Health

Dare to be a Daniel

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In 2 Peter 2:11, Peter gives us the warning: “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” Friend, I believe that as we are obedient to God, abstaining from the fleshly lusts and yielding to the Holy Spirit, we increase in knowledge and grow in grace. Peter elaborates this growth in grace and presents to us in 2 Peter 1:3-7: “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperence; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” You see the high calling we are to press on towards.

Ellen White refers to these character traits and these scriptures as the ladder of sanctification. “‘And to knowledge, temperance.’ This is the third step in the path toward perfection of character. On every side there is indulgence and dissipation, and the result is degeneration and corruption. The inhabitants of our earth are depreciating in mental, moral, and physical power, because of the intemperate habits of society. Appetite, passion, and love of display are carrying the multitudes into the greatest excesses and extravagance….The people of God must take an opposite course from the world. They must take up the warfare against these sinful practices, deny appetite, and keep the lower nature in subjection….It is for us to ‘search the Scriptures,’ and bring our habits into harmony with the instruction of the Bible….‘And to temperance, patience.’ The need of becoming temperate is made manifest as we try to take this step. It is next to an impossibility for an intemperate person to be patient.” My Life Today, 97. This ladder of sanctification is referring to the true Christian experience. As we crucify self, we no longer live after the passions and indulgences to which our carnal heart pulls us to. Instead, we practice self-denial and abstinence from fleshly lusts that war against the soul, because as it says in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” If we are to experience this in our humanity, we must also adhere and listen to the admonition of Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:16: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

I love what Ellen White says in My Life Today on page 134. “The sacred temple of the body must be kept pure and uncontaminated, that God’s Holy Spirit may dwell therein.” A little further along, she says: “The Christian life is constantly an onward march. Jesus sits as a refiner and purifier of His people; and when His image is perfectly reflected in them they are perfect and holy, and prepared for translation. Every living Christian will advance daily in the divine life. As he advances toward perfection, he experiences a conversion to God every day; and this conversion is not completed until he attains to perfection of Christian character, a full preparation for the finishing touch of immortality.” Ibid. 249

Today God is waiting for His church to represent Him fully. “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:26,27. Not spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but living sacrifices, living stones, spiritual houses. “If we close our eyes to the light for fear we shall see our wrongs, which we are unwilling to forsake, our sins are not lessened, but increased. If light is turned from in one case, it will be disregarded in another. It is just as much sin to violate the laws of our being as to break one of the ten commandments, for we cannot do either without breaking God’s law.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 44,45.

One of the greatest illustrations of true sanctification is the story of Daniel. In Daniel, I see an example of one who was a spiritual house. As I studied and prayed to God for greater light, I saw that Daniel, when he refused the meat and drink of the king’s personal table, refused all of it. I believe that even included the dainties. Proverbs tells us to beware of the king’s dainties for they are deceitful meat (Proverbs 23:3). God led me to the Adventist message through the health message. As I went to the potlucks at a typical Seventh-day Adventist church, I said, “It looks like these people have substituted meat for junk.” Though it may not be at the risk of our lives, as it was with Daniel when he refused everything at the king’s table, when we choose our diet according to principle, we run the risk of being labeled: narrowed, bigoted, even borderline fanatic.

“What if Daniel and his companions had made a compromise with those heathen officers, and had yielded to the pressure of the occasion by eating and drinking as was customary with the Babylonians? That single instance of departure from principle would have weakened their sense of right and their abhorrence of wrong. Indulgence of appetite would have involve the sacrifice of physical vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual power. One wrong step would probably have led to others, until, their connection with heaven being severed, they would have been swept away by temptation.
“The life of Daniel is an inspired illustration of what constitutes a sanctified character. Bible sanctification has to do with the whole man….It is impossible for any to enjoy the blessings of sanctification while they are selfish and gluttonous.” Counsels on Health, 66

“Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things.” Luke 21:34-36.

You see, the devil throws all these things right in front of us as snares. He knows what food products will do today. Why do you think he has the Big Macs twenty-four inches high on your TV screen with the cheese running out and the big Coca-Cola and is now using advertisements for movies?
Jesus said, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be….they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.’ Matthew 24:37,38. As I studied the Spirit of Prophecy, I saw that we were give the greatest light in health and temperance. You see, it was not just cigarettes and alcohol that Ellen White wrote about. She states; “True temperance teaches us to abstain entirely from that which is injurious, and to use judiciously only healthful and nutritious articles of food.” The Health Reformer, April 1, 1877.

As I continued to study, I became a vegetarian. I realized that eating meat was not a test of fellowship, but I read where Ellen White tells us, “Greater reforms should be seen among the people who claim to be looking for the soon appearing of Christ. Health reform is to do among our people a work which it has not yet done. There are those who ought to be awake to the danger of meat eating, who are still eating the flesh of animals, thus endangering the physical, mental, and spiritual health. Many who are now only half converted on the question of meat eating will go from God’s people, to walk no more with them.” Review and Herald, May 27, 1902. I also read: “The diet reform should be progressive. As disease in animals increases, the use of milk and eggs will become more and more unsafe. An effort should be made to supply their place with other things that are healthful and inexpensive. The people everywhere should be taught how to cook without milk and eggs, so far as possible, and yet have their food wholesome and palatable.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 365.

As I began to study, I saw articles coming out estimating that there are ten million pure vegetarians within the United Stated today. I found articles like: “A High Fat Diet Related to Lung Cancer.” I saw a report of the Surgeon General’s findings in the Herald, July 28, 1988. The headlines read, “Fatty Foods are Killing Us.” The Stockton Record, reporting on the Surgeon General’s report, stated that the United States is eating its way to the grave by eating too many animal products, dairy products and high triglyceride, high cholesterol foods today. I found one article that told of steel fingered eviscerating machines in poultry slaughterhouses. These machines rip out the entrails of the chicken at a rate of ninety birds a minute. When they do this, the fecal waste material of the bird gets on this machine and spreads the bacteria contamination to every bird that comes down the pike. “If the American public knew what garbage they were eating, they would revolt,” said USDA inspector, Hobert Bartley, in an article in the San Francisco Examiner, Sunday, June 29, 1986.

The February, 1992 issue of Consumer Reports tells us that of 113 samples of fish taken across this country, 44 of them were contaminated with human fecal bacteria. How are the fish getting human fecal bacteria? Then the articles start coming out in the newspapers and the one that made me laugh was “Pollution cited for 1,429 beach closings in 1990.” Stockton Record, August 15, 1991. Do not swim in it, but throw the pole in there, catch whatever lives in it and eat it; that is okay. Does that make sense? “San Diego Sewage Spill Fouls the Ocean.” Stockton Record, February 6, 1992. Millions of gallons of partially treated sewage poured out! Then you have the third rate countries like Peru and others who do not have the water treatment plants as the United States and they are letting all this human fecal bacteria out into the water and it is migrating our way. That is why a newspaper reported that cholera cases surge Mexico. You get cholera from human fecal bacteria. The paper says officials try to suppress the report of the disease’s outbreak. Friend, have you walked down a beach lately and seen the birds and fish lying dead on the beaches. I believe it is from poisoning.

