THE BETHLEHEM STAR...NOT A NATURAL OCCURRENCE

 Eric, my husband posted this on 12/21/2020

on PapaJ's Blog: CongaEric.com

THE BETHLEHEM STAR IS NOT A NATURAL OCCURRENCE

Some have remarked that the recent 2020 conjunction of planets could be the Bethlehem Star.  It was not.  The Bethlehem Star was not a normal occurrence.  It was a unique, God-instituted, one-of-a kind event.

The Bethlehem Star was the star that led the Maji to Jesus.  Mankind have known about conjunctions for centuries.  They knew what stars were and what were conjunctions of planets.  Since the Magi were called "Wise Men" in the Bible we must assume they in fact were wise.  People of wisdom do not willy-nilly run off after natural known occurrences like planet conjunctions.  They would note the conjunction but have no reason to see it as unusual.  Therefore, the appearance of the Bethlehem Star must have been a truly out-of-the-ordinary event.

A Nova would have been much more unusual than a conjunction, it would have been a truly unique event and would have lasted much longer than a conjunction of planets.  However, a nova would, like the stars, always stay in the same position in the sky; rising in the East and setting in the West each night for as long as it lasted.  If you noticed where it set each morning over several days you would have traveled toward the West.  Where would you stop?  What is not far enough and what is too far?  This type of travel would not have led you to a precise point, such as exactly to where Jesus was. 

However, the Bethlehem Star would have to always be at the same compass bearing on the horizon to give an accurate line-of-travel.  Moreover, as  you neared Jesus' position the Star would appear to move to the zenith.  When you reached Jesus the star would be exactly overhead.  When it is so near the zenith to be confusing you would stop and ask for directions, which is what they did when they spoke to Herod.  The Magi were men of great importance.  We know because they came bearing expensive gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Because of their stature they could get directly in to see, Herod and Herod listened to them. 

The Magi traveled a good distance from the East to where Jesus was.  Being men of influence, they would have traveled with a large entourage: camels, servants, bodyguards, supplies for the trip and return.  Moving so many people over a great distance would have taken a long time: weeks or months.  Few people can afford such expense and time.

 It would take a very unusual occurrence, like an exceptional direction-pointing star, not a nova or a conjunction, to cause these men to take such long, arduous trip.

YES, WE CAN EAT BY FAITH...

Take these specific words of Jesus literally and figuratively. “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” The Bible is profoundly true on many levels. If we realize that food is mentioned throughout Scripture, recommended, commented on, given as the essence of God’s blessings to us, (“I have brought you into a land flowing with milk and honey,” Exodus 3:8) what does “eating by faith” mean?

Jesus said, “It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” To obey Scripture then is living by the Word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1:1-3. This is God, the Word, who created you, created the world, created the magnificent body you live in, and designed and created your spirit, soul, and body. All of you needs the Word. Not bread alone, not food alone, but you need every word of God.

When I decided to accept the challenge of our son, Zach, “Mom, write about health;” I knew major study would be involved, but the depth of change in both my views on food and profound excitement about food in the Bible has given me new purpose. If living by every word of God is about food, life, and eternity, as I now think it is, then eating by faith is an important pursuit. For myself, it is a new ambition: glorify God by living “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

After fasting forty days, Jesus was hungry. The enemy told Him to do something he could do but Jesus would not yield to the temptation.

In our current culture, food has become somewhat of a temptation because so much of it looks like food, tastes like food and is so easy to reach. With bleached, degermed flour, bleached sugar, corn syrup, chemicals, additives, “Natural Flavor” and devitalized, processed, bioengineered “food” we are regularly tempted to neglect the knowledge and wisdom to eat as we should.

Fast food is the new “unclean food.”  

 

The Temptation of Jesus

Mat 4:1  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 

Mat 4:2  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. 

Mat 4:3  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

 

WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGED

The controversial, varied opinions about “diet” disagree. There is a place to go that is right and good for you. In the end you must decide. "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation." Psalm 119:99. Look closely, the Bible has food "understanding."

When Jesus came to earth to redeem us, Biblical instruction about food changed (it was not disagreement with earlier truth, but progression).

