8 laws of health

Water, Is it Important?

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“Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power—these are the true remedies. Every person should have knowledge of nature’s remedial agencies and how to apply them. It is essential both to understand the principles involved in the treatment of the sick and to have a practical training that will enable one rightly to use this knowledge.” Ministry of Health, 127.

It is a God-given duty that devolves upon each one of us to keep our physical organisms healthy and strong so that we do not prematurely wear out and die of degenerative disease, and by doing so, rob God of the time and the service that are due Him. Also, recall that there is a battle going on in our minds. If we live in such a way that the mind becomes clouded, we do not have clear judgment and discernment and we cannot make the right decisions; we will ultimately receive eternal death.

You see, God has made us not just physical beings. We are also mental, spiritual, emotional, and social creatures; and all of these components interlock.

In 3 John 2, we read, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” When John wrote this, he was writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; so this was God, not just John, wishing this.

Good health is not just a result of some accident, some haphazard things that we do or do not do. It is a result of intelligent planning of the way we are going to live our lives. The Lord’s counsel to us is, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” I Corinthians 10:31. He also tells us, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” I Corinthians 3:16.

Let us consider some ways whereby we can intelligently understand the various principles that, when practiced, keep this temple healthy and undefiled.

The following eight things are not just to treat the sick but, when applied, will prevent us from becoming sick in the first place. “Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power—these are the true remedies. Every person should have knowledge of nature’s remedial agencies and how to apply them. It is essential both to understand the principles involved in the treatment of the sick and to have a practical training that will enable one rightly to use this knowledge.” Ministry of Health, 127.

Water, as is everything else that we have, is a gift from God. Like air, it is something that we take for granted, until it starts becoming very scarce. Tragically, in the days in which we are living with all the pollution that we are experiencing, it is getting harder and harder to find a pure source of water.

The human body is 60–65 percent fluid. A loss of even 20 percent of the total volume of fluid can result in death. About two-thirds of the water volume of the body is actually in the cells of the body, with the other one-third outside the cells, namely in the circulation and the fluid that circulates around the cells themselves.

As we look at the function of the body, we find that virtually every activity that takes place inside the body is through the medium of water. Let me give you just two or three examples. How many times have you blinked since you started reading this article? You do not know; do you, because you did not even think about it? But friends, if you did not have a think film of fluid bathing the eye, you would be painfully aware every time you tried to blink. Because the Lord has made us so that we have certain glands that keep the eye bathed with fluid, we blink and we do not think about it.

Have you ever thought about trying to eat food without saliva? The Lord has given us saliva glands, however, and one of the functions of saliva is to help liquefy the food that we eat and to act as a lubricant when we swallow.

Each of the cells of the body requires nutrition to be brought to them and the waste to be removed. All of this is accomplished through the medium of water.

In addition, when the temperature outside of the body raises, water is crucial in the process of keeping the body cool. Now let me give you an example of why this is so. You see, the body of an average man can produce about 80 calories of heat an hour. That is nearly enough heat to bring a quart of ice cold water to the boiling point. Imagine that you are outside, you are in the sunshine, and the temperature is 95 degrees. You start to sweat, do you not? The sweat that comes onto the skin is not what cools you down, however; it is the effect of the water evaporating. As the water evaporates, it dissipates the heat.

For example, if you produce a quart of sweat, there is enough heat dissipated from the cooling effect produced by the evaporation of that one quart to take care of the heat produced from nearly seven quarts of water that is almost to boiling point. That is why, of course, on a hot day you need to drink plenty of water to replace that which is lost, allowing you to keep a normal temperature. This is also why, for example, when someone has a fever and their temperature goes up, you can help to cool them down by tepid-sponging them. In other words, you would not apply ice water because that would make them shiver and raise their temperature even higher. By removing them from any drafts and sponging them with slightly warm water, the evaporation will work to dissipate the heat. Start first by wetting one arm and allowing the water to gently evaporate. If they can take that without starting to chill, treat some more limbs and others areas of the body. As the water gently begins to evaporate, it takes the heat with it, which can lower the temperature.

On a hot day, if you are sweating profusely and you are not taking more fluid that you are losing, you will begin to dehydrate. As you begin to dehydrate, the body takes certain steps, as far as possible, to protect the vital organs, especially the blood stream. Though the blood stream is usually the part of the system that becomes dehydrated the last of all, nonetheless, as you become dehydrated, the blood tends to become a little more thick and heavy. At the same time, it becomes a little more impure because there is not sufficient fluid available to flush the blood through the kidneys and make it clean. As a consequence, you get a build-up of chemicals that can cloud the mind, making it dull. It is when the mind has become dull that the devil often strikes with temptation.

So you see, drinking water has something to do with our salvation. It is a component in fighting the spiritual battle.

Now, as we become dehydrated, the kidneys still work valiantly to try to keep the blood as clean as possible, but they have to do so under a tremendous strain. Because there is less fluid available, as the kidneys try to get rid of toxins and wastes, they concentrate the urine, thereby placing a strain upon them. It is like trying to wash a large load of dirty clothes with just two or three quarts of water. The water that is rinsed away is very filthy, and the clothes are still not as clean as they should be.

Now let us look at how the kidneys work to keep the blood clean.

Each of us has two kidneys that are located on either side of the spinal column. The right kidney tends to be a little lower than the left, because there is the liver that displaces it slightly. Coming down from each kidney is a ureter, which empties into the bladder.

The bladder is elastic in nature. It contains nerve endings so that when it expands to a certain point, you have the sensation of wanting to go to the bathroom.

