God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

Hello!

Today I’d like to talk to you about health and how it relates to the curse of the Law.

In the Old Testament, there were 600 laws that the Israelites needed to follow to stay out of sin and the curse from sinning.

After Jesus died for us, He told us that we are reedemed  from the curse of the Law(Gal 3:13) The law being all those rules we would’ve needed to follow and the curse being the consequence of the disobedience. The three consequences are poverty, sickness and eternal damnation. Therefore if we accept Jesus and begin to follow His teachings we can ask for forgiveness for our sins and be restored into a perfect relationship with Him. Then as we believe in the message of the Cross-  Lord we can claim the promises in Scripture which include  prosperity, health and eternal salvation.

 “So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”(Galatians 3:11-12 NLT)

“These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.”(Isaiah 66:2)

Second Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” The word perfect in this verse means that we seek God’s ways more than we demand our own way- even in our food choices.

As far as health is concerned, Jesus teaches us how to have good health. We should not be drunkards or gluttons because serious health issues result from eating and drinking the wrong food in the wrong amount.

The Lord also gave us examples in the Bible of healthy diets. He initially gave humans vegetarian fare.

“Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” (Gen 1:29)

This verse shows us that plants and fruit are good to eat. Later, in another verse, God tells us that we can eat anything on earth- nothing will defile us. However we should eat with reverence and thanksgiving and not be a glutton- very hard to do sometimes isn’t it? I know I suffer from feeling “Thanksgiving Day stuffed” more often than I would like.

“Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.”(Mark 7:18) 

However, in the book of Daniel, it was clear that a diet based on vegetables and legumes can make a person strong and clear headed- as opposed to a diet of rich food and wine, take a look:

“Daniel said to the guard, “Please give us this test for ten days: Don’t give us anything but vegetables to eat and water to drink. After ten days compare how we look with how the other young men look who eat the king’s food. See for yourself and then decide how you want to treat us, your servants.”  So the guard agreed to test them for ten days. After ten days they looked healthier and better fed than all the young men who ate the king’s food. So the guard took away the king’s special food and wine, feeding them vegetables instead.(Daniel 1:12-16)

My point being that the Bible gives very clear instructions on how to eat properly. We should eat food from God’s green earth and if we drink at all- do it in extreme moderation. We have all heard that red grapes, dark chocolate, blueberries and red wine are healthy- but we know that Christians shouldn’t get drunk.

Are cookies from God’s green earth?  I digress…

“…put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.”(Proverbs 23:2)

“Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach”(Phil 3:19a)

So if we want  good health, we should follow the Lord’s teachings like we do in other areas of our life. God won’t spoon feed us! No we can’t have our daily bowl of high fructose ice cream, cookies, candy, doughnuts and other rich food on a regular basis and think that it doesn’t affect our body and mind. Science is now showing us that our gut health affects our moods.

Food contains nutrients that feed our cells. All of the cells in our body are regenerating and we are making new ones as well,  therefore we need to take in the proper nutrients to make these cells strong.  We control how healthy those new cells are. Fasting helps our most precious stem cells and the Bible has much to say about fasting. Here is an article by a Cardiologist that might interest you.

So why are there so many Christ followers who are dealing with chronic health issues? Perhaps because they simply don’t associate their food intake with their aches, pain and diseases. They also don’t think to ask God to lead them into perfect health by opening their mind to His teachings on the subject. We must do our part and God will do His. Some research says it takes seven years to totally change over every cell in our body. Whether or not this is completely true, I believe eating a more plant based diet will positively affect our health starting on day one!

God made the original human beings perfect and He made the world perfect- but sin took away the perfection. Yet if we follow the Lord we have help and by following the eating guidlines in the Bible we can assist in healing our diseases.

Unfortunately even the healthiest of eaters will fall into illness from the world around us- be it air pollution, second hand smoke, poor water quality, viruses, bacteria etc. But we need not die from our diseases if we are followers of the Lord. We can use our faith in Jesus’ healing power and Scripture as our protection.  Jesus took all of our diseases and if we are sincere in our belief that Jesus’ Word still heals today we can claim “I am healed by the stripes of Jesus”(Isaiah 53:5).  Our healing occured over 2000 years ago when Jesus stated “it is finished.”(John 19:30) He didn’t just die to bring us to heaven with Him, He died so that those who believe in Him and have been born again, can bring the Kingdom to earth by being a conduit through which God can work. God still heals today- through US! His believers! Sin closes God’s ear to our requests. (John 9:31)

If we do not believe in the supernatural power of God to heal we are simply following a religion. For Chrisianity without the supernatural is religion.

 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.. men will be traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”(2Tim 3:3,4,5)

I have personally experienced direct healing through immediate recitation of Scripture after a breaking my foot. I was barefoot at the time and hit the lateral aspect of my foot causing excruciating pain. I was unable to put even my big toe on the ground with out intense, sharp pain that took my breath away.  I looked down and saw my that my now bright red toes and forefoot were swelling quickly to about twice their original size. I instantaneously began reciting every healing Scripture I knew, and slowly over the course of a few minutes, the pulsations in my foot became less and less, the swelling was receeding and the color had changed from bright red to purple/black and then to flesh toned. My foot was no longer throbbing and painful and I could bear weight on it! Praise God!

I was completely healed-  the only remnant of the break was a greenish/yellow bruise along the break point. As an aside- my broken foot went through every stage of the “break to healing” process. Pain, swelling, redness, purple/black bruise and then the remaining greenish/yellow bruise indicating an old bruise. This reminds us that God can work outside of time. God existed before He created time and therefore He can work outside of time. And just as His Word healed when He walked the earth, it still heals today, and we were instructed to use His Word and bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”(“Matthew 21:21-22)

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”(John 14:12)

I will stop part one there and continue with Part 2 next week.

All my best,

Lisa