How Do Parts of My Body Communicate with Other Parts?

How parts of the human body can communicate with other parts of the same body is a very important concept to understand, especially as this topic ends up in holistic health as well as in science.

Through scientific discoveries, humans have been able to see parts of the body in great detail – through microscopes, surgeries, and dissections.

People have been able to draw diagrams, do lab experiments, photograph, measure, and calculate to find out functions of parts of the body and then teach these things in science classes, both in textbook and lecture learning and in hands-on laboratory work.

The human body has a remarkable design with great complexities! It has amazing functions and ways of working well or trying to compensate in times of dysfunction, working less-well.

We already know some information through science discoveries and regular life of looking at the human body. But we don’t know everything there is to know. Puzzles and discoveries are ongoing (and will be).

Communication – From Person to Person (and within Nature)

Common life experiences teach us that people communicate to each other through various ways – speech, actions, touch, facial expressions, smells, and written language.

The study of science is a fascinating subject area and one of my favourites! (You can read more about my educational background here if you’re interested in that.)

I’ve written a post about both ecological science and a Biblical perspective on this topic of the communication of individuals with each other and with their surroundings/environment. That post is where you can find information about interactions in nature such as smells/odours and pheromones, tropisms, dependences, the ideas of telepathy and inter-connectivity, as well as caring for the earth/our natural world.

It is called, “Ecology, Relationships, and Communication”.

Details We CAN Observe

In ancient days, people within various cultures and time periods made discoveries about human bodies and other creatures through general observations in life, through repeatable experiments, dissections, and through attempted surgical repairs. They wrote down some things and sometimes drew some sketches.

• The history of medical science can be interesting to study as long as one remembers that, just because people did or interpreted something in a certain way “way back then”, that that never proves “this” now is true science or wisdom to follow! I mention this point because some people today are intrigued with the idea of going back to “ancient wisdom” – that is, if something was done many years ago and seemed to have some kind of desired result (i.e. “it worked”), that now it can be declared “scientific” and/or that it has to be good/wise! That can be quite a shaky foundation to base one’s decisions on! If something thought to be scientific IS true and good to do, then we should be able to repeat experiments to prove that it actually is.

Science Tools –

Nowadays even computer-aided surgeries are possible to show us what various parts of the body look like and how things work inside of us. There are tools which can magnify/amplify/modulate electrical signals and little parts of our bodies; some are further used to try to fix tiny things in tiny or hard-to-otherwise-reach locations with better precision.

• Science tools act as our “eyes” and “ears” so that we can tell what is in our physical world, even if things are invisible, tinier than we can see with our naked eye or hear in our range of sound. These tools are simply extensions of our five (5) senses. (Example: Here is a link showing sound technology in the 1900’s in a MBI family film called “Voice of the Deep”, circa 1956.)
• Science tools aren’t making up or creating those pictures or sounds – they’re only magnifying/amplifying/modulating what already exists at that time and location so that we can make closer observations better.
• Using diagrams – In science, surgeons (and related professionals) study diagrams of the anatomical structures so that, when they “unzip” a real person, they can quickly and safely identify body parts for what to do with them in surgery to help those parts get some function restored to them. So medical science diagrams which are drawn for studies at that level of understanding, have to be very accurate, meaning that they must be based on what is, in reality, under the skin’s surface. We can also learn from those diagrams, to understand more of what the human body is made up of in very fine detail and how the human body works.

While we remain limited in “what” all we can see, there is much that could be said about advancement of tools and technology (=the making of the tools) in recent times in imaging equipment – cameras, X-rays, MRIs, CTscans, PET, various meters which measure specific ranges of frequencies on the electromagnetic spectrum, various types of microscopes, etc.

Microscopes (an example)

It has been possible to see tinier and tinier things as more types of microscopes have been developed.

To learn more about electron microscopes, you can go here for a short video that we’ve seen in homeschool lessons. (In university as a student, I used one like that for a lab class.)

And in the first 7 minutes of this video at this link here it shows things like a butterfly’s wings – amazing design and detail! That video shows that people have the ability now to see what an atom looks like.

