HopeLives365

Mark Finley: Is there something in your life, some attitude, some habit, some lifestyle practice that you know is not in harmony with His will? But you want to live with Him forever?

Guest (Male): This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: How to Boost Your Immune System, part one. Enjoy and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up to date with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to HopeLives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: Mickey's day didn't start well at all. The little seven-year-old boy was on his way to school riding on the school bus, and as he did, he reached out over the seat and there was a little screw coming up out of the seat and he scratched his arm. Now, the scratch wasn't a real bad one, but it did bleed.

And it got blood all over his shirt, so when Mickey got to school, he went into the bathroom, kept working to clean it off. And finally he did. He came to class late. The teacher didn't know why he was in the bathroom and the teacher wasn't too happy, but the teacher asked Mickey for a paper that he was supposed to have signed by his parents the night before. He had forgotten to have the paper signed and the teacher wasn't too happy. Mickey's day didn't start well at all.

But things went from bad to worse. While he was out playing at recess, one of his friends hit him accidentally with an elbow, giving him a fat lip and knocking out two teeth. Well, again, the injury wasn't serious. Mickey stayed at school. But he was sure anxious to get home that day, and so as he was running to the bus, he slipped on the ice and broke his wrist.

The school administration called Mickey's dad to come and pick him up. As Mickey's dad picked him up to take him to urgent care or take him to the emergency room of the hospital to try to get that broken wrist repaired, Mickey's eyes got bigger and bigger and bigger. And he said, "Dad, guess what? When I fell down and broke my wrist, I found a quarter on the sidewalk. Dad, I never found a quarter before. This is the best day of my life!"

That's attitude. That's a positive outlook. You see, your attitude makes all the difference in the world. How you see things, how you view things. One person said to me, "The longer I live, the more I'm convinced that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond." 10% of what happens to us, 90% of how we respond.

The single most important choice we make every day is the choice of our attitude. How are we going to relate to that day? Are we going to see life through positive eyes or are we going to see life through negative eyes? Are we going to see life through hopeful eyes or see life through eyes that are filled with despair? Now, our attitudes dramatically affect our wellbeing.

There have been some fascinating studies done recently on world attitudes. Most of the studies that were done previously were done in industrialized countries, but there's a new study reported by researchers from the University of Kansas that have found that positive emotions are critical to maintain physical health for people worldwide, especially for those who are deeply impoverished.

Now, here's the problem. The previous studies that had been done before the University of Kansas study on emotions and health, on positive emotions and good health, have been done largely on people who were middle-class Americans. There were very few studies done in the developing world. But the newer studies that have been done in the developing world have results that are incredibly fascinating.

Sarah Pressman, the assistant professor of psychology at the University of Kansas, reports, "We've known for a while now that emotions play a critical role in physical health, but until recently, most of this research was conducted only in industrialized countries. So we couldn't know whether feelings like happiness or sadness matter to the health of people who have more pressing concerns like getting enough to eat or finding shelter. But now we do."

In other words, before, we didn't know the impact of emotion on a person that is homeless. The impact of positive emotions on a person that was underprivileged, underserved, or poor. We didn't know the impact of positive emotions on people that had very little or nothing in life.

During the study, the researchers analyzed data from the Gallup World Poll involving more than 150,000 adults. Those of you that do statistical research, if you're a physician in the audience or researcher, you know that a 150,000 database is quite significant. The participants reported their emotions and also answered questions about whether their most basic needs like food, shelter, and personal safety were adequately met.

The study showed that positive emotions such as happiness and contentment are unmistakably linked to better health, even when taking into account one's lack of basic needs. In other words, no matter what your circumstances in life, whether you face poverty, sickness, or lack of shelter, whatever the external circumstances, if you have a positive mental attitude, that transforms your life and brings healing to the entire body.

As we develop positive attitudes, the brain secretes positive chemicals. The synapses of the brain function in ways that they would not function if our thought patterns were not more positive. Negative emotions such as worry and sadness are a reliable predictor of worse health.

