My Valentine

On February 14, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

My Valentine for God

Will you please take this heart of mine?
Place it in your garden of love;
Please water it well with kindness
And feed with wisdom from above.
Take the ugliness from within,
Replace with understanding and light;
Then each day bless and hallow it,
That it may rest in peace at night.

Alma Hopkins

I am going to take a pause from our healing scriptures to send you this special Valentine.

This is another of those newspaper clippings found recently. There is no telling how long ago this was clipped from the paper or even which newspaper it is from. It is unique in that most of us don’t even get a newspaper and haven’t for a while. This is a bit like having a time machine and being able to go back in time. I want you to pause today and take this in. Imagine a newspaper even printing this today. Feel the paper in your hands and the smell of ink and paper. Enjoy this moment.

Then, really take in the content of the poem. Which word ministers most to you? For myself, I think it is that there is feeding and watering for my heart. That is an interesting concept.

Giving our heart into God’s hands is the safest place for it. Receiving His nurture just adds to it. I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day with your special (though not secret) valentine.

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Long and Full

On February 11, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 23: 26     NLT

I will give you long, full lives.

I want to go back to Exodus today to tie this point in with the blessing and our choices. Let’s think, again, about what is going on here.

God has liberated the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The people had a slave mentality, so the Father is having to teach them how to live with His presence and how to flourish. He is having to completely rebuild His nation, and this, really is, from the ground up. He has just taught them about the blessing of Abraham which is theirs by birth. He also warned them about the curse. Then He concluded by telling them that He has given them the choice between life and death but that, ultimately, it is their right to choose. This is of critical importance!

God very clearly articulates His will here. He wants to give us long, full lives. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full,” (John 10: 10 NIV). In this we see the continuity between the Father and the Son. God sent Jesus to earth so that we might have abundant, full lives. Now, why is this so important? For health to continue to bloom in our lives we must begin with the understanding that God wants us to have long full lives. We must settle in our hearts that God isn’t trying to kill us. Remember the story of Job and how He struggled. Once He came to understand the truth, he was able to receive full restoration. As long as He thought God was tormenting Him, He was defeated. The same will be true for us. One cannot pray in faith for healing if he has the misconception that God created his sickness. You cannot believe in your heart that God has made you sick and that he is going to heal you. The two beliefs are inconsistent and will destroy your faith.

Go one step further, if we believe that God has caused us to be sick, then that is to say we believe God’s will is for us to be ill. Why, then, would we pray for healing? That would be to pray against God’s will. This is why it is so important that we begin by accepting God’s desire for us to live long and fruitful lives.

Understanding God’s will also impacts how we think about life and death. Many people think God holds the threads of our lives like the fates, toying with us like stringed puppets. That just is not Biblical as you will continue to see as we move forward. Yesterday’s Word of the Day was the beginning of that revelation. God said, “I have set before you life and death, . . . choose life in order that you many live,” (Deuteronomy 30: 19). God gave us the choice. His will is that we live long, abundant lives. So, this means that we have to get out of our minds and hearts two things; First, that God is pulling our life springs and two that He is responsible for taking our lives from us. We are so accustomed to saying, “Well, if it’s God’s timing . . .” but now we know it is not God’s timing. Say this aloud, “God isn’t killing me!” We’ve got to get that down in our hearts. He isn’t “taking people.” He is trying to save people. It’s what He does! We, however, don’t have to follow His leading. We make our own choices. That is point number one. Beyond that is the curse. In God’s perfect will there was no sickness to be had, but the earth fell into corruption and decay and now we must live with those consequences.

Here is the promise of God, “I will give you long, full lives.”  Meditate on that night and day until your spirit accepts it as truth. God isn’t taking life; He is the giver or life. Long, full and abundant life is His desire for you. Pray towards that reality.

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Choose Life

On February 10, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding close to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, so that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.

So far, along this journey, we have seen that part of the Father’s health practice is to lead us into good choices. Yesterday we saw the blessing and the curse. Now, the Father says, very plainly that is up to us to choose between the blessing and the curse. One leads to life, the other leads to death. He has given us the right to choose.