If you do not drink adequate amounts of fluid, the urine becomes concentrated; and if this continues long term, it can lend itself to bladder infections as well as the formation of kidney stones. Incidentally, these stones can form in the bladder also. Remember that an effective way to help prevent all of these urinary problems is to drink plenty of fluids.

In the kidneys are minute little structures called nephrons. Each kidney you have has about one million of these nephrons. These nephrons have several functions. One thing they do is help regulate the amount of fluid in the system. A second function that they have is to help regulate the pH of the blood. Blood needs to be kept just slightly alkaline. If it gets either too acid or too alkaline, it is very quickly fatal.

In addition to the purification of the blood by the removal of waste and the regulation of the pH, the kidneys also help in the excretion of certain excess products, such as glucose if it reaches too high a level in the blood. They also help control and maintain the balance of certain minerals, such as sodium and potassium.

Now a question that might come into your mind is, How does the body know how much water it should conserve and how much water if should allow to pass out in the urine here in the nephron? David says, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” Psalm 139:14. It is a fact that we are marvelously made.

The blood goes to very organ of the body, including the brain. In the area of the brain is the hypothalamus. Several things take place in the hypothalamus. As blood passes through the hypothalamus, there are sensors that are able to sense the viscosity of the blood. Perhaps you have been working outside and sweating, but you have not been drinking much and you are getting dehydrated. Your blood becomes a little bit viscous. The sensors in the hypothalamus are able to detect this and they say to themselves, “The blood is getting dehydrated; we need to tell the kidneys to conserve fluid.” If the sensors do not tell the kidney, it will let that liquid go and the blood will get more viscous.

When the brain senses that the blood is viscous, the hypothalamus sends a message to the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is about the size of a pea and is situated at the base of the brain. This marvelous little gland does many things. In the back part of this gland the hormone ADH, or antidiuretic hormone, is produced. When the ADH gets to the kidney it tells the kidney to hold back, conserve the fluid. The kidney still tries to get rid of the waste, but it will do it using a minimal amount of water. As a result, concentrated urine is produced.

In the meantime, you begin to feel very thirsty so you start drinking several glasses of water. As the fluid goes into the blood stream and the blood becomes a little more diluted, the hypothalamus reduces the message to the pituitary gland, which tells the pituitary to cut back on the antidiuretic hormone. The kidney now realizes that it can let go of more fluid now.

It is just marvelous how the Lord has made us so that we can adjust to whatever is necessary in the environment.

Drinking fluid can help us meet the challenges of life. In 1952, the Swiss were attempting to climb Mt. Everest. They sent a crack team to Tibet that came within 1,000 feet of the summit of Mt. Everest when they became fatigued and had to turn back. The next day, they sent their best two climbers. They came within 1,000 feet when the fatigue got to them and they had to turn back. They just could not do it.

The next year, there was a British expedition. The British were under a physician named Dr. John Hunt, who was a physician as well as a mountain climber. Dr. Hunt knew his physiology and recognized that when people are at a high altitude, they lose more moisture through their expired air than they do at a lower altitude. He made sure that the team took stoves with them so that they could melt ice. The climbers drank between seven and eight pints of fluid a day, and they made it to the top.

For the last three days of the climb, the Swiss were getting less than one pint of water per man. As a consequence, fatigue chemicals built up in their system. Had they drunk enough fluid, they would very likely have made it to the top.

We do not climb Mt. Everest every day, but we still have challenges to face in this life; and at times they can loom before us like mountains. The Lord wants us to enjoy the best health we possible can so that we can better cope with these things. One of the ways that we can do this is to take advantage of the precious gift that He has given us—the gift of pure, clean, fresh water.

On the average, we lose about six cups of water a day through the kidneys, another two cups through the skin, one cup through the lungs, and through the bowels about one glass. That gives you about 10 glasses a day of fluid loss. We usually replace about four of these units just with the food we eat. You eat fruit, salad, and similar foods that have water in them. Also, as a by-product of oxidizing nutrients, water is produced. This totals about five units, meaning that just to maintain, we need to drink a minimum of five to six glasses of water a day, and preferably eight.

The best time to start is to drink two glasses of water when you first get up in the morning. If it is warm or hot water, it will help to regulate the bowels. Also, as well, fluid taken before the meal is better than fluid with the meal, as large amounts of fluid dilute the digestive enzymes, thus requiring that the stomach draw off a lot of that water first so the enzymes can regain their potency and start digesting the food. It is best to drink twenty minutes or so before a meal. This gives time for that fluid to be absorbed into the blood stream to come around to be used by the liver, the pancreas, and the lining of the stomach to produce the enzymes which are needed to digest food.

Friends, we need the physical water so that we can stay alive physically in this life, but we will die spiritually if we do not drink the water of life that the Lord has to give us. There are many cisterns in this world that people are seeking to drink from, but Jesus is the only cistern that has not run dry and can give us the living water. He has promised us that if we will drink of that living water now, if we will accept Him as Lord and Saviour of our lives, we have the assurance that we will drink of the living water. “And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” Revelation 22:1. What must that water taste like!

“And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17. Are you glad that God provides us with the physical water, but above all else, friends, the spiritual water, through Christ? We have a lot to be thankful for. Praise the Lord!

 

Be Sober, Be Vigilant

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“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8. The word sober means to me: be alert. Peter is admonishing us to be sober, be vigilant; because our adversary, the devil, goes around as a hungry, roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. The word seeking implies that he is diligently looking for his prey. Jesus, speaking to us, said, “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.” Luke 21:34. Jesus is telling us to look deeply into our own lives and “take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness.”

