disease

Health – Blood Vessel Health and Cruciferous Vegetables

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You probably still hear echoes of your mother in your head: “Eat your vegetables.” It turns out that your mom knew what she was talking about. Studies continue to prove our mothers right – vegetables offer excellent health benefits. In fact, some of the vegetables we like the least might actually be extremely beneficial in preventing blood vessel disease, lowering the risk of heart events, and boosting liver health.

One new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition discovered that eating more cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli is associated with blood vessel disease that’s less extensive in aging women. Their discovery has some serious implications for the health benefits of getting those cruciferous veggies daily, particularly since blood vessel disease results in risks for other serious health problems.

Cruciferous vegetables linked to blood vessel health and lower risk of stroke and heart attack

Blood vessel disease – a problem that affects the veins and arteries – has the potential to reduce blood flow throughout your body. This may be because of the buildup of calcium or fatty deposits on the interior walls of blood vessels, and that buildup may result in adverse heart events like stroke and heart attack.

In previous studies, researchers discovered that a higher intake of cruciferous vegetables was linked to a lower risk of having cardiovascular disease events like stroke and heart attack. However, they weren’t sure why. Now, this new study showing how these vegetables are linked to blood vessel health explains those earlier findings.

Researchers looked at a group of 684 older women in Western Australia. Those who consumed a minimum of 45 grams of cruciferous vegetables daily – which equals about ½ cup of raw cabbage or a ¼ cup of steamed broccoli) were 46 percent less likely to deal with extensive calcium buildup in the aorta compared to women eating few to no cruciferous vegetables.

While cruciferous vegetables were the highlight of this study, they’re not the only vegetables we should focus on. According to lead researchers, it’s essential to eat a wide variety of vegetables daily to enjoy better health.

Protect your liver health by eating the right veggies

Beyond improving blood vessel health and lowering the risk of heart attack and stroke, studies also show that eating cruciferous veggies can offer significant liver benefits. A study published in the journal Hepatology earlier this year found that indole – found in veggies like broccoli and cauliflower – may help control nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Previous research had found that eating broccoli sprouts helped improve overall liver function.

No doubt: from improving blood vessel health to lowering the risk of heart attack to offering liver benefits, cruciferous veggies will provide many health benefits. Along with broccoli, additional cruciferous vegetables you can add to your diet include cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, organic kale, and cabbage.

www.naturalhealth365.com/cruciferous-vegetables-blood-vessel-3553.html

Food for Life – Disease in Animals

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“And what is so rare as a day in June?

Then, if ever, come perfect days;

Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,

And over it softly her warm ear lays.”

—Lowell

During this month we will see summer emerge from the chill of winter and the snowy landscape. How wonderful it will be when we get to Heaven, and there will be eternal summer there, and we will forever be with our Lord and Maker. No more seasons to worry about, no more problems of any kind, no more suffering and no more tears! Oh, my friend, do be there and enjoy for eternity the wonders that God has prepared for those who love and obey Him.

And now back to God’s word where once again we can read what His will is for us, and how we can perfectly obey Him in our daily living.

“Flesh was never the best food; but its use is now doubly objectionable, since disease in animals is so rapidly increasing. Those who use flesh foods little know what they are eating. Often if they could see the animals when living and know the quality of the meat they eat, they would turn from it with loathing. People are continually eating flesh that is filled with tuberculosis and cancerous germs. Tuberculosis, cancer, and other fatal diseases are thus communicated.

“The tissues of the swine swarm with parasites. Of the swine God said, ‘It is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass.’ Deuteronomy 14:8. This command was given because swine’s flesh is unfit for food. Swine are scavengers, and this is the only use they were intended to serve. Never, under any circumstances, was their flesh to be eaten by human beings. It is impossible for the flesh of any living creature to be wholesome when filth is its natural element and when it feeds upon every detestable thing.

“Often animals are taken to market and sold for food when they are so diseased that their owners fear to keep them longer. And some of the processes of fattening them for market produce disease. Shut away from the light and pure air, breathing the atmosphere of filthy stables, perhaps fattening on decaying food, the entire body soon becomes contaminated with foul matter.

“Animals are often transported long distances and subjected to great suffering in reaching a market. Taken from the green pastures, and traveling for weary miles over the hot, dusty roads, or crowded into filthy cars, feverish and exhausted, often for many hours deprived of food and water, the poor creatures are driven to their death, that human beings may feast on the carcasses.

“In many places fish become so contaminated by the filth on which they feed as to be a cause of disease. This is especially the case where the fish come in contact with the sewage of large cities. The fish that are fed on the contents of the drains may pass into distant waters and may be caught where the water is pure and fresh. Thus when used as food they bring disease and death on those who do not suspect the danger.

“The effects of a flesh diet may not be immediately realized; but this is no evidence that it is not harmful. Few can be made to believe that it is the meat they have eaten which has poisoned their blood and caused their suffering. Many die of diseases wholly due to meat eating, while the real cause is not suspected by themselves or by others.” The Ministry of Healing, 313–315.

Bible Study Guides – Deliverance from Disease

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May 24 – 30, 2020

Key Text

“And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee” (Deuteronomy 7:15).

Study Help: Sons and Daughters of God, 168–176.

Introduction

“The body must be kept in a healthy condition in order that the soul may be in health. The condition of the body affects the condition of the soul. He who would have physical and spiritual strength must educate his appetite in right lines. He must be careful not to burden the soul by overtaxing his physical or spiritual powers. Faithful adherence to right principles in eating, drinking, and dressing is a duty that God has laid upon human beings.” Evangelism, 261.

Sunday

SIN AND DISEASE

  • What is the relationship between sin and disease? Psalm 103:3, 4; John 5:14.

Note: “There are today thousands suffering from physical disease who, like the paralytic, are longing for the message, ‘Thy sins are forgiven’ (Luke 5:20). The burden of sin, with its unrest and unsatisfied desires, is the foundation of their maladies. They can find no relief until they come to the Healer of the soul. The peace which He alone can impart would restore vigor to the mind and health to the body.” The Ministry of Healing, 77.

  • Who only can provide the antidote? Malachi 4:2.

Note: “Many are suffering from maladies of the soul far more than from diseases of the body, and they will find no relief until they shall come to Christ, the wellspring of life.” My Life Today, 154.

Monday

THE EXPERIENCE OF ISRAEL

  • What promises did God make to Israel regarding their health, and how was He going to fulfill these promises? Exodus 23:25.

Note: “The Lord gave His word to ancient Israel, that if they would cleave strictly to Him and do all His requirements, He would keep them from all the diseases such as He had brought upon the Egyptians; but this promise was given on the condition of obedience. Had the Israelites obeyed the instruction they received, and profited by their advantages, they would have been the world’s object lesson of health and prosperity. The Israelites failed of fulfilling God’s purpose, and thus failed of receiving the blessings that might have been theirs. But in Joseph and Daniel, in Moses and Elijah, and many others, we have noble examples of the results of the true plan of living. Like faithfulness today will produce like results.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 165.

  • What was the physical condition of the Israelites as they journeyed through the wilderness? Psalm 105:37. What does this tell of the power of God?

Note: “By a miracle of mercy He fed them with the bread of heaven. The food provided for them was of a nature to promote physical, mental, and moral strength, and … the wisdom of God’s choice for them was vindicated in a manner that they could not gainsay. Notwithstanding the hardships of their wilderness life, there was not a feeble one in all their tribes.” This Day With God, 77.

  • How does obedience to God bring deliverance from disease? Exodus 15:26; Deuteronomy 7:12, 15.

