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.............

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.