An atom is “the smallest unit into which matter can be divided without the release of electrically charged particles. It also is the smallest unit of matter that has the characteristic properties of a chemical element.” (Source of quote: Britannica Encyclopedia, retrieved September 2024.)

In other words, an atom is the smallest known part of our material/physical world. It contains protons, neutrons, and electrons. There is nothing physically smaller that exists that humans know of.

Today, people have the ability to see these things and know they exist as well as their amazing and organized patterns!

The “Material/Physical World”

We can see or measure material things in our world. “Material” means things made of matter (e.g. chemicals, cells, particles) and physical energies (which are made of electrons moving in wavelengths).

Those things we CAN see or hear or smell or taste, or feel with our sense of touch – with or without tools to help us detect their existence.

• Note: Within the “sense of touch”, I am including the sense of balance and proprioception, which is a neuromuscular sense that involves our sense of things such as pain, temperature, pressure, vibration, position in space, movement. It is sometimes studied in medical science in a separate category but it does involve parts of the body that we can see (e.g. sensory nerves) and measure at least in science lab situations even if this sense can be more difficult to measure outside of a lab. To learn more about proprioception, this physiotherapy encyclopedia link explains it fairly well.)

We can measure material things in science and learn about them through experiments to figure out how they interact. (The experiments I’m referring to here are the type that real science aims for – ones which can show repeatable or similar results in any similar circumstances, regardless of the scientists’ personal biases.)

(You can read about the “immaterial” world, which also is real and exists but is different, and in another section further down the page.)

Cells Communicate within the Human Body

One of the topics within science is the topic of the functions of cells and how the body communicates internally, at the cellular level.

I chuckle when I realize that I could entitle this page “Cellular Communication”! But since I have a section of my blog that provides information about cell phones and other wireless things, I’d better not, since this kind of communication, although cellular, is something only in living creatures, not dead things, not rocks/water/non-living things, and not seen in manmade technology.

• This is typically not an elementary school level topic. Those grades only usually deal with the names of the cell structures, basic functions, and body systems (e.g. digestive, circulatory, skeletal).
• In senior high school and through university studies, the topic of communication is where this is more-so taught. And often, what I’m referring to is put into second-year university level or higher courses.

I’ll provide some links that I think the general public could learn from (below), rather than summarizing much myself.

These links represent generally very good real science with the exception of occasional reference(s) to evolution which is an opinion for how the design of the human body was caused to be the way it is. (My opinion is that God designed the human body this way while evolutionary thinking claims that it took millions of years to develop into it.) Yet both views would agree with what the human body actually is today; and that is what matters for teaching about this topic on my website.

• Understanding Cell Functions in the Human Body – This 12 minute video is explained by a person with a Biomedical Science degree and a PhD in Pathology.

• Communication 2 (Types of Communication) – This is a physiology professor who presents an entire course on this topic. I skimmed through this one. (9 minutes). One of the points she makes is that, communication from one part of the body to another part isn’t just about “sending and receiving information”. You ALSO must have cells which have the ability interpret the information and know what to do with that information. (Good point! What really happens inside our bodies is not about a “flow of energies” to carry some sort of magical “power”.)

• Introduction to Biochemistry – This is a playlist, of which the following short videos might especially be helpful to understand more about how communication goes on in the human body. (Lengths listed are approximate but could be helpful for readers who choose to go through everything on this post.)
  • The intro (4 minutes)
  • Part 9 – Structure of the Cell Membrane: Active and Passive Transport (7 minutes)
  • Part 10 – Receptors: Signal Transduction… (6 minutes)
  • Part 20 – Cell Communication: Hormones and Neurotransmitters (9 minutes)

• The Motors That Move Us | Answers in Genesis – an easy-to-read page about cilia, tiny hair-like parts of the body which are involved in communication processes inside your body.

Question: Do Cells Communicate Through Channels of Flowing “Life Forces/Energies” or Along Meridian Lines?

Short answer – not according to science. It’s a spiritual idea.