Note: “God desires us to reach the standard of perfection made possible for us by the gift of Christ. He calls upon us to make our choice on the right side, to connect with heavenly agencies, to adopt principles that will restore in us the divine image. In His written word and in the great book of nature He has revealed the principles of life. It is our work to obtain a knowledge of these principles, and by obedience to co-operate with Him in restoring health to the body as well as to the soul.” The Ministry of Healing, 114, 115.

Tuesday

JESUS, THE HEALER

  • What did Christ suffer so that we might have deliverance from both sin and disease? Isaiah 53:5.

Note: “Behold the Son of God in the wilderness of temptation, in the time of greatest weakness assailed by the fiercest temptation. See Him during the years of His ministry, attacked on every side by the forces of evil. See Him in His agony on the cross. All this He suffered for us.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 209.

  • What brings healing to body and soul? Proverbs 4:20–22; 3:7, 8.

Note: “The assurance of God’s approval will promote physical health. It fortifies the soul against doubt, perplexity, and excessive grief, that so often sap the vital forces and induce nervous diseases of a most debilitating and distressing character. The Lord has pledged His unfailing word that His eye shall be over the righteous, and His ear open to their prayer, while He is against all them that do evil.” The Review and Herald, October 16, 1883.

“The exalting influence of the Spirit of God is the best restorative for the sick. Heaven is all health, and the more fully the heavenly influences are felt the more sure the recovery of the believing invalid.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 556.

  • How does Jesus help us when we are ill? Matthew 8:17; 11:28–30.

Note: “The love which Christ diffuses through the whole being is a vitalizing power. Every vital part—the brain, the heart, the nerves—it touches with healing. By it the highest energies of the being are roused to activity. It frees the soul from the guilt and sorrow, the anxiety and care, that crush the life forces. With it come serenity and composure. It implants in the soul, joy that nothing earthly can destroy—joy in the Holy Spirit—health-giving, life-giving joy.

“Our Saviour’s words, ‘Come unto Me, … and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28), are a prescription for the healing of physical, mental, and spiritual ills. Though men have brought suffering upon themselves by their own wrongdoing, He regards them with pity. In Him they may find help. He will do great things for those who trust in Him.” The Ministry of Healing, 115.

Wednesday

LIVING IN HEALTH

  • What is God’s desire for His people today? 3 John 2.

Note: “You are the Lord’s; for He created you. You are His by redemption; for He gave His life for you. … Preserve every portion of the living machinery, that you may use it for God. Preserve it for Him. Your health depends upon the right use of your physical organism. Do not misuse any portion of your God-given powers, physical, mental, or moral. All your habits are to be brought under the control of a mind that is itself under the control of God.” Sons and Daughters of God, 171.

  • What attitude assists us in overcoming disease? Proverbs 17:22; 13:12.

Note: “The consciousness of right-doing, is the best medicine for diseased bodies and minds. He who is at peace with God has secured the most important requisite to health. The blessing of the Lord is life to the receiver.” The Signs of the Times, June 15, 1882.

“The condition of the mind has much to do with the health of the physical system. If the mind is free and happy, under a consciousness of rightdoing and a sense of satisfaction in causing happiness to others, it will create a cheerfulness that will react upon the whole system, causing a freer circulation of the blood and a toning up of the entire body.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 60.

  • What selfless actions help in the restoration of our health? Isaiah 58:6–8, 10, 11.

Note: “You who are suffering with poor health, there is a remedy for you. If thou clothe the naked, and bring the poor that are cast out to thy house, and deal thy bread to the hungry, ‘then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily’ (Isaiah 58:8). Doing good is an excellent remedy for disease.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 29.

“If you forget self in your interest for others, you gain a victory over your infirmities. The satisfaction you will realize in doing good will aid you greatly in the recovery of the healthy tone of the imagination. The pleasure of doing good animates the mind and vibrates through the whole body.” Ibid., 534.

Thursday

FINDING DELIVERANCE TODAY

  • What does God require of us today in regards to our physical life? Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.

 Note: “The Lord requires a living sacrifice of mind, soul, body, and strength. All that we have and are is to be given to Him, that we may answer the purpose of our creation. But unless we take heed to the light and instruction given us in the word of God, that in the matter of eating and drinking we may speak and act intelligently, we shall bring feebleness upon ourselves. …

“It is necessary for every believer to be strictly temperate. The people of our world indulge pernicious habits, thus destroying their God-given susceptibility and the power of discerning sacred things. The moral sense of many of those living at the present day is clouded by wrong habits.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 20, 3, 4.

  • What prayer can we offer to the Lord for help? Psalm 119:153, 154.

Note: “God has not changed, neither does He propose to change our physical organism, in order that we may violate a single law without feeling the effects of its violation. But many willingly close their eyes to the light. … By indulging their inclinations and appetites, they violate the laws of life and health; and if they obey conscience, they must be controlled by principle in their eating and dressing, rather than be led by inclination, fashion, and appetite.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 161.

Friday

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

1    How does forgiveness of sin affect the physical health?

2    What keeps us from being the world’s object lesson of health today?

3    How does living with God’s approval affect my health? How can I have this approval?

4    What is the best medicine for those with physical and mental illnesses?

5    How can I be “strictly temperate” today? Why is this so important?

 Copyright 2019, Reformation Herald Publishing Association, 5240 Hollins Road, Roanoke, Virginia 24019-5048, U.S.A.

God’s Farmacy, Part I

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Know ye that the LORD, he [is] God: [it is] he [that] hath made us, and not we ourselves; [we are] his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Psalm 100:3. As we study from the Great Owner’s Manual—the Bible—the greatest medical book that has ever been written, we find even the diseases that we suffer with today. There is nothing new; the Egyptians suffered from the same diseases. A book written by Moses 4,000 years ago shows the same diseases. (See Deuteronomy 28.) Here we live in such a modern, technological society, with more sophisticated apparatus, more education, but we still have not won the battle with cancer and other chronic diseases, because we are shooting in the wrong direction. The only way we can prevent sickness and preserve integrity of the body is through what God ordained 6,000 years ago in the Garden of Eden. Man thinks he is wiser than God, but God has given us instruction. He wants us to not only have theory or facts, but He wants us to have understanding—how to apply that which we know.

Eight Doctors

There are eight doctors at work for us. They are:

  1. Dr. Trust,
  2. Dr. Air,
  3. Dr. Exercise,
  4. Dr. Sunshine,
  5. Dr. Rest,
  6. Dr. Water,
  7. Dr. Temperance, and
  8. Dr. Nutrition.

As we go through this study, we will find these eight principles used exclusively. I use nothing outside of these eight principles. I do not care if it works; if it is not “to the law and to the testimony” (Isaiah 8:20), I do not use it. I do not use iridology; I do not use reflexology; I do not use acupuncture; I do not use the pendulum,and I do not use muscle testing, because they are not “to the law and to the testimony.” Those things are wrought in spiritualism. We can prove that God has given us a simple plan.

“There are many ways of practicing the healing art; but there is only one way that Heaven approves.” Counsels on Diets and Foods, 301. The writer who penned those words does not leave us in darkness. She, Ellen White, goes on to talk about the eight laws. If we are asking for and looking for the Latter Rain to fall on us, we must be in harmony with God’s principles. There is no way we are going to get the Latter Rain if we are not in harmony with the health principles. We find that these principles are simple.

The devil takes the gospel and the health message and he enshrouds them in mystery where only a few people have the so-called expertise and know-how to follow God’s simple principles. But this plan is accessible to all of us. I have no advantage to anyone reading this. We have access to the same power—the Holy Spirit. If God can take a person like me from the streets of Chicago and put His Word in me, He can do it for you.