You see, looking ahead, He knows the trials, temptations, and snares of the devil that are going to come upon each and every one of us; and He says, “Take heed to yourselves.” In other words, you do not even know your own heart. “Do not be overcharged, do not be filled up with surfeiting,” which means on over abundance of food, “and drunkenness,” which is an over abundance of drink. “Beware,” he is telling you; do not let the cares of this life lead you astray so that you do not see what is coming. Christ warns us not to let these, the matter of food and drink, so preoccupy our thinking that we fail to see the devil going around as a roaring lion. “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 21:35-36. This snare, dearly beloved, as my Bible reads is not going to come on just a few of us. It says that this snare shall come on all them that dwell upon the earth.

Have you had any problem with health lately? Have you made commitments and resolutions year after year to change the selection of your food and to begin exercising and following the eight laws of health perhaps, but find that they pass right through your fingers? We are so weak that our best resolutions are likened to ropes of sand, leaving us unable to stand and have victory in our lives and to live this life of commitment we say that we want to live.

Satan knows each one of us better than we know ourselves. He lurks and waits and plans how to lay his snares. He says, “Well, this brother has a problem of overeating, so I am just going to make sure that all of these foods get in front of his eyes.” And how often we neglect the salvation contained in the Word of God, which is so vital to our souls, and fail to withstand his temptations.

“If Christians will keep the body in subjection, and bring all their appetites and passions under the control of enlightened conscience, feeling it a duty that they owe to God and to their neighbors to obey the laws which govern health and life, they will have the blessing of physical and mental vigor. They will have moral power to engage in the warfare against Satan; and in the name of Him who conquered appetite in their behalf, they may be more than conquerors on their own account. This warfare is open to all who will engage in it.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 65

In 1 Corinthians, Paul likens the Christian’s experience to running a race. He tells us that before we can run the race, we need to engage in physical preparation. In order for the athletes to be in the best health condition to compete in the races that were held in Paul’s day, they submitted themselves to a very strict and stringent diet, chose the right articles of food, and avoided all that is harmful.

Speaking of the contest for eternal life, Paul says, “I bring my body under subjection lest I find myself a castaway.” (See 1 Corinthians 9:27.) This is like no other contest because we have a supernatural adversary who is waiting to devour each one of us; and he knows that his strongest hold upon mankind is indulgence of appetite. We need to be sanctified in the mind, and Satan knows the close sympathy between the body and the mind. He knows that if he and keep the flesh stimulated and the mind benumbed, he will gain control.

The greatest hindrance to sanctification is the indulgence of appetite. So God, in His great love for us, has provided a health package to better equip us for the race of life. He says, “Look, I am going to give you the diet you will need in order to win the race.”

Ellen White tells us, “Let none who profess godliness regard with indifference the health of the body, and flatter themselves that intemperance is no sin and will not affect their spirituality. A close sympathy exists between the physical and the moral nature. The standard of virtue is elevated or degraded by the physical habits.” Ibid., 62

God has a plan that includes fresh air, plenty of sunshine, and temperance in all things. Abstemious, not moderation, is the word that He uses, which means that we are to abstain from every thing that is injurious to our body and use judiciously use only articles of food that are nutritious and that promote health. Beyond that, He tells us to trust Him—trust in divine power.

Satan is waiting for you; and whatever it takes, he is going to suck you right into his trap unless you follow God’s plan, trusting in Him. “Satan is constantly on the alert to bring the race fully under his control. His strongest hold on man is through the appetite, and this he seeks to stimulate in every possible way.” Ibid., 150. [All emphasis supplied] Through the medium of advertising, the devil seeks to use the avenues of the soul—the senses—to stimulate you. Through the eyes, the ears, the taste, the touch, he places his array of temptations before us in the most enticing possible form, hoping that we will take them like bait. He knows that his greatest hold is through the appetite.

Satan, follows a two step plan. First, he seeks to benumb or cloud the mind, and then he strives to stimulate or excite the animal passions.

Stay away from stimulants, because when you are stimulated, you do not have as much control over you own mind. We must realize, as Ellen White tells us in Counsels on Diet and Foods on page 45, that “God requires of His people continual advancement. We need to learn that indulged appetite is the greatest hindrance to mental improvement and soul sanctification. With all our profession of health reform, many of us eat improperly”. You see, Satan seeks to destroy, and Christ is seeking to restore.

If you were preparing for the 1996 Olympic Games, you would adopt a diet and exercise program that would promote the best physical condition possible. Yet, as Seventh-day Adventist Christians who have been given the greatest light on the face of the earth, we sit back and say, “But I like the taste of those things.” God says, “Look, My Son is ready to come, and I need a people on the face of the earth who are going to walk in all of the light that I have today. Do you want life eternal? Are you willing to deny the tings that I tell you are not good for your body, that are going to interfere with your mind?” God is try8ing to fit a people for eternity, and we sit here and eat and drink like the world. We are the chosen nation eating from the fleshpots of Egypt.

Have you wondered how to have victory over all sin your life? The solution lied in conquering the appetite. We each need to acknowledge something today: that health reform is a blessing!

“The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this, they would have moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan.” Ibid., 59

“But those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian character. The continual transgression of man for six thousand years has brought sickness, pain, and death as its fruits. And as we near the close of time, Satan’s temptation to indulge appetite will be more powerful and more difficult to overcome.” Ibid.

The devil says, “Yeah, but pork chops are good. And bacon is good. You know, I will even get the translation people to lust after my foods.” So, they buy Stripples and Prosage links, because they still like the taste. Maybe, we do not buy ham, but we enjoy Wham. While we do this, we show that we still crave and desire the taste of the pig! I ask myself, Why is God’s remnant church selling something that looks and tastes like unclean meat? These foods are meant to be transition food for those who are getting off meat, not to be the main entree for the Seventh-day Adventist Christian for fifty years; but I see Adventists coming in to my health food store and buying seven or eight cases at a time.

