God's Own Heart

The bible says that David was a man after God's own heart.  What does it mean to be a man after God's own heart?  What IS God's heart and how do we find it? Jesus told us that instead of going after the things of this world, to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  But where is the kingdom of God and what is God's righteousness?

After spending decades (off and on) in the church, I have found that these elements are not well understood.  It seems to me that, if the bible is a love letter from God then the bible should contain His likes and dislikes - His preferences.  Does God mind if we bow down to objects that are not Him (i.e. idol worship)?  I think the scriptures are pretty clear about that.  But what seems less clear to most people are those divine preferences that directly contradict our culture.  Culture, therefore, tends to trump what is written.

If you examine this fact, you discover that we will tell ourselves whatever it takes to maintain this pretense of holiness while we break God's heart.  We have changed the language and even changed the scriptures themselves in an effort to sanctify our perversion.

Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. - Romans 1:25

Usury is a violation of the letter and spirit of the Law (God's heart).  So we change the name from "usury" to "interest" and  go about our days - even singing praises to the God whose heart we willingly break.

He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. - Proverbs 15:5

What does a man after God's own heart look like?  If the love letter from God (the bible) says it's foolish to pay interest on a loan, does the man after God's own heart willingly enter into a contract to pay interest?  Yet we find whole congregations in servitude to the banking industry because they had to have that big, shiny church building.

The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. - Proverbs 22:7

The "get rich quick" element of the American Dream pressures us into such agreements individually as well as collectively.  Credit card debt is the poster child for this activity.  Get it NOW and pay for it tomorrow.  Is this the spirit of the kingdom of God or the dictates of the American Dream (American Nightmare)?

The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want. - Proverbs 21:5

It is written, "The just (righteous) shall live by faith" (Hab. 2:4).  Righteousness comes from believing what God told us.  But close your eyes and ponder this: If you're buying on credit - if your car has a loan on it, your house has a mortgage (or two), you have credit cards with balances on them - how can you be sure you believe God?

You might say, "Well, I'm not perfect" or "I'm trying to do better".  Just make sure you're not using those as excuses to NOT be a man after God's own heart.  God's grace is sufficient for thee.  If you're in debt then trust the Holy Spirit (if indeed you have the Holy Spirit) to help you out of debt.  If you walk in the Spirit, you can't help but be a man after God's own heart.

Is Healing an Event or a Process?

There's no doubt about it; I'm on thin ice with this post.

We have to ask ourselves the question: Is healing an event or a process?  Does chronic disease "just happen" or does it take years to develop?  If you listen to your medical doctor (MD), you might be under the impression that high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or cancer "just happens" but nothing could be further from the truth.  The truth is that no chronic illness hits a person out-of-the-blue.  Just as healing is a process, so is sickness.

Healing is a process - not an event.  Without realizing it, we tend to believe that if we take a magic pill then everything will be alright - overnight.  Even our religion teaches us that miraculous healing is available - if only we'd believe "hard enough".  This magical or spooky aura around health and healing is what keeps the magicians (the MDs and other faith healers) in control of us.

Let's go to the bible: The woman with the issue of blood, who touched the hem of Jesus' garment received miraculous healing; right?  Before I go on, I need to point out that I believe in miraculous healing and I LOVE the God of all creation who sits high and looks low to help His people in times of need.  But honestly, how many of us know people who have experienced healing like this and then one month, two months, six months later, the disease is back?  How many cancer patients have received remission only to have the cancer come back with a vengeance a year or two later?

We might be able to get over certain issues - even life-threatening issues - but unless we get smart about it and take intelligent steps to prevent those issues from re-emerging, we're going to wind up confused and angry.  How could God have healed me, only to let me succumb to that same illness 6-months hence?  Instead of shaking our fists at God or feeling badly about the quality of our faith, we need to be smart about health and healing.

The similarity between sickness and sin is too close to be ignored. When you were saved did God take away your sins?  Shake your head, yes!  But then a few months later, what happened? Have you ever known someone who received salvation only to fall back into the old pattern of life they lived prior to the salvation event?  Why does that happen and what can we do about it?

Sickness and disease operate the same way.  We get a healing (whether divine or through the work of a medical doctor) but 6-months later, we're sick again - with the same malady. What went wrong?

Unfortunately, the thing that went wrong was our attitude.  We foolishly believed that our healing was an event that did not require a changed life.  Oh oh...  Our doctor or other faith healer did not warn us that except we change our minds about health and healing, we will fall right back into the same sickness from which we were delivered.  Remission, therefore, is a gift and salvation is a process.

The similarities are eerily... similar.  Repentance (i.e. changing our minds) is required in all areas of life.  It keeps us from falling back into our old patterns and keeps us safe from harm.

What if God paid off all your credit cards, paid your mortgage, paid off your car, and gave you $10,000 to boot?  If you don't change your mind (i.e. repent) and turn your life over to the wisdom of the scriptures, you're going to wind up right back in the same poor-house from which God delivered you. There are warnings in the scriptures against going into debt and paying interest. Furthermore it is written: "The rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender".  If we ignore those teachings, what will the result be?

If you bail out a fool, your going to have to bail him out again.  Believe it!  This is true whether we're talking about disease, debt, or sin.  When it comes to these issues, think in terms of process rather than event.

Logon to my website to find out more about the process of health and healing:  www.XChangeNutricare.com.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

We have been inculcated (i.e. it is the tradition and teaching of our culture) that your medical doctor (MD) is the only one who knows anything about health and healing.  With that in mind, the MDs have positioned themselves in the driver's seat of medicine and everyone else is a back-of-the-bus quack.  The fact is that MDs only practice one form of medicine to the exclusion all others. That form of medicine is called "Allopathic Medicine".

Allopathic Medicine is said to be "oppositionally defiant", which means that your MD is trained to OPPOSE the symptom of disease.  If you have a headache or you suffer from arthritis pain, the MD prescribes pain killers.  Pain killers suppress (i.e. dominate) the symptom but they do nothing to correct the underlying problem.  It's just like cutting the wires to the warning lights on your car's dashboard.  Your body is telling you, there's something wrong but your MD feels that sabotaging that warning system is a good idea.  How do YOU feel about that?

If you have a tumor, for example (whether malignant or benign) the MD is trained to do three things (not necessarily in this order):

1. Poison (with drugs and Chemotherapy)
2. Radiate (Bombard the tumor with X-Ray radiation)
3. Cut (Surgery)

All these therapies are designed to oppose the symptom of the disease and do nothing to address the underlying cause.  When an MD prescribes steroids, his goal is to knock-down the symptom of some bodily disorder and not to cure or reverse the problem.  An MD is trained to view the symptom as the problem when simple logic tells you that that philosophy is foolish - yet we keep on paying our health insurance premiums, we keep visiting our MD, we keep trusting that this medical professional is able to help us.  Does that seem reasonable to you?

It's like we've all taken an insanity pill.  We keep on listening to these people - treating them almost like gods - when they come right out and tell us that their therapeutics cannot cure anything. They KNOW that they are ineffective!  When will we wake up from this horrible nightmare?  When will we recognize that the Emperor has no clothes?

The body is ready, willing and able to heal itself IF it is given the nutrients it needs to do so.  Chronic disease is the signpost identifying the specific deficiency or deficiencies that need to be satisfied in order to reverse the condition.  We have to ask ourselves if we'd rather address the cause of our high blood pressure or simply take a pill that only masks a big problem with our body?  Do we want to take drugs to "poison ourselves into good health" or would we rather nutrify to satisfy our body's desire to do what God designed it to do - heal itself?