Disease is an Effort

I want to give you one of the most profound definitions of disease that I have found in any book—whether you went to Loma Linda, Harvard, or Yale, the definition given in The Ministry of Healing is the most profound that I have read in my 54 years. When I picked this book up 27 years ago, I was not a Seventh-day Adventist, and I did not know who wrote it, but I knew it was inspired. It says, “Disease is an effort of nature to free the system from conditions that result from a violation of the laws of health.” The Ministry of Healing, 127.

“Disease is an effort of nature . . . .” When we look at the word effort, it comes to mind that the body is putting forth some work or energy, what we call vital force. Nature is expending energy to maintain what we call homeostasis or balance. God created the body to maintain balance. The temperature of the body, hot or cold; the pH of the body—God created the body to maintain harmony. But when we interfere with the delicate mechanisms of the body, we disrupt its function and sickness takes place.

But notice what it says. “Disease is an effort “—that means that the body is expending energy to get rid of the problem that we have brought upon it through the violation of law. When someone gets sick, it does not mean that God is punishing that person. We live in a sinful world that has come about as the result of my father and your father, Adam, disobeying God. If there were no sin, there would be no disease. Therefore, my warfare is not against cancer. The Bible does not say that the wages of sin is cancer. The wages of sin is eternal death. My purpose is to lead people back to the cross, back to the Great Physician, Who not only can heal them from cancer, but Who can heal their soul. If a person gets well from cancer and does not have a relationship with Jesus, I have not done the work of God. All I have done is to produce another soldier for the devil to use against God’s people. God is not in the business of producing healthy sinners.

Our Effort vs. Nature

“Disease is an effort of nature.” Some of you realize that a common cold or chronic cough is something that you want to get rid of, so you go to the pharmacist, and you purchase what is called a cough suppressant. As you take this cough suppressant, you are now suppressing nature’s effort to free itself of the condition that has been brought about as a result of the violation of the laws of health. You take the cough suppressant; you are no longer coughing, and you feel good because the cough is gone. Six months later you end up with bronchitis. Now you take another drug to rid yourself of bronchitis. Six months later you may end up with pneumonia, and you take another drug to suppress nature. A year later you may end up with lung cancer.

The more you interfere with nature, the more you are changing one form of a disease into another form, which is more severe. At a later date, nature is so weak it cannot rally to deal with the problem. Then you come to God and want Him to work a miracle, but you have been interfering with nature’s process all along. When you end up with a headache, you may take Tylenol. Your body is not deficient of Tylenol! You need to get to the cause of the problem.

When you sneeze, the body expends energy to get rid of a foreign organism. This involves the immune system. It goes through a histamine reaction—it is trying to get rid of the problem. That is good news! You start breaking out with a rash, and you think you are dying. That is good news! You have pain, and you think you cannot handle it, but that is good news! That is nature, working in your behalf, trying to save your life, and you are trying to interfere with nature. Nature is the voice of God, and when you interfere with nature, you are saying, God, be quiet. When all the mucus begins coming out in the morning, do you really want to take something to snuff that stuff back into your body?

God Wants to Cleanse You

Like Adam and Eve trying to cover themselves with fig leaves when they realized they were naked, you cannot hide your sin in your methods. You cannot mask sickness with your own methods. God wants to cleanse you, to purge you, and to get rid of all the sin in your body. He wants to get rid of the poison in your body, so God created the body in such a way to fight these diseases.

Fever is the way the body was created to deal with infection. Fever raises the body’s temperature—and you put it out with some aspirin. Instead of learning how to do water treatments or fasting to work with nature to free the system of the infection, you treat the symptom. Treating the symptom is like mopping the floor while the water continues to pour from an overflowing sink. What should you do when the floor is covered with water and it continues to pour out onto the floor—keep mopping? No, you need to turn off the water. High blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer are nothing but symptoms! Proverbs 26:2 says, “The curse causeless shall not come.” For every curse there is a cause; for every effect there is a cause; for every symptom there is a cause. The reason that you are not well is because the doctors are treating you for symptoms.

For ten years I did not get well because the doctor was treating my symptoms. He was treating arthritis. I went to the Word of God, and there I found that the cure was in the cause. Remove the cause, and you will get rid of the problem. That is what I did, and the Lord blessed. If He chooses not to heal you, He will give you grace to endure. If you are chronically ill, He may put you to sleep until the indignation passes, so you can rise in the first resurrection. God’s plan does not fail!

Four Steps

The Ministry of Healing mentions four things that should be done in case of sickness:

1 Ascertain the cause. (See The Ministry of Healing, 234, 235.) “The cause [which] I knew not I searched out.” Job 29:16. Where do you go? Romans 3:20 says that the knowledge of the law reveals sin. Without the law there can be no knowledge of sin. You find the cause of sickness by going to the law. To what law? The eight laws of health. If you have a headache, you may ask yourself why. Are you under a lot of stress? Are you drinking enough water? Maybe it was the 10:00 p.m. meal that you ate, or maybe you are not getting enough exercise. The law will reveal to you why you are sick.

2 Unhealthful conditions—the environment in which we live—need to be changed. (See The Ministry of Healing, 127.) The environment might not be conducive for a healthy lifestyle. Why? You might live in a home that has mildew and dampness, with no sunlight. Or perhaps you are sleeping with the animals—with the cats and dogs. Maybe they are running around all over your kitchen counter. Did you know that cats and dogs are susceptible to a number of different parasites that are communicable to humans? Except for service animals, such as those used for the blind, you do not need to be sleeping with animals. They should not be in your kitchen or even in your house.

Well, you might say, they are good for older folks. No, the Holy Spirit is good for older folks; you do not need animals in the house. I remember, on the way to a camp meeting several years ago, my wife and I stopped to use the restroom at the “golden arches.” They had a clean restroom and a little picnic area. My wife says I am a nosey person, but I say that I am observant, and there is a difference. (When you are nosey you get in other people’s business. Observant means you are learning for educational purposes.) As I walked out of McDonald’s, I observed a family with a wonderful dog, a German shepherd. It was eating ice cream. As I was observing, the mistress gave the dog the ice cream and it licked; then she took the cone back, and she licked from the same cone! Animals are wonderful creatures, and I love them, but you have to be hygienic with them.

If you are living in a home where there is second-hand smoke, you are in an unhealthy environment. Maybe you are working in a job where you are breathing chemical fumes. A friend who has been an auto mechanic for over 25 years had lungs filled with fumes; his hand was black with fungus. When he quit that job his hand started turning back to its normal color. Sometimes we work in hazardous situations that are not conducive to our health. Ask God to deliver you from such a situation. He will provide you with another job.

3 Wrong habits need to be corrected. (See The Ministry of Healing, 234.) That means simply that we need to change our lifestyle habits—our sleeping, eating, and exercise habits, etc.

4 Nature is to be assisted in its effort. (See The Ministry of Healing, 127.) Perhaps sometimes when you are sick and the stomach is aching, you keep feeding the stomach. The body may say, Wait a minute; give me a rest! Maybe you need to fast for 24 hours to assist nature; maybe you need to do a dry brush rub; a hot and cold shower; perhaps a sitz bath, or a foot bath. That is what it means to assist nature.

All of this comes from that wonderful book, The Ministry of Healing. It is a great medical book. So you need to find the cause, change unhealthful conditions, and follow the eight laws of health.

God Provides Everything

Under God’s plan you will find everything you need in the eight laws of health. Under the water law you will find that you are benefited by using it internally as well as by using hydrotherapy. Under the law of exercise you can find passive exercise, physical therapy, or massage. Under the law of nutrition you not only find good food, but you also find God’s Farmacy. Food is your medicine. God’s Farmacy is found in your back yard garden and in your grocery store. Genesis 1:11, 12 and Genesis 2:5–8, 15 tell us that God planted vegetation before He put man in the Garden. Everything Adam needed was in that Garden.