We can be confident that the Bible gives us the final  wisdom about our diet…throughout the pages of Scripture. God’s love for us, His literal and figurative truth to mankind includes what is good for us: figuratively this food pictures God’s blessings and the way to live. The literal food shows God’s nutrition examples for us to eat.

This care for our wellbeing, this wisdom in the Bible does not include chemical additives in our nutrition, bioengineered, fake food, bleached and degermed flour, highly processed seed oils and on and on.

Food for Adam and Eve and early mankind was "every herb bearing seed" and "every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed." Later, after the global flood, Noah’s instruction changed, "Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things." Genesis 9:3.  When God delivered Israel from Egypt, He gave the laws of clean and unclean food.

 After Jesus came, The Book of Romans explains: "...All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eats with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbles, or is offended, or is made weak." Romans 14:20,21. We are responsible for each other, for caring about their understanding. "For meat (food) destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eats with offence." 

"It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbles, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth." Rom 14:20-22.

We can eat by faith. Faith is believing God and acting on it. It will always benefit you.  

PURSUING FOOD WISDOM

 

“HEARKEN DILIGENTLY”: PURSUING FOOD WISDOM

Interestingly, Scripture shows that guidelines for food changed four times. First, food provided to Adam and Eve was simple. Simple in the sense that there were no chemicals, additives, bioengineered, devitalized, bleached or the big lie: “Natural Flavor.”  "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Genesis 1:29. (Right here is basic food: any combination of vegetables will create a stir fry meal. Combine this with Olive oil, butter, salt, onions, and garlic. Add baked potatoes, fruit, and nuts).

Later, God said to Noah and his family after the Global Flood, "Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have, I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." Genesis 9:3,4. (Meat mixed with vegetables, butter, milk and cheese and wholegrains, with cut up pineapple or watermelon for dessert).

Later when Israel marched out of Egypt to Canaan, through Moses came “clean and unclean” nutritional laws. This fascinating law is in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. (I tend to pay attention to this list even though our fifteen-year-old granddaughter taught me about the freedom we have after Jesus came when her love for Octopus showed up at a restaurant one evening. Her cerebral Dad and Mom were ahead of me).

When Jesus came to earth, He changed everything when He said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Matthew 5:17. What does this mean?

NEXT:

WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGED

EAT WHOLE FOOD

 

Thinking about it our 51 years of marriage and even growing up

Let me help you…

 

It is becoming clearer: what we put into our bodies is critical.

Think about and study the food you eat. Thinking for me about this subject began with my father as I grew up. So now, at fifty-one years of marriage and growing in understanding, it has become obvious. God has provided and put in front of us “the things He has made…” The simplicity is amazing. But it will require you to believe God and the Bible and the Truth of it to avoid “positive” messages that differ from Scripture, from each other and from wisdom.

The focus is on God’s Word, the food He created is mentioned through the pages of the Bible. If we read the Bible, we will find in the most surprising places in Scripture what is good inferred by God Himself. "Ho, every one that thirsts, come to the waters, and he that has no money; come, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfies not? hearken diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live..." Isaiah 55:1-3.

In Ezekiel "...you did eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and you were exceeding beautiful..." Ezekiel 16:13.

Coming up: Wonderful simplicity of the food we need to eat.

IT'S ALWAYS BEEN: THE REBELLIOUS KILL THE INNOCENT ... REPOSTED FROM 2/25/2019

 You can be sure that the cruelty done to the innocent children aborted in the womb and justified as "women's health" will take us down a very dark path to a cruel future.

When God creates a child, he places them in a hidden place:  in the mother's womb.  When the woman destroys his creation, God does not look the other way.  King Manasseh went too far until it was too late:  "for the innocent blood that he shed:  for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon."  (2 Kings 24:4)

When we allow the murder of children at the ninth month of gestation, will we soon allow the murder of a child at one minute?  At one week?  At one year?

Jesus said, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven".  (Matthew 19:14)  We see Jesus treated children with respect, defending them in their powerlessness.  He picked them up in His arms and blessed them.  Matthew, Mark and Luke describe the focus Jesus had, and still has on children.  He rebuked the disciples for forbidding the children to come to him:  his priceless creations, vulnerable, powerless, in need of love, care, teaching, guiding, respect.  They are beautiful little people created in the image of God.