Jeremy Rifkin, on page 144 of his book Beyond Beef, Penguin Books USA, Inc. Cites that the FDA acknowledges that they do not know today whether or not BIV (Bovine Immunodeficiency Virus), once it hits human blood, becomes HIV positive, and the FDA is not telling anybody anything.
I was shocked at what I read in an article that recently came out in the Tennessee Tallahassee Democrat, May 28, 1993. The department of agriculture recently conducted surprise visits to ninety slaughterhouses in the United States. Thirty of the facilities were shut down immediately. The article says there are 1,200 in the country. Can you believe or can you imagine what is the condition of the others that have not yet been checked?

Ellen White said the day would come when we would have to discard milk and other things. It is surprising and amazing to me that as I continued to study, I found these headlines: “Study Links Cow’s Milk in Infancy to Diabetes.” Stockton Record, July 30, 1992 from Medical Tribune News Service. The article states: “Protein in cows milk ingested during infancy may be the trigger that sets off insulin dependent diabetes in susceptible children.” This was a study that was recently done and verified. What was amazing to me was that, at the same time, the United States responds with “Doctors Cry Over Milk Drinking.” Stockton Record, September 30, 1992. Here is a doctor saying that the common dinner time refrain, ‘Drink your milk’ may be replaced by ‘Eat your tofu’ if a group of doctors, nutritionists and the venerable Dr. Spock have their way. Once regarded as a perfect food, cow’s milk is coming under increasing fire as a part of the daily diet of babies….We need to leave cow’s milk where it belongs, in cows.” This is the world crying out now.

“It hasn’t been a good year for milk. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that parents not give their children whole milk during the first year of life because it causes hidden blood loss and possibly anemia….Milk is often contaminated with traces of antibiotics; is a common cause of allergy and digestive problems.” Stockton Record, September 30, 1992. A statistic that interested me was one that suggested that twenty percent of the dairy cows in this country have leukemia. When the truck goes to the dairy farm, all the dairies are pooled into one truck. It is all mixed together. Is it any wonder that Agatha Thrash recently said in a public interview that seven out of nine cartons of milk that come off the grocery store shelves are contaminated with active cancer viruses.

People come to me and say, “You know, Danny, Ellen White said the day would come when God would reveal this.” Friend, all you have to do is open your eyes. It is being revealed all around you through the world today. People come to me and say, “Well, the diet reform needs to be progressive, Brother.” And I say, “How long have you been an Adventist? How old are you? What do you need, another sixty-five years before you are going to throw this stuff away?” Maybe I look too narrow and bigoted when I sit and eat with people because I will no take part of some food that has dairy in it, but I am convicted myself. For myself, I cannot defile my body with cancer viruses. I believe that as we look at the test Daniel’s three friends faced in refusing to bow to the image, we are looking at our future. I do not believe that there is any question that had they failed the test of food, they would never have been prepared to stand the test that followed. “If ever there was a time when the diet should be of the most simple kind, it is now! [1905]” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 389 (Emphasis supplied). We are also told that all those who are preparing for translation to heaven will eat a most simple diet; fruits and grains prepared free from grease will be placed on the tables of all those who are preparing for translation. See ibid., 64.

“Seventh-day Adventists are handling momentous truths. More than forty years ago the Lord gave us special light on health reform, but how are we walking in that light? How many have refused to live in harmony with the counsels of God! As a people, we should make advancement proportionate to the light received.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 24. Ellen White continues that, “As a people, we should make advancement proportionate to the light received. It is our duty to understand and respect the principles of health reform. On the subject of temperance we should be in advance of all other people; and yet there are among us well-instructed members of the church, and even ministers of the gospel, who have little respect for the light that God has given upon this subject. They eat as they please, and work as they please. Let those who are teachers and leaders in our cause take their stand firmly on Bible ground in regard to health reform and give a straight testimony to those who believe we are living in the last days of this earth’s history. A line of distinction must be drawn between those who serve God, and those who serve themselves.” Ibid.

Peter admonished us to abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul. How is it with you, my friend? Are you willing to take your stand on the side of truth, living up to all the light God has given us for this time in which we live?

The End

Health – Ingenious Ways to Exercise

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A few years back I knew a family that had decided to get completely off the grid. The couple had several young children so the idea of “no power/electricity” was incomprehensible to them. Included in all of the thoughts that ran through their young minds was, “We won’t have a refrigerator” and “What about television?” These young minds were in total shock. It was a good thing that the father had thought out much of these things ahead of time while preparing their new home for occupancy. One of the things he had rigged up was a bicycle hooked up to the television. Anyone who wanted to watch television would need to pedal the bicycle during the whole time. It worked and the family was in great shape; there were also times, more often than not, that the television and bicycle were empty. This lifestyle gave the children more opportunities to enjoy the outdoors in place of sitting and watching television.

What brought this to my memory was the following article which came out recently that talked about a bicycle washing machine which will clean your laundry while you pedal away calories. Of course, this will even strengthen the heart which will strengthen the whole body to the glory of God. The following are some excerpts for your enjoyment and thought.

“… a team of designers at China’s Dalian Nationalities University has developed a device called the Bike Washing Machine, which does exactly what its name implies—namely, it washes clothes using pedal power alone.

“The bike looks like a hybrid between an exercise bike and a washing machine. It’s a stationary bike with one front ‘wheel,’ which contains an ordinary-looking washing machine drum. When you pedal the bike, the drum turns and washes a load of laundry the same way a typical washing machine does.

“Although it is not clear whether the device will shift automatically from wash to rinse mode, it appears that the designers could make it perform that task fairly easily with some sort of timer and valve system.

“It might seem like a gimmicky invention at first glance, but it does make sense, especially for those who live in small apartments where having an exercise bike and a separate washing machine might pose a problem in terms of space. The bike could also be useful to those living in remote areas where electricity is scarce or unavailable.

“Another interesting feature of the Bike Washing Machine is that it can also be used to generate electricity that can be stored in a battery.

“In addition to saving space, washing your clothes and generating electricity, the bike will also help you burn calories and shed pounds while performing those other useful tasks.

“A prototype is now being built, and the team has submitted its design to the website Tuvie.com.” www.naturalnews.com/049616_pedal_power_bicycle_laundry.html

Exercise is one of the eight health laws, along with nutrition, water, sunshine, temperance, air, rest and trust in God. These new inventions may lead many back to at least one of these health laws—exercise.

Being creative in your own home and lifestyle may preserve your health so you may enjoy the life God has given to you. Think of ways to keep your body moving such as:

  • Stand up and walk while talking on the phone.
  • Move your arms up, down and around and flex your feet while sitting at your desk.
  • Rise up and down on your toes while washing dishes or cooking meals. Don’t just stand there.

