Do You Know What You are Eating?

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth… (Psalms 104:14)

In a previous devotional we established the fact that all food comes from God. We saw that the Bible clearly teaches that God our Creator is the one who creates and supplies food to us. All food originates from reproducing plant life – life that God created. It takes water, air and sunlight for plants to grow, elements that God also created and regulates. The animals that become meat for our food are dependent on this same plant life, air, water, and sunlight.

Psalm 104 is a psalm that clearly establishes this truth:

He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills; they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart. The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers. He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening. O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. (Psalms 104:5-24)

In considering how God supplies us with food, we must also consider a very important event in the history of man. When the original couple Adam and Eve sinned, it affected all of creation, including food production:

And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." (Genesis 3:17-19)

Prior to this event, Adam’s job, the first occupation of mankind, was tending the Garden of Eden, a perfect paradise that he neither created nor planted:

And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers… The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (Genesis 2:8-15)

What a difference between “working and keeping” a garden in paradise planted and watered by God, to the work of “sweat and pain” needed to bring forth “plants of the field” infested with thorns and thistles! The whole nature of food production changed completely, but man is still dependent upon God to supply everything necessary to produce food.

Today in the 21^st century, however, man has built a society based on a humanistic view of life where man is believed to be the highest form of life that has evolved. Man has now taken on the role of the new “creator” of food. Modern man will have none of that “sweat and pain” and hard work stuff when it comes to producing food, because in his belief system technology has replaced all of that. As is portrayed in science fiction stories, there is a belief that one day we will be able to “create” our own food at the touch of button.

The problem with this belief system of course is the truth that man is not a creator of life, but is himself created from dust: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Can man and his “wonderful” technology really reverse God’s curse on sin, and its corruption of the natural world? No. Take a look again at Psalm 104 and look at these verses:

These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. (Psalms 104:27-30)

As I have written in many other places, modern man worships “science” which today has a very narrow meaning that only looks at the physical world. It ignores the spiritual realm altogether. But man’s technology cannot stop man from dying a physical death, which happens when the spirit leaves and the physical part of man begins to decay and return to the elements of the earth (“dust”). In the same way, man-made things can never achieve to the things created by the Spirit of God. As the verse in Psalm 104 clearly states: “When you send forth your Spirit, they are created…” Man cannot do this.

So make no mistake about it. There is a right way to produce food and a wrong way. The right way recognizes that all food originates from God, and is the result of trusting God and working hard. The wrong way to produce food believes that technology can produce food easily and with little effort, because the producers deny the existence of God and that all food originates from him, and they deny that there is a curse on nature that affects the way food is produced. They put their trust in themselves and their technology.

I am thoroughly convinced that “technology” in and of itself is not evil. It is neutral, because ultimately all knowledge comes from God also. It is the application of technology that can either be helpful or harmful. In the case of food production, technology cannot improve on the quality of food the way God created it. It can only increase production. Technology can increase quantity, but if it is ignoring the principles God has placed in his creation, it can also degrade the food to the point where that food is no longer healthy for us because of its alteration, or lack of essential nutrients.

The best example of this today is probably the case of genetically modified crops. These “foods” have not been around for very long, and we are only now starting to see the results of eating them. Earlier this year the American Academy Of Environmental Medicine issued a press release on genetically modified foods that stated: “there is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects” and that “GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health.” Their position paper references several studies backing up their claims, and can be read here.

Just this week a federal judge ruled that “the U.S. Department of Agriculture improperly approved genetically modified sugar beets in 2005 and ordered the agency to conduct a more exhaustive study of the crop's environmental impact.” (Article here.) The problem is that since 2005, 95 percent of the total sugar beet acreage in North America is already genetically modified. The safety of these foods is now being questioned. Didn’t hear about this in your local or national news this week? It got a big yawn from most media outlets. In June this year a federal appeals court upheld a 2-year-old ban on genetically modified alfalfa. In both cases, courts ruled that regulators must “conduct a more thorough review of genetically modified crops before approving them.” But our government under the USDA has already approved these crops and many of them are already a major part of our food system, while most of the rest of the world still bans them. There are currently no labeling laws in the U.S. to identify GM foods, so there is currently no way to distinguish them in grocery stores.

