Temple Guard

On March 22, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

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.

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Life and Health

On December 12, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a 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.

Sometimes there is a war raging in your body. It is the battle between sickness and health. I know for many of you that daily battle is very real. It is not very different from the war that rages around us in the world, the war between good and evil. That war is being played out in a very real sense in your body. Well, we have something to say about the outcome. Our Father has given us some weapons of warfare. One passage says that, “He sent His word and healed them” (Psalm 107: 20).

We do not understand at the deepest levels yet how this works but we know it to work. Nor am I here to try to explain it today. But this we know, God’s word does heal. The thing is, you have to take it like medicine. In other words, you have to take regular doses for it to work. What is regular? Perhaps it depends upon the size of the battle you are in but I would think it careless to prescribe less than daily doses. Three times a day is not too much if you are in a real struggle. As you feed your body the Word, you arm it with the weapon it needs to fight sickness and sustenance with which it sustains itself. You also shore up your mind for the fight.

Believe me, the agents of sickness and disease are out there trying their best to destroy the children of God. We need the protections and armament provided us by the Father. Light and darkness cannot exist in the same space so send the forces of darkness to flight by shining more light into every area where you are challenged. Let the word of God be a lamp unto your feet and all your life.

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Paying Attention

On May 15, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 4: 20 – 22

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.

This is probably the most well-known of the proverbs. It is quoted often because it contains such powerful truths. If we will take this proverb at face value and apply it to our lives then we will enjoy the fruit it yields. All too often, though, these passages become mere words in our ears. We hear them, we can quote them but they have lost all meaning. Perhaps today we can resurrect this proverb allowing it to breathe new life into us.

The truth is that everyday modern science is proving the potency of these ancient scriptures. The wisdom God gave us from the start is being shown to be absolutely accurate. His words and His sayings are giving life to people’s bodies. Prayer is being quantitatively measured and we are beginning to understand from a Quantum Physics perspective how right God was all along. I believe that means that those who have and can apply wisdom will not wait for science to prove the next parable or proverb but will accept them at face value and apply the age old advice offered in the Proverbs and, indeed, in the whole Bible.

The first admonition of today’s proverb is to pay attention to God’s words. This must be the starting point for all serious Christians. God’s Words are containers of His truths and thus of His power. Applying His power, authority and wisdom to any situation can only improve its status.

The second major part of this passage bears close scrutiny though. We have rarely given serious consideration to the ideas contained therein. If you tell someone that keeping God’s words and sayings in their sight and in the midst of their heart will bring them life and give health to their whole body, they will readily agree with you. However, that is usually the end of it. Shouldn’t we give it a great deal more attention than quick assent. I mean, if I can tell you how to add life and health to your life, wouldn’t you want to pause and consider those thoughts more carefully? That is the essential advice that Solomon has tried to get across to us in this passage. STOP! And consider. What God is telling us is the way to increase life and bodily health. Pause and think about how these words could impact your life.

There is little time for sober thought these days. We are busy and our environment is so noisy that you can barely think. My gym has a TV in the dressing room. Even the gas station pollutes the air with TV news while I pump my gas. Did the forces of evil know that I pray while I pump gas? You would think so. In truth, it is hard to get away from the constant noise. Even in our few minutes of alone time, we think of someone we need or want to call or text. There needs to be a few minutes in each day when you actually think, when other stimulation is not bombarding your senses so that you can actually consider God and what He might want to say to you today. You should guard those moments for they are precious. Take time to ponder. Enjoy a few minutes to ask yourself how the Bible, God’s words, can become more real in your life today. What can you do to apply more of God’s wisdom to your life. Give the TV a pass for an hour and pick up your user’s guide to the human experience and allow God to minister healthy, life and blessing to your life today.

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Thinking Clearly

On April 10, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   1 Comment

Proverb 23: 7               NKJV

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

I cannot get this verse out of my mind so we might as well deal with it. Allow me to say, first, that there are several layers of this verse but I am only going to deal with one. That layer is that the thoughts of our hearts determine a great deal about us from our behaviors to our health.

God created a wondrous mechanism when He created us. The Human body is complex and wonderful. It is no surprise that God is the master healer because he created the machinery. He knows how it works. Therefore, we can find much wisdom for our bodies and our health in the “Operation Manual” He developed for us.

