Journey On To Healing

Sweeter Than Honey- the bible and hypoglycemia

2010-08-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about hypoglycemia again today. {Why would I want to think about that?} Truthfully, I don't want to. Some days it seems like it's a nasty little voice that follows me around, trying to take advantage of my weak moments. And at other times it seems like a bad habit that I expect to occur. Sometimes it even seems like an idol- an idol that leads me to the honey jar? Yet- and idol that wants to wear down my life- one day at a time...

BUT! I'm also thinking tonight about how Jesus healed AND delivered.

I'm thinking about how Jesus is the Word of God. What the Word says, Jesus IS- and Jesus lives in me! I am storing up His Word in my heart... and His word speaks to every situation in our lives. His word speaks to me about hypoglycemia, and it transforms my situation!

I did a search on biblegateway.com for the word honey (they didn't have sugar in bible times) and these were some of the ones that 'stuck' with me. : )

Psalm 19:9-11

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.

-What I need to "relearn" here is that the Word of God is of the utmost importance-- When I really want a chocolate bar, what I need to do is run upstairs with my bible. But I haven't- I've just hovered around the cupboard. First mistake= not turning to God's word for help and strength.

Psalm 119:103

How sweet are Your Words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

-Again: the bible says that God's Word is BETTER than a sugar rush. This is what I've got to yield to! His Word is SWEETER!

Proverbs 16:24

Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.

-I noticed here it says "honeyCOMB", not just honey. Pure, unheated, untreated, organic, raw, natural honey in a comb is an entirely different substance than white sugar. Maybe that is worth noticing! Too much sugar can DETRACT from our bodies, but the bible says that honey (IN THE COMB) is HEALTH to our bones!! BUT, notice again this verse's emphasis on WORDS. Pleasant WORDS are sweetness to our very soul: those WORDS are health to our bones!! God's Word is of greater benefit to me than honey...

Proverbs 24:13-14

My son, eat honey because it is good, and the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste; so shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; if you have found it, there is a prospect, and your hope will not be cut off.

-So am I 'eating' the "knowledge of wisdom"? Am I feeding myself on God's hope filled word; savouring the sweetness of the 'knowledge of wisdom'? Or am I just turning to physical food for quick easy comfort? Food cannot offer me the PROSPECT and HOPE of verse 14. I must begin to turn to the scriptures instead.

Proverbs 25:16

Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, lest you be filled with it and vomit.

-Yes, that's a key, isn't it? How much did I actually NEED? Besides that, this scripture seems to discourage bingeing- don't overdo it on sugars. A blessing like the found honey in this verse is to be shared and distributed- not harbored for self, and eaten in secret. Food is not a substitute for love- we need to keep our focus on our own love of others and not on what we will get to eat. Basic stuff, I know, but it must be lived, not just "knowed".

Proverbs 25:27

It is not good to eat much honey; so to seek one's own glory is not glory.

-Again, honey (or any sweet) in EXCESS loses its categorization of "GOOD". Honey is good- but not eating TOO MUCH. And I'm sure I know when to draw that line. If my blood sugar actually was low, and I was having a hard time getting it right without a little boost, then how much did I NEED? Did I just use a "hypoglycemic moment" as an excuse to eat as much as I could, as fast as I could? Did I turn to God's word for the strength and help that He offered, or did I just go to the sugar first? Who is first with me?

Proverbs 27:7

A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

-Is this saying to me that the desperation in my heart has nothing to do with blood sugar, hormones, adrenaline levels or otherwise? That my soul is actually hungry for God's word, and if I am truly satisfied in Him, then the other things won't matter? Will have no allure?

I believe that this is true- that what I am really depleted of is the Holy Spirit's power; the Father's Love, and the true intimacy with Jesus Christ. Compared to these, sugar just can't cut it. And where do I find these? I go back to God's word. Nothing else can satisfy.

Jesus Called All Foods Clean, So Must I.

2010-05-31T06:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I posted, saying I had been thinking about food, and this morning these scriptures were in my morning bible reading:

Matthew 7:15 (Richard Weymouth translation- can be purchased at kcm.org)

"Listen to Me, all of you," He said, "and understand. There is nothing outside a man that entering into him can make him unclean; but it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean."

Matthew 7:18

"...do you not see that anything whatever that enters a man from outside cannot make him unclean, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach and passes away..." By these words Jesus pronounced all kinds of foods clean.

I think what the Lord is trying to speak to me here, is that it isn't what a person eats that is a sin, it is what they do; what they say. It is what they harbour in their heart: their intentions, and their thoughts.
Again I see that if something is going to change in my life (and right now I feel ready for some drastic change) then it isn't going to come through a mere dietary adjustment. It's got to be something that happens in my heart. Lord, by faith in Christ I surrender my heart (and my thoughts; and my speech) to you, even more than my diet today. By your grace, may I somehow exalt You, may my eyes be fixed on you, and not on what I eat.

Needing Much More Than a Sandwich

2010-05-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about food a lot lately. Some of it has been unecessary meditation on what must not be an idol to me, but some of it has been pondering God's heart on the subject, and wondering what His word says- rethinking the parts that I do know.
I started a book called What the Bible Says About Healthy Living, by Rex Russell. Page 18 talks about Deuteronomy 32:12-14 in which God lists certain foods that the Israelites ate in a time of prosperity. At the same time, I've also been participating in a Hallelujah Acres 60 day challenge, in which they email you a daily video. They teach that the bible promotes only a vegan diet- primarily raw. So I've been thinking on all this, and desiring sincerely God's miraculous truth. I want bible truth- the way God outlines it.
At this point, I am thinking it is somewhere in between the two- that yes, God's original design is a raw vegan diet. We see that in Genesis one. But my concern is that once we start eliminating foods, there will be no place to stop! We've got to count on our redemption in Christ as real- that since Christ is the fulfillment of the law, I can have God's blessing on my bread and water, and that all foods really are declared clean. Now if God cares more about the content of our hearts than our stomachs, then we can look at that Deuteronomy 32 scripture and see that one of the troubles the Israelites experienced at that time was that they began to idolize the food and not God- instead of using their place of fulness to love- to evangelize- to take dominion or be fruitful and multiply, or any other asignment that God may have had for them- the bible says they were gorged and sleek, and then they forsook their God. So the foods listed in that chapter, such as butter, curds, oil, honey, grapes and wheat- these were not the real problem, the real issue was that they forsook their God for a plush life. They ate until they were full, and then believed that they didn't need Him...
So I'm thinking that if God wants to adress something in my life, there is more required than that I just stop eating certain items. I've got to turn my heart back to Him.

A Quote- Use Your Faith, Eat Anything. Use Your Faith and Be Well.

2010-05-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

I posted a couple of quotes by Kenneth Hagin over at "healedofdepression", but this one was specifically about food intake, so I thought I'd post it here, seeing as I've posted so much here about my journey to healing from ibs.

Quote from What To Do When Faith Seems Weak and Victory Lost:

"So I would pray each time before I ate, 'Now Lord, the doctor says I need this. It is the right kind of food. There is food value in it. It is valuable to my physical being. So I pray and claim by faith that this food will have no ill effect upon me. I will not be sick in any way, shape, form, or fashion.' Then I ate it. I have been eating those same foods all these years since and and they have never yet made me sick. My faith worked. It worked because the scriptures teach that food is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:4-5). It worked because this was something that was good and necessary."

Now a scripture that I came across this morning, which seemed to be speaking to me about hypoglycemia (which I have been battling since this pregnancy started). Read it through, and you may see what I mean:

Phillipians 4:12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, wether well fed or hungry, wether living in plenty or in want.

So I thought this morning about my experience last night at the restaurant. We had a 40 minute wait, and then a relatively long wait for our meal, and by that time this pregnant momma was very hungry. My meal was brought to me with cheese when I had asked for no cheese (I am eating vegan) so it went back to the kitchen twice actually. I know it makes me sound kind of ungrateful (after all, it's a blessing to be eating out at all), but this kind of wait can truly be hard for a person who feels hypoglycemic. Yet when I read this scripture this morning, the part that leapt out to me was the SECRET OF BEING CONTENT. It says I can be content even when I am hungry! It says to me that the Lord knows that there will be times when we are hungry (as well as full) and there will be times we are in want (as well as in plenty), and He is saying that the way to combat it (hunger) is to be content! Contentment is a spiritual force that is greater than the physical force of hypoglycemia. Had I focused in on my gratefulness to be getting fed that day, and on loving my husband, or appreciating my waitress, I may have ended up feeling different than I did.

I need to meditate on this a bit more, but it encouraged me that there is a way out, and that it is outlined for me in God's word.

My body is the temple of Jehovah Rapha ("I Am The Lord Who Heals You")

2010-04-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

From 1 Corinthians 6, the J.B. Phillips translation of the New Testament.

As I Christian I may do anything, but that does not mean that everything is good for me. I may do everything, but I must not be a slave of anything. Food was meant for the stomach and the stomach for food; but God has no permanent purpose for either....

....Have you forgotten that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and is God's gift to you, and that you are not the owner of your own body? You have been bought, and at a price! Therefore bring glory to God in your body.

From 1 Corinthians 10, the J.B. Phillips translation.

No temptation has come your way that is too hard for flesh and blood to bear. But God can be trusted not to allow you to suffer any temptation beyond your powers of endurance. He will see to it that every temptation has its way out, so that it will be possible for you to bear it....

....As I have said before, the Christian position is this: I may do anything, but everything is not useful. Yes, I may do anything, but not everything is constructive. Let no man, then, set his own advantage as his objective, but rather the good of his neighbour. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without any question of conscience. The whole earth and all that is in it belongs to the Lord.....

....Now why should my freedome to eat be at the mercy of someone else's conscience? Or why should any evil be said of me when I have eaten food with gratitude, and have thanked God for it? Because whatever you do, eating or drinking or anything else, everything should be done to bring glory to God. Do nothing that might make men stumble....

Nothing is Unclean in and of Itself

2010-04-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

I just love Romans 14! Every time I read it, it seems to have something new in it for me.
I began this blog to record scriptures as I was going through a battle against IBS, and to make a record of what the Lord was teaching me as I believed Him for His healing. Today I am grateful to Him to say here that I have no diahrea at all any more. But I still want to grow in His grace, and His power to heal. I want to know His word more, for it is my life and my protection!
This is Romans 14 out of the J.B. Phillips translation of the New Testament. It is worth reading the whole thing.
(Because I couldn't get it to copy and paste for some reason, you'll have to copy the link to your adress bar, and scroll down that page till you get to Romans 14.)
http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CP06Romans2.htm

Time Away; Time to Think.

2009-12-22T19:33:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to get away with my family for a week. I knew it would be a sort of busy time, even though relaxing- because I wanted to spend time focusing on my children, and being there for them- I didn't want to just seclude myself with a book or such. But I asked God to speak to me, even if I wouldn't have a lot of extra time to devote to Him, and to just listening.
And what I found, was that as we did our family bible times, and as I did my personal devotions, I kept finding scriptures pop out at me. Scriptures on food, and eating, specifically. Which is why I post them here- one of the reasons I started this blog. When I record these scriptures it helps me to chronicle what He's teaching me- it makes it more clear.

Luke 6
1 On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grain fields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?" 3And Jesus answered them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?" 5And he said to them, "The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."
*I think what stuck out to me here, was that Jesus had a biblical command that was to be followed, and yet He was ABOVE it. I believe that this idea is something He wants to get across to me, and I've seen it in some of my previous posts. He gave instructions in His word about what to eat, and not eat, and when to eat it, etc. But He is also showing here, that the Kingdom is even bigger than the following of rules!! I can eat the wrong thing at the wrong time, and still be entirely encompassed by His immense grace.

Luke 7
33For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' 34The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' 35Yet wisdom is justified by all her children."
*I loved the way Jesus showed the difference between two ways of approaching faith and relationship with God, and He didn't say that either was wrong! To be exuberant, or ascetic, our focus must be on the Father. Even Jesus wasn't disconnected from relationship to His Father because of what He ate or didn't eat. I know Jesus ate the Torah, but I also see here that His "feasting" lifestyle wasn't the issue. It was His heart, it was His faith, it was His love.

Luke 7:23
And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.
*Blessed is the one who does not stumble because Jesus was not what they expected Him to be...? Only who He said He was....

Ephesians 5
13But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
*The part here I was noticing, is not to depend on alcohol, but on His Spirit. But have I been depending on the TV, the Internet, my snack cupboard, my raw food diet, my credit card, my leisure.... Oh it hurts somehow to say it. Please forgive me Lord. Maybe I haven't been drunk on wine, but have I been drunk on my own will? On the very food that I eat? Have I bowed down to what I should have given Him thanks for, and been willing to surrender into His hands?

1 Timothy 5
23(No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)
A couple of years ago when I was still battling irritable bowel symptoms, Jed prayed for me, and then said: I think the Lord is saying that you should have a glass of wine every day. (I am smiling, because you can't imagine how that surprised me!) Now I was very, very puzzled. My sister has battled addiction; I have alcoholism in my family history. Was it even possible that God would say this to me, or was Jed just a little off track? I am still thinking about it I guess, because this was one of the verses that really stuck out to me this week.
I did a brief search on the Internet, and read that if a person was to naturally (no yeast, etc.) ferment raw, unprocessed grape juice, they would have to drink about a gallon in order to raise their blood alcohol level by the same amount that an ounce or two of whiskey would do. Hmm.
Another thing that I puzzled over was: that the wine Paul would have been referring to would have had to be raw and unprocessed, for they had no other kind. In that raw wine, there would be all sorts of healthy probiotics. Probiotics are another thing I've remarked on briefly, here and there. Probiotics help our immune system; help us digest protein; help us digest fats; help us ward off yeasts, etc. Is my Heavenly Father trying to say something to me about probiotics, not necessarily wine?

Zechariah 7
4Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me: 5"Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? Were not these the words that the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?"
8And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, 9"Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart."
*I noticed especially verse 6. I believe what I am supposed to notice here, is that it was the eating for self that was the problem. It was their love (verses 9 and 10) that mattered most. I've seen that link before. It's not what you eat, it's love that counts with God.

Luke 9
42While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43And all were astonished at the majesty of God.
*The part that stood out to me here, was that Jesus delivered this boy and healed him. Healed, AND delivered. Nothing missing, nothing broken! Hallelujah! It can be that way for us- Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. His word still heals and delivers.

Luke 10
8Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9Heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'
*Notice that if you just take the middle part of the two verses, it would say:
Eat what is set before you. Heal the sick.
That's another common thread here. He knew we would need to be healed ourselves, and that it was our mission while here to heal others. I like that. Eat anything you are given, and heal whoever comes into your path. It reminds me of another scripture that Jed would remind me about: "Get up Peter, kill and eat." Acts 10:13. I would always tell Jed that the scripture was referring to evangelism, not a carnivorous diet, but today I give pause. That scripture in Acts 10 also goes on to say "What God has made clean, do not call common." Yes, the scripture refers to the Gentiles, who were to receive the message about Jesus, BUT! Isn't it also a parallel scripture to the one in Luke 10, in where Jesus is saying: eat everything; heal everyone. It's all yours.
Hmmm.

