By Pastor Yomi OGUNTUWASE
(yomioguntuase@gmail.com, +447946506659)
Mark 5:36
Be not afraid, only believe, Jesus said.
It is not the event of our life that shapes us but the belief as to what those events mean
Mathew 13:58
And so Jesus did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.
There are miracles that will not happen because of your unbelief.
What is belief?
Often in life we talk about things without having a clear idea of what they really are. Most people treat a belief as if it’s a thing, when really all it is a feeling of certainty about something.
If you say you believe that you’re intelligent, all you’re really saying is, “I feel certain that I’m intelligent.” That sense of certainty allows you to tap into resources that allow you to produce intelligent results.
We all have the answers inside of us for virtually anything—or at least we have access to the answers we need through others. But often our lack of belief, our lack of certainty, causes us not to be able to use the capacity that resides within us.
Mathew 17:19, 20
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, why could not we cast him out?
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief.
Mark 4:40
And he said unto them, why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
Faith means belief. Why are you so fearful about your future? Because you don’t believe. You must be certain.
Drugs are not always necessary, but belief in recovery always is -Norman Cousins
I had the privilege of knowing Norman Cousins for almost seven years, and I was fortunate enough to have the last taped interview with him just one month before he passed on. In that interview, he shared a story about how strongly our beliefs affect our physical bodies.
At a football game in Monterey Park, a Los Angeles suburb, several people experienced the cause was a certain soft drink from the dispensing machines because all of his patients had purchased some prior to becoming ill.
An announcement was made over the loudspeaker requesting that no one patronize the dispensing machine, saying some people had become ill and describing the symptoms.
Pandemonium immediately broke out in the stands as people retched and fainted in droves. Even a few people who had not even gone near the machine became ill!
Ambulances from local hospitals did a booming business that day, as they drove back and forth to the stadium, transporting multitudes of stricken fans. When it was discovered that the dispensing machine was not the culprit, people immediately and “miraculously” recovered.
We need to realize that our beliefs have the capacity to make us sick or make us healthy in a moment. Beliefs have been documented to affect our immune systems. And most importantly, beliefs can either give us the resolve to take action, or weaken and destroy our drive.
In this moment beliefs are shaping how you respond to what you’ve just read and what you’re going to do with what you’re learning in this book. Sometimes we develop beliefs that create limitations or strengths within a very specific context;
for instance, how we feel about our ability to sing or dance, fix a car, or do calculus. Other beliefs are so generalized that they dominate virtually every aspect of our lives, either negatively or positively.
I call these global beliefs. Global beliefs are the giant beliefs we have about everything in our lives: beliefs about our identities, people, work, time, money, and life itself, for that matter.
These giant generalizations are often phrased as is/am/are: “Life is …” “I am …” “People are …” As you can imagine, beliefs of this size and scope can shape and color every aspect of our lives.
The good news about this is that making one change in a limiting global belief you currently hold can change virtually every aspect of your life in a moment!
Remember: Once accepted, our beliefs become unquestioned commands to our nervous systems, and they have the power to expand or destroy the possibilities of our present and future.
If we want to direct our lives, then, we must take conscious effort over our beliefs. And in order to do that, we first need to understand what they really are and how they are formed.
John 11:40
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
The glory of God is a sudden breakthrough, a miracle. To believe is to be certain that something good will happen.
The devil wants us to question God. If you question anything enough, you will begin to doubt it. This includes things you absolutely believe without a shadow of doubt.
Beliefs even have the capacity to override the impact of drugs on the body. While most people believe that drugs heal, studies in the new science of psychoneuroimmunology (the mind-body relationship) have begun to bear out what many others have suspected for centuries: our beliefs about the illness and its treatment play as significant a role, maybe an even more significant role, than the treatment itself.
Dr. Henry Beecher from Harvard University has done extensive research that clearly demonstrates that we often give credit to a drug, when in reality it’s the patient’s belief that makes the difference.
One demonstration of this was a groundbreaking experiment in which 100 medical students were asked to participate in testing two new drugs. One was described to them as a super-stimulant in a red capsule. the other as a super-tranquilizer in a blue capsule. Unbeknownst to the students, the contents of the capsules had been switched: the red capsule was actually a barbiturate, and the blue capsule was actually an amphetamine.
Yet half of the students developed physical reactions that when along with their expectations exactly the opposite of the chemical re-action the drugs should have produced in their bodies! Thsese student were not just given placebos; they were given actual drugs. But their beliefs overrode the chemical impact of the drug on their bodies.
As Dr. Beecher later stated, a drug’s usefulness “is a direct result of not only the chemical properties of the drug, but also the patient’s belief in the usefulness and effectiveness of the drug.”
Mark 11:22 NIV
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.”
Jesus emphasized the importance of faith. Have faith means believe in God. Meaning your belief system.
Beliefs are not limited to impacting our emotions or actions. They can literally change our bodies in a matter of moments. I had the pleasure of interviewing Yale professor and best-selling author Dr. Bernie Siegel.
As we began to speak about the power of belief, Bernie shared with me some of the research he’d done on people with Multiple Personality Disorders.
Incredibly, the potency of these people’s beliefs that they had become a different person resulted in an unquestioned command to their nervous system to make measurable changes in their biochemistry.
The result?
Their bodies would literally transform before the researchers’ eyes and begin to reflect a new identity at a moment’s notice. Studies document such remarkable occurrences as patients’ eye color actually changing as their personality changes, or physical marks disappearing and reappearing! Even diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure come and go depending on the person’s belief as to which personality they’re manifesting.
Hebrews 11:1 NIV
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
What is faith? It gives confidence and assurance in what you do not see. Remember, faith means belief. Belief has the power to create and the power to destroy.
*Oguntuase, a nutritionist and a reflexologist, is a Pastor of Christ in Me Ministry, Windsor UK.