Our bodies were made for movement and we need to keep our blood moving. Hook up an exercise bike to the television so you can move while you are watching or, alternately you might think about getting a rebounder to bounce on while you are watching.

Remember that your eyes also need exercise! Begin to get into the habit of moving your eyes back and forth, up and down, and blink, blink, blink for a few minutes. Do this several times each day.

Your brain also needs some good exercise. Think positively! Our thoughts can change our actions and our attitudes and many times improve our health. Positive thinking and positive activity can rewire your brain and strengthen brain areas that stimulate positive feelings. Every time a negative thought creeps in, retrain your brain to think a positive thought. Give your brain some positive activity. Sing scripture songs. Think on all of the positive things that God has provided. Never dwell on the sad, gloomy or frustrating things. We are told: “… be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind …” (Romans 12:2).

Think positively and be creative in the exercising of your whole body, physically, mentally and spiritually.

Health – Sight & Sound

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It is so easy to get into a groove of everyday living that often we do not realize the effect, or impact, that different sights and sounds around us are having on our emotional well-being. I would like to share with you an excerpt from one of Vicki Griffin’s books, Guilt-free Gourmet, pages 377–380 (Remnant Publications, 1999). The main title is Television& Music. The subtitles are real eye-catchers:

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Serenity—Or Insanity?

As we have been studying various Christian lifestyle issues, we begin to see some interesting contrasts. The principles of living that are taught in the Bible tend to promote strength rather than sickness, order rather than chaos, genuine pleasure rather than artificial stimulation, and soundness of mind rather than depression and mood swings.

God’s prescription for leisure time is no different—He offers serenity instead of insanity, joy instead of jitters. “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11).

Biblical counsel on how to live is so critical to health, happiness and salvation that we are admonished: “Receive My instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold” (Proverb 8:10).

Recreation—Or entertainment?

A trip to the park, zoo, or museum—hobbies, crafts, reading, volunteer work, a picnic, building project, even chores—these kinds of recreational activities have a positive impact on the stress system, immune system and mood. They promote a healthy appetite, sound sleep, a sense of well-being and relieve tension.

That’s recreation—but much of today’s entertainment has far different effects. Unfortunately, the above-mentioned activities pale in comparison to America’s major pastime: watching television. Television—is it a harmless outlet for the harried, or an entertainment trap that ensnares and destroys?

TV ADs: The Automatic Income Reducer!

Television and movies seem to be a major pastime of both young and old. It is estimated that 99% of American households own at least one television. The average person spends more than seven hours a day watching TV—2,555 hours per year. Motivational speaker and author Zig Ziglar calls TV “the automatic income reducer” because of the non-productive, wasted time spent there!

The average child watches 31 hours of TV every week, which is 5,000 hours by the time they enter the first grade, and 19,000 hours by the time they finish high school. By the age of 16, a typical young person will have viewed 200,000 acts of violence, and seen 31 incidents of sex, violence and profanity per programming hour. …

TV: Gradual Brain Drain

According to a study conducted at Yale University, children who watch a lot of television are more aggressive than non-viewers, show decreased reading ability, lower levels of imagination, short attention spans and higher levels of restlessness and hyperactivity.

Watching violent television produces biological effects in the body. These effects include cardiovascular stress, suppression of the immune system, and elevated levels of three different stress hormones, especially cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels are associated with neural damage to the hippocampus area of the brain, and are implicated in poor memory, senility and chronic depression.

One study of 1,100 television-viewing children showed that watching “reality-based” programs for as little as two hours a day increased the incidence of aggression, stealing, bullying, temper tantrums, and impulsiveness. These characteristics increased over time.

Now For the Real News

An interesting study from London, England, showed that watching just 14 minutes of negative news significantly impacted anxiety and sadness levels in viewers. In addition, they were more likely to evaluate their own life problems in a catastrophic or disproportionately negative way, compared with non-viewers. Reading printed newspaper accounts, however, did not produce the same effect.

Music, Mind and Mood

Certain types of music also seem to reduce stress and enhance brain function. A study conducted by the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California has confirmed that soothing Mozart sonatas and similar complex, highly structured music seem to stimulate cognitive and neural pathways, resulting in IQ scores as much as 10 points higher in test subjects.

Conversely, the harsh rhythms of rock and jazz interfere with abstract reasoning and can actually destroy delicate brain nerves. Researchers from Pennsylvania State University reported that students who listen to the most rock have the highest levels of anxiety, depression, and “sensation-seeking.”

Heavy metal and rap music is associated with increased incidence of behavior problems, drug and alcohol use, sexual activity, low grades and criminal arrests. When young David played his harp for the moody King Saul, he was “refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.” I Samuel 16:23.

Rhythm and Reason

The Bible says: “The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.” Proverbs 20:12. We are accountable to God for the use of our sensory organs as well as our time. And right use brings blessings! God’s television and magazine guide can’t be beat!

You will find it in Psalm 101. It is not only worth reviewing—it’s worth living!

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We are truly fearfully and wonderfully made and we must take care of our mental, physical and spiritual life; otherwise, the devil will walk right in and destroy us mentally, physically and spiritually.

 

Health – Ripe and Unripe Fruits & Grains

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There are some wonderful insights in the book Back to Eden by Jethro Kloss on health issues and every so often I like to review them and share with others these gems. The chapter entitled “Fruits” includes some very interesting thoughts about ripe and unripe fruits and grains which many of us have either forgotten about or never heard.

FRUITS – Chapter XXIII

“God planned in the beginning that fruit should form a large part of our diet, and if we would practice that now, it would mean very much to our health. While it is true that fruit, like other things, has deteriorated very much since creation, yet if we would take care of it and eat it in a proper way, it would prove an untold blessing today.

“In the beginning man was told to dress the trees. This was for a wise purpose. Every tree should be pruned and dressed so that the sun will shine on the fruit at least part of the day, if not all day. If there are too many limbs and leaves, and the fruit grows altogether in the shade, it has much less food value, flavor, and life-giving properties. The seed of fruit and vegetables grown in the shade for two or three years will not germinate. It has to a great extent lost its quality and life-giving properties. Therefore all fruit trees should be pruned so that sun and air have free access. Another thing that should be remembered is that fruit before it is ripe is in the starchy state; in this condition it has but little food value, and is hard to digest. But as fruit ripens, it turns into grape sugar, especially when ripened in the air and sun, and requires practically no digestion. Fruit which is grown in the shade or is picked before it is ripe is better cooked than raw. A great deal of the fruit that is shipped is picked before it is ripe. While it does ripen to some extent after it is picked, it is never the same as it is when ripened on the tree.