How stunningly different from the attitude of the Creator of these little ones is the evil force that is bent on killing them today.

How can this be!  Killing the fruit of the womb.  Only God creates life.  God said to Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?" Cain's response was, more or less, "How should I know! Am I my brother's keeper?"  Then God said, "The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground."  If a mother and (hopefully) father are not the child's keepers who are?  Certainly the government is not if it permits such murder.

MURDER OF THE INNOCENTS ... REPOSTED FROM 2019-01-31

 There is a violence continuing in our Country, this evil is not new. Murdering the defenseless has been a tactic of evil power through history.

No one knows how many male children were murdered by Pharaoh, the Egyptian King. The reason? He said to his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we . . . " and so every newborn male was thrown into the river . . . until God stepped in by two midwives, Shiphrah, and Puah, who would not cower or cave!  They came up with a plan:  they defied the King.  Moses and many more were saved alive from the evil agenda of the most powerful man in Egypt.  This determination to violently control a nation is described in Exodus 1.

Interestingly, just this morning my husband, Eric, and I read the eighty verses in Luke One.  God worked again through two women, Mary and Elisabeth who were cousins.  Elisabeth was an old woman.  She bore the baby, John the Baptist, who would announce the arrival of Jesus, Savior of the world.  And Mary, a virgin, of course, bore Jesus, the Son of God.

Later, another evil King would mass-murder the innocent . . .  "Then Herod . . . sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men." (Matthew 2:16).  Notice how this resembles the Pharaoh.  The greatest Power, Creator Of The Heavens And Earth overruled and protected His Son, Jesus.  Joseph and Mary escaped into Egypt and for a few years lived there until Herod was dead.

What is happening when evil seems rampant? What is God doing today, with the rush of evil:  the abortion of the innocents in the United States?  I know what we should do.  Stand up and speak up and pray and ask God for mercy.  We are alive and powerful as Christians.  We have the Holy Spirit to give us courage and power.

Back in history, when another wicked King, Manasseh, killed innocents, there came a time when the Lord would pardon it no more. "Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh according to all that he did . . . for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon," (2 Kings 24:4)

The whole Country was held accountable . . . if we do not turn around, will we be destroyed?

VALUE MORE THAN FOOD

If we just knew. Job knew.

“I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food."  It is about God’s wisdom and  discernment, which in the end is the most secure, safe, and satisfying thing on earth.

Food highlighted in Scripture does not give Protein, Vitamin and Mineral value. We can be sure of its potency because it is figurative wisdom right in the context of the passages: The Holy Spirit includes certain food like milk and honey because of its value for our health.

Job wrote that the value of spiritual food, God’s wisdom, was his highest priority. God’s wisdom leads to everything else in our lives that is the best for us. Food throughout Scripture is often figurative examples of spiritual truth. It is up to us to meditate on the meaning. “I have brought you into a land flowing with milk and honey” is memorable. It is encouraging because of its truth.

This example: “And wine that makes glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart.” Psalm 104:15. Who does not want to be glad, have joy and a face that shines? A strong heart means the rest of you benefits from its power.

 "But he knows the way that I take: when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." Job 23:10-12. 

Reading the Bible “the words of His mouth” every day, and obeying it, is like “walking with God:” your guarantee for a successful life. A good diet alone may not contribute to a successful life.

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 I Thessalonians 5:23.

 

YOUR CENTER

A temple is the center of everything. A Holy place. The place where God desires to dwell. When you know Jesus, your center, your spirit, soul, and body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Feed your whole self. “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." John 6:35. As sure as a loaf of whole grain bread is food, so is the “bread of life” that came down from Heaven. This truth is available to you in Scripture. "For the word of God is quick (to live literally or figuratively), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit (heart, life, mind, soul), and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12. Even the soul and spirit are divided asunder by the power of the Word of God.

Naturalists cannot understand this. What is life? What is the mind? They are at a loss to comprehend your soul and spirit. What is the soul? What is the spirit? What is creativity? Imagination?

