“Are you so dull?” Jesus asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) Mark 7, 18-19
Dear family in the Lord!
Today I will let you in on a very personal issue of the last week! Guess what I'm going to talk about? Exactly, food (eventhough it's not gonna be very appetizing...)!
Let me list, starting with last Saturday, what I ate out of the ordinary (and there were always reasons (including craving, convenience, courtesy) why I made the choices that I did):
Saturday night, eating out in a restaurant: Fried Shrimp with sweet potato fries + mayo.
Sunday staying at my in-laws: Deep fried french fries and chicken fat nuggets + mayo.
Monday, my friend shared her order with me: 4 slices of cheese Pizza with extra garlic sauce + extra garlic sauce (the artificial one!).
Tuesday: Left overs of cheese Pizza with extra garlic sauce.
So, by Wednesday I ended up feeling bloated and unhappy.
By Friday I thought I have an appendix bursting within me and need to go to a clinic.
Fortunately I saw my Chiropractor Friday night, because I was suffering a pain in my back moving to the stomach and back that I had NEVER known before. My Chiropractor is a wise man, knowing the relationship of nutrition and the overall physical well being. He tested my organs and told me that I have rotting food in my intestines. Well great, I thought, here I go telling my gentle readers to do all about as I say but not as I DO!! The Chiropractor gave my organic supplements eating the indigestible leftovers for the peace of my body.
I choose to share this with you. Us authors about nutritional advice are still human. Struggling just like you to make the good choices. And subject to bad consequences just like you. That last week I ate like a "real American". And it made me sadly aware of the kids of America that have to get used to this kind of food THE HARD WAY because their parents or guardians might just not know better (or don't care enough).
Let's go back to Mark 7 and Jesus describing accurately what food is supposed to do. It is supposed to go into the stomach and then leave the body. In the spiritual sense Jesus expresses a truth that I admire and that changed my life. He responds to the law-loving pharisees and teachers of the law that a law cannot change the heart. And God is all about the heart of a person. You can go through all the motions you think make you a "christian", but without a surrendered heart it is all in vain. Jesus compares the effect the fallen world should have on us to the intake of food: We receive, we deal with it, we don't allow it to become a part of us, we get rid of it. Jesus was truly the master of not being defiled by anything that came at him, even though he was human like us.
What did he do differently than all the rest of man-kind? Well, let me give you an example, someone treats you badly, how do you naturally react? You're upset and might curse the person back or judge them harshly in your mind. If someone sins against us, it never justifies a sinful reaction. It makes it "understandable", but it doesn't make it right in God's eyes. That is why nothing from the outside can defile us. It will only defile us, if we allow it to enter our heart, stay in our system. Jesus said to turn the other cheek. Outwardly and inwardly. Forgive right away and love in return. Ask God to fill you with that love, you need to, because this kind of a lifestyle is truly supernatural. Don't let what Satan throws at you stick. Expose his schemes and clean yourself asap with the blood of Jesus. We are truly made righteous and daily more and more holy for the purpose of a life that would be a testimony to everyone around us.
Now let's talk food again, what if the food we eat lost it's natural composition and it won't leave you anymore? Three main meals per day are meant to mean: three times per day food leaving the body. HOW MESSED UP IS TODAY'S FOOD!! You eat it and it does not want to leave you naturally. That's what I was delighted to experience on your behalf (or alongside you) so that we can all learn :)
Did you actually know that a healthy, well eating human goes to the bathroom 1/2 hour -3 hours after eating a meal? If that isn't you, do you have a clue why not?
As always it comes back to nutrition. Let me introduce you to a really, really great friend on our journey to more understanding and health. FIBER! Fiber is an indigestible carbohydrate. But in this case it is a very good thing. Fiber will fill you up in a healthy way, keep you saturated longer, exhilarate the digestive process, is connected to weight loss and counted to help prevent you from all sorts of sicknesses. Do you know when God created fiber? Well, it was on the day he created the plants of the ground, the trees with the fruits and the grains on the fields. God loves us! Praise the Lord!
There is no significant amount of fiber in any of the foods I consumed out of the ordinary that significant last week. And it didn't help that I still had vegetables or fruits during that week. I was occupied. It was like being terribly sinned against and instead of forgiving and leaving it behind, I held on to it as if I was able to change anything about it. Now, can you envision better, who is behind all the processed foods (enriched or white flours, sugary drinks or juices, prepared meals etc.) that lack life preserving nutrients like fiber? I think of "him" as a "Joker" (from Batman the Dark Knight) type of a guy. He presents you the world as he sees it, deceives you into his perspective of despair and has you choose his way of dealing with it. In a microcosm example I could see the CEO of a food company go through some kind of a thought process like:
"We want to make food. We want people to buy it. We want to make a lot of money. Money will feed our families and keep us going. We need to find ways to make the process of creating dishes cheaper. Everyone would do this. FDA approved those cheap ingredients. Granted, we funded some FDA programs. So people might get sick. We have to get lawyers to protect us from getting sued. Oh well. I HATE HUMANS!!!"
