Let your body heal itself

Why should we as Christians take care of our health?

 

There are many reasons why we need to care for our own health – some obvious, some less obvious. These include our obligations to . . .
1. . . . ourselves, and our families and friends.
2. . . . our places of work and our societies.
3. . . . God.

The first two are self-evident. Our families and friends need us to function on a daily basis. This especially applies if we are parents and we have children who are going to be dependent on us for a very long time. When we’re sick, we put stress on others – practically, emotionally, and financially. But what about our obligation to God to stay healthy and what does the Bible say about this?

Our bodies are a gift from God. He gives them to us so that we can glorify him through our lives. Our bodies are also a spiritual battle ground. We see all the way through Scripture that Jesus brings life and healing. Satan brings death and disease. We need to cooperate with God 100% in his bid to bestow on us a healthy life. When we live a healthy lifestyle, we are aligning ourselves with God’s purposes for us. When we eat unhealthy food and engage in unhealthy life practices, we are assisting Satan in his bid to destroy our health and possibly damage our effectiveness in the Kingdom of God.

The Bible repeatedly makes it clear that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God dwells within us and he decrees heavy penalties on those who destroy his temple.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 KJV
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

1 Corinthians 6 points out that our bodies no longer belong to us. We have been bought with the precious blood of Jesus. He suffered that we might be healed (Isaiah 53:5). We are called to glorify God in our bodies as well as in our spirits.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 KJV
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Romans 12 commands us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. It is only reasonable service to God that we should keep our bodies holy and acceptable to him. This applies morally and spiritually, but surely it also applies to living a healthy lifestyle. (See also 2 Corinthians 7:1.)

Romans 12:1 KJV
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
In Leviticus 11, God gives detailed instructions on what the Israelites could and couldn’t eat. In doing so, he shows his concern for the diet and health of his people. While it is true, we are no longer under the law, we can still consider God’s wisdom in giving these commandments. After all, it says in 1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

Last but not least, God calls us to go out and heal the sick (Matthew 10:8). How are we to give away what we don’t have ourselves?

Clearly, we have a God-given obligation to take care of our bodies. That includes carefully considering our diet and lifestyle. May we honour him in all we do.

“I don't need natural healing modalities. God is going to heal me.”

There’s a story that preachers sometimes use that goes like this: A man is stranded on a rock out at sea, the floodwaters are rising, and he’s going to drown. A rescue helicopter arrives, but the man waves it away saying, “I don’t need your help. God is going to save me.” Next a boat arrives but the man’s response is the same. Before long, the man drowns. In heaven he asks God why he didn’t save him; after all the man had put his faith in God. God replies, “I sent you a helicopter and a boat.”

Some people are like this man when it comes to their health. They’re suffering. They are in danger of drowning. They know and love Jesus, so they pray for healing. They believe he will hear them and end their suffering. However, they don’t recognise or acknowledge the ‘helicopter and boat’ God has sent them.

So, let’s look at the opportunities for good health that God has sent to those of us in the West in the 21^st century.

• Most of us have the opportunity to choose a good, healthy diet.
• Most of us have the opportunity to supplement our diet with essential nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, amino acids and essential fatty acids.
• Most of us have the choice to exercise.
• We may have the choice to get more sleep.
• We may have the choice to give up unhealthy habits.
• We have the choice to mitigate stress through prayer and Bible study.
• We have the opportunity to educate ourselves about health.
• We have access to a plethora of natural healing products and methods.

There are, of course, many wonderful examples of healing miracles in the Bible. These include a number of notable occasions where the sick person was expected to participate in their own healing and make use of natural healing substances.

In Isaiah 38, God granted Hezekiah 15 years more life. To receive this healing, he was required to put a lump of figs on the boil.

In 2 Kings 5, Naaman the leper was instructed by Elisha to go dip in the Jordan River seven times. At first Naaman refused, saying the rivers in his own country were better than the Jordan. In the end he relented, did as the prophet instructed, and was healed. (The Jordan is replete with healing minerals.)

In a similar incident in John 9, Jesus tells the blind man to go wash in the pool of Siloam.

In Mark 5, Jesus raises a 12-year-old girl from the dead. He then instructs that ‘something should be given her to eat’. Jesus could have just nourished her supernaturally (after all, he’d just raised her from the dead), but he chose to use normal food as a healing resource.

So, pray for your healing. Put your faith in Jesus, the true healer. And while you do that, take a look around at the healing opportunities God has provided for you. Don’t be like the drowning man who failed to see God’s provision of a helicopter and a boat. Open your eyes and see what God has provided for your health.

Your life choices are far more important than your genes.

 

 

Proverbs 16:24

Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

The prevailing understanding of health is that bad genes cause disease and our only recourse is drugs and surgery. That is far from the truth. Our life choices and environment have an enormous effect on our health. The Bible told us thousands of years ago that even such things as ‘pleasant words’ can affect our health. And in the 21^st century, scientists are finally starting to catch up.