“If fruit is picked before it is full grown, it is practically worthless as far as real food value is concerned, excepting, perhaps, the banana, which is a very peculiar fruit. It can be picked green and will continue to ripen and develop its sugar. It should never be eaten until every particle of green disappears, and the outer skin begins to turn brown, and the pulp has become mellow. Most bananas are eaten altogether too green, and while still in the starchy state. When the banana is fully ripe, it develops twenty-five percent of grape sugar, which requires very little or no digestion. Any infant or invalid can eat them when mashed up. … Let me emphasize again, never eat a banana until it is thoroughly ripe. [Emphasis author’s.]

“In buying prunes, buy a large size, for the large prunes have practically no larger pit than the small ones. The smaller the prunes, the less meat you have, and the more pits. A large prune when soaked overnight in cold water can be eaten without any cooking, and is very delicious. You can do the same thing with figs, apricots, or peaches when you get a good grade. When you do cook them, a very little cooking is all that is needed. Remember that the fruit before it is ripe is in the starchy state and requires cooking and digestion, and after it is thoroughly ripened it requires no cooking and little digestion. The juice is ready for assimilation.

“Unripe grains are the opposite of unripe fruits. The grain before ripe is in the milky state, or grape sugar state and could be digested without any cooking. That is the way the grain was eaten in the beginning, and no doubt that is the way the disciples and Jesus ate it. But when it ripens, it turns into starch. We have no fluid to digest raw starch properly, and therefore grains should be thoroughly cooked.”

“All the elements of nutrition are contained in the fruits, vegetables and grains.” The Review and Herald, May 8, 1883.

“However, the juice of oranges, grapes, pineapples, and grapefruit may be taken when pure with no sugar added. These juices can with good results be taken as a drink between meals to quench the thirst.

“There are several reasons why we should not drink with the meals and eat so much soft food. First, we hear so much about alkaline foods and that they are all right to be eaten, but an indisputable fact is that the saliva is highly alkaline and much more so than any of these alkaline foods. And the fact is if we eat our food dry, getting it thoroughly saturated with saliva, it alkalinizes the system more than all the alkaline foods combined that we know. And second, when the food reaches the stomach there comes the digestive juice known as the gastric juice. In order for the gastric juice to properly do its work it needs the saliva and then as the food leaves the stomach there comes the pancreatic juice and the bile. They cannot do their proper work without the saliva and the gastric juice. If many of these little points were observed, you would see a marvelous improvement in your health. And then another point is: When you take so much fluid with your meals and also the soft foods, it dilutes these various digestive fluids so they are too weak and have not the proper power to digest the food as God had planned they should. There is perfect law and order in our system, and when we violate these, we have to suffer the consequences.

“Many years ago when we made tests on these things, we found that half a good-sized lemon would destroy typhoid germs in a glass of water and the healthy gastric juice in the stomach is four times as strong as the lemon juice. …” Back to Eden, Jethro Kloss, 154–157.

This wisdom applies also to our day for many are unaware of health hazards. Praise God for His wisdom and watch care of us.

Health – Remember History and Praise God for His Health Laws

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In the 1800s doctors really believed that if you had a fever, you had too much vitality and so they would then remove some of your blood!

Dr. Kellogg stated in 1876: “Twenty years ago, when a man had a fever, the doctors thought he had too much vitality—too much life—and so they bled him, and purged him, and poisoned him with calomel, and blue mass, and sundry other poisons, for the purpose of taking away from him a part of his vitality—his life—in other words, killing him a little. If a man was extraordinarily tough, he survived in spite of the killative influence of both disease and doctors …”—J.H. Kellogg, M.D., in The Health Reformer, January, 1876. (Battle Creek, Michigan.)

No cooling allowed! No sunshine allowed! No water allowed!

Those were the prescriptions for patients in the 1800s along with mercury, arsenic and other drugs. In the same history, we are told:

“During the mid 19th century, physicians had no knowledge of physics, chemistry, or physiology. A common treatment was to take one half to one liter of blood from the patient (bleeding), and sometimes more than once per day. If someone had a fever they were put in a hot, dark place without fresh air, fluids or water. The physician used a variety of toxic substances such as mercury, arsenic, antimony, nicotine, strychnine, opium, digitalis and others. …

“In 1777, many sailors on a long voyage became ill with typhus. It was customary to put sick sailors in the bottom of the ship and deprive them of water or other fluids. They were given drugs that were not helpful and often worsened the disease. The sick sailors were denied fresh air and body cooling measures were avoided. So many became ill that there was no room for them in the bottom of the ship. Therefore, those who were not expected to live were placed on deck. These sick men were so miserable they asked the crew to pour water over them. Since they were not expected to live, the ship’s doctor granted their requests. Surprisingly, they recovered. This experience was passed on to other ships’ physicians and, when duplicated, the same good result was seen. Due to the prejudice and disbelief of physicians this enlightenment did not prevail and the old methods continued.” Spiritualistic Deceptions in Health and Healing, page 18, by Edwin A. Noyes, M.D., M.P.H. 2007, Homeward Publishing, Monrovia, CA.

Tobacco a remedy for lung issues!

“A Dr. Chapman is quoted as recommending the use of tobacco as a remedy for the infections of the lungs, ‘the vapor to be produced by smoking a cigar,’ and advising ‘that the patient should frequently draw in the breath freely, so that the internal surface of the air vessels may be exposed to the action of the vapor.’ ” The Story of Our Health Message, page 22, D.E. Robinson, Southern Publishing Association, 1965.

Poor little one with the croup!

“Pity the poor youngster who had croup in those days, and whose parents consulted another authority on the subject on home treatment. He would find by sad experience that for this affliction ‘the remedies principally relied on are bleeding, emetics, and calomel.’ … ‘Let the little patient be bled very freely at the commencement of the case. Then give to the child of three years old or upwards a teaspoonful of antimonial wine [made by dissolving a scruple of emetic tartar in a pint of sherry wine], and repeat it, if necessary, in half an hour. If the second dose does not cause vomiting, double its quantity, unless the case be very mild. … The vomiting should be encouraged by warm drinks, and the nausea should be continued for a few hours.’—Dr. J. Boyd, in Family Medical Adviser, p. 118, Philadelphia: 1845.” Ibid., 22, 23.

What Elder Loughborough saw when his father died.

“… At the age of eight he peered one day through the thick blankets that curtained and covered the tall posts of the bed on which his father lay dying of typhoid fever. The sufferer had been faithfully and lovingly dosed with drugs, and then had been forbidden by his attending physician the comfort of a drink of cold water or even a refreshing breath of pure air.” Ibid., 23.

George Washington’s Death:

“On Friday 13, December 1799, the sixty-seven-year-old hero of the American Revolution and former President, George Washington, woke up in the night at his home in Mount Vernon, not feeling very well. He had been soaked by rain the day before, and now he felt first chilled to the bone and then feverish, with a painfully constricted sore throat and labored breathing. He decided that a bleeding might give him some relief and alerted his household: they at once sent for a bleeder in the neighborhood who took twelve or fourteen ounces of blood from Washington’s arm. But although the General’s family was extremely anxious, he refused to allow them to trouble his doctor in the middle of the night, and the whole household returned to an uneasy sleep.