God created you: He understands you because He made you. His provision to feed your spirit, soul and body is all provided. Start with the Bible.

Food is within the stories, Psalms, and doctrine throughout Scripture. Look for many, varied foods as you read every day…look for literal food and figurative food. “And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthens man’s heart.” Psalm 104:15. You know, bread with the bran, endosperm, and germ! Unbleached. No chemical additives. Good ingredients added to wholesome bread: yeast, honey or natural maple syrup, salt, and water.

Whole grain

A whole grain is a grain of any cereal and pseudocereal that contains the endosperm, germ, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. As part of a general healthy diet, consumption of whole grains is associated with lower risk of several diseases. Wikipedia

YOUR BODY: A TEMPLE

 Learning about health in the Bible is exciting and very, very rewarding because it is about you, about now. About the future. The intricacies of your amazing body are brought into the spiritual realm: “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.”

It is more than about you and me; caring for our bodies has to do with pleasing the LORD,

When you are in charge of your personal temple (and if you are a Christian) it is the temple of God, then eating, exercise, personal interactions with others, even your thoughts, and good deeds (like serving others) are all part of treating your temple with care and love and knowledge.

How much can you and I know about caring for our health? Not much: the more chemists study the tiny cell the more intricacies the cell reveals. So how can we be knowledgeable to know how to care for this personal temple, which is you and me? 

Look for food mentioned in Scripture.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

Today there are scientists who claim they are near creating life: they are not. According to Dr. James Tour, (American synthetic organic chemist, jmtour.com) we will never come near to creating life in our lifetime. The more scientists know the more they realize they do not know.

But we, as created in His own image, are privileged to be the most powerful and hopeful creation of God.

Taking care of this “Spirit, Soul and Body” is more than a responsibility, it is a calling. Where are the answers? Everything you need to know can start in the Bible. From there, go, research where He leads. The Holy Spirit of God will guide you: "…when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will shew you things to come." John 16:13.

THE FOURTH CHANGE...GIVEN BY GOD

 The fourth change was when Jesus came to earth as a man, the Son of God. Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Matthew 5:17. God's plan to include Gentiles with the Jews into His plan of Salvation came in Acts ten when "Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice spoke unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven." Acts 10:9-16. Some think one way and some another about the correlation of this trance with the freedom God gives with food today. What do you think? 

"For one believes that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eats herbs. Let not him that eats despise him that eats not; and let not him which eats not judge him that eats: for God has received him." Romans 14:3, 4. 

We have freedom today. What we eat can be guided by wisdom, and if the Bible is the bottom line, your understanding will grow, but you will never have to eat according to the current fad. Realize that a food threat is around today: harmful chemical additives, processed food, highly processed seed oils, deceitful “Natural Flavor” and bioengineered additives. We are free but neglecting what is whole and good for us will eventually hurt us.

  “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9.  Eating well has nothing to do with our Salvation: eternal life is a gift by the grace of God and grace alone.

 

FOOD ERAS IN THE BIBLE

There are four food eras in Scripture. They began with the creation of mankind. God said to Adam and Eve, “…God blessed them...Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Genesis 1:28,29.were  

It must be important…food instruction changed right after Noah and the global flood.

Our interest in the importance of what we eat will increase when we understand what was created for our health and wellbeing. Look closely: it also has a deeper spiritual lesson. Look for a figurative meaning to the food mentioned in the Bible.

Within the health qualities of the food are profound messages: Jesus said, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John 6:51. Bread made from grain grown by God from creation is for our health and vibrancy. Look closely, "And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart." Psalm 104:15.

1.    Vegetarian

2.    After the Global Flood

3.    The Law of Moses

4.    When Jesus Came

FOUR FOOD CHANGES IN THE BIBLE

Four times in Scripture, food instruction is changed by God Himself.

It is simple but important...

In the beginning God said to Adam and Eve, “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Genesis 1:29. 

Then a change in dietary requirements was given to Noah after the global flood. When Noah and his wife and family emerged from the Ark after the flood, God told them, "Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have, I given you all things." Genesis 9:3.

Later God gave the third dietary instruction to Moses. They were Laws for the Children of Israel. In it was strict “clean and unclean” food laws. This had me intrigued as I grew up. 