Luke 11
5And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, 6for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; 7and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? 8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
*No food intolerances for me: He said He would give me the bread I need.

Luke 11
33 "No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light."
Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers 37While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 39And the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
*Firstly, He's saying He doesn't want me confused. What I don't know, I am to know. Second, He wants my attitudes, my perceptions, my mindsets. He wants my entire focus to be on Him. Not on diet. Not on food. Not on self. When my focus is on Him, my body will be whole too.
I especially love the part where Jesus doesn't wash His hands. I think I've posted on that before. Once again, He is saying that our LOVE is more important than the avoidance of germs. YES! Oh Lord, help me to focus on You always. Help me to put you ahead of the avoidance of "germs". Amen!!

Joel 2
18Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. 19The LORD answered and said to his people,"Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
20"I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land, his vanguard into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things.
21"Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things! 22Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield.
23 "Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.
24"The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.
26 "You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. 27 You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
*The part in verse 22 about how the tree bears its fruit, made me imagine my digestive system (also a creation of God) in its optimum condition- doing what it's supposed to do perfectly- like a tree that bears the proper fruit.
Then, in verse 25 I see the restoration of everything I've lost due to illness. It took a toll on my marriage; my household; my mothering and teaching; it took a toll on my friendships. But the Lord is declaring to me a FULL restoration. Not just healing, not just deliverance, but a RESTORATION of what has been missing; of what caused the lack in the first place. He will not settle for my moderate wellness: in verse 26, it says I will eat in plenty and be satisfied! I will feast again!! This is possible through Jesus, our Lord. He took all of our sins and diseases, and curses upon Himself, so that we wouldn't have to. So that we could have His total righteousness, and cleanness. Because we have been forgiven by God (Jesus took our punishment), we can also be totally healed!
The last verse where He says "I am in the midst of her", I imagined God inhabiting not just my spirit, but my entire digestive tract. My entire body! I want Him, in all His goodness, to dwell in the midst of me, that there never be disease again.
I will never again be put to shame (verse 27). Yes. His word is true.

Zechariah 9
16On that day the LORD their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land. 17 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women.
*I know these scriptures can be a prophetic picture of the kingdom of God (the coming of the Saviour, Jesus Christ): the Holy Spirit would be the Wine, maybe the word of God is the Bread in this passage. But it also made me think of how God is a feasting, exuberant, celebrating (loving, good, and happy) God! Feast foods are good for us, but nowhere in His word do we see that people (on earth I mean, not in heaven) would feast every day. Maybe too much rich food isn't good for us. Wheat is good; naturally cultured raw grape juice (bible wine) is good for us; the fattened calf is good for us; so are curds and honey, BUT, perhaps not every day. Maybe this is where the standard North American diet has erred. The typical North American eats feast foods every day! Think about a drive thru meal: A burger is a fattened calf, on wheat, with curds. A pop is the excessive intake of honey. A side of fries is to eat the fat.
I'm just pondering here. I do believe He wants our utter freedom, but probably not our excess.

a quick note

2009-12-14T06:36:00.001-08:00

A couple of quick thoughts from reading Malachi, which I wanted to jot down:
The Lord talked about His people offering Him polluted food- made me think. God doesn't like polluted food... He wants us to offer Him our best, and offer it in faith (see 1 Timothy 4:4).
He also talks a lot about what His people were saying. That is in keeping with what I've been learning here. That it isn't what goes into your mouth that is the problem, it is what you are speaking!!! It's what comes out of your mouth...
He talks about being blessed because of the tithe, and about how He wants food in His storehouse. Made me think about selfish eating. It is operating in the curse to eat for ourselves, and not give. He talks about rebuking the devourer for our sakes when we tithe, certainly this would pertain to health too.
In Joel 2:25, He says He will restore to us years.
I would like to be here posting for hours, but have to run today. Just wanted to put these reminders here for myself:
We are eating food from God, so let's do it His way, and let it be for His glory. Let there be health and blessing that result.

Today...

2009-12-09T05:52:00.000-08:00

Today is the day He has made for me, to rejoice and be glad in: therefore, today is the day to put the God who made the food ahead of the food I eat. Today is the day to pull down the idols, and let nothing come between me and my Creator.

Today, I will not spend more money than I have because I believe in a raw vegan organic diet.

Today I will put the Giver ahead of His gifts, and not purchase more Christmas presents than I can afford, for He has said: I will never leave you or forsake you; and: be content with such things as you have. A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. So it stands to reason today, self, that your life does not consist in the abundance of your diet. God does not accept you on the basis of diet. His word works for the hungry, the destitute, and the malnourished; and His word works for the overfed, the diseased, and the particular. His word works for the sinner, because Jesus Christ died to undo the works of the devil. All we have to do is believe it and accept it, and today is the day to believe Him.

Today because God is love, I will act in love, and if it isn't love, I won't do it. I won't say it. I won't think it. Let every man be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Today is the day to leave offense behind- to take up my cross and follow Him, not loving my life so as to cling to it, but saving it for eternal life.

Today is the day to take God's word at face value, and not to twist it to fit what I already believe. If He has said it, then that's the way it is- no doubt. If I doubt, I can't recieve, so today is the day to believe all the way. To put myself way out there in faith, for His word will hold.

Jesus never gave anything half way, and I must not either.

Today I will not live for myself, simply because I can. Today is the day to give and give, and to forgive radically without counting the cost.

Today is His day. I've got to give it all the way.

Jesus has Redeemed us from irritable bowel syndrome.

2009-11-23T06:40:00.000-08:00

Because this is scripture, it brings it beyond the realm of my theory. And I think it is valuable to let the Word stand for itself. Many people have many things to say about the bible and what is in it, and good, godly teaching on the Scriptures is invaluable. But only if you know what the bible says for yourself. It does not say what people say it says. The bible has its own voice, and it is up to us to put our ear to it.

Here are some more scriptures on eating; food; etc.

1 Timothy: 3b-5

...foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

Genesis 1:29

And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.

Acts 10:15

And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common."

Romans 14:2a

One person believes he may eat anything,

Romans 14:3b

let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

Romans 14:4b

It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Romans 14:14

I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.

Romans 14:17-19

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Romans 14:20-23

Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Titus 1:15a

To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

Matthew 15:11

it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person."

Matthew 15:17b

whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled

Matthew 15:18-20

what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone."

Matthew 14:30-31

And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

Mark 7:15

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him."

Mark 7:18b

Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,

Mark 7:19b

Thus he declared all foods clean.

1 Corinthians 10:25

Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience.

1 Corinthians 10:23-24

"All things are lawful," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful," but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

1 Corinthians 10:26

"the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof."

1 Corinthians 10:27

If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.

1 Corinthians 10:30-33

If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?... whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

More Scriptures on Redeemed Eating

2009-11-18T06:30:00.000-08:00

I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep posting here now that I am well, but still when I read His word I see healing in it, and it's good to keep feeding my faith. And it may be for someone else that I am posting.

Today I read Colossians 2:13-3:4. These verses are not specifically on diet or healing; yet when I read them, I am convinced that those are the things about which the Holy Spirit is speaking to me. I thought I'd put it here in a couple of different versions, to really get a feel for what is being said.

Colossians 2:13-3:4 (English Standard Version)

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits (base principles) of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 2:13-3:4 (Contemporary English Version)
You were dead, because you were sinful and were not God's people. But God let Christ make you alive, when he forgave all our sins.
God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.
There Christ defeated all powers and forces. He let the whole world see them being led away as prisoners when he celebrated his victory.
Don't let anyone tell you what you must eat or drink. Don't let them say that you must celebrate the New Moon festival, the Sabbath, or any other festival.
These things are only a shadow of what was to come. But Christ is real!
Don't be cheated by people who make a show of acting humble and who worship angels. They brag about seeing visions. But it is all nonsense, because their minds are filled with selfish desires.
They are no longer part of Christ, who is the head of the whole body. Christ gives the body its strength, and he uses its joints and muscles to hold it together, as it grows by the power of God.
You died with Christ. Now the forces of the universe don't have any power over you. Why do you live as if you had to obey such rules as,
"Don't handle this. Don't taste that. Don't touch this."?
After these things are used, they are no longer good for anything. So why be bothered with the rules that humans have made up?
Obeying these rules may seem to be the smart thing to do. They appear to make you love God more and to be very humble and to have control over your body. But they don't really have any power over our desires.
You have been raised to life with Christ. Now set your heart on what is in heaven, where Christ rules at God's right side.
Think about what is up there, not about what is here on earth.
You died, which means that your life is hidden with Christ, who sits beside God.
Christ gives meaning to your life, and when he appears, you will also appear with him in glory.

One Last Leg of the Journey

2009-05-03T12:10:00.001-07:00

I went to a ladies retreat held by our church (Victory Churches International).

The first evening I was there, I prayed: Lord, please heal me this first night, so that I can enjoy the rest of the weekend.

The evening session began with praise and worship, and as we sang, my friend whom I was sharing a room with began to act very strange. She began weeping intensely, and I wasn't sure what to do. I thought of offering her some kleenex, I thought of asking her if she was ok, but I thought maybe she was just working through something in her heart with God, and I shouldn't interupt. But as I sat there rather numbly, the Holy Spirit said pointedly: She's praying for you.

Wow.

As the congregation continued to sing, my friend placed her arm around me and prayed in tongues. When she did this, I suddenly could hear the grief in her voice. It was as if God Himself was crying through her, and I could suddenly see how much He cared about me.

I think I had felt like no one really believed me about my struggles- like no one really knew, and no one really cared. I had felt like no matter where I turned, I found no answers. I had prayed, but was still "sick", I had seen doctors, changed diets, studied healing scriptures, but I still felt "turned down" by God. I felt like (as a charismatic/ pentecostal) that I should have had more faith, or that I should just toughen up and confess my healing. But deep inside I knew that something was wrong, and that I felt distant from God, even though He is good. Even though He is love.

But as my friend wept, I could feel the presence of God which seemed to say to me: "I care. I have cried for you. I have felt your pain." And I needed to know that. That He had really cared how I suffered, but more than that- He had suffered with me. Jesus had suffered for me, and in my place. "Daughter, you are healed- go in peace." She said it over and over, and I knew that it was what God was speaking to me. You are healed, Liberty. Go in peace. (Be released, Be free.) As she prayed in tongues, I felt something well up within me, and then several things left me- they seemed to go out through my head. It's hard to explain, but it was like something that had been in my body had collected itself, and then vacated. Several of them in fact.

Afterward, I felt freer. Still myself, but MORE myself than before. (Thankyou my friend, for yielding yourself to the Lord for Him to use you!)

The rest of the weekend was great, and I found myself taking small steps of faith in my healing- by the end of the weekend I ate whatever was served for the dinner (including things that formerly would have given me diahrea) and I felt great!

The next week, I ate some deep fried chicken wings with Jed. I would not have been able to eat those before: not just because of indigestion issues, but because I would have been too afraid. Now my body reacted in health, but I also resisted the fear. The fear didn't control me anymore!! Jed and I took the children for a brief holiday that week, and I had many opportunities to practice my faith- I ate plenty of not raw food, and I felt fine. I didn't even have pms. I also felt no fear about what the children ate (the fear had been trying to take over my life). I even bought my children ice cream!

Wow. Glory to God! I have to give God total credit for all of it- if you've read any of my posts, then you know I struggled and wavered- but He was faithful. He was so worthy of my trusting in Him. God, You set me free when I didn't even know how bound I was- may I ever praise You.

If you don't know Jesus as your Lord, and your Savior, then you don't know the One who heals, because all healing comes from Him! Maybe you know Jesus, but you've never known Him as your Healer. If you want this, you can pray this prayer:

Lord Jesus, I need you to be my Lord; my Savior; my Healer. I want you to come into my life, to reveal Yourself to me. I want to be totally made new, from the inside out! I believe that you suffered on the cross and died as a sacrifice for me, I believe that You took the penalty for my sins, and that by your whipping, your beating, your pain, you purchased my physical healing. I know that since you took the punishment for my sins, I can be forgiven, and that since I'm forgiven, I can be healed. I am healed. So Father, I am now asking You in Jesus' name: please heal me. Heal my life. Heal my broken heartedness, and bind up my wounds. Make me a new creation in Jesus Christ- may He always come first in my life from this day on. Fill me right now with Your powerful Holy Spirit, so that I have the strength I need to walk everyday in love, and and in total health! In Jesus' name, I believe I recieve from You Father. Amen.

Now, you have a relationship with the Healer! You need to read His word (the bible) everyday, and get to know Him. Learn to worship Him (order some cds from christianbook.com) and find someone else who believes in Him and keep in contact with them. Listen to His voice, because He loves you. He will never leave you or forsake you. He will complete your journey.

you must make your body

2009-04-03T08:49:00.001-07:00

The children and I read a biography of Teddy Roosevelt. One thing that stuck out to me was how as a child he had battled severe asthma attacks. It was hard on his family, and was seemingly worsening as he grew. Death was a legitimate possibility.

One day, his father called him into his study to have a word with him. "Son, you will have to make your body" he told him. The young Teddy considered this gravely, took a deep breath, and agreed. Somehow, he would "make his body". There really was no choice.

He began an exercise program- his parents even created an at home gym for him. He took up boxing, and spent hours lifting weights. He was of a slight frame while young, and surely this was very difficult for him, yet he didn't give up. In fact, his passion for exercise, boxing, and weight lifting grew. He was not discouraged, and did countless chin ups and stretches, trying to increase his chest size and lung capacity. Years of his life were spent this way!

Short story: it worked. He lived an adult life free from asthma. He had decided what he would or would not take, and he accomplished what he set out to do. He made his body.

Do we do that- do we even try? In Julie Wandling's book "Recipes for HealThy Living" she asks: "How big is your 'Wanna'?" I ask that to myself today: How big is your wanna, Liberty? Will you make your body?

My body is the home of my spirit, but is also the temple of the Holy Spirit. I am certain that He would prefer a healthy home, so that I can serve Him better. Today is a new day- I must make my body. Today I choose life, so that both I and my family will live- really live in Him.

Some scriptures and "Squeezing the Most out of My Time with God"

2009-04-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

As I've been reading through the Message I've been jotting down scriptures. I wanted to post them here to remind myself. Every so often I go back over the posts here, and at "Healed of Depression", and it really helps me to see the progression of a journey I've been on; and how God has been leading me. I see my thought processes changing and maturing, but I always see my dedication to God and His word. This is primary, because it is life to those that find it, and medicine to their entire body. I just can't stray from that- I know that the word of God is the answer.

Matthew 12:37 (The Message)
34-37"You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It's your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation."

I guess I was thinking here about my confessions- what am I thinking and believing about myself; what am I saying about myself? And do I speak the kind of words that God can add His power to? A hopeful, healed person will use hopeful, healed words. They will talk about happy things, they won't meditate on self pity or despair. If words can be my salvation, they can also be my healing. Think about it: if I only talk about what's wrong, it will perpetuate. If I talk about hope, then my faith can be the substance of things hoped for- the proof of the things I don't see (not yet).

Matthew 13:23 (The Message)
23"The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams."