“Next morning Washington was no better, and Dr. James Craik, his personal physician, arrived at 11 o’clock. It was the start of a grim medical marathon. Dr. Craik, alarmed by Washington’s condition, promptly sent for two other physicians to join him in consultation. Meanwhile, he ordered two more ‘copious’ bleedings; a blister was applied to Washington’s throat; two doses of mercury were given him; and a cathartic injection was forced up his rectum – all to no avail: Washington’s breathing grew more painful and labored. The consultant physicians arrived in the afternoon, and Dr. Craik suggested yet another bleeding. In this suggestion he was seconded by Dr. Brown, but vigorously opposed by Dr. Elisha Dick, who pointed out that they had already drawn perhaps three pints of blood from a sick and aging man. ‘He needs all his strength,’ he argued, ‘bleeding will diminish it.’ He was overruled … and a fourth bleeding was ordered. This time, no less than thirty-two ounces of blood were drawn off – ‘without the smallest apparent alleviation of the disease’ – the doctors later reported.

“A third huge dose of calomel – ten grains – was now given him, followed by several doses of tartar emetic (antimony); vapours of water and vinegar were blown around his throat; to the fiery blister on his throat was added a bran-and-vinegar poultice, and more blisters were strapped to the soles of his feet. After hours of this torture, and several vain struggles to speak, Washington at last managed to make known to his doctors his desire to be left to die in peace. Late on Saturday night – a bare twenty-four hours after he had woken with a chill and a sore throat – he breathed his last.

“It was calculated that over four pints of blood – about half his total bodily content – were removed from Washington. A blood loss of this order would today be considered a major medical emergency, necessitating immediate blood transfusions and intensive care, to avert the otherwise inevitable death from lowered blood pressure, collapse and acute shock … .” Green Pharmacy, The History and Evolution of Western Herbal Medicine, pages 148, 149, by Barbara Griggs, 1997.

These are just a few of the reasons God shared with us the health message along with its laws: nutrition, exercise, water, sunlight, temperance, air, rest and trust in divine power. These health laws were unknown and because of this, many people suffered and died from something which may have been prevented or they may have been restored to health with their use.

Remember history and praise God for His Health laws!

Health – The Effect of Diet on the Brain

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We have only one brain and it would be well for each of us to keep it in good thinking order. For the brain to function at maximum capacity it must be supplied with good, nourishing food. What you eat affects the mental as well as the physical health. Our brains need to be in good health so that we may glorify God in all that we do and say. Having said that, we need to realize that food taken into the body also affects our brain health. Researchers studied over 950 brains for five years and came up with some very interesting information on how to maintain our brain’s health. With all of the talk about the increase of dementia and Alzheimers it would be beneficial to pay close attention to what this article is suggesting to keep our brains healthy. The following article is called:

Eating green leafy vegetables keeps your brain strong

“Something as simple as eating more leafy veggies could significantly slow down cognitive decline and keep your brain healthier for a longer period of time. A new study found that nutrients and vitamins found in plants such as spinach, kale, collards and mustard greens help keep your mental abilities sharp.

“Researchers studied 950 [people] over five years on average to see why our brains start to lose their potency, and what we could eat to prevent that.

“ ‘Losing one’s memory or cognitive abilities is one of the biggest fears for people as they get older,’ said Martha Clare Morris, Sc.D., assistant provost for community research at Rush University Medical Center and leader of the research team. ‘Since declining cognitive ability is central to Alzheimer’s disease and dementias, increasing consumption of green leafy vegetables could offer a very simple, affordable and non-invasive way of potentially protecting your brain from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.’

“The type of food they found had the most impact was green, leafy vegetables. People who ate 1–2 servings a day had the cognitive abilities of a person 11 years younger. In terms of nutrients, they found that vitamin K, lutein, folate and beta-carotene were likely doing the heavy lifting.

“ ‘Our study identified some very novel associations,’ said Morris, who will present the research at the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) Annual Meeting during Experimental Biology 2015. ‘No other studies have looked at vitamin K in relation to change in cognitive abilities over time, and only a limited number of studies have found some association with lutein.’ Other studies have linked folate and beta-carotene intake with slower cognitive decline.

“Participants were aged 81 on average, and researchers calculated their total nutrient intake; they also accounted and corrected for age, sex, education, smoking, genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease and participation in physical activities when estimating the effects of diet on cognitive decline.

“ ‘With baby boomers approaching old age, there is huge public demand for lifestyle behaviors that can ward off loss of memory and other cognitive abilities with age,’ said Morris. ‘Our study provides evidence that eating green leafy vegetables and other foods rich in vitamin K, lutein and beta-carotene can help to keep the brain healthy to preserve functioning.’

“Aside for these vegetables, other good sources of vitamin K, lutein, folate and beta-carotene include brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Now, the team is trying to figure out what are the mechanisms through which the vitamins keep the brain fit.” www.zmescience.com/medicine/mind-and-brain/leafy-green-brain-06072015/

Let’s keep our minds alive to the glory of God. Let’s return to a simple diet loaded with God’s simple foods with plenty of greens included!

We are truly “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14)!

Experience

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In the winter of 1864, my Willie was suddenly and violently brought down with lung fever*. We had just buried our oldest son with this disease, and were very anxious in regard to Willie, fearing that he, too, might die. We decided that we would not send for a physician, but do the best we could with him ourselves by the use of water, and entreat the Lord in behalf of the child. We called in a few who had faith to unite their prayers with ours. We had a sweet assurance of God’s presence and blessing.

The next day Willie was very sick. He was wandering. He did not seem to see or hear me when I spoke to him. His heart had no regular beat, but was in a constant agitated flutter. We continued to look to God in his behalf, and to use water freely upon his head, and a compress constantly upon his lungs, and soon he seemed rational as ever. He suffered severe pain in his right side, and could not lie upon it for a moment. This pain we subdued with cold water compresses, varying the temperature of the water according to the degree of the fever. We were very careful to keep his hands and feet warm.

We expected the crisis would come the seventh day. We had but little rest during his sickness, and were obliged to give him up into others’ care the fourth and fifth nights. My husband and myself the fifth day felt very anxious. The child raised fresh blood, and coughed considerably. My husband spent much time in prayer. We left our child in careful hands that night. Before retiring my husband prayed long and earnestly. Suddenly his burden of prayer left him, and it seemed as though a voice spoke to him, and said, Go lie down, I will take care of the child. I had retired sick, and could not sleep for anxiety for several hours. I felt pressed for breath. Although sleeping in a large chamber, I arose and opened the door into a large hall, and was at once relieved, and soon slept. I dreamed that an experienced physician was standing by my child, watching every breath, with one hand over his heart, and with the other feeling his pulse. He turned to us and said, “The crisis has passed. He has seen his worst night. He will now come up speedily, for he has not the injurious influence of drugs to recover from. Nature has nobly done her work to rid the system of impurities.” I related to him my worn-out condition, my pressure for breath, and the relief obtained by opening the door. Said he, “That which gave you relief, will also relieve your child. He needs air. You have kept him too warm. The heated air coming from a stove is injurious, and were it not for the air coming in at the crevices of the windows, would be poisonous, and destroy life. Stove heat destroys the vitality of the air, and weakens the lungs. The child’s lungs have been weakened by the room being kept too warm. Sick persons are debilitated by disease, and need all the invigorating air that they can bear to strengthen the vital organs to resist disease. And yet in most cases air and light are excluded from the sick room at the very time when most needed, as though dangerous enemies.”