God has given us a blueprint to run the Christian race. We have it in our hands today, priceless material in which God has warned us not to eat stimulants. “Through the use of stimulants, the whole system suffers. The nerves are unbalanced, the liver is morbid is its action, the quality and circulation of the blood are affected, and the skin becomes inactive and sallow. The mind, too, is injured. The immediate influence of these stimulants is to excite the brain to undue activity, only to leave it weaker and less capable of exertion.” Ibid., 422, 423. You drink the coffee and get a quickening in the mind, and then you get a low down and run to the vending machine and buy that Hershey bar and Coca-Cola at midday, which gives you another boost. “The aftereffect if prostration, not only mental and physical, but moral….You are highly nervous and excitable. Tea has an influence to excite the nerves, and coffee benumbs the brain.” Ibid.

You see, Satan is trying to stimulate our animal passions to benumb the brain. God wants to sanctify us in our mind, to renew us day by day; and what we put into our bodies is going to affect that process.

“The continued use of these nerve irritants is followed by headache, wakefulness, palpitations of the heart, indigestion, trembling, and many other evils, for they wear away the life forces. Tired nerves need rest and quiet instead of stimulation and overwork. Nature needs time to recuperate her exhausted energies. When her forces are goaded on by the use of stimulants, more will be accomplished for a time; but as the system becomes debilitated by their constant use, it gradually becomes more difficult to rouse the energies to the desired point. The demand for stimulants becomes more difficult to control.” Ibid., 424. Have you ever noticed how this works? I anybody here addicted to soft drinks? You have one one day, and then it is two the next. With cigarettes it is one one day, and then it is two the next. With alcohol it is a glass of wine one day, and then it is three the next.

“The demand for stimulants becomes more difficult to control, until the will is overborne, and there seems to be no power to deny the unnatural craving. [You are totally controlled by the adversary’s latest snare. And you jumped into it. He has you controlled. Now you have to break a habit that has you physically addicted.] Stronger and still stronger stimulants are called for, until exhausted nature an no longer respond.” Ibid.

Ellen White talks about tea and coffee. “Their effects are similar to those of tobacco; but they affect in an lesser degree.” Ibid., 425

OH, friends, there is not time for God’s people in these last days to be addicted to anything that is a stimulant. That includes chocolate, coke, and sugar.

The number one reason that i don not eat animal products is that of the disease in animals today. Today, there is aids in cow, cancer and leukemia in chickens, leukemia in dairy products, and tuberculosis is breaking out in the cattle. You see, we have the streamlined inspection system where we not longer have enough meat inspectors form the federal government to go to the processing plants and examine the meat for themselves. So the company inspects its own product. As a result, the quality of the meat products is controlled by the ones who stand to suffer the loss if it is rejected.

Watch out! Be sober, be vigilant, for you adversary the devil goes around as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And Christ said to watch and pray always. Watch out for your food! Surfeiting and drunkenness!

When the secretary of agriculture Mike Gillispie made a surprise visit to ninety of the twelve hundred slaughter houses in America, what he found caused him to shut down thirty of them immediately. When random samples of one hundred and thirteen different fish across this country show that forty-four of those samples were contaminated with human fecal bacteria because the waters are polluted, it is time to let the fish go, too. Ellen White warned us that disease in animals would increase with the wickedness of mankind.

Put the package together folks. Ninety-three years have gone by since the counsel has been given us on diet reform. Christ is coming. Will we continue to sit here with overweight bodies and cloudy mind, thinking that we are the children of the light?

We as a people are to be preparing to be fitted for the coming of Jesus Christ. That fitness includes a physical fitness, not just a spiritual fitness, because there is a close sympathy between the body and the mind. My Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “Sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are to be living sacrifices for the Lord, and we cannot go and teach the world the health message unless we are first living it ourselves.

“Among those who are waiting for the coming of the Lord, meat eating will eventually be done away; flesh will cease to form a part of their diet. We should ever keep this end in view, and endeavor to work steadily toward it. I cannot think that in the practice of flesh eating we are in harmony with he light which God has been pleased to give us. All who are connected with our health institutions especially should be education themselves to subsist on fruits, grains, and vegetables. If we move form principle in these things, if we as Christian reformers educate our own taste, and bring our diet to God’s plan, then we may exert an influence upon others in this matter.” Ibid., 380. When we live it, then we can exert an influence upon other people.

Children in Whom is No Blemish

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“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it….And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge.” Daniel 1:1, 3, 4

As I read these verses in Daniel chapter 1, I noticed the statement, “children in whom was no blemish.” The statement made me think of the description of the people in 1 Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people.” In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he depicts this church that Christ loves, “and gave Himself for it; 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 5:25-27

“The life of Daniel is an inspired illustration of what constitutes a sanctified character. It represents a lesson for all, and especially for the young. A strict compliance with the requirements of God is beneficial to the health of body and mind. In order to reach the highest standard of moral and intellectual attainments, it is necessary to seek wisdom and strength from God and to observe strict temperance in all the habits of life.” Sanctified Life, 23