When our country was founded, 90% of the population was involved in agriculture. When Abraham Lincoln was president during the Civil War, about 50% of the population was involved in agriculture producing food, and much of the population still lived near farms that produced food. Today, less than 1% of the population in the United States produces food for everyone else. Do you know who produces your food? Do you know what you’re eating? Do you think your food is safe just because it is legal and you can buy it in a grocery store?

The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. (Psalms 145:15)

Related article: Who do You Trust for Your Food?

Was this article helpful to you? Share it with others:

The Healing Power of Words

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24)

Did you know that the words you speak have incredible power to bring healing in people’s lives? When you speak words of love, comfort, or encouragement to someone, those words have power to affect the person hearing them in such a positive way, that the result is health in their body.

Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. (Proverbs 12:25)

Who in this life doesn’t suffer from some “anxiety?” Often the source of our anxiety is focusing on the negative, and sometimes even things that are not true, rather than the positive things that are true. You can help someone by speaking to them words of truth for encouragement to them and to build up their faith: There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (Proverbs 12:18)

For those of us who are parents, our words can impart knowledge and life to our children, which results in their good health: My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. (Proverbs 4:20-22)

Are you speaking healthy words to those around you?

Not only do our words have power to heal, but unfortunately they also have power to destroy, which can result in sickness. As Proverbs 12:18 above states: “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts..” – and swords kill or cripple people! Proverbs 18:21 says: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” When we get into a conflict or argument, our words can either diffuse the situation like dousing a fire with water, or they can inflame the situation like throwing gasoline onto a fire!

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:6)

James, the brother of Jesus, understood the power of words, and wrote that if one could control their tongue and only speak good words, that person would be a “prefect man!”

For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. (James 3:2-10)

I guess James could write this because he lived with the only person in the history of mankind who was perfect in all his ways: Jesus! Jesus’ words were so powerful, that he could speak healing into a person’s life even when he was not present:

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith… And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment. (Matthew 8:5-13)

Jesus’ words were so powerful, that when he spoke to evil spirits they fled and healing came: That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. (Matthew 8:16)

As was written in a previous article, Jesus has never stopped talking! He still speaks today, and he has a word specifically for you today, if you will take time to stop and seek him out, and listen to him. His word will bring healing to your heart and life. Then it’s your turn to speak to those around you who are hurting and waiting for a good word to help heal them!

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24)

Was this article helpful to you? Share it with others:

Science vs. Spiritual Wisdom

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness," and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." (1 Corinthians 3:18-20)

In a recent article I mentioned how the word “science” originally was a synonym of “knowledge,” and that only recently in our history of the English language has it taken on a much more narrow meaning of “a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through the scientific method and concerned with the physical world and its phenomena.” (science. Dictionary.com. Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Inc.) This narrow understanding of “science” or “knowledge,” which only looks at what can be observed in the physical realm, is now equated with “truth,” and is considered by modern society to be more valuable than any other kind of knowledge. It has become the religion of modern man. But there is much knowledge in our world that cannot be observed in the physical realm, or “proven” by scientific discovery! We are also warned not to be deceived by “science” and knowledge based only on the natural realm: See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

As we discussed earlier, a more valuable knowledge is the kind of knowledge that is a result of relationships, where we come to know someone (as opposed to knowing about someone.) The most important person in the universe who is within our grasp to know in a personal way is God himself – the one who created you! He is more accessible to you than any important person here on earth who may be rich and famous but would not even give you the time of day! And he is always available to you – he is never too busy to listen to what you have to say, or too busy to spend time with you. He is also the one person in the universe who really knows you, even better than you know yourself!

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! (Psalms 139:13-17)

Wouldn’t you like to know the thoughts of God; what God is thinking about you? Well you can! While we can’t read other people’s minds and understand what they are feeling and thinking, God has in fact allowed us to read his mind and understand what he is thinking and feeling. He does this through his Spirit: For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God… "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:11-12;14)

God’s Spirit is a gift he gives to everyone who has been recreated spiritually and born again into his kingdom, the Kingdom of Light. Everyone walking on the face of this earth is either walking in the Kingdom of Light or the Kingdom of Darkness. They are spiritual kingdoms. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for the punishment of our sins, our spirits are recreated and we are reborn spiritually into the Kingdom of Light. God’s seal of ownership on us, our “proof” that we now belong to him, is the gift of his Spirit: In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14) This is a reality that can only be experienced: it cannot be proven in the natural (physical) realm by modern day scientific methods!