I was thinking here about how I have the opportunity to HEAR, TAKE, and PRODUCE my harvest of healing. It's more certain than we think: when I plant pumpkins, I KNOW that I will end up with a harvest of beautiful, orange, juicy pumpins! If I am good soil (receptive and believing) for God's word, and I guard my garden and care for it- there WILL be a harvest! I will be totally whole!!

Matthew 13:28 (The Message)
28"He answered, 'Some enemy did this.'

Here I was reminding myself not to blame God if things aren't happening the way I predicted or as fast as I wanted- Jesus was pointing to the presence of an enemy making efforts to hinder God's work. If I find myself up against a hindrance, it would be just wrong to blame God for it. "An enemy did this". God is my friend- the Greater One within me Who causes me to triumph in Christ Jesus. God (who is love) doesn't withold from me- He is Jehovah Rapha- the Lord who heals me.

Matthew 8:13 (The Message)
13Then Jesus turned to the captain and said, "Go. What you believed could happen has happened." At that moment his servant became well.

That one really fed my hope: what I believed could happen has happened. I am well NOW, by faith!! Jesus bore my sins in His body on the cross, so that I wouldn't have to bear sickness in mine. By His stripes, we were healed. AT THAT MOMENT he became WELL.

Just a short break from the scriptures here-

I wanted to jot down a couple of other things I'd been thinking about in relation to healing and the Word of God.

First,

I was thinking about juicers.

I have a centrifugal juicer which sort of grates the carrots, and flings the pieces around so that they are thrown against a screen. The pressure of this "flinging" makes the juice pass through the screen and drain into the cup, while the pulp works its way to the top of the screen and then is ejected out the back of the juicer.

I also have a "masticating" juicer (masticating means chewing). It sends the carrots down an auger which grinds and presses them, squeezing the juice out of the pulp.

A centrifugal juicer is faster- it is louder (and thus more impressive). It just whips those carrots around, and soon you have a tall frothy glass of carrot juice! But, in all that whipping, the carrot juice can be oxidized more- the antioxidants would be degraded, and there often isn't as much juice produced as in a masticating juicer.

A masticating juicer works slower, quieter. It takes more effort on my part to force them down the feeding tube, and more effort in my cutting them up first (no big opening on the top, like the centrifugal juicer). The carrots are exposed to less air, and there is generally more juice extracted. It may seem to take more work, but the product is more nutritious, and will keep longer in the fridge.

And this got me thinking!

Is that how I sometimes approach the bible? Like it is something to be done every morning just out of neccessity? Do I just go downstairs and shove some bible verses in there, whip them around in order to get a quick drink, and then carry on to "more important things"? Have I been trying to go through the "bible drive through"?

Will I choose instead to "masticate" the word of God- to chew on it- to turn it over and over, and to crush it- to put pressure on it- to make sure that I squeeze everything out of it that I can?

Will I be willing to slow down, and encorporate a high quality product, savoring it, swishing it around in my mouth? Yes, carrot juice will cost me more than a stop at the McDonald's drive through for a coffee. It will cost me more in time, and in price. But it will give me something to live on. Something to build my life out of.

When I want to cook a roast, I like it to be flavorful, and tender. I often put it in the cast iron pot with some onions and garlic, and then cook it very slowly: all day long. BUT, if I want it to be done faster, I need to put pressure on it- I would need to put it in the pressure cooker. Just so, if I want to really benefit from God's word, I need to both slow down, and put pressure on it. We put pressure on it by doing what it says- by believing it enough to act on what it says.

For me, on Monday, that meant eating turkey. I eat 90% raw vegan (for health reasons, not ethical reasons) and I have eaten meat perhaps only two times in the last year. Monday was our church banquet. I ate a bit of quinoa before I went in case there was nothing I could eat there, but as I sat at the banquet not wanting to explain to everyone why I was eating NOTHING, I felt the Holy Spirit challenging me to trust Him, to trust what He said. If I really am healed in Christ, then I can eat turkey.

So, I tentatively ate my salad WITH the dressing (I don't eat any fat), and then slowly chewed on my carrots and green beans. I skipped the bun, but then I was down to the turkey and mashed potatoes! I ate a corner of turkey with gravy. I thought about it. Then I ate another corner. I thought about it. I reviewed in my mind my commitment to trust God, and my unwillingness to fear because He is with me. I chose not to fear- no matter what. I ate about half of the turkey (I offered Jed my potatoes).

For me this was an act of faith. I chose to step out, and I chose not to fear. It wasn't easy, but it was right.

I went home that evening, and felt fine, I continued to feel fine the entire evening. But I want to remember here, that it was as I ate my meal IN FAITH, that it was incorporated into my body and used as a blessing. It's the same in doing my bible reading- when I read it IN FAITH, mixing belief with what I've heard (the kind of belief that acts- that steps out and does it), then it will be real in my life- it will happen. It will be alive to me.

There's More to Life

2009-03-02T06:36:00.000-08:00

Matthew 6:25-26 (The Message)
25-26"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

Yes, God. Let it be so for me today.

Paul Nison, healing ibs naturally

2009-03-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

I just thought I'd mention Paul Nison. I just finished his book: Healing Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Okay, so it's not something nice that everyone wants to talk about, but on the off chance that it may help someone who stumbles across this page, I mention it.

I liked the book, he shares his testimony of being healed of Crohn's and Colitis. It's full of practical advice as well.

You can watch him on youtube, so I won't go into the whole detail of his message here. But if you have time, I would listen to him on youtube.

It seems to me that he's really figured out a way for people with these disorders to gain their health back without surgery, and that's really amazing!

I know I've mentioned it here, but I mention again that eating a raw vegan diet really helped with the ibs symptoms I was having.
Paul also has a book: Health According to the Scriptures. I haven't read it, but I imagine that it would be an interesting read as well.

Just some thoughts.

Focus on Christ, Not Food.

2009-02-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking some more about ALL FOODS CLEAN. You can see on the side bar, that it's one of the topics I've posted on most.

I believe we are redeemed from legalism for justification- you are not a good person if you eat good- God will not love you less if your diet is poor. I don't believe it means I should eat anything I want, or that I should eat as much as I want, but...

the topic came up at lunch yesterday when Jed saw me feeding the children celery sticks with peanut butter. "Was that peanut butter recalled?" he wanted to know. I looked at him with big eyes. How would I know, I wondered. He walked over to the computer to check what the internet had to say about recalled peanut butter (the salmonella thing) as Elijah pointed out: "We've already eaten one jar like that Dad, and we're fine!"

"We wouldn't stop eating it if it was recalled, would we?" asked Victoria.

"Well," I explained, "we shouldn't purposely eat something we know to be dirty, but we also need to trust God to protect us: to bless our food and drink."

"Yes," she decided, "God won't let us get sick just because we eat peanut butter."

It's true, we have to use our faith. Eat good, organic produce, by all means, BUT. We shall serve the Lord our God, and He will bless our bread and our water. He really didn't stipulate which kind. ALL. All my food, and all my drink blessed.

From Colossians 2, The Message

8-10Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that's not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don't need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.
11-15Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you're already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it's an initiation ritual you're after, you've already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ's cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
16-17So don't put up with anyone pressuring you in details of diet, worship services, or holy days. All those things are mere shadows cast before what was to come; the substance is Christ.
18-19Don't tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They're a lot of hot air, that's all they are. They're completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as he nourishes us.
20-23So, then, if with Christ you've put all that pretentious and infantile religion behind you, why do you let yourselves be bullied by it? "Don't touch this! Don't taste that! Don't go near this!" Do you think things that are here today and gone tomorrow are worth that kind of attention? Such things sound impressive if said in a deep enough voice. They even give the illusion of being pious and humble and ascetic. But they're just another way of showing off, making yourselves look important.

Let God be true.

Free from Edible Legalism

2009-02-18T08:55:00.000-08:00

I've been reading through the Message again, and finding it so helpful. I just love the way it puts Paul's epistles into simple, everyday language. I have loved the epistles, and understood them, but reading the Message this time has been like turning a light on- as if I'd never read it before.

I was also thinking about Gwen Shamblin, and thinking I don't really feel like reading the Weigh Down Diet again, but just meditating on her ideas about freedom- that all foods are a gift, and we can eat them. We just can't live for our flesh. We need to learn to depend on God's Spirit, and yield to Him, not living our lives for what we eat.

I don't know why this has been an issue for me, but perhaps it is a temptation for every human being. Reading in Galatians today helped me see how even eating can be a work of the flesh, but Jesus Christ came to set us free from rules and regulations. (With the admonition that: a life in the flesh- no matter how free we've been made- will not produce the intimate life with God that we long for.)

from Galatians 5
The Life of Freedom

1 Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.
2-3I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ's hard-won gift of freedom is squandered. I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law.

4-6I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.
7-10You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of obedience? This detour doesn't come from the One who called you into the race in the first place. And please don't toss this off as insignificant. It only takes a minute amount of yeast, you know, to permeate an entire loaf of bread. Deep down, the Master has given me confidence that you will not defect. But the one who is upsetting you, whoever he is, will bear the divine judgment.
11-12As for the rumor that I continue to preach the ways of circumcision (as I did in those pre-Damascus Road days), that is absurd. Why would I still be persecuted, then? If I were preaching that old message, no one would be offended if I mentioned the Cross now and then—it would be so watered-down it wouldn't matter one way or the other. Why don't these agitators, obsessive as they are about circumcision, go all the way and castrate themselves!
13-15It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?
16-18My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

That's what I'm meditating on this morning. If I am led by my body, my body will do what it is naturally inclined to, but if I am led by God's Spirit, I will escape the consequences that come from breaking the law. When I am not striving to fulfill the law (and be justified by keeping it), I am then free from the law, and inherit God's kingdom, as I walk in the Spirit, and do not live my life for what my body wants.

Don and Mary Colbert on Diet

2009-02-16T12:13:00.001-08:00

I've been watching Don Colbert and Kenneth Copeland the last couple of weeks here, I mentioned it over at Healed of Depression, but wanted to post about it here too, because listening to the two of them talk about healing and diet really helped me to sort out some of my "confusion" over what the bible actually tells us to eat.

I still believe:

We are redeemed, we can eat anything.

God's word is true and precious, the torah guidelines should be respected.

God created Adam and Eve vegetarian.

We are not justified by our diet.

God is not waiting for you to change your diet before He heals you.

Common sense tells us not to eat in a way that makes us sick.

We must eat in faith, and not step outside of love.

If anyone wants to leave a comment telling me how to post one of those episodes on the blog here, feel free! You can watch the two weeks of Believer's Voice of Victory broadcasts that I am referring to by going to their media page, and watching the weeks of Feb. 2, and Feb. 9.

I hope I can post here more about what I've been learning.

Diet Alone is Not Enough- Love is the One Needful Thing

2009-02-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

I love the Message translation (paraphrase). I know in Proverbs it says to keep the Word of God before your eyes, keep it going into your heart. I've found I need to keep putting the truth into myself if I expect it to manifest in my life. I've studied what the bible says about food, and I find it boils down to what it says in First Corinthians, and in Romans: Measure it all against LOVE. Let love be the defining factor of your life, even in eating, even in exercise. After all, faith works by love. We will never be truly well without it.

1 Corinthians 8 (The Message)
Freedom with Responsibility

1-3The question keeps coming up regarding meat that has been offered up to an idol: Should you attend meals where such meat is served, or not? We sometimes tend to think we know all we need to know to answer these kinds of questions—but sometimes our humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all.
4-6Some people say, quite rightly, that idols have no actual existence, that there's nothing to them, that there is no God other than our one God, that no matter how many of these so-called gods are named and worshiped they still don't add up to anything but a tall story. They say—again, quite rightly—that there is only one God the Father, that everything comes from him, and that he wants us to live for him. Also, they say that there is only one Master—Jesus the Messiah—and that everything is for his sake, including us. Yes. It's true.
7In strict logic, then, nothing happened to the meat when it was offered up to an idol. It's just like any other meat. I know that, and you know that. But knowing isn't everything. If it becomes everything, some people end up as know-it-alls who treat others as know-nothings. Real knowledge isn't that insensitive.
We need to be sensitive to the fact that we're not all at the same level of understanding in this. Some of you have spent your entire lives eating "idol meat," and are sure that there's something bad in the meat that then becomes something bad inside of you. An imagination and conscience shaped under those conditions isn't going to change overnight.
8-9But fortunately God doesn't grade us on our diet. We're neither commended when we clean our plate nor reprimanded when we just can't stomach it. But God does care when you use your freedom carelessly in a way that leads a fellow believer still vulnerable to those old associations to be thrown off track.
10For instance, say you flaunt your freedom by going to a banquet thrown in honor of idols, where the main course is meat sacrificed to idols. Isn't there great danger if someone still struggling over this issue, someone who looks up to you as knowledgeable and mature, sees you go into that banquet? The danger is that he will become terribly confused—maybe even to the point of getting mixed up himself in what his conscience tells him is wrong.
11-13Christ gave up his life for that person. Wouldn't you at least be willing to give up going to dinner for him—because, as you say, it doesn't really make any difference? But it does make a difference if you hurt your friend terribly, risking his eternal ruin! When you hurt your friend, you hurt Christ. A free meal here and there isn't worth it at the cost of even one of these "weak ones." So, never go to these idol-tainted meals if there's any chance it will trip up one of your brothers or sisters.

From 1 Corinthians 10

23-24Looking at it one way, you could say, "Anything goes. Because of God's immense generosity and grace, we don't have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster." But the point is not to just get by. We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.
25-28With that as a base to work from, common sense can take you the rest of the way. Eat anything sold at the butcher shop, for instance; you don't have to run an "idolatry test" on every item. "The earth," after all, "is God's, and everything in it." That "everything" certainly includes the leg of lamb in the butcher shop. If a nonbeliever invites you to dinner and you feel like going, go ahead and enjoy yourself; eat everything placed before you. It would be both bad manners and bad spirituality to cross-examine your host on the ethical purity of each course as it is served. On the other hand, if he goes out of his way to tell you that this or that was sacrificed to god or goddess so-and-so, you should pass. Even though you may be indifferent as to where it came from, he isn't, and you don't want to send mixed messages to him about who you are worshiping.
29-30But, except for these special cases, I'm not going to walk around on eggshells worrying about what small-minded people might say; I'm going to stride free and easy, knowing what our large-minded Master has already said. If I eat what is served to me, grateful to God for what is on the table, how can I worry about what someone will say? I thanked God for it and he blessed it!
31-33So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you—you're eating to God's glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God's glory. At the same time, don't be callous in your exercise of freedom, thoughtlessly stepping on the toes of those who aren't as free as you are. I try my best to be considerate of everyone's feelings in all these matters; I hope you will be, too.

