Christian Natural Health

God tells us not to be afraid BUT to trust Him--so fear and faith are opposites.
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Josh 1:9).
"Say to those who are fearful-hearted, 'Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you'" (Isaiah 35:4).
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10).
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you" (Isaiah 43:1-2).
"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." (2 Tim 1:7).
"Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you" (Deut 31:6).
"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Ps 27:1).
"I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears." (Ps 34:4).
Faith (and trust) work through love, and when we understand His love, we cannot also fear (or doubt):
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32).
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).
"...but faith work(s) through love" (Gal 5:6).
"...cast(ing) all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." (Heb 11:6).
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Prov 3:5-6).
If you REALLY believe that you have what you ask when you pray, there will be no fear... because you believe you already have it.
"For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them" (Matt 11:23-24).
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb 11:1).
So you should be in rest, no matter what happens between when you ask and when you see it. Even if trials arise, you should still be in rest:
"Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work. that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (James 1:2-8).
"There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His" (Heb 4:9-10).
When Satan comes to try to steal from you, resist:
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you" (1 Peter 5:8-10).
"Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).
"Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones" (Prov 3:7-8).
"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore" (Eph 6:13-14).
Lack of fear (and thus, faith) is evidence to Satan that you're going to win:
"and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God" (Phil 1:28).
"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith." (1 John 5:4).
If it's been a long time coming, do not give up:
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life" (Prov 13:12).
"Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Gal 6:9).
But instead, keep your eyes on the Lord, and not on your problem:
David did this, when he encouraged himself in the Lord after Ziklag and his men threatened to stone him: 1 Sam 30:1-8
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matt 11:28-30, Msg translation)
"Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10)
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb 12:1-2).

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, Clostridia Overgrowth and Autism

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: Back Pain: Structural or Not?

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

John Veal is the Senior Pastor/Prophet of Enduring Faith Christian Center (non-denominational) in Chicago and the CEO of John Veal Ministries, Inc. He is passionate about pursuing God’s mandate to preach, teach and activate people within the prophetic. John is a regular contributor to Charisma Magazine Online, The Elijah List, IMAG, Spirit Fuel, Reformation Today and other publications. He’s been featured on various media outlets, including Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural, Elijah Streams, Glory Road TV and The Shaun Tabatt Show. Dr. Veal is a highly sought-after conference speaker due to his uncanny prophetic accuracy, humor, candor and unconventional preaching style. He has traveled the nations, presenting a myriad of prophetic training and ministry. He’s the recent author of "Destroying Demonic Tactics: 8 Supernatural Strategies to Defeat Satan’s Newest Schemes." John currently resides in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife, Elisa, and their three children.

To learn more about John, go to johnveal.org or you can learn more about his church at www.faith2endure.com

You can get a copy of Destroying Demonic Tactics: 8 Supernatural Strategies to Defeat Satan’s Newest Schemes here.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, The Cycle of Autonomic Dysfunction and Inflammation

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Jake Weidmann is a professional artist and is certified as one of only nine Master Penman in the world. He holds the title as the youngest Master Penman by three decades and is the youngest to ever attain the title. A few of Jake's peers (other Masters) have done work for the White House, Queen Elizabeth and even the Pope. His journey into calligraphy has been the "special sauce" for everything he now creates, incorporating the traditional calligraphic flourishing into his fine art. While he typically works with private clients, Jake has worked with Apple, Inc., Crossway Books, and Biola University and has spoken from countless stages including Tedx and Q and was featured on PBS Television. He is the author of "Old Soul, New Creation: Experiencing God Through a Life of Art & Faith".

To learn more about Jake and his art, books, and other projects, go to jakeweidmann.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr. William West, a Harvard and Johns Hopkins-trained oncologist and researcher, has advanced cancer care and research for over three decades. As a Christian and lifelong member of one of the largest Methodist Churches in the U.S., he has lectured for more than forty years on the myth of science and faith being at odds, believing they support one another and that science reveals God. His first book, Sacred Science: Understanding Divine Creation, releases April 11, 2025, from Post Hill Press.

To learn more about Dr West, go to sacred.science, or you can purchase his book Sacred Science here.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Born in the desert southwest and raised in a middle-class mining family, Walter Hill volunteered for the US Navy immediately after graduating high school. Deployments took him all over Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle-East. His natural gift for communicating faith emerged at this time. Following his honorable discharge, he was almost immediately engaged in full time ministry, both traveling and local. He was invited to lead his first congregation at the age of 28. It grew significantly and three other pastorates—and a church plant—followed. Now, with over 25 years of ministry experience navigating the trials and triumphs of faith, he is sharing some of the lessons he’s learned in joy and resilience. Through his thoughtful storytelling, Walter invites readers to rediscover hope, deepen their faith and embrace the abundant life Christ offers. He’s been happily married for 34 years and has two adult children and one grandchild. Walter resides in Casper, Wyoming.

To learn more about Walt, see walterhill.net or you can find his book, "Amazed Again" on Amazon here.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Drs. Mark Sherwood, and Michele L. Neil-Sherwood are the powerhouse team behind Tulsa’s Functional Medical Institute, where they’re revolutionizing wellness with a whole-person, comprehensive results-driven approach. Their mission is to empower people to overcome self-imposed health challenges and break free from unnecessary medications. Best-selling authors, national TV personalities, and filmmakers, they’ve inspired millions with their dynamic message of true healing. With groundbreaking health products like Kingdom Fuel & Kingdom Krunch, plus their global reach and influence, Drs. Mark and Michele are redefining what it means to live well and thrive.

To learn more about Dr Mark, to go sherwood.tv

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Mike Novotny is a pastor and author with a passion for helping people remember what matters most: Jesus. He holds a Doctor of Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and serves as the lead speaker for Time of Grace, a global media ministry that takes on tough topics in simple, relatable ways. Mike’s radio program, Time of Grace with Mike Novotny, is nationally syndicated. His greatest joys are Jesus, Kim (his wife of over twenty years), and his two teenage daughters. And also dark chocolate.

You can find his book, "Taboo" on Amazon here

Or you can find his podcast, "Taboo Questions with Mike Novotny" here.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post, Colloidal Silver. Studies are linked in the original post.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr. Adam Rasmussen is a Fellow at the Cultural Research Center and the Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities at Arizona Christian University. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Northwestern College, where he earned a BA in history. He also holds an MA in Educational Ministries from Wheaton College, as well as a PhD in Educational Studies with a focus on leadership and administration from the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. His research interests include biblical literacy, educational ministries, and Christian apologetics.

To learn more about the Cultural Research Center and their studies, go to culturalresearchcenter.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

This podcast comes from this blog post: Autophagy, Oxidative Stress, and the Mitochondria

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Jonathan Otto is an investigative journalist, natural health researcher, documentary filmmaker, and humanitarian. He has created several highly-acclaimed docuseries — Vaccine Secrets, COVID Secrets, Absolute Healing, Autoimmune Answers, Cancer Secrets, Cancer Decoded, and Depression, Anxiety & Dementia Secrets — which have won numerous top prizes at film festivals worldwide. In his unceasing quest to reverse the root causes of autoimmune disease, dementia, Alzheimer’s, mental health issues, cancer, and heart disease, Jonathan has interviewed hundreds of world-renowned medical doctors, scientists, and natural health experts who reveal powerful natural and alternative treatments that reverse the diseases that conventional doctors claim are “untreatable”. Jonathan’s greatest reward is hearing the healing testimonials of people who had previously lost hope of recovering their health and whose lives have been saved by using his protocols. He received the awards, Young Citizen of the Year and International Volunteer of the Year, by the Australian government for international humanitarian contributions, which he continues to support. Jonathan and his wife, Lori, are blessed to be the parents of 2 young sons, Asher and Arthur.

To learn more about red light therapy or to purchase, see myredlight.com. Enter discount code LAUREN at checkout for 10% off your purchase.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Steve Gray is a three-time Emmy Award-winning writer, songwriter and recording artist whose creativity and purpose have touched countless lives. Known for his dynamic leadership and ministry, he led the historic Smithton Outpouring (The Cornfield Revival) and the Kansas City Revival, which was broadcast live worldwide every Friday night for 3 ½ years. His influence sparked revival outpourings in hundreds of churches across the globe, transforming lives and communities. With degrees in instrumental and vocal music, a doctorate in theology and a Missouri lifetime teaching certificate, Steve combines artistry, scholarship, and a passion for faith. As the founding pastor of Revive Church of Kansas City, he continues to inspire through his ministry. Married to Kathy for fifty years, Steve is also a proud father and grandfather, leaving a legacy of creativity, faith, and revival for generations to come.

To learn more about Steve and to find his books, go to stevegrayministries.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, Intracellular Melatonin.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's meditation is on the Hebrew word Hesed, and how it is representative of God's covenant promises. We jump around to Psalm 136, 1 Samuel 13 and 17, Genesis 20:13, Lam 3:22, Psa 23:6, Pro 3:3, Psa 25:10, and more.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from four blog posts:

DMSO: For Pain, Inflammation, Tissue Healing and Protection
DMSO for Vascular and Circulatory Disorders
DMSO for Nerves and the Nervous System
DMSO for Skin and Connective Tissues

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Gisela Kreglinger grew up on a winery in Franconia, Germany, where her family has been crafting wine for many generations. She holds two master’s degrees in biblical studies from Regent College and a PhD in historical theology from the University of St. Andrews. She teaches Christian spirituality in the academy, churches, on her annual wine pilgrimages, and every time an opportunity opens up around the dinner table, preferably with a glass of well-crafted wine to inspire her musings on food, faith and the importance of cultivating joy and conviviality. She is the author of Cup Overflowing: Wine’s Place in Faith, Feasting and Fellowship, The Spirituality of Wine, and The Soul of Wine. To learn more about Gisela, visit her at giselakreglinger.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, Health Benefits of Juice Fasting.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's podcast is a meditation on these scriptures:

Eph 2:10: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
Phil 1:6: "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
1 Cor 3:11-15: "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
Romans 8:28: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
John 15:16: "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you." (And one of the fruit we are to bear is patience, or longsuffering, and self-control, Gal 5:22)
Prov 16:32: "Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city."
Prov 14:29: "Whoever is patient has great understanding,but one who is quick-tempered displays folly."
Psalm 75:2: "You say, “I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge with equity."
Eph 4:2: "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."
Psalm 90:2 "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
James 4:13-14: "Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."
Ecc 1:3-8: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."
Prov 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Prov 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr. Alan Goldhamer is an expert in the use of medically supervised, water-only fasting. He is the founder and director of TrueNorth Health Center and has supervised the fasting and care of more than 25,000 patients. TrueNorth Health is a multidisciplinary practice that includes doctors of medicine, osteopathy, chiropractic, naturopathy and psychology. Its healthcare providers treat patients with conditions ranging from high blood pressure and diabetes to autoimmune disorders and lymphoma. The Center is the largest facility in the world specializing in medically supervised water-only fasting and a premier training facility for doctors to gain certification in the supervision of therapeutic fasting. Dr. Goldhamer is a frequent lecturer, author of several books, most recently “Can Fasting Save Your Life,” as well as of numerous studies and case reports published in peer-reviewed journals.

Learn more about Dr Goldhamer at truenorthhealth.com or pick up the most recent book, "Can Fasting Save Your Life?" here.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Laurie Hammer is a Functional Nutritional Therapist and Neuro-Nutrient Specialist who focuses on helping clients with brain toxicity, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and autoimmune conditions. Her journey of overcoming personal health challenges through holistic methods drives her passion. She has dealt with cancer, celiac disease, bulimia, and depression, and now, she helps clients from around the world, both virtually and in person. She offers hope and practical insights for women dealing with anxiety, depression, and the overwhelming demands of life.

Check out her Podcast-Take Back My Brain on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@takebackmybrain9073

Follow her on social media: https://www.facebook.com/laurie.hammer.7/ https://www.instagram.com/thecalmmomcommunity/ Her website: https://www.lauriehammer.com/

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Steve Wohlberg is the Speaker/Director of White Horse Media. He is the author of 40+ books, including End Times Health War, has been a guest on over 500 radio and TV shows, and has spoken by special invitation inside the Pentagon and U.S. Senate. Mr. Wohlberg currently lives in scenic Priest River, Idaho, with his wife Kristin (they have been married for 24 years) and their two children, Seth (age 20), and Abby (age 17). Steve loves the great outdoors, hiking, swimming, and spending quality time with his family.

To learn more about Steve, you can see his website, www.whitehorsemedia.com

or you can find his free Bible school at whitehorsemediabibleschool.com

You can also check out his sprouting channel at sproutingwithsteve.com

You can find him on YouTube at White Horse Media: https://www.youtube.com/@whitehorsemedia

He is giving away 10 copies of the book to the first callers that mention this show! 800-78-BIBLE (or 800-782-4253)

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: Restoring the Integrity of the Blood Brain Barrier

Christian Natural Health was ranked in the top 100 Christian Podcasts by Feedspot! https://blog.feedspot.com/christian_podcasts/**

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

This podcast comes from this blog post: Bile Acids, Bile Salts, and Gallbladder Support.

Christian Natural Health was ranked in the top 100 Christian Podcasts by Feedspot! https://blog.feedspot.com/christian_podcasts/**

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Mike Novotny is an author, pastor, and speaker who holds a Master of Divinity from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Mike is the lead speaker for Time of Grace, a global media ministry that exists to point people to what matters most: Jesus. Using a variety of media (television, radio, podcasts, print publications, and digital), Time of Grace teaches tough topics in an approachable and relatable way, accessible in multiple languages, making the Bible clear and understandable for those who need encouragement in their walks of faith and for those who don’t yet know Jesus at all. Mike’s radio program, Time of Grace with Mike Novotny, is syndicated on the Faith Radio Network, and found on other radio stations. He is the author of Lonely Less: 6 Steps to a Less Lonely Life.

To learn more about Mike, see timeofgrace.org

Christian Natural Health was ranked in the top 100 Christian Podcasts by Feedspot! https://blog.feedspot.com/christian_podcasts/**

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Deception is simply taking a piece of the truth, and twisting it. That's what makes it so convincing. It sounds right... sort of. Almost.

I believe I first read in one of C.S. Lewis's books, probably in several of them, that evil defines itself by the absence of God, just as darkness defines itself as the absence of light. Satan cannot create anything; all he can do is pervert something that God made, and intended for good.

The introduction of Jonathan Cahn's most recent book, "The Dragon Prophecy," puts this extremely well, so I'm going to just quote him. He writes, "If God is good, then how could there be evil? And if God is evil, then how could God be good? But if God did not create evil, then how could evil exist? Or how could God be God?... If evil was created, it would not be a problem, nor would it be evil. Evil is a problem for the very reason that it was not created. It should not exist, because it was not created, and yet it does. The existence of evil defies the created order. It is not of the creation and thus exists in opposition to the created order. Evil exists in defiance of existence... evil is not simply a force, like that of an earthquake, a hurricane, or a fire. All these bring calamity and destruction. But none would constitute true evil. Serial killers are. Why? The hurricane is an impersonal force. It acts without consciousness, will, choice, volition, or intent. But the serial killer commits his acts with conscious intent, will, an volition--and so is evil. And so evil is not an impersonal force--but a personal one, requiring consciousness, volition, will, and intent. Thus in our search for an answer to evil, we are led to personhood... Evil is an inversion--an inversion of truth, of reality, of existence. Evil is, by nature, inverted and, by nature, inverts. It twists, bends, and turns existence in upon itself. It exists as anti-existence. Its being is anti-being, and its nature, anti-nature. It is a negation and therefore seeks to negate, a nullification that exists to nullify. It has no true, ultimate, or absolute existence and therefore acts to bring that which exists into non-existence... Possessing no absolute or true existence of its own, evil is, as well, by nature, parasitic... Evil must use the good. And so though good can exist without evil, evil cannot exist without good. Truth can exist without falsehood, but falsehood cannot exist without truth. Laws can exist without crimes, marriage without adultery, and life without murder. But crimes cannot exist without laws, adultery without marriage, nor murder exist without life. Destruction requires structure, immorality requires morality, and sin requires the holy. The good is primary. Evil is the parasitic inversion of the good. And so the existence of evil inadvertently testifies not against the existence of the good--but for it. It bears witness, unwillingly, to the existence of the good--the existence of God" (9-10).

So if evil itself is an inversion of something created to be good, then nearly everything God created for our pleasure and enjoyment can also become evil... but because it contains the seeds of something that was originally good, Satan can also use that kernel of goodness, or truth, to convince us that the twisted version is actually good and true, too... and if we don't know the truth well enough to tell the difference, we'll fall for it.

The Syncretism Trend

According to Dr George Barna's research with the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, the dominant worldview of Americans (92%) now is syncretism (https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/CRC-Release-AWVI-2-April-23-2024.pdf): that is, an amalgamation of disparate and contradictory beliefs, pulled from multiple religious or philosophical ideologies, according to an individual's personal inclinations and emotions. Syncretism is therefore not a single worldview, but a mishmash of beliefs--hence the common phrase, "your truth" and "my truth." The implication is that these can be mutually exclusive, without any logical contradiction.

This strategy of Satan's is nothing new. He is a liar and the father of lies by nature (John 8:44). He sticks with this approach because it works.

Syncretism in the Old Testament

Syncretism has been around since the days of the Old Testament, and was the main reason why the Israelites couldn't seem to stay on the "blessing" side of God's covenant (Deuteronomy 28). Literally the first of the Ten Commandments was "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Ex 20:3)--and al, the Hebrew word translated "before", also means "by" or "beside." So God wasn't saying they simply had to worship Him the most, but it was okay if they occasionally sacrificed to Baal or Molech or Asherah--so long as He was the most important. No; they were to have no other gods besides Him. Period. The entire Old Testament history is a cycle of the Israelites' disobedience of this one commandment. The first example after the Ten Commandments were given is the golden calf that Aaron made with the spoils from Egypt while Moses was up on the mountain receiving God's law (Ex 32). These Israelites had spent their entire lives in Egypt, where a pantheon of gods were worshipped (many of whom God specifically humiliated by the plagues chosen to eventually force Pharaoh to let them go). When they made the golden calf, the Israelites declared that this was God--the One who had delivered them from Egypt (Ex 32:4). So they weren't exactly abandoning Yahweh for some other god; rather, they were mixing Him with the gods they had grown up with.

Then, the Israelites tended to mix worship of Yahweh with worship of the gods of neighboring nations, even before they ever got to the Promised Land. Israel's enemies feared God, and one of them (King Balak of Moab) sent for Balaam, a local seer, to curse Israel (Numbers 22-24). God wouldn't allow Balaam to curse Israel, but Balaam wanted Balak's money... so instead, he told Balak how to get the Israelites to curse themselves, by placing themselves on the "cursing" side of God's covenant (Deuteronomy 28). Numbers 25 shows the result: the Moabite harlots used sex to entice the men of Israel into idolatry. The issue in this case wasn't so much the sex, as it was that sex was used in worship of false gods.

The cycle repeats throughout the Old Testament: Israel falls into idolatry, they fall under the 'cursing' side of God's covenant as a result (bringing themselves out from under His protection, and subject to Satan’s machinations), they get oppressed by their enemies, they cry out to God, and God delivers them. They renew their vows to and worship of the One True God in varying degrees, but then they forget again, fall into idolatry, and the cycle repeats. God had laid out very clearly that they would be blessed if they followed His laws, and cursed if they didn't (Deut 28), and the very first commandment was no gods before Him. It was the first for a reason: God knows that we were made to worship something, and we treasure what we worship. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt 6:21), and our hearts guide the course of our lives (Prov 4:23).

Eventually Israel split into two kingdoms (Northern and Southern, or Israel and Judah) over this very issue. Most of the subsequent kings of both nations perpetuated idolatry, though a few tried to purge the nation of idolatry to varying degrees, and enjoyed the 'blessing' side of the covenant for a time as a result (Deut 28). But God sent prophet after prophet to the Northern and Southern nations (writers of most of the major and minor prophetic books of the Old Testament), warning them of impending destruction if they did not repent of their idolatry. They ignored the warning, and eventually both nations were taken into captivity because of their idolatry: Israel to Assyria and Judah to Babylon. (Though of course, God was not done with Israel, and His promises to them still stand--Ezekiel 37 prophesied their restoration to their own land as a resurrection of dry bones, which miraculously took place on May 14, 1948. And the nation of Israel takes center stage throughout most of the book of Revelation, from chapter 5 on.)

Syncretism in the New Testament

Syncretism was around during the time of the early church, too, particularly in Paul's ministry. God sent him as the apostle to the Gentiles, who practiced varying forms of pagan beliefs already. They attempted to mix Jesus with these beliefs, until Paul's preaching convicted them to follow Jesus only, burning their books of magic arts and getting rid of their idols of Greek and Roman gods (Acts 19:11-20--which turned into a big riot in the city, v 21-41).

Paul described the end times as being a time of "unrighteous deception among those who perish" (2 Thess 2:10), so we can expect that as we approach that day, this will only increase. Jesus told us that in the last days, "if possible, even the elect" would be deceived (Matt 24:24).

The Greek work for deception in these verses is planao, and it means "to lead away from the truth, to lead into error." This inherently means that there is such a thing as truth. If you believe something contradictory to that truth, that is deception.

We're living in an age that largely borrows from postmodernism as part of the syncretic worldview. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "Postmodernists deny that there are aspects of reality that are objective; that there are statements about reality that are objectively true or false; that it is possible to have knowledge of such statements (objective knowledge); that it is possible for human beings to know some things with certainty; and that there are objective, or absolute, moral values." Holders of this worldview are therefore confused about even observable or mathematical truths, let alone those that are not observable (such as whether or not there is a God, and if there is, how many, and which one, how do we get to Him, etc).

So before we even approach the topic of how to avoid being deceived, we have to establish that there is such a thing as objective truth. If there isn't, then there is no such thing as deception, either, since deception derives its definition from truth (just as darkness derives its definition from light, by the absence of it).

What Is Truth (i.e. Is There Such A Thing As Objective Reality?)

The best argument I've heard on the topic of whether or not there is an objective reality comes from Dr Jason Lisle's "The Ultimate Proof of Creation" (which is a book, but here is his lecture on the argument https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ_UxcV-xcM). While there is an abundance of apologetic evidence for the scientific and historical accuracy of scripture (here's the first in an apologetics series I did on the subject, https://www.drlaurendeville.com/anthropic-fine-tuning/), Lisle points out that none of these arguments can be definitive, because someone who holds a different worldview can simply invoke a "rescuing device" to explain away any evidence that seems to contradict his own position. We all do this, and it's not necessarily a bad thing--for example, if someone points out an apparent contradiction in scripture, my first reaction isn't, "Oh, I guess the Bible is wrong!" Rather, I assume there's additional information I don't happen to know about yet, which resolves the apparent contradiction, and then I go look for it. Even if I can't find it at the time, I am still certain it exists, and someone will find it eventually. That's a rescuing device, to preserve an otherwise deeply held worldview without logical contradiction.

The real key to establishing which worldview is correct lies in that last statement: "without logical contradiction." There are laws that govern the way the world and the universe works--laws that we all have to believe in and abide by in order to know anything at all. C.S. Lewis expounded on this concept in "Mere Christianity" (https://www.authorcagray.com/posts/mere-christianity/) with respect to morality, in particular--the idea that we all know that there are universal laws of decency and conduct, and we further know that we don't live up to them. But, that being the case, who made those laws? Where did they come from? He argues that their very existence necessitates a lawgiver.

Lisle takes this argument further--the existence of non-moral rules that govern how the material world works, such as the laws of logic, and principles of math and science, are the presuppositions upon which all knowledge is based. Everyone has to abide by these, no matter what their worldview is, or it would be impossible to know anything at all. But who made those rules? Where did they come from? Why does math work? Why do we all assume the laws of logic in order to have a coherent conversation? This, too, necessitates a creator. Many who abide by laws of math, science, and logic (and morality, for that matter) don't happen to have a theistic worldview, but that in and of itself is a logical inconsistency; they can't account for those rules in their worldviews at all. They have to borrow from the theistic worldview in order to make any of their other arguments.

This is the very place where postmodernism diverges, though. If there is no objective reality, then knowledge of any kind doesn't exist. Most of those who hold this worldview at least believe in morality of some kind. Lewis's argument might be most relevant here--you'll never get someone persuaded by postmodernism and religious syncretism to argue that murder, or genocide, or racism are fine, for example. They know these are wrong because they "feel" them to be wrong--and they're not just wrong for them, they're wrong for everyone. Now we have at least one absolute... which necessitates a lawgiver not only for morality, but also for at least one logical law: that of non-contradiction.

This already establishes the existence of an objective reality. If there is an objective reality, then necessarily, some statements about it must be true while others must be false. The world is round and not flat, for example. If a world exists at all, both things cannot be true about it at the same time and in the same way, simultaneously--that would be a logical contradiction.

Which Objective Reality Is It? (Can Anybody Know?)

If some objective reality does in fact exist, how do we know which one it is? How do we know that our senses are reliable, first of all, and that we're not living in a simulation a la "The Matrix," for instance--one in which the laws of morality, logic, math, and science are simply foundational to the code?

This argument goes back to Descartes, who concluded that at the very least, he must exist after some fashion, because his consciousness told him he must. C.S. Lewis in "Mere Christianity" used a similar line of reasoning, arguing that if there were a deeper reality, one that created this reality, we couldn't possibly find out anything about it through our five senses. Of course we couldn't; those senses are of the physical world, and can thus only give us information about the physical world. Our consciousness, however, has no identifiable physical reality. (To this day, science cannot explain what consciousness actually is - https://www.drlaurendeville.com/electromagnetism-vital-force/.) So Lewis argues that, if there were anything knowable about the world beyond our own, the only place where we might possibly expect to find clues about it would be in our own consciousness. And there, in fact, we do find such clues: specifically, we all have a sense of right and wrong. While we might quibble about the details therein--someone might say that under such and such a condition, killing someone is not murder, for example--no one will seriously argue that murder is morally fine. One might have different rules surrounding the morals of sex, but nobody is going to say you can just have any person you like anytime you like. This establishes several things, according to his argument: the existence of a moral law outside of our reality, of how we ought to behave (even though we know we don't, or at least not always, and certainly not perfectly), which necessitates the implied existence of a law-giver. The very fact that we do not keep the law (even though we know we should) is the whole point of the law of the Old Testament, too (Romans 7)--but even those who didn't know the Old Testament were aware of the moral law to this extent, so that no one is without excuse (Romans 1:18-2:16).

Once we know that there is a moral law, and that we're incapable of keeping it on our own, that narrows down the possible religions considerably. We must choose one that hinges on the concept of grace, not works. There is literally only one of those. (More on that in this podcast: https://www.drlaurendeville.com/relational-apologetics/). That's why we call Christianity the gospel, which means good news: the good news is that, while you can't make yourself righteous no matter how hard you try, you don't have to make yourself righteous because Jesus did it for you. All you have to do is accept what He did on your behalf.

Once you've gotten to this place, now all the scientific apologetics (start here: https://www.drlaurendeville.com/anthropic-fine-tuning/) can fall into their proper place: as corroborating evidence for the Bible. But the Bible has to be philosophically established as authoritative first.

Once we've established that the Bible is truth (John 17:17, Psa 25:5, Psa 91:4, Psa 96:13, 100:5, 117:2, 119:142, 151, 160; 138:2, Prov 3:3, Col 1:5), we've got to learn what it says--well enough that Satan can't take it out of context and feed it back to us, or add a tiny bit to it to change the meaning. That's exactly how he works, though. He even tried that with Jesus (Luke 4:1-13). Fortunately Jesus was the Word made flesh (John 1:14), so He didn't fall for it... but the less we actually know the scripture, the more vulnerable we'll be to this strategy.

Knowing the Truth Well

Jesus warned us that as the last days approach, Satan will double down on this strategy: that false prophets will rise up and deceive many (Matt 24:11), claiming to be Jesus returned (Mark 13:6), some with signs and wonders. At the same time, Revelation suggests that in the last days, the church will become apathetic, so prosperous materially that we will be unaware of our spiritual emptiness (Rev 3:14-22). (This sounds a lot like the seeds choked by thorns in Jesus' parable of the sower: the seed is choked by "the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, and he becomes unfruitful", Matt 13:22). Peter tells us that "scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.'" (2 Peter 3:3-4). Paul tells us that the last days will be accompanied by a great "falling away" (2 Thess 2:3).

Deception comes in many forms, but one thing they all have in common is that they act almost like a vaccine against the truth. There's just enough truth to them, mixed with a lot of untruth, that it's hard to tease apart the good from the bad. In that way, they can deceive "even the elect, if possible" (Matt 24:24, Mark 13:22).

We protect against this, in a nutshell, by knowing the truth really, really well. This is the way bankers are trained to recognize counterfeit money: they don't study every possible counterfeit (there will always be a new one). Rather, they learn what the real thing looks like so well that they'll know when something seems off, even if they can't articulate what it is.

In the same way, we're to renew our minds with the Word (Romans 12:2); that's how we will recognize truth from lies. Otherwise, it's all too easy for Satan to take a sliver of truth, mix it with a lie, and so deceive us.

An Old Testament example of this is found in 2 Kings 18. The back story: in Numbers 21:6-9, the people had sinned, had come out from under the protection of God’s covenant, and were dying from bites from poisonous snakes. God commanded Moses to make a bronze serpent on a pole, and told the people that if they would only look at the serpent, they would be healed. We know with hindsight that this was a type and shadow of Jesus, who was made sin for us, and became our substitutionary sacrifice ("by His stripes, we are healed," Isaiah 53:5). But the Jews didn't realize that; all they knew was that God ordained healing through looking at the pole, so the pole became a symbol of deliverance. But over the centuries, they made looking at the pole into a formula: the shadow without the substance of Jesus behind it. It became an idol, which they called Nehushtan. Back to 2 Kings 18, centuries later: verse 4 tells us that King Hezekiah had torn down the high places and broke Nehushtan in pieces.

Later in the chapter, Judah is threatened with destruction by a messenger from the King of Assyria, Rabshakeh. This would have been especially terrifying, since Israel (by this point they has become two nations, Israel and Judah) had already been carried into captivity by Assyria, in punishment for the fact that the people kept falling into idolatry and had forsaken God. So when Rabshakeh threatened the people with destruction, he said, "You broke down God's symbols of worship! Why would He come through for you?" (2 Kings 18:22). The people of Judah had to know God and His word well enough to know that what Hezekiah did was actually right in God's eyes (2 Kings 18:5-7). God had originally ordained the serpent on the pole, yes, but the people had made it into an idol, which broke the first of the Ten Commandments. Hezekiah's actions had placed the Jews on the right side of God's covenant (Deut 28), so they, unlike their sister nation of Israel, could trust that God would come through for them. But if the people had not understood all the back story, they might easily have believed Rabshakeh's taunts. They could have lost faith that God would come through for them, convinced that they would go the way of Israel before them, and turned against Hezekiah, thinking he'd brought them out from under God's protection.

This is how the enemy works. The serpent is subtle and cunning (Gen 3:1, 2 Cor 11:3-4). Satan tried to deceive Jesus not even by misquoting scripture, just by quoting it out of context (Matt 4:6). This happens to us today all the time. One common example is the teaching that God causes or (directly) allows sickness in order to discipline us, or to teach us something, or for the "greater good". This sounds so spiritual, and a host of out of context scriptures even seem to back it up--yet Deut 28 makes it clear that sickness is always considered a curse. Jesus became a curse for us and redeemed us from the curse (Gal 3:13-14), and even before that, He healed all who came to Him (Matt 15:30, Matt 4:23-24, Matt 8:16, Matt 9:35, Matt 10:1, Matt 12:15, Matt 15:30, Luke 4:40, Luke 10:9). Jesus He was a perfect representation of the Father (John 5:19, 5:30, 8:28, 12:49). So this cannot be right. He may take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for good (Gen 50:20), but that doesn't mean He caused the evil in the first place. Not even close. (For more on this, see https://www.drlaurendeville.com/why-bad-things-happen-from-a-biblical-perspective/).

Truth is the foundation of the spiritual armor (Eph 6:14)--it must go on first, before anything else. The Bible can testify to us that not only is the Word truth, but God is the God of truth (Isa 65:16), that Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). Only knowing the truth will make us free(John 8:32). If we focus on knowing the truth, we will recognize deception.

It's important to also rely upon the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13, 1 John 5:6), to guide us, rather than on our own understanding (Prov 3:5-6), or the wisdom of the world (1 Cor 1:20-2:7), or any other spirit besides the Holy Spirit. The world is confused about what truth is (John 18:37-38) because they don't hear His voice--but we do. This shouldn't be a problem for us.

Cross-Reference What You Hear

Along those lines, just because we hear a doctrine preached from the pulpit doesn't mean it's so. It's our responsibility to be like the Bereans in Acts 17--when Paul and Silas preached the word to them there, Luke writes of them, "These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed" (Acts 17:11). They didn't just take Paul and Silas's word for it; they went straight to the source text to confirm it. Paul later wrote to the Galatians, "even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed" (Gal 1:8-9). He repeats himself, because this is so important. Forget him--even if an angel preaches it, let him be accursed! We are not to blindly follow any person simply because of his or her authority. (We're to respect authority of all kinds, Romans 13:1-7--that's a different issue. But when what someone in authority says comes in conflict with God's word, we obviously go with God's word, Acts 4:19).

There are plenty of warnings about false teachers in scripture (though one important note here--there's a difference between a false teacher, and a good person doing his or her best who is simply flawed. None of us is going to get everything right. This is the reason why James says that not many should become teachers, as they will "receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things," James 3:1-2.)

