Your Health vs. Your Thinking

Recently, I delivered the message: "Being an Overcomer." As I was walking a few days later, while praying for some specific people with health issues, I heard the Lord say, “It's time to talk about the relationship between your health and your thinking.” He then brought to mind a verse I used in that message: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Prov. 23:7)." Then it occurred to me that while sickness can certainly be caused by things in the physical realm, it can also be caused and cured by things in the spiritual. I believe we often overlook or even underestimate the fact that in order to have a healthy body, we also need a healthy mind. And the truth is, we're not just what we eat, we are also what we think. Truthfully, If I’m filled with depressing thoughts (and fears), my immune system can become depressed, and I become more susceptible to a hostile takeover from viruses and harmful bacteria. I believe many people have died prematurely from having their minds overran by depressive, fearful and negative thoughts. We also have too many people who are alive today physically, but died long ago spiritually when they lost all hope and never regained it. They are literally like the walking dead.

The key to being an overcomer is in taking control of our thoughts. What does that look like? Jesus described it this way: “Be of good cheer!” and “Let not your heart be troubled!” Remember: the real battle is not physical, but spiritual. It’s happening in one place—the mind, and it’s about one thing—PEACE!

Remember, victory comes the moment when all worry, fear and anxiety is replaced by PEACE, but it isn’t my/your peace—it’s HIS PEACE that wins the battle. It’s “the PEACE which surpasses all understanding(it defies all human logic) (Phil.4:7),” that wins the victory. Whoever has HIS PEACE is an OVERCOMER!

We think of PEACE in the physical realm as the absence of something—absence of war, absence of noise, absence of stress, absence of distraction, etc. But in the Spirit, PEACE is the addition of something or SOMEONE—addition of Jesus, the Prince of PEACE.

Two Kinds of PEACE

Since Jesus is God, then “HIS PEACE” is the “PEACE OF GOD,” but the Bible makes it clear that “His peace” did not originate with Him. Jesus got His peace from His Father. So, there is another kind of peace mentioned in Romans 5:6, it’s “PEACE WITH GOD.”

This gives us insight into why PEACE is so powerful and important that when HIS PEACE comes to us, it immediatelyestablishes our victory over any attack and our position as an overcomer. It’s because HIS PEACE carries with it HIS POWER to establish and enforce HIS WILL!

Therefore, HIS PEACE is a POWERFUL SPIRITUAL FORCE for those who are IN HIM!

“PEACE WITH GOD” describes my spiritual position when I have totally SURRENDERED my will to Him. It’s the point where there is no more resistance or opposition in me to His will and I am freely able to say, “YES LORD!”It’s the place where the PEACE OF GOD is free to flood and inhabit my mind and body and impower me supernaturally.

John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”(NKJV)

That’s what we are witnessing in John 16:33: the PEACE OF GOD (from the Father) found agreement and connection to the PEACE WITH GOD (in the Son), resulting in the reality of victory being attested to by the declaration: “I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD!”The resulting PEACE was so powerful, the will of God was sealed, and not even time could change it.It became an answer to the prayer Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:10, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Once we receive PEACE WITH GOD, is the battle forever ended? There will be many more battles because there will be many more thoughts that need to be wrangled, but it’smuch easier when we know we have HIS authority over every thought. There is a story in the Bible that illustrates powerfully how to win every battle: it's where Jesus and the disciples were in a boat together when a storm came.

You Have Authority Over Every Thought!

Mark 4:35–41 35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”(NKJV)

Jesus was using this boat as a floating stage on the Sea of Galilee from which He taught many parables to a crowd gathered along the shore. When evening came, it was time to move to “the other side” where Jesus had a divine appointment with a demoniac. But on the way, Jesus would use that boat to teach one more lesson, but privately this time for the disciples only. The lesson began with Jesus falling asleep on a pillow while the disciples, several of which were experienced mariners, skillfully piloted the little ship across the waves. What could possibly go wrong? Suddenly a ferocious windstorm came up and giant waves were breaking over the boat causing it to fill with water. Picture this… As Jesus continued sleeping through all this chaos in total peace, the disciples were in total panic, thinking they were going to die, so they woke Jesus. The story exposed two typical errors in their (and our) thinking. The first error was, thinking Jesus didn't know what was happening, and the second error was, thinking He didn't care about their well-being. But, when we hear that story today, our initial response is probably something similar to: "I don't understand how the disciples could be so foolish!" Yet, I suspect those same thoughts have invaded our own minds countless times in response to our own stressful and threatening circumstances.I hate to think about all the prayers that I've prayed, somehow thinking that the Lord didn't understand the brevity or the minut details of my situation, so I've expended large amounts of my prayer time explaining it all to Him. And while I might have felt slightly better, having emptied out all my fears and feelings, neither I nor my circumstances were changed one iota. But in the story, we see what Jesus did to change the situation and circumstances. First, He rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith, which really meant, "Why don't you trust me?" Then, He took authority over the storm, and rebuked the wind in the waves with these words: "Peace! Be still!"

I believe the waves represent words and the wind represents spirits that are blowing those words into our mind and stirring them up to create a windstorm of negative thoughts and fear to flood our thinking and wash away our peace. But do you realize that Jesus gave us the same power that He has to rebuke the wind and the waves in our lives? The enemy understands it; therefore you can expect him to use every means possible to distract you with windstorms to the point where you will overlook the spiritual source of these attacks and forget the authority that you have been given over them to stop them.

I can’t tell you how many times, in the midst of what feels like an F5 tornado, the Holy Spirit has directed me to stop and say out loud, “Peace! Be still!” When you say it and mean it, the winds cease, the swirling thoughts and emotions settle, and peace is restored. It’s amazing!The next step should be to pray and thank the Lord for releasing His peace into the midst of the storm.

If you will be faithful to apply what you have learned today in how to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor.10:5), and then immediately refill your mind by meditating on good things (Phil.4:8-9) then His promise that “the God of peace will be with you” will become a forever reality!Do you think this has painted a picture of how healthy thinking can facilitate a healthy body?