Dig the love of God! Eat the fiber foods! Choose 100% whole wheat (NOT ENRICHED, please read labels!!!!), brown rice, beans! Add pears and prunes to your daily diet. Consume all sorts of vegetables with every meal. You can google high fiber foods and will be astound how easy it would be to have the recommended 20-35grams of fiber and give your digestion and health a boost!
Now go forth and think of the Garden Eden! Claim back the lost grounds in the name of Jesus!
Be blessed abundantly!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Spiritual Spa #6 OMG: MSG!
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book: If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.
Revelations 22, 18
Okay, I have had my fair share of people telling me what to do using bible verses not only out of context, but stretching the meaning of the words to an unhealthy level. Forgive me when you think this is one of these times! Believe me, my motives are noble and I mean to equip you on your journey to more health!
Let's look at the warning that Jesus Christ gives to John. He bestowed revelations about the times (prophecy) unto John and urges every hearer of John's testimony to not add anything. Well, isn't this neat ? Do you ever feel you need to add something to what you want to share, in order to make it more interesting, funnier, wittier, more sad etc.? Jesus tells us to listen carefully. What he says is enough. Stay true to the facts you received.
How do you feel when you learn that what you heared/read/saw was more than everything there was to it? I'd say it becomes a lie by definition.
How does it make you feel to be made aware that our every day food is LOADED with additions that don't belong there. LIES. We already talked about evil-minded enriched foods, perverted preservatives, high alarming high fructose corn syrup or atrocious artificial sweeteners and colors. We haven't reached the bottom yet of what there is to know about our daily bread that we are so thankful for.
Come on a little journey with me for a moment: Think of Southern France. Imagine the salty sea smell in the clean air. Can you see the vineyards on the one side of the quiet sunny and sandy street and the strawberry fields on the other? There is a tomato field right down the street. Can you sense the sweetness in the air? Now follow your taste buds and go into the strawberry field, pick one sun-riped dark red fruit, undust it with your hands and bite into it. How does it taste like? Can you imagine the tangy sweetness of pure fruit sugar and Vitamin C rising through your body, reviving every cell there is to you? Do you feel like praising the Lord for his goodness?
Now come back to America, the land of the possible impossibilities, see yourself sitting in your little office or classroom opening that bag of fast food at lunch time, inhaling a mixture of fat, fake nutrients and fake tastes and therefore fake smells. Bite into that enriched white flour bun burger and deep fried french fries, feel the excitement in your brain, the satisfaction on your tongue to bathe it in the tastes it craved ever since you got first introduced to processed food, eat it up, only to regret that you didn't buy a second burger and more french fries with it, and kick yourself for the thought "it was a good idea to go without the medium chocolate shake"!! The feeling of excitement by now has developed into heartburn and every cell there is to you is still waiting for the sensation of true nourishment/ being truly filled- waiting for Godot or Guffman- waiting in vain. So after a little while you're hungry again, and guess what you are going to crave on your way home? You're lucky, there is another drive thru on your way home! Do you feel like praising the Lord for that?
Now let's come back to you reading this Spa. If you read the other Postings you know by now what to look out for. Let me add one more LIE to your list (by now you want to read again what Jesus says WILL HAPPEN to the ones that add something to the truth he has given): GLUTAMATES. Those are flavor enhancers and in a nutshell the guests directly from your worst nightmare you would have never let into your house if only you had known their true nature before.
Glutamates are a form of excitotoxin and guess what they do? They get you really excited. Quick test, judging by your flesh, do you crave french fries or steamed broccoli? Well, let me give you a hint... Drop that, I think we got the point.
MSG stands for Monosodium glutamate. It can be in anything and everything. It can be in seasoning, any kind of can, any kind of dish you buy, snacks, desserts, dressing. It's everywhere. It will make you go for seconds, and thirds, and fourths. (Envision you and that chips bag/ ice cream box the other night).
Now besides making us eat and crave more than we need (= making us overweight), in what other ways do these lusting liars, added on top of God's provision, bring our bodies under the curse again ( our bodies = the temples of the holy spirit)?