A false teacher, though, is one who will distort the truth (Acts 20:29-30, 2 Peter 3:16), by mixing it with myths/fables (Titus 1:14) or "merely human commands" (Matthew 16:1-12) or the traditions of men (such as forbidding to marry, abstaining from certain foods, 1 Tim 4:3), according to the principles of the world (Col 2:4-8). They will pretend to be godly or moral, though (2 Cor 11:13-15, 2 Tim 6:5)--so we must use discernment. There are a few criteria we're given to distinguish a false teacher from just a flawed human being, in process like the rest of us:

Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is a false teacher (1 John 2:22-23, 4:2-3)
Some may lie intentionally for their own gain (Deut 18:20, Ezekiel 13:9, Jer 14:14, Jer 23:16, Titus 1:10-11) or in hypocrisy (1 Tim 4:2-5), using "godliness" as a means of their own selfish gain.
Others may be so blind that they truly believe they are doing God a favor in persecuting His true followers (John 16:2).
Romans 16:18: Paul said in this verse that these individuals use good words and fair speeches and deceive the hearts of the simple. This means that they flatter people (2 Timothy 4:3) and appeal to the same selfish desires that they themselves have, to draw people after themselves (Acts 20:30).

We can't judge another person's motives(Matthew 7:1-3), but we can, and should, judge the fruit of their lives and ministries(Matthew 7:15-20, 1 John 3:7-9). There are many who claim to be believers but aren't (Matthew 7:21-23) and they'll be among us until the end of the age, when God will finally separate them out (Matthew 13:24-30).

Truth, "Signs," and Our Emotions

We are the gatekeepers of our hearts (Prov 4:23), and have to guard its boundaries, careful of what we allow in. I always thought the parable of wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30) only referred to evil people sown amongst the good people of the church. But what if it also means good and bad ideas from good and bad spirits within a given individual-- in other words, we can bear good fruit and bad fruit from different 'trees' even within our own hearts? This might be why Jesus could tell Peter "get behind me Satan" (Matt 16:23) and James and John, "you don't know what spirit you are of" (Luke 9:55), but the men themselves were still His. This also probably goes along with the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:3-15)... the 'tares' we allow into our own hearts are part of what can choke the word and render it unfruitful.

Truth of course must correspond to an accurate description of reality (Gen 42:16)--which should negate any postmodernist philosophy, or syncretism, blending contradictory descriptions of reality. Once we know the truth, we are to continue in what we were taught (Col 2:6-7, 1 John 2:24), not mix a little Christianity with a little of some other contrary message. Paul rails against this practice in many of his letters. In 2 Cor 11:3-4, Paul is angry that the Corinthians' minds may be corrupted so that they receive the one preaching a different Jesus or gospel from the one he preached. In Galatians 1:6-9, as mentioned earlier, the Galatians are falling prey to a perverted gospel, and Paul curses those who preach such a gospel. In Eph 4:14, he writes that only "children" in Christ are tossed about by every wind and wave of doctrine, taken in by trickery and craftiness and deceit.

We're supposed to guard against not just what we hear from other humans, but to test what the spirits say too--hence Paul's angel comment (Gal 1:8-9). John also tells us, "do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God" (1 John 4:1). In a lot of denominational churches that don't believe in the supernatural gifts of the spirit (1 Cor 12), this may not come up much. But in those that do, or for individuals who might ascribe to varieties of syncretism (believing in "signs from the universe" if they seem especially coincidental, perhaps), this will become important. Just because a prophet seems to be speaking from a supernatural source doesn't mean what they're saying is from God. It might be, but we have to test it. Just because an idea out of left field pops into our minds doesn't mean it was the Holy Spirit who put it there. Just because a black crow perches on a tree doesn't mean it's an omen foreshadowing our future. Just because we see the same state license plate on every car doesn't mean God is telling us to move there, etc. Solomon writes, “A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps” (Prov 14:15). Elsewhere "simple" is used as a synonym for "fool" (Prov 7:7, 8:5, 9:13).

We have to remember that the physical world is a battleground. Until the earth lease is up, Satan is still technically the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4). So God can send us signs in the physical realm, yes--but so can Satan. God can whisper thoughts to our minds--but so can Satan (in fact, this is his primary tactic, 2 Cor 10:3-6). Peter writes that the scriptures are a "more sure word of prophecy" even than hearing an audible voice from heaven (2 Peter 1:19-21), probably for this exact reason: anything using the physical realm has the potential to be counterfeited. That doesn't mean God can't use physical means to communicate with us, but it's clear that the primary means He uses for His own are the scriptures, and the Holy Spirit (John 14:17, 26), who also often speaks to us by bringing the scriptures we know to our remembrance. He also will speak through the prophets (1 Cor 12:1-11), dreams and visions (Acts 2:17-18), but we have to check all of this against the Word. Scripture will divide between soul and spirit (what originates with us vs Him, Hebrews 4:12), as well as what might originate with a malevolent spirit sent to lead us astray. David tells us it's the scriptures that make the simple wise: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple" (Psalm 19:7).

What if an idea comes to us as an idea, a dream, a vision, a prophecy, or a "synchronicity" moment that seems supernatural, and it's something that isn't addressed in scripture at all, though? How do we know if it's from God, from us, or from the enemy then?

The first thing to check there is whether or not the message is consistent with God's character. Jesus said we can ask anything in His name and He will give it to us (John 14:14). What's in God's name (https://www.drlaurendeville.com/names-of-lord-psalm-9-9-10-meditation/)? He is Jehovah Nissi (the Lord my Banner), Jehovah-Raah (the Lord my Shepherd), Jehovah Rapha (the Lord that Heals), Jehovah Shammah (the Lord is There), Jehovah Tsidkenu (the Lord our Righteousness), Jehovah Mekoddishkem (the Lord who Sanctifies You), Jehovah Jireh (the Lord who Provides), Jehovah Shalom (the Lord is Peace), Jehovah Sabaoth (the Lord of Hosts).

The next thing to check is the fruit that message produces (Gal 5:19-23, Romans 8:6-8). God won't lead us into anything producing negative fruit--if the fruit is bad, it's from the flesh or the enemy, and not the Spirit.

If it passes those tests, though, then as we continue to pray about the message (dream, vision, prophecy, idea, etc) then it's also biblical for us to ask for additional confirmations of the message--Paul says in 2 Cor 13:1 that every word should be established by two or three witnesses. If the message is from God, He'll make sure you know it. His Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16:13). And as you continue to seek Him and pray about it, peace (a fruit of the Spirit) should grow, confirming that the message comes from God (Col 3:15).

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Emma Tekstra is a global health consultant and independent health researcher, passionate about helping companies and individuals understand what truly creates health and wellbeing. As a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, Emma is deeply rooted in the data and science of the human body and what makes it tick or break down. She is the author of “How to Be a Healthy Human.”

You can get a copy of "Turtles All the Way Down: Vaccine Science and Myth" here.

You can get a copy of Emma's book, "How to Be a Healthy Human" here.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Obsession and addiction often go together: we tend to get obsessed with whatever we’re addicted to, and can't stop thinking about it. Intrusive thoughts are also in this category - we don’t want them any more than we want an addiction, but by their very nature, they dominate our thoughts, and thus become an obsession.

All of these have a common origin.

All Obsessions Start With Something Good, and then Twist It

Evil defines itself by the absence of God, just as darkness defines itself as the absence of light. Satan cannot create anything; all he can do is pervert something that God made, and intended for good.

So if evil itself is an inversion of something created to be good, then nearly everything

God created for our pleasure and enjoyment can also become evil, or sinful, if we make it our highest aim or focus.

Obsessions and Addiction are Placing Anything Before God

God's very first commandment to the Israelites in the Old Testament was to have no other gods before Him (Ex 20:3). The Israelites broke this commandment over and over in a very literal sense, worshipping false gods first that they'd grown up with from Egypt, and then the false gods of the nations they encountered in the wilderness and in the surrounding nations of the Promised Land.

Today, most of us don't literally worship false gods, per se (though that's becoming more prevalent too). Rather, we make some desire or worry or need or love the focus of our lives, instead of God.

C.S. Lewis wrote that romantic love (a very common substitute for God) "ceases to be a devil only when it ceases to be a god." The same would go for any other positive good that God created for our benefit--all could become something we seek after, more than we seek after God. That's really a prerequisite for any obsession or addiction.

Jesus told us that if we'd seek Him and His kingdom first, everything else would be added to us (Matt 6:25-34). That's not just our needs, either. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). If we make Him our primary delight, we'll get the desires of our hearts thrown in (Psalm 37:4). If we're abiding in Him first, we can ask whatever we desire, and it will be done for us (John 15:7). That's what it means, that if we find our lives (make that our primary focus), we'll lose it, but if we lose it for His sake, then we'll find it (Matthew 10:39).

The problem is, most of us don't actually believe that.

One of my favorite fictional stories is the Superman myth. It's such a clear parable. (Also, apparently the creators of Superman were Jewish, not Christian, but they based the character of Superman on Moses and Samson of the Old Testament, as well as the prophecies of the coming Messiah. Some of the earlier Superman movies were conscious of the Christ symbolism, as well.) Lois Lane fawns over Superman, while ignoring Clark Kent—not realizing that Superman remains elusive to her only because it's clear that she doesn't really love him; she only loves what he can do for her. If she'd only choose Clark, she'd get Superman thrown in.

I think God is exactly like that. He loves us, and He longs to bless us (Psalm 103:1-5), but He wants our hearts, not our actions. He wanted a relationship with Israel, after bringing them out of the wilderness--but they were afraid of Him, and asked Moses to just be His mouthpiece and relay to them what He said (Ex 20:18-19). Even after that, God asked Moses to take seventy of Israel's elders and bring them a little way up the mountain so that they could eat and drink in His presence--even though He was at a distance, He wanted them to catch a glimpse of Him (Ex 24:9-11). He wanted to have dinner with His family. God later made this part of how the Israelites were to worship: they were to bring all their burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, and heave offerings of grain to the place of worship, and eat it together in His presence (Deut 12:5-7). He blessed them with increase, and as their act of worship, He wanted them to have a big feast and enjoy it. All He asked was that they invite Him to the party!

Understanding how much God loves us is really the key to faith--faith works though love (Gal 5:6). If we don't understand how much He loves us, we aren't going to trust Him to take care of us and meet our needs (Isaiah 26:3). That's why we'll try to take matters into our own hands, attempting to meet our own needs (as an anxious primary fixation—not as the side benefit of doing our work well for the purposes of glorifying God, Col 3:23-24). But if we do truly put God first, it’s the antidote to all anxiety, addiction, and obsession.

Willpower ("The Law") Won't Work. That's the Whole Point.

Paul describes in Romans 7:14-24 what happens when we try to suppress or control any obsessive or addictive tendency: "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do… For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."

This describes the experience of every yo-yo dieter, every sugar addict, every alcoholic, or everyone addicted to any other substance or behavior. Paul repeats the same concept in Galatians 5:17: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." You might be able to exert willpower against those things for a time, but the very act of denying yourself actually makes the desire for the thing denied grow stronger. That's what the Old Testament law was designed to do--to make us aware that we were incapable of keeping it, apart from God's help (Romans 7:5-6). Paul addresses the next logical objection: "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death." (Romans 7:7-10). This is just the way of our flesh: it rebels against any rules placed upon it--even if the rules are neutral, or if you know they're for your good and will achieve a desired end, and even if they're self-imposed. This is the whole concept behind any type of “forbidden fruit.”

That phrase itself alludes to the single fruit in the garden forbidden to Adam and Eve, from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, though God had given them so much abundance elsewhere (Genesis 3); the very fact that it was forbidden called their attention to it, making it more attractive. (This is also why, for instance, a perfect recipe for insomnia is to try to will yourself to sleep--the harder you try, the more wide awake you'll be. It's also why trying to suppress any intrusive thoughts will have the opposite effect. “Don't think about a pink elephant"--see, what are you thinking about right now?)
Fortunately, the story doesn't end with Romans 7, though. Paul is tracing the story of God's relationship with humanity through successive covenants. Before the law came, He did not impute sin to men yet (Romans 7:8-9), which is why after Cain murdered his brother, God actually protected him (Gen 4:13-15). Yet after Noah's covenant (which was the first to include a command not to murder), then murder was to be punished as sin (Gen 9:5-6). At this point it was the only sin to be called out, though, so it was the only sin that carried punishment, until the Mosaic covenant made the rest explicit. This is the law Paul describes in Romans 7, and the entire Old Testament dramatizes the fact that men are incapable of being righteous by works; that was Paul's point. God wanted us to know that we're incapable in our flesh, so that we'd be aware that we needed a savior to do it for us.

That's why Romans 8 follows Romans 7. Romans 7 is all about us (our "flesh") trying to keep the law--any law--by ourselves. By contrast, Romans 8 describes what happens when we have help from the Holy Spirit. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin... For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ...So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you." (Romans 8:2-11). This is about salvation, yes, but it's also more practical than that. Those of us who are saved can still choose to walk in the flesh (by our own efforts) or we can surrender to God and walk by His Spirit, with His help. This is the main message of Galatians; Paul writes, "Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal 3:2-3). Obviously this is rhetorical--but it's clear that even those who have received forgiveness for their sins can choose to return to the efforts of their flesh, if they want to do so. But it will only produce bondage if they do. Paul writes, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Gal 5:1).

Obsession and addiction is the compulsion to obey a master other than God. That's bondage. Paul writes, "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" (Romans 6:16).

How to Get Free: Walking By the Spirit

Paul's juxtaposition in Romans opposite walking in the flesh is walking by the spirit. But the big caveat is that we don't walk in the spirit by trying to walk in the spirit; If we try, if WE try, we're doing it from the flesh. That will never ultimately work, and will likely have the opposite effect eventually. That's how all works of the flesh are. We don't "ask God to do it for us," either, though, because He already did it! He can't give us again something He already gave us. Instead, our part is to acknowledge what Jesus did for us, and thank Him for it. Paul wrote in Philemon 1:6 that Philemon's faith became effective by the "acknowledging [of] every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus."

And what has Christ provided?

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new." (Past tense. This is ours in the spirit, but not necessarily in the flesh--we're to work this out in our souls and flesh, with God's help: Phil 2:12).
Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
2 Peter 1:4: "By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire."
1 Corinthians 2:12-16: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God... We have the mind of Christ."
Phil 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."
2 Timothy 1:7: "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."

We also have the fruit of the spirit. We don't have to conjure it up (and indeed, we can't), but it's already ours: "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22).
We don't strain to live from this place; we thank God that it is ours already (Phil 4:6-7). Our labor now is only to enter that state of resting in what He has already done (Hebrews 4:11).

Satan contributes to obsessions and intrusive thoughts, of course--whether they originate with him or with our flesh, it's certainly his agenda to keep us in chains. But thank God, the power of Satan was sin--that was the Old Testament curse, and Jesus redeemed us from the curse (Galatians 3:13). The power Satan has over us now is only the power to deceive us. That's why Paul tells us that when Satan comes to us with lies, we're to fight back with the weapons God gave us, taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:5). But they're God's weapons, not ours. In Eph 6:12-18, Paul enumerates them--they are truth (being well grounded in God's word so that we can recognize lies when we hear them, even and especially if they are half-truths), righteousness (understanding that we are righteous because of what Jesus did, not because of anything we do--and that we are righteous already, so can can come boldly before the throne of grace, and expect to receive help in time of need, Heb 4:16), peace (which guards our minds, Phil 4:7), faith (you can't have peace without faith, Isaiah 26:3), salvation (which also means we have the Holy Spirit living in us as our guide), and the sword of the Spirit, God's word. This is the offensive weapon; the only one Paul lists. The Holy Spirit will bring to our remembrance those scriptures we know, when we need them (John 14:26).

So the keys God gave us to achieve freedom are to remember that He gave us His Spirit, to thank Him that although we can't free ourselves, He freed us already--and to use the spiritual weapons He gave us to enforce what is already ours.

And then, go about the business of God's kingdom. Fixating on trying to solve your problem will only keep you stuck in the loop of thinking you can solve your problem. You can't; but He already did. We can trust Him for the full manifestation of that freedom, just like Jesus told us to trust Him to meet our physical needs (Matt 6:25-34). And he says we get those by going about His business, by seeking after something greater than ourselves. When we do that, Jesus promised that we’d get everything else thrown in.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: The Mighty Cell Membrane

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Romans:

“The just shall live by faith” (1:17).
“God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17).
“He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (4:20-21).
“we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (5:3-5).
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (8:1).
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace… So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (8:5-8).
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (8:11).
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (8:14-17).
“For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with perseverance” (8:24-25).

1 Corinthians:

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are” (1:27-28).
“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (2:14).
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (3:1-3).
“If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness,’ and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.’” (3:18-20).
“For all things are yours: whether… the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (3:21-23).
“For the form of this world is passing away” (7:31).
“But I discipline my body and bring it under subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (9:27).
“Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known” (13:12).
“Whatever is not of faith is sin” (14:13).
“There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, ’The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (15:40-44).

2 Corinthians:

“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us" (1:20).
“But their (the children of Israel’s) minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (3:14-18).
“we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (4:18).
“For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked” (5:2-3).
“For we walk by faith, not by sight” (5:7).
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (5:17).
“That though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (8:9).
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when you’re obedience is fulfilled” (10:3-6).

Galatians:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (2:20).
“Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”(3:2-3).
“therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” (3:5).
“So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham” (3:9).
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (3:13-14).
“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (3:29).
“Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the free woman through promise, which things are symbolic… so then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.” (4:22, 31).
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (5:1).
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love” (5:6).
“I say then: walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (5:16-18).
“Now the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (5:22-25).
“For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (6:8-9).

Ephesians:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (1:3-6).
“that… the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power” (1:18-19).
“and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (2:6).
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (2:10).
“that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (3:17-19).
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Eph 3:20).
“that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ” (4:14-15): so this kind of being “tossed about” and easily led astray or deceived is a trait of children in the faith
“you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (4:17-19).
“But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (4:20-24).
“For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord” (5:8-10).
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (6:12-18).

Philippians

“work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (2:12).
“For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith” (3:3-9).
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (3:13-14).
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (4:6-7).
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (4:8).
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (4:13).
“My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (4:19).

Colossians

“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (1:15-17).
“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1:27).
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” (2:6-7).
“If then you were raised with Christ. seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (3:1-3).
“you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all" (3:9-11).

2 Thessalonians

“that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:11-12).

Hebrews:

“upholding all things by the word of His power” (1:3).
“For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (2:11).
“they could not enter in (to the Promised Land) because of unbelief” (3:19).
Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it… for we who have believed do enter that rest” (4:1, 3).
“the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it” (4:2).
“There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience” (4:9-11).
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (4:12).
“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:16).
“And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (6:11-12).
“For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.’ And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil” (6:13-19).
“We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man” (8:1-2).
“For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain’” (8:4-5).
“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (9:24).
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh” (10:19-20)
“Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (10:23).
“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise” (10:35-36).
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (11:1).
“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (11:3).
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (11:6).
"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going… for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (11:8, 10).
“By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude — innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore” (11:11-12).
“But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them” (11:16).
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:1-2).
“now He has promised, saying ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’ Now this, ‘Yet once more’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire” (12:26-29).
“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” (13:2).
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (13:8).
“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (13:15).

James

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (1:2-8).
“For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its lower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits” (1:11).
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (1:17).
“See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (5:7-8).

1 Peter

“though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls” (1:6-9).
“who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (2:24).

2 Peter

“His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (1:3-4).
“for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound. you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:5-8).
“saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (3:4-7).
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (3:10-13).
“Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” (3:14).

1 John

“If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (2:15-17).
“If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (3:21-22).
“as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (4:17-18).
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (5:4-5).
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (5:14-15).

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, Electromagnetism and the Vital Force.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

As a Fellow at the Cultural Research Center and the Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities at Arizona Christian University, Dr. Adam Rasmussen draws upon his 25 years of experience in Christian education to inspire students to thrive under the Lordship of Christ in all aspects of their lives. With a passion for helping students connect their faith with reason and culture, he guides them to make meaningful and relevant connections that go beyond mere academic study. Dr. Rasmussen is a magna cum laude graduate of Northwestern College, where he earned a BA in history. He also holds an MA in Educational Ministries from Wheaton College, as well as a PhD in Educational Studies with a focus on leadership and administration from the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. His research interests include biblical literacy, educational ministries, and Christian apologetics.

To learn more about Dr Rasmussen or the Cultural Research Center, see culturalresearchcenter.com or arizonachristian.edu

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Derek Mason is the founder and president of Identity In Christ, Inc. and Identity In Christ Media. His ministry has also helped individuals break free from enslavement to pornography, PTSD, schizophrenia, suicidal thoughts, severe depression and addictions. One of very few pastors delving deeply into the study and teaching of spiritual warfare today, Derek addresses the very real and dark spiritual forces at work in the world today and employs a Biblically grounded approach that has consistently helped hundreds. He also offers extensive experience in counseling and deliverance to support many in finding lasting freedom and healing. Derek currently serves as an associate pastor at Grace Bible Church in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and as the assistant director of BaseCamp USA.

To learn more about Derek, see idnchrist.com or you can find his book, "Embracing Our Full Victory in Christ," on Amazon here.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Charlie Lewis is a seasoned businessman, entrepreneur, author and expository teacher of scripture. With over five decades of experience, Charlie has not only built a successful national insurance business who works with more than twenty-five thousand representatives, but has also dedicated his life to sharing the values and principles and the established precedents of faith that have guided him and led to his success. Together with his wife of over 55 years, Fran, Charlie has cultivated a legacy of entrepreneurship that extends to their sons, Zachary and Nicholas, and their families. As an author, Charlie has penned a series of books that provide readers with a practical roadmap to success and fulfillment, grounded in scriptural principles. Charlie’s teachings have been translated into several languages, making his insights accessible to diverse audiences worldwide. Charlie resides in Thomasville, GA.

To learn more about Charlie or to get his books, see charlielewis.net and ksam.net

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

LG Nixon fuses a page-turning fantasy with a haunting theme and turns it into a spirit filled adventure with quirky and likeable characters the whole family can enjoy. Her stories are lighthearted but carry an underlying message of the importance of a Biblical worldview.
After growing up in a creaky old house with a grandmother who told stories of ghostly visitors, LG naturally gravitated toward the mysterious. Today, she enjoys writing stories filled with mystery, suspense, and other worldly wisdom. She researches and writes full-time from her home in Michigan where she prowls the night star gazing and watching for a supernatural events.

To learn more about LG and her books, see lgnixon.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Raeanne Newquist, her husband, and 3 children joined Mercy Ships in 2019. After leaving everything behind in Southern California, they boarded the Africa Mercy in Las Palmas and made their way down to Dakar, Senegal for their first field service. On board, Raeanne volunteered in the communications department and later in chaplaincy. Currently, Raeanne works in the Mercy Ships U.S. Marketing department. Raeanne is the host of the New Mercies podcast, and is the voice of the Mercy Minute daily radio broadcast and serves as a staff writer.

To learn more about Mercy Ships or to consider volunteering, see mercyships.org/serve

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Roma Peace is an executive with Pure & Clean, a family owned business headquartered in Missouri that promotes the use of their hypochlorous acid (HOCl) solutions to prevent infection, improve patient outcomes and to heal wounds faster.

To learn more about Pure and Clean hypochlorous acid, see pureandclean.us and enter the code CNH10 at checkout for a discount

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr. Ryan Wohlfert is a Certified Mindset Specialist, Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician and Certified Chiropractic BioPhysics® physician, using a specific spinal correction protocol to help patients resolve chronic pain, and avoid dysfunction & disease. With 24+ years of education and clinical experience, Dr. Ryan has helped thousands correct their spine, improve energy & longevity, eliminate dependence on medication, and make simple healthy, pain-free living possible.

To learn more about Dr Ryan, see drwohlfert.com or you can get his free posture minicourse at https://www.drwohlfert.com/posture-minicourse

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Seth Gruber is the founder of the fastest-growing pro-life organization in the country (The White Rose Resistance) and a speaker, documentary filmmaker and author. His new documentary film, ‘The 1916 Project’ releases this fall on streaming services and is currently being screened all over the U.S. It's an unprecedented deep dive on the opening of eugenicist Margaret Sanger’s first illegal birth control clinic in 1916 and connects the dots from Sanger all the way to every cultural crisis and leftist movement threatening our culture and democracy today. The book releases the first week of September.

Learn more, schedule a showing at your church of the documentary, or preorder the book at https://the1916project.com/

Get more info on The Last Stand in June 2025 at thelaststand.com

You can also learn more about Seth at https://sethgruber.com/

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

BRONWYN SCHWEIGERDT may be the most evocative psychotherapist you’ve ever heard. Instead of fixing peoples’ messes, her goal is to elicit feelings you’re most ashamed to have, such as hatred and betrayal. She knows that even though feelings are invisible, they don’t evaporate, but store away in our bodies when they’re disowned. Bronwyn has a masters degree in counseling, and another in nutrition. She is a public speaker, author, and licensed psychotherapist.

Check out her podcast, Angry at the Right Things, here: https://angryattherightthings.podbean.com/

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Jason Carver is a pastor and the founder of Standing Supernaturally for Marriage Restoration ministry. He has served in various pastoral roles in the church for over 25 years and is also a Board Certified Christian Counselor. Jason's personal story of marital restoration is a prophetic picture of what God can do in anyone's life who is faithful to the promises of God. He currently coaches and teaches courses on how to supernaturally stand for marriage restoration. Jason lives in Waco, TX, with his wife Christine and daughters, Abby and Sydney. He also teaches tennis at Baylor University and produces an international TV ministry program. 40 Day Stand: A 40-Day Devotional Empowering You to Stand Supernaturally for Marriage Restoration is his first book.

To learn more about Jason, see supernaturally.com or you can find his free gift of 40 days of prayers for your spouse at supernaturally.com/gift

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

DR. MALAIKA WOODS is dually board certified with the American Board of Obesity
Medicine and the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology. She is the founder of Dr. Woods Wellness, and the #1 best-selling author of “Physician Unleashed: The Physician Freedom Formula.” In addition to running her own independent practice, Dr. Woods also coaches other physicians and practitioners on starting and growing their independent practices.

When not working in the office, Dr. Woods enjoys singing, especially gospel music. She has been a choir director throughout the years and a wedding singer for many of her family and friends. Spending time with her wonderfully supportive husband, daughter, son and close friends are her most treasured moments. Her secret ambition is to one day write a fictional book that gets turned into a block buster movie!

To learn more about Dr Woods, you can find her on her free Facebook community, The Natural Hormone Fix, and/or you can download The Three Secrets to Hormone Balance Every Woman Should Know at drwoodswellness/guide

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Emma Tekstra is an actuary, independent health researcher and author of “How to Be a Healthy Human”. With a 30-year background in employee benefits and corporate health and wellbeing, she consults with employers looking for real solutions to runaway healthcare costs, and with startup companies bringing health solutions to market.

To learn more about Emma, see EmmaTekstra.com/About or EmmaTekstra.Substack.com. You can get a copy of her book here.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Alexandra Yu is an author and registered nurse with many years of experience in the clinical research industry. Her passion for holistic health led her to launch the Her Holistic Healing podcast. Alexandra’s mission is to encourage women to seek God’s wisdom first for their health and life so that they can experience true, lasting healing that will allow them to make a greater eternal impact in their homes and communities.

Alexandra is a wife and mom of three children. She loves to read,
work out, travel, and play the piano, and she has a passion for helping at-risk children.

To learn more about Alexandra, see herholistichealing.com or you can find a copy of her book at herholistichealing.com/book

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

There is certainly a stereotype that natural healers of all sorts, including naturopathic doctors, acupuncturists, homeopaths, massage therapists, and etc are all a bit on the “woo-woo” side. When I first started practicing, friends would ask me (jokingly—mostly) whether they’d have to part a beaded curtain to get into my office, or whether they’d find it adorned with crystals. My husband still calls me a hippie, because I like yoga, and prefer to go barefoot whenever possible.

I’m also a strong Christian, though, and many of my patients choose my practice because they want the non-pharmaceutical, “heal the root cause” focus, without all the New Age or Eastern religious stuff thrown in.

But why are natural healing and alternative spiritual ideas so often entwined, anyway?

The Vital Force, Electromagnetism, and Energy Medicine

I think the reason these things go together has to do with the concept of the vital force—this nebulous concept of the thing that keeps an organism alive, maintains homeostasis, and heals when a disturbance occurs. Because this idea is so nebulous (or at least it has been historically), it’s often conflated with spirituality and the metaphysical. Most of my colleagues in naturopathic school were spiritual in some way or another; I’d say perhaps a third to half were Christian, and the rest identified with some other organized religion, or they had their own hodgepodge collection of spiritual beliefs. Everyone attributed the vital force to their own spiritual ideas, though—indeed, you couldn’t really be a naturopath and not believe in the vital force. It’s kind of fundamental to the whole philosophy (https://www.drlaurendeville.com/why-you-are-susceptible-to-illness/).

I’m now starting to believe, though, that the vital force isn’t spiritual at all; it’s actually electromagnetism (more on this here: https://www.drlaurendeville.com/electromagnetism-vital-force/). I rather suspect the soul is the source of that power, but in much the same way that a piano player plays the keys, and music results. Our souls are the players, our bodies are the keys, and the music is the voltage that then enervates the body. This may seem like semantics—we’ve only removed the spiritual by one extra step—but to me, this changes how I think about energy medicine tremendously.

For instance: acupuncture meridians turn out to be fascia, made of collagen and hydrated with crystalline water, acting as semiconductors of electrons on a tissue-based ‘wiring’ system (more on this here: https://www.drlaurendeville.com/electromagnetism-vital-force/).

Homeopathy turns out to borrow from the near-infinite structural possibilities of liquid crystalline water (https://www.drlaurendeville.com/the-fourth-phase-of-water/), imprinting a structural memory upon it in the form of a fractal (https://www.drlaurendeville.com/homeopathy-but-isnt-there-nothing-in-it/). Since frequencies can be converted into fractals and vice versa (they’re called cymatic images, https://ask.audio/articles/how-sound-affects-you-cymatics-an-emerging-science), it’s not too far-fetched to say that homeopathy contains the imprint of the frequency of the original substance. That frequency can affect the frequency of our own cells via resonance—the same phenomenon that occurs when you strum a guitar string, and the same key on a different guitar will begin to vibrate, without ever being touched. On a piano, when you play a low C, the C notes at higher and lower octaves will resonate as well—but the other notes won’t, because the frequency is wrong. This is why, with homeopathy, you have to get the remedy (the frequency) correct, or nothing will happen: only the right frequency will cause your cells to resonate in harmony, and come into appropriate alignment. (By contrast, this is at least part of the reason why synthetic electromagnetic frequencies (https://www.drlaurendeville.com/emf-how-do-you-know-if-its-too-high/) can be so damaging: they can disrupt the delicate frequencies of our own cells, thus interfering with their function).

Even auras turn out to have an entirely physical basis. Anyone who has ever been to Sedona has probably seen the Kirlian photography studios that offer to photograph your aura. It’s based on the corona discharge phenomenon, in which the photographic film is connected to a high energy power source, creating an electric field. When a person (or any other grounded object) touches it, those excited electrons have a direct route back to the ground, through that object. As they fall, they have to get rid of their extra energy, and they do so via light emission—essentially, this is the same idea as in Einstein’s photoelectric effect. According to Dr Richard Gerber in Vibrational Medicine (https://www.drlaurendeville.com/vibrational-medicine-richard-gerber/), Kirlian photography can offer useful diagnostic information—but only if the frequency used to excite the photographic film resonates with the body’s natural frequencies. Otherwise, it’s pretty, but useless.

Many energy medicine approaches say they work “on the quantum level”, which can be a non-explanation that just sounds impressive—but I do wonder if quantum physics isn’t just the interface between the spirit realm and physical reality. Quantum physics includes concepts like entanglement, or “spooky action at a distance,” as Einstein called it—which certainly sounds like it could apply to Jesus speaking a word of healing over the Centurion’s servant (Luke 7:1-10), or the Syro-Phoenician woman’s daughter (Mark 7:24-30), or the handkerchiefs and aprons imbued with Paul’s healing energy (Acts 19:11-12). It also encompasses concepts like scalar energy, the underlying energy in the universe that holds all things together (which sounds a lot like Hebrews 1:3).

Where Things Go Sideways

I’d venture to speculate that for all forms of energy medicine, there are two possibilities—either they don’t work at all except by placebo (https://www.drlaurendeville.com/placeboeffect/) (which is possible, if they haven’t been rigorously tracked—30% recovery I’d imagine would be more than enough to inspire passionate proselytes), or else they do work, if recovery is higher than that. If they do work, then they must do so via some scientific mechanism that God created (as He is the giver of all good gifts, James 1:17, and health and healing are good gifts, Deuteronomy 28), whether or not we know what that mechanism is yet. Science fiction novelist Arthur C. Clarke once wrote, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Since technology is the harnessing of scientific principles to do work, and since magic (if believed in at all) is nearly always attributed to spiritual sources, then any medical techniques we cannot explain will likely be attributed to spiritual sources, by default.

As C.S. Lewis famously observed in Mere Christianity, though, Satan cannot create anything new. All he can do is twist or pervert something God meant for good (a good gift in the wrong timing, in the wrong amount, with the wrong motive, attributed to the wrong power, etc), thus deceiving people into following him, instead of God. Any non-falsifiable explanation for a real, physical phenomenon will always contain at least the possibility of deception, and I can’t imagine Satan not exploiting that (John 8:44). For thousands of years, acupuncture (or chakras, or fill in the blank on your favorite ancient energy medicine) weren’t explainable in any scientific way, but they seemed to work, so people kept doing them… and then of course, they tried to come up with explanations for why they worked. Since people at that time didn’t know the scientific explanation, though, their explanations were, invariably, spiritual. Even today, energy medicine practitioners who wish to study their craft usually also study the ancient esoteric religious texts with which they are intwined. And isn’t it only natural for people to think, well, they were right about the healing principles… what if they’re right about the rest? At that point, people don’t know what to believe, or what truth is (John 18:37-38). Once you get into the realm of metaphysics, anything goes, because you can’t prove any of it anyway…

Isn’t this the same question, more or less, as how we can determine which religion (if any) is correct, when it pertains to an invisible world? That too seems non-falsifiable, which is why many people will argue that one religion is as good as another. C.S. Lewis’s is the best philosophical argument I’ve heard on this, also from Mere Christianity: that our own souls and consciences point toward an external morality we did not create, and that, alone, verifies a spiritual world, and the existence of a God who created that moral code. Our experience of attempting to keep the moral code and failing to do so should thus help narrow down the religion we need (one of grace—and there’s only one of those). Then on top of that, there is apologetic (physical) evidence (https://www.drlaurendeville.com/anthropic-fine-tuning/) to corroborate the truth of the Biblical scriptures, the testimonies of skeptics and atheists who set out to disprove the Bible, only to become converts in the end (https://kimolsen.net/2014/05/13/men-who-were-converted-trying-to-disprove-the-bible-way-of-life-literature/), and the miracles that are supposed to follow those who believe (Mark 16:17-18)—evidence of the invisible invading the visible. Most religious assertions cannot be tested, and must be accepted on faith only—and while Christianity also requires faith, it first appeals to reason. We were never expected to believe anything arbitrarily.

