I was watching Sid Roth show, “It’s Supernatural” and Dr. Art Mathias was on there talking about the results of unforgiveness, stress, anger, bitterness, fear, and anxiety on the body. He also gave his testimony of how God delivered him from diseases, that was caused by these; he did not even know these issues were in his life (go to www.akwellspring.com for his full testimony and other information about these deadly poisons to the body).

After the show, I looked up his name on the internet and found his ministry’s web site (the one above); this information was taken from his web site (he has updated his web site now so the pages are not laid out the same - this tab no longer exist):

There was a tab called, “Spiritual Roots of Disease” and this is what Dr. Mathias said (I am not using quotation marks because I am paraphrasing some of what he said):

There is a connection between our thoughts and a disease. The validity of this concept will be explained using three points of views: personal, medicine/psychology, and Spiritual; they are all in agreement with each other.

Definition: A spiritual root for a disease is defined in Christian terms as a sin that actually causes the disease (get rid of the sin, the disease will go). This sin can be our personal sin, the sins of others, or the sin that exists because this is a fallen, cursed world; this is in addition to the previous causes of anxiety, stress, and fear.

First point of view – Personal:

Dr. Mathias gives his testimony of how God healed him from his diseases. He said (briefly) that his diseases were directly related to his fears and bitterness that he did not know he had; he had been carrying these things around with him for years.

Second point of view – Medicine/Psychology:

Dr. Mathias said there are hundreds of studies that have confirmed negative emotions suppress the immune system (I was watching Joseph Prince on February 8, 2010 and he said the same thing. This happens because when our immune system is suppressed, any disease can take over this is not God’s fault but so many people blame God for putting sickness on them when in actually, the sickness is coming because they are carrying around one of the deadly toxins I mentioned earlier and will talk about later. God said in Psalm 91:3,10, He will rescue us from every trap and protect us from deadly diseases and no evil will conquer us nor will any plague (disease, sickness, etc.) shall come near our dwelling. These studies also confirm that positive emotions enhance the immune system.

There is an entire disciple within psychology, called Psychoneuroimmunology, which studies the interaction or interrelations of emotions and behaviors and how they affect the endocrine or hormonal system and the immune system. Psychology teaches that our psychological state (the way we choose to respond to stress) creates a central nervous system response (electrical), and endocrine system response (hormonal) and a behavioral change that may result in an immune system change that cause disease susceptibility. Dr. Mathias then references his book, “In His Own Image” and says it contains more studies about the connection between negative emotions and diseases.

In his book, “Biblical Foundations of Freedom,” Dr. Mathias explains how to recognize these emotions (bitterness, jealousy, envy, rejection, fear, and results of the principality of occultism) and how to have victory over them by aligning our lives with the Word of God.

Third point of view – Scriptures:

The Scriptures Dr. Mathias gave which prove the connection between disease and sin (remember, sin is the spiritual root of a disease – type of sin can be personal, sin of others, or a sin that exists because of this fallen cursed world – this will be explain fully when we study the topics from Dr. Mathias' book, “Biblical Foundations of Freedom” beginning on the 21st of this month).

Proverbs 4:23 - "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."

Proverbs 14:30 - "A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones."

Proverbs 16:24 - "Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."

Proverbs 17:22 - "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

Proverbs 23:7 - "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee." (Scriptures are taken from www.biblegateway.com - KJV).

Dr. Mathias also explains the function of the bones when our spirit is broken and we speak negative words or negative words has been spoken to us; this is what he said:

Our bones produce the cells of our immune system; pleasant words are sweet to the soul and health to our bones. But, a broken spirit or negative words will destroy our immune system. Medicine agrees with Scripture: Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” We need to remember that our words have the power of life and death for not only ourselves but also to our loved ones.

This is what Jesus said about words [a person can murder someone with his/her words] in Matthew 5:22-25 (The Message Bible – www.biblegateway.com)

 21-22"You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.' I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.

 23-24"This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.