In the video Epigenetic transformation – you are what your grandparents ate: Pamela Peeke at TEDxLowerEastSide (see below), Pamela Peeke explains how science moved from genetics to epigenetics in 2007 through an experiment with agouti mice. The effect of the agouti gene in these mice, which made the mice obese and yellow in colour, was changed simply by feeding the pregnant mothers greens. The expression of the gene had been changed through diet.

And it’s not just diet that affects our gene expression. It’s lifestyle, habits, physical movement, laughing, positive thoughts, love etc.

As I’ve mentioned many times, I went from barely able to walk to now running, working out and dancing. I achieved this without any drugs or surgery. I’ve spoken before in this blog about the role of diet, supplementation, and stem cell activation patches in my recovery. Now let’s talk about other factors that have played a part.

I’m a Christian. Christians live in the love of God. We submit our thought lives to the word of God. We put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and always try to remain thankful. We seek to follow God’s law and to receive his forgiveness and grace when we fall. So even when I was living in pain, disability, and daily trauma ten years ago, I still walked through it with God. In today’s world, I see plenty to make me sad, sorrowful, angry, frustrated, and afraid. But I see those things through faith, hope, love, and thankfulness in God. I’m sure this mindset has contributed to my recovery.

As a scientist who studies epigenetics, Pamela Peeke would agree that all this ‘positive thinking’ is good for my health. But we didn’t need science to tell us this. It’s all in the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 3:7-8

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

Proverbs 4:20-22

My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

Proverbs 13:17

A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.

Proverbs 14:30

A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

Watching the video also made me realise that other activities I’m currently doing are contributing to my recovery more than I thought. Things like dancing, practising the piano, and singing.

Diet and nutrition are vital for health recovery but so is everything that we do in our lives. And there’s always room for improvement. I’ve been carefully watching my diet for 30 years, but after listening to the agouti mice story, I’ve ordered some kale.

 

 

Epigenetic transformation – you are what your grandparents ate: Pamela Peeke at TEDxLowerEastSide

A biblical view of health

 

 

I would like to talk about God’s will for our health and to look at how the biblical view of health differs from the worldly view. After all, health is both a major theme in the Bible and a major concern in our lives, and we are taught as Christians that we have to change our thinking according to God’s will. That includes our thinking on health.

The current western thinking on health goes something like this; we are made as wonderful machines, but like all machines we occasionally break down. When that happens, we need an expert to come and fix the broken part and put us back together again.

Is that view consistent with the Bible?

To answer that question, let’s start by looking at God’s will for our health. After all, it says in Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (KJV)

So, what is God’s will for our health?

It is clear right from the beginning that God provided Adam with the perfect setting for perfect health.

Genesis 2: 8-10 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

God gave Adam the best possible food in the best possible environment. The garden was beautiful and it was watered by four mineral-rich rivers.

We know the story. Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent and chose to do things their own way rather than God’s way. God’s perfect world was corrupted by sin, and they were expelled from the garden. Thus began the spiritual war between health and life, and disease and death.

Is it still possible to be healthy in a fallen world?

Let’s look at how God made us.

Psalm 139:14-16 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

When you read those words, do you feel God’s care for you? Do you feel the wonder of his creation of your body, soul, and spirit? Do you realise that you are a million times more than just a machine that breaks down occasionally?

You were made for LIFE and HEALTH by a loving Father, who has provided everything you need for wholeness in body, soul, and spirit. To walk in that provision, you have to:

1. Change your thinking
2. Recognise that you need to take responsibility for your own health as part of your walk with God.
3. Dissociate yourself from the corruption of the world both physically and spiritually.

How has our world been corrupted? In many ways. But according to 1 Timothy 6:10, the love of money is the root of all evil. Where there are riches and the desire for more wealth, there is corruption. Two good examples of this are the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry. And they are run for the benefit of their share holders, not for the benefit of your health.

The food industry makes money if their food tastes good. And with good business sense, they use the cheapest ingredients available. Salt, sugar, and artificial flavourings make food taste good. But they are not good for your health.

The pharmaceutical industry makes money if you feel better as quickly as possible. This means overriding your body’s natural systems in order to reduce symptoms. They do not make money by addressing the root cause of disease and advising you to change your lifestyle.

The examples I’ve just given you are signs of corruption in the world, and they stand in opposition to God’s intention that you should live an abundant life.

So, the question is — Are you putting anything into your body that comes from the corruption of the world rather than from God’s abundant provision for your health?

If so, please think again about how your loving heavenly Father created you, and what he has provided for your health. Then prayerfully ask God for wisdom in making lifestyle chances, so you can walk in the abundant life he always intended for you.