Discerning the Truth

So, to the one who diligently seeks truth, concrete insights rule out all religions but one as a foundation. How then does that foundation help us to discern between truth and deception?

Our protection against deception is knowing God’s word, because it is truth (John 17:17, Psa 25:5, Psa 91:4, Psa 96:13, 100:5, 117:2, 119:142, 151, 160; 138:2, Prov 3:3). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and He will guide us into truth (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13, 1 John 5:6). But He can only bring to our remembrance the scriptures we know (John 14:26)… and remember that when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he did so by either misquoting scripture, or by quoting it out of context (Matthew 4:1-11). So our job is to renew our minds with scripture (Romans 12:2) to the point where we’ll recognize a counterfeit when we’re presented with it (1 John 4:1).

The bottom line, as I see it, is that when it comes to energy medicine principles intertwined with other religious teachings that lead us away from God’s truth, we must exercise discernment. Know the truth, so that some impressive and seemingly inexplicable phenomenon doesn’t lead you to question what you do know.

At the same time, though, let’s not “throw the baby out with the bathwater.” Every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17), and “greater is He that is in me than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Let’s not give Satan more credit than he deserves.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Jodi Scholes is a celebrated author, educator, and Licensed Massage Therapist with over 30 years of experience in understanding and treating pain. Her work with elite athletes, including Major League Soccer team and U.S. Track & Field athletes, has taken her across the U.S. and internationally, providing high-level care and support. Her book, Body Blueprint: How Your Pain May Be Telling a Story, explores how a person's perception of pain is not solely influenced by biological factors but is also profoundly affected by mental and emotional stress. Jodi has shared her insights on a global stage, including delivering a TEDx talk titled "Body Blueprint: How Your Pain May Be Telling A Story.” She is a retired triathlete herself, and an improving tennis player. She continues to speak at retreats, teach weekly, and provide massage therapy, blending her extensive experience with her passion for holistic wellness.

To learn more about Jodi, see jodischoles.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Mrs. Christy Stutzman is a small-business owner, a music composer and a former teacher and state legislator. She has written for multiple news organizations including The Washington Times, The Daily Signal and is a featured opinion writer for the Washington Stand by Family Research Council. As the wife of a member of Congress, she traveled widely on diplomatic delegations and has been a strong advocate for conservative, pro-family causes on Capitol Hill and in political campaigns for the past twenty years. She has been a featured radio and podcast guest, and a featured speaker at political, Christian, and pro-life events across the country. Her new book, The Spiritual Price of Political Silence, connects the dots of political apathy and the cultural decline of American values. Mrs. Stutzman resides on her farm in Howe, IN with her husband, Marlin, and their two sons, Payton and Preston.

To learn more about Christy and to get a copy of her book, see booksbychristy.org

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr Tony Nalda holds a Doctorate of Chiropractic from Life University, and built one of the most successful chiropractic clinics in Central Florida. His expertise has made him a highly sought-after scoliosis specialist both in the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Nalda is CLEAR Institute’s Chairman of the Board—the only non-profit chiropractic educational and certification center devoted to non-surgical scoliosis treatment and research, a MaxLiving board member and instructor, and a keynote speaker who teaches chiropractors across the world. He has written several books, including “Scoliosis Hope: How New Approaches to Treatment are Transforming Lives.” He has successfully led his family practice for 20+ years and continues to seek out the latest and most effective modalities for treating patients naturally.

To learn more about Dr Nalda, see scoliosisreductioncenter.com or you can find him on YouTube at Scoliosis Reduction Center

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

For years now, even as headlines about the development of AI have become more frequent and more dire, I really never worried about it much, because I couldn't think of anything in scripture that sounded a great deal like a superintelligent machine. I'd read the end of the book (Revelation), I knew how it ended, and it wasn't in a robot apocalypse... so all the fears surrounding that possibility must therefore be much ado about nothing. (I did write a fictional trilogy for young adults back in 2017 about how I imagined a near-miss robot apocalypse might look, though, because I found the topic fascinating enough to research at the time. It's called the "Uncanny Valley" trilogy, where the "uncanny valley" refers to the "creepy" factor, as a synthetic humanoid creature approaches human likeness.)

When I finished the trilogy, I more or less forgot about advancing AI, until some of the later iterations of Chat GPT and similar Large Language Models (LLMs). Full disclosure: I've never used any LLMs myself, mostly because (last I checked) you had to create an account with your email address before you started asking it questions. (In the third book of my series, the superintelligent bot Jaguar kept track of everyone via facial recognition cameras, recording literally everything they did in enormous data processing centers across the globe that synced with one another many times per day. Though at that point I doubt it would make any difference, I'd rather not voluntarily give Jaguar's real-life analog any data on me if I can help it!)

Particularly the recent release of Chat GPT Omni (which apparently stands for "omniscient" --!!) gave me pause, though, and I had to stop and ask myself why the idea that it could be approaching actual Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I recently read a book called "Deep Medicine" by Eric Topol on the integration of AI into the medical field, which helped allay some potential concerns--that book contended that AGI would likely never be realized, largely because AGI inherently requires experience in the real world, and a robot can never have lived experiences in the way that humans can. It painted a mostly rosy picture of narrow (specialized) AI engaging in pattern recognition (reading radiology images or recognizing pathology samples or dermatological lesions, for instance), and thus vastly improving diagnostic capabilities of physicians. Other uses might include parsing a given individual's years of medical records and offering a synopsis and recommendations, or consolidating PubMed studies, and offering relevant suggestions. Topol did not seem to think that the AI would ever replace the doctor, though. Rather, the author contended, at the rate that data is currently exploding, doctors are drowning in the attempt to document and to keep up with it all, and empathic patient care suffers as a result. AI, he argues, will actually give the doctor time to spend with the patient again, to make judgment calls with a summary of all the data at his fingertips, and to put it together in an integrated whole with his uniquely human common sense.

Synthetic Empathy and Emotions?

But, "Deep Medicine" was written in 2019, which (in the world of AI) is already potentially obsolete. I'm told that Chat GPT Omni is better than most humans at anything involving either logic or creativity, and it does a terrific approximation of empathy, too. Even "Deep Medicine" cited statistics to suggest that most humans would prefer a machine for a therapist than a person (!!), largely due to the fear that the human might judge them for some of their most secret or shameful thoughts or feelings. And if the machine makes you feel like it understands you, does it really matter whether its empathy is "real" or not?

What does "real" empathy mean, anyway? In "Uncanny Valley," my main character, as a teenager, inherited a "companion bot" who was programmed with mirror neurons (the seat of empathy in the human brain.) In the wake of her father's death, she came to regard her companion bot as her best friend. It was only as she got older that she started to ask questions like whether its 'love' for her was genuine, if it was programmed. This is essentially the theological argument for free will, too. Could God have made a world without sin? Sure, but in order to do it, we'd all have to be automatons--programmed to do His will, programmed to love Him and to love one another. Would there be any value in the love of a creature who could not do anything else? (The Calvinists might say that's the way the world actually is, for those who are predestined, but everyone else would vehemently disagree.) It certainly seems that God thought it was worth all the misery He endured since creation, for the chance that some of us might freely choose Him. I daresay that same logic is self-evident to all of us. Freedom is an inherent good--possibly the highest good.

So, back to AI: real empathy requires not just real emotion, but memories of one's own real emotions, so that we can truly imagine that we are in another person's shoes. How can a robot, without its own lived memories, experience real empathy? Can it even experience real emotion? It might have goals or motives that can be programmed, but emotion at minimum requires biochemistry and a nervous system, at least in the way we understand it. We know from psychology research on brain lesions as well as from psychiatric and recreational medications and experiences with those suffering from neurodegenerative conditions that mood, affect, and personality can drastically change from physiologic tampering, as well.

Does it follow that emotions are 'mere' biochemistry, though? This is at least part of the age-old question of materialism versus vitalism, or (to put it another way), reductionism versus holism. Modern medicine is inherently materialistic, believing that the entirety of a living entity can be explained by its physical makeup, and reductionistic, believing that one can reduce the 'whole' of the living system to a sum of its parts. Vitalism, on the other hand, argues that there is something else, something outside the physical body of the creature, that animates it and gives it life. At the moment just before death and just after, all the same biochemical machinery exists... but anyone who has seen the death of a loved one can attest that the body doesn't look the same. It becomes almost like clay. Some key essence is missing. I recently read "The Rainbow and the Worm" by Mae-Wan Ho, which described fascinating experiments on living worms viewed under electron microscopes. The structured water in the living tissue of the worm exhibited coherence, refracting visible light in a beautiful rainbow pattern. At the moment of death, though, the coherence vanished, and the rainbow was gone--even though all of the same physical components remained. The change is immaterial; the shift between death and life is inherently energetic. There was an animus, a vital force--qi, as Chinese Medicine would call it, or prana, as Ayurvedic medicine would describe it, or (as we're now discovering in alternative Western medicine), voltage carried through this structured water via our collagen. That hydrated collagen appears to function in our bodies very much like a semiconductor, animating our tissues with electrons, the literal energy of life. At the moment of death, it’s there, and then it's not--like someone pulled the plug. What's left is only the shell of the machine, the hardware.

But where is that plug, such that it can be connected and then, abruptly, not? The materialist, who believes that everything should be explainable on the physical level, can have no answer. The Bible tells us, though, that we are body, soul, and spirit (1 Thess 5:23)--which inherently makes a distinction between body and soul (implying that the soul is not a mere product of the chemistry of the body). The spirit is what was dead without Jesus, and what gets born again when we are saved, and it's perfect, identical with Jesus' spirit (2 Cor. 5:17, Eph 4:24). It's God's "seal" on us, vacuum-packed as it were, so that no sin can contaminate it. It’s the down-payment, a promise that complete and total restoration is coming (Eph 1:13-14).

But there's no physical outlet connecting the spirit and the body; the connection between them is the soul. With our souls, we can see what's ours in the Spirit through scripture, and scripture can train our souls to conform more and more to the spirit (Romans 12:2, Phil 2:12-13). No one would ever argue that a machine would have a spirit, obviously, but the materialists wouldn’t believe there is such a thing, anyway. What about the soul, though?

What is a soul, anyway? Can it be explained entirely through materialistic means?
Before God made Adam, He explicitly stated that He intended to make man after His own image (Gen 1:26-27). God is spirit (John 4:24), though, so the resemblance can't be physical, per se, at least not exclusively or even primarily. After forming his body, God breathed into him the breath of life (Genesis 2:7)--the same thing Jesus did to the disciples after His resurrection when he said "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). So it must therefore be in our spirits that we resemble God. Adam and Eve died spirituallywhen they sinned (Genesis 3:3), but something continued to animate their bodies for another 930 years. This is the non-corporeal part of us that gets "unplugged" at physical death. Since it can be neither body nor spirit, it must be the soul.

Andrew Wommack defines the soul as the mind, will, and emotions. I can't think of a single scripture that defines the soul this way; I think it's just an extrapolation, based on what's otherwise unaccounted for. But in our mind, will, and emotions, even before redemption, mankind continued to reflect God's image, in that he continued to possess the ability to reason, to choose, to create, to love, and to discern right from wrong.

The materialists would argue that emotion, like everything else, must have its root purely in the physical realm. Yet they do acknowledge that because there are so many possible emotional states, and relatively few physiologic expressions of them, many emotions necessarily share a physiologic expression. It's up to our minds to translate the meaning of a physiologic state, based on the context. In "How Emotions are Made," author Lisa Barrett gave a memorable example of this: once, a colleague to whom she didn’t think she was particularly attracted asked her for a date. She went, felt various strange things in her gut that felt a little like “butterflies”, and assumed during the date that perhaps she was attracted to him after all… only to later learn that she was actually in the early stages of gastroenteritis!

This example illustrates how the biochemistry and physiologic expressions of emotion are merely the blunt downstream instruments that translate an emotion from the non-corporeal soul into physical perception--and in some cases, as in that one, the emotional perception might originate from the body entirely. This also might be why some people (children especially) can mistake hunger or fatigue for irritability, or why erratic blood sugar in uncontrolled diabetics can manifest as rage, etc. In those cases, the emotional response really does correspond to the materialist's worldview, originating far downstream in the "circuit," as it were. But people who experience these things as adults will say things like, "That's not me." I think they're right--when we think of our true selves, none of us think of our bodies--those are just our "tents" (2 Cor 5:1), to be put off eventually when we die. When we refer to our true selves, we mean our souls: our mind, will, and emotions.

It's certainly possible for many of us to feel "hijacked" by our emotions, as if they're in control and not "us," though (Romans 7:15-20). Most of us recognize a certain distinction there, too, between the real "us" and our emotions. The examples of physiologic states influencing emotions are what scripture would call "carnal" responses. If we're "carnal," ruled by our flesh, then physiologic states will have a great deal of influence over our emotions-- a kind of small scale anarchy. The "government" is supposed to be our born-again spirits, governing our souls, which in turn controls our bodies, rather than allowing our flesh to control our souls (Romans 8:1-17) - though this is of course possible if we don’t enforce order.

With respect to AI, my point is, where does "true" emotion originate? There is a version of it produced downstream, in our flesh, yes. It can either originate from the flesh itself, or it can originate upstream, from the non-corporeal soul, what we think of us "the real us." That's inherently a philosophical and not a scientific argument, though, as science by definition is "the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena." Any question pertaining to something outside the physical world cannot fall under the purview of science. But even for those who do not accept scripture as authority, our own inner experience testifies to the truth of the argument. We all know that we have free will; we all know we can reason, and feel emotions. We can also tell the difference between an emotion that is "us" and an emotion that feels like it originates from outside of "our real selves". As C.S. Lewis said in "Mere Christianity," if there is a world outside of the one we can experimentally observe, the only place in which we could possibly expect to have any evidence of it is in our own internal experience. And there, we find it’s true.

Without a soul, then, a robot (such as an LLM) would of course exist entirely on the physical plane, unlike us. It therefore might have physical experiences that it might translate as emotion, the same way that we sometimes interpret physical experiences as emotion--but it cannot have true emotions. Empathy, therefore, can likewise be nothing more than programmed pattern recognition: this facial expression or these words or phrases tend to mean that the person is experiencing these feelings, and here is the appropriate way to respond. Many interactions with many different humans over a long period of time will refine the LLM's learning such that its pattern recognition and responses get closer and closer to the mark... but that's not empathy, not really. It's fake.

Does that matter, though, if the person "feels" heard and understood?

Well, does truth matter? If a man who is locked up in an insane asylum believes himself to be a great king, and believes that all the doctors and nurses around him are really his servants and subjects, would you trade places with him? I suspect that all of us would say no. With at least the protagonists in "The Matrix," we all agree that it's better to be awakened to a desperate truth than to be deceived by a happy lie.

The Emotional Uncanny Valley

Even aside from that issue, is it likely that mere pattern recognition could simulate empathy well enough to satisfy us--or is it likely that this, too, would fall into the "uncanny valley"? Most of us have had the experience of meeting a person who seems pleasant enough on the surface, and yet something about them just seemed ‘off’. (The Bible calls this discernment, 1 Corinthians 12:10.) When I was in a psychology course in college, the professor flashed images of several clean-cut, smiling men in the powerpoint, out of context, and asked us to raise our hands if we would trust each of them. I don't remember who most of them were - probably red herrings to disguise the point - but one of them was Ted Bundy, the serial killer of the 1970s.I didn't recognize him, but I did feel a prickling sense of unease as I gazed at his smiling face. Something just wasn't right. Granted, a violent psychopath is not quite the same, but isn't the idea of creating a robot possessed of emotional intelligence (in the sense that it can read others well) but without real empathy essentially like creating an artificial sociopath? Isn't the lack of true empathy the very definition? (Knowing this, would we really want jobs like social workers, nurses, or even elementary school teachers to be assumed by robots--no matter how good the empathic pattern recognition became?)

An analogy of this is the 1958 Harlow experiment on infant monkeys (https://www.simplypsychology.org/harlow-monkey.html), in which the monkeys were given a choice between two simulated mothers: one made of wire, but that provided milk, and one made of cloth, but without milk. The study showed that the monkeys would only go to the wire mother when hungry; the rest of the day they would spend in the company of the cloth mother.

My point is that emotional support matters to all living creatures, far more than objective physical needs (provided those needs are also met). If we just want a logical problem solved, we may well go to the robot. But most of our problems are not just questions of logic; they involve emotions, too. As Leonard Mlodinow, author of "Emotional" writes, emotions are not mere extraneous data that colors an experience, but can otherwise be ignored at will. In many cases, the emotions actually serve to motivate a course of action. Every major decision I've ever made in my life involved not just logic, but also emotion, or in some cases intuition (which I assume is a conscious prompting when the unconscious reasoning is present but unknown to me), or a else leading of the Holy Spirit (which "feels" like intuition, only without the presumed unconscious underpinning. He knows the reason, but I don't, even subconsciously.) Obviously, AI, with synthetic emotion or not, would have no way to advise us on matters of intuition, or especially promptings from the Holy Spirit. Those won't usually seem logical, based on the available information, but He has a perspective that we don't have. Neither will a machine, even if it could simultaneously process all known data available on earth.

There was a time when Newtonian physicists believed that, with access to that level of data in the present, the entire future would become deterministic, making true omniscience in this world theoretically possible. Then we discovered quantum physics, and all of that went out the window. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle eliminates the possibility that any creature or machine, no matter how powerful, can in our own dimension ever truly achieve omniscience.

In other words, even a perfectly logical machine with access to all available knowledge will fail to guide us into appropriate decisions much of the time -- precisely because they must lack true emotion, intuition, and especially the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Knowledge vs Wisdom

None of us will be able to compete with the level of knowledge an AI can process in a split second. But does that mean the application of that knowledge will always be appropriate? I think there's several levels to this question. The first has to do with the data sets on which AI has been trained. It can only learn from the patterns it's seen, and it will (like a teenager who draws sweeping conclusions based on very limited life experience) assume that it has the whole picture. In this way, AI may be part of the great deception mentioned by both Jesus (Matt 24:24) and the Apostle Paul (2 Thess 2:11) in the last days. How many of us already abdicate our own reasoning to those in positions of authority, blindly following them because we assume they must know more than we do on their subject? How much more will many of us fail to question the edicts of a purportedly "omniscient" machine, which must know more than we do on every subject? That machine may have only superficial knowledge of a subject, based on the data set it's been given, and may thus draw an inappropriate conclusion. (Also, my understanding is that current LLMs continue learning only until they are released into the world; from that point, they can no longer learn anything new, because of the risk that in storing new information, they could accidentally overwrite an older memory.)

A human may draw an inappropriate conclusion too, of course, and if that person has enough credentials behind his name, it may be just as deceptive to many. But at least one individual will not command such blind obedience on absolutely every subject. AGI might. So who controls the data from which that machine learns? That's a tremendous responsibility... and, potentially, a tremendous amount of power, to deceive, if possible, "even the elect."

For the sake of argument, let's say that the AGI is exposed only to real and complete data, though--not cherry-picked, and not "misinformation." In this scenario, some believe that (if appropriate safeguards are in place, to keep the AGI from deciding to save the planet by killing all the humans, for example, akin to science fiction author Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics), utopia will result.

The only way this is possible, though, is if not only does the machine learn on a full, accurate, and complete set of collective human knowledge, but it also has a depth of understanding of how to apply that knowledge, as well. This is the difference between knowledge and wisdom. The dictionary definition of wisdom is "the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting," versus knowledge, defined as "information gained through experience, reasoning, or acquaintance." Wisdom has to do with one's worldview, in other words, or the lens through which he sees and interprets a set of facts. It is inextricably tied to morality. (So, who is programming these LLMs again? Even without AI, since postmodernism and beyond, there's been a crisis among many intellectuals as to whether or not there's such a thing as "truth," even going so far as to question objective physical reality. That’s certainly a major potential hazard right there.)

Both words of wisdom and discernment are listed as explicit supernatural gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:8, 10). God says that He is the source of wisdom, as well as of knowledge and understanding (Prov 2:6), and that if we lack wisdom, we should ask Him for it (James 1:5). Wisdom is personified in the book of Proverbs as a person, with God at creation (Prov 8:29-30)--which means, unless it's simply a poetic construct, that wisdom and the Holy Spirit must be synonymous (Gen 1:2). Jesus did say that it was the Holy Spirit who would guide us into all truth, as He is the Spirit of truth (John 16:13). The Apostle Paul contrasts the wisdom of this world as foolishness compared to the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:18-30)--because if God is truth (John 14:6), then no one can get to true wisdom without Him. That's not to say that no human (or robot) can make a true statement without an understanding of God, of course--but when he does so, he's borrowing from a worldview not his own. The statement may be true, but almost by accident--on some level, if you go down deep enough to bedrock beliefs, there is an inherent inconsistency between the statement of truth and the person's general worldview, if that worldview does not recognize a Creator. (Jason Lisle explains this well and in great detail in "The Ultimate Proof of Creation.")

Can you see the danger of trusting a machine to discern what is right, then, simply because in terms of sheer facts and computing power, it's vastly "smarter" than we are? Anyone who does so is almost guaranteed to be deceived, unless he also filters the machine's response through his own discernment afterwards. (We should all be doing this with statements from any human authority on any subject, too, by the way. Never subjugate your own reasoning to anyone else's, even if they do know the Lord, but especially if they don't. You have the mind of Christ! 1 Cor 2:16).

Would Eliminating Emotion from the Workplace Actually Be a Good Thing?

I can see how one might think that replacing a human being with a machine that optimizes logic, but strips away everything else might seem a good trade, on the surface. After all, we humans (especially these days) aren't very logical, on the whole. Our emotions and desires are usually corrupted by sin. We're motivated by selfishness, greed, pride, and petty jealousies, when we're not actively being renewed by the Holy Spirit (and most of us aren't; even most believers are more carnal than not, most of the time. I don’t know if that’s always been the case, but it seems to be now). We also are subject to the normal human frailties: we get sick, or tired, or cranky, or hungry, or overwhelmed. We need vacations. We might be distracted by our own problems, or apathetic about the task we've been paid to accomplish. Machines would have none of these drawbacks.

But do we really understand the trade-off we're making? We humans have a tendency to take a sliver of information, assume it's the whole picture, and run with it--eliminating everything we think is extraneous, simply because we don't understand it. In our hubris, we don't stop to consider that all the elements we've discarded might actually be critical to function.

This seems to me sort of like processed food. We've taken the real thing the way God made it, and tweaked it in a laboratory to make it sweeter, crunchier, more savory, and with better "mouth feel.” It's even still got the same number of macronutrients and calories that it had before. But we didn’t understand not only how processing stripped away necessary micronutrients, but also added synthetic fats that contaminated our cell membranes, and chemicals that can overwhelm our livers, making us overweight and simultaneously nutrient depleted. We just didn't know what we didn't know.

We've done the same thing with genetically engineered foods. God's instructions in scripture were to let the land lie fallow, and to rotate crops, because the soil itself is the source of micronutrition for the plant. If you plant the same crop in the same soil repeatedly and without a break, you will deplete the soil, and the plants will no longer be as nutritious, or as healthy... and an unhealthy plant is easy prey for pests. But the agriculture industry ignored this; it didn’t seem efficient or profitable enough, presumably. Synthetic fertilizer is the equivalent of macronutrients only for plants, so they grow bigger than ever before (much like humans do if they subsist on nothing but fast food), but they're still nutrient depleted and unhealthy, and thus, easy prey for pests. So we added the gene to the plants to make them produce their own glyphosate, the active ingredient in RoundUp. Only glyphosate itself turns out to be incredibly toxic to humans, lo and behold...

There are many, many more examples I can think of just in the realm of science, health, and nutrition, to say nothing of our approach to economics, or climate, or many other complex systems. We tend to isolate the “active ingredient,” and eliminate everything we consider to be extraneous… only to learn of the side effects decades later.

So what will the consequences be to society if most workers in most professions eventually lack true emotion, empathy, wisdom, and intuition?

Finding Purpose in Work

There’s also a growing concern that AI will take over nearly all jobs, putting almost everyone out of work. At this point, it seems that information-based positions are most at risk, and especially anything involving repetitive, computer-based tasks. I also understand that AI is better than most humans at writing essays, poetry, and producing art. Current robotics is far behind AI technology, though... Elon Musk has been promising self-driving cars in the eminent future for some time, yet they don't seem any closer to ubiquitous adoption now than they were five years ago. "A Brief History of Intelligence" by Max Bennett, published in fall 2023, said that as of the time of writing, robots can diagnose tumors from radiographic imaging better than most radiologists, yet they are still incapable of simple physical tasks such as loading a dishwasher without breaking things. (I suspect this is because the former involves intellectual pattern recognition, which seems to be their forte, while the latter involves movements that are subconscious for most of us, requiring integration of spatial recognition, balance, distal fine motor skills, etc. We're still a very long way from understanding the intricacies of the human brain... but then again, the pace at which knowledge is doubling is anywhere from every three to thirteen months, depending on the source. Either way, that’s fast).

On the assumption that we'll soon be able to automate nearly everything a human can do physically or intellectually, then, the world's elite have postulated a Universal Basic Income--essentially welfare for all, since we would in theory be incapable of supporting ourselves. Leaving aside the many catastrophically failed historical examples of socialism and communism, it's pretty clear that God made us for good work (Eph 2:10, 2 Cor 9:8), and He expects us to work (2 Thess 3:10). Idleness while machines run the world is certainly not a biblical solution.

That said, technology in and of itself is morally neutral. It's a tool, like money, time, or influence, and can be used for good or for evil. Both the Industrial Revolution and in the Information Revolution led to plenty of unforeseen consequences and social upheaval. Many jobs became obsolete, while new jobs were created that had never existed before. Work creates wealth, and due to increased efficiency, the world as a whole became wealthier than ever before, particularly in nations where these revolutions took hold. In the US, after the Industrial Revolution, the previously stagnant average standard of living suddenly doubled every 36 years. At the same time, though, the vast majority of the wealth created was in the hands of the few owners of the technology, and there was a greater disparity between the rich and the poor than ever before. This disparity has only grown more pronounced since the Information Revolution--and we have a clue in Revelation 6:5-6 that in the end times, it will be worse than ever. Will another AI-driven economic revolution have anything to do with this? It’s certainly possible.

Whether or not another economic revolution should happen has little bearing on whether or not it will, though. But one thing for those of us who follow the Lord to remember is that we don't have to participate in the world's economy, if we trust Him to meet our needs. He is able to make us abound for every good work (2 Cor 9:8)--which I believe means we will also have some form of work, no matter what is going on in the world around us. He will bless the work of our hands, whatever we find for them to do (Deut 12:7). He will give us the ability to produce wealth (Deut 8:18), even if it seems impossible. He will meet all our needs as we seek His kingdom first (Luke 12:31-32)-and one of our deepest needs is undoubtedly a sense of purpose (Phil 4:19). We are designed to fulfill a purpose.

What about the AI Apocalyptic Fears?

The world's elite seem to fall into two camps on how an AI revolution might affect our world--those who think it will usher in utopia (Isaac Asimov’s “The Last Question” essentially depicts this), and those who think AI will decide that humans are the problem, and destroy us all.

I feel pretty confident the latter won't occur, at least not completely, since neither Revelation nor any of the rest of the prophetic books seem to imply domination of humanity by machine overlords. Most, if not all of the actors involved certainly appear to be human (and angelic, and demonic). That said, there are several biblical references that the end times will be "as in the days of Noah" (Matt 24:27, Luke 17:26). What could that mean? Genesis 6 states that the thoughts in the minds of men were only evil all the time, so it may simply mean that in the end times, mankind will have achieved the same level of corruption as in the antediluvian world.

But that might not be all. In Gen 6:1-4, we're told that the "sons of God" came down to the "daughters of men," and had children by them--the Nephilim. This mingling of human and non-human corrupted the genetic line, compromising God's ability to bring the promised seed of Eve to redeem mankind. Daniel 2:43 also reads, "As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they (in the end times) will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay." What is "they," if not the seed of men? It appears to be humanity, plus something else. Chuck Missler and many others have speculated that this could refer to transhumanism, the merging of human and machine.

Revelation 13:14-15 is probably the most likely description I can think of in scripture of AI, describing the image of the beast that speaks, knows whether or not people worship the beast (AI facial recognition, possibly embedded into the "internet of things"?), and turns in anyone who refuses to do so.

The mark of the beast sure sounds like a computer chip of some kind, with an internet connection (Bluetooth or something like it - Rev 13:17).

Joel 2:4-9 describes evil beings "like mighty men" that can "climb upon a wall" and "when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded," and they "enter in at the windows like a thief." These could be demonic and thus extra-dimensional, but don’t they also sound like “The Terminator,” if robotics ever manages to advance that far?

Jeremiah 50:9 says, "their arrows shall be like those of an expert warrior; none shall return in vain." This sounds like it could be AI-guided missiles.

But the main evil actors of Revelation--the antichrist, the false prophet, the kings of the east, etc, all certainly appear to refer to humans. And from the time that the "earth lease" to humanity is up (Revelation 11), God Himself is the One cleansing the earth of all evil influences. I doubt He uses AI to do it.

So, depending upon where we are on the prophetic timeline, I can certainly imagine AI playing a role in how the events of Revelation unfold, but I can't see how they'll take center stage. For whatever reason, it doesn't look to me like they'll ever get that far.

The Bottom Line

We know that in the end times, deception will come. We don't know if AI will be a part of it, but it could be. It's important for us to know the truth, to meditate on the truth, to keep our eyes focused on the truth -- on things above, and not on things beneath (Col 3:2). Don't outsource your thinking to a machine; no matter how "smart" they become, they will never have true wisdom; they can't. That doesn't mean don't use them at all, but if you do, do so cautiously, check the information you receive, and listen to the Holy Spirit in the process, trusting Him to guide you into all truth (John 16:13).

Regardless of how rapidly or dramatically the economic landscape and the world around us may change, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7). Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18), and faith works through love (Gal 5:6). If we know how much God loves us, it becomes easy to not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God... and then to fix our minds on whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, praiseworthy, or virtuous (Phil 4:6-8). He knows the end from the beginning. He's not surprised, and He'll absolutely take care of you in every way, if you trust Him to do it (Matt 6:33-34).

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Lindsey Medenwaldt, (MA, JD, MPA) is the Director of Ministry Operations at Mama Bear Apologetics and serves as a consulting editor for the Christian Research Journal. She holds a Master’s in Apologetics and Ethics from Denver Seminary, a JD from St. Mary’s School of Law and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Midwestern State University. Her primary apologetics focus is on world religions and how we talk to people of other faiths.

To learn more about Lindsey, see lindseymedenwaldt.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Annie Pafford is the owner of Healthy Naturally You, next door to us at Nature Cure Family Health in Tucson, AZ! She is a Certified Laser Technician and Certified Sound Therapist with a 20 year background in nutrition and fitness. She was born and raised in Tucson, but she started Healthy Naturally You in 2011 in Michigan, and moved back to Tucson in 2020, opening her practice here in February 2021. She’s also the mother to three handsome sons.

To learn more about Annie or to schedule a consultation, call or text 1-269-330-6847

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Bob Gardner is the Founder of The Freedom Specialist, a body-based approach to happiness, health, and well-being. Bob is also the author of the book Built for Freedom and host of the podcast Alive and Free. As a Transformational Specialist, Bob’s aim is to share his unique tools with the world to empower everyone to find happiness, health, and well-being on autopilot.

For the past 15 years, Bob has been incorporating multiple tools and knowledge gained from his years of experience in martial arts, breathwork, functional psychology, deep tissue release, and numerous other healing modalities to help thousands of people permanently put an end to their depression, anxiety & addiction by identifying and healing what's at the core of these issues.

To learn more about Bob and The Freedom Specialist, see www.thefreedomspecialist.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post on Chromotherapy.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's meditation is on Jeremiah 1:11-12 and Isa 55:10-11

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr. Connie McReynolds is a licensed psychologist and certified rehabilitation counselor with more than 30 years of experience in the field of rehabilitation counseling and psychology. She is the founder of neurofeedback clinics in southern California, working with children and adults to reduce or eliminate conditions of ADHD, anxiety, anger, depression, chronic pain, learning problems, and trauma. She recently published the book "Solving the ADHD Riddle: The Real Cause and Lasting Solutions to Your Child’s Struggle to Learn"

To learn more about Dr McReynolds, see www.conniemcreynolds.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Join us as we outline the 4 main concepts of the mind in this special bonus episode of "Therapy + Theology". T+T host Carley speaks to the profound message of Romans 12 and explores the transformative journey of renewing our minds.

Key Discussion Points:

Understanding Romans 12: Unpack the profound message of Romans 12, where Paul urges believers not to conform to the world's patterns.
Neuroscience Insights: Drawing from neuroscience and clinical expertise, investigate the intricate connection between our brains, bodies, and the formation of our minds.
Integration of Mind and Body: Discover how understanding the mind-body connection can deepen our spiritual journey and enhance our relationships.
Biblical Perspectives: Learn how scriptural principles align with scientific discoveries to provide a comprehensive understanding of human nature.

