“Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”

What are we washing? With what?

Over and over in the Old Testament God tells his people to wash themselves and their garments so that they are clean. Washing every day made them not only clean, but healthy so the germs and bacteria of normal living didn’t get out of hand and spread disease to those around them. Many times he told them to wash their garments along with themselves so they would be clean.

The skin is an organ that is porous. It secretes fluid and impurities. It also absorbs and takes in what comes in contact with it. There have been claims that it has a certain percentage of absorbency. These claims aren’t always true. It really depends on what area you are talking about. Your arm pits will be more absorbent than what the soles of your feet or the palms of your hands ever will be. The medical field has known for quite some time that skin is absorbent. That is why they have created patches with medicine to be absorbed right into your body. 

Your skin also renews itself. The outer layer dies off and is then being replaced with new skin in a very efficient fashion. If there is no washing of this outer dying layer, then the pores on the skin clog up and can become diseased.

According to research, the skin takes in and absorbs directly into one’s blood stream. It is not detoxified by any other organ. It’s a straight shot. Unlike the digestive system that runs through it’s course to detoxify, by the liver and kidneys, any substance that the body is not able to use for it’s benefit, the skin takes substances in directly and they become a part of your whole system.

When you begin to understand the complexity and amazing features of the skin, it becomes very apparent why God told His people to always be washing and cleansing. What we put on our skin is important. What comes in contact with our skin will be taken in and passed through our blood stream. It affects our whole body and its functions.

Knowing this, what are we doing that may put us at risk for an unhealthy lifestyle? Have you checked the ingredients for the beauty products that you use? Look them up! Know what is in the very things that are to keep you clean, yet they may be putting poisons right into your blood stream. Soap, lotions, deodorants, make-up, perfumes, etc. Even the fabric of the clothes you wear could have an effect. Your laundry soap, dryer sheets, cleaning solutions, paper products, etc., even these are absorbed through your skin. Ladies, what about the feminine products that you use? Do you know what they are made of?

For years, I’ve just gone along with what the world around me has done. The popular thing that everyone else was doing. Not giving it one thought of what it was doing to my skin and inadvertently to my very life blood. Am I paying for some of these underestimations of importance? Ignorance isn’t always bliss. In fact, ignorance can be deadly.

So what can we do about it? Educate yourself in what each product has in their ingredients. Change the way you do things. Find ways of doing and being to keep your skin healthy and vibrant.

Washing to keep clean from the outside in. Learn new skills to make it possible to keep your skin healthy. The world around you does not care how healthy you are. They just want your next dollar to become successful in the eyes of the world around them. We need to take responsibility for our own lives and health. Read what God says about it and then teach yourself basic anatomy and function of your own body. Ask God for wisdom. After all He created you, don’t you think He knows these things? You will be amazed at how He can lead you to the right research and give you understanding of the amazing creation that is YOU!

#1 Rule for Healthy Living from God

As soon as the Lord had delivered his people from the bondage of Egypt and released them from the hold of the Egyptians at the Red Sea, God made a promise to them. After their worship of the miraculous deliverance, they then walked into the desert. Finding water for so many people was going to be an interesting chore. They found bitter water and the Lord gave them wisdom to know how to make it sweet and good to drink. God had them throw in a log to sweeten the water. 

Right there God made a statute and a rule for the people. The Bible says that God was testing them. This is what He said to them, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.” 

Now is that promise for today as much as what it was in Moses’ day? Does God still hold true to his promises? Do you really believe that?

It wasn’t but in the next chapter that the people disobeyed the rules that God laid down for them. They were given the rule for gathering manna. Some didn’t listen and what happened? The manna was full of worms and spoiled. That is the first lesson in food safety that is recorded in the Bible. 

Who do you think was the beginning of all food safety? The USDA and FDA sure weren’t. God knows more about that than what we even can imagine. Yet we act as if God isn’t concerned about our physical bodies. He set the rules and laws for his people to follow that would give them life and none of the diseases will be on them. 

Our Bible has answers for all aspects of our lives. Do we really believe that? Can you go back to scripture for answers about your physical well-being? Have you tried? Are you willing?

After God gave the law to Moses, he also set down some rules for living in the daily routine of life. Leviticus is full of gems for sanitation, quarantine for controlling disease, and healthy living. We often look at those scriptures and think it is just so out of date and it was only for them. 