One of the things we are learning through modern medical science and quantum physics is that this statement from the 23rd Proverb is powerfully true and at a very basic level. The truth we are all trying to grasp is that the thoughts we have are imbued with the power to make themselves come to pass. Another way to say this is that the way we think in our hearts, the beliefs which we hold to be truth, will be our reality. If I think I get the flu every winter, then I am right. If I think I don’t get sick then, guess what, I rarely do.

If God knew what He was talking about when He had these words penned then we can change our reality by changing our heart beliefs. This is the essence of Heart Physics with Dr. Jim Richards. There is also a book by Dr. Joe Dispenza titled You are the Placebo and much more about the placebo effect and the power of believing.

If we can harness the power of our own minds and mouths, for that matter, we really can change our destinies and our health. I just imagine God saying, “There is healing for this” no matter the problem. Our emotions are impacting our health and everything around us. Our thoughts are controlling us and determining our future.

The question that keeps buzzing around in my brain is, “Father, what can we not do when we cooperate with you?” What if we really became intertwined with the Father. What if He became the Lord of our thoughts and our beliefs? If we could hear Him speak to us daily, what would He say to us? He might show us how to think about our bodies so as to promote healing. He would heal our emotions. He would teach us how to create the realities He planned for us by marrying our thoughts about us with His.

As we think in our hearts, so we shall be. I believe this. I do not believe or mean to say that we are the answer, but I deeply believe that God in us, the integration of us with the Holy One, is the answer to everything. I do believe that our beloved and wise Father built into us the machinery for success at every level including good health. I am convinced beyond any argument that He intended, and currently intends, for us to be healthy. I am also convinced, persuaded, that His intent is for us to be whole in every realm of life. Whole – nothing broken, nothing missing. Could it be that part of our lack, our falling short of the glory He designed for each one of us, is in the beliefs of our heart? Perhaps we fail because we fail to jump into His arms and trust Him for completeness. What will He do for us if we let Him? Maybe a key to today’s verse, and ultimately to everything we need and want, is how a man believes in his heart about God. Maybe if someone could convince us that God is safe and from that point of beginning we could abandon our religious thinking and finally approach Him with all our baggage, we could become the transformed butterfly which He sees when He looks at us. Maybe we could finally jump into His arms and receive His abundance. We would forsake the pew for His lap. Communion would cease being a ritual and would be a meal shared in the presence of and with the Father. If we could have the thoughts about ourselves that the Father thinks about us we could, and would, be truly free.

I hope you will meditate on this verse. I pray also that something in today’s devotional touched you in such a way that you find new and more intimate avenues to your Father. I welcome your comments. Be Blessed my friends, and be whole.

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Health and Healing

On October 31, 2016   /   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 all 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 healing, and then there is health. Yahweh, our Father is also known as Jehovah Rophe which is translated as either Jehovah heals or Jehovah my health. That is fascinating because, while they are similar offices, the names certainly imply a difference in application. Our father, who is our health, prefers that we walk in health. When we walk in health, we do not need healing. However, if we need a super-natural healing, just a one touch and you’re done, He can do that as well.

Today’s verse reveals God, our health. Since His plan was that we would walk in health, He is careful to give us the life strategy which will yield that end result. Therefore, He told the Israelites, “In order to walk in continual health, listen to my counsel. I will always lead you in the paths of health and wholeness.” He told them to give heed to His commandments, statutes and to follow His voice. Now some people will read this verse as a threat, as if God is saying do what I tell you or else I am going to curse you with plagues and disease. That is not the case at all. He was telling them to keep His words because He was telling them things that would prevent them from getting sick. He was leading them into wellness.

God was daily giving them the inside scoop on that which would make the Israelites healthy and wealthy and do know what, He is still doing that today. Some of the healing He wishes to give to us comes by way of lifestyle changes. Maybe He wants you to give up soft drinks or smoking. Maybe He is encouraging you to drink water everyday or take a walk. There are so many things He is trying to teach His people today about living healthy. Some of us, though, are so busy praying for a supernatural healing that we cannot hear His counsel on health. One minor adjustment in your diet may be all you need to restore you to health.

Quiet yourself down and listen to the voice of God in your heart. Pray while you grocery shop. If you will tune into God’s voice I believe you will hear him telling you many ways to be healthy. He will also lead you to scripture after scripture with wisdom for health. God’s will is for you to be healthy and whole so He always seeks to lead you in that direction. Hearken to the voice of the Lord and be made whole.

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Healthy Advice

On October 7, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

2 Chronicles 16: 12

And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa became diseased in his feet. His disease was severe, yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.

How completely idiotic does Asa seem to you? Of course, this is what most of us do but it sounds really goofy when it is written out. You can hear the incredulity in the author’s tone. 
 
What is your first reaction when you get sick? Do you run for your Bible? I wish I could say that I do but it is often an afterthought. If we do pray without ceasing, pray at all times, then it would only be natural for us to immediately put our symptoms at the Father’s feet. Our immediate impulse ought to be to tell our Father how we feel at any point in our daily conversation with Him. 
One gets the impression from this brief statement about Asa that he allowed his condition to worsen without inquiring of the Master Healer. I would wish that you would tell God about every symptom, no matter how minor as soon as we become aware of it. Certainly, though, as symptoms progress we should seek not only healing but the Father’s advice. Even in small matters there will be things He can tell us that will help us feel better. Mostly, however, we should seek the Lord’s face and with that comes His healing power. 
 
It is not wrong to seek the advice of physicians as Asa did in this passage. God gave us physicians and has revealed truth to them in order to help us. Asa’s problem, and ours, is that we seek the physician’s guidance without ever consulting the one who has all health knowledge and who created us in the first place. He knows how our bodies work better than anyone and everything that human beings know, they got from the Father. So, the moral of this story is that we should not limit getting our medical advice from the medical community only. We should inquire also of our Father and God.

God is able to supernaturally heal you. He is also willing and able to tell you remedies which you can employ on your own. Most of all, Don’t be an Asa. Don’t wait for your sickness or disease to grow severe before you begin to seek the Lord. If you will start out looking to Him, you can avoid a great deal of discomfort and that is always a good thing.

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Healed by Grace

On August 29, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 107: 20

He sent His word and healed them.

Query – does this mean supernatural, divine healing? What comes to your mind as you carefully ponder this verse? I believe in the supernatural power of God to touch you such that your healing manifests instantaneously. I have also learned, however, that there is an additional type of healing that our Father provides.

This type of healing is spiritually significant in that it takes prayer and communication with the Father to effectuate it. As you spend this extended time in the presence of the Lord you begin to learn about changes you can make in your life which will speed your healing on its way. Maybe in your quiet time with the Lord the thought floats upon your mind that you need to drink more water. Perhaps there are dietary adjustments Father would like to make with you. If you begin to feel better; if your joints work better from implementing God’s advice, does that make the solution any less spiritual? I think sometimes we want to continue in abusive patterns but expect the healing power of God to flow anyway. Is it possible that we, by our habits, are interfering with the healing power of God which is flowing in our veins? Worse still, do we pray on Sunday, have God start His flow of healing power and then quench it on Monday morning?

Speaking for myself only, I used to skip breakfast Monday morning, get to the office and start drinking coffee, drink coffee all day, rarely drink a glass of water and if I did it was not from a good clean source; then I would have junk for lunch and sit at my desk for 8 – 12 hours straight. Now, why was I surprised that I was physically challenged? My joints felt like they had concrete in them. It took me several minutes to straighten up after sitting or lying down. Was my problem that God’s healing power doesn’t work? Was it because when He sent His Word and healed them, He skipped me. And now that I have made many changes and feel amazingly better, is it because of my brilliance, my effort or is it simple obedience to God’s Word and guidance? Did He in fact heal me or did I?

Believe me, it has been a long journey back from the precipice and I am not done but I am so relieved not to be where I was. There is healing in the Word. God told us to give Him our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice (Romans 12: 2). Surely, He has also provided the means by which we can do so. He also told us that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth (John 14: 13). Now all truth must mean truths even beyond spiritual things, although, I am not sure that our Father would consider your health anything less than a spiritual matter. In fact, when it comes right down to it, is not everything ultimately a spiritual matter? My point is that the Holy Spirit has wisdom from the Father on every single thing in the world. So, the answer you need for your physical health and well-being may be found in prayer, no doubt, but do not be surprised if God gives you practical, earthly things to do.

You were meant to live a long, healthy life. This rubbish about beginning to fall apart at age 40, 50 or whatever arbitrary date people use is just that, rubbish. Moses was climbing mountains at age 120. I can make you this promise, God’s vision for you includes a healthy, well-functioning body. Now, let’s get in line with His Word and His counsel and grow strong in spirit and body.

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