So in this study, if you have two people, they both need shelter, they both need food, and their bodies are both sickened from their problematic conditions, if one has a positive attitude and one has a negative attitude, the positive attitude in that person enables them to have far better health than the person that doesn't have a positive attitude.

The world-famous Mayo Clinic encourages its patients to practice positive thinking, to think optimistically about the outcome when they're sick and being treated. And Mayo lists the results of positive thinking or a positive outlook as decreased negative stress, greater resistance to catching the common cold, a sense of wellbeing, and improved health.

Generally, there is reduced risk of coronary artery disease, easier breathing in such lung diseases as emphysema, and improved coping ability for women with high-risk pregnancies. In other words, if a woman with a high-risk pregnancy has a positive attitude, she has better coping ability than one with a negative attitude, and better coping skills during hardships.

Dr. Carol Ryff, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin, reported in USA Today on October 12, 2004, "There is a science that's emerging that says a positive attitude isn't just a state of mind. It also has linkages to what's going on in the brain and in the body." In other words, if you have a positive attitude, you actually can change brainwaves and you can actually impact the physiological responses in the body.

It's amazing what a positive outlook will do for your life. Multiple studies show a variety of health benefits from keeping a positive outlook. Study after study shows that negative outlooks predispose us to disease and positive outlooks bring health to the body. There's a link between depression and disease that is very well-known. The two D's: the more depressed you are, the more the immune system is weakened and the more possibilities there are for disease.

There's a new study published in November 2008 by the University of Maryland researchers and they showed for the first time that listening to joyful music keeps blood vessels healthy. In other words, if you listen to a symphony—now, I'm sure that there is some kind of music, if you call it music, that can jar the senses and narrow the blood vessels, but that lecture is for another time.

The study published talked about symphony music and talked about joyful, positive music. University of Maryland found it keeps the blood vessels healthy. Dr. Michael Miller, MD, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said, "The emotional component may be an endorphin-medicated effect."

Here are people that listen to calm, soothing music, developed a positive outlook, a relaxed, restful state of mind, and a joyful happiness, and it actually affected their blood vessels and gave them better cardiac heart. So when you are sitting in that easy chair with your headphones on and listening to the music, and your wife comes over to you and says, "I need help with the dishes," say, "Oh, darling, I'm just getting a healthy heart."

And then she will say, "My dear, that preacher also said that helpfulness gives you a healthy heart. Listen to your music later." I had to say something to get the ladies back on my side. Just anticipating a laugh, because I wanted you to laugh so you can have a healthy heart right now, can raise the levels of depression-fighting and immune-boosting hormones and lower stress rates.

According to Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California, in 2008, studies discovered that if you have a joyful spirit and if you have laughter, it helps to reduce depression, boost your hormones, and lowers the stress hormones. The University of Utah found in March 2009 that women in an unhappy marriage have a higher risk of developing depression and metabolic syndrome that can lead to heart disease. Our attitudes affect our health.

Guest (Male): We'll be right back with Pastor Mark Finley. We thank you for listening and hope you're enjoying today's message. Our mission is to attractively present the Christ-centered biblical truths of scripture in a practical, relevant way to people around the world so that they may experience the abundant life that Christ offers and effectively share with confidence His life-changing truths with others. You can support this ministry and help us reach even more by going to HopeLives365.com/donate. And now, back to Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: You know, one of the great biblical ways of thinking is that human beings are physical, mental, and spiritual interrelated. Greek philosophy saw a dualism in all of that. The Greek philosophers Plato and Socrates were dualists. They believed that the mind and body, particularly what they would call the soul and the body, were separate.

They had the false idea of the immortal soul. They said nothing you can do physically can affect the soul because that's an immaterial part of human beings. That's not biblical thought at all. In fact, the Bible, First Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 23, says, "I pray God that your whole body, soul, and spirit be sanctified holy in preparation for the coming of Jesus."

