University of Miami research, AIDS patients who became long-term survivors were more likely to be those involved in religious practices and engaged in volunteer work.
- In studies at several medical centers, prayer and faith have been shown to speed recovery from depression, alcoholism, hip surgery, drug addiction, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, heart attacks and bypass surgery.
Dr. Dossey, a medical internist, authored Healing Words and Prayer Is Good Medicine. In his book, he states, "I decided that not using prayer on behalf of my patients was the equivalent of withholding a needed medication or surgical procedure."
God, the Creator of your body, gives explicit instructions in your owner’s manual—the Holy Bible. This is just another proof that God is.
GOD SAID, I Thessalonians 5:18:
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
GOD SAID, Proverbs 17:22:
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
GOD SAID, Philipians 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: The concept of God is irrelevant. Man is a product of evolution and its doctrine of time and chance, and the Bible has no credibility.
Now you have THE RECORD.
References:
King James Bible
Fitzgerald, F.E., "Laugh and Your Body Laughs With You," Healthsmart Today, Winter ’02-’03
Hales, D., "Why Prayer Could Be Good Medicine," Parade, 03/23/03