Stay tuned for more thought-provoking discussions at the intersection of faith and wellness with Therapy + Theology. Subscribe now on Spotify or Apple. To find more podcasts like this go to Lifeaudio.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr. Russell Witte is a Professor of Medical Imaging, Optical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona. Dr. Witte's Experimental Ultrasound and Neural Imaging Laboratory (EUNIL) devises cutting-edge imaging technology, integrating light, ultrasound and microwaves to diagnose and treat diseases ranging from tendinopathies and arrhythmias to breast cancer. By integrating different forms of energy, special effects are created that enable ultrasound imaging of optical absorption deep in tissue, mapping current source densities in the beating heart, and elasticity imaging of human muscle and tendon for quantifying tissue mechanical properties. Dr. Witte's research further extends into nanotechnology and smart contrast agents, which have applications to functional brain imaging, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Dr. Witte works closely with collaborators in the Colleges of Engineering, Optical Sciences and Medicine, as well as industry, to develop cutting-edge imaging technologies that potentially improve patient care.

To contact Dr Witte: rwitte@protonmail.com

1) "Russ' Favorite links to government + peer-reviewed studies on Microwaves + Health + Safety":
https://bit.ly/Russ5GLinks
2) "Sample References Describing Adverse Biological Effects of Low-level Microwave Radiation "
https://tinyurl.com/yc23ravs

**3) Updated review of 3000 peer-reviewed studies from a panel of scientific experts regarding "low-intensity microwave/electromagnetic radiation" and recommendations for rationale for biologically-based exposure standards.
https://bioinitiative.org/

4) "Hidden Dangers of 4G/5G Microwave Technology.” May 27, 2021 [15 min] (my shortest presentation on health effects of low-level microwave radiation)
https://youtu.be/0y8ixJFQDjo
Download slides: https://bit.ly/Witte_052721_Slides

5) 13-page letter sent to the City of Tucson demanding an moratorium on the deployment of 5G Cell Towers. The city did not respond to this letter or a followup letter sent in July 2020.
https://tinyurl.com/3pacba4k**

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr Christie Fleetwood earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University, in 1988. After practicing as a retail pharmacist in the greater Richmond area for a decade, she attended Bastyr University, earning a doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine in 2004. Because of her unique education and training, she effectively branded herself as “medically bilingual”. Her current passions and projects include renovating her crazy-cool house in unlicensed Virginia—where she ADORES practicing vitalist naturopathic medicine, riding her new touring bicycle, motorcycling with her husband and adult sons, eating great food, listening to great music, chasing her favorite band…. Oh! And for those who’ve been asking for her Book, the first one is underway: The Cardiovascular SYSTEM, combining both “Diseases of the Drugs” and the “Disease Reversal/Deprescribing” portions! “The Disease Reversal Project”, as a website and a podcast has already been published (currently on Spotify)!

To learn more about Naturopathic Medical Institute or to help with their vision, visit naturopathicmedicineinstitute.org

Or, you can reach out to director@naturopathicmedicineinstitute.org or to Dr Fleetwood directly at: president@naturopathicmedicineinstitute.org

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post of the same title.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Mark Walker's story is one of humble beginnings and extraordinary success. Raised in Spokane, Washington, he pursued his education at the University of Washington before embarking on a remarkable entrepreneurial journey. In 1980, Mark founded Walker's Furniture with a clear purpose: to build a successful business that could make a positive impact on society and advance the kingdom of God. What started as a modest venture has since flourished into a thriving enterprise, with thirteen furniture stores and over 200 employees. With annual retail sales exceeding $70 million, Mark's business acumen and dedication to his vision have made Walker's Furniture a pillar of the community. Beyond his professional endeavors, Mark finds fulfillment in his role as a devoted husband to Pam, a loving father to two daughters, and a proud grandfather to seven grandchildren. Together, Mark and Pam are passionate about supporting ministries that are making a difference, both locally and globally. As a sought-after speaker, Mark shares his insights on partnering with God in life and business at conferences across the nation and around the world.

To learn more about Mark or to get a copy of his book, The Multiplication Factor, see restore7.org or you can pick up a copy on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Multiplication-Factor-Truths-Partnering-Business/dp/1957616458/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2N5L8KUCSRF3L&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.PwOpiII7ijiXYZjXzoqrxQ.Q1fCSDXRBYz6gjhatyI4mzPaI_RfoKN8J1Swk-dkyLI&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+multiplication+factor+mark+walker+book&qid=1711743395&sprefix=The+Multiplication+Factor%2Caps%2C265&sr=8-1

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

To find antennas in your area if you're in Tucson, see safetechtucson.com

Dr Witte mentions Aman Jabbi - find a presentation on this subject by him here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL_JQjjkOMY

To contact Dr Witte: rwitte@protonmail.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

We all have disappointments in life - things our hearts were set on that just didn’t pan out. God does promise to give us the desires of our hearts if we’re following Him (Ps 37:4), but He doesn’t promise to give them to us on our time table, or through the avenues we choose. His way is always best in the end, but that doesn’t make the immediate disappointments hurt any less.

Then there are those times when bad things happen to us that God had no part of. These are the things that God specifically lists as a curse in the Old Testament - things like disease, death, destruction, destitution, and the like (Deuteronomy 28:15-38). They are listed as part of the curse of the law - but Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law, so God doesn’t do these things. When these things happen now, it is because there is an enemy who “prowls about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet 5:8-9), or because the world itself is fallen and waiting for redemption (Rom 8:20-22), or because of the free will of sinful people (Ps 37) - either our own or that of others who hurt us.

There are usually only a few ways that most people handle disappointments and sorrow: 1) they lie to themselves and pretend they never wanted (that thing) very much in the first place; 2) they run away, keeping themselves otherwise occupied so that they never feel the loss (and this includes addictions of all forms); 3) they get really mad, either at God or fate or whatever they blame; or 4) they grieve.

The last one is the only path to true healing.

Lying to Yourself (Denial)

This is the “sour grapes” approach... “Well, fine, I never wanted it that much anyway!” It seems to work on the surface for awhile... the problem with this is simply that, well, it’s a lie. Pretending you feel one way when in fact you feel another way entirely is suppression. And the thing suppressed doesn’t go away... it gets buried deeper. It’s like getting a splinter in your foot, and instead of having it removed, you shove it down inside the flesh so you can’t see it anymore, and just learn to walk with a limp.

This is often where emotional handicaps (such as depression) come from. We are injured and isolated, and we don’t see that there’s anything we can do except learn to live with it - the “stiff upper lip” approach. We move beyond blaming our needs to a denial of our needs. There’s something we’re not admitting to ourselves, and the depression is a symptom of it. It’s trying to remind us that we need to enter the healing process.

The solution, of course, is to submit to having your foot cut open so that the splinter can be extracted and the cut can heal. Jesus says in Mark 8, If you try to preserve the things you want in life (by pretending everything is okay when it isn’t) then you will lose them. But if you willingly lay them down for the sake of the Kingdom, then they'll be given to you. As long as the splinter is still there, coping and “getting by” is the best you can ever do. But that isn’t God’s best for you.

In “The Law of Happiness,” Dr Henry Cloud writes, “...grief allows you to let go of what you cannot have in order to make room in your heart for what you can have. Those who don’t feel safe enough to grieve find themselves holding on to lost hopes and relationships. Then it’s difficult for them to seek out new attachments, since the ghosts of the past still occupy their emotional life”.

Jesus promises that when we let go, the exchange he offers is beauty for ashes (Isaiah 61:3).

Running Away (and Addictions)

An addiction is anything that we run to in order to escape from unpleasant thoughts or emotions. (That’s usually how all the physiologic addictions start, too.) The obvious ones are substances, food, sex, gambling, shopping, and work (or busyness in general). We can also be addicted to a person (that’s called codependence). We can compulsively fill our lives with noise so that silence never has the opportunity to ask its uncomfortable questions. We can park ourselves in front of the TV every night after work to escape from all the problems we don’t know how to solve. Distraction techniques are very popular.

These approaches all have one thing in common: they help us to avoid our pain, but they don’t heal it. Because of that, they all enslave us sooner or later.

But when Jesus first announced his ministry, he said it like this: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor” (Isa 61:1-2). He came to heal, not just to offer a band-aid. He came to set the captives free.

Once a hurt has been grieved and released, there’s no longer any need to run from it, and the necessity for addictive distractions goes away.

Anger at God

I tried this one. My dad died when I was fifteen. I didn’t stop believing in God (I’d studied too much apologetics to do that, so I knew He was there,) but instead I decided that He was like an army general who made sacrifices for the greater good... and sometimes, guess what? It’s your turn to get sacrificed.

Because this was my basic philosophy, I therefore assumed that if I wanted any happiness, anything good to happen in my life, I had to take matters into my own hands. I became a control freak.

Only problem was, I wasn’t in control of anything that truly mattered to me.

The moment I got set free was the moment I admitted this, to myself and to God. And that was when He showed me who He really is. He doesn’t do bad things to us; death and disease are a result of one of those three things listed above (Satan, a fallen world, free will, or some combination of the above). But because He’s amazing, He can take all things (even the bad) and work them together for His purposes (Prov 16). Once I turned to Him instead of away from Him, He was there to comfort me (Psalm 34). One of my favorite verses to cling to even now is Deut 33:12: “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields them all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”

I found out that “The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knows them that trust in him” (Nahum 1:7). I found out that if I seek Him, He will grant me the desires of my heat (Ps 37:4), but I probably can’t grant them to myself, no matter how hard I try. Giving up and letting go was freedom.

Grief

Grief happens when we admit that what happened to us hurt, and we allow ourselves to feel sad about it. God set up grief as a method for allowing us to accept those things we can’t do anything about. Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount that grief is what allows you to be comforted (Matt 5). If you’re too busy denying and suppressing your pain, though, comfort can’t get in.

I see this one all the time. Patients come in with physical problems that started around the same time that someone they loved passed away, or they went through a divorce, lost a job, or had some other major life event happen to them. They subsequently developed insomnia, depression, digestive disorders, crippling fatigue, or a full-blown autoimmune disease. Then I ask what they did to grieve the loss, and they tell me they just do their best to keep going, because they can’t change the situation -- “so I just have to live with it, don’t I?”

It’s really no secret that “the body weeps tears that the eyes cannot shed.” Grief is an important season, and without it, we will never quite function as well as we did before. But (again quoting Henry Cloud and John Townsend in “How People Grow”): “We basically need two things for grieving. First, we need love, support, and comfort... Second, we need structure. We need time and space for grieving. We need structured activities. This is why good support groups that meet at a regular time and do regular tasks are effective in getting people through grief”.

Grief isn’t something we can do alone. We need the love and support of others to allow us to intentionally face pain. Although no other human can ever fully understand how you feel (Prov 14:10), God called us to “mourn with those who mourn” (Rom 12:15). Grief involves letting ourselves fall apart, and in order to do that in safety, we need God and others to hold us up.

Ps 55:22: “Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.”
1 Pet 5:7: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Ps 62:8: Trust in God at all times and pour your heart out to Him, because He is your refuge.

When we let ourselves feel sad for our losses in the context of relationship with God and others, true healing becomes possible. God says that sorrow lasts for a night, but joy comes in the morning, and mourning will turn to dancing (Ps 30). Isaiah 61:3 says that He will “comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion -- To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, A garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dave Stetzer has been an electrician by training, education and experience for over 30 years. He joined the United States Air Force, attended electronics school at Keesler Air Force Base—at the time, the world’s #1 electronics school, and was given top-secret military clearance, as much of the electronic equipment he worked on was, and still remains, highly classified. In 1975, Dave founded Stetzer Electric, Inc, specializing in power control in industry, municipalities, and motor control centers, focusing his attention on power quality analysis and troubleshooting. This led to the founding of Stetzer Consulting, LLC and the development of the STETZERiZER (Graham-Stetzer) Filter and Microsurge Meter in conjunction with the late Professor Martin Graham. Dave has been an Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Member since 2000. For his extensive and exemplary work and research, Dave was nominated for, and now holds IEEE Senior Member status.

To learn more about Dave, see stetzerelectric.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

The scripture says a lot about seeking the Lord and getting wisdom from Him on the direction He wants you to go. But what about that most dreaded in-between stage, when you’re praying for wisdom and getting nothing, and no doors seem to be opening, and you feel unsettled - like you know your time in a particular circumstance or life stage is short, but you have not yet been released?

In a word, what about waiting?

The Fruit of the Spirit

Patience is a fruit of the Spirit... but it comes as a result of a process.

Paul lists the “fruit” that we bear when we’re walking with God’s spirit as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23).

Peter gives a similar list, but he doesn’t call them fruit. His list looks like this (2 Peter 1:5-7):

Add to your faith, goodness. This makes sense, because without faith we can’t even become God’s kids. So you have to start with that - faith is the seed that produces the fruit of goodness. In the Old Testament, God started by giving the Israelites the Law. They didn’t understand why they were doing what they were doing, but the Law produced “goodness” - meaning they weren’t killing each other and cheating on their spouses, and that sort of thing.
And to goodness, knowledge. God didn’t want them to stop there, though. He wanted the Israelites to know Him, not just to obey a set of rules. God wanted them to “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Goodness therefore leads to knowledge - knowledge of the Lord.
And to knowledge, self-control. Now that we know what God asks us to do, and we know God himself, we need the ability to control ourselves in order to do what He is asking of us... but we don’t have the ability to control ourselves unless He gives it to us (remember Paul talking about how he used to continually do what he did not want to do, Rom 7:15-20? Instead, we get the fruit of self-control by getting to know the Holy Spirit (which is why Peter lists it after knowledge.) So knowledge is the seed that produces the fruit of self-control.
And to self-control, PERSEVERANCE. We may have learned to subjugate the desires of the moment for the longer-term goal, but what happens when the longer-term goal looks REALLY far away, like it’s never going to happen? That’s why we need perseverance. The word implies a struggle: it’s suffering without quitting. It’s hard, but we stick it out. The writer of Hebrews says, “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (10:36).
And to perseverance, godliness. Notice that the corresponding fruit to perseverance is patience. While the word perseverance implies a struggle, the word patience implies rest. You’re not struggling anymore. You know that God is going to come through. Perseverance is the seed, and eventually it bears the fruit of patience. Once you’ve got that, once you’re in rest, you become godly. This was one of the key traits that set Jesus apart: when the storm blew up, while the rest of the disciples were freaking out, He was sleeping in the boat. He’d said they were going to get to the other side, and He knew they were going to - he didn’t have to persevere through the storm anymore. He was in rest. He was godly.
And to godliness, brotherly kindness. Paul lists kindness after godliness. Now that you’re in rest, you’re not so worried about meeting your own needs anymore; you know God’s got you covered, and you can wait peacefully for Him to come through. Now you have energy to spare, and you can use it to see and joyfully meet the desires and needs of those around you. (The fruit of kindness is joy, because it feels pretty great to help others.)
And to brotherly kindness, love. This is the ultimate destination - to sow love into the lives of others, as we have received it from God. (“Freely you have received; freely give,” Matt 10:8.)

What this tells me is that we can’t just pray for patience and get it, in the same way that you can’t just pray for a Ph.D. and get it without putting in the necessary time and effort. It happens as a result of a process - that’s how God set it up. We have to first believe God, then follow after Him, then get to know Him, and then we gain His power to control ourselves and persevere, even in the face of hardship or long delays. Once we learn how to do this, we bear the fruit of patience. That’s when we can “sleep in the boat,” as it were. We’re not worried about the circumstances - now we can “walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7), because we know it’s gonna work out just fine in the end.

David: Waiting for Deliverance

David was anointed to be king when he was 17. Then the current king, Saul, got (understandably) jealous, and tried to kill him... so David was on the run for thirteen years. Almost anybody else would have given up long before that... but David had this principle down. He knew God would come through if he waited for God to act. And God always did.

Ps 5:3 “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”
Ps 27:14: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
Ps 33:20: “We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.”
Ps 37:7: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.”
Ps 38:15: “Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God.”
Ps 40:1: “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.”
Ps 130:5: “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.”
Ps 130:6: “I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”

Why Waiting?

Personally I hate waiting. I hate anything slow. I walk fast, I eat fast, and some people say I talk too fast. If I wasn’t a naturopath I’d be all about microwaves.

But James says that we should rejoice when we face trials (including delays) because “you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:3) - there’s that word again - and perseverance is the seed that produces the fruit of patience. Notice that all of the fruit before patience are about us - they’re about our growth in faith, in knowledge, and in controlling ourselves. But patience is the one that allows us to start to produce for others - godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. That’s where God wants us. So James goes on to say that “perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:4) - in other words, not lacking any of the other fruits of the spirit.

But it means more than that too - those fruits of the Spirit also bear physical results in our lives. For example - Abraham’s patience eventually “bore the fruit” of Isaac (Heb 6:15). The farmer who patiently waits for the appropriate season will eventually “bear the fruit” of a harvest (James 5:7). Had the farmer tried to reap prematurely, he would not have had a harvest at all - he absolutely had to be patient, recognizing the season he was in and doing the work associated with it (Prov 20:4; Ecc 3:2).

Do Not Despise Small Beginnings

The same is true of us. God reminds us not to “despise the day of small beginnings” (Zechariah 4:10) - everything great started out small. We all start out as babies. Every harvest begins with a seed.

Solomon reminds us not to try to “get rich quick,” for instance, because it will become a curse in the end - instead he says that if you gather money little by little, you will make it grow (Prov 13). He says to build what you already have, and not to tear it down (Prov 14). He says whatever your hands find to do, you should do it with all your might (Ecc 9). He reminds us that our part is to do the possible, but we must leave it to God to do the impossible - that is, to bring victory (Prov 21).

“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” (Heb 6:12).

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Sally K. Norton, MPH is a distinguished expert in dietary oxalates with 35 years of health education and research experience. She holds a nutrition degree from Cornell University and a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her path to becoming a leading expert on dietary oxalate includes a prior career working at prestigious medical schools in medical education and public health research. Sally championed a five-year, National Institute of Health-funded program at the UNC Medical School that educated students and faculty about holistic, alternative, and integrative healing. Her personal healing experience inspired years of research, culminating in the release of her groundbreaking book, Toxic Superfoods, which was released in January 2023 and is available everywhere books are sold.

You can pick up a copy of Toxic Superfoods here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0593139585?tag=randohouseinc7986-20
Learn more about Sally at https://sallyknorton.com/ or you can find her on YouTube as SallyKNorton

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Toxic Superfoods: How Oxalate Overload Is Making You Sick--and How to Get Better

View Details

Your words have tremendous power to influence the course of your life.

Jesus teaches it this way. In Matthew 15, the Pharisees are arguing with Jesus because he and his disciples eat food that is considered “unclean” by Jewish law. Jesus explains to them, “What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean’... But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’” (Matt 15:11-19).

Jesus has connected three things here: thoughts, words, and actions. They go in that order: your thoughts are seeds, and they get planted in the “soil” of your heart. They don’t necessarily change the environment right away, but when that seed has been planted, it will germinate, and will spring up and become a tree, which will eventually bear fruit. So you’d better be careful what you’re planting.

Round and Round We Go

When I was in my early 20s, I realized my life was on a merry-go-round. I was living essentially the same story over and over again. The names and details might change, but the characters and circumstances were basically consistent. I wrestled with this for years; I had an intuitive sense that it was a spiritual principle somehow (because everyone’s story seemed to repeat itself, not just mine!), but I could not for the life of me figure out why.

I was 25 when I finally understood (and wondered why it had taken me so long, because it seemed so blatantly obvious in retrospect). In all of those iterations of the same story, there was only one common denominator: me. I realized that my beliefs were essentially, “My life will always be this way. I will never get out of this cycle. I will always repeat this pattern.” I bitterly said something to this effect every time I told my tale of woe to a sympathetic friend. I wrote about it every day in my journal. I prayed about it every day to God - but despite the biblical promises that God had something better for me, I never actually believed what God said my future held. Instead, I told Him that my future would be exactly the same as my past. I gained a twisted sense of satisfaction by complaining, little knowing that my words were actually prophetic. I was planting seeds, and those seeds were bearing fruit - unfortunately, the fruit they bore was exactly the same fruit I was already harvesting in my life. Instead of recognizing this and changing what I planted, I’d cut open that fruit, pull out the seeds, and plant them right back in the soil of my heart. For years.

Jesus compares the Word of God to a seed in the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:1-23). When it falls on good soil and isn’t choked out by the cares of this life and deceitfulness of wealth, Jesus said that seed will germinate, sprout and bear fruit - thirty, sixty, and a hundred-fold. But this process is indifferent: your heart will grow whatever you plant in it, whether the seed is good or bad. “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit... For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt 12:33-34; Luke 6:43-45).

Guard Your Heart

The first five books of the Bible contain extremely detailed laws that the Jews had to abide by in order to be “right” with God. The Pharisees had even added hundreds of additional laws of their own by the time Jesus showed up. But their laws were all about external actions. Jesus’ laws went much deeper - his dealt not just with wrongactions, but with the wrong thinking that eventuallyproduced wrong actions (Matt 5). Jesus said it’s not enough to not commit murder - don’t even think about murder. It’s not enough not to commit adultery - don’t even look at a woman lustfully. What’s he saying? Guard your heart. He knows that the heart will grow whatever you plant in it. The thought will eventually produce the words, and the words will eventually produce the actions.

Because the heart grows whatever you plant in it, before anything else you have to start with Solomon’s famous advice: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov 4:23).

So be vigilant about what you plant in your heart. Solomon talks about this a lot:

“Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart” (Prov 7:1-3).
“A wise man’s heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction” (Prov 16:23).
“The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out” (Prov 18:15).
“Apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips” (Prov 22:17-18).
“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov 23:7).

Guard Your Mouth

If your thinking is right, then your speaking will be right automatically. But what if both your thinking and your speaking are already wrong?

In the midst of my “merry-go-round,” I don’t know if I could have changed what I said about my future. The habit was too entrenched by then... but at least I could have kept my mouth shut!

In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel visits Zechariah and tells him that his elderly and barren wife Elizabeth would bear him a son (who would become John the Baptist). But Zechariah did not respond to this statement in faith (as Mary did when she received a similar prophecy that she would become pregnant with Jesus, even though she was a virgin). Instead, Zechariah said, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years” (Luke 1:18). The angel’s reply is disapproving: “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.” But then he adds something interesting: “And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time” (Luke 1:20).

This wasn’t just a punishment; the angel said this for a very good reason. Zechariah didn’t believe God’s word, and the angel knew that he would continue to speak his doubts, for nine months. Could that have stopped John’s birth, had Zechariah’s mouth gone unchecked? Another story from the Old Testament suggests that it might have.

An Evil Report

The Israelite spies told the rest of the Israelites after exploring Canaan, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are... We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:31-33). Objectively, this report was true: the spies reported what they saw. There were giants in the land, and their cities were fortified and very powerful. The Israelites, on the other hand, were a nomadic band of former slaves who had never fought a battle in their lives, and apparently they were a lot smaller than the Canaanites. But God called this an “evil report” (13:32), because it disagreed with what He said. He told the Israelites that He was giving them the land (Deuteronomy 1:29-31), so the size and might of the inhabitants was irrelevant.

What happened? The Israelites had been complaining ever since Moses had led them out of Egypt and out of slavery that they would die in the wilderness. After their disobedience and unbelief, God says, “I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall” (Numbers 14:28-29). Not one of those Israelites who spread that evil report got to experience God’s Promised Land.

So an evil report is anything that disagrees with what God says, even when it accurately describes the current situation. When you’re tempted to say what you see instead of what God says, Solomon advises you to hold your tongue. Speak only what agrees with God’s word, and if you can’t do that, then at least keep your mouth shut!

“A man of knowledge uses words with restraint” (Prov 17:27).
“Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue” (Prov 17:28).
“He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin” (Prov 13:3).
“Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Prov 29:20).
“A chattering fool comes to ruin” (Prov 10:10).
“A fool’s mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul” (Prov 18:7).
“He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity” (Prov 21:23).

Speak Life, Not Death

If the best you can do is hold your tongue, you do well. But if instead you use your tongue to say what God says about the situation, you do much better! We can plant the Word of God in our hearts as a seed, instead of a faithless, evil report. It won’t change the way we think overnight, but eventually that seed will become a tree, and the tree will bear fruit, and the fruit will influence the direction of our lives. We can “be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind[s]” (Romans 12:2).

“The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them” (Prov 12:6).
“From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him” (Prov 12:14).
“From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things” (Prov 13:2).
“From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied” (Prov 18:20).
“For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt 12:37).
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Prov 18:21).

Back to the story of the Israelite spies: all of the Israelites spread an evil report except two, Joshua and Caleb. After the rest of the spies’ resoundingly negative report, Caleb countered them and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it” (Numbers 13:30). In response, God said, “Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun” (Numbers 14:30). Joshua went on to become Moses’ successor, and Caleb was the only other member of the Israelite community over the age of 20 at the time of the exploration who got to go in to the Promised Land. They got what they said.

Solomon said the tongue has the power of life and death. Another famous place in the Bible that uses this same phrase is Deuteronomy 30. Here, God says, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him” (Deut 30:19-20).

Our tongues have the power of blessing us by speaking God’s word (leading to life), or of cursing us by speaking what is contrary to God’s word (leading to death). God says the choice is up to us - but He recommends that we choose life.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Rafaele Joudry has dedicated her life to helping people overcome auditory problems and enhance their lives through better brain performance. She was guided to introduce her mother to Sound Therapy, which proved life-changing for fatigue, insomnia, sound sensitivity and difficulty hearing in social situations. As a result, Rafaele and her mother developed the self help Sound Therapy program which helped thousands of people to find relief for tinnitus, dizziness, anxiety and sleeplessness. As a world leader in self help Sound Therapy, Rafaele has enabled individuals from all walks of life to benefit from unique discoveries about how the ears can enhance the performance of the entire nervous system. She has authored three best selling books, and helped many thousands of listeners to improve communication, learning, focus, sleep, creativity and brain performance. To contact Sound Therapy International go to www.mysoundtherapy.com/podcast

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

David Bahnsen is the founder, Managing Partner, and Chief Investment Officer of The Bahnsen Group, a national private wealth management firm with offices in multiple states, managing $4.5 billion in client assets. Prior to launching The Bahnsen Group he spent eight years as a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and six years as a Vice President at UBS. He is consistently named as one of the top financial advisors in America by Barron’s, Forbes, and the Financial Times. He is a frequent guest on CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox News, and Fox Business, and is a regular contributor to National Review. He hosts the popular weekly podcast, Capital Record, dedicated to a defense of free enterprise and capital markets. He is the author of several best-selling books. Today he’s here to talk about his upcoming book, “Full-Time: Work and the Meaning of Life.”

To learn more about David, see fulltimebook.com or bahnsen.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Kim Shapira M.S., R.D. is a celebrity dietitian, nutritional therapist, and author, with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Tulane University and a Master’s degree in Human Metabolism and Clinical Nutrition from Boston University. Kim has spent over 25 years helping people lose weight and keep it off (with a giant emphasis on keeping it off), both in her private Los Angeles practice, in hospitals, sports clinics, addiction centers and universities. When she's not helping her clients take back their relationship with food, she is a wife and mother of three children and three pups. Kim often appears as a guest expert for Yahoo!, Just Jenny, Sky News, Vanity Fair, Pop Sugar, Podcasts, and will be happy to pop in and be a guest speaker for your book clubs.

To learn more about Kim, you can find her on any social media platform, at kimshapiramethod.com or you can check out her book, "This Is What You're Really Hungry For," here.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Peggy Ployhar is the SPED Homeschool Founder & CEO, an organization that empowers families to home educate diverse learners. She is also the owner of Eternal Aerial Arts where she teaches aerial arts classes and coaches a student performance team. Peggy is a speaker, aerial performer, podcaster, author, breast cancer survivor, and 19-year retired homeschool veteran. She and her husband Doug live in League City, TX and enjoy paddle boarding, hiking, and camping in their classic Airstream.

To learn more about Peggy, go to www.spedhomeschool.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Paul Harding is the owner of Total EMF Solutions in Tucson, AZ. Total EMF Solutions started as a personal journey and a fight for his life. He experienced a complete breakdown in his sleep after a smart meter was installed on his bedroom wall in the beginning of 2011. After further research he found that smart meters produced frequencies on the home wiring and electric field correlated with those that are used to open the sodium and potassium ion channels. His symptoms began to abate once he started sleeping in an area with very low levels of exposure. Once he found relief, his focus in life became studying the source of the problem.

To learn more about Paul, see www.totalemfsolutions.com

If you are on the east coast, Paul mentioned contacting Dave Stetzer: https://www.stetzerelectric.com/about/

To find out if there are cell phone towers in your area, see: https://www.antennasearch.com/

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr. Mike Van Thielen is a bestselling author on optimizing productivity and focus, a sought after speaker, and an entrepreneur who has owned several anti-aging clinics in central and northeast Florida. He was the CEO of an innovative stem cell clinic, treating top athletes including NFL players and heavyweight boxing champions. He is also a treating physician for Boston Neuro Pain and Psych Centers, helping tens of thousands of patients with chronic pain and mental health conditions.

To learn more about Dr Mike, see biohackingunlimited.com

You can also find his latest book, The Izod Method, here: https://www.amazon.com/IZOD-MethodTM-Superpower-Productivity-Stress-Free/dp/B0BR9GJLK1/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3K1QAJUQD4G4G&keywords=The+Izod+Method&qid=1702672674&sprefix=the+izod+method%2Caps%2C221&sr=8-1

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Brant Hansen is a bestselling author, syndicated radio host and advocate for healing children with correctable disabilities through CURE International Children's Hospitals. His award-winning radio show, The Brant Hansen Show, airs on top stations in the U.S. and Canada. His podcast, The Brant and Sherri Oddcast, has been downloaded more than 15 million times. He has been named "Personality of the Year" multiple times by Christian Music Broadcasters and is called "Christian music's most beloved radio personality" by Christian Voice Magazine. Brant writes about varied topics related to faith, including masculinity in his book, The Men We Need, and forgiveness in Unoffendable, about which he was recently interviewed on ABC's Good Morning America. Brant’s new book, ‘Life is Hard, God is Good, Let’s Dance’, releases January 16.

For Brant's book, see here; https://www.amazon.com/Life-Hard-Good-Lets-Dance-ebook/dp/B0BYYXTNQ2/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1702662446&sr=8-1

For more about CURE, go to cure.org

To learn more about Brant, go to: branthansen.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Sonia Gomez at Abundant Acres.com is focused on helping families design regenerative food systems, family compounds, and profit centers on their property to live healthy, happy, and free.

Sonia Gomez has advocated for alternative health, has been a voice for freedom, and a community leader in alternative health education for the past 12 years. Recovering from a serious life-altering accident, Sonia discovered the secrets to eliminating synthetic medications and holistically rebuilding her health. Food was the first, and most important medicine.

When Sonia isn't chasing rainbows and telling jokes, she is a wife and mom passionate about projects that are good for people and the planet.

To learn more about Sonia, see http://soniagomez.tv and to learn more about Abundant Acres, see abundantacres.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

So far in this series, we've looked at prayers for ourselves, for which we must find the scriptures to stand on, we must have faith, and we must maintain our primary focus on the Lord. But how does this apply when we are praying for other people? We can't make others do or believe anything. God won't violate our free will, and we can't violate the free will of others in prayer, either. So how does this work?
It depends upon the context.

The default position is that we should be praying for all people at all times (1 Tim 2:1-6, Eph 6:18), as well as for the cities we live in (Jer 29:7). Just as for ourselves, this gives God "legal" entry into the affairs of men, so that He can intervene and do what He wants to do on the earth. The Old Testament priestly blessing was, “'The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace’” (Numbers 6:23-27). This was what God wanted to do for the children of Israel, and the priests were to invoke this, to give Him permission on earth to do it.

In the New Testament, Jesus made this explicit in Matthew 16:19, and also in Matthew 18:18, when he said to his disciples, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." The spiritual realm is the greater reality compared to the physical. Paul tells us that "we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor 4:18). We are to "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor 5:7), using our position of authority in heavenly places through Jesus to change what we see here and conform it to the will of the Father in prayer.

Some examples of effective prayer of one individual for others in scripture:

In Job 42, God told Job to pray for his friends, so that God could forgive their sin rather than punish them for it (Job 42:8). Clearly this was already God's will, but God still told him to pray for it.
In Numbers 11, the Israelites disobeyed God and triggered the 'cursing' side of the covenant laid out in the Torah, and consolidated in Deuteronomy 28. But when the people cried out to Moses, and Moses interceded to God for them, the curse stopped (Numbers 11:1-2). God needed a man to ask Him.
In a similar story, Miriam disobeyed God and triggered the 'curse,' (which now no longer applies to us, thanks to Jesus!), and Moses had to pray for her to be healed as well (Numbers 12:13).
Moses also interceded for the Israelites after the incident of the golden calf (Ex 32:31-32), so that they would not be destroyed.
Jesus prayed that Peter's faith would not fail, even before Peter denied him. Because of this, Jesus was confident that Peter would return to the disciples even after he'd stumbled (Luke 22:32). The faith involved was still Peter's, but somehow Jesus' prayer enabled Peter's faith to be revived.
Paul believed that the prayers of his parishioners would occasion his deliverance, favor, and open doors of opportunity for him that might otherwise have been shut without them (Phil 1:19, 1:22, 2 Cor 1:11).
Samuel the prophet acknowledged that it was actually a sin to fail to pray for his people. 1Sa 12:23 "Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way."

We pray for others, as individuals, for the same reason that we pray for ourselves: so that God can do what He wants to do on the earth.

How does the prayer of agreement fit into this? Jesus said in Matthew 18:19: "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven." Why do we need anybody else to agree with us; can't we simply ask and receive all on our own?

I don't totally understand how this works, but I think it's similar to what Solomon said in Ecc 4:12: "a threefold cord is not quickly broken," or to the story of Aaron and Hur physically holding up Moses' arms when he got tired, to ensure that the Israelites achieved victory in battle (Ex 17:8-16). It's why we need the body of Christ to come around us, to bear one anothers' (crushing) burdens, even though we should each carry our own (light) loads (Gal 6:2, 5). It's very possible for one person alone to grow heartsick rather than patient in a long wait (Prov 13:12); that's why we need others to "hold up our arms" in prayer and encouragement. When our own faith is strong, perhaps (this is my speculation), the prayer of agreement is less necessary. It's when we are losing strength or growing heartsick, that the prayer of agreement becomes important.