The Hebrew writer said that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (13:8) God has not changed in all the ages. His rules and statutes are still relevant for us today. Paul told us that they were given for our example and instruction. (1 Cor. 10:11) 

So let’s look at one major rule that God set forth. When you read through the book of Leviticus do you see how many times God said that someone or something is unclean? Remember the saying that we all have heard, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness?” This is where we get it from. God knew that germs would spread and bacteria would infect if it was allowed to stay and grow. Diseases would come from infections caused by germs and bacteria. This is why God implemented the practice of washing…a LOT! His people were grouped together in a large, large crowd. One major disease could wipe out his chosen people in a matter of days if measures weren’t taken to control the bad bacterial growth in everyday things. Can you imagine what the flu would do to a group of people like this? God didn’t wait to give them the rule of washing after the disease hit. No, he said this is the way you will live every day to prevent any of this to start. It was a lifestyle that He was giving them so the disease wouldn’t have a chance to even get started. 

Every bodily function was looked at as unclean. Not that it was wrong or bad, but the fact that it was dealt with by washing and cleansing. No one was to touch anything or anyone else till they were washed and cleaned. So many look at that and say that God was harsh and unloving. Look again. He was saving them from the diseases of other cultures that didn’t have any type of hygienic practices. God loved them enough to teach them how to be clean and healthy. 

You all have heard of many plagues and sicknesses that have become epidemics in history. Have you done the research to find out what was at the root cause of those plagues? I challenge you to search it out and ask God for wisdom in showing you what it was. 

As late as 1847, a Doctor wanted to implement a regimen of washing hands in between the treatment of patients. He was laughed at, scorned, and ridiculed for his crazy thinking. Patients were dying because of the bacteria and germs that were being passed from the dead bodies to living patients and then from patient to patient they were treating. It was even proven that washing hands saved lives, yet it was an inconvenience and he was asked to leave the institution. 

God said back in Exodus that if people would follow his rules and commandments, it would save lives from diseases. The #1 rule was for cleanliness. And thousands of years later, people still did not get that rule and many thousands of people died needlessly because they thought it wasn’t important and was such an inconvenience. 

How important is cleanliness to you? It is a rule for living from God. Have we become complacent and lazy about following God? He cares just as much about our physical well-being as He does about our spiritual relationship with Him. 

Here is a natural disinfectant that can be made very easily to wipe down surfaces of your house. It will kill bacteria and germs that are every present. The ingredients are simple and God-given. No harsh chemicals in this one. I’ve been using this off and on for the past year and am starting to really love it. Try it out and see how you like it. 

Thieves Vinegar – from Joybilee Farms

http://joybileefarm.com/thieves-vinegar-recipe/

Chris has been a great inspiration for me to get back to the basics and use what God has given to us for healthy living. Following the link will take you to her page that explains where the recipe for this cleaner comes from and how to make it. 

Consequences

“the effect, result, or outcome of something occurring earlier:”

“an act or instance of following something as an effect, result, or outcome.”

Most of us don’t understand the power and inevitability of a consequence. There is always a result of every action that is made. Washing your face, brushing your teeth, reading a book are all actions that have consequences. We have this idea that consequences are mostly bad. They can be very good and productive as well. Effects can be great results of a great act.

From the very beginning of time, God set forth a precedence for consequences. Eat of the tree of life and you will have a terrible consequence. Take care of the Garden of Eden and commune with God daily and you will have a great consequence. Over and over in scripture God has set the lines of what needs to happen in order for us to choose the consequences that we desire. This is where the basic thinking comes from when people blame God for the terrible consequences and take credit when they choose the good consequences. What?

God set the precedence for consequences then left the choices up to us. It is our own doing if the consequences are not as desirable as what we wanted. Following the laws and rules that are set is our own doing and our own choice. No one else’s fault, but our own. Until we recognize this concept and own it, we will never have victory over the results of our lives.

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (Gal. 6:7) The lamest excuse in all the earth is this: “I just can’t help it. It just happened.” News Flash!!!! You had a choice and you made a choice. Now you deal with the consequences.

God set the consequences of living for the children of Israel back in the first five books of the Old Testament. It was going to be their choice whether they followed those guidelines or not. If they followed them, then there were good consequences. If they chose to not follow them, then there were bad consequences, some ending in death. Has God changed? No. He is still the same today as what He was back then. Are those guidelines relevant today? Yes.

Many say that we don’t live in the Old Testament, so following those things are not relevant for today. Have you read 1 Cor. 10 lately? Check out verse 6. “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.” Verse 11: “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” Let that soak in for a moment.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) What was at the beginning of time is the same today. God does not change. We change. We compromise with the world. We become lax in our thinking. It is time for revival!

So in essence the first five books of the Old Testament are just as relevant for today as it was back then. What do they say? Have you read them lately? Or do you just like the stories that are there? Have you looked at the stories closely and picked out the cause and effect in them? Remember they were given for our example. Are you learning from them?