Longer answer – Channels such as what are talked about in popular wellness websites and meridian lines (and similar ideas) have never been found under dissection. It’s a misconception to think that hitting one part of the body is always connected to another part of the body. Here’s a cartoon I have in my scrapbook collection:

Only some of my readers who also believe meridians and such energy exists to be manipulated, will agree with my point that these lines or channels are not visible. When practitioners refer to unblocking or realigning energies or “flows” of “life forces”, those who are aware and honest with this question will admit that the idea is about a spiritual energy which they are aiming to manipulate.

• The foundation of meridians (and similar reference points) is a spiritual-based system, in which case we should be thinking, “Would that be a good or an evil spirit system that is to be “manipulated” to raise the “consciousness” or “awareness” in a person’s mind?” And, “What exactly is the person supposed to be “aware” of? After all, the person IS already conscious and able to talk/walk/think at the moment and IS already aware of where they are sitting/standing/located!” (If you were to research this further, you could readily find the answer that the goal is to make a person realize/”be aware of” their own divinity, “God-consciousness”. Or put another way, to change their thinking now to think that they can possess god inside of them because someone or self has/is moving and putting in spirit energy to make them feel better. And eventually to even realize they are god!) Sometimes the concept has been “Christianized” to sound a bit more palatable. It reminds me of the verses in Genesis 3:4-6 and Ephesians 6:10-12.
• Note: If you are trying to understand the Biblical concept of God’s Spirit flowing through a person, I write about that towards the bottom of this post in the section called, “Blocked or Needing Cleansing”.

Yet there are many in the general public who think that there IS a type of ‘nerve system’ or channels that runs in pathways with points and have corresponding places to the organs of the body on soles of feet (or face, etc.), just like those popular diagrams/charts look like when displayed in some health and wellness facilities.

• The patients or untrained ordinary person can think that these channels are a new scientific discovery, that someone has seen them so that is why we can know how the body “works” in that way. Patients don’t always realize that the lines are only someone’s ideas and not actually there. They are told, after all, that “it’s science”. And the kind of “science” they were taught in school meant that things were actually seen/observed to be. (Spiritual things were not considered “science” when they were in school.)
• Sometimes also the practitioners think that there IS a nerve system that has been found and seen because of their lack of science studies. Practitioners who do not understand the anatomy and physiology of the real nervous system or biochemistry, should at least study those kinds of science courses at a second-year-university-level before they ever give health advice!
• Am I against using imaginary reference points such as meridian lines for global mapping? No. But those are known to be only imagination and they are only references to relative location, not of saying something is “functioning well” or not and not used in procedures trying to manipulate a spiritual energy.
• Note: For Christians, including Christian practitioners such as chiropractors, I wrote a post called “Energy Healing and the Christian”.
• For more about the question, “But if something “works”, doesn’t that mean that it’s science?” there is another one of my posts called, “The Mess in the ‘Alternative Medicine’ Field of Offers” (linked here when it gets posted).

You just can’t open up a person in a surgery and see these channels or paths, not even with microscopic imaging. Scientists, medical professionals, and some students been able to see what the body has inside of it and there simply are no meridian lines to find in there and pull out!

Blood vessels go in an “all over the place” pattern. And the lymphatic system can be learned about here and here.

Nerves also don’t always run along those imaginary lines either; they run in a different pattern that looks more like a mesh of deciduous tree branches. Obviously, at times, points that are on the meridian diagrams or similar will be the same as where a nerve is but just match only “some of the time”.

You can see a bit of the idea of nerves running outwards on a photo of my science fair project years ago. I designed five models representing the human body and then named them – The “Gait Guy” to show the stages of a normal walking pattern when strings were pulled, Spineman, Russell Muscle (on the right), Joan Bone (middle), and Merv Nerve (on the left). For Merv Nerve, I studied a science diagram while hand-embroidering “blue nerves” attached to a “spine” in yarn. (Neurons are smaller and I didn’t illustrate that detail.)

Nerves and Neurons of the Human Body

To learn what a human body is made of, you can take some time to see images in books or in encyclopedias or medical science websites. I’m providing some links that I find interesting.

*CAUTION* Graphic pictures of real things that look gross to some people are on these links. Go see them only if you really want to do so.