God gave man an original diet. Genesis 1:29 says that God gave man fruits, grains, and nuts in the beginning. Before sin, man did not eat green herbs; man did not eat green plants. He ate from the trees; he ate seeds; he ate grains; he ate fruit. There was no vegetation in his diet at all. This was God’s plan. In Genesis 3:18, after sin, God added the herbs of the field.

Genesis 1:11, 12 describes three types of vegetation—grass, herb-bearing seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit with the seed in itself—that God made. Of the three vegetations, in the beginning, God gave man two of them. (See Genesis 1:29.) God gave animals the vegetation from the grass. (See Genesis 1:30.) God said to Adam, “Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of it] all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.” Genesis 3:17, 18. Then He mentioned the sweat. Why did He do that? God is associating sweating with eating these plants, because sweating eliminates toxins out of the body. The body went through a metamorphosis. The Bible records the warning given that in the day that man would eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. (See Genesis 2:9, 17.) In that day he began to die, but God had an antidote. Therefore God gave man permission to eat fruits, nuts, grains, and vegetables.

The Bible says, “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth.” Psalm 104:14. God provided the herbs for the service of man.

Grow Your Own Food

To have a healthy body, you have to have healthy food; if you are going to have healthy food, you need to have healthy soil. When we began to work with our soil years ago, we discovered that we have clay soil. The pH was something like 3.5; there were no worms in our soil. Now a few things will grow in clay, but there is no way you are going to grow healthy food where there are no worms. After a year or two of building up that soil, the food grown on it is so sweet it melts in your mouth. You can become accustomed to store-bought vegetables, but if you are in the country, you need to have a garden. If you are in the city, get some grow boxes. Even in the city you can grow some food.

Out of the Cities

Those who have the resources should get out of the cities! With all we hear about end time events, it is really interesting to me that so many of us are still in the cities. Those who can get out of the city, get more than one acre, because there are refugees coming. We have 75 acres of land. We would never use that much land. Why do we have it? Because those acres can be converted, in the future, for those individuals who cannot financially afford to get out of the city now. We got out of the city without any money—God provided. Purpose in your heart—resolve; do not say that you do not have money; God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Purpose in your heart; start getting out of debt; start getting your tools together; begin making preparation just as the Israelites had to make preparation before leaving Egypt. Resolve, and watch God honor your resolve!

To be continued . . .

Thomas Jackson is a Health Evangelist and Director of Missionary Education and Evangelistic Training (M.E.E.T.) Ministry in Huntingdon, Tennessee. He may be contacted by e-mail at godsplan@meetministry.org or by telephone at 731-986-3518.

Restoring the Temple – Decreasing Your Risk of Disease

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God, the great governor of the universe, has put everything under law. The tiny flower and the towering oak, the grain of sand and the mighty ocean, sunshine and shower, wind and rain, all obey nature’s laws. But man has been placed under a higher law. He has been given an intellect to see, and a conscience to feel, the powerful claims of God’s great moral law, the expression of what He desires His children to be.” The Signs of the Times, July 31, 1901.

“In the beginning God placed man under law, as an indispensable condition of his very existence. He was a subject of the divine government, and there can be no government without law.” Ibid., July 23, 1902.

In outline form, we will look first at those factors that weaken the body’s ability to ward off disease. These are the habits we want to overcome or avoid. Next we will look at those factors which help the body ward off disease.

Factors Associated with Increased Risk of Disease

1 Certain nutritional supplements.

We do not have complete information on all of the nutritional supplements that might increase the risk of disease, but a few include beta-carotene supplements and large supplements of vitamin A. Beta-carotene supplements have actually been shown to increase cancer risk. It can also cause depletion of vitamin E. Large amounts of vitamin C and vitamin E supplements can actually favor the development of free radicals in the body.

2 Cow’s milk formula for infants.

Infants given cow’s milk formula are over 50 percent more likely to develop diarrhea and ear infections than infants who are breast-fed. With the development of antibiotics, we have become unaware of the dangers of cow’s milk for infants. In a 1930 study of 20,000 infants, before the development of antibiotics, the death rate for infants fed cow’s milk during the first nine months after birth was over 50 times the death rate of infants who were breast-fed. The breast-fed infant receives antibodies and white blood cells from the mother. Human breast milk is usually sterile which is never the case with cow’s milk. The mother’s milk can also help the infant avoid a deadly build-up of E. Coli bacteria in its intestine.

3 Use of cow’s milk by adults.

Cow’s milk has been shown to have a relationship to many serious and deadly diseases, including coronary artery disease, cancer, neurological diseases, allergies, and even Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Multiple Sclerosis.

4 Use of tobacco.

Smokers have twice the risk of colon cancer as non-smokers. Smoking one “joint” of marijuana does the equivalent damage to the lungs as a full pack of 20 regular cigarettes.

5 Use of alcohol.

Even moderate consumption of alcohol can significantly damage the immune system, making the person more susceptible to cancer and other serious diseases. As few as two drinks can reduce antibody production by two-thirds.

6 Excessive exercise.

Exercise to the point of exhaustion, as in competitive sports, can result in a decreased immune response by the body.

7 Meat eating.

Animal protein has been shown to be a cancer-producing substance. Women who eat meat every day have a higher risk of developing breast cancer than those who do not eat meat at all (over eight times in one study). Regular meat eaters have a colon cancer risk of about three to four times those not eating meat at all.

8 Stress.

People who are not coping with major stressors in their lives have a greater chance of developing life-threatening diseases.

9 Use of refined sugar.

Refined sugar reduces the ability of white blood cells to destroy bacteria. For example, one study showed that one white blood cell could destroy 14 bacteria before sugar had been consumed, but after consumption of 24 teaspoons of sugar, only one bacterium could be destroyed.

Factors Associated with Decreased Risk of Disease

1 Sunshine.

One researcher has estimated that regular, moderate exposure to sunshine could prevent 30,000 deaths caused by cancer per year in America.

2 Regular, moderate exercise.

Cancer deaths are significantly lower in those who exercise regularly.

3 Foods rich in carotene (pro-vitamin A).

The high-level carotene foods are those that are deep orange in color—such as carrots, yams, pumpkin, cantaloupe, apricots, mangos, persimmons, sweet potatoes—and those that are dark green, such as spinach, kale, turnip greens, broccoli, collard greens, and beet greens.

4 Foods rich in vitamin E

The high-level vitamin E foods are nuts, seeds, and the germ of grains—wheat germ, sunflower seeds, and almonds and the dark greens as mentioned above in the rich carotene foods.

5 Foods rich in vitamin C.

These vegetable foods include bell peppers, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, potatoes, tomatoes, and cabbage. Fruits such as kiwi, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and citrus fruits are also
beneficial.

6 Foods containing natural chemicals.

Only a few of these phyto-chemicals are presently known, but if you use a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains, you will get all of these chemicals—even the ones that are not well-known. The secret to helping the body resist disease is not in finding the protective elements in a food and mega-dosing on those through supplements, but consuming foods that contain a balanced form of many compounds. This balance will help the body, but the artificial use of supplements often unbalances the chemistry of the body.

7 Trust in God.

It has been statistically demonstrated that unresolved stress can both cause and exacerbate some of our most serious health problems, such as cardio vascular disease, cancer, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, ulcers, and, of course, depression. God has given the answer to stress in Matthew 11:28–30.

8 Adequate water drinking.

Adults generally need eight glasses or more of water per day, depending on their activity and the climate conditions.