The Kingdom of Heaven is not a Matter of Meat and Drink

2009-02-13T10:13:00.000-08:00

Romans 14-15:6 (The Message)

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.
For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ's table, wouldn't it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn't eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.
Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.
What's important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God's sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you're a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It's God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That's why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.
So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I'd say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we're all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren't going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture: "As I live and breathe," God says, "every knee will bow before me; Every tongue will tell the honest truth that I and only I am God." So tend to your own knitting. You've got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.
Forget about deciding what's right for each other. Here's what you need to be concerned about: that you don't get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I'm convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.
If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don't eat, you're no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don't you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning!
God's kingdom isn't a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness' sake. It's what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you'll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you.
So let's agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don't drag them down by finding fault. You're certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God's work among you, are you? I said it before and I'll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don't eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love.
Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don't impose it on others. You're fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you're not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you're out of line. If the way you live isn't consistent with what you believe, then it's wrong.
Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, "How can I help?"
That's exactly what Jesus did. He didn't make it easy for himself by avoiding people's troubles, but waded right in and helped out. "I took on the troubles of the troubled," is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it's written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we'll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!

Tasty Salad (Raw Foods Diet)

2009-02-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

Satisfying Raw Salad

2 stems organic celery, chopped

1 organic d'anjou pear, chopped

(the pieces don't have to be that small, or it's time consuming)

1 organic kohlrabi, peeled and diced

2 leaves organic curly kale, chopped fine

1 small handful organic raisins

1 tablespoon hemp seeds

-This should only take about 10 minutes to put together, but it fills you up.

Raw Dressing for Salad (easy, and fat free)

1 organic banana

1 tablespoon organic lemon juice

-blend until smooth, pour over salad, and combine.

This is by far my favorite salad dressing, although I once made one like this with a cup of frozen, then thawed strawberries. That was very good too.

Conflicting Thoughts, or Common Sense?

2009-02-05T11:29:00.001-08:00

I just want to be candidly honest here. I need a place to write about what I'm learning; how I'm growing; and also the times when I'm questioning.

I've been going back and forth I think (?), when it comes to what I believe about my healing, and how it will take place (and that by faith, I already have it; have already received it). I found that a couple of weeks ago I was terribly discouraged and hopeless about the whole thing, and fear was starting to creep in. I started getting up earlier, and reading the Message, making sure I was doing it for a set amount of time each day, and not being distracted from keeping that commitment. That really helped me. It gave me a fresh energy and encouragement of God's love for me, and His total forgiveness.

But I was concerned that I was going back and forth in that: I would read the word, and trust God's promises for healing, but then I would go back to eating raw. And I would make appointments (doctors, chiropractors, etc.).

I have to admit- I felt confused. If I go to the doctor, or the chiropractor, or I eat raw, am I trying to do it myself? Or is it just common sense? If I condemn myself over not exercising, am I trusting in my works to get me well, or am I just not doing what is good sense. It makes sense to activate the physical laws of healing for myself, not just the spiritual laws.

I don't know, but I know that Jesus knows, and He (who lives in me) wants me to know. He said he didn't bring the lamp for it to be put under a bed. There isn't anything secret that isn't to be made known.

I was thinking about the whole Hallelujah Diet thing- which I definitely esteem, and for which I am very grateful to Rev. Malkmus, because people are getting well through this ministry. I have no condemnation for it whatsoever, but when I heard Rev. Malkmus say on a youtube video that God only instituted the eating of meat after the flood as an emergency type measure, not for everyday life, it got me to thinking about what God has said in His word about food.

Now God NEVER changes, but it seemed like the instructions about food did.

Here's what I found- please remind me if I've missed anything, cuz I'm just I'm just summing these up off the top of my head.

In the beginning, God gave man all plants to eat, all seeds to eat, all fruits to eat. This was GOOD, and it was all they needed.

After Noah's flood, God gave men ALL meat to eat, just like He'd given them everything else. Please notice here, that He didn't stipify that it had to be clean meat, even though the bible tells us that Noah brought more of the clean animals onto the ark than the unclean. All meat.

Then came the Levitical laws, at the time of Moses, and the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery. Maybe they had adopted bad eating habits in Egypt, or perhaps God was trying to preserve good health for them as they entered the promised land. Maybe something else, but basically, the instructions I can think of off the top of my head are:

No blood, no strangled animals or animals that had died on their own, no unclean meats (an extensive list is included, so they would know exactly what to eat and what not to), no boiling a kid in its mother's milk...

And there are a couple scattered in Proverbs, like: don't eat too much honey; don't covet the rich foods of a flatterer... I'm sure I must be missing some.

Then Jesus came. This changed everything. Jesus told us that it ISN'T WHAT WE EAT THAT MAKES US UNCLEAN, IT'S WHAT WE SAY: IT'S WHAT COMES OUT OF OUR HEARTS. Paul told us we should eat anything sold in the market, and also whatever is placed before us. Hmm. Double Hmm.

Can our law seeking brain just not wrap itself around that much freedom? Freedom to eat cookies, and freedom to be FREE FROM ADDICTIONS TO COOKIES? Paul said don't get drunk on wine, but be filled with the Spirit. He said walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (you won't do whatever your body wants to). That's what Jesus did while He was on the earth (He walked in the Spirit)! He ate dinner with tax collectors, and drank wine. Yet Jesus NEVER SINNED. Can we just not fathom the depth of freedom that Jesus has given us, that we can eat the chocolate, and yet are TOTALLY FREE FROM THE NEED TO?

That reminds me of the Weigh Down Diet, which I read several years ago after the birth of my third child. The basic premise of the diet, summed up, is that (as long as I remember correctly, since that was 8 or 9 years ago) you can eat when you are hungry; you must stop when you are full. Food does not make us closer to God, and neither does abstaining from it. Food is not sin. You can eat a donut when you are hungry, but when you are full, you must stop.

I think that God was trying to get over to me that I could live in freedom. I could walk in the Spirit.

Having said all that, I was listening to Paul Nison on youtube- he received healing from crohns/ colitis when he adopted an all raw, vegan, organic diet. It is a remarkable story, and one that makes sense. I agree with what he says, but...

If I am trusting in Jesus as my healer, if I am trusting that the Lord heals all my diseases, and blesses my bread and my water, then... I cannot trust in diet as a HEALER. GOD who made my body made it to heal. It is in my physical nature, it is in my born again nature. BUT, the word says BY HIS STRIPES YOU WERE HEALED. It means that ANY AND ALL healing I will ever obtain or experience, is because Jesus Christ purchased it with His death on the cross, his suffering in my place, and His resurrection by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now I still think it reasonable to eat raw, because technically, it is a fast for healing. But I am not trusting in my diet. I am feeding on the Bread That Came Down From Heaven. Jesus Christ, Whose flesh is the True Food, Whose blood is the True Drink. I am trusting His Word, which is Life to those that find it, and healing to their entire body. This makes all the difference.

Not About What We Eat...

2009-01-27T08:08:00.000-08:00

I've been reading the Message again. I got out my old copy that I was given at my prayer counselling, when I was healed of depression.

I started in Matthew, intending to read quite a bit each day, but finding that once I'd begun, the chapters went by very quickly. I love the easy, eye opening flow of the Message (Eugene H. Peterson).

It was good to go back, and see the parts I'd underlined so long ago, and think about what struck me as important then.

Here's something I found this morning:

Mark 7:14-23 (The Message)
14-15Jesus called the crowd together again and said, "Listen now, all of you— take this to heart. It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it's what you vomit—that's the real pollution."
17When he was back home after being with the crowd, his disciples said, "We don't get it. Put it in plain language."
18-19Jesus said, "Are you being willfully stupid? Don't you see that what you swallow can't contaminate you? It doesn't enter your heart but your stomach, works its way through the intestines, and is finally flushed." (That took care of dietary quibbling; Jesus was saying that all foods are fit to eat.)
20-23He went on: "It's what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution."

Is He Really First?

2009-01-16T15:06:00.001-08:00

Well, now that we all know what I've said my priorities to be: Does my life evidence it?

If we looked only at the hours spent per day as a guage- what would be most important in my life?

I can tell already that this is going to be convicting.

Number one importance- sleep. It's what I spend the most hours in a row doing.

Number two- eating. Even when I'm not eating, I am cleaning up after eating, or I am preparing meals, or I am searching on recipezaar or goneraw. When I'm not doing those things, I am planning a shopping trip, or placing a bulk order.

The first two are obvious, and of course neccessary for life. But what about all the other minutes I've been spending- where are they going?

Number three- children. I am a full time sahm, and I homeschool. I spend a lot of time around a certain four children.

Number four (sorry, Jed) would be marriage. I am being totally honest here. I am not going by priority value here, merely by time spent.

Number five- reading of some kind. I read my bible, I listen to cd's (which is sort of like vicarious reading), I read to the kids at noon, I read them stories before bed, I buy them story cd's, I reserve books for them from the library and drive to said library. I spend a lot of my time in books.

Number six- house cleaning. Including: reminding the four aforementioned children to clean said house. Picking stuff up, moving stuff around, washing stuff, organizing stuff, throwing stuff out!

Number seven- driving?

Eight- sitting? TV watching?

I get the feeling here that I'm forgetting some very important things here, like showering, laundry doing, and INTERNET TIME.

But I think it's clear to see that I have been living the majority of my time to exist; survive; subsist.

I cannot say I have been walking in the Spirit to the degree I would like, because Number One and Number Two had little to do with God. That's the way it is right now. What am I going to change that will make all my life line up with the priorities that I say that I have? If it's important, and I believe it, then why don't I do it?

It isn't faith when you won't act on it. Faith works by love, and love is not self focused.

Sleeping is love when you go to be early so that you can be cheerful for your family.

Eating is love, when you are breaking bread with the Lord, and fellowshipping joyfully with your family.

Spending time with children is love if you have determined that you will wash the feet of the saints; that you will feed His sheep.

Oh Lord, I have been such a hypocrite. Thankyou for forgiving me, thank You for your grace, that You will never condemn me, and that I can always repent!

Repent, return, change your thinking!

Marriage is love when you do it as to the Lord, not to men. Not as an eyepleaser, but with a sincere heart, in full faith.

But what about work? What about diligent service that is not for the benefit of self?

What about prayer? Prayer when He wants to talk, not just when I'm desperate?

What about discipline, and schedule, and routine, and regularity, and being predictable- able to be counted on?

Repent, Return, Change your thinking.

Go back to the Word, it will renew your mind.

Getting Back on Track

2009-01-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

Part of the journey, was that I wasn't really myself. Of course I was, but I didn't feel like it, and I didn't really act like it. I had phases where I neglected my priorities, and didn't know what else to do.

Lately I feel as though I've been waking up! Like I'd been asleep, and now can't imagine for the life of me how it happened.

And I've woken up in a mess. Oh me.

I was fatigued, I felt very discouraged. I didn't do much school with the kids, I really didn't do many household chores, and I had little vision. That I think was the most out of character for me- not to be always future focused, improvement focused. I truly am a woman of vision. : )

Now I feel like I've got my glasses on, and I am surprised at what I see. Now it's confession time.

I am seeing that even though we homeschool, I've been spending too little time WITH my children. Near, but not connected to. Not in deep intimate interaction.

I see that I've disciplined and discipled them too little- I was avoiding conflict because I often felt on edge.

I see that I have really not kept a schedule here, and my house looks like it. I haven't been the helpmeet that I wanted to, because my day revolved around me, and how I felt. Ouch.

I know that there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, but I do not like the results of walking after the flesh rather than the spirit.

In my own defense, I was engaged in a spiritual battle! At times I had time for little else. I was barely "keeping my head above water", but I know now that when I pass through the waters they will not sweep over me (Isaiah). I was spending all my minutes in my bible, because I felt like I couldn't cope. I needed hope!

And God was faithful. He always is.

But I remember Ann Voskamp saying that it's easier to keep order regularly than to wrest it from chaos. Now I look around me and wonder how I will wrest all this.

I also know that I've done it before, and how that truly changed my life, it's only that the flesh loves a habit. And right now my flesh has been sleeping in, neglecting the laundry, staying up late, and other generally prideful and selfish habits. Habits focused on the pleasure of self.

I don't even like to write it, but I know it's true.

So what now?

I would say the first thing would be:

Get up early and begin the day with God's word.

Yes, yes, I know all that. I know it in my mind. But is that the kind of faith that can save a person? The kind he believes, but not enough to act on? Like a bridge that you are encouraging others to cross, but are afraid to cross yourself?

So get up early, Self.

Read your bible, Self.

Second would have to be:

Have at least a shell of a schedule. At bare minimum have a list of daily expectations/requirements. At least a to do list.

So, develope the discipline of using it. That's what Emilie Barnes says- don't forget to write it, don't forget to read it! What good is a list if I will never read it?

Practice organizational skills. Carry around a daily planner until you figure out what it might be useful for.

Third would be:

Clean up around here. Obvious, but neccessary. Life is more stressful when it's messy. You can't find this, you are agravated about and distracted by that. Stop making excuses! The root of the word diligence carries the ideas of: Esteeming; Loving. Even if my energy levels or state of health are not perfected, it doesn't keep me from being diligent: from loving my responsibilities, from esteeming them.

Life will flow more smoothly on the inside when it's organized, clean, and flowing on the outside (and vice versa).

Fourth would be:

Stop doing stuff without a child at your side. Listen to them, smile at them, stop living your own life. Pray for grace to be patient, and wisdom to know when they should be allowed to "just be kids" and when they should be taught to control themselves for the consideration of others.

Look for things to enjoy about them, moments to store up, like Mary did.

After all, this is the day the Lord has made- now is the time of His favor, now is the day of His salvation! Let us be glad, and believe Him. Let us trust Him, and enjoy every minute of it!

2009 Priorities

2009-01-09T18:44:00.000-08:00

Priorities: What are the big rocks that go into the jar first?
Being God's Woman.
Walk in the Spirit,
Walk by faith, not by sight.
Daily feed on the Word, and renew your mind.
Pray in tongues.
Keep a prayer journal, or have an organized method of record keeping.
LISTEN to God.
Be willing to be spontaneous, and to trust Him. To step out of your comfort zone.
What efforts are you making toward becoming surrendered? What efforts are you making toward immediate obedience in faith, without considering the cost. Do you have a plan?
Have you surrendered your "free time"?
Listen to teaching- make an appointment.
JOY.

Home.
Home as a house,
Home as a center for hospitality,
Home as a school,
Home as a church- a place for His Presence. A place for worship. A place for peace.
Home as a family's CENTER.

Chores
You must make a way for the Big Rocks. Chores, are the servants of the Big Rocks!
Give service your priority, and learn to be servants. We act like Jesus when we serve.
LAUNDRY
GROCERIES incl. food management- how much does it cost, how long does it last, where will you store it?
MEAL PREP OF HEALTHY FOODS
MEALTIME CHORES
SHOPPING
FARM FINANCES
DAILY CLEANING
DEEP CLEANING
BATHROOMS
GARDEN AND YARD
SERVICE TO OTHERS
SCHEDULE PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE- Have a schedule and be willing to stick to it.
-What isn't working, or is falling behind? What can be done about it?

School Priorities:
A place to do school
A time to do school
The will to do school
The commitment to do school.
Are we LEARNING; Are we GROWING? Are we trying new things, and revisting old ones?
Do we school year round: have we made learning our LIFESTYLE?
Are we unlocking door, and making information available. Not just doing the bare minimum, but being inspired by life. Eager to learn.
The oganization neccessary to do school
A SCHEDULE is best. Plan, and Do. Believe, then Act.