Sanctification is obedience to the commandment of God. “True sanctification is harmony with God, oneness with Him in character. It is received through obedience to those principles that are the transcript of His character.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 350. It is God’s desired purpose to implant in humanity Christ’s nature, His character. This is the life and character we see in Daniel. Not only was he obedient to the moral law of God, the Ten Commandments, but he was obedient also to the laws of health. “In the experience of Daniel and his companions, we have an instance of the triumph of principle over temptation to indulge the appetite. It shows us that through religious principle young men may triumph over the lusts of the flesh and remain true to God’s requirements, even though it cost them a great sacrifice.” Sanctified Life, 23

When Daniel was instructed that he must eat the king’s provisions of meat and wine for three years, he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s dainties. Melzar, the eunuch in charge of Daniel, tried to persuade him by saying, “I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? Then shall he make me endanger my head to the king.” Daniel 1:10

Melzar was deceived into believing that meat and an abundance of food is necessary for good health and that a simple diet, a vegetarian diet, will result in poor health and physical weakness. Similarly, today, the majority of the people living in the U.S. have been deceived by the beautiful poster hanging on our school room walls displaying the “Four Basic Food Groups.” Meat and dairy products occupy two of the four food groups, thus emphasizing that in order to have good health, we must include in our diets six to eight servings daily of foods that contain high amounts of saturated fat, cholesterol, disease, and environmental contaminants. Animal products and rich dainties are eaten regularly by Americans, and look at the results. Obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, colon problems, and diabetes have plagued our country in epidemic proportions. Not only adults by young children also are suffering from obesity, acne, rotting teeth, and high cholesterol at very young ages, because of lack of exercise and poor dietary habits. Today, my friends, there is the same temptation facing God’s people in regard to diet as was faced by Daniel in Babylon; it is called the Standard American Diet. The first letter of each of the three words Standard American Diet reveals its quality—SAD.

It is sad to see fast food restaurants like McDonalds, Burger King, and Carl’s Jr. in nearly every city in America, feeding the people the diet of Babylon. Donuts and coffee, junk food, ice cream, and animal flesh are the staple of the American diet. Is it any wonder why over half of Americans are considered clinically obese?

Paul warned his brethren in Romans 12:1, 2, concerning the condition in which they were to keep their bodies. “I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” In these two verses there are three points on which I would like to elaborate: First, is it possible to “present our bodies a living sacrifice unto God”? The Bible says, “this is our reasonable service.” Second, Paul not only pleads with us to do this, but also warns us not to be conformed to the world. Beloved, have you considered that being conformed to the world includes our eating and looking like the world, not only in our dress, but also by our physical appearance? Third, Paul admonishes us to be renewing our minds that we may prove, or demonstrate, God’s acceptable and perfect will to mankind. Oh, friends, as those who claim to be God’s remnant church, we need to know that “a close sympathy exists between the physical and the moral nature. The standard of virtue is elevated or degraded by the physical habits. Excessive eating of the best food will produce a morbid condition of the moral feelings. And if the food is not the most healthful, the effects will be still more injurious. Wrong habits of eating and drinking lead to errors in thought and action. Indulgence of appetite and spiritual powers.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 62

Paul understood the close sympathy between the physical, the mental, and the moral nature. The Spirit of Prophecy gives us a most solemn declaration on page 63 of the same book. “It is impossible for you to increase in spiritual strength while your appetites and passions are not under perfect control….The brain nerve energy is benumbed and almost paralyzed by overeating.” My dear Adventist friends, please stand up and take notice. “The brain nerves which communicate with the entire system are the only medium through which heaven can communicate to man and affect his inmost life.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 347

In order to have a clear mind, there must be good circulation of the blood. The blood carries nutrients and oxygen to all of our body tissues and organs; and when we eat a high fat diet, the blood becomes thick and the circulation is impaired. A high fat, high cholesterol diet and lack of exercise are two of the contributors to heart disease, the number one killer in America. In fact, in 1987, C. Everett Coop, the Surgeon General of the United States, announced publicly that of the 2.1 million people who die in this country every year, 1.5 million are dying from diet related disease. Also, on July 1, 1992, The American Heart Association declared, “Lack of exercise is a major health risk factor for heart disease, ranking it with smoking, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. A poor diet and lack of exercise will affect your circulation. If your circulation is not good, your brain will be affected—and the mind is the only organ by which heaven communicates with man.

As we return to the story of Daniel, we read, “Daniel’s clearness of mind and firmness of purpose, his strength of intellect in acquiring knowledge, were due in a great degree to the plainness of his diet in connection with his life of prayer.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 515, 516. “The plainness of his diet” consisted of “pulse” and “water.” He refused flesh foods and wisely chose a vegetarian diet and pure water. Interestingly, this is the diet that John the Baptist ate in his preparation for the immense trials ahead. He ate locust and honey and drank the pure water of the hills. Both of these men of God, in preparing for the tests ahead, ate, in their most natural state, the simple foods…provided—quite the contrast to the rich diet of Nebuchadnezzar. Both of these men followed the diet instructions that God had sent through their parents, a diet that Harvard Medical School reported on in April 22, 1991, saying that eating red meat daily increases colon cancer risk and men eating low-fat high fiber diets, much less red meat, and more vegetables, were 33-50% less likely to get polyps than men on high fat, low fiber diets. Science is fast coming of age. Research is pointing clearly and consistently to a vegetarian diet being the best for men today.

Daniel, in his determination to remain faithful to the laws of health, requested a ten day trial of only pulse and water. He was granted his request, and while Daniel and his companions ate of the simple diet, others of the young men ate of the king’s dainties. He strictly followed principle rather than the demands of a powerful earthly potentate. By Daniel’s obedience to the laws of God, which included the laws of his being, he was a fitting example of “children in whom was no blemish.”