9 Cleanliness of person, clothes, and living environment.

About 100 years ago, Ellen White published the following counsel, which, if heeded, would decrease infectious diseases throughout the world approximately 85 percent (according to the estimates of some researchers)!

“Every form of uncleanliness tends to disease. Death-producing germs abound in dark, neglected corners, in decaying refuse, in dampness and mold and must. . . . Nothing unclean or decaying should be tolerated within the home. In towns or cities regarded perfectly healthful, many an epidemic of fever has been traced to decaying matter about the dwelling of some careless householder.” The Ministry of Healing, 276.

10 Adequate rest.

The exact amount of needed rest varies with different individuals, but the vast majority of human beings need between seven and nine hours of sleep per day.

Many people are looking for the miracle food or the miracle vitamin, mineral supplement, or herb that will cleanse the body of all problems and disease. “Miracle foods” come in and out of vogue. The secret of health and long life does not reside in finding the miracle potion, medicine, or herbal supplement but in following, in moderation and with good judgment, all the laws of health that the Creator has made and provided for our use.

Children’s Story – Relay for Life

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The Alaskan winter had shown itself to be unusually harsh the year of 1925. The temperatures hung at 50 degrees below zero on this particular day, January 27, as a high-pressure storm front was moving in from the Arctic. A diphtheria epidemic had stricken a small town in the midst of the storm, and many patients had already died.

“Mama?” A little girl’s feeble voice whispered.

“I am here, Ranahta.” Mama walked back to the hospital bed from the window where she had been standing. She had spent the morning peering through the driving snow for any sign of the dogsled team. She took Ranahta’s hand in hers and found her sound asleep again. Mama dabbed a cool cloth on the girl’s feverish forehead. The dogs had been sent out just this morning on a relay for the diphtheria serum. Already 28 children had died of the disease in this very room. “Please, Lord,” Mama begged, “please do not let Ranahta be the 29th.”

The little hospital room in Nome, Alaska, was chilled from the blustering winds outside, which were let in through the cracks under the doors. Mama looked longingly at the vials of diphtheria serum lined up in a cabinet on the wall across from Ranahta’s bed. The doctor had said they were expired and would only weaken a patient further if the antitoxin was administered. Mama walked back to the window again to watch for the dogs even though they were not expected back for at least another five days.

Six hundred sixty-seven miles away the relay for the serum had begun in Nenana, another Alaskan town also being ravaged by the storm. The snow whipped around the brave musher and his dogs. The blizzard had moved in from the Arctic, increasing in its intensity as it went, and the temperature was still dropping. The sled team had left early in the morning with the box of serum. “Kinda strange how Balto sniffed at the box so long. Almost like he was smelling out a new kind of animal,” Gun thought to himself. Suddenly, he felt a sharp sting on his cheek as a tether broke loose and whipped through the air. The precious serum it was holding was catapulted out of the sled into the growing snow drifts.

“Balto! Balto! Stop!” Gun yelled through the blizzard. The musher knew Balto could not hear him. He couldn’t even hear himself above the gales of wind. Gun anchored the brake to slow the dogs to a halt and stepped off the sled, feeling through the blizzard for his team. The snow was so thick he could not even see the dogs that were tied closest to his sled! Gun found the gang lead and followed it to the first set of dogs, checking each one down the line carefully for frostbite or other injuries. After taking extra measures to protect the dogs from the elements he was comforted that his dogs were all okay, but what about the serum? Many more men, women, and children would die without the antitoxin, and the diphtheria epidemic would spread. A search may prove deadly to him and the team; if he let go of the dog’s line it may mean that they all would most likely die in the blizzard. Then Gun got an idea. “Dogs have an excellent sense of smell,” he thought to himself. “And Balto was quite curious about the box before we left. Perhaps he can smell it out.” “Balto.” He bent down and spoke above the wind in the dog’s ear. “Balto, find the box.” Gun knew it was a long shot but with prayer and faith, and Balto’s keen senses, there was hope. Balto’s ears pricked up and, to Gun’s surprise, he lowered his head to the snow.

After 20 minutes of searching, Gun became quite anxious. If the team was not kept moving, the possibility of their freezing to death was very high. The temperature was dropping further now as the storm raged on. But still Balto, with the team in tow, was sniffing through the white-out. By now, Gun had tied himself to the dogs, since his hands were turning black with frostbite and he could not grasp the line or even move his fingers.

Suddenly Balto stopped. Gun bent down and felt in the snow around Balto. His hand hit something hard at his dog’s front paws! Praise God! It was the box! The serum vials were still intact. Not one had broken! Lifting the box, Gun carefully felt his way back to the sled and tied the serum tightly. And giving thanks to God, they continued the trek back to Nome.

“Nome to Nenana, come in, Nenana.” Static rasped over the little radio in the hospital office. “Come in, Nenana.” Still only static. Dr. Welch clicked the radio off and slumped back in his chair. It had been three days since they had any contact with the other town, and four since Nenana had heard from the relay team. The doctor looked out the window where the snow was still whipping by the unrelenting gales. The thermometer he had hung outside his window had long since been blown off the hinges, but one need only step outside to know that survival in the storm would be unlikely. Rubbing his worry-wrinkled forehead, he sent a silent prayer for the safety of the sledders and the deliverance of the precious medication.

“Dr. Welch! Dr. Welch!” Mama yelled bursting through the door of the doctor’s office.

Startled, the plump old man jumped out of his seat, giving the woman a quizzical look. “Ma’am?”

“Oh, doctor, come quickly!” Mama ran back out of the room down the hall.

“Oh dear,” the old man thought to himself. “The child must have taken a bad turn.” He exited his office and turned down the hall to see a large crowd hovering around the hospital entrance. One man yelled for hot water to be brought. Dr Welch grabbed a bucket and fetched the water. The man grabbed the bucket and ran outside with it. Puzzled, Dr Welch looked on.

Gun and his faithful team of dogs had just pulled in front of the hospital. The musher was frozen to his sled and delirious with fever. The man from the crowd dumped the hot water over Gun’s hands and pried them loose from the sled. Several more men ran out and carried Gun to a warm bed in the hospital where a couple of the women ministered to the sick man. Two other men attended to the dog team. The serum was brought inside to thaw while Dr. Welch examined Gun to make sure he would be okay. The dogs greedily ate the fresh fish and water set out for them by their master’s bed.

Mama knelt by the bed of her sleeping child and gave thanks to God for Gun, who safely delivered the medicine for her daughter and the other children. “And thank you, God, for the bravery and strength of the dogs that trekked through the blinding snow. Thank you for guiding them home.”

Alicia Freedman works for Steps to Life as a part of the LandMarks team. E-mails can be sent to her at: landmarks@stepstolife.org.

Food For Life — February 1997

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We were warned by the weather prophets that this winter would be one of the worst in history, and it has surely proved to be! But what are we to think of in connection with this? “The end of all things is at hand!” Dare we tempt the Lord further, by not giving heed to His words of warning in regards to our health? Have we attempted to follow His words or are we just going along in our “familiar rut” tempting God to deliver us in spite of everything? We would do well to stop and contemplate His words of wisdom in the Spirit of Prophecy to us, and follow carefully what He has outlined for us to do in the minutest details.

Let us continue in the book, Ministry of Healing, the chapter on Mind-Cure. “The relation that exists between the mind and the body is very intimate. When one is affected, the other sympathizes. The condition of the mind affects the health to a far greater degree than many realize. Many of the diseases from which men suffer are the result of mental depression. Grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust, all tend to break down the life forces, and to invite decay and death . . . Many die from disease, the cause of which is wholly imaginary.

“Courage, hope, faith, sympathy, love, promote health and prolong life. A contented mind, a cheerful spirit, is health to the body and strength to the soul.

