August was dedicated in our church to the active citizenship of Christians. It requires being strong not only in faith and spirit, but also in health. That is why in September we will consider health as a value and learn how to keep it strong.
TOPIC: “NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR HEALTH, BUT YOU”
In September we usually study holiness. This month we will consider holiness in the way of purification of the flesh and learn how to keep our body free from disease and illness which take away our strength and joy, and accelerate death.
3 John 2: “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”,
2 Corinthians 6:16 “For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them.”
As we can see, God is interested in our bodies and in their good health. We cannot ignore that fact. The Lord pays a lot of attention in the Bible to health and how to overcome diseases. The best way to avoid disease is to eat properly. In both Leviticus and Numbers God carefully lays out what we can eat and what we cannot, because that is the main key to good health. Leviticus 7:26-27 “And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. Anyone who eats blood must be cut off from their people.” If we get sick, God can heal us, but it does not mean that we can be frivolous and irresponsible with our health. “A sound mind in a sound body, is a short, but full description of a happy state in this World”, John Locke.
Here are a few tips to strengthen your health:
1. Start a healthy lifestyle. It will help you to look and feel well in 20, 30 or 40 yearstime.
“Who hopes to become healthy staying in laziness, makes the same mistake as a man who hopes to improve his voice while remaining silent”, Plutarch
2. Eat healthy food. Eating a lot of junk food can be harmful to your health;so be careful with sweets, fatty foods and cholesterol. God pays attention to what we eat. In Deuteronomy 8:7-9 a description is given ofthe products that help to strengthen the immune system, maintain an ideal weight, cause a person to be constantlyenergetic and have good health: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, olive oil, honey and pomegranates. The more we eat natural, organic and non-processed foods, the healthier we are. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” I used to think that I could eat anything. But one day my wife explained to me that food form the building blocks for bones, muscles and blood vessels. It means that what I eat today affects my well-being in old age. This helped me see the light. Let’s eat properly and teach our children to do the same.
3. Pay attention to your weight. If your weight is about 100 kg or more, do something to lose weight.Uurgently, at least, start to eat smaller portions, slowly, chewing food thoroughly. Get up from the table with a sense of light hunger.
Proverbs 23:2 “and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.”
4. Anotherkey to health is good sleep. Lack of sleep has adverse effects on our body. It is important to give yourself enough time for sleep. The recommendation for men is7 hours, for women it is 8-9 hours a day. If for some reason, you have not been able to sleep enough at night, take the time to have a rest during a day.
5. The time you go to bed is also very important. Health promoter Paul Bragg claimed that 2 hours of sleep after midnight, equals one hour any time before midnight. So try to go to sleep from 22.00 to 23.00. This is the best time to have a good sleep. If we live in harmony with nature, which has programmed our bodies to follow the natural circadian rhythms – to get up at dawn and go to bed at sunset – we will have less problems with our health.
6. Watch your waistline. The extra inches around the waist (norm – up to 100 cm) are the cause of many diseases. No wonder there is a saying: Do you want to have good health? Then have a flat stomach! “We do not live to eat, but eat to live,” Socrates.
7. Exercise at least 3 times a week. Visit gyms and sports clubs. “Everyone should do physical exercises. Living a healthy life without physical activity is impossible, “Nikolai Amosov.
8. The next point is not relevant to us, but we muststill bear it in mind: do not drink and smoke at all. The one who smokes and drinks, endangershis health and deprives himself of salvation. “Be not among winebibbers, Among gluttonous eaters of flesh,” Proverbs 23:20.
9. Undergo a medical examination at least once a year.
10. Read one or two books about nutrition and how to monitor your health. “Knowing overcomes the most inaccessible heights.”
11. Lead an active way of life. “If you do not run, while healthy, you have to run when sick,” Horace.
12. Have solitude with God at least one day a week, 3-4 days a month. Leave everything in order to give God thanks, honor and glory. To resolve physical, spiritual and emotional issues and to have a rest. “Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee,” Job 22:21.
13. Be more in the open air to oxygenate the body. “The first duty of the person who wants to be healthy – to clear the air around him,” Romain Rolland.
14. Pay attention to the quality of the water you drink. “Water is given a magic power to become the juice of life on Earth,” by Leonardo da Vinci.
15. Take vitamins and supplements – they supply your body with the missing nutrients, eliminate toxins and regulate various functions of the body.
16. Have a pure mind and undisturbed friendliness.Honor those whom God has placed over us.“Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth”, Ephesians 6:2, 3.
Do not be like those who start to take care of their health only when they have lost it. It is easier to prevent adisease than to treatit.
For a deeper studying of this topic the following literature is recommended: “The Seven Pillars of Health”, “Dangerous Ignorance”, “Train and Live” by Don Colbert, “How not to spend life on the disease,” by Nikolai Garasayan.
Bless you! Take the time and effort to invest in your health! With love, Senior Pastor of the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations”
Sunday Adelaja
www.godembassy.org mail@godembassy.org
P.S. Prayer in solitude:
1) To get closer to God, to know Him as a Father.
2) For the financial coverage of the new construction phase.
3) For the freedom to move around the world for Pastor Sunday.
Translated by Yevheniya Pustova
Edited by Kizito Leacock