This may be why James tells us that if we're sick, we should ask the elders of the church to anoint us with oil (a symbol of the Holy Spirit) and pray over us, to receive healing (James 5:14). The assumption is that the church elders are strong in faith, as they should be. The request itself would constitute an act of faith on the part of the person asking; the elders in this example would simply be in agreement. There are many examples of people receiving healing on their own faith alone (Mark 5:34, Luke 17:19, Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 10:46-52), so this isn't always necessary--but sometimes it is. When we are weak, God gave us each other, so that others who aren't as weak, frustrated, or discouraged as we are can join their faith with ours, and "hold up our arms," when they would otherwise fall. When the father of the demonized boy asked Jesus if He could help the boy, Jesus replied that all things are possible when one has faith (Mark 9:23). The father claimed to have faith, but then immediately cried out "Help me believe!" Jesus did not rebuke him for this, but gave him the help requested--and did heal the boy.

The prayer of agreement doesn't always have to come into play in a place of weakness, though. This may also be the positive side to what God observed of the people who built the Tower of Babel: "indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them" (Gen 11:6). In other words, this is just a principle of the way God set up the world, and in itself, the law is neutral: if one has power, the combined strength of many is exponentially more so. As Moses wrote of the Israelites in Lev 26:8: "Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight." When we're around others who are strong, we become that much stronger ourselves. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (Prov 27:17). I suspect this is also why we are admonished to not forsake assembling together with other believers (Hebrews 10:25). The assumption is that we are assembling with those who are in agreement. Our stronger faith strengthens those with a weak faith in a particular area, while our weaker faith is strengthened by others whose faith is stronger in another area in turn.

But this also works in reverse--if those around you are not in faith, it's more likely that they will influence you with their unbelief than that you will influence them with your faith (Gal 5:9, 1 Cor 15:33). (So don't approach just anybody for agreement in prayer; be sure you are agreeing on the right things!)

There is one exception to the rule of intercession, and it falls under the category of church discipline.

In Matthew 18:18, when Jesus said, "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven," He was talking about church discipline. He also said in John 20:23, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." Since scripture elsewhere makes it quite clear that only God can forgive sins (Luke 5:21), this must mean something different. We know that there are both spiritual and natural consequences for sins; Jesus took the sins of the whole world and paid for them on the cross from a spiritual standpoint (1 John 2:2), but we each must appropriate that to ourselves by faith in Him (Romans 10:9). Regardless, that covers only the spiritual consequences; the natural consequences remain, as sin can still give "place" in our lives to Satan (Eph 4:27), allowing him to influence us rather than the Holy Spirit. So the only thing that makes sense is that when Jesus spoke of binding and loosing, remitting or retaining the sins of others, He meant that when we sin, we're giving Satan an inroad into our lives--but through prayer, we can 'bind' Satan from bringing the natural consequences of others' sins against them.

So while another person may continue to choose to sin, and we can't make them do otherwise, we can use our prayers to protect them from the consequences of those sins. That is a good idea only to a point, though. Negative consequences for our actions teach us not to do something bad in the future. Touch a hot stove, and you'll burn your hand, and learn never to do that again. Overdraw your account, and you'll have no money for things when you truly need them, etc. But if someone else rescues you from the consequences of your poor choices (or from the law of sowing and reaping, Galatians 6:7) repeatedly, you'll never learn to do anything differently, and will continue to make the same poor choices. You'll never grow up. That's why in 1 Corinthians 5:5, Paul wrote of church members engaging in sexual immorality, "deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." They deliver him to Satan by withdrawing their intercessory prayers to protect him from the natural consequences of his actions. Paul recommended this same course of action against blasphemers in 1 Tim 1:19-20. We see in 2 Cor 2:6-11 that this had its intended effect: some of those who were sinning repented, and Paul instructed the church to them receive him back into fellowship, so that Satan would not be able take advantage of the situation. Only if the person does not repent, are we to "retain" their sins unto them (John 20:23)--which is the same as turning them over to Satan (1 Cor 5:5). The hope is that they will eventually learn from the natural consequences of their choices, and come back to the Lord and into fellowship. Our free will allows us to make our choices, but we can't always choose the results of those choices.

The implication here is that if we don't pray for others' protection against Satan's attacks, out of laziness rather than a deliberate choice, we are essentially turning them over to Satan. Neglecting intercessory prayer should be the exception, and not the rule.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr Jacob Teitelbaum is a board certified internist and nationally known expert in the fields of chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, sleep and pain. He has authored numerous books includingthe best-selling From Fatigued to Fantastic! (now in its 4th edition). He is the lead author of numerous studies on effective treatment for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, and one study on effective treatment of autism using NAET. He also developed the popular free smartphone app “Cures A-Z.” Dr. T lives in Kona, Hawaii.

To learn more about Dr T, you can email him at fatiguedoc@gmail.com or see vitality101.com or endfatigue.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Ed Welch (MDiv and PhD) is a licensed psychologist and faculty member at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. Ed has been counseling for over forty years and has written numerous books on the topics of depression, fear and addictions. Most recently, he was a major contributor to the new Life Counsel Bible from Holman Bibles and New Growth Press.

To learn more about Ed, see ccef.org

For the Life Counsel Bible, see here: https://lifecounselbible.com/

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

A final caveat in scripture to this is that we must have our priorities straight. Jesus said in His sermon on the Mount, "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matt 6:33). Jesus repeated the same concept in His last instructions to the disciples: "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit" (John 15:7-8). The precondition is that we must be seeking first the Kingdom, and abiding in Him. That way, the things we're asking for in prayer will be God's will for us, and they also won't be more important to us than He is. Any good thing can become toxic, if it becomes an obsession. (This is the foundation of all addictions--all of them take something originally intended to be a blessing, and twist it into a tyrant which ultimately enslaves us. Money is to be shared for good works and kingdom purposes, 1 Tim 6:18; but the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, 1 Tim 6:10. Wine is a blessing to gladden men's hearts, Psalm 104:15, but drunkenness is warned against, Gal 5:21. Etc.) So in the same way, even if something is promised in scripture, it's unhealthy to fixate on that to the point that it becomes an obsession that enslaves us. Also, such a state is essentially synonymous with fear that we won't get the thing we so desperately want--and "there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18). This is important when it comes to receiving what we ask for in prayer, because "faith works through love" (Gal 5:6). The opposite of fear is both faith and love, which go together. If we shift our focus from the thing we're begging to receive to the perfect love of the Father, peace comes, and our priorities will straighten themselves out, with no direct effort from us.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr Gerald Pollack maintains an active laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of WATER: A Multidisciplinary Research Journal; Executive Director of the Institute for Venture Science; co-founder of 4th-Phase Inc.; and founder of the Annual Conference on the Physics, Chemistry, and Biology of Water. He has received numerous honors including: the Prigogine Medal for Thermodynamics; the University of Washington Annual Faculty Lecturer; the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award; and the 1st Emoto Peace Prize. He is recognized internationally as an accomplished speaker and author.

To learn more about Dr Pollack, visit his website at https://www.pollacklab.org or you can pick up a copy of "The Fourth Phase of Water" here.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

The Fourth Phase of Water: Beyond Solid, Liquid, and Vapor

View Details

Another caveat in scripture is that we must ask in faith (Matthew 21:22 and Mark 11:24) without wavering (James 1:5-7).

But how do you make yourself believe something? Isn't that kind of like trying to make yourself fall asleep when you're awake at 3 am: the harder you try, the more elusive it becomes?

The Bible addresses this question with the biblical concept of hope. Hope is to faith what a seed is to a plant. If you plant that seed in good soil, and you don't dig it up before it can germinate, and you water it and cultivate it and give it plenty of sunlight, eventually a plant will result. Hope is the positive side of imagination (more on how the Bible says you can get this to work in your favor in the podcast, The Power of Imagination https://www.drlaurendeville.com/the-power-of-imagination/). Another reason why some of us might struggle with believing we receive when we pray has to do with a sense of unworthiness. 1 John 3:19-23 tells us, "And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us."

The concept here is that, while our consciences serve a good purpose, they are not infallible. It's possible for our hearts to condemn us falsely, which is why John says, "God is greater than our hearts." His word tells us that Jesus bore all our condemnation (Romans 8:1), and gave us His righteousness in exchange. We are now in right standing with God, and we can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). But if we don't believe that we are in right standing with God, if our conscience condemns us, it will shipwreck our faith (1 Timothy 1:19). We won't come boldly to the throne of grace. That's why we have to renew our minds with what God says about us, so that our consciences will no longer contradict the truth of who we are and what we have in Christ (Hebrews 10:22). At the end of Jesus' ministry, He said, "In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete," John 16:23-24. I know of two scriptural ways to interpret the idea of asking the Father in Jesus' name. One is the concept that, because we are in Christ and we are joint heirs with Him, everything that is His has now become ours (Eph 1:17-19). It's as if He's given us His "power of attorney": when we make a request of the Father, to God, it's just as if Jesus Himself had asked. We already have every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Eph 1:3, 17-19). That's like having money in the bank; it might all be there waiting for you, but you can't access it unless you make a withdrawal. It's Jesus' account, but we can use His name, and thus gain access to everything that's His. He gave us permission to do that. He told us to do that. It has nothing to do with how good or holy we are, and everything to do with how good and holy He is.

The other way to think about praying in Jesus' name is to consider the meanings of all of the various names of God. Throughout the Old Testament, whenever God revealed a new aspect of His character, He received, or He gave Himself, a new name. These included Jehovah Nissi (the Lord My Banner), Jehovah Rapha (the Lord that Heals), Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord my Righteousness), Jehovah Jireh (the Lord who Provides), and many more. Since Jesus is One with the Father and only did what He saw His father doing (John 5:19, 5:30, 8:28, 12:49), we can infer that the Father's names apply to Jesus, as well--so anything that is in one of His names is ours.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Brad & Starla Walker have 8 kids and live on their 15 acre homestead in Southern Indiana, just outside of Louisville, KY. There they garden, raise livestock, homeschool their children, and operate their family business, Abby’s Elderberry. They have personally experienced the benefits of elderberry for years and jumped at the opportunity to take ownership of Abby’s in late 2022. Since that time, they have shipped their products to 48 states and have about 20 retail locations to date.

To check out Abby's, see https://abbyselderberry.com/

You can also follow Brad and Starla's podcast, The Fruitful Family Podcast on any podcast player or on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9WSfaFiQDqIGO27mq1yYIg

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Part 1: Why Pray?

We live in a fallen world where bad, evil things happen -- and they are not God's fault (more on how this fits in with the concept of biblical sovereignty in the podcast called "Why Bad Things Happen from a Biblical Perspective": https://www.drlaurendeville.com/why-bad-things-happen-from-a-biblical-perspective/).

The bottom line is that we are now in enemy-occupied territory. Jesus conquered the enemy when He rose from the dead, taking the keys of Hades with Him (Rev 1:18), but He hasn't yet taken possession of the earth He won back, because "He is not slow concerning His promises, as some count slowness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (1 Peter 3:9).

So it's still the case that because God gave the earth to men, He cannot legally intervene Himself without a man on the inside. He needs a human to invite Him to intervene, just like a landlord can't just enter a property he's leased to someone else without an explicit invitation.

Yet God wants us to bring His kingdom and His will on earth. This is why Jesus included "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" in His template prayer when the disciples asked him to teach them to pray (Matt 6:9-13). Prayer is the only way God can intervene on earth legally. That is why prayer is so important.

How and What to Pray

Jesus' model prayer teaches us the components and structure of a good prayer. It gives us the principles.

"Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name" -- so we start with praise, with how big and awesome God is, before we ever say anything about our problem (https://www.drlaurendeville.com/effects-of-praise/).

"Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This is the very next broad-strokes recommendation: prayer is about letting God do what He wants to do in the earth, but He needs us to partner with Him in order to do it.

"Give us this day our daily bread." This is the specifics of the above as they pertain to you. Later in that same chapter, Jesus made the point that if you keep your focus on His kingdom, He'll just take care of these little details of what you need anyway (Matt 6:33).

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." I think Jesus included the request of forgiveness because He was still teaching the disciples at the tail end of the Old Covenant. We don't have to pray this part anymore--Jesus died for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). But we are still to forgive others their sins against us (https://www.drlaurendeville.com/how-to-forgive-pastor-david-peterson/).

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Putting this together with what James says in James 1:13-15, God doesn't tempt us, but when we are tempted, it's our own desires that entice and lead us away to sin and death. Paul also tells us that when this happens, God will make a way of escape (1 Cor 10:13). But it's up to us to take it (James 4:7), with God's help.

"For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." This template prayer starts and ends with praise (https://www.drlaurendeville.com/effects-of-praise/), because that is the attitude of faith--focusing on how big and magnificent God is, rather than on the size of our problems. Later in His ministry, Jesus clarified,

"For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them" (Mark 11:23-24).

That's the key to powerful, effective prayer--believe first, and then receive. Scripture qualifies this promise elsewhere--you can't "name and claim" just anything in prayer using this verse. James tells us that if we ask and we do not receive, it might be because "you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures" (James 4:3). John tells us, "And this is the confidence we have in Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we asked of Him," (1 John 5:14-15).

Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The scriptures with the promise for what you are believing for are your seeds (Matt 13:18-23). They tell you what God wants for you, for those you love, and for the world around you. Your part is to hear that word, and ask and believe God for it. In so doing, you're planting it in your heart. Then, you have to make sure that little seed is well-tended and cared for, and isn't choked out by "the cares of the world or the deceitfulness of riches." If you "keep it in the midst of your heart," then it will become "life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh" (Prov 4:22).

If you can find the promise in scripture for what you're asking for, then you don't have to beg God to give it to you; in the Spirit realm, it's already yours (Eph 1:3), just waiting for you to claim it, like an escrow. That's why you can have faith that it's coming--but you do have to ask first (Matthew 7:8, James 4:2).

Paul taught this same pattern for prayer in Phil 4:4-8. He writes, " Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice!... Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things." We start with rejoicing, end with thanksgiving, and keep our minds stayed on the positive hope of the promise(s) we're believing for.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr Jacob Teitelbaum is a board certified internist and nationally known expert in the fields of chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, sleep and pain. He has authored numerous books includingthe best-selling From Fatigued to Fantastic! (now in its 4th edition). He is the lead author of numerous studies on effective treatment for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, and one study on effective treatment of autism using NAET. He also developed the popular free smartphone app "Cures A-Z." Dr. T lives in Kona, Hawaii.

To learn more about Dr T, you can email him at fatiguedoc@gmail.com or see vitality101.com or endfatigue.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

His love is everlasting.
Isaiah 49:15-16: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands"
Isaiah 54:10: "For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you."
Jer 31:3 "The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”
Psalm 136:26: "Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
Deut 7:9: "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations”
Psalm 36:7: "How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”
Psalm 52:8: "But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.”
2 Thess 3:5: "May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”
Psalm 63:3 "Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.”
Psalm 103:8, 11, 17 "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love… For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him… from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him.”
Psalm 48:9 "We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.”
Lamentations 3:22-23: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Exodus 34:6 "The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”
Psalm 36:5 "Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.”
2 Chronicles 6:14: “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.”
Psalm 86:15: "But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”
2 Thess 2:16: "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word."
Nothing can separate us from His love because the Holy Spirit is the one who pours it into us and He will manifest himself to us.
Romans 5:5: "And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
Romans 8:37-39 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
John 14:21 "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
He knows us intimately.
Psalm 139:1-18: "Lord, You have searched me and known me.You know when I sit down and when I get up; You understand my thought from far away.You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, Lord, You know it all.You have encircled me behind and in front, And placed Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot comprehend it. Where can I go from Your Spirit Or where can I flee from Your presence?If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.If I take up the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,Even there Your hand will lead me,And Your right hand will take hold of me.If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. For You created my innermost parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.My frame was not hidden from You When I was made in secret, And skillfully formed in the depths of the earth;Your eyes have seen my formless substance; And in Your book were written All the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God! How vast is the sum of them!Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You."
We are his children because we believe in Jesus.
1 John 3:1 "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
John 16:27 "For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God."
All the love that we have comes from Him.
1 John 4:19: "We love because he first loved us.”
1 John 4:7-8 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
Love is who He is and He abounds in it.
Psalm 86:15 "But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
1 John 4:16: "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
Eph 2:4: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us"
Eph 3:17-19: "So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
We know He loved us because He sacrificed himself for us.
Gal 2:20: “…the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 5:8: "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Eph 2:4-5: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ”
John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
1 John 4:9-10 "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Titus 3:4-5: "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit"
When we understand His love and abide in it, we will not fear.
1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
Galatians 5:6: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love."
Isaiah 41:13: "For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
Luke 12:7 “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Deut 33:12: "Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields them all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”
1 Pet 5:7 “...casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
John 15:9: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.”
God has good plans for us and delights over us with singing.
Jer 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
Zeph 3:17 "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
Psalm 139:17-18: “How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand.”

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr Ardeshir Mehran is a psychologist, behavioral researcher, business leader, and leadership coach with a doctorate and masters from Columbia University. He is a keynote speaker, a marathon runner, and the author of the book, “You Are Not Depressed; You Are Unfinished.”

For thirty years, he has been on a quest to pinpoint what depression and anxiety actually are, why they persist, and why executives and high archivers have such high levels of depression and anxiety. His science-based work shows how to “use” depression and anxiety to live a soaring life instead of allowing them to use you.

He lives in The Bay Area/San Francisco with his family.

To learn more about Dr Mehran, see www.humanworkstudio.com

You can get his book, “You Are Not Depressed; You Are Unfinished," here.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

When we think of meditation, a lot of us think of chanting and things affiliated with other religions--but at its core, that's not what it is. Meditation can simply be calming the mind by disciplined focus on some external stimulus, like your breath, your heart, or the ambient sounds around you... and if your mind is scattered and flitting from topic to topic, there is certainly great physiologic value in this, as it will get you out of "fight or flight" and into the parasympathetic "rest and digest" state. Also, if your mind is too loud, it makes it all but impossible for you to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit--so quieting your mind through this form of meditation is valuable for that reason as well.

Biblically, though, meditation is more than just quieting your "monkey brain." That just gets you back to neutral. Rather, biblical meditation involves focused thought upon an idea long enough for you to get a picture in your mind of what you're contemplating. We all do this all the time; it's just a matter of what we're thinking about. Andrew Wommack likes to say that if you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. Worry is meditation upon something negative. Paul tells us what we should be meditating on in Philippians 4:8: "whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things."

The reason this is so important is because scripture tells us that our thoughts determine what we believe, just like planting seeds will determine what kind of harvest we get. Proverbs 23:7 says, "for as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." We can act contrary to what we truly believe for a short period of time, but what we think in our hearts is who we really are, and it will come out eventually. This is why Jesus said that the most important parable He ever taught was the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:3-23). In the parable, the "seed" is the Word of God, and soil is the hearts of the listeners. It's the state of the soil which determines how well that seed will grow and produce a harvest. There are other possible seeds besides God's word, though--in the parable, there were thorns and tares in one type of soil, too. Jesus later defines these for us as "the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches" (Matt 13:22), which can choke the Word such that it becomes unfruitful. Those sound like typical sources of worry to me.

Think of thoughts in general--any type of thought--as a potential seed that can eventually bear a harvest if you plant it and cultivate it (or meditate upon it until you can see it in your mind). A stray thought here or there can't do this any more than a seed can without the right environment for it to grow--which is why we're told in scripture to take our thoughts captive (2 Cor 10:5). Think of this like weeding the 'garden' of your heart. If you don't want the harvest, then pluck up the plant before it can bear fruit--or, better yet, avoid exposing yourself to the seed in the first place, if you can control it. This isn't always possible, but we can choose what we watch, what we listen to, what kind of church we go to (one that preaches faith or unbelief), and what kind of people we spend time with. "Bad company corrupts good character" (1 Corinthians 15:33)--so if you surround yourself with people who are negative, complaining, undisciplined, or any other negative character trait, most likely it'll rub off on you eventually. Those people influence how you think, and unwittingly this plants "seeds" in your heart that will eventually bear a harvest, if they are allowed to do so.

It takes discipline to control our imaginations, of course. Just like the Second Law of Thermodynamics describes entropy in the universe (which means that left to themselves, all systems go from order to disorder), so the tremendous power available in our minds will accomplish nothing if we don't focus it appropriately. Worse, if we use our imaginations for an actively destructive purpose like worrying, we might end up with exactly what we're essentially "believing" for. A medical example of this is the placebo versus the nocebo effect: about 30% of people (probably those who are most "suggest-able") in clinical trials will typically get better even if they're given a sugar pill rather than the actual medication being tested, because they believe it will help them. Their minds make it work. The nocebo is the same principle in reverse: if you believe something will make you worse, it very well might, even if the substance itself is neutral.

This is the whole concept behind affirmations, or positive confessions: say something long or often enough, and eventually it'll sink down into your subconscious mind, and you'll start to believe it--even if you don't at first. Not what we superficially say, but what we truly believe, determines how we will act. Other religions and spiritual traditions jump onto this too, in books like "The Secret"--because it's a neutral principle which can work for us or against us. It's just part of the way God set up the world. In Genesis 11:6, speaking of the Tower of Babel, God says, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, now nothing they imagine to do will be impossible for them." This was a negative story, but it illustrates the principle as God made it. Jesus said the same thing on the flip side when the disciples were amazed that the fig tree withered when he cursed it: "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:23-24). When I was a kid, I read this verse, took it at face value, and commanded the mountain outside my bedroom window to be cast into the sea. Nothing happened, of course... but I also didn't expect anything to happen. That's the 'caveat'--you have to actually believe what you're saying, like Jesus did.

And that's why it's so important for you to "guard your heart with all diligence"--because out of it literally "spring the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:20-23). But not immediately; as with any plant, harvests come "first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head" (Mark 4:28). Gardening is hard work; you have to constantly plant not just what you want, but you have to prepare the soil, water the seed, and pluck up competing weeds that might steal the nutrients from your fledgling little plant and choke it. It's just like that with our minds. That's why biblical meditation--using a positive imagination to picture what we want, to visualize God's promises coming to pass--is so important.

Here's an overview of some of the Hebrew and Greek words in scripture translated to meditate (or to imagine, speak, ponder, etc), their context, and how they help to back up this idea.

HAGAH: meaning to meditate, speak, imagine, study, mutter, utter, muse, devise
- Joshua 1:8: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate H1897 therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
  - Notice that God didn't tell Joshua to just read the book of the law. He told him to meditate on it day and night, to the point where it's coming out of his mouth continually. That's what was required for him to truly follow what was written. That's what was necessary for him to prosper and have success.
- Psalm 1:2-3: "But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate H1897 day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers."
  - These are the results of meditating on God's word... versus:
- Psalm 2:1: "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine H1897 a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.' He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision..."
  - The ungodly use this same principle of meditation to produce evil. This psalm shows that it won't ultimately work for them, but only because God will step in in the end, just as He did at the flood when the imaginations of men's hearts were only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5) and then when the men of the repopulated earth tried to build the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:6). Psalm 2 looks ahead to when God will step in again, as described in the book of Revelation.
- Psalm 35:28: "And my tongue shall speak H1897 of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long."
- Psalm 63:6: "When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate H1897 on thee in the night watches."
- Psalm 71:24: "My tongue also shall talk H1897 of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt."
- Psalm 77:12: "I will meditate H1897 also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings."
- Psalm 143:5: "I remember the days of old; I meditate H1897 on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands."
  - Consider the fact that the man who wrote these psalms started out a shepherd boy, the youngest of his brothers and some speculate that he was even illegitimate--and he became the greatest king Israel ever had, to the point where the Messiah was called by his name, "Son of David" (Luke 18:38). And much of what we know about meditation comes from him.
- Psalm 38:12: "They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine H1897 deceits all the day long."
  - And yet, David knew that his enemies were using this same principle against him. He spent some 13-17 years on the run from these enemies (we don't know how old he was when he was anointed king, so we don't know exactly how long). It certainly looked to him like they were winning for quite awhile. Fortunately, David persisted in envisioning and trusting and believing in God's promises coming to pass, even when everything seemed to be against him, and circumstances went from bad to much worse. In 1 Samuel 30:1-6, David had finally fled with his men out of Israel altogether, and was dwelling in the land of his enemies, when their city (Ziklag) was burned to the ground, their wives and children and everything they had stolen, and his men turned on him and spoke of stoning him. The natural human response to this would have been to give in to emotions of despair, but instead David "strengthened himself in the Lord" (1 Sam 30:6). You know that this took incredible discipline on his part, to fix his thoughts on what God said and not his current circumstances. Some believe that David encouraged himself by writing Psalm 61 after Ziklag was burned. The result was that not only did David and his men recover everything that was taken from them, but within days, he was crowned king--at long, long last.
- Prov 15:28: "The heart of the righteous studieth H1897 to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things."
  - Back to the idea of entropy: cultivating our minds to produce righteousness, wisdom, and a positive imagination doesn't just happen. We have to study. We have to do this work. This is the process of being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
- Prov 24:1-2: "Do not be envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them; For their heart studieth H1897 destruction, and their lips talk of mischief."
  - The point here is that while the righteous studies wisdom and godly principles, the wicked are doing just the opposite. They too will reap what they sow (Gal 6:7).
YETSER: imagination, form, framing, purpose, conception.
- Genesis 6:5: "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination H3336 of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
- Genesis 8:21: "And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination H3336 of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done."
- Deut 31:19-21: "Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination H3336 which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware."
  - God knew long before the Israelites ever disobeyed Him that they would disobey. You can argue that this is because God is omniscient and knows the end from the beginning, and that's certainly true too--but this verse shows that God knew it (at least in part) because he could see what they were imagining. He knew their thoughts would determine their actions. This is exactly what happened in Numbers 13, when the Israelites sent the twelve spies into the Promised Land. God had promised to give them the land, but the spies returned with a "negative report". It wasn't an untrue report, mind you--the spies reported that the land was full of giants, and it was. Only Joshua and Caleb recognized that while true, that fact was irrelevant. What they should have been focused upon was God's promise that He would give the land to them, regardless of its current inhabitants. But the ten spies' negative report produced fear in the hearts of the people, and that entire generation never got to experience God's intended blessing for them. They died in the wilderness--all except for Joshua, who became the leader after Moses, and actually led the people in forty years later, and Caleb, who at eighty-five years old, was just as strong as he'd been in his forties (Joshua 14:11). He took the mountain of Hebron where the most intimidating Canaanites lived for his inheritance (Joshua 14:6-15).
- Psalm 103:14: "For he knoweth our frame; H3336 he remembereth that we are dust."
  - The word 'frame' is also the word elsewhere translated meditation or thoughts, so it's not speaking just of the physical frame. The context here is speaking of our sins, and God's compassion upon us for our weakness. In other words, none of this is easy. God knows that. He pities us and has compassion upon us.
- Isaiah 26:3: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind H3336 is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."
  - I love this verse. It gives us the recipe for peace. "Perfect peace" in Hebrew is actually shalom shalom shalom: the word for peace written three times. The translators presumably didn't know how else to translate that but "perfect." David modeled this for us at Ziklag, intentionally turning his mind to the Lord. Jesus modeled this for us when sleeping on the boat in the middle of the storm (Mark 4:35-41). Abraham modeled this for us when he kept his mind on God's promise of a child and not the impossibility of his and Sarah's circumstances (Romans 4:18-22). It's not easy, but the result is shalom shalom shalom.
SIYACH: meditate, seek, pray, commune, muse, ponder.
- 1 Chronicles 16:9: "Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk H7878 ye of all his wondrous works."
- Psalm 77:6: "I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune H7878 with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search."
- Psalm77:12: "I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk H7878 of thy doings."
- Psalm 105:2: "Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk H7878 ye of all his wondrous works."
- Psalm 119:15: "I will meditate H7878 in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways." (and repeatedly throughout Psalm 119)
- Proverbs 23:7: "for as he thinks in his heart, so is he."
Hope
YAHAL: wait, tarry, trust, hope, be patient. Hope can be considered positive imagination. It's the precursor for faith (Hebrews 11:1).
- Romans 8:24-25: "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."
- Psalm 42:5: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance."
Greek dianoia = mind, understanding, imagination
- This is a command. It's not merely talking about intellectual study, though of course that's part of it. What starts out as an intellectual exercise eventually becomes the mental picture of what we see on the inside.
Matthew 22:37: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."
Eph 1:18: "The eyes of your understanding G1271 being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints"
Eph 4:18: "Having the understanding G1271 darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart"
Col 1:21: "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind G1271 by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled."
Heb 8:10: "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, G1271 and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people"
1 Peter 1:13: "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, G1271 be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;"
Greek logismos: thought, imagination, reasoning, judgment
"Casting down imaginations, G3053 and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"
A few more examples of this principle in action:
Genesis 13:16: God showed Abram the dust of the earth as a symbol of his descendants, and the land of Canaan that would be filled with them.
Genesis 15:5: God showed Abram the stars as a picture of his descendants
Mark 6:41: before feeding the 5000 with five loaves and two fish, Jesus looks up (ANABLEPO), seeing into the unseen realm, and gives thanks. (2 Cor 5:7: we walk by faith, not by sight... and this works because that's where all the spiritual blessings already exist (Eph 1:3).

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Jack Dell’Accio, CEO & Founder of Essentia, has been focused on analyzing sleep for over 20 years! Of most importance to Jack is the impact of restorative sleep in terms of recovery from disease, prevention of disease, longevity, and performance. Jack has worked with some of the world's top athletes to optimize their recovery and performance. Through the years, he has worked directly with health gurus, professional athletes and teams in the NBA, NFL, MLS, and over 25% of active NHL players on creating healthy sleep performance. Essentia’s organic mattress has been recognized by several internationally renowned organizations including the Mayo Clinic’s Well Living Lab. Essentia has been named the #1 foam mattress by Consumer Reports for 7 consecutive years. Now, Jack is proud to present the results of a double-blind sleep study of professional athletes which proves Essentia can extend the time spent in REM and Deep Sleep cycles by 20% to 60%!

To learn more about Jack and Essentia, see myessentia.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Nate Birner graduated from Michigan Lutheran Seminary in 2003, and has been fitness coaching since 2005. He left the church entirely for most of his career in fitness. Multiple (and sometimes traumatic) injuries and surgeries slowly revealed to Nate that he had made fitness into an idol in his life. Now he has a more balanced approach to health and fitness, and owns a strength training gym in Cedar Park TX called Fit Goal Culture. Nate is using his new book, "God's Fingerprint on Fitness,” to encourage Christians struggling with their health and weight to take steps towards fitness, and to encourage fitness enthusiasts and coaches to lead their clients to take steps toward a deeper relationship with God.

To learn more about Nate, see natebirner.com, where you can also download the first chapter of the book. You can also follow him @natebirner on Instagram.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr. Afton L. Hassett is an Associate Professor and Director of Pain and Opioid Research in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan. She is a principal investigator at the Chronic Pain & Fatigue Research Center who has over $14M of research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Viewed as a leader in the field of chronic pain and resilience, she recently gave the Keynote address at the 2023 Pain Consortium Symposium on Advances in Pain Research for the NIH. While studying established treatments for chronic pain and developing new approaches is her passion, her frustration is that exciting research discoveries rarely make it to the people who could benefit the most. Thus, Afton’s mission was to write Chronic Pain Reset to bring evidence-based strategies from research and academic medical settings directly to people who live with chronic pain with the hope that they will gain new tools to lead more rewarding lives with less pain.

To learn more about Dr Hassett, see aftonhassett.com**

You ca get her book, Chronic Pain Reset, here.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

How to deal with stressful situations: pray and then let God's peace rule:
Pray and thank God for the answer in advance, and you will have peace: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
Col 3:15: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."
2 Thess 3:16: "Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you."
Fearing circumstances is not from God: 2 Tim 1:7: "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid (give us a spirit of fear), but gives us power, love and self-discipline."
If you are weary, let God refresh you:
"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7
Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Hope, faith, and trust which comes from love are antidotes to fear:
Believe you have it before you pray: Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
When you understand His perfect love, you will trust: 1 John 4:18: "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."
Luke 1:37: "For no word from God will ever fail."
Psalm 56:3: "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you."
Isaiah 40:31: "but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me." John 14:1
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27
God delivers from fear and rescues from the trouble that besets you:
Psalm 55:22: "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken."
If you trust, you will flourish no matter the circumstances: Jeremiah 17:7-8: “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
Heb 13:5-6: 'God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”'
Psalm 34:4: "I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears."
Psalm 34:17: "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles."
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Isaiah 35:4: "say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”"
Psalm 23:4-6: "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."
"When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy." Psalm 94:19
"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8
Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
God will meet your needs as you seek Him:
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?" Matthew 6:25
"Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!" Luke 12:24
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, How to Stimulate Autophagy to Live Longer and Healthier

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Kelly Needham is a servant of Jesus Christ, a student of the Bible and COO of her home, where she lives with her husband, Jimmy, and their five children. She is the author of Friendish: Reclaiming Real Friendship in a Culture of Confusion (Thomas Nelson, 2019) and has been a contributing author to many other books, including Faithful (David C. Cook, 2021) and Beautifully Distinct (Good Book Company, 2020). She has served on staff at multiple churches, serving in youth, college and women's ministry. Kelly currently co-leads a women’s teaching program, training women to accurately handle the word of truth and co-hosts a podcast, Clearly with Jimmy and Kelly Needham. Whether writing or speaking, Kelly’s aim is to convince as many people as possible that nothing compares to knowing Jesus.

You can find Kelly's books, podcast, and learn more about her at jimmyandkelly.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr. Alan Bauman is an accomplished hair restoration physician, known for his expertise in treating hair loss and his pioneering work in the field. His state-of-the-art "Hair Hospital" in downtown Boca Raton, FL, covers 12,000 square feet and is recognized worldwide for its advanced hair restoration technologies.

His dedication to the field of hair restoration has earned him many accolades throughout his career. He is one of approximately 200 physicians worldwide to have achieved certification from the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS). He has pioneered numerous technologies in the field of hair restoration.

Dr. Bauman's expertise has made him a highly sought-after speaker and guest expert. He has been featured in hundreds of news stories in the media. Dr. Bauman has also been recognized for his contributions to the field of healthcare, receiving the 2022 "Lifetime Achievement Award in Hair Restoration" and being named one of "10 CEOs Transforming Healthcare in America" by Forbes.

