The Hope that Brings Healing

I saw the results of a study done by Rush University Medical Center in Chicago dealing with patients struggling with depression.  Let me go quickly to what they found, "belief in a concerned God can improve response to medical treatment."  Researchers found that those polled about their religious beliefs and scoring in the top third of a scale charting "religious well-being" were 75% more likely to get better with medical treatment than the rest of the patients.  "In our study, the positive response to medication had little to do with the feelings of hope that typically accompanies spiritual belief, " said study director Patricia Murphy.  "It was tied specifically to the belief that a Supreme Being cared."

This is just another indicator of the power of the truth, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son..."
We see the love of God poured out into the world through the life, words and actions of Jesus.  He is the greatest word on the fact that God loves us.  When we become fully convinced of that, even in our lowest moments, it can change our lives. 

This Sunday we will look at some words that helped me through some pretty dark days.  They are words of Jesus pointing to his care for his disciples in their dark days.  Surprisingly they are words about joy.  I have come to see that joy is a way of looking at life more than a way of feeling about life.  When I do look at life from the perspective of  Jesus gives it brings joy.  Joy then brings positive feelings with it, but first I have to choose to look at seeing things a certain way.  The way a caring Jesus says that I can.  I look forward to Sunday.  You can too.

For the journey...

Tim