The right to choose is killing us. Yep, I said it. God loves and honors us so much that He has guarded our freewill zealously. This is good news though because God has laid life before us.  The problem is that we are not always good stewards of our freewill. What’s worse is that when we make bad choices, and things go awry some people are quick to blame God. He is making it very plain in this passage that He is giving us the choice. He called all of heaven and earth to bear witness that He has set before us life and death. Then, amusingly, He gives us this bit of advice. “Choose life,” He tells us. Wow! Clearly He was concerned that someone might not make the right choice unaided.

This passage comes right on the heels of the explanation of the blessing. The blessing is life just as Jesus is life. It is to the Old Testament what our inheritance in Jesus is in the New. I like to think of it as a double measure of the blessing working in my body and my life. You should expect good things to happen in your life because the blessing is working in you.

Let us remind ourselves, though. The blessing “shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God.” Don’t think of this obedience as a harsh task master. In real life it becomes, listening to God and doing what He says. If He tells me something about my diet or exercise and I choose not to do it, then the blessing is going to be hampered in that area. He is not punishing me for disobedience. He has pointed out the way to reap blessing. It is all on me if I don’t do it.

There is the blessing in the land but there is also the curse. God lets you choose between them. You can follow Jesus to the promises like the Israelites followed Moses or you can choose to do your own thing. You can go back to Egypt for that matter, but remember, you cannot live in Egypt and enjoy the fruit of Canaan. So, choose, which shall it be, blessing or living in the land of the curse? Choose life. Follow Jesus so closely that he cannot get a moment alone. Have breakfast with him and call him to watch over you while you sleep. Ask him to speak to you in your dreams and chat with him throughout your day. Intertwining with him is the best way I know to choose life.

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Healthy Blessing

On February 9, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 28: 2,3, 5, 14 – 17, 61

2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God.
3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
14 And do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
15 But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to be careful to follow all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the country.
17 Cursed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.
61 Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the Lord will bring on you until you are destroyed.

Chapter 28 of Deuteronomy is where you find the blessing. It also shows what the curse holds. You would be well served to at least read verses 1 – 14 for yourself so that you understand what the blessing means in your life. I have chosen a few select verses to talk about sickness and health.

We already saw in yesterday’s verse that there were diseases in Egypt but that those are not for us. Today we will see that the blessing protects us from the diseases that are in the curse.

First, there is a condition which must be fulfilled, namely that we listen to the commandments of the Lord and obey them. When we do, our lives are ruled by the blessing. However, if we do not obey the words of the Lord, we subject ourselves to the curse. Obedience means we are blessed in the city and blessed in the country. Disobedience means the curse will impact us in the city and in the country, everywhere, in other words. Following God’s instructions brings blessing to our basket and kneading bowl while obstinance curses our food supply.

It is obvious that when we obey God and follow His guidance, we receive the exact opposite benefit of the impact of the curse. Do you agree? This is important when we get to verse 61 because it tells us the result rebellion has on health. The cost of rebellion is all the sickness and disease of Egypt. Therefore, I conclude the prize of obedience is avoidance of Egypt’s curse.

There is sickness in Egypt (the world) because the world does not listen to the counsel of the Lord. If we act like the world and follow the advice of the world, then we are going to reap the results of the world. We need to inquire of the Lord and listen to His wisdom. Then, importantly, we must do as He says. Sometimes what the Lord tells you to do will not make sense to you. Sometimes it may not even sound like faith. None the less, His wisdom will always lead to good results.

Here is one small example that you can relate to. We know that exercising is good for our health. Let’s suppose you have a goal to exercise every weekday and rest on the weekends. What if you get to Friday and there is a nagging thought about not working out? Perhaps your body feels tired. If you have faith, shouldn’t you be able to press on and meet your goals? Or maybe, that voice is God telling you that your body is ready for a rest day now. If you press on maybe you injure yourself. We need to be able to listen to Father’s daily guidance in our work, diet, exercise and even rest. You know, maybe He wants to make some changes in your schedule for better results. We’ve got to listen to Him and OBEY if we are going to live in the blessing. And, that is the Word of the Day for today – obey. So far that gives us an equation of inquire, listen and obey. Maybe it is, instead, a recipe, a recipe for the blessing.

Here is the point, God is your healer. That is what we shouldn’t lose sight of. He can, and does, heal supernaturally, but He also wants to help you avoid feeling bad in the first place. I am thinking of the 23rd Psalm and the picture it paints of the Great Shepherd’s care. Rest in His love and trust Him. There is the curse in the earth but, praise God, there is the blessing. Our beloved has provided blessing for every element of our lives including health. Let’s follow Him to the green pastures and fresh water of the blessing. Amen?

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Promised Health

On February 8, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 7:15

“And the Lord will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you.”

We are on the third verse of the healing series and here is what I have learned so far. Both of the first two verses seem to suggest that a key ingredient of health is listening to the voice of God. Now, I suppose that should not come as a surprise but at the beginning of this series, would you have expected that to be the first point Father expressed? And, don’t be surprised that I said that this is what I am learning because I am right there with you. The first verse said, “give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments,” (Exodus 15: 26), so I am asking and listening along with you.

Today’s verse comes from a section in Chapter 7 subtitled, Promises of God. So, now you can say you have a promise from God regarding healing. He promises He will remove sickness. Here is the interesting bit though. You can tell that verse 15 is a continuation of previous verses. It even seems that it might express the result of what came before and, in fact, this is true. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but maybe God does. You have to go back to verse 12 to find out the context of this passage. Verse 12 reads, “If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the LORD your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you.” How great is that!? Even more interesting is that the verses between 12 and 15 include blessing your food and drink. So, here we are again. If we will listen to the Lord our God and obey Him, He will remove sickness from our midst.

Do you remember that the Jews had specific dietary guidelines and that those differed from other populations? What is that about? Do you think those guidelines were exactly what these verses speak to? I am not suggesting that God is telling you to go kosher. I am saying that He speaks to His people, leading them to healthy choices. I want to be clear in this too, what He speaks to me may not be the same as what He speaks to you. Maybe one person is advised to give up dairy or wheat while others are not. What I am explicitly saying is that Yahweh wants to remove all sickness from you because of the love covenant He made with you. He leads us to good health because that is what love does. It is imperative that we learn to inquire of Him and then to listen and obey.

Now, here is the hard part, listening. Tell the truth, do you sometimes get a little nagging feeling down inside of you about what you are eating? Do you get thoughts that would lead in a particular direction if you heeded them? Or, perhaps you hear a thought go through your head about drinking more water or getting up and walking a bit. God is rarely a loud voice in your head. He is gentle, more often nudging than pushing. We all need to become experts at hearing God’s voice and that often begins by listening to some of the quiet thoughts which float across your mind.

God is removing sickness from among us, as He promised to do. Our part in the bargain seems to be listening to His commands and faithfully obeying them.

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Kneading Bowl

On February 7, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 23: 25

But you shall serve the Lord your God and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst.

How is your bread and water? God will bless your kneading bowl and your well so that you may enjoy good health.

This verse reminds me of Hippocrates who is considered the father of modern medicine. He is famously reputed to have said, “Let food be your medicine.” So, I hear, let your bread and water be your medicine per this verse, or let your food be your first health protocol.

Food quality and the quality of our food choices play a direct and proportional role in our health. When the quality of our food is compromised, then so becomes our health. It doesn’t take a physician of legendary importance to figure that one out. The fuel we feed our bodies is of primary significance and importance to our overall health. The human body was created with the ability to repair itself. However, it needs a full complement of nutrients in order to perform its vital functions. When we make poor dietary choices or the quality of our food is sub-par, then the body is robbed of the substances it needs to run the machinery, protect vital organs and repair itself.

In our first verse in this series, we saw God identifying Himself as our healer. The first way He fulfills this role is in blessing our food. The first thing today’s verse says is that if we will serve our Lord, He will bless our food and water. What I hear there is that we must learn inquire to of Him regarding food and to listen to Him as He coaches us. I have heard of people who have had God direct them in their diet. He can guide a person in specific ways. One person, I recall, heard God tell them not to drink coffee for a while. That is not a direction for everyone, it was specific to that person. Maybe there are specific foods your body does not tolerate well.

What is important here is to understand that the first way God fulfills the role of our healer is to coach us as to food and drink. We know that we cannot continue to put bad fuel in our bodies and reasonably expect it not to harm us. God created amazing physiology that cleans and restores the cells of our bodies but as we age, we find that years of pollution is getting the best of us slowly but surely. We don’t necessarily get sick because we age. It is simply a matter of time and that the body’s tolerances are being breached. So, not matter how old you are, health begins today by honoring God with our food choices. That not only means eliminating junk food. It also entails trying to buy foods which are not laden with toxic chemicals. The more organic choices you can make, the easier it is on your body and the better health you will enjoy.

Mostly, listen to God. Serve Him in your diet and allow Him to coach you. The Great Healer has advice which leads to blessing. He says plainly that He is removing sickness by blessing your food and drink. That does not mean He takes the damaging substance out of bad foods. It means He wants to lead you to where the blessing is. He will guide you in the way. Do you think it sounds silly to pray about food? I think it is crazy not to because our food is causing many problems physically. Bless the Lord, serve Him and receive health through the blessing of your kneading bowl.

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Egypt and Goshen

On February 4, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 15:26

And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the Lord, am your healer.”

There is, in this passage, a presumption of sickness. Do you agree? Why do we need a healer if there is not disease in the world? However, God makes a distinction here between the Egyptians (the world) and the Hebrews (believers). He reveals that believers are not subject to the curse.

Think about what was going on here. The Israelites were in slavery to the world, if you will. The Egyptians were their slave masters. God had called Moses out of exile to lead God’s people out of slavery and into the land of promise. The land of Egypt is cursed. God has sent plague, boils, gnats, frogs, locust, turned the river into blood, and rained down hail in such a violent storm that it killed everything which was outside, even trees. The curse is wreaking havoc in Egypt. God was available to remove the curse, even from the Egyptians if they would only obey His word. If Pharoah would only “earnest(ly) heed to the voice of . . . God” Egypt would be spared. However, Pharoah’s heart was hard, and he would not hear the Word of the Lord. His land was devastated as a result.

The curse is still operating in the world, but God would have us understand that the curse is for the Egyptians, not the Hebrews, i.e., for the world, not believers. When Moses lifted his staff in obedience to God, the plague struck Egypt. Meanwhile, over his shoulder, the land of Goshen, the place where the Hebrews lived, was untouched. God made a clear distinction. The thing which is interesting in this is that the land of Egypt didn’t have to suffer all those plagues either. God was willing to save them from their plight anytime they said so. Pharoah begged Moses to remove the frogs from the land. Moses agreed and told Pharoah, “You set the time!” (Exodus 8: 9) meaning that he would pray for the removal of the frogs whenever Pharoah wanted him to. Pharoah could have said, “Do it now!”, but he didn’t. He told Moses to pray tomorrow. What???? You see, Pharoah, like all people, had the right to remain under the curse or to be free of it. Why didn’t he say, “Pray now?” Why does anyone choose to live under the curse? See, even the Egyptians, even Pharoah himself could have chosen for the curse to leave his home. Instead, he opted for another day of frogs.

I know this is long but let me share one more bit from Exodus with you that goes right to the substance of today’s verse. I mentioned the hailstorm. You will find the account of it in chapter 9 of Exodus. What is so amazing about it is that God actually tried to save the Egyptians and their stock. He told them that a hailstorm was coming at “this time tomorrow.” He advised the Egyptians thusly, “Quick! Order your livestock and servants to come in from the fields. Every person or animal left outside will die beneath the hail,” (Exodus 9: 19). Isn’t that amazing? God warned the fools. He didn’t want to kill the Egyptians. He wanted them to listen to Him. They needed only to do as today’s scripture teaches, “Give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments.” Many people could have survived that day and their livestock too.

So, what is the message from today? Well, I believe it is in several parts and we will see them revisited. However, let us record these three points as we begin our journey. First, heed the voice of God. He is forever trying to steer us away from sickness and harm of every kind. I will say this now though we are sure to hear this again. Sometimes healing is in the advice God gives you and sometimes that comes through another person. It may be advice about diet, exercise or emotional well-being. If we ignore it, we get hailed upon and it is no fault of God’s. Second, the curse was never meant for believers. The curse is in the world, but you are supposed to be living in the land of Goshen, not Egypt. My advice, don’t go to Egypt. Don’t live in that space. Lastly, number three, God is our healer. He knows there is dis-ease in the world and that we need a healer. He has volunteered to be that person for us. That is not to say that He won’t use physical therapists and doctors and acupuncturists, etc., but first and foremost, He is our healer. He is the attending physician who coordinates all the other modalities.  We must begin with Him and constantly heed His advice.

This healing journey begins with these words, “Give earnest heed to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep His statutes.” The path of health starts here.

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