To learn more about Dr Bauman or for a consultation, visit baumanmedical.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

That's a command for all of us, but some of us find it easier to do than others.
I do a lot of neurotransmitter testing in my practice: urine testing for brain signaling chemicals, including serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, GABA, glycine, and glutamate. I used to simply feed the appropriate pathways with the precursors if they were low, and feed the enzymes for metabolism if one was too high, to try to balance things out. I still do that to an extent, but I've also started to recognize patterns. Sometimes a neurotransmitter test can suggest to me that someone is low in some of the cofactors (vitamins or minerals) for certain pathways. Other times, it can suggest that there's a common genetic predisposition to metabolizing neurotransmitters in a particular way.

I also used to do a lot more genetic testing than I currently do (for a variety of reasons, though it can still be useful). Sometimes the genetics can tell me that someone will tend to make an excessive amount of a particular neurotransmitter, or that they don't tend to make enough of it, or that they tend to break it down really fast, or break it down really slowly. That can help inform what I see on neurotransmitter testing, and how I might go about trying to maintain balance, once we've achieved it.

There are certain personality types, as well as patterns of thinking, that go along with patterns of neurotransmitters. Serotonin and dopamine tend to be an especially striking see-saw. Those with high (but not too high) serotonin tend to be very laid back and in the moment. Those with high (but not too high) dopamine tend to be very driven, always checking off their to-do list, and then moving straight on to the next thing.

Too much of either one, or too little of either one, can lead to a particular type of anxiety or depression. Those with excessively high (but more often excessively low) norepinephrine or epinephrine (together known as adrenaline) tend to be jumpy, and constantly in fight-or flight mode. Usually I see this pattern in people who have been stressed out for a long time.

Some of these patterns can be explained by the genetics, but it's also true that neurotransmitters and thoughts are a "chicken-or-egg" scenario: which comes first? We all are familiar with the downward spiral of negative thinking: the more you do it, the harder it is to stop. I think this is why Paul told us to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ," (2 Cor 10:5), and then to think on "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Phil 4:8. We do have a choice--but our habitual thinking makes this easier or harder to do.

A few years ago I read a fascinating book called "The Molecule of More" by Daniel Lieberman. It fleshed out not so much the acute imbalances, but the personality types that go with certain patterns. Lieberman categorizes norepinephrine, along with serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins, as “here and now,” or H&N neurotransmitters, meaning they help with enjoyment of the moment and satisfaction in one’s actual, current experience.

By contrast, the neurotransmitter dopamine is all about novelty and desire (it is the "Molecule of More," as in always wanting more). The moment that a pleasure is no longer unexpected, or a goal is achieved, dopamine is quenched. The enjoyment associated with expected pleasures or enjoying what one already possesses requires the H&N neurotransmitters–and certain kinds of people are predisposed more toward one over the other. The highest achievers in history tended to be very dopamine dominant, with all its attendant benefits and pitfalls. They are constantly driven, and usually obsessed with achievement and efficiency–but this also means they are rarely “happy”, where happiness is defined by satisfaction with what they actually have. Many of them are more susceptible to affairs and divorce, because for them, it’s more about the thrill of the chase than the actual relationship. They often care for humanity in the abstract, but have little patience with individual people. But on the plus side, they also are quite resilient to adversity and change, since novelty produces the dopamine spike they crave.

On the flip side, those more predisposed genetically to the H&N neurotransmitters tend to be happier and more content, and to have stronger interpersonal relationships, but far less driven to achievement, and less resilient to the stress of change.

Lieberman doesn't argue that either is "better" than the other per se; each has their own strengths and weaknesses (and he also makes the fascinating argument that one's political leanings can often be affiliated with certain patterns of neurochemistry, too).

If you tend toward the H&N neurotransmitters, you'll find it much easier to "be still and know" that He is God, but you might have a harder time seeking out and performing the good works that He has prepared for you to do (Eph 2:10). If this is you, you'll probably do much better with accountability partners and little hacks to keep you motivated. (Another great book for building habits for success, particularly if you're not otherwise inclined to do so, is "Atomic Habits" by James Clear.)

If you tend more toward dopamine dominance, you'll likely be an internally motivated high performer who accomplishes a great deal, but you'll struggle to be satisfied with what you've achieved. (A great book that might help with this mentality is "The Gap and the Gain," by Dan Sullivan and Dr Benjamin Hardy.) You'll also likely find it much harder to meditate, and to stop and enjoy the moment--but you're the type of personality that really needs to prioritize the habit of silence and stillness.

I prioritize it by setting a timer on my phone, and five minutes a day, I'll close my eyes and picture myself at the beach with Jesus--sometimes meditating on verses, other times just being there, and bringing wandering thoughts back to the mental sound of the waves. I also tend to multitask--and I enjoy it, but I know it can go too far. I have to be intentional about choosing silence: running outside (when it's not blisteringly hot) without headphones, so that I can pray instead. Sometimes completing rote tasks in silence, and choosing prayer and meditation.

Some more verses on this topic:

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You," Isaiah 26:3.
"I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done." Psalm 143:5
"I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” Psalm 77:11-12
"My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body." Prov 4:20-22
"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers." Psalm 1:1-3.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Dr Jacob Teitelbaum is one of the most frequently quoted integrative, pain and fibromyalgia medical authorities in the world. He is the author of the best-selling From Fatigued to Fantastic!, Pain Free, 1,2,3!, The Complete Guide to Beating Sugar Addiction, Real Cause Real Cure, The Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Solution, Diabetes Is Optional and the popular free Smart Phone app Cures A-Z. He is the lead author of 8 studies on effective treatment for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, and a study on effective treatment of autism using NAET. Dr. Teitelbaum appears often as a guest on news and talk shows nationwide including Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, Oprah & Friends, CNN, and FoxNewsHealth.

Learn more at:

Vitality101.com
endfatigue.com
You can get Dr Teitelbaum's personalized analysis at energyanalysisprogram.com
You can contact Dr Teitelbaum for information sheets on various conditions at fatiguedoc@gmail.com

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

The biggest obstacle to faith for a lot of people is this: “If God is all powerful, then why does He cause (or allow) bad things to happen?”

There's something fundamental that we must establish before we ever address this question directly: God is good, all the time (James 1:16-17).

We know this, at least in part, by what Jesus did. Jesus said that he who has seen him has seen the Father (John 14:8-9), and Jesus went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38, Matt 15:30, Matt 4:23-24, Matt 8:16, Matt 9:35, Matt 10:1, Matt 12:15, Matt 15:30, Luke 4:40, Luke 10:9). He never refused healing to anyone who came to Him. He never harmed anyone "for their own good," or put a disease on anyone "to teach them something" or "to discipline them." Not once. In fact, He actively worked against all sickness and disease, to destroy the devil's work (1 John 3:8). He is the same today as He was when He was on earth (Hebrews 13:8).

God the Father doesn't change either (Malachi 3:6). We know of God's character from His names in the Old Testament. He is Jehovah Nissi (The Lord my Banner - Ex 17:15). He is Jehovah-Raah (The Lord my Shepherd, or My Friend - Gen 48:15, Psalm 23:1, 80:1, Ez 34:11-15). He is Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals, Ex 15:26). He is Jehovah Shammah (The Lord is There - He has not abandoned you: Eze 48:35). He is Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness, Jer 23:6, 33:16). He is Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord who Sanctifies You: Ex 31:13, Lev 20:8). He is Jehovah Jireh (The Lord will Provide, Gen 22:14). He is Jehovah Shalom (The Lord is Peace, Judges 6:24). He is Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts, 1 Sam 1:3, Ps 24:9-10, 84:3, Isa 6:5).

Many other scriptures establish His goodness. He is ONLY good. (1 John 1:5, Psalm 84:11-12; Psalm 146:6-10; Psalm 107:9, Psalm 31:19, 1 Tim 4:4-5, Eph 1:3, Romans 8:28, Ps 103:2-5, Ps 145:16-19).

God doesn’t do bad things to His children. Yet He’s powerful enough that for those who trust in Him, He can take even terrible circumstances that were not part of His plan, and bring good out of them.“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Those who know their scriptures well may point out Old Testament passages that sound like God, in fact, did do evil things. One example is in 2 Sam 24:1, when it says the Lord moved David (in pride) to count the number of his subjects... and then condemned David's sin in having done so (2 Sam 24:10) and punished him severely for it. Yet the exact same story appears in 1 Chron 21:1, where it says Satan moved David to number Israel. This is a very rare glimpse into what was happening in the spiritual realm in the Old Testament, where there is almost no doctrine of Satan. The primary exception to this is at the beginning of the book of Job; otherwise Satan is only mentioned by name here, and in Zechariah 3:1-2. (He is mentioned in Genesis 3 as "the serpent," of course, and also as Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12 and Ezekiel 28 as well.) The Old Testament had almost no doctrine of Satan because the people had no authority over him under the Mosaic covenant. What good would it do to learn that you have a bloodthirsty enemy, but there is nothing you can do to protect yourself from him? Because of this, in the Old Testament, anything supernatural, good or bad, was attributed to God, whether God was the instigator or not. The New Testament (and the revelation in Job 1:6-12) shows that this is not the case; there is a spiritual war going on, and we have an adversary who hates us. (For more on how God's dealings with man changed with different covenants, see my Blood Covenant biblical retellings duology: Blood Covenant Origins and Blood Covenant Fulfilled.)

So if God doesn't cause bad things to happen, why do they happen? Evil comes about as a result of one of or a combination of three things --

1) Satan, the enemy of God and therefore of us, who would like nothing better than to see us destroyed:“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).1 Peter 5:8 — “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

2) A fallen world that will be redeemed one day, but isn’t yet: “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom 8:20-21).

and 3) people who are sinners, and either aren’t yet saved or aren’t yet perfected:“There is no one righteous [apart from God], not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God” (Rom 3:10-11).

But if God is truly sovereign, or all-powerful, even if He doesn't cause bad things to happen, doesn't He at least allow them, for His own purposes--which largely boils down to the same thing? I thought this way for a very long time--that He was like a great General of an army, who sometimes had to make sacrifices for a greater good. Sometimes (sorry), that sacrifice turned out to be you.

On one particular night, sitting in front of my fire alone and in the midst of a major life crisis, the Lord disabused me of this mistaken belief about Him. At the time it was an emotional, intuitive understanding, and the fruit of it--renewed joy, hope, faith, and trust in Him--was one layer of evidence that it was true. It was only later that I studied why this definition of God's sovereignty is also biblically inaccurate. God is sovereign in the sense that He is all-powerful, all-loving, and all-knowing, but He is not all-controlling. God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; they did anyway. Was that God's will? Certainly not! He did everything He could to keep them from doing it, short of making them automatons, when He told them, don't do it. Likewise, any sovereign can set laws that his citizens may not necessarily obey. The US is a sovereign nation and in 1974 the administration set the "National Maximum Speed Law" of 55mph. But many drivers exceeded that speed limit regularly.

The New English Translation has the word “sovereign” appear more than any other biblical translation (368 times). Not one of the original Hebrew or Greek words connotes the idea that He controls everything that happens. Most of the time it’s just the way they render God’s names.The word sovereign is often translated from Shaddai (meaning Almighty) when it’s part of God’s name (48 times in the OT). Other times it’s translated from ‘elohiym: supreme God, as a superlative, or ‘elyown, meaning High or Most High. Sometimes it's thrown in as part of the transition of ‘Adonay: an emphatic form of the Lord. Sometimes it's translated from tsaba’, also translated the Lord of Hosts, meaning one who commands an army. In some cases the word sovereign is used to describe God's characteristics, but in context, it doesn't mean what we typically mean by the word (that His will always happens).

The NET version of 1 Chronicles 29:11 says, "O LORD, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all." Only this translation uses the word sovereign; the others , translate it Head. This word connotes the idea of a supreme ruler, but not of one who always gets His way.

Psalm 84:11 is one of my favorites. It says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield (magen: shield, buckler, protector).” The same verse is translated in NET: "For the LORD God is our sovereign protector." Clearly this doesn't say anything about His will always being done, either.

Sovereign power is also translated as holiness from qadash: "to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate." This word is used in Ezekiel 28:25: "'This is what the sovereign LORD says: When I regather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are dispersed, I will reveal my sovereign power (or holiness) over them in the sight of the nations, and they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob." Micah 5:4 says, "He will assume his post and shepherd the people by the LORD's strength, by the sovereign authority of the LORD his God. They will live securely, for at that time he will be honored even in the distant regions of the earth.” Sovereign authority is ga'own (exaltation, majesty, pride) shem (name, reputation, fame, glory): thus, better translated “in the majesty of the name” of the Lord.

Habakkuk 2:14 says, "For recognition of the LORD's sovereign majesty will fill the earth just as the waters fill up the sea." Sovereign majesty here is yada (to know, to perceive, to make known) kabowd (glory, honour, glorious, abundance), also translated “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.”

Of course God's will does not always come to pass. The classic example of this is 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance,” and 1 Timothy 2:4: “Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Matthew 18:14 also says, “Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world, not just those who are saved. 1 John 2:2 says, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world”, and 1 Tim 4:10 says, "That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.” But not everybody will be saved, clearly. God gave us free will; He doesn't force us to choose Him, nor does He make any of our other decisions for us, either. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it." God wills it; He paid for it; but He won't get everyone as He would like.

There are other verses that imply the concept of sovereignty (in the sense that when God decides to do something, He does it, and no one can stop Him). But this refers to God’s right and His power, and says nothing about potential restrictions He places on His right and power one way or the other. Here are a few of those verses:

Job 42:2: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
Isaiah 46:10: “I declare the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.”
Romans 8:28: “All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” (i.e. He can use bad and work it for good.)

So what restrictions did God place on His own power, and why are they there?

God gave dominion of earth to men in the Garden of Eden (Gen 1:26-29)--like the lease on a property, the earth lease. When Adam obeyed Satan instead of God, he gave the earth to Satan, and Satan became the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4). Jesus defeated Satan on the cross, but the earth lease has yet to run out. Even the demons whom Jesus cast out knew that there was a set time when they would be evicted--but it was not yet (Matt 8:29). Once God had given His word, He had to abide by it. Everything in the universe is upheld by the integrity of His word (Hebrews 1:3). And yet, He still wanted to save us--but we'd locked Him outside of His own world by our choices. He had to find a way to "legally" get back on the inside. He'd given dominion of the earth to men (Psalm 115:16), so He had to become a man, to buy it back--our kinsman redeemer (see the book of Ruth for a true story that is also a parable of this). Jesus did buy it back, but even though He now has the rights to it, He won't take possession of it until He returns. He has delayed only so that all who would will be saved (2 Peter 3:9).

Revelation 5 depicts the moment when the earth lease is finally up. Jesus begins to take possession of it, and to "evict" the evil from the world. Even then, He won't do it all at once, but in progressive steps, because part of the purpose of the Tribulation is to redeem His chosen people, Israel. Indeed, their turning to Him and asking Him to return is a prerequisite for His second coming (Matt 23:39).

Until then, though, God has made "legal" provision for those who follow Him through successive covenants with men on earth who could agree to give Him permission. Prior to Abraham, God had no "legal" right to protect His favorites, which is why the book of Job played out the way it did. But once the Mosaic law came, it laid out blessings for those who followed God, and cursings for those who disobeyed Him (Deut 28)--because sin still had to be punished. The story of the Old Testament shows repeated episodes of disobedience, because the Jews could not follow the Law. God always knew this, of course--Paul's treatise in Romans demonstrates that the point of the Law was to show that all people are incapable of following it. Even so, there were those even in the Old Testament who figured out that what God really wanted was a changed heart (Psalm 51:10, Micah 6:8), not sacrifice (Hosea 6:6). Those few, like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and David, got to enjoy a real relationship with God, even before Christ.

Aside from spiritual blessings from obedience in the Old Covenant, God wanted good things for His people so much that He built in multiple paths to receive it. He designed the body such that it heals itself. In the law, He also instructed His people on how to work with the natural laws so that their bodies would be healthy. He told them to rest one day per week (the Sabbath). The Old Covenant is full of dietary rules, to eat certain things and not to eat others (corresponding to modern recommendations for health), to quarantine those who contracted contagious diseases, to decontaminate objects that had been in contact with mold, and many other things that would have made no medical sense to the Jews at the time.

More than that, the most common command in scripture is to "fear not." We now know that stress (anxiety, fear, panic, etc) contributes to, by some estimation, up to 90% of chronic illness.

From a practical standpoint for provision, scripture is filled with recommendations to be honest, generous, diligent and not lazy, to diversify our efforts, etc --to work with natural laws of sowing and reaping, so that we might prosper. I

n the Old Testament, there are accounts of miraculous interventions for healing, provision, victory, etc--but God always worked through a man who cooperated with Him via the covenant in place at the time. In the New Testament, Jesus was the perfect embodiment of the will of the Father. He healed everyone who came to Him--but the method was often different. In some cases, He healed with a touch (Luke 5:13). In other cases, people touched Him (Mark 5:31), or even the hem of His garment (Matt 14:36). In other cases He merely spoke the word (Matt 8:8, John 11:43). In others He put mud on blind eyes (John 9:6). There was no formula; He met people where they were at, individually.

Then in the New Covenant, Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13-14), leaving us with only the blessings for those who are in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). This means that today, there are many promises for blessing, healing, provision, and victory that we can stand on and receive by faith, whether a sudden miraculous intervention or a slow blessing working with natural laws (which is more common, Mark 4:14, 26-29). God sends His word to heal us (Ps 107:20). We can receive the blessings that are now already ours in Christ (Eph 1:3) by abiding in Him (John 15:7), trusting in Him (Prov 3:5-6, Psalm 91), learning what His word says (Hosea 4:6) and renewing our minds with it (Romans 12:2), casting down all imaginations to the contrary (2 Cor 10:5), and resisting the devil when he tries to lie to us about what is truly ours (James 4:7), by speaking God's word in faith (Mark 11:23), and by forgiving others and ourselves (James 5:16). Since God's word is as a seed, it takes time for the harvest to come (Mark 4:14, 26-29) and we will reap if we do not grow weary and lose heart (Gal 6:9).

What if we fail to do our part and for whatever reason, don't or can't seem to receive this way, though? The earth is still under Satan's control until the earth lease runs out, and it's also still dominated by sinful people. The world itself is still corrupted by sin (Romans 8:19-22). God made provision for us to overcome these things, but there is still much to overcome. Job (who had no covenant to protect him at all) complained to God, "Have you eyes of flesh? or do you see as a man sees?" (Job 10:4). Even in the Old Testament, God pitied us and knew that we are but dust (Psalm 103:14), but then Jesus came and walked in our shoes. He can sympathize with our weaknesses exactly (Hebrews 4:15). When Peter walked on water and then took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink, Jesus still reached out and caught him (Matt 14:28-32). When the disciples feared drowning and woke Jesus, Jesus rebuked the winds and the waves (Mark 4:35-41). If we begin to fear and take our eyes off of Him, He's there for us too, to give us mercy and grace in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). He also gave us the body of Christ to stand with us and bolster our faith with the prayer of agreement (Matt 18:19, James 5:14-15).

We also still have all of the alternative methods to receive God's blessings, as well: all truth is His truth. He gave us principles like sowing and reaping (Gal 6:7) which includes blessing the work of our hands (Deut 28:4-8). He gave us the science of natural laws, including medicine and logic. He promises to give us wisdom for whatever we need when we ask for it (James 1:5-8)--we just have to take Him at His word.

Whatever tragedy may have befallen you in your life, God was not the author of it. He wants good things for you, and not evil (Jeremiah 29:11). He is for you, and not against you (Romans 8:31). If He gave you the very best He had, Jesus, to redeem you and make you His, why would He not also freely give you everything else that is good (Romans 8:32)? He weeps with you in your tragedy (John 11:35). He never wanted this for you. But He can take even that tragedy and bring good out of it, if You will trust Him to do so (Romans 8:28).

God has been much maligned, even in the church. It's convenient and even sometimes comforting, in a twisted way, to say that God must have done, or allowed, some tragedy for some greater purpose of His that we cannot see. But the truth is, the earth is still a battleground, and God is the Hero, not the villain.

He is only good. All the time.

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Blood Covenant Origins (Biblical Retellings)

View Details

Dr. Erik Korem has always been driven by a relentless pursuit of high performance. As time progressed, that drive became a purpose — to improve the lives of others in ways they didn’t know were possible. Whether fueling the performance of NCAA athletes or the U.S. Dept. of Defense, implementing one of the NFL's first sports science programs, or coaching Olympic gold medalists, his desire to leave people and places better than he found them is unwavering.

Now, as Founder and CEO of AIM7, he’s employing his unique expertise as an applied performance scientist to unleash the true power of wearables in a way that tangibly improves the lives of others. Their proven algorithms analyze users' health data and provide custom recommendations for enhancing the mind, body, and recovery process. Leveraging the science of adaptive capacity, Erik and his team are unlocking a new level of human performance for anyone with a wearable device.

To learn more about Erik, you can find him on Instagram and YouTube @ErikKorem

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

Sam Black is a renowned author and expert in the field of pornography recovery. As the Director of Recovery Education at Covenant Eyes, he brings a wealth of experience to his work, having joined the organization in 2007 after a distinguished 18-year career as an award-winning journalist. Sam is the author of two groundbreaking books: "The Healing Church: What Churches Get Wrong About Pornography and How to Fix It" and "The Porn Circuit: Understand Your Brain and Break Porn Habits." He has also edited 16 other books on the impact of pornography and regularly speaks at parenting, leadership and men's events across the country. Sam's deep knowledge and compassionate approach have helped countless individuals and families find healing and hope.

To learn more about Sam, see thehealingchurch.com, or o to the app store and download the Victory App for content!

Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

View Details

There is a bit of a debate amongst believers regarding how to reconcile scripture with scientific claims about the age of the earth. Many assume that the evidence that the earth is millions of years old is water-tight, and therefore we only have three options: find a way to fit millions of years into the Bible somewhere, reject clear scientific evidence, or reject the Bible entirely. Those who do try to cram millions of years into scripture have to do it somewhere in Genesis 1. I've heard this done in two ways. One is the gap theory, which places millions of years in between Genesis 1:1, when God created the heavens and the earth, and Genesis 1:2, when the earth was without form and void. The idea is that earth was created once, destroyed, and then remade in between the verses. There's a fascinating book called "The Invisible War" by Donald Barnhouse that makes this claim fairly compellingly -- but so far as I can tell, even if one were to subscribe to this idea, the earth was still remade in Genesis 1:2--at which point the clock should start over. This won't "solve" the biblical young earth problem.

The other possibility uses 2 Peter 3:8, which says that "a day to the Lord is as a thousand years," to extrapolate that a day is also to the Lord as millions of years. Therefore, the six days of creation were actually millions of years apiece.
There are a number of philosophical problems with this. In certain places, scripture is poetic and should be interpreted as such. Psalm 91, for instance, says that "He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge" (91:4). This is obvious poetry, meant to evoke the image and feeling that God protects us the way a mother hen protects her chicks. It would be absurd to think this means that God has literal feathers. Many of the psalms employ similar poetic imagery, as do many of the prophetic books, Song of Songs, etc. These should be interpreted as poetry, and not as literal historical books.

But Genesis is written like an historical book. Genesis 1 is about as clear as it could possibly be that we're talking about six literal days. After each day the scripture says, "so the evening and the morning were the (blank) day," to illustrate that we are talking about 24 hours.

Also, Genesis says after each day, "And God saw that it was good." Death is not good; death is the result of sin (Romans 6:23). Sin didn't happen until Genesis 3. If each of the six days of creation was actually millions of years, do we suppose that no creatures died during that entire time? And if death did enter before Adam and Eve ever sinned, then how was creation pronounced "good"? Romans 8:19-22 tells us that even creation groans under the weight of corruption--it too must ultimately be redeemed. When did it become corrupted, if not by sin in Genesis 3?

Finally, if Genesis 1 is really a metaphorical abstraction representing millions of years of evolutionary change, what other apparently historical scriptures can be allegorized? Was there really a flood? How about a real resurrection?

In short, what can you trust? The Bible is either true or it's not.

If the Bible is literally trustworthy, what do we do with all the evidence that "proves" the earth is millions of years old? Does "science" actually prove this?

Carbon-14 dating is the best known dating method that most people think of in conjunction with this question. The most common isotope of carbon is C-12, but all carbon-based life forms start out with a certain, albeit very small, amount of the C-14 isotope in life. C-14 is radioactive, which means over time (after death) it decays via beta decay, in which one of its neutrons becomes a proton, turning it into nitrogen. The half life of C-14 decay is only 5700 years, give or take 30 years in either direction. That means it takes roughly 5700 years for half the amount of C-14 that started out in organic material to decay into nitrogen--so you can't use C-14 dating for anything older than 100,000 years. Past that point, there shouldn't be any C-14 left.

And yet, some dinosaur bones have been found to still contain C-14 (https://www.icr.org/article/radiocarbon-dinosaur-other-fossils). How is this possible, if they are supposed to be millions of years old?

Those who defend the evolutionary time scale will claim that the C-14 must have crept in via contamination.

Yet there are even more remarkable findings in dinosaur bones than C-14. Many still contain intact biomolecules (here's a comprehensive list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eXtKzjWP2B1FMDVrsJ_992ITFK8H3LXfPFNM1ll-Yiw/edit#gid=0). These include hemoglobin and blood residue (https://www.icr.org/article/a-80-million-year-old-mosasaur-fossil), retinal tissue, and skin (https://www.icr.org/article/original-tissue-fossils-creations-silent).

Ages at a greater timescale than 50-100K years are determined via radiometric dating of igneous rocks (those formed by volcanic eruption), often using potassium-40, which decays to argon-40. Once the lava cools, the rocks are "born"--and the assumption is that any elements that are in a gaseous state at the time will escape before the lava cools into a solid. Argon-40 is a gas, so once hardened, the igneous rock should start out with no argon. Whatever potassium there is should, over a very long time time, decay into argon-40 (the half-life of this process is 1.25 billion years). Thus, the ratio of potassium to argon can serve as a proxy for the age of the rock.

Unfortunately, this isn't always accurate. The igneous rocks formed in the Mt. St. Helens eruption of 1980 were tested using the potassium-argon method, and were dated to be hundreds of thousands of years old. Apparently, all the argon gas did not escape prior to the lava solidifying into rock, making the rocks appear many orders of magnitude older than they really were. Additionally, igneous rock are porous, so gas can diffuse into or out of the rocks, further confounding the process. If this method is so wildly inaccurate for dating a known eruption, how can we trust it for anything unknown?

Another common dating method is the ratio of uranium-238 to lead-238. This decay is a 14-step process (not a one-step like potassium to argon), with a half life of 4.5 billion years. Eight of these steps produces a helium atom, so for every one atom of uranium, eight helium atoms should be produced. Because helium escapes from rocks fairly quickly (they are porous, remember), there should be little to no helium left if the rocks were billions of years old. But the RATE project (Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth) at the Institute for Creation Research determined that some of these rocks had high amounts of helium still trapped in them. This finding is consistent with radioactive decay--it was occurring--but it was inconsistent with the expected 4.5 billion year half life.

One possible explanation for this is that half lives might not be as fixed as previously believed. This has been demonstrated for other elements in laboratory experiments: radioactive Rhenium-187 decays to osmium-187 with a 41.6 billion year half life, but if all of Rhenium-187's electrons are experimentally removed, the half life can be sped up to a mere 33 years (https://answersingenesis.org/geology/radiometric-dating/acceleration-of-radioactivity-shown-in-laboratory/). Granted, that was under laboratory conditions--but it does cast further doubt on the absolute nature of half-life decay in general.

Other common dating methods are relative, using the date of something "known" to infer the date of something unknown. These involve index fossils--i.e. if the fossil of one creature is found next to a dinosaur fossil from the Cambrian period, scientists will then assume that the previously unknown fossil must be 400-500 million years old. (But then of course the question becomes, were they correct in dating the index fossil?)

Paleomagnetism is another possible relative method. The earth's polarity has changed at various times in its history, and the polarity of magnetic rocks reflects earth's polarity at the time they were buried. Scientists believe they know when earth's polarity reversed in the last 10,000 years, so ferromagnetic materials bearing a certain polarity can serve as a proxy for the date of anything found nearby (provided it was estimated to be 10,000 years old or younger). But again, this depends on a lot of assumptions--and there is evidence (https://answersingenesis.org/age-of-the-earth/more-evidence-rapid-geomagnetic-reversals-confirm-young-earth/) that earth's polarity reversed many times, rapidly, over a very short period of time. Creation scientists believed that this was a consequence of the worldwide flood, in which some of the waters came from the "fountains of the deep" breaking up (Genesis 7:11). This sounds very much like shifting tectonic plates, which would have set off volcanic eruptions. Since earth's magnetic field is generated from its churning molten core, it stands to reason that earth's polarity might have been affected by the same process.

The Bottom Line

We're bombarded with the narrative that evolution and the "deep time" of earth is established fact, rather than a theory, but it's not true.

Majority opinion does not establish a truth--what matters isn't what the majority believes, but whether or not they are right. (The idea that majority opinion equals truth is called the logical fallacy of faulty appeal, or 'the appeal to the many.') Nevertheless, it can be daunting, and perhaps even feel arrogant, for the lay public to challenge the unanimous narrative of the experts.

There is, in fact, a large number of experts who do not subscribe to the dominant narrative of evolution as established fact. In April 2020, over 1100 scientists in a vast range of scientific disciplines including chemistry, biology, medicine, geology, and paleontology signed a statement claiming, “We are skeptical that ‘random variation’ and ‘natural selection’ can explain the complexity of life. A serious review of the evidence for Darwinism should be encouraged.” (https://www.discovery.org/m/2020/04/Scientific-Dissent-from-Darwinism-List-04072020.pdf)

These voices might be suppressed, but they are out there.

Science and religion are not in conflict. God made the universe and everything in it, and science is simply the study of what He made. Psalm 19:1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork."

All truth is God's truth. True science always points to Him.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Steve Wiideman is the CEO of Wiideman Consulting Company. Specializing in SEO Strategy, Steve likes to organize search into specific disciplines broken down by business model. For natural search, Steve believes in only three fundamental requirements: Relevancy, Visibility and User Behavior. For local search, Data, Landing Page, Citation and Reputation are the keys to success.

While serving as an adjunct professor at UCSD and CSUF, Steve is also building the Academy of Search, while volunteering time to help improve transparency and industry standards as an agency trainer.

At the forefront of SEO, Steve has a front-row seat to how AI is changing the landscape of various industries.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Let's grant for the moment that somehow, the fully functional and the irreducibly complex genetic code necessary for a single eukaryotic, or even prokaryotic cell, came into existence by happenstance (or by panspermia, perhaps, or by an infinite number of parallel universes -- pick your deus ex machina mechanism). Even with a "cheat" like this, could the evolutionary process take it from there?

Spontaneous genetic point mutations, in which one of the four DNA base pairs is swapped for another, do occur from time to time, at a rate of around 1.1×10−8 (https://academic.oup.com/genetics/article/156/1/297/6051861?login=false) per base pair per generation (that's one in 100 million). However the vast majority of these are either negative or neutral. They're typically neutral if they occur in the non-coding segment of DNA, which is not used as blueprints for proteins. (We're still not entirely sure what the purpose is of all this non-coding DNA. There was a time when all of it was thought to be "junk," or leftovers from previous evolutionary steps. Now we know that at least some of it serves a purpose: of regulation, saying when a given sequence should or shouldn't be transcribed, where the coding gene begins and ends, binding sites for the transcription mechanism to begin, kind of like the coupling component of a zipper, and things like that. Telomeres, the caps on our chromosomes now known to be one of the determining factors of biological age, are also part of non-coding DNA. Other segments of it protect the structure of the chromosomes so that they maintain their integrity during cell replication. No doubt more purposes will be understood in time, but I seriously doubt any of it will turn out to be "junk").

Negative DNA mutations in coding sequences is one of the mechanisms by which cancer occurs. These can be either "nonsense" or "missense" mutations. Nonsense mutations are when a point mutation forms what's called a "stop" codon (where a codon is a set of three base pairs, forming a "word" of sorts.) Rather that continuing to code for a protein, the stop codon in the middle of the sequence would simply prematurely truncate the protein code entirely. Missense mutations occur when a point mutation switches one codon to another... like turning "cat" into "bat" or "rat," with an entirely different meaning. Each codon calls for a different amino acid, so such a mutation may substitute a different one with different chemical properties, which (if those properties are different enough) might contribute to different stereochemistry, or folding of that protein once made. The stereochemistry largely determines the protein's function, so it might be thus altered (and nearly always for the worse)... though there are are redundancies, such that multiple codons call for the same amino acids (there are only twenty amino acids, after all). So it's possible the mutation might be "silent" even if in a coding sequence of DNA, in this case.

Environmental factors known to increase DNA mutation rates include things like ionizing radiation (UV, x-ray, gamma ray, etc), and various carcinogenic chemicals. If these mutations occur in germ cells, they can be passed on to progeny, assuming that the mutation isn't rapidly fatal before it can be passed on. In some cases, the resulting "disease" may confer a survival advantage in a given environment--for example, sickle cell anemia, a point mutation that changes the shape of red blood cells. It does indeed cause severe disease, but it also happens to protect against malaria, endemic in Africa. This is probably why sickle cell is far more common in Africa that in other parts of the world.

But it's quite a stretch to say that was a "positive" mutation. Sickle cell anemia manifests with recurrent hemolytic crises, in which red blood cells burst, leading to severe low levels in the bloodstream (which means not enough oxygen for the tissues). Red blood cells can also get stuck in small vessels, leading to clots, spleen and liver enlargement, etc. Sure, the mutation happens to have a survival benefit in Africa, but "positive," the way a sudden functioning eye might be? I don't think so.

And that's the thing: we can't point to a single known unequivocally positive DNA mutation. The most we can do is identify some "bad" ones that happen to have a silver lining in a particular environment. From there, evolutionists extrapolate (tremendously!) that in the distant past, many such mutations must have occurred--even though we have no evidence that they did, and all evidence we do have seems to suggest otherwise.