Reading
Be really committed to growth and change. It must be evidenced in your life.
Cultivate a LOVE for (desire after) reading in EVERY CHILD. Deal with what is standing in the way.
-time to read
-committment to read
-place to read
-priority to read
-creativity
-availability
-cultivate hunger for pure mental food!

Children
Discipleship. Teach them to put God first. Honor their father, so they see in real life the things they want to emulate. A life of unity in the home.
Training: these children are our apprentices for REAL LIFE. We train them up in the way they should END UP.
Work toward a life of freedom, and purpose for each child.
Develope their skills.
Let each child experience LOVE, let each child experience ACCEPTANCE.
Believe of them, and expect of them ABOVE what you see with your physical eyes. Hold out your faith for their future. Teach them to expect better, to believe higher. To know that they can truly do all things through Christ who strengthens them.

Mother
-nurture
-affection
-acceptance
-encouragement
-protection
-supply wisdom, guidance (point the way), offer direction
-develope, and cultivate
-sow the word
-discipline
-pray for their father
-keep marriage whole

Wife
Marriage is a covenant we make with God. Is my husband second after God? Do I live like he is, do I act like he is, do I sound like he is?
Be willing to put this covenant ahead of other things in your life.
Be willing to forgive.
Pray for him, when he treats you unfairly. Don't seek fairness, as much as to lay down your life.
On purpose: treat him HOW YOU WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED.
Take up your cross EVERYDAY- at the BEGINNING of the day. Don't investigate where his cross has been laid down. Give expecting nothing but the blessedness of giving. Be willing to die and become many seeds. Jesus for the joy before Him endured the cross.
Do you really believe- as unto the Lord? Are you the Bride of Christ, and is your husband is your head?What is your motive: self, or obedience to God?
Choose to respect.

Church
Bare minimum requirement is weekly attendance. Better, is to attend a small group.
Develope accountability- make an effort to connect and accept; even when you don't feel accepted by others.
Know people, get involved.
Is this church where God wants us, and if so, what for?
Does this church provide our family with pure spiritual food?
You cannot do it alone, you need the body.

Personal Growth
1. Does each family member have an appointment with God and keep it?
2. Are you willing to live within the disciplines and rythms of daily life that are neccessary for this to happen?
3. Does each family member have time for personal research and study, and do they keep that committment?
4. Prayer: individual, corporate. Teach the children how to pray: teach them to hear from God.
5. Put it into practice.

MONEY
Have a plan
Stick to a plan- say no when neccessary.
Teach children how to manage money in real life.
-Filing
-Projection
-Bill Pay
-Drop off, Pick up
-Banking, check online banking.
Set aside time!
Learn, Grow!
Finances
-Give
-Invest
-Save
-Learn Wisdom
-Truly surrender to God's will. Submit entirely to your husband's direction.

Teacher
-what are you modeling?
-is this what you want your children to emulate?
Are you imitating Christ, that they may imitate you?
Purposely transfer your values, your beliefs, your life.
Fulfill your responsibility to provide head knowledge, as well as heart knowledge.
Develope:
the will
the brain
the mind (thought life)
the soul (emotions, feelings)
skills
life patterns, family methods
mechanics, home economics
Farm
Pray
Help
Make meals
Run errands
Have a willing attitude! Show optimism! Speak your faith!
Believe
See His purpose, declare His word. Know His vision, and hold to it.
Fear not, believe only.
Create boundaries with your faith
Be willing to learn; grow; change
Be your husband's partner: be a cord of three strands, not living for self. Hear from God as to what is your role.

Family Life
Create times to bond together as a family. Make a point of it, and don't take it forgranted.
Plan activities, make commitments.
Make a point of making memories.
Introduce some kind of photo management system.
CONVERSATION SKILLS, AND MANNERS
Model respect in speech; no interupting.
GET UP EARLY, GO TO BED EARLY
Plan productive free time for the children.
Make evenings at home a priority.
Be willing to stay home, even when there is pressure to do otherwise.
Make a commitment to FREEDOM- don't back down.
-Extended family- What is God's will?

Discipline
MAKE A PLAN
KNOW WHAT THE WORD SAYS ABOUT IT
FOLLOW THE PLAN
Is this a priority? Do you put your self aside?
We don't discipline for anger, but for obedience to God. We discipline because God is Love, and He said it will be well with us when we do.
Accept Jesus' Lordship over you. He watches over us, and cares for us.

Organization
SYSTEMS
PLAN
TEACH ACCOUNTABILITY
LEARN AND PRACTICE NEW SKILLS
CHART PROGRESS
MAKE IT FUN
SOW DISCIPLINE- the leading of a disciplined life.

Health
Daily make a point of sowing healing-
scriptures, teachings, healing confessions,
exercise, Spirit-led eating,
sufficient sleep,
Daily make a point of using your faith. Don't give up, don't quit.
To the faithful, Jehovah Rapha shows Himself faithful. He cannot deny Himself. I am the Lord that Healeth Thee.

Speech and Healing

2009-01-06T06:43:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago, I was struggling with my health a lot more than I am now.

I had one of those days, where the pressures just seemed to keep mounting, and finally I ran into my bedroom, threw myself down with my bible, and said "Lord, WHY? I've got to know what's going on?!"

You see, I believed in healing!! I'd seen MANY miracles, in my own life, and in the lives of my children. These things were undeniable, and we still see miracles today, but at that time, I was having no success in a certain area, and I was hugely discouraged. I didn't understand why God was "not answering my prayers".

As I flipped open my bible, I found that the verse was about speech. Hm.

I flipped to another place, and it was the same. I did this for maybe 1/2 an hour, and the results were the same. God was speaking to me (through His word) about WHAT WAS COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH.

I wouldn't have thought that. I wasn't saying anything "bad".

But what I was doing was to talk about how I FELT, EVERYDAY. I was also asking Jed to pray for me everyday. Which in itself does not seem harmful, but what was happening was that my focus was daily on ME, AND MY PROBLEMS, and everytime I asked Jed to pray, I was sort of getting into a habit of praying with no results. Focusing on my pain and sickness, and then despairing.

Not good.

Why were there no results? Well Reverend Malkmus teaches that if you violate certain physical laws, it will end in sickness. Even so, I was violating a spiritual law, and it was messing up my life.

To see what I mean, just read through the book of Proverbs with a highlighter, and highlight EVERY verse containing the words: tongue, speech, words, mouth.

It'll be a real eyeopener.

Proverbs 18:2

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his own opinion.

Proverbs 18:4

The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

Proverbs 18:6

A fool's lips walk into a fight and his mouth invites a beating.

Proverbs 18:7

A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

Proverbs 18:8

The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down to the inner parts of the body.

Proverbs 18:13

If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.

Proverbs 18:20

FROM THE FRUIT OF A MAN'S MOUTH, HIS STOMACH IS SATISFIED; HE IS SATISFIED BY THE YIELD OF HIS LIPS.

Proverbs 18:21

DEATH AND LIFE ARE IN THE POWER OF THE TONGUE, AND THOSE WHO LOVE IT WILL EAT ITS FRUITS.

Thinking about...

2009-01-04T20:35:00.000-08:00

Mark 7:14-20 (The Message)
14-15Jesus called the crowd together again and said, "Listen now, all of you— take this to heart. It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it's what you vomit—that's the real pollution."
17When he was back home after being with the crowd, his disciples said, "We don't get it. Put it in plain language."
18-19Jesus said, "Are you being willfully stupid? Don't you see that what you swallow can't contaminate you? It doesn't enter your heart but your stomach, works its way through the intestines, and is finally flushed." (That took care of dietary quibbling; Jesus was saying that all foods are fit to eat.)
20-23He went on: "It's what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution."

healed of food allergies

2009-01-01T09:28:00.001-08:00

I just thought I'd post here a link that Gabriella left, just in case you didn't find it in the comments. It has been on my mind a lot, and I did print off the scripture mentioned (1 Timothy 4:4) and post it in my kitchen.

Here's the link:

You know, it's so encouraging to read something like this, and realize that in God's family, you are not alone; and that you are on the right track. Jesus does still heal today!

2008-11-19T11:53:00.001-08:00

I loved what I read at Ann Voskamp's today.

Also the quote by C. S. Lewis:

“[T]he real problem of the Christian life comes… the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.”

2008-11-15T20:19:00.001-08:00

I guess it's time for another post on attitude. : )

That's one of the reasons I started this blog, I guess. I needed a place to vent- to pour out all my feelings like puzzle pieces on a table. I needed to examine them, to turn them over a few times, and figure out where they belong.

We just got back from a one week holiday. It was an awesome experience, and of course, it taught me a few things.

One being, that our life is what we make it. I recently listened to a teaching series by Kenneth Copeland called: You Are The Prophet of Your Own Life. That's sort of the idea I've been working over in my mind: if my life is anything, it has to have had something to do with me. After all, wherever I go, there I am. The parts of my life that I cherish, I birthed them- slaved over them, to bring them into being in my life. The parts of my life I detest, I commit them, like a terrible revolving door I cannot stop. My life is what I make it, good or bad. Let the tree be good, and the fruit good.

Does that make sense? When we were on the holiday, I felt like a tightly wound cord that was slowly letting go. Slowly beginning to see that I could trust God with my life, that I could breath again. It was so refreshing to have the daily pressures off of me, even if for a short period of time. And that is what I mean about attitude- I "see" what I've been given by God to do each day as a pressure. Not a gift.

What are the "menial" things that I do in a day- things that society may look down on, but God is asking me to enjoy? Just looking at the last two days since we got back:

Overseeing toilet issues (cleaning toilets, fishing for things flushed down toilets)

Laundry, Laundry, oh how many laundries.

Listening, and more listening: listening to a six year old (without enough teeth) tell me in rapid fashion about things I am having a hard time understanding. Listening to tween music played loudly from a laptop, which can be transported from room to room. (Why aren't these things precious to me? Moments to be treasure in my bottle, gifts that will never pass my way again? It is attitude. My life is the way I see it.)

Dishes, wipe it up again, pop it in the oven, do the dishes again, ad nauseum (I don't know what ad nauseum means, but it seemed to fit here).

Numerous unremarkable chores for my husband who is hunting...

Getting out of bed (need I say more).

Cooking, and yet not finding something to eat (this I find the hardest, because of a list of reasons too long to mention). What I mean is, that having to alter my diet has not been easy, or fun. It has been rewarding, but this is what I mean about attitude. Sometimes it's hard to work all day serving others, and realize that I didn't plan something for my own meal. I'm just being honest here.

And a dozen other insignificant activities... but!

When I serve the least of these, it is Him I am serving.
When I do unto others, it is to be as I would have done unto me.

I must be careful how I measure, because the way I mete is the way it is meted to me.

If I give even a cup of cold water, I will certainly not lose my reward.

I know I've said before that if we are to do something, we tend to believe it first. So, if I want to live something, I need to believe it first. What will my attitude be? I need to go to the Word of God and gain a vision for my life. A road map for the turbulent days ahead. Proverbs says that the ways of Wisdom are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. Lead me in paths of righteousness Lord, for Your own Name's sake.

Jesus said that the eye is the lamp of the body, and that if our eye is good, our whole body will be full of light. I think this means attitude. If I have a positive perspective, my life will be full of joy. But he also said that if the light in us is darkness, how great that darkness. If I store up a negative outlook, it will be oppressive. Attitude. And I choose it. My life is what I make it, I am the prophet of my own life.

And it does apply to health- will I live with an offended, bitter, selfish outlook (and have that manifest in my body), or will I freely give up my life, like Jesus did (and have His resurrection life manifest in my mortal body). He said that unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed, but if it dies, it produces many seeds. He said that if I really love my life, I will lose it for Him, and be glad.

Attitude is important in healing, and it makes life much more pleasant on the way. After all, a cheerful heart has a continual feast, and a merry heart doeth good like a medecine.

Tomorrow is another opportunity.

Raw Journey

2008-10-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

Even with all I've been talking about, I feel it would be somewhat remiss if I didn't mention the raw food diet.

This may mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but let me say here, that you will not attain an elevated conciousness, you won't achieve a higher level of enlightenment. Oh sure, you will feel different, but this is just good old fasting! It's a discipline that the gracious Lord outlined for us in his word, and we can see how effective it was in the lives of men like Daniel. But these men still needed God. A fast, no matter how wonderful, does not replace the Reason we fast.

When I was having the worst of my digestive issues, I read great things on the internet about raw food. I checked some stuff out of the library, and was amazed at what I discovered. There are testimonies of men and women being cured of diabetes, heart issues, obesity, hypoglycemia, cancer, etc.

Why?

Well, for one thing, it takes away the huge digestive burden of having to metabolize unnatural foods, and chemicals. It gives our liver (our largest, saving organ) a chance to cleanse, heal, and renew. It frees our system to do what God designed it to do- TO HEAL ITSELF.

I began to eat raw, because when I ate raw I had no irritable bowel symptoms. At the beginning, I felt very hungry, because my body was accustomed to producing large amounts of stomach acid to accomodate my diet. But I found that after about three weeks, my body adjusted, and I felt quite a bit better. I also found that the hypoglycemia didn't bother me. I did eat more often, because raw foods go through your system faster, but when I had to miss a meal, I could. I had not been able to do that before!

I don't know how much more to say than this, but I sure want to mention that raw foods was a part of my journey toward healing. Only a part, but at the place it came in the journey, I could not have done without it. It seems to me that someone struggling with irritable bowel syndrome would find the raw food diet very rewarding. But remember, it is not the Savior, it is only one stop on the journey.

As to where to begin, start with prayer. Commit your body to the Lord, and renew your mind with His word. For practical know how, try http://www.goneraw.com/ , where you can find recipes and get a feel for what to eat on a raw food diet. To someone who has never heard of it, it can be an interesting time of discovery, but basically keep it simple: the earth is the Lord's and everything in it: if He grew it, you can eat it! : )

Edited to add:

GoneRaw is not a Christian site, specifically. If you are looking for something with a strictly Christian basis, try Hallelujah Acres. I'm not endorsing either of the sites, just suggesting places to look.

The Internal Struggle

2008-10-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm still thinking about the same kinds of things. I've read that when a person eats 100% raw, they will not have colds or flus. I've read many other awesome testimonies, and that's all good. My issue is with: believing that if I eat cooked food that I will get sick. I like raw foods- I just don't like feeling trapped if I have to eat at someone's house who doesn't understand my dietary limitations. I don't like feeling hypoglycemic if I don't get enough protein. I agree, I could eat more raw, but again, I don't like the idea that only the elite and wealthy can afford this diet. Let's face it, in southern Canada, all of your food will have to be shipped in, if you expect to eat raw. No matter where I was born, the word of God is to work for me. Health is for me, even if I eat cooked food, just like forgiveness is for me, because Jesus took my punishment on the cross.

The idea that I should be sick if I eat cooked food just can't be right, because the Lord said (in the book of psalms) that He would satisfy me with the finest of wheat. He didn't say that it would have to be fresh pressed wheat grass juice. The Word tells us (in the book of Genesis, after Noah leaves the ark) that God gave to all mankind meat for food. He didn't say that it would be raw.

I am still here writing because I am still on this journey, I'm still not quitting, still not giving up, but I also must know that I already have the end of this journey by faith. The word tells us to believe that we recieve when we pray, so if I've prayed, then I know that He hears me- whatever I ask. If I know I've been heard, then I know that I have what I've asked of Him.