My father was the first influence I had of a strict food diet as my five brothers, two sisters and I grew up. It would have been in the fifties and sixties and on. He pleaded with my mother to buy real butter, not margarine, and to buy only whole grain bread. He called soft, degermed, bleached white bread “Allenpuff”…sitting on a loaf to demonstrate how flat it would become, how much air it had.

He was an athlete all through Wheaton College, going into each new season eating at the “training table” as he described it. I became (though he never knew) his follower in health and healthy food habits.

Years later Eric and I took our young twelve-year-old Granddaughter to a restaurant. She ordered Octopus for dinner. I was disturbed. I had not yet realized the freedom in the fourth food designation in the New Testament. Octopus was part of the “unclean food” dietary law under Moses. After realizing I was wrong, we again took Lilly, (now fifteen) out for dinner. She ordered her octopus surprise and gave me a taste … which I accepted.

LITERAL AND PHYSICAL FOOD...

SOMETIMES LITERALLY AND SOMETIMES FIGURATIVELY:

FOOD IS MENTIONED THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE

THE FOOD CREATED FOR OUR WELLBEING

 

FEBRUARY 7, 2023 reposted

A surprise waited for me when I began to research food mentioned in the Bible. When oil, wine, and honey, for example, is mentioned, it is often giving instruction about your spirit and soul (in a figurative sense); taking for granted we would be wise enough to know this is good for our body. It is healthful. "Who satisfies thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." (Psalm 103:5). The wisdom is dependable: high, wide, and broad. You will learn what is best for your body. But in addition, it is profound insight for your spirit and soul.

 

"For the word of God is quick (to live), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing (to penetrate) even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart..." (Hebrews 4:12,13).

 

God has written to us what the essence of health can be in the pages of the Bible! Though the instruction for health is here, God has the final “say” about our lives and health and future…even how long our lives will be.

Here is the Way to eternal life, through Jesus. It is a package deal: the Bible gives the way to success for your whole life here and now. Why would Scripture not show us the best Plan for health! Food that is physically health building is also figurative.  “Ho, every one that thirsts, come ye to the waters, and he that has no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 

Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfies not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live…” Isaiah 55:1-3.

We choose our way every day. A Christian, a believer who has eternal life lives a potentially fulfilling, useful life, but it is not possible to do it without Scripture. We need the wisdom and Presence of the Holy Spirit guiding us. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things..." spoken by Jesus. (John 14:26).

"Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths (level, direct) for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed." (Hebrews 12:12,13). 

BEING FAITHFUL

Sticking to it! The worthwhile habits. The productive disciplines of exercise, art, singing, blogging, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. These are worthwhile habits. Are they a faithful discipline? None of the above are anything more than what came to me as I grew up and later tried to improve.

My father was an Evangelist. An Evangelist, according to the Bible, is a person especially gifted by God to “preach the gospel” of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul was “called” to be an Apostle. He wrote, “I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; …By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain…how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” I Corinthians 15:1-4. 

 

The Apostle traveled extensively preaching the Gospel. This same message was my father’s. So, singing for me started when he and my musically accomplished mother started their eight children singing together on the platform at their Bible Conference in Maine. This was also my father’s time to perfect his evangelistic message of the gospel.

 

So, because our young singing family needed an alto, I became that fill in.

Every story is a long one, but my father and mother had a burden. Encourage families to read the Bible together every day together aloud.

 

The growing family, now ten of us, (how this began is an amazing story) started traveling, singing hymns together, with my mother on the piano and the rest of us chiming in with tenor, melody, alto and bass. The number of churches in the US and Canada we traveled to will always be an unknown. There were clubs, schools, colleges, universities, and seminaries in addition to Churches of any denomination that would receive us. My father being his own advance man.

 

My desire to sing and speak, to help my parents and siblings “preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ” developed as I grew. The art and writing came as I later cared for my husband and three sons. When I married Eric, his career took off when the Navy hired him as a Logistics Manager for simulated warfare. I had hours at home to study and write while our children were in school: I studied the Bible. When did the art develop? All I know is that I enjoyed it, and I could. How does faithfulness grow? It is a personal matter. It is between God and you. Are your gifts from God? Every gift is from above. “Every good gift and every perfect gift are from above, and come down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17.

