2021-02-11
Leviticus 7:23 NLT
God warned His people about the dangers associated with animal fat. If you’re hooked on fried or fatty foods, check out this Scripture: “Give the following instructions to…Israel. You must never eat fat, whether from cattle, sheep, or goats. The fat of an animal found dead or torn to pieces by wild animals must never be eaten, though it may be used for any other purpose” (vv. 22-24 NLT).
While polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats found mostly in plant-based foods and oils promote dietary health, the kind of fat in many of the foods we eat are saturated and trans fats which raise dietary cholesterol, a major risk factor for coronary disease which leads to stroke and heart attacks. In reference also to prostate cancer, a study by the University of Pennsylvania cancer center stated, “The fourth most common cause of cancer among men may be related to saturated fat consumption.”
God also gave His people laws of hygiene. “When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall…bathe his body in running water” (Leviticus 15:13 NKJV). In the eighteenth century, three out of ten mothers died following childbirth, even though they seemed healthy. Why? Because back then doctors routinely examined the bodies of corpses, then without washing their hands, moved on to the maternity ward where they examined expectant mothers. “Microscopic disease” was unknown until 1845, when Ignaz Semmelweis, a Viennese doctor dubbed “the Saviour of mothers,” introduced hand-washing in “running water” with chlorinated lime solution, and the death rate from childbed fever plummeted.
Bottom line: living by the principles of Scripture will keep you healthy.
Soul food: Rom 12-14; Matt 13:47-58; Ps 141; Prov 4:18-19
2021-02-10
Proverbs 14:30 NLT
In the last half century, doctors have come to understand and emphasize the correlation between mental and physical health. Yet the Bible talked about it over three thousand years ago when King Solomon gave us these four proverbs: (1) “A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.” (2) “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health” (Proverbs 15:30 NLT). (3) “Kind words are like honey – sweet to the soul and healthy for the body” (Proverbs 16:24 NLT). (4) “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength” (Proverbs 17:22 NLT).
These Scriptures could be summed up like this: a faith-filled attitude (focusing on what’s good instead of what’s bad), laughter (the ability to rejoice), and spoken words of encouragement have a profound effect on your health (and the health of those around you). What’s the antidote for stress? Serenity! What’s the remedy for fear? Faith! And where do serenity and faith come from? God!
David was in bad shape when he wrote, “I begged the Lord for mercy, saying, ‘What will you gain if I die, if I sink into the grave?'” (Psalm 30:8-9 NLT). We don’t know whether he was stressed-out mentally, or if he was physically ill. But God intervened, and later in the same psalm David wrote, “You have turned my mourning into…dancing. You have…clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent” (vv. 11-12 NLT).
There’s no doubt about it – your thinking has a profound effect on your health!
Soul food: Rom 9:17-11:36; Matt 13:36-46; Ps 138; Prov 4:14-17
2021-02-09
Romans 8:15 NLT
If you’re adopted, that means your parents chose you. They could have picked a different gender, color, or ancestry. But they selected you. You say, “But if they could have foreseen the rest of my life, they might have changed their minds.” That’s the point exactly!
God saw our entire lives from beginning to end, and He was still convinced “to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:5 NLT). We can now live “like God’s very own children, adopted into…his family, and calling to him, ‘Father, Father’…And since we are his children, we will share his treasures – for all God gives to his Son Jesus is now ours too” (Romans 8:15, 17 TLB).
God doesn’t accept you because of your pedigree. And He doesn’t reject you because of your divorce, deficiencies, debt, or dumb choices. You’re His redeemed child. You can call him “Abba,” which means “daddy” or “papa.” You “may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Ephesians 3:12 NIV). And that’s so, on your bad days as well as your good ones. And it gets better. Your adoption is horizontal as well as vertical. You’re now a member of His redeemed family. Dividing walls of hostility are broken down, and community is created on the basis of a common father. Instant family worldwide!
