Thoughtful Moments

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 82, 24 July 1942, Page 2

Thoughtful Moments

(Supplied by iiic Whakaiane Ministers' Association)

VICTORIOUS LIVING

This is the title of a devotional book writen by Stanley Jones. It has been written because the. author feels that the most urgent nceessity in human living is to be able to face life victoriously. It is divided into short daily readings suitable for any busy person to assimilate either morning or evening. I have selected a few portions, which I found ■ particularly helpful. How many we meet who resignedly refer to bodily ailments, as the will of Cod, while they consistently break the laws of health ! "Victorious living" lias a helpful word here.

"Our victory should extend to our bodies. Our bodies should be as (it as possible. T say "as possible," lor some are handicapped Avith a poor physical frame. Even so, it can be made better, perhaps avcll.

First of all, get rid of the i(»iea that your sickness is God-«ent. It isn't—God is fighting against disease. Christ never said sickness was tlie avill of God —He- cured it. Other things being equal, the Christian should be healthier than the man who is not a Christian, for he has tapped a source of power for the bod v.

The greatest sourcc of power for physical health is the absence of inward clash and strife in the spirit. M?ny people would be well physically, if they were we-Jl spiritually. Hold then, to these two things— your sickness is not the w: 11 of God, and it may depend on the state of your soul. Of course it may not. But if it is, the first step to physical health, is to get rid of all clashes

and complexes

Weatherhead quotes an African proverb which sayes: "Don't be tired to->morrow." Many of us are, for we pass on mental stated to the body.

A famous physician, who has cured thousands in her sanatorium, says that nature balances up the accounts about every 24 hours. That is, if you are tired and will give nature. 21 hours of rest it will throw off the fatigue toxins within that bimc. She says that you do not lay up fatigue toxins for weeks and months, that if you did, you would not be a tired man. You would be •'! dead man. Beyond the 24 hours, the tiredness is in the mind. Up to that time the-re is a physical basis for the tiredness, after that it is mental and spiritual. It is amazing what the body can stand if the soul is unified. Most people do not Avear out from over-work, but from underbeing. "How do you do it?'' asked a co 1 - league as avc started on a speaking

OUR SUNDAY MESSAGE

lour, "We!!," I replied, "there are !wo ways to do it—one is the Avay the railway engines get their water in India —they slop at the station, Lake time oil', and thus get their water - tanks tilled; Ihe other is the

way the engines gL't water in America—they scoop it up as they run." "All right," she .said, "I'll do it. I'll scoop it up—-I'll take the power ami. victory of Christ as 1 go along." She did, and it worked. Say to yourself not merely as you Tail asleep at night, but again and again throughout the day, "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me."' Its balm will soothe your nerves, and will quicken every libre of your being. The healing of Cod does not ilow in one channel only. He heals in many ways. lie heals by physicians, by surgeons, I) 3' eilmate, by mental suggestion, by the direct touch of

lhe Spirit upon our bodies, and by

common sense. Bv "common sense"

I mean that, while God gives grace to undertake greater Uisks than we are normally fitted for, nevertheless, He may be saying to us through this sickness, "Light-en up." You are carrying too heavy a load. You, cannot do everything, and it may bo that by doing less you can do the worth-while thing better . . . We must go to the limit of our strength, but then Ave must Avateh our mar-' gins. And not go beyond them.

Common sense told me, years ago, that if I was to get exercise in the kind of Avork 1 was doing I -would i have to get it at night, just before going to bed, for it was the one time I was sure of. I i'o-und that it not only gave me exercise, but it Jook the blood, out of my brain, distributed it through the system, and my mind thus relaxed, went ofT to sleep at once. Whereas if I lay there with brain congested it continned active—and sleepless. Common sense will tell us many other 'hings about the physical bodies we live with, and Ave must obey that common suise. It is one of God's methods of healing. It is not a spectacular method, but often God comes along some very lowly dusty roads to us. And Ave must not despise His coming because He came to us. along a dusty road.

At the conclusion of every por-' ticn is a short prayer—the ing beautiful petition concludes the meditation on "Are you Tired?" "O Thou Avho didst go through the stress of the da 3' Avithout strain, giA r e us that iiiAA'ard sense of Thy healing quiet upon our spirits that Ave may be read}' for anything."

The book costs 6/6, but is worth more. My copy came from the Oxford Book Shop, Duncdin.