Nerves are “big” and go into the spinal cord/brain. Neurons are much tinier and the signals come and go from them to the nerves and brain. (The likelihood of touching a neuron that is close to the skin’s surface anywhere on the body is very high! The likelihood of pricking a tiny blood circulatory vessel (capillaries) anywhere on the body is pretty high too.)

• This diagram is an example of a medical science diagram showing the arrangement of the nerves. Nerves are connected to the spinal cord and branch outwards like my illustration of Merv Nerve.
• This (technical) article shows photos of what the researchers suggest are a less-studied cerebrospinal circulatory system that runs along in nerves, are not nerves, are not part of the lymphatic or blood vessels (they don’t have valves), and were described over 200 years ago by other researchers dissecting. It’s just thrown in here as an interesting link that has photos of nerves.
• Exercise 9: Nervous Tissue (doctorc.net) – This is in semi-technical language, has microscope cell pictures, along with an explanation of this communication system. I skimmed it and liked how the words “nerve” and “neuron” was distinguished.
• A photo of a real neuron (those are the tiny things, not the bigger nerves) that was filled with fluorescent dye and viewed under a microscope. It’s neat to see the shape that spreads outward and yet has the little gaps at the ends (synapses).

For the super-interested person, you might be able to see the inside of the human body yourself if you took an anatomy and/or physiology course in-person at a medical science institution that utilizes human cadavers for students to work with. But, there will be no meridians and no channels to dig out with your scalpel. And no surgeon would think of trying to unblock or realign those kinds of things either – because he can’t see them, not even under computer-assisted technology.

Question: What about the Vagus Nerve(s)? Should we try to manipulate it to de-stress our lives?

Answer: First you should know what the vagus nerve(s) actually is in science and their normal function in the human body. You can find that out easily at this link. Certainly, the vagus nerve(s) was designed to communicate many things in our bodies, including having an affect on mood and slowing down the heart rate. So this set of nerves is involved in relaxation both physical and emotional. That is science.

However, does it get activated ‘enough’ through physical touch or is this a mental/placebo type of exercise that people think makes them calmer? Could the vagus nerve get damaged (so is this really even safe)? And, I have a question that I think should be asked instead: Why would it be a smart thing to try to calm oneself this way? I don’t see any real “need” to do that when I’m stressed.

• If you do it to try to prevent or slow down a reaction to a toxin in the environment that is making you ill so that you decide to remain in that environment instead of leaving it, is that really a wise and healthy thing to do? I think it’s false security.

• If you try to do it to bring you a “peaceful” feeling, that is so fleeting – is it really worth the effort put into learning it or is it a waste of time? The Bible never mentions this as a way to get peace yet it teaches very well on the topic of peace. If it’s so good at bringing real, healthy peace, you would think that God would mention it – but He didn’t. So, where would an idea like this originate from, to get a peaceful feeling by one’s own effort without God or to trick/deceive one’s mind into thinking that they can handle something that is a danger to them by telling their body to ignore the natural symptoms?

I don’t recall being taught about rubbing the vagus nerve(s) when we learned about its function in my human physiology class. The first time I remember hearing about this technique was years later from a person who came to a church I attended, claiming that it was a way that she and her family could control their stress. Since then, I’ve noticed the same idea mentioned by Christian homeschool moms. I think that’s rather sad. It seems to be a distraction. There are better ways to “calm down” – Isaiah 26:3, Philippians 4:6-9, Psalm 34:10-13. (To read more about Biblical peace versus the world’s peace, you can go to my post called, “Peace and Rest” here. That one is also the post that deals with the topics of yoga and mindfulness.)

The “Immaterial/Non-Physical World”

People do not always understand what real science is versus what is spiritual.

Both are real. But the material aspects and immaterial aspects should be understood as two separate things, even when they both can exist together as a combination.

There IS a spiritual, immaterial aspect to our real world that really does exist. This is what this section is about.

We call this “the immaterial” or “non-physical world”, meaning that we CANNOT see it, hear it, smell it, taste it, or feel it – as in we cannot measure it objectively in science using our five (5) senses. It’s the part of us that contains our thoughts and our beliefs.

It’s “immaterial” – without matter, without physical energies – that is what “immaterial” means by definition.