If God loves you, you must be worth loving. If He wants to have you in His kingdom, then you must be worth having. God’s grace invites you – no, requires you – to change your attitude about yourself and take sides with God against your feelings of rejection and unworthiness. You’re accepted, loved, and secure!
Soul food: Rom 7:1-9:16; Matt 13:24-35; Ps 134; Prov 4:5-13
2021-02-08
2 Timothy 4:7 NIV
In Mount Hope Cemetery, Hiawatha, Kansas, you’ll find several large gravestones erected by John Milburn Davis. Davis began his working life as a lowly hired hand and managed to amass a considerable fortune. In the process, he didn’t make many friends. Nor was he close to his wife’s family, since they thought she had married beneath herself. Embittered, he vowed not to leave them a penny.
When his wife died, Davis erected an elaborate statue depicting himself and her sitting at opposite ends of a love seat. He was so pleased with it that he planned a second monument, showing his wife kneeling to place a wreath at his future graveside. Then he had a sculptor place a set of wings on her back. One idea led to another, until he had spent a quarter-of-a-million dollars on tributes to his wife and himself.
When people asked him to contribute to the local hospital, or a swimming pool for children, etc., the old miser would say, “What’s this town ever done for me?” Davis spent his life’s fortune on statues and died at ninety-two as a lonely, grim-faced resident of the poorhouse. And what happened to his monuments? Each and every one of them is slowly sinking into the Kansas soil – victims of time, vandalism, and neglect; memorials to spite and self-centered living.
There’s a certain poetic justice in the fact that within a few years they’ll all be gone. Oh, by the way, only one person attended farmer Davis’s funeral – Horace England, the tombstone salesman! Don’t let that happen to you; make your life count for God!
Soul food: Rom 3:21-6:23; Matt 13:10-23; Ps 125; Prov 4:3-4
2021-02-07
2 Corinthians 11:3 NIV
Paul writes, “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray.”
Temptation always begins in your mind, and in order to protect it, you need to dwell on God’s Word. It was Satan who planted the idea in Eve’s mind to eat the forbidden fruit. Eve wasn’t standing around trying to figure out how to disobey God. So remember when you’re tempted, it’s not God speaking to you. The new nature you have from God doesn’t think that way. The Devil studies you in the same way an experienced coach studies the game videos of the opposing team. And because he does, he knows your weak spots and which temptations have the best chance of success. How many times have you said, “I promised myself I would never do that again?” Yet you did it. That’s because Satan knows what works on you.
But you don’t have to go around feeling defenseless and discouraged. The Bible says: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV).
Satan waits until your defenses are down before he strikes, but God always provides “a way out.” For every temptation you’ll ever face, God has an escape hatch. That means while you’ll never be exempt from temptation, you can be victorious over it. And once Satan discovers his tactics no longer work, he goes looking elsewhere.
Soul food: 1 Kings 3:4-28; James 1:2-8
2021-02-06
Luke 19:8 NIV
If you’ve defrauded someone, God expects you to make restitution. Don’t sweep it under the rug and try to save face. Zacchaeus was a first-century con artist who worked for the Romans collecting taxes from his own people, the Jews. He fleeced everything that walked. The Bible says he was rich (v. 2 NKJV). Filthy rich! But after spending a night with Jesus, he was radically changed. How do we know this? Because he said: “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus taught, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8 NIV).
But sometimes it’s not possible to make amends to the person you’ve hurt. What if they’re dead? What if you had an affair with someone else’s spouse? Should you go back and tell their husband or wife about it so you can feel less guilty? No, you’d break their heart and maybe destroy their home. So what should you do? Pray and receive God’s forgiveness (See 1 John 1:7-9). And if you still feel troubled about it, talk to your pastor, or a Christian counselor, or a mature friend who can handle it. James writes, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16 NIV).
The point is, you must be willing to make amends when it’s possible, and willing to incur the cost to make things right. If you do that, God will bless you and you can live with a clear conscience concerning it.
Soul food: Rom 1:1-3:20; Matt 13:1-9; Ps 67; Prov 4:1-2
