" Healing and growth through the Word of God, for the glory of God."
  
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The "GLORY" NEWSLETTER
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This edition of The "Glory" Newsletter is focusing on HOPE.
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What do you hope? What do you hope for or want to happen? What dohope have to do with discipleship and diet?
Hope, and the beliefs that usually back it up, actually has quite a bit to do with any type of transformation or change. Weight loss is one type of transformation. But, transformation can also come in small ways like getting a hair permanent or braces on your teeth. "Transformed for Glory" is transformation of body, soul, spirit, and mind; complete inner and outer renewal. Such transformation would probably NOT even be attempted if there wasn't some degree of hope.
In Chapter Two of "Transformed for Glory", Karen writes that God's Word, the Holy Bible, warns readers over and over that beliefs are something to be esteemed and highly held: all of us must wisely choose what we will believe because it actually effects our entire future.
"Yes", you might be thinking, "of course my beliefs will effect whether or not I go to heaven."
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But your beliefs and dreams and hopes are also affecting what is happening right now in your life... and what will be happening tomorrow, and next week, and next year, and all the years of your life on earth.
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil... I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live...
(Deuteronomy 30:15, 19)
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
(Colossians 2:8)
Where do you place your hope?
The prayer for this Issue of "The Glory Newsletter" is that it will assist your hope filled transformation.
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Why are we afraid of false hope?
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Rick Snyder, at the University of Nebraska, conducted studies on "hope". He found that when people do not have hope, they are likely to die@ It is hopelessness that can ill us, not hope. So why are we afraid of false hope? Why are we afraid of believing something good? Perhaps many people think hope is untrue or fake, and so they have censored anything they can't actually see or touch. This approach or general philosophy of life has been named "materialism", and it is a strongly held belief among people who don't believe in a universal god or ultimate creator. This philosophy was widely associated with the founders and beginnings of evolution, and it now has prominence in the scientific approach.
 In the scientific medical tradition, it was believed that 30% of all clinical results were influenced by the placebo effect. However, in the last decade of the 11000's, this statistic was reevaluated as it became apparent the percentage rate was much higher. From studies of angina, herpes, and ulcers, the placebo effect is now considered to affect nearly 70% of all findings.
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Reread that statistic. In some studies, nearly 70% of all medical results can be traced to the placebo effect. What you think can really affect you. Scientific studies around the world have reported similar findings: placebos, including the use of hopeful suggestions, can affect asthma, depression, loneliness, allergies, and even the heart. We can believe ourselves into hysteria, allergic reactions, food poisoning, permanent physical damage, and even death.
Of course you know that objective or the "material", tangible things in life, affect each and every person. When you drink four cups of "high octane" Seattle style coffee in the morning, then you'll probably be roaring off into the day. The material of caffeine super charges your body for several hours.
Likewise, the subjective or qualitative aspects of life, like the hopes and thoughts and feelings you experience, have been proven to have the ability to change the material of your day.
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