I've seen some sources that speculate that positive mutations occur about 1/1000 times per generation, though the paper, "The population genetics of mutations: good, bad, and indifferent" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2871823/) makes the point that this is an exceedingly difficult number to quantify, because how one mutation might interact with another, let alone how multiple mutations might interact in a larger organism, is so very complex. Nevertheless, if we go with the 1/1000 number (which seems like as reasonable an estimate as any), since any sort of genetic mutation (a point mutation anyway) is supposed to occur only 1/100 million times per generation, that means a single positive mutation might occur 1/100 billion times per generation. Since earth is estimated to be 4.54 billion years old, and a generation is usually defined to be about 20 years, that's 225 million generations since the dawn of earth's time, by secular calculations.

Do you see the problem here? If those estimations are even in the ballpark, there hasn't been enough time statistically for even one unequivocally positive mutation to occur. The universe literally doesn’t have enough time for evolution to occur (unless you introduce multiple universes... and even then, you'd need a near infinite number of them).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Suzy Griswold is the Founder and President of HealingStrong. Suzy is a 13+ year Thyroid Cancer Thriver. After surgery and conventional treatment failed and subsequent scans revealed lymph node involvement, Suzy ultimately took a very different route to healing that was revealed after much prayer and research.

When friends and family noticed the transformation, they asked Suzy to meet with their loved ones. In 2012, Suzy began HealingStrong as a blog post. That was just the start and as she brought together a group of natural thrivers and caregivers in her living room to pray about next steps, the vision for the very first HealingStrong conference in 2013 became a reality. It began a grassroots movement in small group communities that continues today.

To date, 450 groups around the US, Canada, and 8 International countries have been a part of HealingStrong. HealingStrong continues to empower, inspire, motivate and equip group participants and members to live more whole and hope filled lives.

For more on HealingStrong, the conference, resources, and finding a group, see www.healingstrong.org

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Let's bypass the idea that DNA, the blueprint for proteins, couldn't come about by random chance. Perhaps the process worked backwards: perhaps the proteins came first.

That was the concept behind the Miller-Urey experiment of 1953, in which the chemicals thought to have been present in earth's "primordial soup" (water (H2O), methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), and hydrogen (H2)) were all combined and subjected to electricity, meant to simulate lightning. Proteins are made of 20 amino acid building blocks, and this experiment successfully produced more than those 20 (there are more possible amino acids than just those used in our own core set). This experiment was heralded as proof of abiogenesis, or the production of life from non-living matter.

There are a number of major problems with this, though. First, the amino acids produced in this experiment and in all subsequent experiments like it produce a racemic mixture of amino acids, meaning the orientation of the molecules is a combination of non-superimposable mirror images of one another. This refers to the positions of non-symmetrical components of the amino acids, whether they're on the right or the left side (much like our thumbs on our left and right hands appear on opposite sides, as non-superimposable mirror images of one another). However, in nature, amino acids are almost exclusively in the L-form. Its opposite, called the D-form, causes the subsequently formed protein to mis-fold. Since a protein's 3-D structure is determined by the chemistry of its building blocks, and the structure is critical to its function, this makes a protein built of a racemic mixture of amino acids non-functional and toxic to life.

This problem has never been circumvented in the laboratory. But even supposing it were, supposing the early environment beginning with chemicals in the primordial soup might somehow produce only L-form amino acids, we'd still have the information problem. Without DNA instructions to tell the body which amino acids to use in which sequence, the average length of a mammalian protein is about 400 amino acids in length. The probability of each amino acid out of 20 being placed in the correct sequence at random is (1/20)^400. If you plug odds like that into an online calculator, what you get is: zero. The probability is effectively zero. And that's just the random formation of a single protein, assuming the orientation of all the amino acids was somehow magically corrected. A single irreducibly complex cell would require somewhere between 3-500 of those.

(And that's not even addressing the entirely separate question in abiogenesis of "what constitutes life." A dead body has all of those functional proteins, but they no longer do anything. Why not? What is the indescribable "something" that they have lost--and thus, what would need to be bestowed upon a spontaneously produced protein to cause it to function, even supposing such a protein could be produced in the first place?)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Dr. Matt Queen is the L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism ("Chair of Fire") and professor of evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, where he also serves as Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Administration. The author of Recapturing Evangelism: A Biblical-Theological Approach (B&H Academic, 2023), Everyday Evangelism (Seminary Hill Press, 2020) and Mobilize to Evangelize (Seminary Hill Press, 2018), in addition to having edited and contributed chapters in numerous other books, Dr. Queen has been published in multiple academic journals and serves as Associate Pastor of Evangelism at Lane Prairie Baptist Church, Joshua, Texas. Additionally, he serves as an evangelism consultant for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and regularly leads evangelism workshops and preaches in churches across the country.

To get Dr Queen's book, go to thegospelinvitation.com , or for more info about him, see swats.edu

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post: Which Supplements Are Right For You?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Darwin's original tenants of his theory as laid out in his 1859 seminal work, "The Origin of Species," were these: that all organisms evolved from a common ancestor via minor, undirected changes, and that natural selection determines which of those random mutations get passed down to future progeny. Variations that confer a survival advantage allow the creature who inherits it to live long enough to procreate, and pass down that change to the next generation.

Darwin successfully demonstrated "microevolution" with his Galapagos finch study, showing that finches confined to a particular island would evolve differently shaped beaks over time, in accordance with their available food sources. Similar processes have been demonstrated within many other species as well, and few would dispute that such microevolution does, in fact, occur. But Darwin then extrapolated this process, assuming that over the eons, such tiny changes could allow one species to evolve into another. Leaving aside the philosophical objections we've already covered in previous episodes, such as irreducible complexity and information theory negating the possibility of this occurring, is there any evidence that it nevertheless did occur? If it did, the fossil record should be riddled with examples of transitional species--some of which might have been "dead ends," but many of which should have been ancestors halfway between one species and another.

Darwin himself wrote in "The Origin of Species," "Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record." In other words, he figured that in time, and with acceptance of his theory and with scientists all over the globe searching for such evidence, the "missing links" would eventually be found.

So, 164 years later, with belief in evolution dominating almost the entire scientific community, have any fossils of missing links been found?

A quick YouTube search on evolutionary fossils presents the first arthropod, mollusk, insect, etc as "missing links." They're the "first" because of where they were found in the rock strata (where deeper is older). But all of the creatures presented are part of recognizable classes of creatures alive today, though those exact species are often extinct. This means they're the end of a line; they're not an intermediate on the way to anything we can identify. (Some of the species aren't extinct at all though, and the exact same organism is still alive today. This is what evolutionists call "stasis": no change over millions of years.)

The only possible true missing link of which I'm aware is one found in the 1860s, during Darwin's own lifetime, called archaeopteryx. It was a fossil showing characteristics of both a bird and a reptile, and it is the basis of the widely supposed belief that dinosaurs are the ancestors of birds.

Larry Martin, paleontologist from the University of Kansas, said in 1985 that archaeopteryx is not a true transitional species, but merely an extinct type of bird. According to wikipedia, twelve such fossils of archaeopteryx have been found, and all around the same area of Germany, encased in limestone. Since only 12 fossils of this same species were found in a very localized area, Martin's explanation makes the most sense. We should have found many more intermediates all over the world, in various stages of transition, if the hypothesis that dinosaurs were the ancestors of birds was correct. (We also wouldn't have expected the two to coexist either, if one were the ancestor of the other, but apparently according to both the Smithsonian and National Geographic, they did.)

A few other possible contenders for "missing links" have been found over the years, but the case for each of them has been weak at best.

One was the Java Man, found in 1891, supposed to be a missing link between humans and apes. All that was found of it was a skull, a femur, and three teeth. These were later determined to have belonged to three different species.

Another was the Piltdown Ape, found in England in the early 1900s, also speculated to be a missing link between apes and humans. In Nov 1953, however, Time Magazine published collected evidence of multiple paleontologists that this ape too was comprised of fossils from three different species. The BBC later called it "the biggest hoax in British history."

Peking Man was found in China in the 1920s, another supposed common link between apes and humans. All that was found of it were fragments of skull and teeth.
Yet another was "Lucy," found in East Africa in 1974, another supposed common ancestor between apes and humans. Because of the structure of her knees, hands, and feet, which were not at all similar to humans, Dr Charles Oxnard wrote in his book, “Fossils, Teeth, and Sex: New Perspectives on Human Evolution” that Lucy was an extinct species of ape. It would be a decided understatement to say that the fossil evidence for evolution is underwhelming. One possible counter-argument for this is that it is exceedingly rare for an organism to become fossilized in the first place. This is because of the putrefaction of microorganisms, which consume dead organic matter. The Smithsonian Magazine writes that fossilization can occur via a few mechanisms: petrification (of bone, or wood), or from an organism being rapidly consumed by sediment that later turns to rock, tar, or amber, protecting the organic dead material from putrefying organisms. While most living things therefore do not become fossils after death, one would think, if Darwin's theory were true, that there should still be many more intermediates than there are recognizable species today.

There's an even bigger problem than the lack of transitionary fossils. The rock strata defies the narrative of painstakingly slow evolutionary changes over a period of millions of years. Instead, even in Darwin's own time, he became aware of, and was troubled by, the contradictory evidence of the Cambrian Explosion, also dubbed the "Biological Big Bang." The deepest strata of rock, beneath the Cambrian, demonstrates only fossils of single celled or simple multicellular organisms. Then, suddenly, the layers of rock believed to correspond to the Cambrian period 13-25 million years ago showed nearly every phyla of animals alive today, fully formed. This is true worldwide of the strata belonging to this period.

The Biological Big Bang raises several additional questions. First, what happened in the Cambrian period that allowed so many creatures to become fossilized all at once, when fossils are generally rare? In many cases the fossils found are even of soft-bodied creatures (The Qingjiang biota—A Burgess Shale-type fossil Lagerstätte from the early Cambrian of South China), which should putrefy quickly after death--preservation of these in such exquisite detail would certainly require very rapid burial. Also, land animals appear alongside marine animals in the Cambrian period all across the globe. What could have caused such intermingling of creatures that do not otherwise cohabitate?

(A global flood mentioned in Genesis 6 comes to mind.)

Darwin wrote in the sixth edition of "Origin of Species": "To the question why we do not find rich fossiliferous deposits belonging to these assumed earliest periods prior to the Cambrian system, I can give no satisfactory answer." Evolutionary paleontologist Stephen J Gould later said, "The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nodes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils." He went on to propose the theory of Punctuated Equilibrium, in which one species makes a large jump rather than the series of tiny changes predicted in classical evolution to explain the deficit of the fossil record, though this mechanism is philosophically even more fraught than tiny progressive changes would have been.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post, Hormesis.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

In the 1940s, as digital communications ramped up, Claude Shannon codified basic concepts of how to send and receive information along digital channels. His abstract model of communication goes like this: the message source creates a message in an encoding language, transmits the message, and then on the other end it is decoded by the message receiver.

If there is a message with any coherence to it, there must be a message source.
DNA is an extraordinarily coherent message. It's encoded in nucleotide bases, decoded by first RNA and then transcribed into proteins, which then fold in 3-D shapes that determine their functionality based on the chemistry of the protein sequence.

A classic argument is the infinite monkey theorem: this is the idea that if you gave a monkey a typewriter, given infinite time, he might at least once by happenstance write Shakespeare's MacBeth (or War and Peace, or pick your favorite work of literature). Of course, one major problem is that no one argues that there was infinite time--most secular scientists believe the earth is a mere 4 billion years old. The probability of any combination of events occurring in sequence with one another requires multiplying the probability of each individual event--say, a correct first letter out of 26, times the probability of a correct second letter out of 26, times the probability of a correct third letter out of 26, and so on. The probability thus shrinks exponentially. Hamlet is around 130,000 letters. The probability of a monkey typing all 130,000 letters in the correct sequence is thus 1 part in 3.4 × 10^183,946.

To put that in context, there are only 7 x 10^27 atoms in the entire universe, and 10^80 protons (since atoms are made of both protons and neutrons bound together in the nucleus). Even if every one of those protons was a monkey who had been typing at random continuously from the estimated time of the Big Bang (usually supposed to be some 13.7 billion years ago), it would still be statistically impossible for one of those protonic monkeys to accidentally produce Shakespeare's Hamlet. In order to have even a one in a trillion probability, we'd have to introduce the multiverse once again--there would need to be 10^360,641 universes, each filled with protonic monkeys typing at random for 13.7 billion years (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem#cite_note-10).

So for all intents and purposes, the supposition of the Information Theorem is absolutely correct. If there is a coherent message, there must have been a mind to generate it. Information doesn't come from nothing. It cannot.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Dr. Haley Perlus knows what it takes to overcome barriers and achieve peak performance. As an elite alpine ski racer, she competed and trained with the best in the world, pushing herself to the limits time and time again. Now, with a PhD in sport psychology, Haley continues to push boundaries and drive peak performance, helping athletes and Fortune 100 executives reach their goals.

Haley works with individuals and teams to manage and expand their energy capacity while increasing resilience, focus and drive. Dr. Perlus is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, professor, author and consultant to Division I athletes. She has spoken at many events some of which include VISTAGE, Tec Canada, Elite Fitness and Performance Summit and Trilogy Athletes. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado lecturing on applied sport and exercise psychology at the graduate level. She has authored several books including The Ultimate Achievement Journal and The Inside Drive and her articles have been featured in publications such as Thrive Magazine, Fitness Magazine, IDEA Fitness Journal, EpicTimes, Telluride Inside, MyVega and BeachBody®.

Dr. Perlus earned her PhD at the University of Northern Colorado with an emphasis on social psychology of sport and physical activity, her MS at the University of Florida in sport pedagogy and her bachelor’s degree at the University of Western Ontario in kinesiology. Haley loves both water and snow skiing, and hiking. Her favorite meal is anything that requires only chopping or blending.

To learn more about Dr Perlus, see www.drhaleyperlus.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

An age-old objection to the concept of evolution is that of the blind watchmaker, and it goes like this. If a man were to find a working watch in an apparently abandoned place, far from civilization, which would be more probable: that the elements all happened to combine perfectly in the wind and heat and rain, such that a watch resulted by mere happenstance--or that another individual who had purchased the watch from an intelligent designer had been in that same place before, and had simply lost it?

It's popularly believed that this argument has been discredited, but I've yet to hear the actual counter-argument to refute it.

Darwin himself wrote of his theory of evolution, "If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down." In other words, any organism, or component of an organism, that was irreducibly complex would discredit his theory. He could say this in his day, because at the time, biochemistry was entirely unknown. Author Michael Behe wrote in "Darwin's Black Box" that it was once believed that insects arose spontaneously from dung and spoiled food, because if left to themselves for any length of time, one might go away, return, and find organic material infested with them. When small organisms were assumed to be very simple, this seemed believable. Now we know better. Even the simplest cell is unbelievably complex--akin to an incredibly efficient city in which each citizen knows and performs his job. These jobs include protein synthesis and breakdown, energy production, repair, and communication within the cell and with the outside world, not to mention complete replication of itself. The concept of irreducible complexity, as Behe defines it, is to first determine the function of the system and all the system's components, and then to determine if all of those components are required for its function. If so, then by definition, that system could not have come about by gradual changes. If it did, natural selection would have no reason to select each iteration on the way to functionality, because each in-between step would be at best, useless, and at worst, fatal.

The classic example of the former is the eye. Earlier iterations of this incredibly complex system could not see, and would thus be useless. Therefore, natural selection would have no "reason" to pass on the non-functional, half-formed system to future generations. An example of the latter is the clotting cascade: an intricate internal and external feedback system allows blood to clot without a runaway clotting process that might solidify all the blood in the body at once. If the system did not work at all, though, even a minor injury would cause the creature to bleed to death.

Objections to the concept of irreducible complexity tend to sidestep actual biochemical mechanisms in favor of conceptual precursors. These argue that light sensing organs were a precursor to the eye, for instance, and did confer survival advantage, and were thus passed down via natural selection. But since tiny steps cannot be demonstrated by which the one evolved into the other, this is a conceptual rather than a physical precursor, much like, as Behe argues, a bicycle might be a precursor to a motorcycle. The former is a much simpler means of transportation on wheels, but you can hardly make small, slight modifications to a bicycle and turn it into a motorcycle from the preexisting components of the bicycle. Even if one were to bring in outside parts to assemble, intermediate phases would still be utterly useless until the whole upgrade were complete. That scenario wouldn't represent evolution anymore, but something else altogether--something called punctuated equilibrium.

The theory of punctuated equilibrium tries to rescue evolution from both the quandary of irreducible complexity, as well as the absence of fossil intermediates (which Darwin had predicted we'd be swimming in by now, if his theory were correct). The theory, proposed by Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould in 1972, holds that evolution occurs in large jumps rather than tiny small changes.

This theory reminds me of the deus ex machina literary device: "and then the gods came down and fixed everything." (Only, not God, you understand.)

In literature, this device is considered a cop-out. Authors employ it only when they have no idea how to fix the mess they've created. But that's not the case in science, apparently.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post, How Salt Affects Insulin Resistance.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Even if one were to believe that life evolved on its own, the physical laws are peculiarly conducive to life, apparently fine-tuned to an extraordinary degree. Stephen Hawking wrote in "A Brief History of Time": “The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers [the constants of physics] seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life.” Other prominent (non-believing) scientists who authored books on the subject of anthropic fine-tuning include Roger Penrose, Frank Tipler, and Paul Davies.There are four fundamental forces that define the subatomic world: gravity (which still isn't fully understood), electromagnetism (the attraction of opposite charges, enabling electron orbitals to remain in proximity to the nuclei, necessary for formation of chemical bonds), the strong nuclear force (binding atomic nuclei together), and the weak nuclear force (which allows protons to become neutrons and vice versa).

If gravity were much weaker, matter would not be sufficiently attracted to each other and planets and stars wouldn't be able to form. If it were only slightly weaker, stars would not explode and distribute the heavy elements formed in their cores, necessary for life. If gravity were stronger, smaller and thus shorter-lived stars would have formed, burned out faster, and likewise would not have been massive enough to explode and distribute heavy elements for life.

If the electromagnetic force were stronger, the electrons would collapse into the nucleus of an atom, rendering chemistry impossible. If it were weaker, electrons would not hover around the nucleus at all, likewise rendering bonding and thus, more complex molecules impossible.

If the strong nuclear force were 50% stronger, hydrogen (the simplest atom and starting point for nuclear fusion in stars) would have been consumed in the early universe. If it were 50% weaker, fusion would either not have occurred at all, or would not occur to the degree necessary to form heavier elements. In order to produce adequate carbon and oxygen for life, the strong nuclear force could not deviate from its present strength much at all.

If the weak nuclear force were weaker, conversion of neutrons to protons would be much faster, and thus, hydrogen in stars would turn into helium too fast--ultimately causing the stars to burn up too quickly. In addition to these, the ratio of the masses of protons to neutrons is exactly as it must be for DNA to be possible.

The masses of neutrons relative to protons are also exactly as they must be to allow heavy elements to form, without causing all stars to collapse into black holes.

The convection in earth's core runs on radioactivity. If there were any less fuel, it might not have eventually formed iron, necessary for the production of earth's magnetic field which protects us from the sun's harmful solar wind, or charged particles that might otherwise destroy us. Any more radioactive fuel, and we'd be constantly beset by earthquakes volcanic eruptions, the ash of which would blot out the sun.

Along the same lines, if earth were less massive, the magnetic field would be correspondingly weaker. As a result, the solar wind could strip away our atmosphere and thus, our breathable air. If it were more massive, earth's gravity would correspondingly increase, which would at a certain point cause a more uniform surface (no mountains or sea floors). This would distribute the oceans across earth's surface, making us a water world.

In order for water to be present on a planet at all, it must orbit its star at a precise distance, called the circumstellar habitable zone; too close and we would experience the same runaway greenhouse effect that is believed to have occurred on Venus (water evaporates, concentrates in the atmosphere, traps the sun's rays, and the temperature eventually becomes an oven). Too far, and it will freeze into an ice planet. The only way to prevent the water from freezing would be to increase atmospheric carbon dioxide to trap the sun's heat, but too much CO2 would mean not enough oxygen necessary to sustain life as we know it.

Our sun also has to be exactly the right size. Too small, and it would be a red dwarf, emitting far less light, and most of it in the red end of the spectrum. This would greatly impede photosynthesis, as plants require both sufficient sunlight, and both blue and red spectrum light as well. Impaired photosynthesis means not enough oxygen. A smaller star would also have a much closer circumstellar habitable zone; the problem is, a much closer orbit to a star would dramatically increase the tides on the planet, too. This would cause the planet to become tidally locked, like Pluto and its moon, Charon. This means one side would always face the star, while the other would always face away, causing dramatic temperature variations.

If the sun were larger, its light would be more toward the blue end of the spectrum, which would allow for oxygen production, but would leave us susceptible to intense ultraviolet radiation.

Jupiter and Saturn act as guards for earth: their immense gravitational pull tends to protect earth from stray comets that might otherwise collide with us and cause mass extinction.

Our moon's size and proximity stabilizes Earth's precise tilt of 23.56 degrees, which is necessary to keep our seasons mild. It also is responsible for 60% of the tides, which, among other things, drive the ocean current and thus help to distribute heat throughout the planet.

Earth also has to be placed exactly where it is within the galaxy. There is a 'habitable zone' within galaxies too, such that we have access to heavier elements from the larger stars, but we're still far enough from the spiral arms of the galaxy where supernovae occur from the most massive stars.

These are just a few examples of cosmic fine-tuning. Many scientists recognize the improbability of these parameters being just so. A rather circular non-explanation is called the Weak Anthropic Principle by Brandon Carter, which states, "We must be prepared to take account of the fact that our location in the universe is necessarily privileged to the extent of being compatible with our existence as observers." In other words, things are the way they are because if they weren't, we wouldn't be here to ask the questions of why they are they way they are. The corresponding Strong Anthropic Principle states, "[T]he Universe (and hence the fundamental parameters on which it depends) must be such as to admit within it the creation of observers within it at some stage." The classic logical objection to this argument is that of a criminal expecting to die by firing squad, who nevertheless faces the squad and lives. Would it not beg the question for him to conclude that the firing squad missed him simply because if they hadn't, he wouldn't be alive to ask why he was still alive?

Those who do not believe in a designer generally get around this objection via the multiverse interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: the idea that every possible quantum event does actually occur in some universe or another. Therefore every possibility, no matter how unlikely, must occur somewhere, at least once... and in the universe where it does, humans will evolve to ask questions such as "why is everything so perfectly fine-tuned for life?"

Such an interpretation certainly seems to me to violate Occam's Razor: the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. (Not to mention, it begs the question--how one universe began in the first place now becomes a far more complicated problem of how multiple universes might be continuously generated with every Quantum Mechanical "choice.")

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post, Does Salt Raise Your Blood Pressure?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Rev. David Peterson is an ordained pastor and board-certified chaplain, with over thirty years of experience in ministry to congregations, as well as chaplaincy experience in hospitals, fire/EMS, law enforcement and hospice. He's provided emotional and spiritual care on the scenes of devastating events from 9/11 to school shootings and various community tragedies and in 1994, founded Shepherd’s Staff Pastoral Services, where he was able to provide spiritual care to thousands via chaplains he trained and placed at long term care facilities across the U.S. A study in resiliency and forgiveness, David has lived all his life with tremors in his hands and arms and navigated the bullying, harassment and embarrassing moments it has invited from those who lack understanding and empathy. And at the age of 12, he was targeted by a neighborhood pedophile who used alcohol, pornography and affirmation to abuse him sexually, emotionally, spiritually and mentally. Years of silence, anger, shame and self-destructive behaviors followed before healing and forgiveness transformed him. David and his wife, Arden — as well as their four sons and their families — reside in Chesapeake, Virginia.

To learn more about Pastor David or to get his books, go to davidpetersonbooks.com

To check out some of his sermons, see - apostles-lutheran.org

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Dr. Tait is the founder of ORIGEN Orthopedics and Optimal Health, a medical practice that applies the principles of Functional and Regenerative Medicine with the goal of helping patients lengthen the lifespan of their joints, while simultaneously improving their total health and quality of life. ORIGEN is the only Orthopedic clinic in the region exclusively focused on non-surgical solutions. Dr. Tait has authored three books and has created two courses on his Integrative Regenerative approach to Orthopedic care and optimal health. He gives more than a dozen talks per year on his unique approach to optimizing one’s human potential.

To learn more about Dr Tait, see www.origenortho.com

ebook: 3 Reasons Doctors Never Get Surgery: tinuyrl.com/neversurgery

Video: Stem Cell 101 Masterclass: tinyurl.com/helphealing

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Today's meditation comes from Psalms 6, 38, 39, 42, and 43.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, How Alkalinity Reduces Risk of Metabolic Disease.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Bonnie Gray is a Soul Care mentor and the author of Breathe: 21 Days toStress Less and Transform Chaos to Calm,Whispers of Rest, Finding Spiritual Whitespace and Sweet Like Jasmine, an ECPA 2022 Christian Book Award Finalist. Heaving healed from PTSD, Bonnie is passionate about helping thousands of listeners detox stress and flourish in emotional wellness with God’s love through soul care, Bible Study and prayer. Bonnie is a trusted voice writing for Proverbs 31, Christianity Today and Relevant Magazine. She is also the host of Breathe: The Stress Less Podcast. Take Bonnie’s Soul Care Quiz to learn which area of wellness you’re missing at SoulCareQuiz.com. She loves hiking and eating waffles with her husband and two teenage boys in Silicon Valley.

To learn more about Bonnie, take her Soul Care Quiz at SoulCareQuiz.com, find her book at thebreathebook.com, or follow her at thebonniegray on Instagram.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog review of Preventing and Dissolving Kidney Stones.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Don Newman has more than twenty years of experience in ministry and leading prayer, and is also the acting Executive Director of Publishing for Salem Author Services, a division of Salem Media Group. As a passionate historian of the church and revival, Don has benefited from the writings and stories of many great intercessors of the church, including some of his own ancestors. These inspired truths are all part of his new book Praying for Reign. It is easy to underestimate the impact of prayer; however, Don believes we can develop a thoughtful, intentional prayer practice—a practice rooted in understanding the types of prayers God yearns for us to pray. Cultivating this type of prayer practice is revolutionary, both of our own lives and the world around us. It’s the first step for those who wish to be a part of the army that establishes God’s kingdom here on earth… and it all starts when we learn how to Pray for Reign. Don and his wife Tracee live in Central Florida. They have been married for almost 40 years and have three children and six grand-children.

You can preorder "Praying for Reign" here, or you can get his previous books "Respond Up" here, or "Don't Just Speak It, Write It" here.

See his YouTube channel, Living a Life Worth Remembering, here.

You can also join his private prayer group on Facebook - just search for "Praying for Reign" and ask to join!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

This podcast come from this blog post on the Health Benefits of Nattokinase. https://www.drlaurendeville.com/health-benefits-of-nattokinase/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Dr. Richard Ruhling was board-certified in Internal Medicine and had a Cardiology Fellowship before teaching Health Science at Loma Linda University, a community featured on the National Geographic cover story on Longevity as the only ‘Blue Zone’ for health in North America. There, he gained insights on how the body is designed for self-healing, without the need of prescription drugs that have become a leading cause of illness and death. For more on Dr Ruhling, see his website, healthhappinessdestiny.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

Dr. Glenn Daman is a pastor in Stevenson, Washington with over 35 years of experience in the pulpit. Author of 'The Lighthouse: Discovering Security in the Radiance of God's Character', as well as five books related to rural church ministry, he is a graduate of Western Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Seminary. He serves on the Board of Directors of Village Missions. Glenn and his wife, Becky, have two children. He enjoys photography and woodworking.

To learn more about Dr. Daman, see theattributesofgod.net or you can get his book on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3IZespi

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post on My Do-It-Yourself Skincare Routine: https://www.drlaurendeville.com/my-do-it-yourself-natural-skincare-routine/

View Details

Commands to praise or be thankful:

Sacrifices of thanksgiving were commanded for the Israelites: Levicitus 7:12-15, but He wanted it to be from their own free will (Lev 22:29)
Deut 10:20-21: "You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name. He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen."
Many of the psalms are trying to stir up the speaker or the crowd to praise, vowing "I will" praise (sometime in the future), or do such-and-such, that I might praise, or (these people) will praise, or saying "let me" or "let [some third party]" praise the Lord, as if asking for God's help in doing it, in addition to actually praising God:
- Psalm 9:11: "Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people."
- Psalm 29:1: "Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, Give unto the Lord glory and strength."
- Psalm 30:4: "Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name."
- Psalm 33:2: "Praise the Lord with the harp; Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings."
- Psalm 47:1, 6-7: "Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!... Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding."
- Psalm 66:1-2, 8: "Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious.... Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard."
- Psalm 68:4, 32: "Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name Yah, And rejoice before Him... Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; Oh, sing praises to the Lord, Selah"
- Psalm 98:4: "Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises."
- Psalm 100:4: "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name."
- Psalm 117:1: "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!"
Romans 15:11: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!”
2 Cor 2:14: "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place."
2 Cor 4:15: "For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God."
We should bring praise to God (when people see us): Eph 1:11-12: "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory."
- The Holy Spirit in us is to the praise of His glory: Eph 1:13-14
- When we bear fruits of righteousness, it is to God's glory and praise: Phil 1:11
- Our faith brings praise to God: 1 Peter 1:7
Eph 5:20: "giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Col 3:15: "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful."
Col 4:2: "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving"
1 Thess 5:18: "in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
1 Tim 2:1: "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,"
1 Tim 4:4: "For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;"
Heb 13:15: "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name."
1 Peter 2:9: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."
Rev 7:12: “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
Rev 19:5: "Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!”

Effects of thanksgiving:
It was a battle strategy a at least once, when Jehoshaphat sent out the worshippers in the front lines of battle: 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 * It led to a prison break at least once, when Paul and Silas were singing to God, triggering an earthquake: Acts 16:25-34 * It leads to peace: Phil 4:6-7: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." * It's how we abound in faith: Col 2:6-7: "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving*."

Examples of thankfulness:
* Moses' song after God parts the Red Sea: Exodus 15:1-18, and Miriam's, Ex 15:21 - to memorialize it. It's like a poetic retelling of what just happened. * Deborah's song after their defeat of Sisera: Judges 5:1-31 * Hannah's song after she bears Samuel: 1 Samuel 2:1-10 * David's psalm when God makes a covenant with his line: 2 Sam 7:18-29 * David appointed singers to rejoice as the ark returned from the Philistines, and he was dancing himself with all his might (2 Sam 6:12-23 and 1 Chron 15:16-29). * David after his mighty men killed the last of the Philistine giants: 2 Sam 22:1-51 (also Psalm 18).

+ David set aside a company of men appointed just for worship: 1 Chronicles 25, and also made them their instruments for that purpose: 1 Chron 23:5 (and they still used them during Solomon's reign, 2 Chron 7:6), and they did it morning and evening every day: 1 Chron 23:30.

    - Solomon followed suit (2 Chron 8:14).
    - Later Hezekiah reinstituted temple worship according to David's pattern, even using the instruments he had made (2 Chron 29:20-36), and reinstituted Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread with accompanying praise (2 Chron 30:21).
+ David's psalm at the end of his reign: 1 Chron 29:10-15
+ The Levites rejoice when the ark is brought into the new temple: 2 Chron 5:13
+ The people of Israel in response to the glory of the Lord in the new temple: 2 Chron 7:3
+ Most of the psalms: 7:17, 9:1-2, 14, 18:3, 49, 21:13, 22:3, 22-26, 26:7, 27:6, 28:7, 30:4, 30:12, 33:1, 34:1, 35:18, 28, 40:3, 42:5, 11, 43:4-5, 44:8, 45:17, 50:14, 51:15, 52:9, 54:6, 56:4, 12, 57:7, 57:9, 59:17, 61:8, 63:3, 5, 69:30, 34, 71:6, 8, 14, 22, 72:15, 75:1, 9, 78:4, 79:13, 86:12, 89:5, 92:1, 95:2, 96:1, 4, 97:1, 12, 98:1, 100:1, 100:4, 101:1, 103:1, 104:1, 33, 35, 105:1, 106:1-2, 48, 107:1, 8, 15, 21, 22, 31, 108:1, 3, 109:30, 111:1, 112:1, 113:1, 3, 9, 115:18, 116:1, 17, 19, 117:12, 118:1, 19, 21, 28-29, 119:7, 62, 164, 171, 175, 135:1, 3, 21, 136:1-3, 26, 138:1-2, 139:14, 140:13, 144:9, 145:1-4, 10, 21, 146:1-2, 10, 147:1, 7, 12, 20, 148:1-5, 7, 13-14, 149:1, 3, 6, 9, 150:1-6
+ Many of the major and minor prophets prophesy that Israel will rejoice when God redeems them, brings them back to the land, reveals the Messiah, in the Millennium, etc
+ Jeremiah prays for deliverance: Jer 17:14 and his praise that God will deliver him from those who are against him: Jer 20:13
+ Daniel praises God for revealing Nebuchadnezzar's dream: 2:23
+ Nebuchadnezzar praises God: Daniel 4:34-37
+ Daniel prayed and praised daily (despite opposition): Daniel 6:10
+ Ezra 3:10-11: the people rejoice when the foundation of the temple is re-laid.
+ Nehemiah on dedication of the rebuilt temple: he commands the people to rejoice and hold a feast, not mourn at the reading of the law they haven't kept (Nehemiah 8:10) and the Levites lead them in a psalm of praise to God and remembrance of their history: Nehemiah 9:5-38. Then Nehemiah appoints thanksgiving choirs with lots of instruments to rejoice loudly (Nehemiah 12:27-43). It's interesting that the story is long over by this point, but several more chapters are dedicated to their thanksgiving, praise, and remembrance of Israel's history and God's goodness to them.