So God longs for us to live holistic lives. That which affects the mind affects the body. That which affects the mind and body affects our spiritual life. So we are integrated, whole people. Take an inventory daily to keep negativity at bay. You may be developing negative thought patterns and not even realize it.

You may be allowing those negative thought patterns to dominate your life, and unless you take a regular inventory, there may be negative words that are coming out of your mouth. John Kralik was an attorney who owned a law firm in Los Angeles, and he had been through some real rough times. He had a second marriage, and that second marriage failed, so he was living alone.

He had a strained relationship with both of his sons. They weren't talking to him anymore. They felt he was responsible for those failed marriages. And his law firm began to do quite poorly. They had a couple of lawsuits against them. There were some real serious issues that were going on. The law firm seemed to be going down and John had some real challenges in his own life. He was feeling quite discouraged and disappointed.

As he was, one day he was hiking outside of LA and this thought came to him: "If you want life to be the way you want it to be, be thankful for what you have or else you're not going to get much more." And John began to think about that. Be thankful for what you have or else you'll never receive what you want.

John said, "One of my problems is I've allowed negative thinking to narrow me. I've allowed negative thinking to squeeze me into its mold." And he made a decision that day at the end of the year that starting in the new year, every day of the new year, he would write a thank you note to somebody.

He began on January 1, writing a thank you note to his son for a Christmas gift. He then, the second day, began to write another thank you note to colleagues, and another thank you note to servers at the restaurant where he ate. And John said, "Over time, I began to sense that I was changing, that something was happening in my own life because as I was impressed to write these thank you notes and as I expressed that thankfulness with a tangible act, I became a thankful, cheerful, positive person."

Impression without expression leads to depression. Impression without expression leads to depression. If you feel impressed to thank somebody, reach out, shake their hand, give them a hug, and thank them. Because the more we express those desires of our heart that are hopeful and positive, the more those desires will become linked as part of our personality and part of our nature.

John says today, "I am a different person today. My life has turned around." He's built new relationships with his children. His profession has dramatically changed, and today he's actually a judge in LA. His entire life has been turned around. He's an optimistic, cheerful person because he has expressed thanksgiving.

How do you improve your emotional health? First, you attempt to live a balanced life because our emotions are tied to our physical and spiritual health. As we make positive choices, as we get adequate rest, as we get out in the fresh air and the sunshine and activity, as we trust God and as we make choices to have positive relationships, as we achieve a balanced life, our entire emotional life will be improved.

But if you have a sugar-laden, high-fat diet, get little exercise or are overstressed and stay up all hours of the night, you can expect to be filled with negative thoughts. How do you improve your emotional health? Have regular routine healthy meals. Get enough sleep and exercise, avoid overeating, and don't abuse drugs or alcohol. In other words, follow the creation health model.

Here's a second way that you can improve your emotional health: develop resilience. You know, I was leading a group in Israel many years ago, and one of the things I love doing in my life is leading tour groups to Israel, to the sites of the seven churches in Turkey, through the reformation sites. We often go and spend a week or two studying the Bible, praying together, and the group really bonds.

A number of years ago, I was leading a group in Israel and I had a Jewish guide, and the Jewish guide said to me, "Mark, on this tour, I want you to remember an old Jewish proverb. Let's read it together: Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken." Blessed are the what? Flexible, for they shall not be broken.

If your attitude is high expectations of other people, if you have high expectations of your husband or your wife, high expectations of your kids, and if you put them in this artificial mold and you're not flexible to deal with their faults and foibles and their mistakes, you will find yourself very high-stressed and you'll find yourself developing negative attitudes.

Perfectionistic people that expect perfection from themselves and perfection of other people who are not flexible find that nothing ever seems to turn out right for them. People who believe that things have to go exactly a certain way or the world is going to end tomorrow, those kinds of people are going to be negative at times. In fact, they're going to have a negative outlook.

One of the illustrations biblically of this flexibility is the Apostle Paul, Philippians 4, verse 11 and 12. Paul says, "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned"—it's a learned ability—"in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound."

