Tempting with Food

     I read something interesting this week that was quite a revelation. In every instance in the Bible where Satan came to personally tempt someone, he used FOOD to tempt them. In the Garden of Eden, he tempted Eve with the fruit. In Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, he tempted with bread. How interesting that our appetites are one of our most vulnerable areas of life. Satan knows how to stop your ministry!! How many missionaries do you know that have had to leave the field because of health issues that could be simply prevented by following a limited, healthy diet?? Yet, we continue to fill ourselves with sugar. When visiting missionaries, we fill a suitcase with their favorite junk food. We stock up on pharmaceuticals, ignoring the plethora of side effects from the chemicals. God, our Creator, knows best how our bodies operate. He has provided ways to heal through the things He created in this world. Yet, doctors have become our gods. We take their word, their prescriptions, their advice before ever consulting the One Who created us. We are reaping what we have sown. Cancer, diabetes and obesity are taking over. We are filling our bodies with preservatives, drugs and chemicals with no thought for the consequences.

      I have been amazed to see the ways that God has provided full nutrition in areas of the world where you would think that some certain nutrients are lacking. For instance, I have friends who are missionaries in the Baffin islands, way up near the north pole. Nothing green grows there. You can't get fresh, green leafy vegetables. There are times of the year where they never see the sun. Yet, they eat large amounts of fish-- chock full of the vital vitamins A and D and healthy fats!! They also harvest wild blueberries that grow on the frozen tundra. Super nutrition!! I would encourage people living in foreign countries to adopt the local diet. Limit processed foods and sugar. Eat whatever grows naturally there. Get sunshine often. Ask the locals what they use for healing common maladies. I just read recently about Dengue fever. The one thing that greatly helps to relieve the symptoms and helps the healing process is papaya fruit and leaves. Isn't it interesting that the countries where Dengue fever is prevalent are places where papaya grows in abundance?? Is it any wonder that cancer is very uncommon and almost non-existent in 3rd world countries? Have you ever noticed that tribal people have beautiful white teeth, even though they've never even seen a toothbrush?? Just something to think about.............

Butter is Better

     I read this today and had to share.  I avoid margarine as much as possible, mostly because I detest the flavor and texture.  I love using butter in all baking and it is perfect slathered on a warm piece of homemade bread.  Remember that balance is the key to healthy living. Yes, butter is fat, but it is good, God-made fat. Wouldn't you rather eat something that was present in the Garden of Eden and specifically made for consumption by mankind than to fill your body with oils and chemicals that taste terrible and have drastic effects on your health?  Read on:

     "Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back.
It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings....

DO YOU KNOW.. The difference between margarine and butter?
Read on to the end...gets very interesting!

Both have the same amount of calories.

Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams; compared to5 grams for margarine.

Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.

Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few and only because they are added!
Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.

Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years.

And now, for Margarine..
Very High in Trans fatty acids.
Triples risk of coronary heart disease ...
Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)

Increases the risk of cancers up to five times..

Lowers quality of breast milk

Decreases immune response.

Decreases insulin response.

And here's the most disturbing fact... HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING!

Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC... and shares 27 ingredients with PAINT

These facts alone were enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

Open a tub of margarine and leave it open in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will notice a couple of things:

* no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something)

* it does not rot or smell differently because it has no value ; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny micro-organisms will not a find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

Share This With Your Friends.....(If you want to butter them up')!"

     Yes, there are supposed "good" versions of margarine, but they are still fake versions of the real thing.  Remember, those of you that think that no-fat or low-fat is good, your brain is made of fat.  If your body does not consume enough fat, your brain will suffer.  Have you ever seen a fat alzheimers patient?  Brain scans of those who suffer from alzheimers show that the brain has literally disappeared or disintegrated.  Beware of what you eat.  Balance your life with a little bit of butter, your body and your brain (and your tastebuds) will thank you!

