With so many mental health issues besetting the populations these days, and with anxieties and stress tearing away at people's minds, it is no wonder that sickness and diseases have become so rampant.
The root cause of many of our afflictions and feelings of illness and fatigue are not necessarily because we are actually sick, but due to the pressures, fears, worries, and stressing out, that has become common-place throughout society in general.
I am going to begin a weekly course of 'therapy' and pastoral sessions online shortly. These will be for anyone who needs a little help and a 'lift' out of the pressure-cooker world we live in. There are many counsellors and therapists just about everywhere, offering their expertise and professional advice to millions who seek an answer to their issues, but I know that there is something more that can change lives for the better.
I believe that many, if not most of the problems we face today, are more than just what is happening in our heads. Body, soul, and mind are intrinsically intertwined, and the spirit nature inside us needs life, just as much as our bodies need breath to live and survive.
The greatest source of wisdom, understanding, and wholesome thinking is freely available to everyone; but the majority would rather go to a doctor or psychiatrist to get their comfort and consolation.
It all begins with truth.
A few lines from the Book of Life:
'Put off the old habits of life, that dead spirit which is empty of goodness, and lives by corrupt desires and wrong thinking. And get renewed in the spirit of your mind. Become a new person by changing your spiritual clothes which are created from God in righteousness and true holiness.
Put away the habit of lying, and tell the truth; live by truthfulness: because we are members one of another.'
So immediately, from these few sentences, we can learn some powerful lessons that can bring our minds and hearts back into order and into a right place that not only helps us, but also mends relationships and brings back peace and harmony.
It speaks of the need to stop behaving in the selfish and presumptuous way that has become so 'normal' for people today.
It is time to change.
That is the message. Stop doing what you are doing; stop speaking the way you do; stop living your life according to your own thoughts and dictates: because most of it comes from selfish and self-centred thinking that takes no account for the other person or their feelings.
Change your mind!
That is the simplicity of it. 'Be renewed in the spirit of your mind'. This is an interesting phrase, and does not fit in with today's school of knowledge, but it is deep, and actually reveals something more profound about who we are and what we do not understand. A person thinks with their mind, but also plans and purposes things from their heart. The heart we refer to is not the pump in our chest, but something much deeper, more spiritual than simply intellect.
Jesus said, that evil thoughts and murders come from the heart of men and women. In another place he said, 'Out of the mouth the heart speaks from within'. You can tell a person from their conversation.
Listening to someone speaking is the opportunity to hear exactly where they are thinking inside, and what their motives and hidden agendas really are. They may speak with a flattering tongue, but those who are wise can soon discern the deception and hidden agendas that they try to cover with their pretended 'niceness'.
Man speak with fork tongue! is the true expression.
And then comes the cutting sentence, 'Do not lie one to another.' Stop doing it. Put it away. Break off the habit of telling 'fibs', because eventually you get found out, and the hurt and damage that lying does (especially to people you are close to) can be soul-destroying and friendship-breaking.
Sadly, today, from the government, right down to business and church, the lack of truthfulness and transparency has created a society that believes nobody, and trusts no-one. Without truth as a principal and foundation, you cannot build a good world, a good business, or a good friendship.
I have often told business men and women that if they are engaging in a partnership or joint venture, truth and transparency must be the bedrock if the business is to survive. I have been in many meetings and at boardroom discussions where plans and dreams of opportunities and ventures have been eagerly and excitedly proposed, but where deceit and hidden agendas have spoiled and finished the prospects before they even got going.
The same things happen throughout the whole of society, and even in the church.
Ministers and congregations think nothing of 'spinning' the truth, or twisting the facts to cover their own folly. Big smiles and warm handshakes do not necessarily mean that you are wanted or liked. Hundreds of thousands of people have walked away from the churches because they found the same spirit of lying and deceiving was in the house, just as much (and sometimes more) than in the world outside. They would sooner sit with unconverted and non-religious friends, than with the holier, but not so holier-than-thou club. You think I exaggerate? There are multitudes of people from all walks of life who once attended church, but now would sooner be at home among their friends who they trust far more.
If our life is not based on truth, then our words are quite meaningless and without any merit. 'Tell the truth, and shame the devil', somebody once said.
The truth may hurt, but it can also heal. It may be uncomfortable, but it can build a future that otherwise would not exist.
If we all were to adopt the practise of the verses above, then revival might just begin to stir once more, and true faith rise up again in our land.
'You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free.'
JGM 2022
