Sunday: The Holy Spirit Quickens Our Mortal Bodies
WEEK 31
SUNDAY
THE HOLY SPIRIT QUICKENS OUR MORTAL BODIES
Ephesians 4:22-24
We have seen the effect of mind and emotion upon the body. The remedy is simple: surrender! Don’t fight these wrong thoughts and attitudes and emotions, for that makes them sit tighter. Don’t defend them, for that makes them sit pretty. Bring them up and out and surrender them into the hands of God. That surrender will make a vacant place within you, so the Holy Spirit can move in. And the Holy Spirit within us quickens our mortal bodies (see Rom 8:11 KJV).
The greatest source of health and healing is the Spirit within us bringing to bear stimulating and healing power upon our bodies—from within. This is what I would call the continuing miracle of health: very quiet, very unobtrusive, but very effective. The Spirit stimulates right thoughts, right emotions, right attitudes, and is thus the silent Agent of Health. When we allow it, the Spirit quietly solves our conflicts, coordinates our desires, cleanses our alien thoughts, and makes harmony within; this inner harmony is passed on to the body as health.
Perhaps we’ve been like the squirrel that a friend of mine saw running up and down a tree in great distress. My friend saw a huge snake hypnotizing the squirrel, his beady eyes fastened on him. Then my friend disturbed the snake, and the eyes of the snake shifted to him. Immediately the squirrel ducked into a hole—safe! When we are assaulted by some hypnotizing sin or wrong attitude, the Holy Spirit disturbs us from within, gets our eyes off the sin onto Jesus, and we are safe.
There was a nurse who, whenever added responsibility was put upon her, always developed an illness. It was a retreat into illness out of responsibility. She came to an Ashram and surrendered this fear of responsibility to God and went back and is now joyously accepting responsibility, and she is well and happy and adequate! Her surrender gave place for the Holy Spirit to move in and replace fear with confidence, inadequacy with adequacy. The Spirit quickened her inner life into health and hence the outer.
O Blessed Spirit, you are the fountain of life and health within. Help me to know how to accept the life and health you are offering. Make me skilled in receiving. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: Since the Spirit within is the source of my health, I shall let the Spirit rule within.