Besides that, the word says that the elders of the body of Christ are to lay hands on the sick, and to see them recover. If I've had hands laid on me (which I can't remember how many, many times, but certainly I can remember the last time, and once is enough) then I recover. The word says so. If the word of God is true, then there simply is no other option. I recover, no conditions required.

And I think about the scripture (Mark 9:23) that says: If you believe. All things are possible to him that believes. I was taught and believed that Jesus was being somewhat sarcastic here- saying: IF I can? Look who you're talking to here. Of course I can. But I think really, that He was pointing back to our own hearts saying: where is your faith. Do YOU believe? The issue isn't with Jesus, or wether or not He's willing. But you. What do you believe.

No, I'm not saying people get sick because they don't have faith, I'm suggesting that we struggle because we are believing other things too. The man Jesus was talking to had seen his boy have seizures for YEARS. This had become ingrained in this man's expectations. By an injust sense of default, it was what this man was believing. It was what he was expecting.

And yet the woman with the issue of blood had been suffering for twelve years. And she didn't even ask Jesus to help, she just told herself that if she could only touch His clothing, she would be healed. And she recieved what she believed.

I think about the integrity of the word, that the Lord's words are like silver, purified seven times in a furnace. And Jesus Himself said: all foods clean.

And I'm tired of trusting in something other that His word.

justified by faith

2008-10-18T19:29:00.000-07:00

I sometimes feel like I am the only person saying this, the only person believing this, and sometimes I even wonder if I am believing it to the degree I need to. The degree that I believe it enough to DO it, to know I have it and ACT on it.

What I mean is- I KNOW that God intends us to be FREE, but if you type in "all foods clean" under google, the first results will generally be from Christian people telling you why this isn't true. That Jesus meant something other than what He said, and all foods are not really clean after all.

But don't you think that this is just our flesh? Isn't it the flesh that craves after some rule, some system to be declared righteous by? Isn't it the flesh that says: I'm saved because I'm circumcised, because I where a black jacket, because I go to church? Because if it is so, then we are not obligated to God. We can't be actually sinning, or acountable for wrongdoing, because we are "good". We follow rules. We are justified in our own eyes.

I think a lot about the old testament dietary laws, and Jesus said that not one jot, not one tittle of the law will pass away until all is fulfilled. But Christ is the fulfillment of the law, and He said the law and the prophets continue until John. And this is where my struggle lies- it's not that I want so badly to justify my eating bacon- I'm happy really to obey dietary laws if they are to my benefit- my issue is with thinking that if I DON'T, that I will be sick. That a failure in diet leaves an open door to the enemy: the source of all sickness. That Christ's healing, His atonement is not enough, if I am eating bacon. Not the bacon, but that I am justified by obeying the law.

This is not so.

Overcoming Allergies By Faith

2008-09-15T10:04:00.001-07:00

Inspired by a post done by Lady of Virtue, on Large Family Mothering, I have been asking myself: could we also EAT in the simplicity of wisdom.

Her post is on grocery shopping in the simplicity of wisdom (a good read, you should stop by) and how what God has given us is blessed: it is sufficient. And what I am meditating on is: shouldn't that be enough for my health too?

If God has given me wheat, shouldn't I be able to eat it? That's not saying that if rice is the same price, that perhaps it wouldn't be wise to buy some brown rice instead, but if the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, isn't wheat also something that He has freely given me to enjoy? Won't he satisfy me with the finest of wheat?

The things we do, the things we believe, the things we act on, begin somewhere deep down on the inside of us in our faith. If we are going to do something, we tend to believe it first. But what if I am believing the wrong way? What if I am believing in wheat's power to harm me? What if I am believing in it's ability to cause pain, inflammation, or digestive upset?

Well, that's fear. Fear is faith in reverse.

The trouble is, most of us have operated in fear most of our lives without realizing it! Our mothers told us not to eat without washing our hands, or we would get sick. They were well intentioned, but we learned to expect "sick". A seed of 'sick' was sown in our lives. They taught us not to eat too many oreos, or we would get sick. Common sense, for sure, but we came to expect that the food that we ate could bring curse, under certain circumstances.

I'm not saying that there is no consequence for an indulgent, gluttonous diet, there is to be certain, but we were never taught to eat our food in faith by thanking the Lord for it, and blessing it by the speaking of His word. We were never taught to eat our food in love by giving of what we had to someone who had less than we. We were never taught to eat our food in moderation or self control (or even self sacrifice): we were taught to clean our plates because there were starving children in China.

We were "taught" that we should live for food. A most important part of a family get together was the chocolate cake, or what you would find in the bottom of your stocking. Food sometimes became a substitute for love.

But what if it didn't have to be that way?

There is a lot on the internet these days about how we should eat organic, unprocessed, naturally fermented, sprouted and soaked, and sourdough, fresh, raw, green something or other. And these ideas are true, and very good. But do these ideas feed the fearful heart? Can I honestly eat my inorganic romaine lettuce (in the knowledge that its irrigation water has been contaminated by rocket fuel) in faith? What if I can't afford the lettuce that is three times as much, or if my conscience won't allow me to? Will I take my 79 cent lettuce home and eat it in discouragement, and hold at the back of my mind the expectation of developing cancer at a later date because of what I am eating?

NO!!! My spirit is so fed up with this bondage! It is time for the children of God to be free, to eat anything sold in the market without question for conscience sake! To go into all the world and lay hands on the sick and see them recover! They could never do that if they had developed cancer from contaminated lettuce; and if you read Matthew 15:18, you'll see that if the believer was to even drink poison, it cannot harm him!

God is not just asking for our common sense here, but more than that. He is asking us to believe and act on His Word. How could the Christian go into all the world and preach the gospel if he was dependant on uncontaminated food? There was a time many years ago when Africa was called the white man's grave, because so many missionaries died the first year they arrived. They would contract malaria, or some other terrible fever and nearly always succumb. God's intention was for them to go and bring the gospel: the word of salvation and healing! Not just to die upon arrival! Is there ANYTHING that by merely going into our mouths should be able to bring death, curse, or disease?

He made his church to be healers, not to be the sick, the dying. We are CHRISTians, little saviors.

How do I live this out? How do I eat if I believe that I can eat anything without getting sick, I can go anywhere without getting sick, and yet my life doesn't look like it? My body doesn't feel like it?

I guess I practice, and I build my faith in what God has said. Remember, if we are want to do it, we can start by believing it first. After all, it worked in reverse-- when I realized that milk products were causing me pain, swelling, diarrhea and sleeplessness, I believed that and acted on it. I stopped drinking milk. If I want to reverse that, I will need to believe in God's powerful blessing on me, more than I believe in milk's power to harm me. After all, all food on earth is imperfect, and contaminated, and yet Jesus called it clean. All food on earth is contaminated by acid rain, by windfall herbicides, by genetic modification and loss of heirloom seeds and varieties. Even if it were not so in some cases, this would mean that only the very rich on earth could expect to receive health from God. If my entire healing were dependent on what I ate, I would have to have money for supplements, special internet orders, and foods that must be shipped to my country by airplane. This in not what is available for most of the planet. BUT, why couldn't I look at what I do have, I mean what is in my pantry right now, and acknowledge that this is food. If it is food, then God Almighty has provided it, and I can eat it.

As I said- practice, practice. Stretch my faith out there, and make sure that the food I do eat, I eat in faith. I bless it, believe it is from God, and believe that it is good. Then wait for the symptoms to line up with what I believe.

If this strikes a chord with you, please feel free to leave a comment. : )

Fasting for Healing

2008-08-11T13:42:00.000-07:00

A link to my other blog, where I posted on fasting.

Subjected to Decay, In Hope...

2008-07-10T09:31:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to update where I'm at.
I read through most of The Maker's Diet, by Jordan Rubin. If you haven't heard of the book, he was healed of a severe intestinal disorder.
I thought I ought to at least try the HSO's he mentioned (homeostatic soil organisms), and yes, I know, I am truly tired of trying one more supplement, spending one more dollar. I know, I know.
But I figured it would cost the same as it was to buy a month's worth of goji juice (which hadn't helped as I thought it would, although it was somewhat useful for sugar lows) so I ordered the hso's.
I have been finding them rather helpful, actually. I haven't been able to change my diet much yet, but I can see that the supplements are really making a difference in my digestion. I talked to the Lord about it, and decided that the glory is really all His. I am just thankful that I am experiencing improvement. I am certain not to give glory to supplements, because of how many I've taken over the last three years. I think these ones were a good choice though, because it was something that God was showing me.
Let me expand on that for a minute-
This year I had two gardens. One is organic, has never been sprayed. This garden has earthworms, and never gets potato bugs.
The second garden is in Jed's field, near his pump (easy to irrigate there, and I still had most of a feedbag of potato seed to plant). It has been sprayed with different chemicals for years. This garden does not have earthworms, and it did get potato bugs.
As I was noticing all this, and weeding, I had a couple of revelations!
One, is that God made the world (subjecting it to decay in hope) with a complex system of ROT. This means that soil is the healthiest when nothing chemical is interfering with its ability to decay, and the decay is aided by an intricate balance of microorganisms, and larger organisms too, which eat up one thing, and transform it into another substance. So cool, that God is so big, and is in the small things. : )
This led me to a health revelation! The human digestive system is also an intricate system of DECAY. Not quite the right word, but you see what I mean. Just like the chemicals in Jed's field had changed it over the years, so can our food change our digestive system. Take white bread for instance. (Yes, I will sound like a health food nut for a minute here.) White flour has been hybridized, sprayed while in the field with herbicides, treated while in storage, then filtered, refined, and BLEACHED. Then an unnatural yeast is added to it, and sometimes extra gluten. It isn't organic, and compostable the way brown sourdough wheat bread is. Sourdough contains natural microorganisms which aid in the decomposition of our food.
Too many years of eating food that contains pesicides, yeasts, and bleaches can damage the complex system of rotting in our digestive tract. To be healthy, we need that system of rot to be in effect in our bodies, God made it that way.
I've taken probiotics for a long time, on and off, and never really noticed a benefit, but the first night I took some of the probiotics with the hso's, I woke up in the middle of the night to great gurgles coming from my insides. At least I could tell that what I'd taken was alive, and it was doing something.
I took one a day till my body was accustomed to them, now I am taking 3 a day.
I also started to take 5htp (5hydroxy tryptophan), which I was opposed to originally (because I am so against having to take antidepressants), but I knew that ibs is linked to the level of serotonin in the intestines, and I knew that it was time to get well. So I've been taking two of those a day, and again: it's not all perfect yet, but I've noticed a difference, and I feel more hopeful. 5htp is used by the body to help manufacture serotonin (our happy horemone), and so that in itself has been helpful.
Now, I know that healing is from Jesus, not from pills, and I discussed it with the Lord. But what I sensed when I prayed was that it was OK to recieve this as a miracle. All healing comes from God, and He knows what I need. I feel good about it too, because I am not counting on a supplement to heal me, I am counting on the Lord and how He has led me. I do feel relieved- it has been a difficult and sad journey, but I am glad that I am leaving it behind. I will leave it behind. One day at a time, every day.

Believing for a Burger, and Romans 14

2008-06-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

After a night of less sleep than I prefer, and a morning of fasting, I sat down for my bible reading and Just Happened to turn to Romans 14.

1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

This passage spoke to me about all of the diets I've tried over the last 3 years in pursuit of healing. I'm not saying it wasn't good or neccessary to give up processed foods like what I was eating before, or to introduce fresh raw vegetables, or to quit overeating. But here it says that I'm only eating vegetables because my faith is weak. You don't see it that way? Well in the book of Romans, before chapter 14, there is no other reference to food, and the reason it is referenced here is that Paul is trying to let the church know how to love eachother: how to live in harmony as the body of Christ. He is saying, essentially, don't let food be such a hang up. Don't be divided over what you are eating, and other little issues like that. What stuck out to me was that it was the man with weak faith who was eating only the vegetables. But remember, I found this in the bible- I didn't say it on my own.

I did try a raw food diet for awhile, and it really truly did help the irritable bowel symptoms. But the raw food diet wasn't CURING me. It was only reducing the stress on my digestive system, and verse 2 here says that a man's FAITH can allow him to eat ANYTHING. That was the trouble. I could eat most raw items, but I wasn't getting healed.

5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. 11It is written: " 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.' " 12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Now here it is saying that if you are one who is only eating vegetables, you are still doing it unto the Lord. Give Him thanks for your food, and let Him get all the glory. And the last verses really said to me that if I partake, I do it to God. If I abstain, I do it to God. No matter what, I belong to God. He's saying: don't get hung up on disputable matters, everyone in the body of Christ is accepted by God.

13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

Did you notice verse 14, that no food is unclean in itself? I know that it can make people get their hackles up to talk like that, but it says it right there in Romans 14:14. I know that I am not a great bible scholar, who can prove that in a vast biblical context this verse holds true for all time. I also know that the Old Testament dietary laws seem to say contrary, and that people like Jordan Rubin (I mentioned that I've been reading his book) seem to say otherwise as well. But I also know that God made His precious word very simple, so simple as to be available for the everyday average housewife. It says to my simple, desperate, and needy heart: don't be afraid of food. No food is unclean in and of itself. Be free from your bondage Liberty, I am inviting you into the ABUNDANT life! He is also saying that if my brother or sister in Christ is distressed because of what I am eating, then it isn't love. So.... has my eating (or lack thereof) caused distress to my Christian brother over the last 3 years? Yes.

It has caused my children to question what is wrong with their mother, to wonder if there will be anything for her to eat at the picnic, etc. It has caused those around me to suffer through my sugar lows, because of nothing available that I could digest where we were. It has caused parents and parents in law to worry over if they were cooking something I could eat, and did I still accept them if I wouldn't let my children eat what they served. It has limited my ability to preach healing to those around me, because I've been engaged in this distraction, and often thinking only of myself. I have been tempted to look down on others, to judge them, to stay home, and to even to envy them when I couldn't eat what they were eating. It's no fun to go out for dessert and then watch everyone eat while you don't. I have been tempted to worship food, seeing as I am hungry all the time, and always trying to think of something I can eat. Too much of my time has been spent preparing two sets of meals each day, because I often can't eat what my husband would like to be served.

So the way I have been eating the last three years doesn't line up with God's word for me in Romans 14:15. I have not been eating in love, which means it is not God's will for me. If it is not His will for me, then I must believe that Christ is the answer, that His atonement meets this need. I must believe that I CAN eat in love, that I will NOT destroy my brother because of what I am afraid to eat or not eat! Does any of this sound familiar to you, do you recognize the inside of these prison walls because you've been there yourself? He has said that the kingdom of God is NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU EAT OR DRINK! It's about the fact that you are made righteous in Christ Jesus; you have peace; you have joy in the Holy Spirit!

19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
22So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

It says ALL FOOD IS CLEAN. I can't get around this. Yes, I am still the weak of faith who is eating only vegetables, but I am determined that I will not stay this way. I will act on what I believe, but I will expect to grow in my faith. I will eat my food in faith.

