FOOD BY FAITH

 

Instruction for Health and Nutrition is all through the Bible.

There is good news. All our food can be good, healthful, nourishing, energizing. It is there, coming from the earth, the trees, the vine, coming from rain from heaven. But of late, if we have been hurting ourselves because we are taking the “wide road” with devitalized food, why just quick and easy? Why processed food, chemical additives, devitalized, bleached and degermed grains and a listed “ingredient” called “natural flavor”? (So called “natural flavor” is a lie). It is making us unhealthy, sick; making us less than we want to be and can be. There is another way.

This “other way” has been a profound subject for me, too high, too broad, and too deep. At the same time, the worthiness and fascination of it calls me. It has for a lifetime. It is a “Way” which is hopeful because the Bible is correct in every respect. Spiritual food and physical food have similarities: one is for the spirit and soul, the other for the body. God promised over and over to bring His people into a land flowing with milk and honey. Here is an example of abundant spiritual and physical nourishment. When Scripture highlights food it can apply to our whole person: “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). One type of food (spiritual) teaches about the other type (physical), but also the other way around.

From the first day I was born, and every day thereafter, my father and mother with their family of eight children read the Bible aloud together every day. Seven siblings and I learned to read this way. It influenced me, and even before I realized, it directed my life. By my twenties, my health pursuits became an adventure primarily because of Scripture.

At one point I traveled to Texas. I could type well and got a job at Link-Temco-Vought (LTV) in Dallas. There all the ways of the culture came up, including food and alcohol. Instead of going rogue, I decided to follow the Bible already planted in my head and heart. My spirit, soul and body needed to be fed. I saw good food described in Scripture.  For example, Ezekiel’s bread. God told Ezekiel, "Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof..." (Ezekiel 4:9). Food is also figurative, "And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst." (John 6:35). Physical bread and spiritual bread are a highlight in Scripture, in both the Old Testament and the New.

The Bible has vital information about food and health sprinkled all the way through and in surprising places. We can go to it with certainty. Here is dependable wisdom and knowledge because our Creator wrote it all for us. It is the “bottom line” in nutritional wisdom. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”  (2 Peter 1:21).

The more you learn about nutritious food, its value to your health, the more you will enjoy it. Get it into your head and heart. Once convinced, eating knowledgably, eating wisely becomes a habit. Habitually eat what is good, you will soon look forward to it, even crave it. Grab salted almonds or a crisp apple and cheddar cheese or grapes. Two pieces of Ezekiel Bread, available in grocery stores (freezer section), with butter heated in the microwave for 30 seconds, then honey added, with it a half cup of grass-fed milk is one effective way to begin the day. Alternate with your simple homemade Granola. You and your body are happy.

"And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the land." (Isaiah 7:22).

OIL IN TODAY'S DIET ARE OFTEN PROBLEMATIC...GO FOR OLIVE OIL

 

OILS THAT CAUSE HARM

Ava Rockwell, founder of the School of Holistic Medicine, commented that any mixed vegetable oils or straight vegetable oils, such as corn, canola, or soybean, are terrible for you. 

“They cause awful inflammation and are implicated by a famous, now-retired heart surgeon who has 1,000 bypasses under his belt. He claims that sugar and refined vegetable oils are the real cause of heart disease,” she said. “They damage the arterial walls, leading to injury, causing the body to create layers of deposits to repair the damage.” Ava Rockwell - Certified Holistic Health Professional - Self-employed | LinkedIn

Fast-Food Fans May Face Liver Damage

Written by Megan Brooks

Jan. 13, 2023 – A new study that shows the harm to the liver of eating fast food might provide people with motivation to eat less of it in the new year.

https://www.webmd.com/

Partly hydrogenated oil

Partly hydrogenated oil is often part of processed foods and is the principal source of dangerous trans fats in a person’s diet, crediting the American Heart Association (AHA). 

“These synthetic trans fats are made in an industrial procedure that involves adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to solidify them.

Trans fats raise your LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol levels and lower your HDL (or “good”) levels and increase your risk of developing heart disease and stroke, per the AHA.

 

TRANS FATS

"Artificial trans fats (or trans fatty acids) are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid."

"The primary dietary source for trans fats in processed food is partially hydrogenated oils. Look for them on the ingredient list on food packages. In November 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a preliminary determination that partially hydrogenated oils are no longer Generally Recognized as Safe.