This dream and my husband’s experience was a consolation to us both. We found in the morning that our boy had passed a restless night. He seemed to be in a high fever until noon. Then the fever left him, and he appeared quite well, except weak. He had eaten but one small cracker through his five-days’ sickness. He came up rapidly, and has had better health than he has had for several years before. This experience is valuable to us.

I have thought for years that I was dependent upon a meat diet for strength. I have eaten three meals a day until within a few months. It has been very difficult for me to go from one meal to another without suffering from faintness at the stomach, and dizziness of the head. Eating would remove these feelings. I seldom allowed myself to eat anything between my regular meals, and have made it a practice to often retire without supper. But I have suffered greatly for want of food from breakfast to dinner, and have frequently fainted. Eating meat removed for the time these faint feelings. I therefore decided that meat was indispensable in my case.

But since the Lord presented before me, in June, 1863, the subject of meat-eating in relation to health, I have left the use of meat. For a while it was rather difficult to bring my appetite to bread, for which, formerly, I have had but little relish. But by persevering, I have been able to do this. I have lived for nearly one year without meat. For about six months most of the bread upon our table has been unleavened cakes, made of unbolted wheat-meal and water, and a very little salt. We use fruits and vegetables liberally. I have lived for eight months upon two meals a day. I have applied myself to writing the most of the time for above a year. For eight months have been confined closely to writing. My brain has been constantly taxed, and I have had but little exercise. Yet my health has never been better than for the past six months. My former faint and dizzy feelings have left me. I have been troubled every spring with loss of appetite. The last spring I had no trouble in this respect. Our plain food, eaten twice a day, is enjoyed with a keen relish. We have no meat, cake, or any rich food upon our table. We use no lard, but in its place, milk, cream, and some butter. We have our food prepared with but little salt, and have dispensed with spices of all kinds. We breakfast at seven, and take our dinner at one. It is seldom I have a faint feeling. My appetite is satisfied. My food is eaten with a greater relish than ever before.

I have, since a child, been afflicted with dropsy and heart disease, occasioned by my misfortune when about nine years old. For several years, in the spring, I have had a shock of paralysis which has nearly cost me my life. But, in answer to prayer, I have recovered from its effects. The last spring I had no symptoms of this much-dreaded affliction. I have no trouble with dropsy or heart disease. I have within eight months lost twenty-five pounds of flesh. I am better without it. I have more strength than I have realized for years.

Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4a, 151–153.

*An obsolete term for elevated core temperature resulting from an infection in the respiratory system.

Health – A Little Won’t Hurt

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How often have you heard somebody say, “A little won’t hurt”! Could that be true? I remember a few years ago, a friend wanted to share some beauty cream she had picked up for a good price. She had read that this would help keep her complexion free of wrinkles and looking nice. I looked at the ingredients and the last ingredient on it was arsenic! I told my friend I was in no way going to use that cream, and what do you think she said? “A little won’t hurt”! I did some research and learned that young ladies back in the Middle Ages used arsenic to keep their faces nice and white. What a sad thing.

Let’s look at another occurrence which brings on the same reaction of “Oh, a little won’t hurt.” But, sad to say, a little does hurt—it is just that you cannot see the damage until it is almost too late. Many times, it is too late. That little bit has been ruining the fine machinery which the Lord has given to us.

A Striking Case of Moderate Drinking

“Here is a story that may interest you … . It is not hearsay but an experience in my own (I. S.Ritchie, M.D.) medical practice.

“A prominent young man of this city died recently of ‘moderate’ drinking. He had never been ‘drunk’—only ‘happy’; but after three years of it he paid for it with his life. I was called at the last minute, but nothing could be done. He did not respond to any kind of treatment. I never knew why until I saw his body opened at the autopsy and viewed his organs. His heart was but a mass of degenerative fat instead of muscle. His liver was double enlarged, pitted and hardened and scarred—chronic alcoholic hypertrophic cirrhosis. His lungs appeared sclerotic, as did his kidneys, and were irregular and pale. His stomach and bowels were pale and fatty externally, but congested and reddened and thickened throughout the mucous membrane lining. His spleen and glands were swollen and congested. I had known him for twenty years and never knew that he drank. He was never ill, but told his wife, ‘If I am ever sick, call Dr. Ritchie.’ And so she did, but it was too late. When I arrived I worked with might and main and called another physician, but no therapy or heart stimulation or adrenalin had any effect. I have told you the reason. The last three years they said he had drunk moderately but daily.

“The autopsy surgeon removed a piece of tissue from each of the above-named organs and sent these to the pathologist in charge of the laboratory of an accredited Class A Medical College. A microscopic study of these organs revealed the irreparable damage alcohol had done to the vital units or cells comprising these organs. No other cause for death could be discovered.” (I. S. Ritchie, M.D., …) Abundant Health, Julius Gilbert White, 273, 274, © 1951 by author.

It is often the unseen damage that will kill in the long run. We are fearfully and wonderfully made and these so-called, “little things” do affect our bodies. Whether it be a little kill or a big kill, either way it is still a kill and it is sinning against our Maker who has said, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13).

Another writer, Jethro Kloss, states the following:

“… Alcohol is certainly a snake in the grass, it is stimulating to the senses, makes a person feel happy when he is miserable, makes him feel strong for a while, but weakness follows. Alcohol numbs the nerves to such an extent that a man feels warm when he is cold. It makes him quite active while he is under its hellish influence, but there is great collapse as the effects wear off. It surely mocks a man and makes a fool of him. The wisest man that ever lived said that ‘wine is a mocker’ (Proverbs 20:1).” Back to Eden, 512, by Jethro Kloss, Back to Eden Books, 1982.

The young man mentioned above who died young stated that liquor made him feel happy, but what a dreadful end that may have been prevented.

It may not seem like it while we are indulging ourselves, but “a little bit does hurt.” When you hurt your body, which is the temple of the Lord, you are serving the god of this world who will accept your service at the cost of your health and possibly your life.

“… choose you this day whom ye will serve … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

Health – Magnesium – Why You Need It

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Researchers have found magnesium to be a vital mineral that can lower blood pressure, protects the heart, and prevents stroke.

It has been shown to boost everything from heart health to bone density, and it can lower the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke. It even improves memory, eases anxiety, treats headaches, and targets depression.

