The Critical Importance of our Thoughts: Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. In this verse, God tells us that our thoughts make us who we are. The medical community has taught us that once something is repeated enough times, it goes from short term to long term memory and then becomes part of our mind and this can in turn, impact our bodies. This is why it is so important to meditate on the Word of God. We want His Words to become part of our minds and impact our bodies. For that to happen we need to control our thoughts and acquire the mind of Christ. We must realize the impact on our health of our thoughts.
How Our Mind impacts our Body: In your brain, there are two almond-shaped glands called the amygdalae that is responsible for the “fight-or-flight” reaction to stress and fear. It passes signals to the hypothalamus which controls and regulates many bodily activities such as appetite, emotions, heart rate, contraction of heart muscles, hormones and balancing of bodily fluids, and the digestive system. It activates your thyroid which affects metabolism and energy levels. It plays a huge role in our health and most importantly – what you meditate on regulates amygdalae which impacts the hypothalamus. [1]
2 Corinthians 10:5 … bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
Romans 12:2 … be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…
If you are meditating on thoughts of fear, anxiety, bitterness, anger, hatred of others or hatred of yourself, the body interprets this as a threat and this in turn can cause a host of diseases impacting many areas of the body (cardiovascular, immune system, skin, endocrine, and central nervous system). We will look at this in more detail over the next few days. We can change this by replacing negative thoughts with God’s word.
I like to think of it this way, if we eat foods with DNA (fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts) the DNA in the food works with the DNA in your body to build health. It’s the same with our thoughts, if we think God’s thoughts, you brain will responds to God’s Word to build both physical and mental health.
So our challenge for today and the next seven days is we must only think what God says in His Word. For example, instead of thoughts such as “I’m afraid that (fill in the blank) will happen” replace that with “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear ... “ Psalm 46:1,2
To help with this, an excellent free resource on the impact of our thoughts is available at https://resources.beinhealth.com/products/overcoming-stinkin-thinkin-free-ebook?_pos=12&_sid=58f04bc7f&_ss=r and we have Affirmation cards with free downloads available which are broken out by topic (God’s Love, Loving Other People, Anger, Fear, etc.) https://prausgifts.com/collections/product-downloads
Day 3 Challenge – For the next seven days, you can only think what God says. All thoughts must line up with His Word
[1] https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/how-do-thoughts-and-emotions-affect-health