In other words, Paul says, "When I don't have much, I'm flexible enough to adapt. When I have a lot, I'm flexible enough to adapt." Paul said, "Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." Paul said you can put him in any circumstance and he can adapt to that because he knows that God is with him in that circumstance.

Flexibility is a very important quality of good emotional health. How do you have good emotional health? You attempt to live a balanced life. You develop resilience. You express yourself in appropriate ways. In other words, if you want good emotional health, express positive thoughts, express thankful feelings, and rejoice in the things that God gives you.

When you go back to the Bible, the Bible makes an amazing statement, Ephesians 5, verse 20: "Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." There is something about thanksgiving, expressing thankfulness, that transforms our very outlooks. Paul says in Philippians 4, verse 4, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice." What a positive outlook. What an outlook that gives life-giving force to the entire being.

Now, Paul had three secrets of inner contentment, three secrets of peace, contentment, and joy. It is not so simple to say, "Whatever happens to you in life, just say, hey, I'm thankful for that." There are many things in life that strike us that we need not be thankful for. If a son dies in an auto accident, we don't say, "Praise God, I'm thankful." When we get cancer, we don't say, "Praise God, we're thankful."

But how can you have a thankful heart and a rejoicing heart when things happen in your life that are evil? There are some things in life that are downright evil, and it doesn't help to sugarcoat them. It doesn't help to make believe they're good. But in spite of the evil, in spite of the heartache, in spite of the trauma, in spite of the sorrow in this world, the Apostle Paul discovered three secrets of inner peace, three secrets of contentment, and three secrets of joy.

He discovered that you could be joyful when evil things happen to you. Not joyful in the thing that happened, but joyful in something else. Not thankful in the thing that happened, but thankful in something else. Let's try to discover Paul's three secrets of inner peace, inner contentment, and inner joy.

First, Paul was filled with gratitude because he had a sense of Christ's all-wise purpose. The Apostle Paul knew that he was not alone in life, and although bad things may happen to him, Christ had an all-wise purpose for him. Through that experience that was even not good, never caused by God, that out of that, God had an all-wise purpose that he would work out for the Apostle Paul's life.

Philippians 1, verse 12. Paul says—now Paul is in prison, he is writing this in prison in Rome. He says, "I want you to know, brethren, that the things that happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel." Paul is in a dark, damp, dingy dungeon in Rome. He is separated from friends and colleagues.

It looks like his ministry is going to be over, and in that prison, he writes to the church at Philippi, and he says, "What has happened to me has turned out for the furtherance of the gospel." What's Paul saying? "Even in my imprisonment, even in this dingy dungeon, God has an all-wise purpose for my life. And as the result of that," Paul says, the gospel has impacted the whole palace guard.

In other words, Paul is saying, "If God wants to put me in prison in Rome so I can witness to the guards in the prison who can then go and share Jesus Christ among Caesar's household in the palace, that is all right with me because I sense that beyond what my eyes can see, beyond what my mind can comprehend, beyond what my heart can understand."

I may not see it with my eyes. I may not comprehend it with my mind. I may not understand it with my heart. But deep within my soul, in the fabric of my being, I know that Christ has an all-wise purpose for me and in the end, He will explain it. In the end, everything is going to turn out all right.

Paul says in Philippians 4, verse 6, "Be anxious"—what is anxious? Stressed out, worried—"for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God." Talk about positive outlook. How do you have a positive outlook? You understand that Christ has an all-wise purpose for your life. Gratitude and thanksgiving in all of life's circumstances are two of the most powerful health-giving emotions.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you've enjoyed today's message and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at HopeLives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to HopeLives365.com/donate. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.

Mark Finley: We are filled with hope because beyond the despair, beyond the disappointment, beyond the sorrow of earth, beyond the sickness and suffering and heartache and trauma, Jesus Christ will eventually set up His eternal, everlasting kingdom.