Magnesium is an inexpensive, readily available essential nutrient that many health experts are calling a “miracle mineral.”

But chances are that you, like most people, don’t get enough of it. Carolyn Dean, M.D., author of The Magnesium Miracle tells Newsmax that it is the most beneficial health-boosting mineral available. Yet most people have never heard of it … .

“Magnesium affects every organ, tissue, and cell in the body,” said Dean, a Hawaii-based physician and holistic specialist. “Magnesium deficiency is killing people, and it’s a simple solution to many of our chronic diseases.” Government studies going back more than two decades have found the standard American diet fails to meet the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recommended daily allowance of magnesium, which is 400–420 mg per day for men, and 310–320 for women. Dean believes health officials and the mainstream medical establishment need to do more to raise the public awareness of magnesium’s many benefits.

“A hundred years ago we were getting 500 mg in our daily diet,” she said. “Today we are fortunate to get 200 mg. Most people think that their doctors would have warned them about this problem. But doctors are as ignorant as the public about magnesium’s health effects.”

Nature’s Disease Fighter

Magnesium is one of the body’s most common essential minerals. It is found in the body’s muscles, bones, blood, and tissues. It is involved in regulating everything from blood pressure to heart activity, energy production, nervous system function, cell growth, bone density, muscle strength, and metabolism.

Magnesium is present in a range of foods, including spinach, wheat germ, bran cereals, brown rice, beans, tofu, soybeans, and nuts. But the problem is that decades of commercial agricultural processes have depleted the levels of magnesium and other nutrients in farm soils. This has resulted in less of the nutrients being in fruits and vegetables.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found the levels of nutrients in American-grown produce were as much as 38 percent higher in 1950 than they are today. A growing body of scientific evidence has shown that magnesium deficiency can raise the risk of a range of diseases.

Blood pressure: Over a four-year period, men with sufficient magnesium had a lower risk of hypertension than men consuming lower levels, according to a study of 30,000 men. A second survey of 8,000 women also found that the risk of hypertension decreased as dietary magnesium intake increased.

Heart disease, stroke: Magnesium helps regulate heart rate, says Chauncey Crandall, M.D., director of preventive medicine at the Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic. “The mineral is particularly important for people who have had an irregular heartbeat,” he told Newsmax. “Magnesium helps suppress extra heartbeats.”

A 2011 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found a 40 percent greater risk of sudden cardiac death among women with low levels of magnesium.

Several other studies have linked higher blood levels of magnesium to a lower risk of heart disease and stroke.

Diabetes: Magnesium is a key regulator of carbohydrate metabolism. It influences the release and activity of insulin, the hormone that helps control blood sugar levels. Low blood levels of magnesium are often seen in Type 2 diabetes patients.

Two major research projects, the “Nurses’ Health Study” and the “Health Professionals’ Follow-Up Study,” that followed more than 170,000 people, have found the risk for Type 2 diabetes is greater in people with lower magnesium.

Osteoporosis: Calcium and vitamin D are important for bone health. But studies also show magnesium deficiency is a risk factor for postmenopausal osteoporosis. This is probably because magnesium deficiency alters calcium metabolism and the hormones that regulate calcium absorption. Several studies have found that magnesium supplements and diets that meet the recommended daily allowances for the mineral improve bone mineral density.

In addition, Dean noted dozens of other studies have linked magnesium to a host of mental health benefits – in treating migraines, tension headaches, insomnia, depression, panic attacks, stress, and anxiety.

She said research has also found that adequate intake of magnesium can help in the prevention and treatment of such conditions as pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, premenstrual syndrome, dysmenorrhea, kidney stones, fibromyalgia, blood clots, fibrositis, tooth decay, insomnia, and muscle and nerve problems.

Are You At Risk?

One of the major problems with magnesium is that current diagnostic tests do not provide an accurate indication of whether a patient has a deficiency. “Doctors don’t have the tools to measure magnesium levels properly,” Dean explains. The best way to tell if you’re getting enough is to consider the long list of symptoms deficiency can cause.

Here are the most common: muscle cramps, twitching, heart palpitations, migraines, angina, irregular heartbeat, asthma, anxiety, fatigue, poor concentration, depression, numbness of hands or feet, back pain, diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, PMS, and seizures. If you suffer from any of these problems regularly, you may have low levels of magnesium.

Finding the right supplement: However, not all magnesium supplements are the same. The primary side effects of taking the mineral are digestion problems and possible diarrhea. Cheaper supplements have a laxative effect. The solution is to take a quality, time-released supplement that allows your body to absorb the mineral slowly.

Seek out also pesticide free magnesium rich foods in the diet, which include seeds, whole grains, avocados, bananas, dried fruit, figs, artichokes, potatoes and especially leafy green vegetables. Add to these a high quality magnesium supplement, assuring the body of obtaining the level of magnesium it needs for highest function.

The Most Holy Place Message and Health

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“When you sit down to eat with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you; And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, For they are deceptive food.” Proverbs 23:1–3

“Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat; For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.” Proverbs 23:20, 21

Is neglect of physical law sin? God answers this question clearly. “The transgression of physical law is transgression of God’s law. Our Creator is Jesus Christ. He is the author of our being. He is the author of the physical law as He is the author of the moral law. And the human being who is careless and reckless of the habits and practises [sic] that concern his physical life and health, sins against God. God is not reverenced, respected, or recognized. This is shown by the injury done to the body in violation of physical law.” Healthful Living, 17.

Yes, neglect of physical law is sin. But the issue with appetite goes well beyond the issue of sin.

In looking at the “shadow” or “type” of the earthly sanctuary we learn that on the typical Day of Atonement, God required that people “afflict their souls, and do no work on that same day.” The consequences for disregarding these instructions were clear cut and serious. God said, “For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people” and “that person I will destroy from among his people” (Leviticus 23:27–30). We are living in the antitypical Day of Atonement. The same requirement is in effect for us, only in a much greater degree.

Here we will look at health and its relation to the Most Holy Place message, “keep your garments spotless.” Why is this topic so critically important to the message of the Most Holy Place?

God says, through His servant, “The strength of the temptation to indulge appetite can be measured only by the inexpressible anguish of our Redeemer in that long fast in the wilderness. He knew that the indulgence of perverted appetite would so deaden man’s perceptions that sacred things could not be discerned.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 167.

Friends, are you indulging appetite? If so, what does God say? He says “sacred things could not be understood.” One may wish to quibble over these words. We may question a plain statement from the Lord. Adam and Eve both questioned God and that led to their fall. We must take God at His word. God says, “He knew that the indulgence of perverted appetite would so deaden man’s perceptions that sacred things could not be discerned.”

One may think they understand sacred things, but if appetite is indulged, what does God say? He says, that regardless of what you think or believe, the reality is that those who indulge perverted appetite cannot understand sacred things.

“The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan. But those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian character.” Ibid., 163.