Soul and Spirit

How do we know that humans have a soul and spirit?

• The Bible teaches that the immaterial/spiritual exists in reality.

• We also know it to be true because God has designed every one of us with a soul and spirit which has a moral conscience, a mind to think and make decisions (not instinct alone or like chemical combinations mixed in a lab for identical reactions) etc.. We just know that there is something beyond just our physical existence (e.g. Eccl. 3:11, Romans 2:14-15). Both non-Christians and Christians understand inwardly that there is a spiritual aspect to life. (Atheists who deny this are only trying to ignore this reality.)

Our innermost being is invisible. Jesus refers to this also in John 3:8 when He talks about the wind – we can’t see the wind but we can see the results of its reality in existing because we can observe clearly what the wind does.

There is nothing ever dissected or seen in science under a microscope or similar, of a part of our body (the material part of us) having a shape that we can call “soul” or “spirit” and say that the shape of that piece has the function of spiritual connection with divinity! Nothing! The soul and spirit of a person remains invisible, immaterial, spiritual. Thus, there is NO specific location in the forehead or anywhere else for finding or manipulating one’s soul. (The origin of that idea comes from religious beliefs which are not supported in the Bible. But the point I’m making here is that that idea is NOT scientific, it is again, a spiritual-based idea.)

I’ve written more about the human soul and spirit in my blog post entitled, “Choosing to Live with a Biblical Foundation” (linked here when it gets posted).

Confusion comes…

• …when people think of the spiritual as science (for example, spirituality explained in terms of what is promoted in quantum theories of explaining god/God as “science”).
  • By the way, what is properly defined as “quantum mechanics” IS scientific because it deals with the physical/material world. “Quantum spirituality” however, is not science. Do not think they are the same thing just because they both use the unfamiliar word “quantum” – they’re not!
• …when people think that everything that is seen scientifically (e.g. rocks, water, earth, rats, amoeba) has spirituality. This is sometimes known as seeing the world under the perspectives of pantheism or panentheism.
  • Pantheism is the worldview that everything IS God (or “divine”). This short article from McGill University, written from the perspective of a modern-day pantheist, shows that worldview well (although I strongly disagree with the name of the title and obviously also disagree with the worldview itself). And also, I’ll mention that the animism worldview shares many ideas with pantheism.
  • Panentheism is the worldview that God is IN (inside) everyone and everything.
    • Panentheism is a worldview that is held even by a number of people within Christianity. But it is not supported by the Bible, unless one twists a few verses out of context while ignoring other Bible verses.
  • The Biblical worldview –
    • The Bible teaches that God only indwells (lives inside) those who are trusting in Him for salvation from sin and eternal life,
    • even though God is indeed present everywhere in the universe. What the Bible teaches by “God being present everything” is that He knows and sees everything, seeing even the thoughts of everyone, while remaining different than anyone else.
    • Here are a few of the Bible verses about that – Romans 8:9, Daniel 2:22, Eccl. 12:14, John 3:18-20, Acts 15:18, 1 Chronicles 28:9, Psalm 139, 94:11, Proverbs 15:3, 26, Matthew 6:4, 12:25, Isaiah 55:6-9.
    • If you want a more scholarly explanation on this worldview, you can go to this link for a short and fairly easy-to-read article.
  • To read more about those two worldviews in comparison to what the Bible teaches, you can also read my post entitled, “Ecology, Relationships, and Communication”.
  • There are various books or websites which can give people an overview of what people involved in other religions believe in comparison to the Bible. One of the ones I have appreciated since my university days can be read for free online through Open Library here: The compact guide to world religions by Dean C. Halverson | Open Library. It contains shorter, easier-to-read summaries and charts than some. (You can look for just the chapter titles of interest to you instead of ‘reading it from cover to cover’ since it’s a reference book.) It is also still available in printed format.

“Originally… Where Did This Information Come From?”

“The simple [foolish] believes every word, But the prudent [wise] considers well his steps.”
Proverbs 14:15 NKJV

Take a bit of time before just assuming that if it’s labelled “science” it must be “science.

Or that if it’s labelled “spiritual”, then it must be “good”.