“In the treatment of the sick, the effect of mental influence should not be overlooked. Rightly used, this influence affords one of the most effective agencies for combating disease.” (Not strange that our adversary, the devil, should use this very thing to entrap unwary ones in his vicious net of deceit! We must be alert at all times to be able to detect Satan’s unbelievable tricks to ensnare “even the elect.”)

“There is, however, a form of mind-cure that is one of the most effective agencies for evil. Through this so-called science, one mind is brought under the control of another, so that the individuality of the weaker is merged in that of the stronger mind. One person acts out the will of another. Thus it is claimed that the tenor of the thoughts may be changed, that health giving impulses may be imparted, and patients may be enabled to resist and overcome disease.

“This method of cure has been employed by persons who were ignorant of its real nature and tendency, and who believed it to be a means of benefit to the sick. But the so-called science is based upon false principles. It is foreign to the nature and spirit of Christ. It does not lead to Him who is life and salvation. The one who attracts minds to himself leads them to separate from the true Source of their strength.

“It is not God’s purpose that any human being should yield his mind and will to the control of another, becoming a passive instrument in his hands. No one is to merge his individuality in that of another. He is not to look to any human being as the source of healing. His dependence must be in God, In the dignity of his God-given manhood, he is to be controlled by God himself, not by any human intelligence.

“He desires to bring the human into association with the divine, that men may be transformed into the divine likeness. Satan works to thwart this purpose. He seeks to encourage dependence upon men. When minds are turned away from God, the tempter can bring them under his rule. He can control humanity.” More on this subject next month.

Oat Burgers

4 1/2 Cups Distilled Water 1/4 Cup Brewer’s Yeast

1/2 Cup Vegex Broth 1 tsp. Garlic Salt

4 1/2 Cups Oats 1 Cup Chopped Walnuts

Med. Onion, Diced 1 Tbs. Bakon Yeast

1/4 tsp. Italian Seasoning

Bring water to a boil with Vegex Broth. Turn down heat and add Oats. Cook for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. In separate pan, combine remaining ingredients. When oats are cool, add remaining ingredients and mix well. Form into patties and bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until nicely browned. Serve with cashew gravy.

 

Health – First Principles

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A “diseased” condition develops when we fail to maintain health; it is the absence of health. Disease is not always some entity which drives out and overcomes health. The true science of conquering disease is to do so by restoring the health rather than to expect to restore the health by conquering disease. Health is maintained by forces which are always persistently at work, which need to have all hindrances to their work removed and all possible assistance given.

Possibly too much attention has been given to the study of disease, and not enough to the study of health, that the study of health has been approached from the standpoint of disease. It is certain that the study of sick, diseased bodies is much more common than the study of sound, healthy ones. To propose reversing this may seem to be like asking one to “stand on his head to get a right point of view,” and yet that change in outlook is the very thing that is needed. …

“Disease is an effort of nature to free the system from conditions that result from a violation of the laws of health. In case of sickness, the cause should be ascertained. Unhealthful conditions should be changed, wrong habits corrected. Then nature is to be assisted in her effort to expel impurities and to re-establish right conditions in the system.” The Ministry of Healing, 127.

A Balanced Program

There ought to be a way of daily living which will keep its adherents in good health so that they may perform the ordinary duties of life with ease and without undue fatigue, that the daily rounds of life may be one continuous pleasure rather than a struggle to “keep going” from the sheer force of necessity.

Such a happy way of living consists of a balanced program, which must include among other items:

  1. Perfect nutrition—natural foods, raw and cooked, proportioned to provide the right amount of protein to repair the body cells, starch, sugar and fat to supply heat and energy for the body and its activities, with water, minerals, and vitamins to sustain all of the life processes—a program of feeding which will nourish every organ, gland and cell in the body. …
  2. A proper amount of exercise to maintain good circulation of the blood that it may promptly bring fresh supplies of oxygen and food to the body cells and quickly transport their wastes to the skin, lungs, and kidneys for elimination so that toxins will not be allowed to accumulate in the body.

The Body’s Life

The body is built of cells. All body functions are associated with the function of cells. If the cells are normal, the organs and body are normal, and that is health.

The life is in the cell. The continuance of the life and functions of cells is made possible by forces which reside in air, sunshine, water, and food.

Plants can attain perfect development only when all of the elements they need for life and growth are in the soil.

“A plant, in order to obtain perfect growth, must find in soil a certain minimum of each of many elements. Consider, for example, the element potassium. Suppose only half of the necessary amount of potassium be present, then no matter how abundant may be all the other soil and air constituents, their normal utilization is limited to one-half. The rate of growth and the ultimate development of the plant are consequently depressed. Applying this principle to food absorption, showing that the lack of any one mineral requirement in the body will, to the extent it is lacking, thereby deprive the system of the ability to utilize all of the minerals present.” Dr. F. G. Hoskins, Cambridge University.

This is similar to the maxim the sages gave us long ago—“a chain is no stronger than its weakest link.” This seems to be so clear that it is useless to dispute it, and yet, when applied to a balanced ration it is almost revolutionary.

Animals—cows, horses, pigs, chickens—are the most profitable when fed scientifically.

The average farmer knows more about fertilizing the soil so that it may bring forth proper crops; the feeding of a balanced ration to the hens that they will lay a goodly number of eggs, and to the cows that they may give a profitable supply of milk, than he does about feeding those for whom all these things exist—himself and his family.

The average mother knows less about the foods needed to nourish the inside of the bodies of her children than about the style of the clothes for the outside. She does not discern that the body is more than the raiment.

Animals in the laboratory can be kept in good health, or fall ill with common ailments and diseases similar to ours, according to the food given them.

The engine of the automobile is “fed” scientifically to secure the greatest efficiency and the longest service.

Man alone—he who is lord of all living creatures and of every mechanical device, and who holds their destiny in his hands—too often eats according to the caprice of appetite and does not use as good judgment concerning his own health as he does in the protection of the animate and inanimate things under his care.

The Life-Span Is Decreasing

Man is the only creature given to the practice of self-destroying habits. Because of such habits, degenerative diseases of the vital organs are rapidly increasing with a consequent shortening of the life span. The much-lauded reports that human life is lengthening are deceptive in that they give a false impression. Through better care of babies and their mothers, and by better control of contagious and infectious diseases, more children grow to adult life than formerly; but when they reach adult life—age forty—they have already indulged in so many life-destroying habits that, on the average, they will not live as long as their grandparents did. “The young live longer but the old die sooner.” People do not live longer, but more babies grow up to adult life and this increases the average length of all lives. The age limit is lowering at the same time the average length of life is increasing. We cannot continue indefinitely to add to the average length of life by conquering infectious diseases, because when they are wiped out there will be no more to conquer, but degenerative diseases are increasing with accelerating rapidity.

Excerpts from Abundant Health, Northwestern Publishing Association, 1951, 1–11.

Inspiration – Need of Education in Health Principles

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Education in health principles was never more needed than now. Notwithstanding the wonderful progress in so many lines relating to the comforts and conveniences of life, even to sanitary matters and to the treatment of disease, the decline in physical vigor and power of endurance is alarming. It demands the attention of all who have at heart the well-being of their fellow men.

Our artificial civilization is encouraging evils destructive of sound principles. Custom and fashion are at war with nature. The practices they enjoin, and the indulgences they foster, are steadily lessening both physical and mental strength, and bringing upon the race an intolerable burden. Intemperance and crime, disease and wretchedness, are everywhere.

Many transgress the laws of health through ignorance, and they need instruction. But the greater number know better than they do. They need to be impressed with the importance of making their knowledge a guide of life. The physician has many opportunities both of imparting a knowledge of health principles and of showing the importance of putting them in practice. By right instruction he can do much to correct evils that are working untold harm.