Let’s look at one. Exodus 15:26. “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.” Is this relevant for today? Is there a cause and effect? Does God care about what we do? What we eat? And how we take care of our physical bodies? You better believe it!

Some may call it radical thinking. I call it God thinking. Are you truly committed to what God wants to do your life? Or is the world still dictating to you what you should do? We say that God has given wisdom and intelligence. Does the wisdom really come from God? Have you done your research to see if it is truly from God? Is it following His principles, his rules, his commandments and statutes?

“You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the the statutes and the rules that I command you today. And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you.” (Deut. 7:11-12, 15)

“If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, then the Lord will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting. And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the Lord will bring upon you, until you are destroyed. Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God.” (Deut. 28:58-62)

So it is time to find out just what the Lord has to say. What are the commandments, statutes, and rules that He laid out for us? We better find out.

Wisdom and Health

            A remark was made several weeks ago that has had me thinking and studying for some answers; “The obsession for our health has almost become a religion.”

            My next question was, So, is it a religion? Does God care about our health? Does He care about the food I eat? Does He care what I do or not do for my physical well being?

            The first thing I did was look up the word, religion, to see if the meaning was used correctly in this context. The meaning is quite true. It is “something that one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience:” Is this a bad thing? Is it a good thing?

            After spending some time in the scriptures, I came to the conclusion that God is very concerned about our physical health and wants us to take care of our bodies. In our relationship with Him, He also cares about what we do physically, not just mentally and spiritually. We are complete beings and He really does care about it all! What does He say about it? In 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17 the Lord gets rather passionate about our physical bodies. Should we not have the same passion?

            From the very beginning of time when He created our bodies out of the dust of the ground, He also prepared the earth to produce the food that was needed to nourish our physical bodies in order for them to thrive and be healthy. (Gen. 1:29, 30; Gen. 2:8, 9; Gen. 3:17–19) So from the beginning of time God provided us the means to physically be healthy. Plants and trees produce the food that our bodies need to thrive. When man sinned and Eden was shut down, God told Adam that he would still be able to provide food, but now man would have to work for it. The food didn’t change, but the way it was provided changed. We, as humans, now needed to work for our food in order to sustain life. The responsibility is ours.

            When Noah was ready to leave the ark after the flood, God gave him and his sons some instructions in order for them to survive on the land. (Genesis 9:3) He told them that anything that moves and is alive is for food as well as the plants that He had provided at the beginning of time. So meat was given. Yes, it was used before the flood, but God just affirms once again the very things that He provides for our physical bodies.

            The Psalmist recognized the provision of the Lord in Psalm 104:14, 15. Grass was for the livestock and man was to cultivate the plants so there would be food from the earth. In chapter 145 he talks about food in seasons that God gives to us. This is the way of life that God created for man to live.

            Solomon in all his wisdom directs us to observe nature around us and take a lesson. He shows us that the ant is our teacher. We are to consider her ways and gain wisdom from this observation. (Prov. 6:6–11) Even the ant knows that the Lord provides for us, but we need to work to bring in the food that God has provided. The ant has no leader or ruler to command them. Yet she goes and gathers food all summer and brings in the food at the harvest time to last through the cold winter months. Then he gives a warning of what will happen if we do not work as the ant does to provide food for our bodies. He says that our laziness will bring poverty.

            In all this searching, being reminded that my body is a temple or dwelling for the Holy Spirit in my life has become the key factor. Paul warns us in this scripture that if anyone destroys God’s temple, then God will destroy him. Now read that carefully and meditate on that. Am I destroying my own body with my food, my habits, my lifestyle? God destroys us if we destroy His temple. Is this serious enough to become passionate about our health? Is it a religion? How devoted are you? We spend so much time in praying for our bodies when they are sick and we ask God to heal them. But what if we were responsible for that sickness with how we treated our bodies? God said He would destroy the very one that destroys His temple. Isn’t God just keeping His word when our bodies get sick because of what we eat and how we live? Answer those for yourself as you meditate and ask God for wisdom.

            I have come to the conclusion that it is more than a religion. It is a major part of my relationship with Jesus Christ. My physical body is just as important as my spiritual well being. They are all tied together in one. What affects one part will affect all the others. Let’s not separate them and make one more important. God wants all of us, not just one part. How devoted are you?

            Let us pray for wisdom (James 1:5) as we go forth and search for truth in every aspect of our lives. Truth for the care and health of our physical bodies. Truth for our spiritual and mental lives that will affect our physical well being.