My Commentary is coming up next

God's Blessings to you all,

Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

The Importance of Forgiveness – Part II

My Commentary – what God gave me:

The world became cursed when Adam sinned – he opened up a Pandora’s Box – every evil thing was allowed to come into this world. Since we are in this world, we are going to experience the same things a person who is not born again does. God is no respecter of persons – He rains on the just as well as the unjust. If He gave us preferential treatment, that would make Him have respect of persons. God is not going to go outside His Word, which is His will, to bless us. So we must understand things are going to happen in our lives while we are in this body, on this earth. It is all a part of the life that was created when Adam sinned. God knew we would face all these things; that is why Jesus told us in John 16:33 we would have tribulation in this world; but He also said to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. But before Jesus told us we would have tribulations in the world, He told us in John 14:27, He was giving us a gift – a peace of mind and heart (NLT) – His peace is what guards our minds and hearts (Phil. 4:6-7).

Jesus’ peace is what separates us from the person who is not born again. When we go through tribulations, we have Jesus’ peace to guard over minds and hearts but when the person who is not born again go through, they have no peace of mind or heart; they have torment and confusion – I know, I was once in that state.

James said in James 1:2 to count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations. Why? Because 1 John 4:4 says greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. Romans 8:37 says we are more than conquerors through Christ. 2 Timothy 2:4 says he that warreth (letting us know we are in a war) does not allow himself to get entangled with the affairs of this world (worry, stress, anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, etc. all has attachments to this world not to God).

This is what 1 Corinthians 10:13 say, which says it all: “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure” (NLT – www.biblegateway.com); God will ALWAYS give you a way out – if you listen and obey Him.

So again, we are going to have trials and tribulations while we are on this earth but we have the victory because we have accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, have submitted our lives to God, our Father, and have Holy Spirit living on the inside of us; nothing and no one can stop us – we are unstoppable.  Remember, we are strangers and pilgrims in this land and this is not our home so seek after God our Father and His kingdom and He will provide for you everything else you need.

Remember also that through the trials and tribulations, our faith is going to be tested. James said in Chapter 1:3, the trying of our faith produces endurance, steadfastness, and patience (Amplified Bible – www.biblegateway.com). But don’t be dismayed because God has given us our training and battle manual, the Bible, with instructions on how to live our lives here on earth. All we have to do is pick it up and study it, not just read it, but study it, learn how to resist the devil, ask Holy Spirit to give you the interpretation of God’s Word, ask Father to give you His Divine strategies against the enemy, and He will do it; Jesus has already defeated the enemy so the Trinity knows how to instruct you so you will not fall.

God also has given us spiritual leaders (Pastors, Teachers, etc.) to teach us His Word. So all we need to do is ask God to give us spiritual ears to hear the man or woman He has put us under to be taught His Word. It’s not our Pastor’s responsibility to make us live holy nor can he/she put the Word in us; that is our responsibility – to study the Word so it can get rooted and grounded in us – then we can live holy. We must take responsibility for our own salvation.

The Pastor gives us what God gives him/her; it’s up to us to apply the Word to our lives. We need to stop blaming the Pastor and God when our lives fall apart; it’s our responsibility to take in the Word (get rid of all unforgiveness, anger, resentment, bitterness, etc. so the Word can fall on good ground) as they teach or preach it to us AND read it at home for ourselves. It is our responsibility to submit to God and live holy, then we will be blessed and be able to walk in forgiveness. We cannot, I repeat, cannot serve God effectively, pray effectively, take in His Word effectively, minister effectively, or live the abundant life Jesus died so we could have, unless our whole man is healed – Spirit, soul, and body - the key word is EFFECTIVELY; so we cannot walk around with unforgiveness and all its cohorts (bitterness, anger, etc. - these things are sin – all negative emotions must go out of our live).

Let us not say, “God why did you allow this to happen to me?” when we are not being obedient to God; sin is sin – whether you sinning a little or a lot – all disobedience to God’s Word is sin. So let’s think before we allow that statement to come out of our mouth; let’s check our life and see if it is lining up with God’s Word and I guarantee the fault is not in God. Also, before we blame our Pastor, let’s check our life; if we are not studying the Bible for ourselves, it’s not the Pastor’s fault.

I found out the hard way that I must take responsibility for my own Christian walk with God. I spent over half of my life blaming God and my previous Pastors for the “bad” things that were happening to me. I use to also blame everybody else for my mistakes; it was their fault because my life was in a shambles and I ran from city to city trying to escape these people – but it did not work because I was the problem and I could not escape myself. It was always, “I need a new start” or “let me change Churches because those people are not right – they are not showing me the love of God.” But one day, about 2½ years ago, God spoke to me and told me I was the problem not people. I had a rude awakening that day and it was very hard for me to accept so I wept bitterly; all those years I wasted running from Church to Church, city to city, and blaming other people – oh if I had the money I wastedJ.