A practice that is laying the foundation of a vast amount of disease and of even more serious evils is the free use of poisonous drugs. When attacked by disease, many will not take the trouble to search out the cause of their illness. Their chief anxiety is to rid themselves of pain and inconvenience. So they resort to patent nostrums, of whose real properties they know little, or they apply to a physician for some remedy to counteract the result of their misdoing, but with no thought of making a change in their unhealthful habits. If immediate benefit is not realized, another medicine is tried, and then another. Thus the evil continues.

People need to be taught that drugs do not cure disease. It is true that they sometimes afford present relief, and the patient appears to recover as the result of their use; this is because nature has sufficient vital force to expel the poison and to correct the conditions that caused the disease. Health is recovered in spite of the drug. But in most cases the drug only changes the form and location of the disease. Often the effect of the poison seems to be overcome for a time, but the results remain in the system and work great harm at some later period.

By the use of poisonous drugs, many bring upon themselves lifelong illness, and many lives are lost that might be saved by the use of natural methods of healing. The poisons contained in many so-called remedies create habits and appetites that mean ruin to both soul and body. Many of the popular nostrums called patent medicines, and even some of the drugs dispensed by physicians, act a part in laying the foundation of the liquor habit, the opium habit, the morphine habit, that are so terrible a curse to society.

The only hope of better things is in the education of the people in right principles. Let physicians teach the people that restorative power is not in drugs, but in nature. Disease is an effort of nature to free the system from conditions that result from a violation of the laws of health. In case of sickness, the cause should be ascertained. Unhealthful conditions should be changed, wrong habits corrected. Then nature is to be assisted in her effort to expel impurities and to re-establish right conditions in the system.

Natural Remedies

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 a 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.

The use of natural remedies requires an amount of care and effort that many are not willing to give. Nature’s process of healing and upbuilding is gradual, and to the impatient it seems slow. The surrender of hurtful indulgences requires sacrifice. But in the end it will be found that nature, untrammeled, does her work wisely and well. Those who persevere in obedience to her laws will reap the reward in health of body and health of mind.

Too little attention is generally given to the preservation of health. It is far better to prevent disease than to know how to treat it when contracted. It is the duty of every person, for his own sake, and for the sake of humanity, to inform himself in regard to the laws of life and conscientiously to obey them. All need to become acquainted with that most wonderful of all organisms, the human body. They should understand the functions of the various organs and the dependence of one upon another for the healthy action of all. They should study the influence of the mind upon the body, and of the body upon the mind, and the laws by which they are governed.

Training for Life’s Conflict

We cannot be too often reminded that health does not depend on chance. It is a result of obedience to law. This is recognized by the contestants in athletic games and trials of strength. These men make the most careful preparation. They submit to thorough training and strict discipline. Every physical habit is carefully regulated. They know that neglect, excess, or carelessness, which weakens or cripples any organ or function of the body, would ensure defeat.

How much more important is such carefulness to ensure success in the conflict of life. It is not mimic battles in which we are engaged. We are waging a warfare upon which hang eternal results. We have unseen enemies to meet. Evil angels are striving for the dominion of every human being. Whatever injures the health, not only lessens physical vigor, but tends to weaken the mental and moral powers. Indulgence in any unhealthful practice makes it more difficult for one to discriminate between right and wrong, and hence more difficult to resist evil. It increases the danger of failure and defeat.

“They which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize.” I Corinthians 9:24. In the warfare in which we are engaged, all may win who will discipline themselves by obedience to right principles. The practice of these principles in the details of life is too often looked upon as unimportant—a matter too trivial to demand attention. But in view of the issues at stake, nothing with which we have to do is small. Every act casts its weight into the scale that determines life’s victory or defeat. The scripture bids us, “So run, that ye may obtain.” Verse 24.

With our first parents, intemperate desire resulted in the loss of Eden. Temperance in all things has more to do with our restoration to Eden than men realize.

Pointing to the self-denial practiced by the contestants in the ancient Greek games, the apostle Paul writes: “Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” Verses 25–27.

The progress of reform depends upon a clear recognition of fundamental truth. While, on the one hand, danger lurks in a narrow philosophy and a hard, cold orthodoxy, on the other hand there is great danger in a careless liberalism. The foundation of all enduring reform is the law of God. We are to present in clear, distinct lines the need of obeying this law. Its principles must be kept before the people. They are as everlasting and inexorable as God Himself.

One of the most deplorable effects of the original apostasy was the loss of man’s power of self-control. Only as this power is regained can there be real progress.

The body is the only medium through which the mind and the soul are developed for the upbuilding of character. Hence it is that the adversary of souls directs his temptations to the enfeebling and degrading of the physical powers. His success here means the surrender to evil of the whole being. The tendencies of our physical nature, unless under the dominion of a higher power, will surely work ruin and death.

The body is to be brought into subjection. The higher powers of the being are to rule. The passions are to be controlled by the will, which is itself to be under the control of God. The kingly power of reason, sanctified by divine grace, is to bear sway in our lives.

The requirements of God must be brought home to the conscience. Men and women must be awakened to the duty of self-mastery, the need of purity, freedom from every depraving appetite and defiling habit. They need to be impressed with the fact that all their powers of mind and body are the gift of God, and are to be preserved in the best possible condition for His service.

In that ancient ritual which was the gospel in symbol, no blemished offering could be brought to God’s altar. The sacrifice that was to represent Christ must be spotless. The word of God points to this as an illustration of what His children are to be—“a living sacrifice,” “holy and without blemish,” “well-pleasing to God.” Romans 12:1, R.V., margin; Ephesians 5:27.

The Ministry of Healing, 125–130.

Bible Study Guides – The Modern Pot of Manna

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August 26, 2012 – September 1, 2012

The People of the Ark

Key Text

“And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” Revelation 11:19.

Study Help: The Ministry of Healing, 311–317.

Introduction

“The light that God has given and will continue to give on the food question is to be to His people today what the manna was to the children of Israel.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 269.

1 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIANITY

  • What is one of the first points of truth to be accepted near the beginning of one’s Christian experience? III John 2; Galatians 5:22, 23.

Note: “When the message comes to those who have not heard the truth for this time, they see that a great reformation must take place in their diet. They see that they must put away flesh food, because it creates an appetite for liquor, and fills the system with disease. By meat eating, the physical, mental, and moral powers are weakened.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 268, 269.

“Discard everything detrimental to health. Use simple, wholesome food. Fruit is excellent, and saves much cooking. Discard rich pastries, cakes, desserts, and the other dishes prepared to tempt the appetite. Eat fewer kinds of food at one meal, and eat with thanksgiving.” Medical Ministry, 274.

  • Why does health reform play such an active and important part in one’s life as a believer? I Corinthians 3:16, 17.

Note: “There are but few as yet who are aroused sufficiently to understand how much their habits of diet have to do with their health, their characters, their usefulness in this world, and their eternal destiny.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 488, 489.

2 THE ARK RESTORED TO GOD’S PEOPLE

  • What prophecy speaks about the ark of the covenant being restored once again to the true people of God? Where is this ark at the present time, and what is found inside it? Revelation 11:18, 19; Hebrews 9:3, 4, 23, 24.

Note: “The Lord gave me the following view in 1847. …

“In the holiest I saw an ark; on the top and sides of it was purest gold. On each end of the ark was a lovely cherub, with its wings spread out over it. Their faces were turned toward each other, and they looked downward. Between the angels was a golden censer. Above the ark, where the angels stood, was an exceeding bright glory, that appeared like a throne where God dwelt. Jesus stood by the ark, and as the saints’ prayers came up to Him, the incense in the censer would smoke, and He would offer up their prayers with the smoke of the incense to His Father. In the ark was the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of stone which folded together like a book.” Early Writings, 32.

