Healthy Eating for a Healthy Life

I fully believe in divine healing through Jesus Christ. God can and does do miracles when we believe. But we should not tempt the Lord by living such a life as is guaranteed to destroy our health over time.

It is God’s will for us to be in health (3 John 2), but many people are their own worst enemies in this respect.

Most killer diseases like cancer and heart disease as well as many other serious maladies are brought on in large measure by the body’s inability to cope with the huge amounts of TOXINS – poisons – that we accumulate over the years through unhealthy foods, exposure to a toxic environment, and unhealthy life practices. Cells start to go awry when they can’t get their proper clean environment and the vital nutritients they need. God made us fairly resilient but after enough abuse even the best systems can break down.

If we are poisoning and destroying our bodies on a daily basis, should we be surprised if we are not always well? Christians have been almost as bad as unbelievers in general in this respect, sometimes worse. Yes, we recognise that excessive alcohol consumption is extremely bad, that cigarette smoking and other drugs of abuse are very bad for us, but at the same time many of us regularly do so many things that damage our body’s immune system and ultimately destroy our health.

In simple terms, many of us eat too much, eat the wrong stuff, don’t exercise enough and don’t fast enough. When you add stress, fear and unforgiveness you have a perfect recipe for a short and miserable life on God’s earth.

One can read many books on the subject of healthy living, nutrition and so forth, and much of it will be helpful. Some of these books mix in unbiblical spiritual teachings in with some truth, and we can live without these books. But this does not negate that there is truth and wisdom in a lot of the literature on healthy living and nutrition. I believe that it is not possible to act foolishly in these matters and still obey the Word of God which says, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the Glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). “Whatever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). If you shorten your life by 10 or 20 years through disobeying God’s laws of life and health, and by your example teach others to do so, have you not seriously fallen short of the mark to which God calls us? The Word of God says, “Do not follow a crowd in doing wrong”.

At the same side I would say we should not be fanatical with any of these teachings on health food. God’s Word says, “Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be strengthened with grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them”. (Hebrews 13:9).
While this verse has many meanings it surely means that it is possible to have an unhealthy fascination with diet, and become so “religious” about our eating that we miss the really important issues relating to God’s work in our hearts.

So what are the main things we should take note of?

1. God made things in a good way. To the extent that we process and re-arrange food, we usually do some damage. Eating a modest amount of raw and unprocessed food from a variety of food groups will do us a lot of good. You say you love processed food? Do not let a desire (lust) of the flesh master you. If you fill your belly with poor food, you will toxify your body and squeeze out that which is good.

2. Do at least a little exercise every day – even if its just going for a walk. More exercise will increase your energy levels and help the body to burn up all food and eliminate more toxins. A totally sedentary lifestyle is not good for health.

3. Drink plenty of water (preferably purified water). If we drink fruit juice all the time, as I did, it messes with your mood. Tea and coffee might be ok on occasions, but they are basically toxic and should not be part of your regular lifestyle. Some doctors believe, not without cause, that most of our diseases are related to dehydration. We should therefore drink plenty of water – like 1 litre a day at least, to avoid dehydration and have a cleaner system. At the same time, if you eat natural salt like “celtic salt” you will provide your body with a lot of valuable elements and help the insides of your body to hydrate properly. Coffee actually dehydrates you – that is why it makes you go often to the toilet. It helps you stay awake by introducing a kind of poison into your system which your nervous system must eliminate. Do not rely on caffeine for energy – it is like buliding up a big credit card debt because you don’t know of any other way to pay for things.

4. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Don’t substitute tinned varieties on a regular basis. In the Bible, milk, grains and meats are also recommended. But the fat of the animals was not to be consumed – it was to be burned as an offering to the Lord. Take note that Jesus ate fish and called fishermen to follow him and helped them catch fish – therefore Jesus was not and is not a vegetarian or a vegan. God also told the priests to eat of the sacrifices – beef, lamb were therefore on God’s menu. But in those days there would have not been as many accumulated toxins in those meats. So be careful about eating too much meat nowadays – a lot of it is loaded with toxins.

5. Fast regularly.

You will accumulate toxins from the environment and even from some of the foods mentioned above. Therefore, it is vital to fast on occasions. This should be done both for health reasons and for spiritual reasons. During fasts you will get in touch with the spiritual realm more and have an opportunity to say no to the devil and yes to God in a very meaningful way. At the same time, your body will be working to burn up all useless and toxic substances.

You can read more about fasting on this site.

6. Don’t rush to pop pills.

A lot of the medications given by doctors have side effects. Take them as a last resort. I used to think that it was pretty safe to take an antibiotic each and every time there was some bacterial infection. But antibiotics kill good and bad microbes in our systems, and they don’t affect viruses or yeasts. Without the good microbes in our gut, digestion will be impaired and yeast can get out of control. If yeast like candida gets out of control it can fill our bodies with toxins, make us tired and sore, and most doctors will refer us to psychiatrists to help manage the symptoms. The pharma industry is not all good – definitely greed is a big factor and it often works to the detriment of the people. So try to get well through lifestyle changes and detoxification and by meditation on the Word of God. Don’t just run for a quick fix through a pill. I don’t say its a sin to take a pill but we have to be careful that we are walking in wisdom and not just “managing” symptoms while we create new problems.