 

What is a perfect gift? It may be the best you can do with what God has given you in your head, heart, and imagination. Being conscious of where it came from…from above. 

EXERCISE IS NOT A WASTE OF TIME

 Yes, our bodies are wonderfully created, but…HOW MUCH WORK DOES IT TAKE…to maintain your wonderfully made body? "I will praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works; and that my soul knows right well." Psalm 139:14.

The more that we discover today about a human body’s makeup (according to biologists), the more we do not know. How to create life? Unknown. Where is the mind? Inspiration? Creativity? Where does the breath in our lungs come from? Unknown. The soul? Do we have one? "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7. Your breath and your soul come from God. I have a soul…and a mind and a fearfully and wonderfully created Spirit, and Body:  "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." I Thessalonians 5:23.

We have wonderfully made bodies. We sometimes take them for granted. At the age of eighty-one I am finding that exercise is not a waste of time. In a previous Blog I described in brief a lower abdomen pain that slowly developed until I realized something was very wrong.

It has turned out that after a bicycle accident about two years ago, slowly I realized that I “dropped the ball.” and took the demanding work of past exercise (biking, aerobics, walking) as guarantee for a lifetime of freedom from pain. Not so.

Feeling lost (after two CT Scans and many other tests,) the pain was still a mystery. Prayer, study of Scripture and faith in God’s goodness to answer my prayer, began to emerge. When a friend, who knew my pain, came across a video about exercise for “Lower Pelvic Prolapse” the symptoms were mine. I began immediately to follow the instructions for strengthening my core and lower abdomen. So instead of worsening pain, my body began to strengthen. Exercise is not a waste of time. Given the right conditions often the body heals itself Exercise strengthens weak muscles.

Now, with a couple of weeks of core strengthening, the pain is beginning to fade. My job? Keep it up for the rest of my life: God enabling me.

It’s hard to begin exercise (again). What is dreary and dreaded at first will become exciting when the results, the healing starts. I will report back as this journey progresses.

Keep going…just do it.

PRAYING AND REACHING GOD

“Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.” (Selah: Stop and think about that). Whatever is going on with you: pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father.

Lately a painful development in my abdomen has been waking me early in the morning. I must get up, because sleep is impossible. After a visit to the Emergency Room, after CT scans, many Ultrasounds, and other tests, I am thankful that no serious, life-threatening results have come back. But pain is a lonely experience. So, I pray. It’s before daylight and I am learning to discern the cause…it is coming, I believe.

This experience has done something refining and good. I know more clearly what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote: 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 “…there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Can I, a “Health Nut” and believer in the health recommendations in Scripture glory in this? Well, I can pray for that kind of a heart!

What pain also does is humble you! Pain might make you and me more conscious of the sadness and pain of others. Compassion for others is a gift from God.

So, to pray in a way that God hears pray according to His will. How do you know what it is. Scripture, in one way or another will teach you. Here are prayers from the Bible that are powerful encouragements and have given me hope.

This prayer is repeated three times and will give you hope!

Psalm 42:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

Psalm 42:11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Psalm 43:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

Remember to give God His due of Praise.

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honor, and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Matthew 6:9-13 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Psalm 20 The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; Send thee help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion; Remember all thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah. Grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfil all thy counsel. We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set upset up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions. Now know I that the LORD saves his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. They are brought down and fallen but we are risen and stand upright. Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call. 

Psalm 4 A Psalm of David. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me and hear my prayer. 

O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah. 

But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him. 

Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still. Selah. 

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the LORD. 

There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. 

Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. 

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makes me dwell in safety.

Here is a powerful secret: the Word of God changes you. 

1Timothy 4:15,16 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. 

Begin and end your day this way…and every time in-between when you have a minute.

 

YOU CAN RESPECT HIM

Every man has gifts because he is in God’s image. Abilities, giftedness is there; you can trust that it is.