  • Once God entrusts the ark to a people, are they guaranteed to keep it forever no matter what they do? Romans 11:17–24.

Note: “It may be that erelong all prophesyings among us will be at an end, and the voice which has stirred the people may no longer disturb their carnal slumbers.

“When God shall work His strange work on the earth, when holy hands bear the ark no longer, woe will be upon the people. Oh, that thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace! Oh, that our people may, as did Nineveh, repent with all their might and believe with all their heart, that God may turn away His fierce anger from them.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 77, 78.

  • What promise can give us a constant assurance that God will always have a people to bear the ark? Romans 9:27; 11:1–5.

Note: “Satan has laid every measure possible that nothing shall come among us as a people to reprove and rebuke us, and exhort us to put away our errors. But there is a people who will bear the ark of God. Some will go out from among us who will bear the ark no longer. But these cannot make walls to obstruct the truth; for it will go onward and upward to the end.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 411.

3 DIET DURING THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

  • What day are we living in as we approach the close of time? Isaiah 22:12, 20, 22; Revelation 3:7.

Note: “None [those who had studied the subject of the sanctuary] could fail to see that if the earthly sanctuary was a figure or pattern of the heavenly, the law deposited in the ark on earth was an exact transcript of the law in the ark in heaven; and that an acceptance of the truth concerning the heavenly sanctuary involved an acknowledgment of the claims of God’s law and the obligation of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Here was the secret of the bitter and determined opposition to the harmonious exposition of the Scriptures that revealed the ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. Men sought to close the door which God had opened, and to open the door which He had closed. But ‘He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth,’ had declared: ‘Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.’ Revelation 3:7, 8. Christ had opened the door, or ministration, of the most holy place.” The Great Controversy, 435.

  • What practice on that specific day provides insight on how to observe the antitypical day of atonement? Leviticus 23:28, 29.

Note: “The true fasting which should be recommended to all is abstinence from every stimulating kind of food, and the proper use of wholesome, simple food, which God has provided in abundance.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 90.

  • What will happen to those who, knowing the light, persist in eating flesh in the antitypical day of atonement? Isaiah 22:13, 14; (Leviticus 23:27–30; Psalm 106:14, 15).

Note: “It has been clearly presented to me that God’s people are to take a firm stand against meat eating. Would God for thirty years give His people the message that if they desire to have pure blood and clear minds, they must give up the use of flesh meat, if He did not want them to heed this message? By the use of flesh meats the animal nature is strengthened and the spiritual nature weakened.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 383.

4 REFORMATION IN THE MINISTRY

  • What kind of ministry do we need to prepare a people to face the final crisis of this world’s history? Ezekiel 44:23.

Note: “Only those who appreciate these principles, and have been trained to care for their bodies intelligently and in the fear of God, should be chosen to take responsibilities in this work. Those who have been long in the truth, yet who cannot distinguish between the pure principles of righteousness and the principles of evil, whose understanding in regard to justice, mercy, and the love of God is clouded, should be relieved of responsibilities. Every church needs a clear, sharp testimony, giving the trumpet a certain sound.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 375.

“God calls at this time for laborers whose interests are fully identified with His work and His cause. The ministers engaged in this work must be energized by the spirit and power of the truths they preach, and then they will have an influence. The people will seldom rise higher than their minister.” Ibid., vol. 2, 645.

“For every offense committed against the laws of health, the transgressor must pay the penalty in his own body.” Ibid., vol. 4, 409.

“We have been given the work of advancing health reform. …

“Beware how you place yourself in opposition to the work of health reform. It will go forward; for it is the Lord’s means of lessening the suffering in our world, and of purifying His people.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 38.

  • Is it possible to faithfully lead God’s people without leading by example? Leviticus 10:8–11; I Corinthians 11:1.

Note: “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.

“A reformation is needed among the people, but it should first begin its purifying work with the ministers. …

“One important part of the work of the ministry is to faithfully present to the people the health reform as it stands connected with the third angel’s message as part and parcel of the same work. They should not fail to adopt it themselves, and should urge it upon all who profess to believe the truth.” Ibid., vol. 1, 469, 470.

5 PREPARATION FOR THE SECOND COMING

  • What type of dietary practices are needed by the faithful as a whole before the second coming of Jesus? I Corinthians 9:25–27.

Note: “Had they [the Israelites] been willing to deny appetite in obedience to His [God’s] restrictions, feebleness and disease would have been unknown among them. Their descendants would have possessed physical and mental strength. They would have had clear perceptions of truth and duty, keen discrimination, and sound judgment. But they were unwilling to submit to God’s requirements, and they failed to reach the standard He had set for them, and to receive the blessings that might have been theirs.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 378.

“Every careless action, any abuse put upon the wonderful mechanism by disregarding [God’s] specified laws of the human habitation is a violation of God’s law. This law embraces the treatment of the entire being.” Healthful Living, 20.

“Adam fell by the indulgence of appetite; Christ overcame by the denial of appetite. And our only hope of regaining Eden is through firm self-control.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 167.

“Again and again I have been shown that God is trying to lead us back, step by step, to His original design—that man should subsist upon the natural products of the earth. 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 the light which God has been pleased to give us. All who are connected with our health institutions especially should be educating themselves to subsist on fruits, grains, and vegetables.” Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 119.

  • What type of character does this translation diet foster? Ephesians 5:26, 27.

Note: “It is impossible for those who indulge the appetite to attain to Christian perfection.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 400.

“Men need to think less about what they shall eat and drink, of temporal food, and much more in regard to the food from heaven, that will give tone and vitality to the whole religious experience.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 90.

REVIEW AND THOUGHT QUESTIONS

1 What is the relationship between one’s diet and spirituality?

2 As the people of God have entered the final period of the Christian era, what has been preserved in heaven to guide them during this time?

3 What restriction was placed on Israel on the Day of Atonement? How are we to fulfill its antitype today?

4 In order for true reformation to succeed, where must it begin?

5 How does our diet prepare us for translation to our heavenly home?

Extra Reading

“The unbelief and murmurings of the children of Israel illustrate the people of God now upon the earth. Many look back to them, and marvel at their unbelief and continual murmurings, after the Lord had done so much for them, in giving them repeated evidences of His love and care for them. They think that they should not have proved ungrateful. But some who thus think, murmur and repine at things of less consequence. They do not know themselves. God frequently proves them, and tries their faith in small things; and they do not endure the trial any better than did ancient Israel.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, 223.

“Those who indulge appetite … need to wake up and reason from cause to effect. They need to realize that they are disease producers because of their ignorance upon the subject of proper eating, drinking, and dressing.” Temperance, 196.

“Modern Israel are in greater danger of forgetting God and being led into idolatry than were His ancient people. Many idols are worshipped, even by professed Sabbathkeepers. God especially charged His ancient people to guard against idolatry, for if they should be led away from serving the living God, His curse would rest upon them, while if they would love Him with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might, He would abundantly bless them in basket and in store, and would remove sickness from the midst of them.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 609.

“In the past God has raised up men, and He still has men of opportunity waiting, prepared to do His bidding—men who will go through restrictions which are only as walls daubed with untempered mortar. When God puts His Spirit upon men, they will work. They will proclaim the word of the Lord; they will lift up their voice like a trumpet. The truth will not be diminished or lose its power in their hands. They will show the people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 411.

“Our God is a jealous God, He will have a clean, pure and holy people.” The Review and Herald, June 12, 1855.

© 2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.