“Trans fats are easy to use, inexpensive to produce and last a long time. Trans fats give foods a desirable taste and texture. Often restaurants and fast-food outlets use trans fats to deep-fry foods because oils with trans fats can be used many times in commercial fryers. Several countries (e.g., Denmark, Switzerland, and Canada) and jurisdictions (California, New York City, Baltimore, and Montgomery County, MD) have reduced or restricted the use of trans fats in food service establishments.”

https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/trans-fat

According to LIVESTRONG.COM

Hydrogenated oil, more specifically partially hydrogenated oil, contains a type of man-made fat, called trans-fat, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Although once "generally recognized as safe," the FDA has declared that after January 1, 2020, no food manufacturers are allowed to add partially hydrogenated oils to their foods. https://www.livestrong.com/

FREEDOM AND GOOD DECISIONS

Food is a source for thinking about God. We go to Him, “Give us this day our daily bread…”

Jesus "took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave to them, saying, ‘This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.’" Luke 22:19.

Scripture does not guarantee perfect health just because we find our resource for food in the Bible. However, it is the ultimate truth. "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him." Proverbs 30:5. Food is important in the Bible, closest to leading the way to good health.

The Old Testament dietary law is clear. Leviticus 7-11 is one description of the laws about food. There is a different focus in the New Testament.

"After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come...And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you..." Luke 10:1,8

Later Peter had a vision in Acts ten: "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 to him again the second time, What God has cleansed, that call not thou common." Acts 10:13-15. Peter was sent to Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band. 

The vision demonstrated God including every person through salvation in Jesus. When Peter went on the mission to tell them about Jesus, he would be in their environment. He would be fed by a Roman Centurion’s hospitality.

The Book of Romans comments on these differences in people, "Him that is weak in the faith receive, but not to doubtful disputations. 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 14:1-3

When I am in the home of a friend who serves pork, I eat it. But personally, I stay away from pork, (swine have one digestive tract. Pigs will eat you if you “are disabled” in their pen; this was told me by a farmer who raised them.) Crab, lobster, and other bottom feeders seem risky, so I think of them as reason to understand why God would forbid eating them in the Old Testament. When we visit the State of Maine, where my father and grandfather ran a Bible Conference in York Beach, Eric, my husband, urges me as we visit a restaurant located by the ocean, “You like lobster. Go ahead, get it.” I do.

WHO IS WATCHING?

After the serious bicycle accident in December of my seventy-ninth year, I was in the hospital, finding from the doctor’s consultation that I had two pelvis fractures and one fracture in the clavicle. “You will be off your feet for at least three months,” the doctor said. “Don’t go gaining twenty pounds.” I confidently assured him that I would not. But off my feet, in a wheelchair for several weeks and off the bike, I didn’t weigh for months. An awful reality stared me in the face when I finally stepped on the scales: I was up eight pounds.

Who is watching? I think in my head, “Are angels watching me?”

Whenever I think I’ll take a second big tablespoon of peanut butter on my celery stick (and what is a big tablespoon? It is a “mountain”, all you can fit on the top of a tablespoon); or, if I’m thinking about another “tablespoon” of ice cream, (you know… heaping).

At night (always thinking I’m hungry going to bed,) I put everything necessary into the refrigerator and there right in front of me is a slice of Muenster cheese in the container. “Don’t,” says my mind. Discipline yourself! It is hard to lose weight.

"For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee..." Luke 4:10. What does that mean? For sure I disappoint myself, but are angels watching? "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." Psalm 91:11.

Accepting discipline for our lives, treating our bodies as a “temple of the Holy Spirit” is a “battle” in our head; sometimes overwhelming. But the Holy Spirit, who lives in this Temple which is our body is the Power behind this move, so we can be “ready.”  "What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." I Corinthians 6:19,20. I’m down three pounds so far…and back on the bicycle.

A TEMPLE: IS IT REALLY!

“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?

For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” I Corinthians 6:19,20.

In actuality the longer I live, the more grateful that God enabled my husband, Eric and me to overcome cancer. We had been exercising intensely for years and had been eating carefully. What causes these scary, life-threatening diseases…

Some are understood well enough. Some are total mysteries still.

What do we do about both? It might be that for all of them, what we can do is eat well, drink enough water and exercise. Yes, we, most of us know what to do.

I find that the hardest part, (though some powerful foods like the benefits of whole grains are not well known) is to follow the wisdom we know.

But the whole pursuit of healthy food can become an interesting challenge. Remembering to think on it! Go to the Bible for plenty of recommendations (you can remedy the “unknowns” by beginning to read it with food in mind).

Instead of running to McDonalds for a burger and fries for lunch, we eat an apple, a tangerine, peeled carrots and celery with natural peanut butter or something like it.

Getting on track and in the habit, it happens when the grocery list is written, the grocery store is shopped and the food stored in good containers in the refrigerator.