Let me quote from Jillian Michaels book "Master your metabolism" (very, very highly recommended to get and read thoroughly):
"Excitotoxins dive into the brain with relative ease, excite brain cells, and can rapidly cause permanent brain damage and eventual cell death."
Almost like a drug this white powder changes your brain every time you consume it in it's various forms. Unfortunate is that obesity is only the immediate cause, the ways in that it will affect your whole metabolism in the long run are harder to foresee. Remember that I started this Blog because so many of us in the body of Christ have all sorts of sicknesses and issues? MSG is a lead to explaining how that can be.
Now, FDA says Glutamates are fine in tiny portions, but as we said earlier, it is in EVERYTHING you might be used to consume on a daily basis (and every book keeper knows: a little here- a little there sums up to A LOT).
Don't risk it. Stay away from MSG and it's various glutamate siblings. Read labels carefully in the grocery store and never ever blindly trust "all natural/ natural flavors" phrases. The easy way of not having any fellowship with these dirty dozens means staying away from processed foods as good as you can. Don't bluntly trust other chefs. Ask what's in it. If you don't watch what passes the threshold of your mouth, who will?? My mother-in-law still loves me sort of (thanks to the fruit of the holy spirit), even though I can be a pain in the ear.
Check your seasoning salts also! If salt isn't there to salt anymore, Jesus said during the sermon on the mount (Mt. 5-7) to TOSS IT OUT!! No kidding.
Need I remind you of the bible verse we started out with today? There are consequences to adding to the truth. So treat the topic with respect, I'd say. Let's be wise as doves and mature as steak eating children of God, exposing the schemes and tearing down the strongholds of the enemy! (Wow, I just managed to put at least 4 bible references together in this one sentence...)
Fall in love with the real thing. Does a salad need marshmallows/ and or tons of dressing? Does a naturally sweet sauce need added sugar? Does a french fry need to be killed of it's last little nourishing aspects in a deep fryer?
Answers: No, a salad does not need marshmallows. Teach your kids by example to eat vegetables, because your body is created to live off of them. Keep the dessert in the dessert corner. Try out a splash of virgin olive oil, a little salt and pepper over a salad bowl and get excited of the feeling of Southern France that comes with this simple way.
No, naturally sweet sauce does not need added sugar. Think of Southern France.
French Fries, onion rings, chicken fat nuggets or anything breaded, or fish, meat, vegetables, you name it, will be just fine in the oven. Deep frying is without a justifiable cause. Try to become a baker! There are so many wonderful and super simple ways to bake vegetables... Especially with some garlic and olive oil.
And now, the ball is in your court! Ignorance is bliss, but pain, obesity and sickness isn't. Again I leave you with reminding you that if you lack ability, passion or even conviction to change your habits, to go to the Lord himself and chat with him about that... Go with what ever he tells you to do.
Be blessed abundantly!
Revelations 22, 18
Okay, I have had my fair share of people telling me what to do using bible verses not only out of context, but stretching the meaning of the words to an unhealthy level. Forgive me when you think this is one of these times! Believe me, my motives are noble and I mean to equip you on your journey to more health!
Let's look at the warning that Jesus Christ gives to John. He bestowed revelations about the times (prophecy) unto John and urges every hearer of John's testimony to not add anything. Well, isn't this neat ? Do you ever feel you need to add something to what you want to share, in order to make it more interesting, funnier, wittier, more sad etc.? Jesus tells us to listen carefully. What he says is enough. Stay true to the facts you received.
How do you feel when you learn that what you heared/read/saw was more than everything there was to it? I'd say it becomes a lie by definition.
How does it make you feel to be made aware that our every day food is LOADED with additions that don't belong there. LIES. We already talked about evil-minded enriched foods, perverted preservatives, high alarming high fructose corn syrup or atrocious artificial sweeteners and colors. We haven't reached the bottom yet of what there is to know about our daily bread that we are so thankful for.
Come on a little journey with me for a moment: Think of Southern France. Imagine the salty sea smell in the clean air. Can you see the vineyards on the one side of the quiet sunny and sandy street and the strawberry fields on the other? There is a tomato field right down the street. Can you sense the sweetness in the air? Now follow your taste buds and go into the strawberry field, pick one sun-riped dark red fruit, undust it with your hands and bite into it. How does it taste like? Can you imagine the tangy sweetness of pure fruit sugar and Vitamin C rising through your body, reviving every cell there is to you? Do you feel like praising the Lord for his goodness?