 

My husband, Eric, worked as an electrician's helper when we first married; the pay was minimum wage and we lived on it about four years in a rented mobile home; our first two sons were born in those years. Work he did not know existed came to him just after our third son was born. Eric had a natural bent toward organization and Logistics. His education at Boston University in secondary science, work as a Radioman on the U.S.S. Ponchatoula and now his interest in electricity all qualified him for a career in the Navy.

 

If it takes time for interests and gifts to come out, listen carefully to your husband day after day. Watch him with fresh hope and vision. Look deeper than the surface you will discover his strengths, his gifts. He will be very encouraged if he suspects you are seeing him this way. Passion will rise again; fascinating layers to his personality he may not even know are there.

 

Beyond his encouraged persona, you have hope, too. When you met and agreed to marry him, you saw something important and worthy of love and respect. With years of marriage, with the disappointments, you may have forgotten all the reasons. But no matter what he has or has not accomplished yet you can begin again to believe because he is created in the image of God.

 

Look and listen. Focus. A spark, an interest he demonstrates. Being closest to him, you may begin to recognize it! His uniqueness needs pride from you. Your power is because you are created in the image of God!  “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 1:27. 

 

For the minute, forget the past, forget the attitude of anyone else and think just of yourself, him, and God! Once you “see” with spiritual eyes and you decide to encourage what you see in your husband, you may just make the difference in his future . . . and in yours . . . in the future of your world.

With fifty years together, the solidarity, the agreement and love, Eric and I share covers even how we disagree. It has come from the Bible. 

"CALL UNTO ME"

In Scripture, there is an invitation to call on our Creator. The All Powerful One is there. We have needed Him in crises recently.

On the way out the door with instruments, music stands and time drawing near, we had to change the plan. My husband, Eric, our son Zach, and I have been ministering with Hymns and Bible verses at an assisted living home going on four years. Each month, we never knew what to expect: sometimes seventeen residents came. One month just one showed up, but she was confident enough to allow us to sing and read and quote the Bible just to her for an hour. Lately more have come.

Last month as we packed the car with what we would need, Eric had a pain in his chest, and a feeling of increasing weakness. It was time to show up for the Julin Family Hymns, but instead we talked him into going to the ER. It was the Sunday before Easter.

On the day before Easter, an intense pain (that had been increasing for months) took me to the ER. The Emergency Room is not where you ever want to be.

A CT scan, Ultrasound tests showed that I am healthy.

Eric’s tests for his heart also revealed nothing. Looking ahead, all we know is this:

“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:3.

What is going on? God knows. Our Creator is also our Redeemer.

“I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful. The LORD preserves the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.”

Psalm 116:1-9.

WHEN YOU FEEL BAD, DO SOMETHING FOR SOMEBODY ELSE

How vulnerable should I be! With our kids grown and married with children, work, admirable callings, I came home from Church this Sunday. Everything was all right at first: I made a late breakfast for Eric and myself, cleaned up and took a nap on the couch.

Suddenly I woke, my mouth open, my nap over and I felt bad, useless, a critical attitude toward the world flooded my mind. I felt afraid of the future, afraid of my own feeling of inadequacy.

I felt attacked.

As I lay there awhile, I decided to pick up the iPhone and look up Animal Control, to find the way to reporting a Pit Bull dog that had bitten both my husband and me. A nice couple, who have no children love this dog, as the owner told me, “We love her like our child.” But the website required personal information I would wait to give only if necessary. Instead, I will likely write a hardcopy letter.

I got up from my nap, looked at the Calendar and saw that next Sunday is both Daylight Savings and our children’s anniversary.

So, a pencil and chalk drawing for their card happened in the next hour or two. Thanks to my electronically savvy husband, Eric, the card should be ready to mail in the next couple of days.

I feel better now. I am useful. I love my husband of almost fifty-one years, our children…all of them: our three sons, three daughters in law and grandchildren. I am blessed. I have useful things to do…one attitude is to get once again interested in cooking healthy, good tasting, attractive food. "Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world..." Philippians 2:14,15 

LORD, let me be a light.

  

IF ONLY WE COULD TRUST THE FREELY AVAILABLE FOOD

IF ONLY WE COULD TRUST

THE FREELY AVAILABLE FOOD

Eat in a restaurant, what is the bread, salad dressing, sauce, pasta, dessert made with! You will rarely find a healthy baked, fried food, salad dressing that is good for your health. Rarely…almost nowhere! This is where we as health minded consumers can have a say: speak out. Avoid it. Find healthy food.

Too often our American culture … which influences the world … is not concerned with taking responsibility for feeding people for wellness. They are “fast foodies” and looking for long shelf life and money, a lot of quick money: packaged, frozen microwaveable, fast food restaurants, canned soup companies with bioengineered ingredients, the cold cereal shelves in the grocery stores, bakeries that sell the cheapest, devitalized ingredients, corn syrup, even mixed with maple syrup. Natural Flavor is not natural. Check all of these online: many deviant “foods” will come to the light. What we are buying is hurting us, our loved ones, our friends…our husbands, wives, and children!

In early times, God spelled out in Scripture in the Law “unclean food.” Fish should only be eaten if they had fins and scales…of animals: "Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you." Deuteronomy 14:7

But in the New Testament, God turned it around. There is literal and figurative truth to consider.

Speculate why the food laws changed in the Bible: it may be because of the ability to store or clean or manage smartly. The Law of Moses speaks of this. The Bible changes from vegetarian before Noah’s flood to this: “Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have, I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.” Genesis 9:3,4

 

The vital subject of food: What we have before us today is the challenge of taking diligent care of ourselves smartly: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Thes.5:23.

 

You know the passage: “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” I Co. 6;19

 

My interest is in knowing how to prioritize health and put it in its proper place. No, food is not our god. No, not making a focus on myself. But being wise!

 

https://smartanswers.net is a site to consider. When you compare its recommendations with the Bible and your common sense you will be interested as I am.

Best Olive Oil & Vinegar Collection - Extra Virgin Olive Oil

https://www.seasonandstir.com

Topics:

Benefits and Top Recommendations of Olive Oil

Effective Remedies for Toenail Fungus

Factors to consider while buying foundation.

Effective Supplements to Improve Your Memory

 

FINDING REAL FOOD

In grocery stores and restaurants, it is almost impossible to order bread that is whole grain, made with good oil, such as pure olive oil or butter. Just simple whole grain bread: in Ezekiel 16:13; "thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful...", made whole with the bran, endosperm and germ, good oil, and pure honey. No bleaching or chemicals added.

Canola Oil

There is some scientific evidence that canola oil is bad for your health because an increased intake of canola oil is linked to inflammation, heart disease, impaired memory function, and stroke.”  

Source: Canola Oil Dangers: Why It’s Bad for You According to Scientific Evidence (healthyandnaturalworld.com)

Check this.

 https://smartanswers.net

Smartanswers.net

Smartanswers.net is a comprehensive platform that is home to everything you've been looking for! Unlike most other cluttered sources on the Internet, we offer reliable, cutting-edge information through our quick search tool and categorized blogs.

Process for Oil: Bleaching and Deodorizing  

Some of these oils would be high in vitamin E and phenols, if not for the refining process itself. Alas…

“Most seed oils go through the refining process, which includes bleaching and deodorizing,” Zumpano explains. “This helps with the taste, color and shelf life, but it also removes the oils’ antioxidants.”

The result is oils with no real health benefits and more than a few health risks.

Unhealthy Oils

Seed oils are not necessarily good for you. But the real reason they are considered so bad for you is how they are most often used.

“Most seed oils are being utilized in the form of processed packaged foods, fast foods and eating out, and even foods that.

are considered minimally processed but are still packaged,” Zumpano reiterates. And that is where the danger is.

WHAT TO DO

When we go to the grocery store, I buy fresh Vegetables, fresh Fruit, frozen Fruit with no additives, pure Butter, organic Olive Oil, whole grassfed Milk, organic Half and Half, organic whipping Cream, whole Yogurt, Whole Grain flour, pure Honey, pure Maple Syrup, Raw Sugar and good Meat and cheese. You can possibly avoid lab grown “meat” by looking for meat with the bone. Reading labels will soon give you the experience to avoid Natural Flavor (which is not natural) and other chemicals.

One of the priorities in my profoundly serious attempt to “guide the house” is food…this “job” being extremely rewarding.