I thank God for loving me enough to tell me the truth and His truth is what turned my life around; I had to repent for blaming Him and others all those many years and get rid of all that unforgiveness I was carrying. Once I did that, I was able to take responsibility for my own life and stop blaming others. And I still take a spiritual inventory often to make sure I am not carrying unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, resentment, etc. and don’t know it.

I know this is God who wants me to share this with you’ll because I have a very strong impression in my spirit to say everything I said before. I had no intentions of saying any of this when I started writing this teaching; it is not part of my message but as I write God gives me additional things to say and I must be obedient to Him and write what He says. After I wrote this, God spoke to me and said, “Heal My people with My truth” and that is exactly what I am going to do; give you God’s truth – because I am completely sold out to God. So I beseech you to take heed to what God is saying throughout this message, especially now:

1. Stop blaming God, your Pastors, and other people for your life being the way it is.

2. Take full responsibility for your life and salvation yourself.

3. Get rid of unforgiveness, stress, worry, fear, and other toxic emotions so you can receive the full manifestation of your healing Jesus died for you to receive. Medicines are not the answer; get rid of toxic emotions and the sicknesses and diseases will go! It is all about choice! Make a conscious decision to forgive that person, to submit yourselves to God so the devil will flee - EVERYTHING which is causing you to fear, worry, or be stressed has to go in Jesus' Mighty, Majestic, and Holy Name!! Ask God what is the underlying cause, the root cause, of why you are not receiving your healing!! Whether it is unforgiveness, stress, worry, fear, or something else, if you ask God, He will tell you and show you how to be set free once and for all!! God will take you through your deliverance, healing, and restoration process and then you will be able to help others!

We must be willing and obedient (Isaiah 1:19-20) to get rid of unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, resentment, jealousy, envy, fear, rejection, etc. because these are the things which cause our lives to be upside down; these are the tools the devil is using to keep you in bondage to sin and sickness – get rid of sin and your body will be healed – these things interfere with you receiving your healing. You must forgive whoever has hurt you, forgive yourself for blaming yourself and others, and you must ask God to forgive you for blaming Him for whatever you blamed Him for. We must forgive everyone who has ever hurt us because if we don’t, God will not forgive us (Matthew 6:14-15 – Jesus said this); whether we want to or not – be willing and obedient.

All of those negative emotions we have discussed in this teaching are choices; we choose whether we are going to live in that negative state and bring sickness and diseases upon ourselves or are we going to release those negative emotions and live the abundant life Jesus has given us through His death. Why allow something to stay in your body that Jesus has already done away with (Isaiah 53:4-5)? We can obey God’s Word and live or disobey and die; the choice is ours – there is no in between. So today, God is asking you to choose (He is asking you the same thing He told Moses to ask the Israelites in Deuteronomy 30:19-20):

¹⁹ “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! ²⁰ You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life [vs. 20 – loving God, obeying Him, and committing ourselves firmly to Him]. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (biblegateway.com - Amplified Bible - AMP).

If this teaching has touched your heart and you feel the thug of Holy Spirit to repent, I have included a "Prayer of Release from Bitterness" from Dr. Mathias' book, “Biblical Foundations of Freedom” (beginning next week, February 21, we will begin our study through his book, you can order it from his web site: www.akwellspring.com or check your local bookstores – I highly recommend this book [make sure you ask God to open your understanding when you read it as with any book] – there are other prayers in it asking forgiveness to your children and blessing prayers for you to pray over them).

Prayer of Release from Bitterness

In the name of Jesus, I purpose and choose to forgive (the person) from my heart for (what they did). In the name of The Lord Jesus, I cancel all their debits and obligations to me.

Dear Lord, I ask You to forgive me for my bitterness toward (the person) in this situation. In the name of Jesus, and by the power of His blood, I cancel satan’s authority over me in this memory because I have forgiven.

In the name of Jesus, I command that all the tormentors that have been assigned to me because of my unforgiveness to leave me, now.

Holy Spirit, I invite You into my heart, and to heal me of this pain. Please speak Your words of truth from the Father to me about this situation.

When Holy Spirit speak to you, write down what He said so when the enemy tries to come back, you can quote the specific word God gave you to him about this situation.

God bless you’ll and I pray that God will heal your minds and hearts,

Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks