Promised Health

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.

Temple Guard

Psalm 141: 3

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Yesterday we talked about longevity. You should expect to live a long life and be vital and vibrant. You have God’s promise on that. It is His will. Yet, we are not all living in God’s perfect will. Why not?

Yahweh sent the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth. He is our teacher. What that means to us is that He reveals God’s wisdom to us. The Holy Spirit leads us into success by leading us in wisdom. This relates to long life and health as well.

So, take today’s scripture. What does it have to do with longevity? Well, the first thing is that what you speak from your mouth is going to determine the results you get. If you are trash talking about your life and life expectancy, then garbage will be the result. If however, you take God at His word and let His words about you come out of your mouth, then you are going to build a healthy life. This is pretty basic, but essential, Christianity. Therefore, we pray and ask God to set a guard over our mouths so that we speak only right words about ourselves and our bodies.

Here is the second application of today’s verse and it goes right to the matter of health and long life. As God guards what comes out of our mouths, so can He protect us from what we put in our mouths. As garbage words taint our well-being, so do the things we put in our mouths. Study after study and author after author informs us that most (though some claim all) disease and physical dysfunction is caused by poor diet. We’ve gotta get a revelation folks. Part of the reason there were no infirm among the Israelites is because they did not eat garbage. Father even cooked for them, providing them manna each day, so they could continue on their way in full vigor.

This is where the Spirit of Truth comes in. If you will listen, he will lead you into all truth about diet. I laugh because, as far as I know, we are the only creature on earth that doesn’t know what food to eat. How many books have wolves had to read in order to establish their diet? Now, let me tell you the whole truth. The Spirit may lead you to a book. He may lead you to a friend. These are some of the ways the Spirit leads us into truth. And we must diligently listen to him as he guides us to those resources. Let me be one of those friends and give you my own personal piece of advice. Seek wisdom, seek her as treasure, as the Bible says, but also pray at the grocery store. Certainly, my advisors would tell me to have a plan and a list when I go to the store, but I am not going into that dangerous place without the Holy Spirit. No way! In fact, if you hear someone praying in tongues in the next aisle, it is probably me. The grocery store is like the Temple of Doom if you do not know how to navigate the booby traps. Here’s my advice. Don’t be a booby. Put on your Indiana Jones hat and take the Spirit with you, making sure to follow him closely. Wrong steps in that place are causing Americans their lives. Let’s change that.

We want to live long lives and still be physically and mentally able throughout. So, set a guard over your mouth. Give the Spirit permission to counsel you about your diet and hearken to his voice. Be whole, my friends. Be whole and healthy in Jesus.

Divine Diet

Ezekiel 2: 7

But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are a rebellious people.

Every pastor faces the uncomfortable time when God has given her or him a message that he or she believes will not be received with gratitude by the congregation. None the less, as God told Ezekiel, that message must be delivered.

We can all be rebellious in our own right. There may be certain days when we are not as receptive or obedient as we should be. There are also certain topics to which we shut our hearts. However, we really need to make a pact with ourselves that we will soften our hearts and hear the message the minister has been given. In order for us to do that, we must first have confidence that our pastor is hearing from God. If you cannot say for certainty that your pastor is receiving his messages from God, then you must ask yourself why you are attending that church or listening to that particular minister.

The minister’s job, which I believe is clearly demonstrated in this passage, is to take from God and give whatever they receive to the people under her charge. Ministers must take the time to condition their hearts and the time necessary to hear from God. This is something we should all do but the minister spends more time in this pursuit than most people have to dedicate to the purpose. Ministers have an important role. Each person has a specific call on their lives for serving God and the body of Christ. The minister is supposed to help each person fulfill their personal destiny by delivering the Anointed Word of God to them.

If you are a pastor, teacher or other minister who has been called and anointed of God then I wish to encourage you today to deliver the words God has given you. It is not always easy as I appreciate. You may run into some resistance. However, there may be one person within the reach of your voice who is awaiting that very message. Further, we must agree together that the Holy Spirit will prepare the people’s hearts. You do your job and trust the Holy Spirit to do his. Also, do what you have to do to hear the voice of God. Your congregation does not need your wisdom. They need your anointing and your obedience to your anointing. They do not need cute anecdotes. Although they are good icebreakers, we cannot live on the cute stories. Pastor, feed on the word and the voice of God. Then deliver that food to those entrusted to you.

If your calling is not in full-time ministry there are two encouragements I wish to give you today. First, accept that you are, none the less, called into ministry. Everyone is. Secondly, do not let a tough message discourage you. You are made of sterner stuff than that. God is imparting life to you. Sometimes, though, we need a bit of jolt to awaken us. Trust your pastor or if you don’t then change churches. If you believe your pastor is hearing from God, then you would be a fool not to listen to him, right?

We all need the bread of life. To the extent we are deprived of it we are dying in some way. We need God’s Word and receiving it is a major reason for church services. You must be fed. Make it your determined purpose to feast at God’s divine table. Nourish yourself according to His nutritional plan. He is serving life.