Or even if it is actually “science” then it means it must be “good” to do. (There are many things which “work” in science but aren’t “good” to do – examples, some explosions using chemicals, factors that cause extinction of a species – the science might be proven to “work” but it works to destroy in the short or long-term.)

Ask yourself, from where did this idea originate? This is a very practical question and asking it can help a lot to sift through what might be good versus not good for you!

What this question is not:

• This isn’t the same as asking, “From what culture did this information come from?”
  • There is a wonderful beauty in the variety of cultures we have in our world! Just because an idea came from someone or group of people within a culture doesn’t mean that the idea has a good or bad foundation to it.
    • For example, there are some people who would readily reject almost anything from an Asian or an indigenous culture in North America. I think that’s wrong to judge something according to something as broad as “culture”. I can learn from other cultures for some of their insights such as using ‘soap berries’ for my laundry tasks. Those “berries” have only been introduced here in recent years but have been used by some Asian cultures for centuries – and it’s a great idea!
• This isn’t even the same as asking, “From what religious beliefs did the person who discovered/learned this information have?”
  • People of any religious background and personality can have a good science understanding and discover neat things in science. For example, there should not be a problem of accepting science discoveries just because it’s been studied and found out by an evolutionist, a creation scientist, or an atheist, etc.. For science, it is not their beliefs which affirms the validity of their discoveries – it is the scientifically-found concept itself that we consider! If the person or group did scientific experiments, model-building, or observations, then they should be qualified for telling us science-based information, regardless of what their personal beliefs and values are.
  • However, for spiritual-based knowledge, then their religious beliefs will matter. If where the person (who is also qualified in science work) found their information is not from science, but instead, the information he/she is giving out originates from a spiritual source, then of course, we should be looking at the question this time of “From what spiritual source, such as religious belief system, does this information come from?” For example, does it come from a sacred book, a vision/trance, an imaginary idea based on worldview, etc.? Scientists are just people who happen to also work in science and have biases like everyone else.
    • Too often, I hear of people jumping to conclusions like, “A scientist said this about how life works so it must be true science!” without realizing that some of what that scientist said in his lifetime, has NO scientific basis to it but rather came from his or her imagination or from a spiritual source, a religious practice/belief. (Example: Check Wikipedia’s entry for Nikola Tesla of whom his ideas are promoted by some websites also addressing wireless health concerns. I’d agree that there are wireless health concerns and it seems that historically, Tesla experienced physical symptoms as a result of his working with EMFs. But I’d disagree strongly with his spiritual ideas for explaining things and those aren’t science either.)

What this question is:

When this idea/concept was first “known” or “discovered”, from where did that come to be? (What’s the source?)

There are four (4) possibilities.

