|
What Do the Scriptures Say About Health?
(Please forward to anyone you
think may be interested in this message)
Welcome to the Torah Life e-health study
by
Author of Health According To The Scriptures, Paul Nison.
In these e-studies, you will see the great health message found in the
Scriptures that many seem to over look. “Torah” is the first five books of
the Scriptures. The word “Torah” means instructions, guidelines, or YHWH’s
will. Following the guidelines of our Creator can help us achieve health
that we only dreamed about. It is my prayer that each of us will be led to
read and study YHWH’s great health book more often, and you will use this
study to see more clearly how important his instructions for us really
are.
YHWH produced (Yah-weh) is the name of Our Creator. Yeshua is the Son of
YHWH and means Yahweh's Salvation!
For week of March 24th 2008
This Week's Health Message
Emotional Health
Emotional illness develops when we have more fear than
knowledge. This can affect us in minor ways with just a headache, for
example, or we could develop worse conditions, such as anxiety, depression,
or even mental disease. All this mental stress is caused by emotional drain.
What can we do to keep our emotional state healthy? We can follow the
Formula for Emotional Health:
Knowledge – Fear = Freedom
The more knowledge we have about the causes and cures for disease, the
more stable our emotional health will be. When there is a lack of knowledge,
doubt sets in. Any combination of confusion or doubt in any area of life
will stress the body and can affect us on a physical level.
The paradox of choice is when we have too many choices. Many people are
exhausted and lazy, due to poor dietary habits, and when they have too many
choices, instead of making a wise choice, they make an easier choice,
choosing what’s popular. But what’s popular is not always right, and what’s
right is not always popular. What are the sources of all these excessive
choices? There are many, but I think the more media we let into our lives,
the more information and the more choices we are exposed to.
From my research, I can see there is a common cause of many emotional
illnesses in many people’s lives today, and it’s scary that many are
addicted to this cause: television programming.
There is a reason why it’s called “programming.” Most of the shows on
television today overload us with information. When the same information is
seen and heard a few times, even it it’s not true, people begin to accept it
as truth. Many television shows are misleading, presenting a grim, slanted
view of reality, the commercials trick us, the news makes us live in fear.
TV-watching has many confirmed ill effects. As a result, I think the best
way one can achieve the formula for emotional health is to:
* Stop watching television programming, and
* Avoid the news.
But, wait a minute: Don’t we need to know the news to be well-informed
citizens? It is my opinion that, if something is going to happen that
you’ll need to know about, someone will tell you soon enough. Many watch the
news every day and night, filling their minds with fearful conditions and
circumstances, and they worry, often without any basis in fact.
My recommendations might seem extreme, but after a short break from
television and the news, see how much better you feel. If, for some reason,
you don’t want to stop watching TV or the news, I suggest DVD’s only, and
for news perhaps listen to National Public Radio, which presents without
that entertainment twist that gets to us emotionally. Plus, there are many
positive news stories on NPR, something you don’t often see on the TV news.
Try to take a media or TV fast a few days per week. If you feel you can’t
get rid of it, or choose not to, at least cut down.
Other than TV programming and the news, another common way we toy with
our emotional health is by surrounding ourselves with negative people. The
saying goes, “The people you spend most of your time with either become like
you, or you become like them.” So, chances are, if you’re hanging out with
negative people, their negative attitude will rub off on you. Try to spend
time with people who are positive, upbeat, and optimistic.
These are just the beginning aspects of gaining emotional control. You
either control your emotions, or your emotions control you. From an
emotional standpoint, people often overeat on low-quality foods because
they’re used to so-called “comfort foods.” These are foods people run to
when their emotions are out of control. “Emotional eating” often leads to
binges of overeating that can become a serious health issue. Foods usually
consumed when emotions run high are usually of poor quality, and that adds
to the problem.
Lastly, when we talk about our emotional state and health, there are
many food disorders that may seem, on the surface, to be caused by diet, but
the root cause may be emotional. In any stage of disease, you must explore
both the emotional and spiritual components. They are as integral to health
as the food you eat.
What is the most common sin committed throughout each day?
The Sin of Gluttony!
The Scriptures tell us not only what kinds of food we should
eat, but also how much food we should eat. Additionally, how often we eat is
a very important topic that many people overlook because of lack of
knowledge, deception or addiction. Regardless of the reason, most people
today eat too much and too often.
What is too much food? Consuming more food than our body has a nutritional
need for is too much. We shouldn’t consume more than our nutritional needs.
When we consume the high quality foods outlined in Torah, we will meet our
nutritional needs and feel satisfied emotionally. However, if we eat lower
quality food or un-Scriptural foods, or if we eat for inappropriate reasons
(such as emotional comfort), we will overeat. When we eat more than we need,
instead of efficiently doing its work of digestion, the body has to work
harder and spend extra time trying to eliminate the extra waste. This
overeating, along with eating foods that are not healthy for us, can become
a very dangerous mix.
The Scriptures warn us not only to limit the amount of food we eat, but also
tell us not to spend time with drunkards or gluttons.
Proverbs 23:20
Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons.
Many churches and assemblies will have no problem acknowledging debauchery
as a sin but will view gluttony as a non-issue. It’s sad that most churches
today are feeding their members donuts and coffee, which are very
un-Scriptural because they are both very toxic to the body and will destroy
our body. To make matters worse, they let people have as much as they want.
The sin of gluttony is a common problem today, and the most common cause of
physical disease is overeating. No matter what type of food we eat,
overeating is never good. We are not supposed to eat until we are so full,
that we cannot get up from the table. It takes more energy for the body to
digest food than any other activity. I know people who can eat a few pieces
of fruit and have enough energy to run a marathon, but after a big meal most
people are falling asleep, because of the amount of energy required for
digestion.
Overeating is also a big cause of under-sleeping and laziness. We already
covered the spiritual dangers this can lead to. Overeating also leads to
many physical problems, starting with constipation or gas, and progressing
to the later stages of disease such as cancer. It is my belief that
overeating is the most common cause of all disease. Studies confirm that
each year more and more people are getting sick and dying from obesity. Just
look around your church and see how many people are obese. Look at how many
pastors and rabbis in today’s world are obese. They are teaching Yahweh’s
Word and breaking it at the same time. That’s being hypocritical. Yahweh has
harsh warnings about hypocritical teachers.
People have always overeaten, but because of a lack of exercise (another
harmful result of laziness) the results of harmful eating and gluttony are
beginning to show much sooner. Eating a diet that goes against Scripture
isn’t a new fad; proper diet has been ignored for a long time, and disease
has continued to be on the rise. The reason people suffer more from
overeating today is because the quality of the food is getting worse,
because people have more money to overindulge, and because of modern
discoveries that we call conveniences contribute to our laziness. During
the times of Scriptural history, it was much more difficult to become
overweight. You had to walk many places or ride a horse. Not many people had
money to obtain excess food, and there weren’t so many modern machines that
make it easy for people to be overweight.
The stomach is supposed to be the size of your fist (and your fist is not
supposed to be big and fat). The layers of fat on top of your belly are not
your stomach. They are layers of fat on your stomach area. Think about how
much work the body has to do when we eat large meals and eat very often. We
have taken a simple daily blessing from Yahweh (nourishment) and turned it
into daily sins (gluttony).
King Solomon, one of the wisest people to ever live, had wisdom about having
more than we need.
Proverbs 30:8-9
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed
me with food convenient for me; lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, who
is Yahweh?
These verses show King Solomon asking for neither too much nor too little of
anything, just enough according to Yahweh’s will. This request includes
food. King Solomon understood that too little of the necessities of life can
be harmful, and too much can be just as bad. So he prayed for just enough.
We can see other examples in the Scriptures of how overeating was sin and
led to man’s destruction. Here are scriptures that talk about the sin of
overeating and man’s selfish ways.
Job 20:23
When he is about to fill his belly, Yahweh shall cast the fury of His anger
upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is yet eating.
Job 20:20
Surely he shall not feel ease in his belly, he shall not keep that which he
desired.
Job 20:22
In the fullness of his sufficiency he shall be in distress. Every hand of
the wicked (Evil=Disease) shall come on him.
These verses talk about the connection between filling our bellies
(overeating) and the distress that comes along with it. Eating against
Yahweh’s guide will not only bring disease and sickness to our life, but
will also shorten our lives.
The following below was taken from Counsels on Diet & Foods
by Ellen G. White
This was written by Ellen White over 100 years ago and is
still true today!
Some do not exercise control over their appetites, but
indulge taste at the expense of health. As the result, the brain is clouded,
their thoughts are sluggish, and they fail to accomplish what they might if
they were self-denying and abstemious. These rob Yahweh of the physical and
mental strength which might be devoted to His service if temperance were
observed in all things.
Paul was a health reformer. He said, "I keep under my body, and bring it
into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I
myself should be a cast away." He felt that a responsibility rested upon him
to preserve all his powers in their strength, that he might use them to the
glory of Yahweh. If Paul was in danger from intemperance, we are in greater
danger, because we do not feel and realize as he did the necessity of
glorifying Yahweh in our bodies and spirits, which are His. Overeating is
the sin of this age.
The word of Yahweh places the sin of gluttony in the
same category with drunkenness. So offensive was the sin in the sight of
Yahweh, that He gave directions to Moses that a child who would not be
restrained on the point of appetite, but would gorge himself with anything
his taste might crave, should be brought by his parents before the rulers of
Israel, and should be stoned to death. The condition of the glutton was
considered hopeless. He would be of no use to others, and was a curse to
himself. No dependence could be placed upon him in anything. His influence
would contaminate others, and the world would be better without such a
character; for his terrible defects would be perpetuated. None who have a
sense of their accountability to Yahweh will allow the animal propensities
to control reason. Those who do this are not Christians, whoever they may
be, and however exalted their profession. The injunction of Yeshua is, "Be
ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." He
shows us that we may be as perfect in our sphere as Yahweh is in His sphere.
More about health E-studies according to The Scriptures...
In these weekly e-studies, you will see the great health
message found in the Scriptures. Following the guidelines of our Creator
can help us achieve great health and prosperity. It is my prayer that each
of us will be led to read and study Yahweh’s great health book. This study
shows how important his instructions are for us.
|