The older you get (by the grace of God) the more grateful you will be…the earlier in life you start the happier.

FOOD BY FAITH...NUTRITION IN THE BIBLE

 

Instruction for Health and Nutrition is all through the Bible.

There is good news. Are you ready? All our food can be good, healthful, nourishing, energizing. It is there, coming from the earth, the trees, the vine, coming from rain from heaven. But of late, if we have been hurting ourselves because we are taking the “wide road” with devitalized food.  Why just quick and easy? Why processed food, chemical additives, devitalized, bleached grains and addictions? It is making us unhealthy, sick; making us less than we want to be and can be. There is another way.

This “other way” has been a profound subject for me, too high, too broad, and too deep. At the same time, the worthiness and fascination of it calls me. It has been for a lifelong but more so lately. I believe this is a “Way” because the Bible is correct in every respect. It is about spiritual food and physical food. What has been inspiring as I study the subject is that one type of food (spiritual) teaches about the other type (physical), but also the other way around.

The Bible has profoundly influenced my life because from the first day I was born, and every day thereafter, my father and mother with their family of eight children read the Bible aloud together every day. Seven siblings and I learned to read this way. It influenced me, and even before I realized, it directed my life. By my twenties, my health pursuits became an adventure primarily because of Scripture.

At one point I traveled to Texas. I could type well and got a job at Link-Temco-Vought (LTV) in Dallas. There all the ways of the culture came up, including food and alcohol. Instead of going rogue, I decided to follow the Bible already planted in my head and heart. My spirit, soul and body needed to be fed. I saw good food described in Scripture.  For example, Ezekiel’s bread. God told Ezekiel, "Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof..." (Ezekiel 4:9). Food is also figurative, "And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst." (John 6:35).

The Bible has vital information about food and health sprinkled all the way through. We can go to it with certainty. Here is dependable wisdom and knowledge because our Creator wrote it all. It is the “bottom line” in nutritional wisdom. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”  (2 Peter 1:21).

The more you learn about nutritious food, its value to your health, the more you will enjoy it. Get it into your head and heart. Once convinced, eating knowledgably, eating wisely becomes a habit. Habitually eat what is good, you will soon look forward to it, even crave it. Grab salted almonds or a crisp apple and cheddar cheese or grapes. Two pieces of Ezekiel Bread, available in grocery stores (freezer section), with butter heated in the microwave for 30 seconds, then honey added, with it a half cup of grass-fed milk is one effective way to begin the day. Alternate with your simple homemade Granola. You and your body are happy.

"And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the land." (Isaiah 7:22).

Put together an aromatic loaf of whole wheat bread for yourself in little more than an hour (see Chapter two). Make beef meatloaf with old fashioned oats, onion, and salt. Healthy things become desirable. Whole wheat blonde brownies with whip cream are good. All the desserts have one or more: whole wheat flour, butter, olive oil, honey, maple syrup or raw sugar.

All of us desire good health, satisfying food for our spirit, soul, and body. Is this physical or figurative? The Holy Spirit calls to us in Isaiah 55:1: "Ho, every one that thirsts, come to the waters, and he that has no money; come, buy, and eat; yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you 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." (Isaiah 55:1,2).

Finding what is healthy and good and pleasing to God, and you, are what this book is about. Feeling better. Looking better. Being wise. By achieving goals of weight, physical endurance and knowledge, this pursuit has been an adventure.

STRENGTH TRAINING and STRETCHING

 If a gym is not possible, stretching and weight training at home is also good. 

Eric and I learned the benefits of strength training from the book, “Body for Life,” by Bill Phillips. Early in the morning, before we thought about a gym membership, we began weight training at home.

For years we had jogged, (learning the process from Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s book, Aerobics). Now we learned that upper and lower muscle strength was important.

We began in our late forties. Our three sons were now in their twenties. Joshua was an Engineer at Lockheed Martin; Josiah was an Air Warfare Systems Operator on a P3 airplane. Zach was finishing Junior College, working, and living with Josh. My husband and I began to realize the importance of building our physical bodies with weight training. We began at home then bought a gym membership at the YMCA. And began traveling thirteen miles three times a week to the gym, again early in the morning.

A STEP AT A TIME

A privately owned gym moved near us. I began to attend the aerobics classes…and really liked the music and dance moves that motivated the class. For months I made it to the class, then worked toward becoming a Trainer. After months of getting my courage up, I began instructing a class in the same gym. The weights were two pounds in the beginning. By the time I stopped teaching, I was lifting ten pounds, which is still my habit. I was in my forties. Now at eighty, I am lifting ten pounds, running in place 200 steps, bicycle riding and doing exercises on the floor.