We need to state very briefly here that it is not only what we eat, but how much we eat, whether we eat at regular times, and whether we eat between meals, etc., as well. God has warned, “even health reformers can err in the quantity of food. They can eat immoderately of a healthful quality of food.” Ibid., 244.

“It is impossible for those who give the reins to appetite to attain to Christian perfection.” Ibid., 236.

This is why, of all the topics that we need to study in perfecting our characters, this is the one that we are studying. I don’t want to talk about this. God put this burden in my mind, and I cannot refuse, but at the risk of my own soul.

“Those who would have clear minds to discern Satan’s devices must have their physical appetites under the control of reason and conscience. The moral and vigorous action of the higher powers of the mind are essential to the perfection of Christian character. And the strength or the weakness of the mind has very much to do with our usefulness in this world, and with our final salvation. The ignorance that has prevailed in regard to God’s law in our physical nature is deplorable. Intemperance of any kind is a violation of the laws of our being. Imbecility is prevailing to a fearful extent. Sin is made attractive by the covering of light which Satan throws over it, and he is well pleased when he can hold the Christian world in their daily habits under the tyranny of custom, like the heathen, and allow appetite to govern them.” Messages to Young People, 236, 237.

“If men and women of intelligence have their moral powers benumbed through intemperance of any kind, they are, in many of their habits, elevated but little above the heathen. Satan is constantly drawing the people from saving light, to custom and fashion, irrespective of physical, mental, and moral health. The great enemy knows that if appetite and passion predominate, health of body and strength of intellect are sacrificed upon the altar of self-gratification, and man is brought to speedy ruin. If enlightened intellect holds the reins, controlling the animal propensities, keeping them in subjection to the moral powers, Satan well knows that his power to overcome with his temptations is very small. …

“A large share of the Christian world have no right to call themselves Christians. [They are breaking the 3rd commandment. They are taking God’s name in vain.] Their habits, their extravagance, and general treatment of their own bodies, are in violation of physical law, and contrary to the Bible standard. They are working out for themselves, in their course of life, physical suffering, mental and moral feebleness.” The Review and Herald, September 8, 1874.

“God gives no permission to man to violate the laws of his being. But man, through yielding to Satan’s temptations to indulge intemperance, brings the higher faculties in subjection to the animal appetites and passions. When these gain the ascendency, man, who was created a little lower than the angels, with faculties susceptible of the highest cultivation, surrenders to be controlled by Satan. And he gains easy access to those who are in bondage to appetite. Through intemperance, some sacrifice one-half, and others two-thirds, of their physical, mental, and moral powers, and become playthings for the enemy. Those who would have clear minds to discern Satan’s devices, must have their physical appetites under the control of reason and conscience. The moral and vigorous action of the higher powers of the mind are essential to the perfection of Christian character. And the strength or weakness of the mind has very much to do with our usefulness in this world, and with our final salvation. The ignorance that has prevailed in regard to God’s law in our physical nature is deplorable. Intemperance of any kind is a violation of the laws of our being. Imbecility is prevailing to a fearful extent. Sin is made attractive by the covering of light which Satan throws over it, and he is well pleased when he can hold the Christian world in their daily habits under the tyranny of custom, like the heathen, and allow appetite to govern them.” Ibid.

“Why do some of our ministering brethren manifest so little interest in health reform? It is because instruction on temperance in all things is opposed to their practice of self-indulgence. In some places this has been the great stumbling block in the way of our bringing the people to investigate and practice and teach health reform. No man should be set apart as a teacher of the people while his own teaching or example contradicts the testimony God has given His servants to bear in regard to diet, for this will bring confusion. His disregard of health reform unfits him to stand as the Lord’s messenger.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 378.

These are strong words but sometimes God uses strong words like these to wake us up out of lethal slumber. If we do not wake up and change our habits, He knows that we cannot be in eternity with Him, and He longs for you and me to be with Him throughout eternity. This is why He uses such strong language. However, there is something else I would like us to consider and understand.

When Jesus comes to get His saints, and all are seated at that great wedding feast, will any intemperate person be at that table? No, not one. When does the change have to take place? Jesus told a well-known and true story from Old Testament times that gives us the answer. The application of this story is found in The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 3, 40, 41. The story is of the building of the temple of God during the reign of Solomon. Spirit of Prophecy says the following: “The stones were not prepared for their respective places just as they were about to be laid in the wall of the temple; all the fitting and planning was done previous to their being brought to the place of building. So it is that all the hewing, fitting and polishing of character must be done during man’s probation. When Christ shall come again to earth it will not be to purify and refine the characters of men, and to fit them for Heaven. His work then will only be to change their corruptible bodies and fashion them like unto Christ’s most glorious body. Only a symmetrical and perfect character will in that day entitle men to the finishing touch of immortality.

“Earth is the quarry and the work-shop where men are to be fitted and refined for the courts of Heaven.”

My friends, if we want to be at that great banquet table in heaven, we must conquer appetite here. If we do not, we cannot understand God’s great plan for our salvation. If we choose to remain in sin on this point, we will also bear the sin of leading other people into the paths that lead away from God and heaven. We must control our appetites here. It is an essential part of the Most Holy Place message, “keep your garments spotless.”

“The church is making history. Every day is a battle and a march. On every side we are beset by invisible foes, and we either conquer through the grace given us by God or we are conquered. I urge that those who are taking a neutral position in regard to health reform be converted. This light is precious, and the Lord gives me the message to urge that all who bear responsibilities in any line in the work of God take heed that truth is in the ascendancy in the heart and life. Only thus can any meet the temptations they are sure to encounter in the world.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 377, 378.

“The light that the Lord has given on this subject in His word is plain, and men will be tested and tried in many ways to see if they will heed it. Every church, every family, needs to be instructed in regard to Christian temperance. All should know how to eat and drink in order to preserve health. We are amid the closing scenes of this world’s history, and there should be harmonious action in the ranks of Sabbathkeepers. Those who stand aloof from the great work of instructing the people upon this question do not follow where the Great Physician leads the way. ‘If any man will come after Me,’ Christ said, ‘let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me’ (Matthew 16:24).” Ibid., 378.

“How many are deceiving their own souls and cheating themselves out of the blessings that others might secure if they would believe and obey? Probation still lingers, and it is our privilege to lay hold of the hope set before us in the gospel. Let us repent and be converted and forsake our sins, that they may be blotted out. ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man’ (Luke 21:33–36).” Ibid., vol. 9, 268, 269.

Remember, my friends, we have a compassionate Saviour. In His mercy in our behalf He endured that “long fast in the wilderness” that we might have His power to overcome. Oh, friends, let us not show despite to His great love and mercy, His tremendous suffering and sacrifice on our behalf. Let us claim the victory that was His and overcome as He overcame. Let us indeed “keep our garments spotless” through the mighty new covenant provided for us by our loving, merciful and just Father and His only begotten Son.

Brenda Douay is a staff member at Steps to Life. She may be contacted by email at: brendadouay@stepstolife.org.