Getting back to Basics

2008-06-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

There are so many thoughts swirling around and against my mind, like river current. Driving down river, then swirling back up in an eddy. Some of the waters just swirl in that one spot along the side, never being driven on by the current. Swirling at the back of my mind like doubt, unbelief, like fear.

Fear, my enemy. Lying enemy of all that is true and right. The constant invisible invitation to give way to what is wrong. An invitation to the curse. For fear is like faith, it has the power to manifest its object in your life if you will let it.

Some days are good, and I feel like the woman I know He made me to be. Other days hurt, and I hear the wicked invitation more clearly then: you can't do it. just give up. it's cancer, you know. you're too afraid to go to the doctor.

And yet I know the other invitation too, the quiet presence of Holy Spirit in worship, like a gentle breeze that seems to lift away all the heaviness, and disquiet, the scream. His sweet, still, small voice speaking to me of things that seem so great, so wonderful and pure, so almost impossible to believe, when I am in the throes of the swirling. And yet I do believe. Somewhere inside of me there is a part that agrees completely. I do believe what He says.

And when I leave His presence, I am changed. I know He is with me. I don't know why I am fighting this battle, or when it will be done, but I know that things are different. Things are lighter. I know that He has won.

I know it before I see it. I know that the pain cannot stay. I know that He never changes. I know that He is only good, only Love, only true.

And I cling to His word. Even when I don't FEEL what I want to. Even when the results aren't immediate. Why?

I know by now that there is no other answer.

I also did a lot of reading this week- The Maker's Diet, by Jordan Rubin. I liked the way He was crediting his healing to the Lord, and to faith in His Word. Nothing is Impossible with God by Kathryn Kuhlman. I liked the way this balanced the message in Maker's Diet: that healing doesn't come because we obey the law, but because Christ is the Fulfillment of the Law.

One more step of the journey. : )

Thoughts on Parenting

2008-04-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

Some more of my thoughts from the weekend of the home school conference. I want to keep the things that God showed me fresh in my mind. I want to change, and to do that, I need to desire change. To keep those goals before my eyes. We do what is habit by default, but if we change our habits, we have a new default. We can change our habits if we practice. So here I am practicing. Rehearsing who I want to be, even as I'm thankful for who I am.

Children:

-"You have been trying to control your children through anger, and pushing others away through anger." I hadn't realized before my weekend away that I'd really had an anger problem. I would have if I'd thought about it, but I guess the frustrated feeling, the short replies, the exasperated sighs... this was sort of normal. The tension I was carrying in my body went unnoticed to some extent, because it was a habit. A bad one.

-"You have been using anger as a motivator, (even for yourself), and anger is linked to fear. If you want to get rid of the fear in your life, you will have to get rid of the anger. Fear, is a SIN.

"Child training is not hard, because the word of God is not hard. Training is a product of love, not anger."

-Proverbs 29:17. "If you are not delighted, then it is up to you to change things!"

-"Don't get angry at your children for needing training- help them!"

-"Your anger will not achieve the desire of God in your home."

-"Do you love Me? Then love them." (My children, my husband.)

-"Do not require your children to serve you, when you were unwilling to serve them first." For example, I was often asking a child to run and get me a this, or go and clean me a that, but inside my heart was tired, and I didn't have a servant's heart toward them. More like a you serve me.

-"Communicate with Joshua, to restore bridges." I haven't communicated with my second son the way I should have, because our personality types and learning styles are so different from one another, that I found it hard to understand him. In my lazy selfishness I wasn't taking time to slow down, listen to him, make an effort to stay and hear him out. To really understand his heart, and not just wait until he was done talking.

-"There is healing available for this son (Joshua). Agree with Me. Train your children to be healers."

Wow. What an awesome call. Lord, teach me how to do that. He calls us all to be his witnesses, his little christs. His saviors, His healers. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, and surely I will be with you.

-"Teach Joshua how to worship Me. Worship brings freedom."

-I have been pressuring my children to: follow their chore list, do their school quickly, eat healthy foods, etc. etc. etc. But what I truly desire is not that they be pressured, but FREE. I want them to be free from the compelling desire to eat junk food; the pressure of their flesh to be lazy; the inclination of their heart to be self-centred. I want my children to be unhindered, unhampered. Just the same, instead of my always striving to be a good girl, to do things right, to quit my sins, etc. etc. etc., my heavenly Father desires that I simply BE FREE! Go in peace daughter, your faith has made you free!

-"If you schedule each child a time to read his own bible, each morning, then they will hold that habit for the rest of their lives."

-sons should know how a home is managed, because someday they will be the godly head of a woman who must manage her home.

-"Joy comes from serving others. Fun is not a substitute. When people love to treat each other good at all times, then it is a joy to work together." When children aren't spending all of their time playing, they can be well rounded in many areas of skill: sewing, cooking, wood working, etc.

-"Whatever you are spending your time on is what you are sowing (investing) into!" those are the things that you hope will produce in your life. They are your priorities. If I am spending my time on TV, what am I hoping that it will produce? I turned the TV off, since I've been back.

-Children cry because they want their parents to submit to their will. "Give me what I want! I want down, I want to eat, I don't want to eat! Pick me up! I want to sleep, I don't want to sleep!" But we as adults are required to submit our will to our heavenly Father's. Our children must be trained to submit their will to ours, so that they will know how to submit their will to His. I can attest that it is difficult to learn to obey God as an adult, when you have been accustomed to obeying only your SELF. But the Lord is a patient and willing teacher. It is the kindness of God that leads men to repentance.

-don't spoil your children. A spoiled baby can keep you from doing the will of God as a family, because the attention is always on the baby, and not the will of God for the FAMILY. The Lord told us to consider others better than (or ahead of) ourselves. It is easier to do, if you have done it since childhood. then it has become a good habit, and it comes naturally.

-"The decisions you make every day show the true goals you have for your children." So if I wake up tired, and decide to surf the Internet instead of reading God's word, and my youngest son asks me if he can watch a movie instead of doing chores or phonics.... My decisions show my true goals.

I pray I will turn the computer off, get out the phonics book, and open my bible!

-"When your children are well fed on the truth, they will not be hungry for dirt." Jed told me a sad story of mothers facing extreme poverty who had to mix a mineral clay into the cookies they made their children because the children were so hungry and had nothing to eat. I know that as a teen, I spiritually starved, and therefore went searching through the dumpsters of the world looking for what I thought would be food. thank God, now I know that Jesus is the bread of life, and I will feed my family on Him every day.

-Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself. "Protect your children from pornography." Again, a thought that really warrants an entire post of it's own.

After I wrote all these thoughts down, my brain was buzzing, and I felt really amazed when I got home at all that I had to do, and all that I wanted to change. But I also knew that the Lord had told me: "Just keep rehearsing what you are called to do." Just keep practicing. Just get up every day, and try again. Simple.

God's View of Marriage (On Mondays)

2008-04-14T07:33:00.001-07:00

Well, after my refreshing weekend away, I certainly gave this Monday a poor start. I was not acting like a virtuous woman, let's just leave it at that.

So I'm here to write down the things the Lord told me this weekend about marriage, because it's not enough for me to just hear it: I'm going to have to put it into practice! : )

MARRIAGE

-Allow what the enemy has intended for evil in your marriage to be used by God for good. Trust Him to take the places that have been the most painful for you, and to make something beautiful out of them.

-Believe that your husband is the leader, and that he is to be followed. (This is easier to do when we remember that it is not because our husband is a GOOD leader, that we are to follow him. It is because he is in the position of leader. And this is appointed by God.

-"You have been trying to control people in your life through anger. Your anger has been hindering your family." This one was directed so specifically at ME. I was pushing people away through fear, and now it is time to leave that all behind and walk in Love.

-"All of your bondage has been broken through the cross. Just walk out of it. Leave it behind, and move on." Just walk out. All the cell doors are open.

-The father of a family is the shepherd of that family (under Christ, of course). I must yield to my husband, as the shepherd of his family. He leads our family as one who is accountable to God, we must help him with such a great responsibility- not hinder him.
-Recognize that your husband IS the leader (by God's design). It will make it easier to be the follower. Walk one step behind, so to speak. Pray for him to take the right paths, but don't run to get in front of him when you don't feel certain about where he is headed. Serve the leader, and help him to do a better job. Don't usurp the calling God has given him, or you won't be fulfilling the calling He has given you.

-If you will lift up your husband; exalt him; honor him, then he will be honored. You have the ability to change the atmosphere and course of your husband's life, because you can make the choice to exalt him rather than tearing him down. The closest person in his life should be empowering him, not wearing him out. Proverbs 31 says that the husband of the godly woman is respected in the city gates. We are the ones who sow that respect into our husband's lives, and who encourage their confidence. We build them up.

-You are the HELPER. Do not ask something of your husband that you are not willing to do yourself. That's just being bossy, or at least delegating, when you don't have the option to delegate to your leader. Whatever you would like your husband to do for you, take the initiative yourself and serve him!

* When you submit to your husband and SERVE him, it increases his capacity for change. It builds and strengthens him as a man, and softens his heart toward you. Has nagging, yelling, or fuming ever worked? A gentle tongue can break a bone. A soft answer turns away wrath. When you submit, you are keeping the unity in your household. When you try to get your own way, you put your husband off on an opposing side. Men don't like that, it makes them feel challenged, and it hardens their resolve. A gentle and quiet spirit is of great worth in God's sight!

-You CAN change the look on your face. : )

-"You don't believe that you've been changing, but I have seen you change."

-People love a kind woman.

-Joy comes from serving others, and fun is no substitute.

-"When you see your husband My way, then you will not judge him. You will believe in him."

Ok, I feel better now. A bit more able to take on the day, and not to be the quarrelsome wife that I was reading about in Proverbs yesterday!

Liberty.

Confessions, and Encouragements

2008-04-13T17:34:00.001-07:00

I had the privilege of enjoying a home school conference this weekend (AHEA), and hearing Steve and Teri Maxwell speak. It was an awesome time! In case you home school, I have to mention their book Managers of Their Homes. It really turned my life around! Allow me to explain:

When we had only young kids, it seemed we were always in survival mode, and just keeping our heads above water! The house was so messy I cried. I didn't know at all what to do about it, but the year finally arrived that baby #2, and baby #3 were now old enough to enter our home school. I knew that something had to change. I couldn't just let my youngest three jump up and down on the laundry pile every morning while they watched cartoons! I had to get it together!! I had heard about Teri's book, and a lot of the ladies from my home school support group had purchased it. I hadn't read a book since before my depression (other than my bible, and some teaching on the Christian faith.) But I knew I needed help, so I ordered the book.

When I got it, I just devoured it! I felt like I suddenly had some power in my hands to change my circumstances!

I remember one night when Jed was away on an extended trip, and the kitchen was so messy that I couldn't even make a path through the dishes to serve supper at the table! I had to spread a blanket on the floor in the play room, and serve the kids pizza there. When the children were very small, their clothes didn't even make it up to their dressers- I just flung each child's clothes into a big bucket when they came out of the dryer. When it was time to get dressed, you had to go downstairs, and look in your bucket! Besides that, most of the kids wore their pyjamas (unless we were going to town)!

Can you see how this kind of lifestyle wasn't going to work, if we were going to home school? I was beginning to see it.

The book taught me how to schedule my day, and how to fit in all the responsibilities and chores that we needed to get done each day (as well as school). Using the schedule, we got so much more done each day, and it was such a relief! It was difficult for me to get used to being accountable to the schedule, but it was so worth it, and it brought such peace to our family! The children actually enjoyed it, and were excited about it. I think the fact that I was excied and happy made them feel like a schedule would actually be a good thing. Remember, all daycares and kindergartens are scheduled. A schedule can be a good thing!

So back to the conference. I drove up a day early, and spent an evening alone in the hotel room reading my bible, and crying out to the Lord. I say crying, because I actually did do some crying. I felt tired, overwhelmed, and ashamed. Discouraged. I had really been letting things slip at home, and I knew it. Besides that, I knew that I needed healing in my body, and was feeling so pressured and hopeless at times. But as I prayed, and read, and cried... the Father was faithful to speak to me. I wrote down everything that I heard, so that I wouldn't forget! After all, God keeps His word! I wanted to post some of it, to refresh my memory.

I know that not everything I write here will connect with you, but there are some things that might. I'm glad to post it, because I know that I'll come back and reread it myself.

Blessings, Liberty.

HEALING

-Are you eating in a way that glorifies God?

-Are you willing to accept a joy that is beyond your circumstances?

Psalm 63:5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast, I will praise You with songs of joy.

Hosea 2:14-16 I will return her vineyards to her, and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.

Hosea 6:6 (paraphrase) I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know Me more than I want burnt offerings.

Hosea 9:10 When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert... (God loves me, He sees potential in me!)

-If healing is God's will for me, then I can't give up or quit. The struggle is not from God- it is simply an opportunity to win. the struggle is NOT MY IDENTITY.

-Your right actions will not remanin forever hidden. (1Timothy 5:25 Weymouth Translation)

-Using a schedule will increase your peace.

-If you adhere to a schedule, you can get enough sleep.

-Reduce your salt intake (I must admit, I was a bit disappointed about this one!)

-The answer to the theft in your life (the IBS, etc.) is that I have come! They may have life MORE ABUNDANTLY!

-Couldn't you fast? (As in, are you certain that you are not able?) Actually, I decided to do a media fast. I'm looking forward to spending more time with the Lord.

Isaiah 1:19 If you will only obey Me, you will have plenty to eat. (I've been on a strict diet- the ibs.)

Isaiah 1:27 Zion will be restored by justice; those who repent will be revived by righteousness.

I WILL SURELY HEAL YOU.

LOVE HAS DOMINION OVER PAIN. Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.

I want you to feast. I want you to rejoice with your family without care. All that God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is recieved with thanksgiving- it is sanctified by the word of God, and prayer.

-I've got to change what I'm thinking.

-I've got to change what I'm saying.

-Words are seeds. The mountain is moved with a seed.

Isaiah 12
1 In that day you will sing: “I will praise you, O Lord! You were angry with me, but not any more. Now you comfort me.

2 See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.”

-God protects His people when they honor His word.

I have a lot more actually that I'd like to write: insights the Lord gave me over the weekend about family, and marriage. I hope to write on that next time.

Health for the Whole Body

2008-04-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

This is a verse I've been coming back to over and over. I posted before about the virus we had here, and how the word of God really gave me strength and victory. I have been spending more time in the Word since then, and trying to keep it before my eyes, and coming into my ears throughout the day. This hasn't been perfectly easy. There have been days I feel on fire for the Word of God, and days that my flesh would really rather be interested in something else. But I know now to ride those days out. The Word, which is Spirit, is the antidote to the rebellious flesh, so the more I am in the Word, the sooner those fleshy, irritable days will pass.

So, back to that verse:

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. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put devious lips far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead, and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

I had really been focusing on the beginning part of that scripture: how if I keep His Word in the midst of my heart it will be life and health to my whole body. But now I see that the second part is important too! While I am believing for my whole healthy body, am I watching my heart? Am I keeping track of what kind of thoughts are going through my head throughout the day? Am I assuming that I can just plug in my time in the Word, and then God will take care of the rest? Well, He told ME to guard my heart. Stay awake, watch what is going on in your thought life.