Good Medicine

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" Proverbs 17:22 

         Our next little step to better health is : JOY!  That's right. We can take the prescription written above from the Great Physician and cash it in to the pharmacy of heaven.  It has been proven that laughter is good for you.  All doctors know that the attitude of the patient determines the length of recovery.  Take the time to look up "joy" in your concordance and see how many times that it is mentioned in Scripture.  Even in His prayer, Jesus mentioned that His purpose in coming to the earth was that He could speak the words of the Lord so that we "might have my (His) joy fulfilled in themselves" John 17:13. It is the Lord's will that you be joyful!  I recently taught a teen girls' Sunday School class on what Jesus was like as a teenager.  Before that study, I had always pictured Jesus has a hermit-like individual, sullen, somber and "other-worldly".  But, my eyes were opened when we considered the passage that mentions that "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (Luke 2:52).  The author of the Bible study highlighted the part that states that He grew in favour with man.  You can't find favor with man if you are sullen and somber.  Jesus fulfilled all Scripture-- He was joyful, a delight to be around, and a person that was pleasant.
     I heard a great sermon on Sunday morning all dealing with being joyful.  It is something that we often forget.  It's so easy to let circumstances rob us of the joy that should be evident in our actions and on our faces. I know, our favorite saying as moms is "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."  It's too bad that we "mamas" let the little things that happen in our day determine the attitude of the day! 
     Let's bring it down into a practical light.  The Bible plainly states that having a joyful spirit is like a medicine.  The verse written above continues: "...but a broken spirit dryeth the bones." Proverbs 17:22.  Have you ever known a bitter woman?  Did she also suffer from osteoporosis, bone spurs, kidney stones, or even bone cancer?   A broken spirit can do that to you! 
     So, take the time today to laugh.  Children can detect a joyful or bitter spirit a mile away.  Show them your joy with your actions.  A smile isn't the only way to show joy, you can show joy in the way that you walk and work.  Take this simple step to better health and reach for joy instead of bitterness. 
    

Water, water everywhere.....

     I'm going to start with the most basic healthful thing you can do to improve your life: drink water. All throughout Scripture we see the importance of water and its cleansing abilities.  Most of you remember from 5th grade science, that the human body is made up of 70% water. So, why do we struggle to drink it?  Well, we have been inundated with soda, coffees, teas, and other flavored drinks so that water doesn't taste good anymore.  We also have these wonderful FDA guidelines that inform us that the water has to have fluoride and chlorine and all that other stuff in order for it to be "good". So, then it tastes terrible! What can a person do?
     First of all, water is the essence of all life.  It is necessary for all life to survive.  You can't survive more than a few days without water.  Most ailments come as a result of not drinking enough water!  By the time a person feels thirsty, they have already lost over 1% of the water needed for the body to function. Water is essential for energy (in fact, if you are tired or hungry, that is usually an indication that you need a drink!)  and for healthy blood pressure.  It will maintain weight, control hunger, keep a healthy cholesterol level, even help you think clearly! Most of us, when we are thirsty, turn to sodas or tea to hydrate us.  Most of those drinks have caffeine in them which is a diuretic, meaning that it prevents the water from traveling to the parts of the body where it is needed. So, when you have downed your soda, you need to drink two times the amount of water to make up for it! 
     So, how much should you drink a day? I would recommend that you take your body weight and divide that in half, then drink that many ounces, gradually over the day.  If you don't like the taste of it, add lemon and little bit of sugar.  I don't recommend these powdered additives, mainly because of the artificial sweeteners (another day, another blog!). If you have the resources, purchase a water filter or purifier.  I recommend the Berkey filters that are sold on ebay. A reverse osmosis system is also good.
     I would also recommend some reading at http://www.watercure.com/.  There is some amazing information there about things that can be cured (AIDS, cancer, asthma, arthritis, to name a few) just by cleansing your body everyday with pure, fresh WATER! 
    By the way, if you don't like the taste of water, you'd better get used to it.  It's what we drink in heaven!

"Let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." Revelation 22:17