In the Old Testament sanctuary service, the sinner could bring a lamb as his offering, a lamb without blemish. In Deuteronomy 15:21, we read, “And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God.” The sacrifice had to be flawless or it was rejected. After all, the sacrificial lamb was to represent “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:19

Is it possible to present our bodies to God, holy, acceptable, and without blemish? This was a question that I pondered for some time. I was familiar with 1 Corinthians 15:53, which says that when Christ shall come “this corruptible must put on incorruption.” How then could I, with poor eyesight and a bad back, present myself to God a living sacrifice without blemish? My physical imperfections will most likely be with me until my change comes. As I prayed and searched for an answer to this dilemma, God revealed it to me. I found the answer in the following passages from the Spirit of Prophecy: “In the ancient Jewish service it was required that every sacrifice would be without blemish. In the text we are told to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, unto God, which is our reasonable service. We are God’s workmanship….There are many who are educated in the sciences, and are familiar with the theory of the truth, who do not understand the laws that govern their own being. God has given us faculties and talents; and it is our duty, as his sons and daughters, to make the best of use of them. If we weaken these powers of mind or body by wrong habits of indulgence of appetite, it will be impossible for us to honor God as we should.” Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 15

“God requires the body to be rendered a living sacrifice to Him, not a dead or dying sacrifice….All should be very careful to preserve the body in the best condition of health, that they may render to God perfect service.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 21

“Our first duty, one of which we owe to God, to ourselves, and to our fellow men, is to obey the laws of God, which include the laws of health.” Ibid. In fact, if “I violate the laws God has established in my being, I am to repent and reform, and place myself in the most favorable condition.” Medical Ministry, 230. And finally, “sanctification is not merely a theory, an emotion, or a form of words, but a living, active principle, entering into the everyday life. It requires that our habits of eating, drinking, and dressing be such as to secure the preservation of physical, mental, and moral health, that we may present to the Lord our bodies—not an offering corrupted by wrong habits but—‘a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.’” Counsels on Health, 67

Here was my answer. My duty to God, in presenting myself without blemish, is to keep my body in the very best condition as possible and to obey the laws of health! Ellen White writes, “Christ looks at the spirit, and when he sees us carrying our burden with faith, his perfect holiness atones for our shortcomings. When we do our best, he becomes our righteousness. It takes every ray of light that God sends to us to make us the light of the world.” Letter 33, 1889. Jesus atones for my shortcomings and becomes my righteousness as I do my best; that is, by the grace of God, I live up to all the light that he has revealed to me. Beloved, are you obeying the laws of your being: Are you exercising regularly and eating a diet that is to be of the most simple kind? Are you obeying the light that our Lord has so graciously given to us on health reform—modern manna from heaven? We claim to be God’s remnant church; and as the Jews were to have an advantage because to them were committed the oracles of God, we, the Seventh-day Adventist people, have been entrusted with these oracles again. They not only contain the light on the Ten Commandments, but also the light on the laws of health. “It is a duty to know how to preserve the body in the very best condition of health, and it is a sacred duty to live up to the light which God has graciously given. It 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 a sin to violate the laws of our being as to break one of the Ten Commandments, for we cannot love the Lord with all our heart, mind, and soul, and strength while we are loving our appetites, our tastes, a great deal better then we love the Lord.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 70. My friends, this is our reasonable service.

It is interesting to note that the words reasonable service can also be translated from the original Greek, “religious worship.” Also, it is no coincidence that sanctuary language is used in Romans 12. To present ourselves to God a living sacrifice, to keep our bodies in the very best condition, is part of our religious worship to him. Remember, health reform is one branch of the word to fit and prepare a people for the coming of the Lord. As Daniel obeyed the health laws, he experienced greater physical stamina and an increased power of endurance. As he obeyed the laws of health, he was blessed with wisdom and understanding. His mind received the renewing and God could then fill Daniel’s undefiled temple with the fullness of His Spirit. It was then that the obedient, self-sacrificing man of God was blessed with the gifts of the spirit—visions and dreams.

Friends, are we loving our appetites a great deal more than we love the Lord? Are we spending as much time praying and studying as we are eating and drinking? Are we practicing the eight laws of health that we can be fit vessels undefiled and filled with the holy Spirit to demonstrate to a dark world all the light that God has entrusted to us? Are we accepting with readiness the light that God has blessed us with on health, or are we compromising with the diet and lifestyle of Babylon? Are we waiting for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the latter rain, while we present to God our bodies as an unacceptable, blemished sacrifice?

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 probably have involved 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.” Sanctified Life, 23

Friends, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of obedience to the laws of health. Again and again, I am finding statements from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy that the physical, mental, and spiritual are interrelated, and many times in this order. If the physical body is not being kept in the best condition, the mind cannot be renewed and the spiritual discernment becomes impossible. As in the paragraph above, notice the order of events: “physical vigor, clearness of intellect, and spiritual power.”