1. Was this ‘knowledge’ discovered from scientific observation using the five (5) senses (with or without tools) – about things that we can actually see or measure?
   • Yes! Alright, let’s call this one of the scientific discoveries!
   • No. Alright, so it’s not science. It must be #2, 3, or 4.
   • But, if this ‘knowledge’ is also promoted as SCIENCE, I’d be thinking,
     • “Um, if nobody has actually scientifically observed this before, just how can they use it or teach it accurately as if they have, when they haven’t?”
     • And if the idea(s) are only explained through sketched diagrams or computer-animations anywhere, I’d be especially doubting it quickly. (Nowadays, we can expect better proof to be shown somewhere that something is indeed real science!)
   • Q: “What if, in the future, advancements in science research “proves” that these detailed diagrams or animations or writings about someone’s ideas ARE accurate after-all?”
     • First, I’d still want to ask, then WHERE would the revelation of such knowledge come from before it was “seen” through a newly-invented machine. How could they know “what” to draw and “where” to put it in relationship to other parts? Yes, people can sketch out ideas to show a scientific hypothesis; but the amount of details they put into the drawing (or model) are still based, in general, on the amount of science information they have observed at the time of drawing. That doesn’t really seem to fit with the same situation. So how could someone to know of detailed ideas, sooner than any of it can be observed?
     • Secondly, I’d want to think if any popular spiritual-based therapies have been based on the so-called ‘knowledge’. That can indicate that the source is spiritual.
       • A spiritual source can be evil (even if it is a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ or appearing like a good messenger (2 Cor. 11:13-15)).
       • Or the spiritual source can be from the Holy Spirit of God. If so, it will be found clearly supported in the Bible, God’s written revelation to all humanity.
2. Was this ‘knowledge’ learned from God’s Word? The Bible is true because its ultimate Source is perfect in knowledge, never lies, and has always been/eternal. (This is why I think we should trust what it teaches us and also not trust what its teachings oppose.) If you know what the Bible teaches, you can ask these questions:
   • Is there clear support in Scripture for this concept?
   • Is there clear indication against this concept in Scripture?
   • Is Scripture silent on this issue?
3. Did this ‘knowledge’ come from just imagination?
   • Sometimes that is all that a concept is – simply just someone’s creative idea! It doesn’t have to be anything more than creativity! Humans are very creative creatures!
4. Did this ‘knowledge’ originally come from a spiritual belief outside of Scripture? (I’d ask this question even if it’s currently from a Christian or from a website that claims no “spiritual” stuff.)
   • No – then it’s #1, 2, or 3 (above)
   • Yes – then consider Leviticus 19:31, Proverbs 14:7, 16, and 1 Corinthians 10:12 as some Bible verses which warns God’s people from seeking advice from other religious leaders or having too much confidence in yourself.
     • For example, there is zero (0) Biblical support for trying to get wisdom from medicine men who work in magic; rather the Bible teaches us quite the opposite. God did not and does not want His people led into wrong directions away from His ways! We’re to turn away from idols to serve the living and true God!
     • Some verses for Christians – 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 10:19-22, 10:6, 13-14, 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1, Ephesians 2:1-7, 1 Peter 4:2-4. We can be certain that ALL of God’s work will be done in truth, not through spiritual error – Psalm 33:4.

If you recognize at this point that you have slid into error, you need to know that it isn’t hopeless! You can be like the Rahab, Ruth, and the Christians in the early churches who met Peter, Paul, John, and others. God still has all the power to transform lives surrendered to Him! Commit yourself for the first time or again to Him. Depend on Him to help you as you grow to know Him more in your daily life and in learning from the Bible. He cares! He still loves you and wants to help you live in paths of what is right – The Lord can be your Shepherd and you can say with the psalmist – “He restores MY soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness…” (from Psalm 23).

There are various references that people can use to look up “what” a procedure, therapy, explanation has as its origin. There are Christian resources which can summarize things too and I might link to some of those in other posts. But one easy thing you can do is just to use the name of the idea or concept or famous person you’re wondering about as your keyword in your browser search and check out an encyclopedia or Wikipedia definition or historical description of it.

Blocked or Needing Cleansing?

(I’m using those terms on purpose, because of how many people think for communication of one part of the body to another as a flow of spiritual health or not.)

The Bible has the answers for all spiritual health questions. Christians, we need to find our answers for spiritual needs in there (the Bible)!

Question: What blocks the flow of connection with God or empowerment from God or hinders/impedes our spiritual walk?

Answer: SIN. The Bible tells us of nothing else. Sin is what hinders our spiritual health.

Question: Does the Spirit of God “flow” inside a person?

Answer: He lives inside Christians as the invisible, personal God who works to make us more Christ-like in what we say, do, and even think.

He is relational, has personality and character – He is not a “force” to be manipulated. Nor as fully God, would He ever be limited to channels or body parts! That is so unnecessary (and unbiblical).

Remember that the Spirit of God ONLY indwells believers in Jesus Christ, not all people. He simply indwells us so that we possess two natures instead of just one – a human nature and now a spiritual nature. The Spirit of God empowers us to be able to do what is right and reflect what Jesus Christ is like to others by how we live.

Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as Someone who would “flow” inside believers after Pentecost (Acts 2, when the Spirit was given to the Church) –

“”He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
John 7:38-39 NKJV

I would very highly encourage you to learn more about this work of the Holy Spirit, which includes answers in the following questions too, at our ministry website, The Word In Our Hearts. There is a series of excellent messages by Dr. Charles U. Wagner, on this very topic!! He is very good to listen to and I think you would learn a lot from this particular series. (It would be one of my personal favourites too!)