Those who walk in the Kingdom of Darkness do not have access to God’s Spirit, and are therefore limited to what they can observe in the natural realm. They cannot understand spiritual wisdom from God, because they lack his Spirit. So they develop whole systems of “scientific knowledge” based only on their limited observation of the physical realm, often coming up with foolish philosophies and beliefs such as evolution.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned… (1 Corinthians 2:14)

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools… (Romans 1:21-22)

The spiritual wisdom that comes from God, on the other hand, helps us to understand things that cannot be understood strictly in the natural realm. The really important issues of life, such as who is God, why did he create me, what is my purpose in life – are not found simply through “scientific” discovery. We must seek the spiritual wisdom from God via a relationship with him to understand these things.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14 italics added)

So when you have health challenges and need help, who do you turn to first: those experts with scientific knowledge walking in darkness, or to the one who created you and loves you, and has allowed you to know his thoughts through his Spirit? Who is in the best position to help you?

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:18-21)

Was this article helpful to you? Share it with others:

Knowledge vs. Love

Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him. (1 Corinthians 8:1-3)

As we read through the apostle Paul’s letters in the New Testament portion of the Bible that were written to the early churches, we see a common theme and problem that existed in those early churches. There were divisions and factions, instead of unity. The primary cause of those divisions was giving more importance to “knowledge” instead of love. As the verse above states, knowledge makes one arrogant by fooling you to think you know more and are better than someone else, whereas love (agape love which is an unconditional love) seeks to build up a person and seeks to be more concerned about them than we are about ourselves.

The biggest divisions in the early church fellowships were divisions between Jewish Christians and Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians. It was a titanic clash of cultures! This was especially true when it came to eating foods. Paul deals with these divisions head on in Romans chapter 14: Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:1-4)

God loves us and accepts us just the way we are. His love is unconditional and free. All the requirements of the law, and its punishment for failing to keep all the standards of the law, were dealt with once and for all by Jesus Christ through his death and resurrection. Therefore, since God has not judged us according to our sins, we in turn are not to judge others according to their sins or shortcomings, but rather accept them with unconditional love: Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. (Romans 14:13-15)

There is just as much division among Christians today as there ever has been. But God is not impressed with how much we know, or how good we think we are. The mark of a mature believer is NOT purity of doctrine, knowledge of the Bible, or having the “correct” position on social or political issues. Jesus said it best when he said: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

I have had the opportunity to live in countries and visit countries where Christians are the persecuted minority people. In these places there is usually tremendous unity among believers. They draw strength from their love for one another and their common strong bond as part of the body of Christ. Differences become inconsequential in the context of those who belong to the Kingdom of Light and have become part of God’s family through spiritual rebirth. But in countries like the United States, even among those of us who have been reborn into Jesus’ Kingdom, we tend to emphasize our differences and wrongly think that our particular doctrine or denomination has a corner on the truth, and look down upon all others who do not agree with us. I recently was listening to a Christian radio station and the person on the air publically criticized another church in their area for what they considered a “heresy” by promoting a certain Christian book that they didn’t like. This seemed to me to be a clear example of where “knowledge makes arrogant.” The popular culture loves to debate and ridicule those who don’t agree with their positions (just turn on any news program or talk show program), and this same attitude seems to dominate believers as well. How can those who still walk in the darkness see our love for one another when we are so busy debating and condemning each other?!

As our opening verse states: Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him. (1 Corinthians 8:1-3) The mature believers are the ones who are known by God and also have a strong relationship with him. As I have previously written, “what” you may know is not nearly as important as “who” you know, and how well you know God. And the measurement of those who know God best is not their intellectual understanding of the Bible, or social issues, or political issues. Instead, those who know God best show it in their love for one another!

By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:12-13)

Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)

Was this article helpful to you? Share it with others: