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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In the Beginning

On February 3, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

John 1: 1

In the beginning was the Word.

As I journey through life, I find there are few people who don’t need healing in some part of their body. This Word of the Day devotional actually began because of this truth. In 2006 my father died of cancer. Within months of his passing, my brother was diagnosed with cancer. I knew immediately that he needed to hear what the Lord had to say about healing.

As you are undoubtedly aware, there is a great deal of misinformation and confusion out there about God’s will and thoughts on healing. When we, or a loved one becomes sick, we turn to prayer relying on God’s mercy to save us. At the same time, I frequently hear people accrediting their sickness to God. That is schizophrenic at best. Why should we pray to the one responsible for our sickness for relief from same? Yet, this incorrect theology plagues the church. When people die, some attribute their passing to God thinking it must be God’s will even though the Bible says differently. It is clear from these statements and ideas that we are confused about God’s position on healing, health, life and death.

In 2006 when my brother received his diagnosis, I thought to send him a list of verses on healing. My first thought was just to send the list of verse citations like Proverb 4: 22, Jeremiah 30: 17 etc. I had a Word document with the healing verses listed. No sooner had the thought formed in my mind, though, than I came to understand how overwhelming a long list of citations could be. So, I quickly revised my plan to sending one citation a day. Instantly I realized that to make the Word meaningful, I must make it accessible, so I decided to type out the verse itself rather than just sending the cite. Okay, I was on the right path. However, I couldn’t finish that thought before this other one occurred to me; my brother was not the only person who needed to have the healing scriptures. Then I realized that lots of folks had some ache or illness that needed the touch of God. So, the epiphany was in full bloom, finally. I would send a healing verse, one a day, typed out with the verse citation to anyone who wanted to receive them. Thus, the Word of the Day was born.

As I type this, I am both reminiscent of those early revelations and aware there are new ones coming to light even as I type. Clearly, this is about God’s desire to heal His children, but in that brief story, I, you, we, see how He speaks to us. That entire idea about sending the healing verses, even with all its revisions probably took less than one minute to come to me. Even as one iteration began to be revealed, the next one was awakening. God took me to His desired end in a matter of seconds even though my brain had to go through a sequence of ideas. Further, the ideas did not have to develop into full sentences like one would speak them. No, it was more like they flashed, fully formed, onto the screen of my mind. I saw them in an instant and then the Father moved on. I guess it might have been more like a very quick slide show. As soon as I grasped the idea or image, He moved to the next. It is a lesson in God communication. He can transfer tomes of revelation to us in a moment. Also, even though the ideas were “like” sentences to me, the message really was visual. I find that fascinating. Yahweh knows I am more of a linguist than artist, so He used words to paint the picture on my mind’s canvas. Amazing!

I hope you have enjoyed this story, but I have additional purpose for bringing it to you today. This introduces a new series we will begin. It is a series on healing combined with some attendant faith scriptures which are necessary for applying our faith for healing. I will be trusting the Lord each day for a fresh, anointed message on each scripture which is full of His revelation on healing. I expect Him to tell us things we haven’t known before. This is a personal series and not intended for your intellect. This series is meant for integration with your spirit. I pray these verses and the explanations Father provides will bless every hearer of the Word. This may be a good time to invite someone to the Word of the Day. Who do you know that could benefit from hearing God’s Word on healing?

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Words, Deeds and Seeds

On August 23, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 12: 14

A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, and the deeds of a man’s hands will return to him.

You will see this proverb again. Because there were so many good verses to choose from, I will return here after Labor Day when we resume our normal schedule. I have added a link for the entire proverb again so you can see for yourself how rich it is.

God’s kingdom works differently than the world system. The Bible is an instruction manual leading us into the truths of life. In today’s verse we are given a great insight but as we look at it closely we find that it stands in direct opposition to the way most of us have been taught.

This passage reveals that success comes from our words, rather than our hands. Our hands, it says, are sowers of seed. Now, of course, seed bears a crop. That crop will be good if the seed was good or bad if the seed was bad. So, I am thinking of this verse as identifying that what you sow with your actions will return to you. Sow kindness, reap kindness. Sow selfishness, reap selfishness.

Your success, though, is in your mouth. What are you saying??? We cannot be overly cautious about the words of our mouths. I know sometimes we use phrases in a joking manner but honestly, why would we do that? Why would we say stupid stuff even in jest?  When I read that a person’s life is filled with the fruit of his words it warns me that I should guard my mouth and ALL the words I speak. For example, I am never “scared to death.” And, you may be annoying me but I don’t need to say, “You’re killing me here.” There are dozens of examples in that vein but let’s shift gears a bit. We do the same thing with our health and our welfare. “I’m so broke I can’t pay attention.” Look again at the verse. We are filled with good by the fruit of our words. Therefore, we must speak good, and that means speaking good about our financial wellbeing, our health, and every other aspect of life. “God blesses me in everything I do. The blessing of God is following me around. God blesses my pocketbook. God meets my every need.” Those statements are just as easy to say as anything else and they are not only true, but they are ultimate truth.

Tune in to the power in your words. Speak prosperity, health and wholeness. Meanwhile sow good seed with your actions. Be kind to others considering their needs above your own (Philippians 2: 3). Sow generosity, tolerance and patience. These shall return to you.

Proverb 12

 

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Carried Away

On March 31, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 8: 16 – 17

And when evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES, AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.”

What do you love about this verse? We’ve read this before, but it has taken on new meaning in this current viral situation. Or, at least it’s importance and meaning are more present in our thinking. Personally, I love the part that says he carried away our diseases. Now that is something we can pray. In this verse, our Father has given us a prayer for eradicating the Corona virus. Do you see that?

I am in the mountains for a prolonged period of study and prayer. I was about to pick up the book I brought to read but saw my Bible lying there and just had a desire come over me to pick it up and hold it in my hands. I wanted to feel the leather cover and hear the sound the pages make. As I picked it up, it fell open to this verse. I was immediately impressed with this verse and God’s goodness.

He is sending us a verse so that not only can we be encouraged but also because it is a tool, even a weapon if you prefer. We have a new prayer. It is not only about having been healed, receiving our healing or even praying for the health of others. God, our compassionate Father, is telling us that we can pray for Jesus to carry away this disease. He is sending us a prayer and asking us to get into agreement with Him. Who can see this? Please shout back to me to let me know I am getting this through as the Lord is showing it to me.

How can I say it other than our Beloved Father and Lord has sent us a prayer for us all to pray, together? Jesus will carry this virus away. Where he carries it, I don’t know or care. I just know that Yahweh has sent us a point of contact. We can visualize Jesus and his angels roaming throughout the earth collecting all of the contagion and carting it out of the earth. You can see the angels destroying it with their flame throwers. There is a way out of this, and God has, this day, provided it. Use it.

We have transitioned from an Ivey Ministries prayer team to a prayer army. It is a necessary step at this time, but we need you. We need collective prayer, an army of pray-ers all praying in unison, praying the same thing from the same vision. Join our warrior army. Do not be bashful, be faithful. You have been called for this time. Now pull out your prayer guns and let’s get to work. This is not hard work either. I will send you an email of prayer requests – you pray. Easy peasy.

Reply to this email telling me you are willing to join our prayer force. Alternatively, email me at irorie@iveyministries.org. And, get your friends of faith to join us. This is a time for us to join together, so solicit every faith person you know. Together we can overcome this much faster than if we let the world deal with it. Our Father has indicated that He is ready if we will only cooperate with Him. Let’s do this!

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Immune Boost

On March 24, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

Proverb 4: 20-23

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their whole body.

I know I said I wasn’t going to send out the Word of the Day this week but there is something that is really nagging me. There are a couple of things which seem to be missing from the national dialogue. One of those is that there are things you can do to boost your immunity. This is not an exhaustive list. To the point, you may think of other things you would add, including anything which increases inflammation in the body. This is a good starting point, however.  I consulted my friend, Ann Musico https://www.threedimensionalvitality.com, on what we can do to boost our immune systems. Here is our collaboration.

• Drink lots water: of course, purified, filtered water is best. Alternatives to water are unsweetened tea and unsweetened coffee. If you must have a sweetener, use stevia. We make our iced tea with decaffeinated green tea and love it. No sugar at all and it’s still good to this southerner.

• Dr. Don Colbert advises drinking hot fluids.

• Use probiotics: they build gut health where most of your immune system resides.

• Take a good multi-vitamin: that means not man-made but derived from natural sources.

• Vitamin C – Ann says she takes 5-6,000 mg on a regular basis and more when fighting something off. Check with your doctor on dosage amounts.

• Get good sleep: It is best to sleep during the nighttime hours and get 8 hours of sleep.

• Eat wholesome food: meaning whole real food. If it is a box, it’s not a real food. I think of it this way, eat it like God made it. An apple should still look like an apple.

• Do not stress or panic: stress, worry, anxiety and panic suppress the immune system. Pray and get your believer level up.

• Avoid sugar: it suppresses the immune system.

• Get regular exercise: just move your body. There are lots of ways you can move. Sit in a chair, but just as your bum touches, stand back up. Clean the house, clean the garage, walk around the exterior of your house. You get the idea. Don’t make this difficult. Just get off the couch at least every hour.

• Add zinc to your diet.

• Also, check out Dr. Axe online: He has additional suggestions.

The short and long of it is that you do not have to be a sitting duck. You can defend yourself and your family. Need I say, pray. That is your first line of defense but additionally, do the things Yahweh has taught us in order to support and strengthen your immune system. Drink lots of water, it bears repeating. When God gives us wisdom it is Him protecting us. Apply His medicinal wisdom and be whole.

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Fear, Go!

On March 12, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   2 Comments

Judges 6:23

The LORD said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.”

I must write again on the Corona virus, or more to the point, the spread of the virus. I have been amazed at the reaction to this virus. It seems that the reaction has been stronger than with previous contagious diseases. This has moved me to tell you one thing which feeds and spreads the virus at least as much as any other factor. Fear.

Fear is fueling the spread of Covid 19. One of my friends brought up a good point recently. The Corona virus has a name and every name must bow to the name of Jesus. Jesus is the pinnacle. He and his name are the highest things in this or any other universe. Everything, including Covid 19, must bow to Jesus, but fear is powerful.

Do you remember that Job realized that his dread had drawn the very thing he feared to him? He finally learned that faith in the Father overcomes fear and all its contaminates. Faith presides over the faithful and there is no fear in faith.

Whose banner are we flying? Even as Christians we may find ourselves falling in fear rather than standing in faith. You’ve got to say, “This virus shall not touch me or my family. We are immune to its effects.” No disease, no pestilence or plague has any right to touch your body. I don’t expect you to be foolish. Wash your hands, but tell other people and yourself that your God is bigger than any virus this planet has ever bred. Let faith words come out of your mouth. Say, “God’s protection is over my family and Father, I thank you that no disease can come near my family.” You have a promise of health. Use it! Don’t just sit and be a passive victim. Speak! You gotta say something. What will you say? Will they be fear words or faith words?

This is a great evangelical opportunity. Share the love of God. Give people the good news. Dig out some protection verses and some healing verses and make a stand. You know, you can go to our website and run a search and find lots of verses and support.

I am telling you, fear is spreading this virus. Control the fear and you will control the virus. Control the fear and you will eliminate the virus. Let the people of faith stand up and say something. My God is bigger than a virus. He is salvation to all people. Will we be counted in this time of crisis or will we be silent? May the earth tremble with our united voice. Our God, Yahweh, is King. He presides over all and everything that is named must bow to Him. He is health. He is wellness and there is no fear in Him.

I shall not fear! Will you encourage someone today with your bold faith?

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