Question: How can a person get unblocked, to get rid of the sin that is hindering the flow of the Spirit in our lives?

Answer: Be cleansed from sin.

Question: What cleanses me from sin?

Answer: The blood of Jesus Christ that He shed when He died on the cross for your sins, cleanses, pardons/forgives, and justifies a person to put him/her in right relationship with God.

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:7 NKJV

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
Romans 5:8-9 NKJV (cf. Galatians 2:16 – we’re not justified by ‘what we do’)

Question: I want to be cleansed from my negativity, my sin, anything that is stopping me from enjoying close fellowship with God – what must I do?

Answer: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 NKJV

and also, see the previous verse which is in the same chapter, written above – “Walk in the light” that Christ has provided you, according to what the “light” is in the Bible.

There is NOTHING ELSE to try to “do” – not special positions to sit in to pray, no rituals, no techniques to try to hear from the spiritual world, nobody working on your body. God’s Spirit works in us not because we feel healthy but rather because He is personal – He knows what we need, He feels and thinks, He’s has all the power needed, etc..

Question: It sounds too easy. All I do is confess to Him? Don’t I need to follow a diet or practice to cleanse my mind and body?

Answer: Easy? In a sense – He IS available to anyone who simply trusts Him for salvation, not just for eternal life but also to save them from going in the path of error now. Even a child can be cleansed and spiritually healthy. So can a very ill person. It isn’t our strength or wisdom that matters. It’s God’s strength, according to His wisdom that works His will for my life in me.

No one can blame God for their lack of relationship to Him. Christ sufficiently paid the punishment of sin on everyone behalf. God offers a close relationship with Himself to all of humanity. But it’s up to individuals to respond in trusting Him, or not.

And what about “hard”? It’s hard for people to humble themselves before God and admit, “I’m very wrong. This sin I’ve thought or done is very wrong.” and “I can’t cleanse myself. I need You, Lord.”

Read Isaiah 57:14-15, 18-21.

Question: When I’m cleansed and the Spirit of God is flowing in and through my life, does my pain or grief immediately end?

Answer: Not usually. This is not the answer that most people like to hear but, according to the Bible, the truth is that trouble usually continues for a while. It does not last forever since such is not in heaven. But Jesus promised that we would have trouble in this world (John 16:33). And the lives of people in the Bible certainly demonstrate this fact. The Bible teaches us that physical healing is not guaranteed to be immediate.

People who are spiritually whole and healthy can be physically ill AT THE SAME TIME. (I’ve been there myself. Part of my background is being in Christian ministry then getting very ill. God sustained me and I’ve had His peace amidst periods of great suffering.) Please see this link for more of an explanation about the Bible and health. (It comes from a very good website from Ireland and there are other pages there too which are encouraging to those of us who face health limitations.)

Lamentations chapter 3 is a very interesting chapter to read in its context. It is a prayer of God’s servant who was essentially asking, “Lord, please make this pain and grief stop!” Throughout the chapter, he still experiences troubles and feelings (expressed poetically) while He waits for God to answer his prayers for his nation. God though, is choosing to let grief be felt deeply for now, even though the servant knows it isn’t forever. One of his feelings for those unanswered prayers is that he is “blocked” (Lam. 3:9). He does understand that it is because of people’s sin (e.g. Lam. 4:13, cf Prov. 29:2, 12). And he does understand that God has heard his personal prayer Lam. 3:35-38). Even though he remains “in waiting” for God to end the distress that he experiences, he is comforted by God’s presence with him and knows God is good.

God personally cares for each person!

The psalmist exclaimed, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. [a poetic way of describing an unborn baby] Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.”
Psalms 139:13-18 NKJV

No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus

That is the name of one of the songs my mom liked a lot. I’m adding a few minutes of video clips from a service in her memory that I (Joy) spoke at, where I showed some of the teaching visuals Mom used to tell others about Jesus. At the end of these clips, we added in two young people that she knew singing “No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus.”

This short video has been edited for this post and is just over 6 minutes in length, including the song.

To see it, click on the picture of the purple flowers.