Now come back to America, the land of the possible impossibilities, see yourself sitting in your little office or classroom opening that bag of fast food at lunch time, inhaling a mixture of fat, fake nutrients and fake tastes and therefore fake smells. Bite into that enriched white flour bun burger and deep fried french fries, feel the excitement in your brain, the satisfaction on your tongue to bathe it in the tastes it craved ever since you got first introduced to processed food, eat it up, only to regret that you didn't buy a second burger and more french fries with it, and kick yourself for the thought "it was a good idea to go without the medium chocolate shake"!! The feeling of excitement by now has developed into heartburn and every cell there is to you is still waiting for the sensation of true nourishment/ being truly filled- waiting for Godot or Guffman- waiting in vain. So after a little while you're hungry again, and guess what you are going to crave on your way home? You're lucky, there is another drive thru on your way home! Do you feel like praising the Lord for that?
Now let's come back to you reading this Spa. If you read the other Postings you know by now what to look out for. Let me add one more LIE to your list (by now you want to read again what Jesus says WILL HAPPEN to the ones that add something to the truth he has given): GLUTAMATES. Those are flavor enhancers and in a nutshell the guests directly from your worst nightmare you would have never let into your house if only you had known their true nature before.
Glutamates are a form of excitotoxin and guess what they do? They get you really excited. Quick test, judging by your flesh, do you crave french fries or steamed broccoli? Well, let me give you a hint... Drop that, I think we got the point.
MSG stands for Monosodium glutamate. It can be in anything and everything. It can be in seasoning, any kind of can, any kind of dish you buy, snacks, desserts, dressing. It's everywhere. It will make you go for seconds, and thirds, and fourths. (Envision you and that chips bag/ ice cream box the other night).
Now besides making us eat and crave more than we need (= making us overweight), in what other ways do these lusting liars, added on top of God's provision, bring our bodies under the curse again ( our bodies = the temples of the holy spirit)?
Let me quote from Jillian Michaels book "Master your metabolism" (very, very highly recommended to get and read thoroughly):
"Excitotoxins dive into the brain with relative ease, excite brain cells, and can rapidly cause permanent brain damage and eventual cell death."
Almost like a drug this white powder changes your brain every time you consume it in it's various forms. Unfortunate is that obesity is only the immediate cause, the ways in that it will affect your whole metabolism in the long run are harder to foresee. Remember that I started this Blog because so many of us in the body of Christ have all sorts of sicknesses and issues? MSG is a lead to explaining how that can be.
Now, FDA says Glutamates are fine in tiny portions, but as we said earlier, it is in EVERYTHING you might be used to consume on a daily basis (and every book keeper knows: a little here- a little there sums up to A LOT).
Don't risk it. Stay away from MSG and it's various glutamate siblings. Read labels carefully in the grocery store and never ever blindly trust "all natural/ natural flavors" phrases. The easy way of not having any fellowship with these dirty dozens means staying away from processed foods as good as you can. Don't bluntly trust other chefs. Ask what's in it. If you don't watch what passes the threshold of your mouth, who will?? My mother-in-law still loves me sort of (thanks to the fruit of the holy spirit), even though I can be a pain in the ear.
Check your seasoning salts also! If salt isn't there to salt anymore, Jesus said during the sermon on the mount (Mt. 5-7) to TOSS IT OUT!! No kidding.
Need I remind you of the bible verse we started out with today? There are consequences to adding to the truth. So treat the topic with respect, I'd say. Let's be wise as doves and mature as steak eating children of God, exposing the schemes and tearing down the strongholds of the enemy! (Wow, I just managed to put at least 4 bible references together in this one sentence...)
Fall in love with the real thing. Does a salad need marshmallows/ and or tons of dressing? Does a naturally sweet sauce need added sugar? Does a french fry need to be killed of it's last little nourishing aspects in a deep fryer?
Answers: No, a salad does not need marshmallows. Teach your kids by example to eat vegetables, because your body is created to live off of them. Keep the dessert in the dessert corner. Try out a splash of virgin olive oil, a little salt and pepper over a salad bowl and get excited of the feeling of Southern France that comes with this simple way.
No, naturally sweet sauce does not need added sugar. Think of Southern France.
French Fries, onion rings, chicken fat nuggets or anything breaded, or fish, meat, vegetables, you name it, will be just fine in the oven. Deep frying is without a justifiable cause. Try to become a baker! There are so many wonderful and super simple ways to bake vegetables... Especially with some garlic and olive oil.
And now, the ball is in your court! Ignorance is bliss, but pain, obesity and sickness isn't. Again I leave you with reminding you that if you lack ability, passion or even conviction to change your habits, to go to the Lord himself and chat with him about that... Go with what ever he tells you to do.
Be blessed abundantly!
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