In Daniel 1, the experience of Daniel and his three friends, in strictly following the laws of health passed their first test; and the four young men were thus fitted for the extreme trials ahead. In Daniel 3, their second test included the command to bow down to the image of gold or to be tossed into the fiery furnace. The third test is recorded in Daniel 6, where a firm decree was established, “that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.” Daniel 6:7. Did Daniel compromise with the demands of the Babylonian leaders? Brothers and sisters will you stand when you are commanded to worship the mark of the beast or be killed? Will you obey the dictates of man when you are commanded to forsake the law of our God, the Sabbath? Our obedience to the laws of health will determine whether we will obey God or man! Remember, this was the first test for Daniel, not the last. The words of the prophet are clear, “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.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 59. “The reason why many of us will fall in the time of trouble is because of laxity in temperance and indulgence of appetite….Nine tenths of the wickedness among the children of today is caused by intemperance in eating and drinking. Adam and Eve lost Eden through the indulgence of appetite, and we can only regain it by the denial of the same.” Temperance, 150

The life of Daniel, a man in whom was no blemish, is on record for our admonition to whom the end of the world is come. By beholding Daniel, I realize the full potential that we may become in Christ—a people without blemish, a people who “stand without fault before the throne of God.” I know that I will not be eight feet tall if I am alive when the Lord comes; but this I do know, that “our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and if we fail to do all we can to place the body in the very best condition of health, we are robbing God of the honor due to Him frosm the beings He has created.” Medical Ministry, 295

Beloved, may our prayer be that by the grace of God we may “come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13. May our prayer be that we will be this church, “the children in whom was no blemish.”

The End

Health – God’s Answer

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GOD’S ANSWER is an acronym. Each letter stands for a word. These are basic health principles, which, if incorporated into the life with the help of God, will not only prevent much of the stress and lifestyle diseases that are so prevalent in our country today, but will also work to bring healing and restoration to worried minds, diseased bodies and broken down immune systems.

G = Gratitute

O = Obedience

D = Divine Help

S = Self Control

 A = Air

N = Nutrition

S = Sunshine

W = Water

E = Exercise

R = Rest

Gratitude

Health depends a lot on having a good attitude. Worry, anxiety, anger, hostility, grief, negativism, fear and mental stress depress the immune system. Those who allow everything to revolve around their own lives and their health directing their anxiety and tension inward, are more susceptible to an early death.

Anger affects more than the person who is the target of the emotions. It suppresses the immune system. It is often implicated in sudden stroke and can double the risk of a heart attack after an outburst of anger, the danger lasting up to two hours.

Hostility increases the risk of atherosclerosis and early death.

Stress, depression and guilt can also depress the immune system, and lead to heart disease, memory impairment, dementia, and early death. Pessimism, an unpleasant by-product of brooding over real or imaginary troubles, has an even worse effect on killer “T” cells of the immune system than depression.

The Bible says in Ephesians 4:26 to not let the sun go down on your wrath.

Examples of positive attitudes that are linked to better success in fighting stress and to higher survival rates when disease does occur include the following:

  • Gratitude
  • Optimism
  • Perseverance
  • Diligence under stress
  • Absence of malice (benevolence or giving heart)

Having a cheery attitude is vital to good health, yet we need not wait for a good mood to “hit” us. Recent psychological research suggests that deciding to have a cheerful countenance can also create a merry heart, and generates amazing changes in the brain itself. Deliberate decisions to smile actually generate the same positive brain activity in the frontal cortex as a spontaneously happy smile. It is possible to cheer ourselves up, as well as others around us, simply by “putting on a happy face.”

Mood changing strategies:

  • Pray; find a Bible promise and claim it for yourself
  • Listen to soothing music
  • Take some exercise
  • If fatigued, take time out to rest, relax and calm down
  • Help others; focus away from yourself
  • Think things out clearly and don’t jump to conclusions

Obedience

From the Garden of Eden until the Flood, man’s diet consisted of God’s original diet as given to man in the Garden of Eden; nuts, fruits, seeds, grains and herbs (Genesis 1:29; 3:17–19).

The Bible gives the age of many of our patriarchs, revealing a pre-flood average age of over 900 years. Then, after the flood, because there was no vegetation, God gave man permission to eat meat. It took another ten generations for the average age to drop to 291. About 430 years after the flood, when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, life expectancy had dropped to 70 or 80 years.

Meat was classified into two categories, “clean” and “unclean.” These lists are to be found in detail in Deuteronomy 14 and Leviticus 11. “Unclean” animals store toxins in their tissues, eat wastes and decaying matter, eat poisonous plants, and harbor many diseases in their flesh.

God also gave specific instruction that even when “clean” animals were eaten, the fat and the blood were never to be eaten (Leviticus 17:10, 11; 7:24–27; 3:17). God gave the Israelites a health program designed to restore them to a pure and healthy state.

He promised them: “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord Who heals you.” Exodus 15:26 NJKV.

It has ever been God’s desire that we be in health. John wrote, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” III John 1:2 NJKV.

An analysis of 212 different studies revealed that 75% of the people studied indicated that religious commitment has a beneficial impact on a variety of health conditions. Reports stated that those who had faith had 50% fewer deaths from coronary disease, 56% fewer deaths from emphysema, 74% fewer deaths from cirrhosis and 53% fewer suicides. After undergoing surgery, those without any religion were three times more likely to die. In conclusion to this we can see that religion is healthy.

Cardiologist Randolph Byrd, formerly a professor at the University of California, has shown that prayer works and can be a powerful force in healing. In a ten month randomized, double blind study, a computer assigned 393 patients in a coronary unit to three groups. Two groups were prayed for, one by a Roman Catholic and the other by Protestant prayer groups and one group was not remembered in prayer.

The results were striking. The group that was prayed for was five times less likely to require antibiotics and three times less likely to develop pulmonary edema. None required breathing tubes, and fewer died. If this were a new drug or surgical procedure, it would have been heralded as a breakthrough.

Divine Power

Many people are living lives of despair and emptiness. There seems to be an emptiness that material things just do not fill. Others are all stressed out trying to keep pace with modern living. Many are lonely, some sinking into depression that affects not only their lives, but the lives of friends and family.

Clearly there is a void in the lives of millions – and an urgent need for this void to be filled. Can anything or anyone fill this void? Man tries his hardest to fill his life with all manner of inventions, but still comes up empty.

