May 17th

May 17th  

We serve a good, good God! One of the things that is so good about our God is that He is right here in the middle of our messy life. He is not isolated up on a throne somewhere remotely watching from a distance. He cares about the physical too, not just the spiritual. Actually, He created us with our physical so intertwined and connected to the spiritual. We need to be reminded of the spiritual so often because we can’t see that with our eyes, so we tend to neglect it more readily than our physical needs. However, He designed us to be transformed spiritually AND physically through the work of sanctification. He changes us inside and out, not just spiritually. We see references to both the spiritual and physical in Paul’s writing in 1 Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we act like the physical transformation isn’t as important, BUT…medical science is confirming what we already suspected…that the physical is impacted by the spiritual. The two are so intertwined that our physical body is unable to escape the impacts of the spiritual.

It was only a few decades ago that medical science thought that the brain could not change or grow new neurons when some were damaged. In the last 20-30 years new imaging techniques have been discovered that have allowed it to be proven that the brain can change, shape, size and function, drastically. Researchers performed functional MRI (fMRI) on patients, which is a brain scan that detects not only structure but also function. The people that spent 10 minutes a day praying to Jesus had a 22% increase in the size of their hippocampus at the end of 6 weeks when they remeasured. The hippocampus is responsible for many things, but one big thing is that it enables you to handle trauma, stress, anxiety and depression better. The bigger it is, the better you handle life.

So, when we read about the transforming of our minds, it is both spiritual and literal (physical.) Knowing this information, read Romans 12:1-2 with that in mind and realize the actual physical impact.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In addition to the physical being so intertwined, James points out that our physical outcome is the fruit of our faith. He argues that we show our faith by our actions.

James 2:17-18 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

No longer should we consider the spiritual and physical so separate. We need to recognize the effects that our spiritual life has on our physical life and rethink our approach to life based on that information.

Jesus, thank you for making me the way you did. Thank you for designing me the way you did and help me to think about myself the way you do. Help me to have your mind in me and be grateful for your amazing design. Help me to take good care of myself both physically and spiritually so that I can serve you the best way that you intended me to serve you.