What is coming out of my mouth? Have I been praying the Word, and then talking bitterness, judgment, sickness, and unbelief? Have I truly put devious lips far from me?

What am I looking at? What in the world am I watching on TV? And if I am watching those things, then am I really keeping my gaze fixed straight in front of me? Am I focused on the prize? Do I have a clear sense of my goal, and WHAT IS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE IT?

The final verse in that chapter says: Watch the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil. Connected to my healing is my turning away from evil.

So that's the goal this week: keep the word in my heart, but remember that to fear the Lord is to HATE EVIL.

I am so thankful for the Holy Spirit's counsel, and might in this situation. We don't need to do it without Him.

Changing the Course of My Day

2008-04-02T06:35:00.000-07:00

If someone in our house is having a bad attitude about something, we call it a stinkitude.

Well, I was tempted to have a stinkitude when I woke up today. My stomach was hurting me, and I felt frustrated, and fed up. So I did what I always do when that happens- I went to read my bible. My bible changes things.

2Kings 4:42

One day a man from Baal-shalisha brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, "Give it to the people so they can eat."

"What?" his servant exclaimed. "Feed a hundred people with only this?" But Elisha repeated, "Give it to the people so they can eat, for this is what the Lord says: Every one will eat, and there will even be some left over!" And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the Lord had promised.

I connected with this scripture today. Even as I was reading this morning, I was thinking in the back of my mind how I just didn't feel like walking on the treadmill, I just didn't feel like I could cope with "being Mommy" today. But as I read this scripture, I saw that God could take something that I gave Him, which truly wasn't enough, and He could make it to be more than enough, if I will listen to His voice and act in faith.

So I don't have enough today, but He does. He really has more than enough to MEET MY NEED!

2 Kings 4:1-7 (New Living Translation)
1 One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”
2 “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”
“Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.
3 And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. 4 Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”
5 So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. 6 Soon every container was full to the brim!
“Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons.
“There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.
7 When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”

In this scripture, a woman faced an attack on her life that she just couldn't face alone. The prophet of God helped her, but he used what she already had. Again, the Father took what little she had and made it to be more than enough. As she listened to the voice of the Lord, and acted in faith, He made His grace to abound to her. She experienced His mercy, and a miracle transformed her life.

So in the midst of parenting, homeschooling, submitting to my husband, housework, and any pressure I face today, I will listen to the voice of the Lord, and I will act in faith. He will make the little I have to end up with left overs. Praise the Lord.

Just Get Up

2008-03-29T11:19:00.001-07:00

I had two thoughts this week. First, that infirmity is not an excuse for selfishness.

Second: that often we don't need to be healed. We just need to stop doing certain things.

I looked at my life, and wondered- which are the things that I need to stop doing? What are the changes I can make that will keep me on the path of healing? Often it is very obvious when we look at someone else's life what they would need to do to be free. "Why don't they just stop drinking, why don't they stop worrying, why don't they stop eating so much?" But when it's our own life, it isn't always that clear. We may even have an understanding that we are committing a certain harmful behavior over and over, yet we don't see clearly how to change it. Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees.

So I may not know what my problem is, but I do know where to look for the answer. As we discussed before, healing always comes. And the Word is the source of healing. If I need my life changed, if I need my eyes opened, then there is no other way! Besides that, I am tired of special diets! Have I not discovered yet that the world cannot offer me what He can? I am tired of feeling hungry all the time, and I am tired of symptoms! I have had more than enough. Things have got to change!

Matthew 8:14

And when Jesus had come to Peter's home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose, and waited on Him.

OK, this is a good story for someone who's "had enough", because Jesus didn't just pray for this woman and hope she would get better: in another gospel it says that Jesus rebuked the fever. He chased it out of there. He took aim at something that didn't belong in this woman's life, and he cast it out. I want to do the same- I don't want to just sit around suffering- I want to rebuke it, and to rise and wait on Him. (Did you notice that part?) Is our unwillingness to serve keeping us sick? I know when I was healed of my depression I found that people were putting responsibilities on me that they hadn't before. Suddenly not as many people were willing to help with babysitting; suddenly my mother in law brought the farm financial books over to our house, and wanted me to do them. There was a higher level of expectation on me as a healed woman, than there was as a depressed woman. I didn't like it. But I wanted to be well, so I would take on the challenge. I had been depressed for 2 years, and I figured that if there was work to be done to be well, I would do it. It was worth it to be free. I didn't think it was fair that other people were happy just naturally, when it was requiring effort for me, but I was willing to do the work because I was tired of being depressed.

So is that a requirement for healing? Do you have to be fed up with being sick?

I watched Believer's Voice of Victory most of this week while on my treadmill. Charles Capps was on, and he and Kenneth Copeland were discussing faith, and confessions. They talked about when Jesus stilled the storm: He didn't pray that they would survive, or have strength to get through the trial- He said "We are going over to the other side." and then He rebuked the wind and the waves. "Where is your faith?" He asked his disciples. This suggests to me that He had actually been expecting THEM to do something about the wind and the waves. He had given the command for them to go- wasn't that enough to get them to the other side? If He has said "Surely He took up our infirmities", isn't that enough for me to be able to eat a steak sandwich without heading for the bathroom!?

Is His word enough or isn't it?

I also watched a bit of Creflo Dollar in the evenings, and he was talking about change. He mentioned the man at the pool of Bethesda. If you don't know this story:

John 5:2...

Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted. And a certain man was there, who had been thirty-eight years in his sickness. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been a long time already in that condition, He said to him, "Do you wish to get well?" The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Arise, take up your pallet, and walk." And immediately the man became well, and took up his pallet and began to walk.

This story challenges me, because this man could have gotten well a long time before. If you knew that there was a surefire way to be healed of whatever is tormenting you right now, would you really take it? Well this man had SEEN other people healed! He had seen the angel stir the waters, and other people come out of it WELL! And he couldn't find a way to get in? At all? I wonder about that part, because if he was so infirm that he needed a bedmat, it means he was probably lame, which means that either he had to have someone bring him food there for 38 years, (or he would have starved,) or he would have had to be mobile enough to go beg. If he was mobile at all, then why couldn't he have squirmed his way over to that pool, and lain right on the edge of it? When the water was stirred, he could have just rolled right in. He could have fought the other halt and lame men tooth and nail to get there if need be. But this was an excuse. Was this man actually afraid to be healed? Afraid that he wouldn't be?

Do I have a list of excuses? Do I have strongholds in my thinking that are keeping me from knowing my full healing?

Again, this was a man who had something expected of him. Jesus said "Take up your bedmat and walk." Don't wait for someone to help you, don't wait on that angel- just get up. Take responsibility for your situation, and change it. Just get up.

Healing Always Comes

2008-03-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

Well, part of our healing journey this week was to battle a virus. It wasn't very fun. But I learned some very important things, for which I am thankful. Scripture tells us that as we pray, and as Jesus intercedes for us, even the things which satan intended against us can be used by God for our good.

1. I was reminded how important the word of God is in our lives, and how we just can't afford to neglect it. I was also reminded that it truly does bring healing; it really does work. There were a few days where I could barely get off of the sofa, but I kept reading the psalms for a few minutes at a time, and I kept the Miracle Channel playing most of the day. So the word of God was going in my ears, and in my eyes. Whenever I lay down, I played a bible cd of scripture, or listened to a teaching on love by Kenneth Copeland. Sometimes I couldn't take it in very well, but I knew that my spirit could hear it. And my spirit was growing strong. After a few days, even though I could feel in my body that I still had a really high fever, I felt good! Because my spirit felt good. The word of God always brings healing, and you are never too sick to be unaffected by it. That would be like being to hungry to benefit from nourishment.

One particular day I had been crying out to God, and He had someone from the Signet Centre call me (as a follow up to a prayer request) and they were able to pray for me. I was too weak at that point to do much, and the Father sent me the help I needed. He was letting me know that He IS the Word, and the Word always works.

2. I realized the importance of having the home kept up regularly, and having the children in the home to be well trained. I guess it's like a little army in a way: if the soldiers are all doing their exercises every day, then it's not too big of a deal when a real overnight exercise arises. There were a couple days where I didn't do much standing or talking, and the eight year old took care of the six year old, who also was fighting a fever. She did it cheerfully, and compassionately, and she did it well. All of the kids were amazing. They didn't fight; they looked out for eachother; the 12 year old made 2 simple meals; they all did their chores. Now I have to say, that if Jed and I weren't training them to do these things on a normal day, they wouldn't have known to do it when a real need arose.

3. I saw how important it was that each child in our family have their own personal faith in God! My eight year old daughter had to pray for me to recieve healing. They each needed God to keep them strong, and to give them peace. This week of battling sickness wasn't an experience that God ever wanted our family to have, but He was able to work in our family the way He did because each child has a relationship with His word; they know Him personally, and He answers their prayers. It wasn't enough that Jed and I have faith for them. They needed to know Jesus themselves, and He came through for them!

4. I deepened my appreciation for the psalms, which help us to express our hearts to God, to know that He hears, and answers, and they help us to perform the spiritual warfare we need to in difficult times.

In summary, I would say: get yourself a good audio bible. There was one afternoon I was feverish, and laying on the bed with the cd playing, and I could hear the words very clearly with my spirit: I could feel His power entering my spirit. That's where healing comes from: it fills your born again spirit, and then manifests in your body.

Be well today, and journey on.

Liberty

Seeking Wisdom

2008-03-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

I have worshipped food for far too long. It's a normal temptation of the flesh, I guess. The thing is, the flesh never has enough. It's never satisfied. You can flesh yourself right into an early death. Besides that, food is unworthy. It is the creation, the gift from the Creator. He is the only One worthy.

So my record of scriptures here is the process of cementing into my mind (recording into my heart) that He alone is worthy, and His word is what I am hungry for. I am hungry for relationship with Him. Food can't replace that. Food is not a substitute for Love.

Proverbs 7:1-5

My son, keep my words, and treasure My commands within you. Keep My commands and live, and My law as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to Wisdom, "You are my sister," and call Understanding your nearest kin, that they may keep you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words.

Is this the tricky part? Do I TREASURE His commands? It's the common temptation of the flesh to treasure its own desires. I want what I want. But there is no other way- He said "Keep my commands and LIVE."

Have I been living a life of which I can honestly say: I spend my time writing His Word on the tablet of my heart. I bind it on my fingers. Wisdom is my sister, and understanding and I are best buds. Can I say that?

I want the kind of relationship with Wisdom that I can ask Her something (the book of proverbs refers to wisdom in the female), and then clearly hear the answer. No more messing around. But this will not happen outside of relationship. I am going to have to give up my life of the flesh, and give Her (give Wisdom) my full attention.

Proverbs 24:14 says: My son, eat honey because it is good, and the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste; so shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; if you have found it, there is a prospect, and your hope will not be cut off.

Proverbs 21:22

A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the trusted stronghold.

If I am going to tear down every stronghold in my life linked to food, to stress, to fear, I am going to need Wisdom. I need a RELATIONSHIP with Wisdom.

So this is where the journey begins, and to some extent, it can stop right here. If I won't take this step, then how can I go any further? After all, I'm not only seeking to be well, I am seeking to KNOW the Healer.

Wisdom. Our first sign post.

Only One Thing Is Needful

2008-03-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

There are so many things I would like to write about here, and I always feel full to overflowing with words; with not enough time to write them down! But the main thing I want to do here, and I think the most important, is that I want to look into the scriptures and find out the truth. I want to know and experience my redemption from irritable bowel syndrome, and from every other infirmity. I know that God is our help, but I think that often we sit around waiting for help when there is something we ought to be doing. For me, that thing is to be in His word. The word itself contains my healing.

Awhile ago I made a list of scriptures that I felt applied to my healing, and I'm going to start going through them. When I type a scripture, think about it, and meditate on it, I am getting that scripture down into my heart. What is in my heart will come out of my mouth, and what comes out of my mouth is what will come to pass in my life.

The Word of God is the one thing that is neccessary for me right now.

John 6:27, 28

Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.

I keep coming across this scripture, and thinking about how irritable bowel syndrome would have me be a slave to what I eat. If I eat such and such I will be sick, if I don't eat such and such, I will be undernourished. To eat specialty foods I will spend extra money, and I will spend hours a week preparing special food, and thinking about food. This isn't right. I am not a slave to what I eat. Jesus said, don't labour for the food that is only perishable. Don't let your life revolve around it! There is true food to be persued.

Titus 1:15

To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure...

I keep thinking about my redemption in Christ, and how if I am a citizen of heaven right now, then I shouldn't be under the dominion of rules: don't eat, don't taste, don't touch. I am the righteous in Jesus Christ, I am the pure. Therefore, all my food must be pure. If my food is giving me trouble, is it really a problem with unbelief?
James 2:14-26

New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[a]? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[b] and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Okay, I copied that one from Bible Gateway, I didn't type it out! But look at verse 14. This one I think about often. If I say I believe I'm healed, that I can eat anything I want without getting sick, then why won't I drink milk? If I truly believe that God will bless my bread and my water, and will take away all sickness from the midst of me, then why won't I even consider drinking milk? I think the answer must be that I am familiar with the milk's ability to do me harm, and not so familiar with God's ability to protect me. Now, there have been times when I've had to eat something I typically don't eat, and I've prayed over it, and was fine. But there also have been many times that I've done the same, and been ill. I know that God isn't fickle, I'm sure that the problem is my doublehearted faith. A double minded man has trouble recieving from God.

The second 1/2 of that verse says: Can that kind of faith save him?, and verse 17 says: Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

This makes sense to me. If I know that exercise can help ibs, but I don't do any, what kind of faith is that? It is a dead faith: and inactive faith. A faith that can't help me. So, if I believe something, there is a neccessary acting on it. An active faith is a working faith.

What about verse 24- could we say that a man is healed by his works, and not by faith only? I'm not telling you here, I'm more or less asking. That's what makes healing a journey- I'm still in the process.

Proverbs 8:17

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me.

This is referring to wisdom, and I have certainly been asking the Lord for wisdom. Teach me Lord, show me Your healing: what do I need to do to recieve? Here the Lord tells me that if I seek wisdom diligently, I will find it. If I love wisdom, wisdom will love me.

That's all I have time for right now, but I'll be back!

I'm going to enjoy this, I can tell. : )

The Journey Begins Today

2008-03-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

A journey to healing can be seen two ways.

You can see that you are sick. Dissapointed. Angry, and wrongly done by. You can see that this should never have happened to you, and you would be right. It never should have. But you are on this journey none the less. You can go forwards if you want to; you can sit in the road and impede the progress of the other people in your life. Or, you can see it in a new way.

You can see that this is a journey you are privelaged to be on- not many people even make the first step. This journey can be an adventure, it can be exciting! This journey begins today, and you are the one who decides how it will go.

I have been dealing with irritable bowel syndrome for the last two years, and I have decided that this is a journey I will see the end of. I am going to be well, and nothing is going to stop me. I am inviting you to join me on this journey. If you have an issue in your life you have been struggling with, and you are determined to make your way over, then welcome aboard. I will see the end of this journey, and I trust that you will too.

Liberty.