We were created with a God-shaped void that only He can fill. When we surrender our lives to Him we can have peace, contentment and even joy in an unstable, inconsistent world. Learning to trust in God completely, in all situations, brings a peace of mind that will keep us calm, promote health and prolong life. A contented mind and a cheerful spirit are health to the body and strength to the soul.

Trust in God, faith, and prayer provide a significant boost to mental as well as physical health. If stricken down with a serious illness, they positively influence your chance of recovery. Grief, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust, bitterness, all tend to break down the life forces and invite decay and death.

Jesus says “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle … and you will find rest (contentment) for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28–30 NKJV.

There is no heavier burden than the burden of sin and selfishness. Jesus says “Come. Give me your burden of sin. I will give you My righteousness – My peace – in return.”

God’s own book tells of the wisdom, instruction, and power that is given to all who take the first step and “Come” to Jesus. As we learn more of Him, we see that learning of Him is the highway to health. This is the answer to all the problems that perplex and annoy, the answer to the great void in the human heart.

Self Control

Another word for self-control is temperance. This can be defined as “abstaining from that which is harmful, and using wisely that which is good.”

Many have made resolutions to give up bad habits. Sometimes these last for a few days but most have the same result – temporary success that leads to ultimate defeat and discouragement. Many people force themselves to reform in one area of their life by sheer willpower.

True self-control is not making an isolated effort in one area of your life, but is a divinely implanted principle, or character trait which permeates the whole life. It affects all areas of our lives.

God will give us strength to give up our bad habits, but we have to CHOOSE to do so. This will be on-going. All through our lives we will have to choose those things that will build up our health and not break it down.

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Most people are familiar with the last part of this acronym, ANSWER which is:

A = Air

N = Nutrition

S = Sunshine

W = Water

E = Exercise

R = Rest

This acronym makes it very easy to remember these basic health principles. Now is a good time to incorporate into our lives GOD’S ANSWER to both physical, mental and spiritual health.

Health – Nutrition – One of the Eight Health Laws

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Nutrition may well be the most important of the eight laws of health, for without adequate nutrition, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep the other seven, due to the ill-health that inadequate nutrition brings on.

Many tend to take health for granted or fail to appreciate it as they should. What about you? Are you looking to preserve the health you have or are you failing to appreciate it and therefore allowing it to slip by little-by-little? Consider the health law of nutrition and how it affects you.

The immune system, which is a gift from God, is a sure defense against disease. When this system is compromised, infections and disease walk right in and take over, making you sick and at times causing death. It is the responsibility of each person to see that their immune system is working to its best ability. One way is by carefully choosing the best nutrition for his or her body’s needs.

“Our bodies are built up from the food we eat. There is a constant breaking down of the tissues of the body; every movement of every organ involves waste, and this waste is repaired from our food. Each organ of the body requires its share of nutrition. The brain must be supplied with its portion; the bones, muscles, and nerves demand theirs. It is a wonderful process that transforms the food into blood and uses this blood to build up the varied parts of the body; but this process is going on continually, supplying with life and strength each nerve, muscle, and tissue.

“Those foods should be chosen that best supply the elements needed for building up the body. In this choice, appetite is not a safe guide. Through wrong habits of eating, the appetite has become perverted. … The disease and suffering that everywhere prevail are largely due to popular errors in regard to diet.” The Ministry of Healing, 295.

“If you want to prevent cancer and reduce the risk of other chronic health problems, then you need to consider the types of foods that you are eating. People don’t often realize the impact that their diet has on their overall health, and they make poor food choices every day because they are following the Standard American Diet. It is possible to change your health through diet and lifestyle adjustments, and one of the first things that you need to do is stay away from ‘dead’ foods.

“What are ‘Dead’ Foods? When you bite into a fresh apple, a slice of cucumber, or any other kinds of fruits and vegetables, you are providing your body with a number of enzymes that support digestion and overall health. These foods are ‘living’ and you should eat an abundance of them each day. But, there are many types of food that are ‘dead’ because they don’t contain the important enzymes that are needed for good health.

“Most of the time, foods that come in a box, can, jar, or any other type of package have been so processed that the enzymes have been destroyed. These packaged foods are known as dead foods, and they often contain a host of other unhealthy ingredients such as preservatives, fats, sugars, and chemicals.

“Eating these dead foods not only prevents your body from getting the nutrition and enzymes that are needed for good health, but you are also loading the body with toxins and garbage that need to be removed. Each time you take a bite of dead food, it puts a burden on your body and causes damage to your major organs.

“ ‘Living’ Foods Support Health. In comparison, living foods are very good for your health and they support overall wellness. If you want to reduce your risk of cancer and other chronic diseases, then you need to increase your consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, which are loaded with the beneficial enzymes that your body needs. These foods are very beneficial for building and repairing, and they provide your body with important compounds instead of placing a greater burden on the organs.

“When you cut out the dead foods and increase the living foods, you will notice a change in your energy levels and overall health. It is amazing to see how much of a difference it can make!” www.myhdiet.com/healthnews/why-dead-foods-are-damaging-your-health/

It is better for your health to increase the “living” foods and decrease the “dead” foods. We were created in the image of God—living and vibrant—full of life. Why would we want to refuse the proper nourishment and lose the gift of health which is so valuable?

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

“The knowledge that man is to be a temple for God, a habitation for the revealing of His glory, should be the highest incentive to the care and development of our physical powers. Fearfully and wonderfully has the Creator wrought in the human frame, and He bids us make it our study, understand its needs, and act our part in preserving it from harm and defilement.” The Ministry of Healing, 271.