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post, Keeping Your Glycocalyx Healthy https://www.drlaurendeville.com/keeping-your-glycocalyx-healthy/

View Details

Mimi Kroger is a powerful Health & Weight Loss Coach with a heart for helping others heal
through Biblical principles. After healing from an eating disorder, body image issues, lupus, and other life traumas with God’s help, Mimi started Healthy Happy & Heavenly to guide her clients to health and wholeness rooted in a relationship with the Holy Spirit. Her mission is to bring others into the same freedom she’s received through faith-based coaching, nutritional guidance, and discovering the root causes of emotions. As a bestselling author, speaker, nationally certified personal trainer, nutrition guide, and behavior change specialist, Mimi
empowers her clients to become the healthiest versions of themselves - mind, body, and spirit. Mimi is a mom to an awesome adult son, and she resides in Colorado with her loving husband, Ben. They have one tenacious Yorkie named Hugs!

To learn more about Mimi, see healthyhappyandheavenly.com.

View Details

Dr. Peter Kozlowski uses a broad array of tools to find the source of the body's dysfunction: he takes the time to listen to his patients and plots their history on a timeline, considering what makes them unique and co-creating with them a truly individualized care plan. Currently, he works with patients online and in person via his Chicago, Illinois, and Bozeman, Montana-based offices. Dr. Kozlowski did his residency in Family Practice but started training in Functional Medicine as an intern. He trained in the clinics with leaders in his field, including Dr. Mark Hyman, Dr. Deepak Chopra, and Dr. Susan Blum. He is the author of “Get the Func Out” and “Un-Func Your Gut.”

To learn more about Dr Koz, see doc-koz.com
You can get his book "Get the Func Out" here: https://www.amazon.com/Get-Func-Out-Functional-Medicine-ebook/dp/B0B9RNYNZN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=CNLO8SH0BZHV&keywords=get+the+func+out+peter+kozlowski&qid=1670010607&sprefix=Get+the+func%2Caps%2C379&sr=8-1
and "Un-Func Your Gut" here: https://www.amazon.com/Unfunc-Your-Gut-Functional-Emotional-ebook/dp/B095L4DV4D/ref=sr_1_2?qid=1670010629&refinements=p_27%3APeter+Kozlowski+MD&s=digital-text&sr=1-2&text=Peter+Kozlowski+MD

Unfunc Your Gut: A Functional Medicine Guide: Boost Your Immune System, Heal Your Gut, and Unlock Your Mental, Emotional and Spiritual Health

View Details

Hermann Eben has served in various executive management roles for 40+ years in the business arena. Hermann’s world was devastated in 1991 when he received a phone call. The caller told him that his wife, Louie, was having an affair and that a package would be coming to prove the allegations. After seeing the evidence, he called his pastor, who decided it would be best for Hermann and Louie to meet with Dr. Marlin Howe to work through their relationship. The church had been using Dr. Howe’s Hope for the Family video series for about five years.
God did a fantastic thing and restored their marriage. After a couple of years of God’s blessing and healing, Hermann and Louie decided, with the approval of the church elders, to use their experience to help others. And that is what they have been doing for 30 years. With the foundation of Dr. Howe’s work and blessing, Hermann developed GR8 Relationships (www.gr8relate.com) in 2000. He and Louie have held countless weekend seminars, met with couples one-on-one, and facilitated weekly study groups. Together they are on a mission to restore marriages and relationships.

For more on Hermann and Louie and to get their materials, see www.gr8relate.com

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post: Glutathione, Master Antioxidant https://www.drlaurendeville.com/articles/glutathione-master-antioxidant/

View Details

Jack Countryman is the founder of JCountryman gift books— a
division of Thomas Nelson—and is the recipient of the
Evangelical Christian Publishers Association’s Jordan Lifetime
Achievement Award. Over the past thirty years, he has
developed bestselling gift books such as God’s Promises for Your
Every Need®, God’s Promises for Men®, God’s Promises for
Women®, God’s Blessings Just for You® and The Red Letter
Words of Jesus. Countryman’s books have sold more than 27
million units.

To get Jack's new book, the Miracle of Peace, see here: https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Peace-Find-Every-Challenge-ebook/dp/B09Z95PF6X/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1668187372&sr=8-1

To get God's Promises for Your Every Need, see here: https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Promises-Your-Every-Need-ebook/dp/B00AQ0AO9G/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1668187435&sr=8-1

View Details

In this special episode, Dr. Deville shares a preview of Life After Addiction, a free podcast that discusses life, addiction, and recovery all from a biblical worldview.

Discover more episodes of Life After Addiction:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-after-addiction/id1369658074
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0kXYdWEjco8VwTvePNsmpL
LifeAudio: https://www.lifeaudio.com/life-after-addiction

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, The Adverse Effects of PPIs: https://www.drlaurendeville.com/articles/the-adverse-effects-of-ppis/

If you're interested in finding a doctor near you, see: https://wholehealthdr.com/

View Details

Today's meditation comes from John 4:1-42.

Afterword:

I didn't include this story in my "Daughters of Zion" biblical retellings (you can find that here: https://www.amazon.com/Daughters-Zion-Biblical-Retellings-Gray-ebook/dp/B08XJLWZG2/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=26DTl&content-id=amzn1.sym.e4bd6ac6-9035-4a04-92a6-fc4ad60e09ad&pf_rd_p=e4bd6ac6-9035-4a04-92a6-fc4ad60e09ad&pf_rd_r=ETX87PBBDTT19TDXZC6Z&pd_rd_wg=WUc3Q&pd_rd_r=3c275bbc-e63d-462c-a711-66ae5d526364&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m) only because the theme of that book was miracles experienced by women, and not just biblical stories in which a woman was prominently featured. Otherwise, this would have been one of the big ones. The story only appears in the gospel of John, though it makes sense why John specifically would have chosen to include it. The theme of his gospel is love.

The Jews of Jesus' day scorned Samaritans, and from a religious standpoint, it would seem that there were good reasons for this. The Samaritans were Jews who had intermarried with pagans of neighboring nations, violating God's commandments to Joshua (Joshua 23:11-13), and falling prey to the doctrine of Balaam (from Numbers 23-24). God specifically told the Jews not to intermarry with those who worshipped other gods, lest they be led into idolatry. But when Assyria captured Samaria (2 Kings 17:5-41), the Assyrian king sent foreigners into the land who worshipped other gods. The Jews there did intermarry with them, and incorporated their pagan practices into their worship of Yahweh as well. Because of this, devout Jews wanted nothing to do with Samaritans, and wouldn't allow them to worship at their temple. The Samaritans had thus erected their own temple for worship instead (John 4:19-20).

Even among her fellow Samaritans, though, this woman was an outcast. This is implied by the fact that she went alone to the well in the heat of the day, rather than in the morning when it was cooler, with all the other women. Her story, as Jesus revealed it, indicates the probable reason for this: her immoral behavior presumably caused the respectable women of the town to look down on her. This was probably why she was so shocked when Jesus spoke to her, even humbling himself to the point of asking her for a favor. (I'm sure He really did want a drink, though, as we're told earlier in the story that He was weary from his journey, and it was mid-afternoon so possibly it was hot, John 4:6. The story never mentions that the woman actually gave Him a drink, so as I wrote the retelling, I kept thinking, He's still thirsty...)

Jesus' humility in asking the woman for a favor probably lowered her defense mechanisms initially, but I love how Jesus proceeded to dismantle whatever remained of them with just a few sentences. Every "chick flick" or "chick lit" story features an archetypical down-and-out heroine, embittered by the adversities of life. She then surreptitiously encounters a romantic hero who is the very embodiment of perfection. He's not only handsome, confident, and kind, but also several rungs above her on the social ladder to boot--but he's never arrogant about it. He sees through our heroine's prickly defenses to the soft heart she's trying to protect, and he's absolutely taken with her. From that point on, he pursues her relentlessly, refusing to be dissuaded. Try as she might, she can't resist him--because as frightened as she is of letting herself be vulnerable, all she's ever wanted is for someone to look past her faults, see her for who she truly is, and love her anyway. She falls in love with him in spite of herself... and then of course they live happily ever after.

That's how I see this story, and I think it's how John saw it too. It's not a romance in the human sense, and yet (as author John Eldredge would put it), it's "The Sacred Romance," writ small and personal--almost in allegory, though this was also a real woman, too. We are not called the Bride of Christ for nothing. I don't think it's a coincidence that this woman was the lowest of the low in that society, either--and yet, despite that, this woman is the first recorded person to whom Jesus overtly declares His identity as the Messiah (John 4:25-26). Of all people, He chose her to be the first to hear the news--just as later, the formerly demon-possessed Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Christ. (John is also the only gospel writer to explicitly record this encounter, in John 20:11-18.)

If Jesus qualified even these women, then there's hope for all of us.

View Details

Dr. Nasha Winters is a global healthcare authority and best-selling
author in integrative cancer care and research consulting with physicians
around the world. She has educated hundreds of professionals in the clinical
use of mistletoe and has created robust educational programs for both
healthcare institutions and the public on incorporating vetted integrative
therapies in cancer care to enhance outcomes. Dr. Winters is currently
focused on opening a comprehensive metabolic oncology hospital and
research institute in the US where the best that standard of care has to offer
and the most advanced integrative therapies will be offered. This facility will
be in a residential setting on a gorgeous campus against a backdrop of
regenerative farming, EMF mitigation and retreat, as well as state of the art
medical technology and data collection and evaluation to improve patient
outcomes.

To learn more about Dr Nasha, follow her at www.drnasha.com, or follow the progress of her integrative hospital at www.mtih.org.
You can also find her book, "The Metabolic Approach to Cancer", here: https://www.drnasha.com/matcbook/ , or her book, "MISTLETOE AND THE EMERGING FUTURE OF INTEGRATIVE ONCOLOGY" here: https://www.themistletoebook.com

View Details

We know salvation (sozo) is by grace through faith, and a gift, not of works (Eph 2:8-9). All of the promises of God are included in that word (appearing 110 times in the NT). So we receive them all the same way--entering the rest of receiving by grace through faith--and so we are also to live, in His power (Romans 5:17, Romans 8:37, 2 Cor 13:4, 1 John 4:9) and not by our own strength.

The OT types of entering God's rest:
- Israelites going from wilderness to Promised Land:
- God's grace provided it, but the first generation failed to add faith (Heb 4:2). Psalm 95:7-11: God laments that they would not enter His rest because they knew His works but not His Ways, leading to an evil heart of unbelief (Heb 3:12, 19) and hardened hearts (Heb 3:15).
- So knowing His ways is the key to entering His rest. Caleb's example: Joshua 14:7-15.
- When they did finally go in, they still had a battle (though God fought for them and promised them victory): Hebrews 4:8-10
- The type of the Sabbath:
- Hebrews 4:4, quoting Genesis 2:2
- Exo 20:11: God made this the 4th of the 10 Commandments (right after no Gods before Him, no idols, and not taking His name in vain)--so rest is key. (All the rest of the 10 Commandments were about how people were to interact with each other)
- Blessings associated with keeping the Sabbath: Isaiah 58:13-14
- The Heptadic calendar:
- Week of days – Shabbat (sabbath): the day of rest
- Week of weeks – Shavout
- Week of months – the religious year
- Week of years – the sabbatical year or the shmita year: when the land was to rest
- Seven weeks of years + 1 – Jubilee year: when slaves/captives were to go free
- Is it possible that God used the heptadic calendar, and structure throughout scripture of 7s appearing everywhere, because He intended to emphasize rest?
- But it was always just a type, not about actual works on the Sabbath: Matt 12-1-12

We can't achieve righteousness through our own works--the harder we try, the worse we get (Romans 7:15-20). This is meant to drive us toward giving up (Romans 7:22-25) and receiving righteousness/life from the Holy Spirit, who literally imbues our bodies with it (Romans 8:1-11).

This isn't just about righteousness, or about receiving God's promises (2 Cor 1:20). Our "identity in Christ" also gives us the strength, energy, stamina, courage, etc to do what He has called us to do.
- We "reign in life" through Him (Romans 5:17)
- We were raised in Him to bear fruit to God (Romans 7:4). This includes love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22).
- You can't bear these if you're burned out. "contentions, outbursts of wrath" are rather fruits of the flesh (Gal 5:20) which are consistent with burnout. If the fruit is negative, we're living from our own resources (flesh), not His (Spirit).
- We are full of goodness and complete in knowledge (Romans 15:14).
- We are enriched in every way (1 Cor 1:5).
- We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16).
- All things are ours (1 Cor 3:21).
- His power is in us (Eph 1:19) - the word eis translated for or toward can also be translated in. Also Eph 3:20
- We are competent and can be confident (2 Cor 3:4-6)
- We can serve others from God's strength (2 Cor 13:4)
- We have every blessing in the spirit realm (Eph 1:3)
- God created good works for us to do, which we do in Christ (Eph 2:10)
- We have grace and peace in abundance (2 Pet 1:2)
- We have power, love, and self-discipline/sound mind (2 Tim 1:7)
- We have everything we need for life and godliness so that we may participate in the divine nature (2 Pet 1:3-4)
- Examples:
- 1 Cor 15:10: Paul labored from God's grace
- Jesus still went out on the boat, but slept through the storm (Matt 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25).

We still labor, but plugged into His power source:
- Heb 4:4, 11: we are to be diligent to enter His rest, and we enter by believing (Heb 4:3). Faith without works is dead (James 2:17-18) but the "work" is believing
- Heb 12:1-2: run with endurance the race set before us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus, the joy set before us. Keeping our eyes fixed is how we lay aside the weights that entangle (deceitfulness of riches, desire for other things, Mark 4:19), and how we run with endurance (otherwise we'd collapse)
- We give Him those weights that might entangle/burdens: 1 Peter 5:7
- When we're weary, He will give us rest (recharge us): Matt 11:28-30
- The Jews had swords to fight the giants. We have the sword of God's word as our weapon (Heb 4:12) which we use to resist the devil and demand what's ours (but remembering that the devil is defeated already, Col 2:15, Heb 2:14, which is where the rest comes in:)
- Luke 18:1-8

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post on Methylation Defects: https://www.drlaurendeville.com/articles/methylation-defects/

View Details

Steven K. Scott flunked out of his first 9 jobs right out of college, but after reading the book of Proverbs, he learned 16 strategies that he applied to each area of his life. Steve is a best selling Christian author & billion-dollar business builder. Steve’s blessed entrepreneurship journey has funded his ministry. His latest project is called “Neumi” and he refers to it as the biggest health breakthrough he’s ever seen.

To learn more about Steve, go to www.stevenkscott.com where you can also learn more about Neumi!

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this article: Why Is My Fasting Glucose Too High? https://www.drlaurendeville.com/articles/why-is-my-fasting-glucose-too-high/

This is the podcast I mentioned on how to break the sugar addiction: https://www.drlaurendeville.com/podcast/breaking-the-sugar-addiction-interview-with-teresa-shields-parker/

Here's the resource on stress management techniques: https://www.drlaurendeville.com/articles/stress-management-techniques/

View Details

In the last days, deception will come-- false prophets will rise up and deceive many (Matt 24:11), claiming to be Jesus returned (Mark 13:6), some with signs and wonders, deceiving even the elect, "if possible" (Matt 24:24, Mark 13:22). How do we protect against this?
Focus on knowing the truth, and then you will recognize deception (as how the bankers are trained to recognize counterfeit money). The world is confused about what truth is (John 18:37-38) because they don't hear His voice. God’s word is truth (John 17:17, Psa 25:5, Psa 91:4, Psa 96:13, 100:5, 117:2, 119:142, 151, 160; 138:2, Prov 3:3), including the gospel (Col 1:5)
God is called the God of truth (Isa 65:16).
Jesus is the truth (John 14:6, as well as the Word, John 1:1-3, 14).
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13, 1 John 5:6) and He will guide us into all truth. Through the anointing of the Holy One, we know all things and He will instruct us (1 John 2:20, 2:27).
We must worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24)--i.e. according to His word and by the help of the Holy Spirit.
Love rejoices in truth (1 Cor 13:6) - both fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23, Eph 5:9)
Renew our minds with the Word (Romans 12:2); thus we will recognize God's will. Truth is the foundation of the spiritual armor (Eph 6:14)--it goes on first. Only knowing the truth will make us free (John 8:32).
Once we know the truth, we are to continue in what we were taught (Col 2:6-7, 1 John 2:24).
Truth of course also means words corresponding to reality (Gen 42:16), and whether our actions/words correspond to our thoughts and emotions (Josh 24:14, 1 Sam 12:24, 1 John 3:18)
The opposite of this is hypocrisy, or pretense (Phil 1:18), or unrighteousness (2 Thess 2:12).
What if an idea, concept, or belief that comes to us isn't addressed in scripture at all?
Is it consistent with God's character? Jesus said we can ask anything in His name and He will give it to us (John 14:14). What's in God's name? He is Jehovah Nissi (the Lord my Banner), Jehovah-Raah (the Lord my Shepherd), Jehovah Rapha (the Lord that Heals), Jehovah Shammah (the Lord is There), Jehovah Tsidkenu (the Lord our Righteousness), Jehovah Mekoddishkem (the Lord who Sanctifies You), Jehovah Jireh (the Lord who Provides), Jehovah Shalom (the Lord is Peace), Jehovah Sabaoth (the Lord of Hosts).
What is its fruit? (Gal 5:19-23, Romans 8:6-8) God won't lead us into anything producing negative fruit--if the fruit is negative, it's from the flesh and not the Spirit.
The opposite of truth is deceit(Prov 12:17, Isaiah 59:4, Jer 9:5, 2 Cor 4:2). Satan is the father of deceit/lies and there is no truth in him (John 8:44). Those who are unrighteous will suppress the truth (Romans 1:18).
False teachers will distort the truth (Acts 20:29-30, 2 Peter 3:16), by mixing it with myths/fables (Titus 1:14) or "merely human commands" (Matthew 16:1-12) or the traditions of men (such as forbidding to marry, abstaining from certain foods, 1 Tim 4:3), according to the principles of the world (Col 2:4-8). They will pretend to be godly or moral, though (2 Cor 11:13-15, 2 Tim 6:5)--so we must use discernment.
How do we know a false teacher vs just one who is flawed?
Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is a false teacher (1 John 2:22-23, 4:2-3)
Some may lie intentionally for their own gain (Deut 18:20, Ezekiel 13:9, Jer 14:14, Jer 23:16, Titus 1:10-11) or in hypocrisy (1 Tim 4:2)
Others may be so blind that they truly believe they are doing God a favor in persecuting His true followers (John 16:2).
Romans 16:18: Paul said in this verse that these individuals use good words and fair speeches and deceive the hearts of the simple. This means that they flatter people (2 Timothy 4:3) and appeal to the same selfish desires that they themselves have, to draw people after themselves (Acts 20:30).
We can't judge motives (Matthew 7:1-3), but we can and should judge fruit (Matthew 7:15-20, 1 John 3:7-9). There are many who claim to be believers but aren't (Matthew 7:21-23) and they'll be among us until the end of the age, when God will finally separate them out (Matthew 13:24-30).
The serpent is subtle and cunning (Gen 3:1, 2 Cor 11:3-4). We'll have to know scripture well so that it cannot be twisted against us. Satan tried to deceive Jesus with scripture (Matt 4:6)--and not even misquoted, just out of context. Some examples of how beliefs can be twisted and used against us if we're not careful:
Some teach that God causes or allows sickness in order to teach us something. This sounds spiritual--yet Deut 28 makes it clear that sickness is always considered a curse. Jesus became a curse for us and redeemed us from the curse (Gal 3:13-14), and even before that, He healed all who came to Him (Matt 15:30, Matt 4:23-24, Matt 8:16, Matt 9:35, Matt 10:1, Matt 12:15, Matt 15:30, Luke 4:40, Luke 10:9) and He was a perfect representation of the Father (John 5:19, 5:30, 8:28, 12:49)
2 Kings 18:4: the people had converted God's symbol for healing, the brass serpent from Numbers 21:6-9, a future type of Jesus, into an idol which they called Nehushtan. King Hezekiah had torn down the high places and broke Nehushtan in pieces. When Rabshakeh from the king of Assyria threatened the people with destruction, he said, "You broke down God's symbols of worship! Why would He come through for you?" (2 Kings 18:22). The people had to know God and His word well enough to know that what Hezekiah did was right in God's eyes (2 Kings 18:5-7); if they didn't, they might easily lose faith that God would come through for them, and also turn against Hezekiah, thinking he'd brought them out from under God's protection.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this article, Why You Should Only Use NSAIDs Sparingly: https://www.drlaurendeville.com/articles/use-nsaids-sparingly/

View Details

Steven Arms lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Emily, and is the proud father of two young children. In his book 'Milestone to Manhood' , Steven shares his firsthand experience of his Rite of Passage weekend with his dad and reflects on how it shaped him into the man that he is today.

To learn more about Steven, see https://www.milestonetomanhood.com/ or get the book 'Milestone to Manhood' here: https://www.amazon.com/Milestone-Manhood-Christian-Passage-Boyhood-ebook/dp/B09VDRC5TH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=285TREKIQDRXG&keywords=milestone+to+manhood&qid=1662743021&sprefix=Milestone+to+Man%2Caps%2C280&sr=8-1

View Details

Linda Elsegood is the founder of the UK charity LDN Research Trust, established in 2004. She has Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) significantly impacted her life. She wanted to help other people, not only with MS but all autoimmune diseases, cancers, mental health issues, etc. In the last 18 years, the charity has helped over a million people worldwide.

To learn more about LDN Research Trust, see https://ldnresearchtrust.org/

View Details

Mike Novotny is a pastor at The CORE, a church in downtown Appleton, WI, as well as spiritual leader and lead speaker for Time of Grace—a media ministry that reaches a national television audience of 400,000 a week and engages with people more than five million times a month across its various media platforms. He is also the recent author of, “What’s Big Starts Small: 6 Ways to Grow Great Faith.” He enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, continuing his streak of 37 years of playing organized soccer, running long distances and reading any nonfiction he can get his hands on. To learn more about Mike, get the book or other resources, visit https://timeofgrace.org/

View Details

Michael Rubino is an air quality expert who helps bridge the gap between the air in our homes and its direct impact on our health and founder of Change the Air Foundation. Rubino works with over 100 doctors globally to not only raise awareness but also provide solutions to correctly identify and remove the pollutants causing this global health crisis. As President of Home Cleanse, Rubino specializes in working with people who are immunocompromised or have acute and sustained reactions to mold exposure and has helped heal over 1,000 families—including celebrities and athletes. He is also a council-certified Mold Remediation Supervisor by IICRC and ACAC and is a contributing member, sponsor, and speaker for the Indoor Air Quality Association. He is the author of The Mold Medic and a contributor to MindBodyGreen. Rubino has been featured on Gwyneth Paltrow’s The goop Podcast and goop's website, Brandi Glanville’s Unfiltered podcast, Luke Storey, Forbes, USA Today, and Bloom TV, to name a few. He hosts the YouTube series, Mold Talks, where guests include medical experts as well as mold recovery patients, including media icon Atoosa Rubenstein.

To learn more about Michael, go to:

https://www.themoldmedic.com/
https://changetheairfoundation.org/
https://www.homecleanse.com/

View Details

Jesus says we should discern good people from evil people by their fruit (Matthew 7:16-20, Matt 12:33). Every seed bears fruit according to its kind (Gen 1:11) so this is how we can see physical evidence of what they've planted in their hearts. But what fruit does He mean? * Fruit of the Spirit: Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 6:22, 2 Cor 9:10, Eph 5:9, Phil 1:11, James 3:18, 2 Peter 1:5-8 + Fruit of righteousness is a "tree of life": Prov 11:30

Fruit of labors: Psalm 1:3, Psalm 92:14, Prov 12:12 (the root yields fruit... eventually I assume), Prov 31:31, Romans 15:27-28 (those who sow the gospel reap material provision), Phil 1:22, Col 1:10 (seems like good works are blessed to produce fruit, not that they are the fruit in and of themselves)
Fruit of financial seed: Phil 4:17 (sowing finances to spread the gospel reaping fruit from the same)
Fruit of trust = blessing: Jeremiah 17:7-8, Hosea 14:8
Fruit of wisdom/ good choices: Prov 8:19, Isaiah 3:10, Jeremiah 17:10, Jer 32:19, Matt 12:33, Luke 6:43-44, James 3:17
Fruit of the Word / Kingdom: Matt 13:23, Matt 21:43, Mark 4:20, Luke 8:15, John 4:36 (including souls to eternal life), John 15:16, Romans 1:13 (souls), Romans 7:4, Col 1:6, James 5:7-8 (with patience)
Fruit of discipline by the Word: John 15:2-8, Heb 12:11
Fruit of repentance: Matthew 3:8 (a changed heart/ways?), Luke 3:8
Fruit of words ("you can have what you say"): Prov 12:14, Prov 13:2, Prov 18:20, Prov 18:21, Isaiah 57:19
Includes praise: Heb 13:15

Negative fruit: * Fruit, or consequences, of poor/evil choices: Prov 1:31, Isaiah 10:12, Jeremiah 17:10, Jer 21:14, Jer 32:19, Matthew 3:10, Matthew 7:16-20, Matt 12:33, Luke 3:9, Luke 6:43-44, Romans 6:21, Romans 7:5 * Fruit of negative words: Prov 18:21, Hosea 10:13 * Fruit of negative thoughts: Jeremiah 6:19 * No fruit of the kingdom (when their should be --those who profess to be believers): Luke 13:6-9, John 15:2, Jude 1:12

View Details

Fruit of labors: Psalm 1:3, Psalm 92:14, Prov 12:12 (the root yields fruit... eventually I assume), Prov 31:31, Romans 15:27-28 (those who sow the gospel reap material provision), Phil 1:22, Col 1:10 (seems like good works are blessed to produce fruit, not that they are the fruit in and of themselves)
Fruit of financial seed: Phil 4:17 (sowing finances to spread the gospel reaping fruit from the same)
Fruit of trust = blessing: Jeremiah 17:7-8, Hosea 14:8
Fruit of wisdom/ good choices: Prov 8:19, Isaiah 3:10, Jeremiah 17:10, Jer 32:19, Matt 12:33, Luke 6:43-44, James 3:17
Fruit of the Word / Kingdom: Matt 13:23, Matt 21:43, Mark 4:20, Luke 8:15, John 4:36 (including souls to eternal life), John 15:16, Romans 1:13 (souls), Romans 7:4, Col 1:6, James 5:7-8 (with patience)
Fruit of discipline by the Word: John 15:2-8, Heb 12:11
Fruit of repentance: Matthew 3:8 (a changed heart/ways?), Luke 3:8
Fruit of words ("you can have what you say"): Prov 12:14, Prov 13:2, Prov 18:20, Prov 18:21, Isaiah 57:19
Includes praise: Heb 13:15

View Details

Dr Neil Nathan has been practicing medicine for 50 years, and has been Board Certified in Family Practice and Pain Management and is a Founding Diplomate of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine. He has written several books, including Healing is Possible: New Hope for Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Persistent Pain, and Other Chronic Illnesses and On Hope and Healing: For Those Who Have Fallen Through the Medical Cracks. He has hosted an internationally syndicated radio program/podcast on Voice America called The Cutting Edge of Health and Wellness Today. He has been working to bring an awareness that mold toxicity is a major contributing factor for patients with chronic illness and lectures internationally on this subject which led to the publication of his ebook, Mold and Mycotoxins: Current Evaluation and Treatment, 2016, (now updated to 2022), and then to his best-selling book Toxic: Heal Your Body from Mold Toxicity, Lyme Disease, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and Chronic Environmental Illness. His new book, out winter, 2021, is Energetic Diagnosis, a discussion
of the value of intuition and energetic devices as an aid to both diagnosis and treatment of medical illness.

Dr. Nathan has been treating chronic complex medical illnesses for 25 years now, and Lyme disease for the past 15 years. As his practice has evolved, he finds himself increasingly treating the patients who have become so sensitive and toxic that they can no longer tolerate their usual treatments, and his major current interest is in finding unique ways of helping them to
recover.

To learn more about Dr Nathan, see www.neilnathanmd.com

View Details

Having worked with CEOs, celebrities, church leaders and everyday people from every walk of life and countries around the world, Ray Leight has spent nearly two decades teaching people how to know, believe and live the truth of who they are. Having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and ADHD, discovering and living out of one's true identity in Christ is a journey he is all too familiar with. Cofounder (along with his wife, Kathryn) of Faith by Grace Ministries, he serves as a pastoral counselor with Bethel Church and is a devoted father and husband, as well as a sought-after speaker. He is also the author of 'Maturing Into Yourself: Grow Into the Fullness of Your Healing,’ which explores the different aspects of the maturation process, beyond trauma and healing ... beyond experiencing revelation through spiritual discernment and finally believing the truth of who we are.

To learn more about Ray, see his book, Maturing Into Yourself, or go to faithbygrace.org

View Details

Dr. Nayan Patel is a sought after pharmacist, health expert, and thought leader in the industry. Since 1999, he has been collaborating with physicians to develop customized medication for their clients and design patient-specific drug and nutrition programs. He has been the pharmacist of choice to celebrities, CEO’s and physicians themselves.

He recently published his first comprehensive book, The Glutathione Revolution: Fight Disease, Slow Aging & Increase Energy. After 11 years of clinical research on the master antioxidant, glutathione, Dr. Patel finally shares how powerful and essential glutathione is to the body’s detox system. He talks about the various benefits it has with slowing down the aging process, and explains how to increase your levels naturally. Dr. Patel is a firm believer in providing the body with tools it needs to defend itself and promote a healthy lifestyle that fits the pace of the modern world.

To learn more about Dr Patel, see www.aurowellness.com.

The Glutathione Revolution: Fight Disease, Slow Aging, and Increase Energy with the Master Antioxidant

View Details

Ryan Beck is the Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Pray.com, the world’s #1 app for daily prayer and faith-based audio content. Pray.com is driven by a mission to grow faith, cultivate community, and leave a legacy of helping others. Beck brings expertise in computer science, software engineering, and theological studies to his role as chief technology officer. He helped start Pray.com in 2016.

To learn more about Ryan, see https://www.pray.com/articles/founders

View Details

Dr Greg Hammer is a Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, pediatric intensive care physician, pediatric anesthesiologist, mindfulness expert, and the author of GAIN without Pain: The Happiness Handbook for Health Care Professionals.

A member of the Stanford WellMD initiative, Dr. Hammer is currently the Chair of the Physician Wellness Task Force for the California Society of Anesthesiologists. He has been a visiting professor and lecturer on wellness at institutions worldwide and teaches GAIN to medical students, residents, and fellows at Stanford.

Dr. Hammer’s clinical focus is in pediatric cardiac anesthesia and pediatric critical care medicine. His research is in developmental pharmacology and immunology, and he has an active laboratory with multiple ongoing studies in these areas. He has published widely on topics related to pharmacology and perioperative care of children undergoing cardiac and thoracic procedures as well as organ transplantation. Dr. Hammer is a health enthusiast and meditator, utilizing a non-duality and mindfulness-based approach, including the GAIN method.

To learn more about Dr Hammer, visit greghammermd.com

GAIN Without Pain: The Happiness Handbook for Health Care Professionals

View Details

Today we jump around in scripture a lot. Here are some of the verses:

John 10:3-5
Romans 3:4
John 10:27
John 8:47
Jeremiah 33:3
Rev 3:20
Isaiah 30:21
James 4:8
Jeremiah 29:13
Heb 8:6-13
Psalm 37:4
Col 3:15
1 Kings 19
Hebrews 4:12
and more...

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post: Spotlight On: Baking Soda.

To find a root cause doctor in your area, check out wholehealthdr.com

View Details

Today's podcast is a meditation on how to pray for the world in dark times. Our anchor verse is Proverbs 4:23. Other scriptures discussed include:

Philippians 4:6-8
Colossians 3:15
James 5:16
Psalm 2
2 Cor 3:14
Matthew 9:38
Romans 1:19-22
Luke 12:2-3
2 Chronicles 7:14
Psalm 37:34
Proverbs 26:27
Proverbs 11:21
Genesis 50:20
Romans 8:26-28

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, Clotting: The Real Cause of Heart Disease?

To find a local holistic doc near you, go to wholehealthdr.com

View Details

Bob Hasson (hass-en) is a businessman, author, consultant and podcaster. He is both the founder and CEO of HPCI, a painting subcontractor he founded in 1978 and that operates across the western U.S. For over 30 years, he has been active as a consultant and board member for churches, ministries, non-profits and school boards. A sought-after speaker, Bob has co-authored books with Danny Silk and Shawn Bolz. He has been married for 33 years to his wife, Lauren, and they have four children and two grandchildren.

To learn more about Bob, go to bobhasson.com, or follow him on Instagram @bob.hasson

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post: How Uric Acid Affects Blood Pressure.

View Details

Don and Esther Parsons have served in cross-cultural missions for over 25 years. Sensing the call to use their language and cultural skills in the region where their missionary ministry began, Don joined the staff of Mission Eurasia in 2020 working as the only western member of their Field Ministries Team. Through Mission Eurasia’s vast regional network and working with other partners Don is serving as Ministry Director for the Unreached People Groups Initiative; mobilizing, inspiring, and equipping the next generation of leaders in Eurasia to take the Gospel to the unreached in Eurasia and beyond. This new challenge allows Don to use his extensive experience and training to help equip the church in Eurasia to impact the nations in profound ways.

When the war broke out on February 24, Don’s focus and direction with Mission Eurasia changed. He is currently heading the relief efforts of Mission Eurasia in Warsaw, Poland, through work with several refugee relief centers providing for physical and spiritual needs. Don and the Mission Eurasia team meet with and encourage refugees, organizing provisions and much needed counseling services.

To learn more about Don and Mission Eurasia, go to:

Website: https://missioneurasia.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/missioneurasia

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MissionEurasia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missioneurasia/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/missioneurasia/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8FIPHrNVyXOGoqWSalOCMg/featured

View Details

Coach April is an international speaker and author who loves to exhort people to tap into their greatness to identify who they really are! Now a Certified Fitness Trainer, April carried around the weight of feeling fat for many years after a boy called her “big” at the ripe age of 12.

Finding her identity in Christ is what set her free, and now she challenges and supports her clients to change both the inside and outside; tackling both mindset and physical fitness with programs like the 90 Day Breakthrough, Clean Eating and Love My Body Challenges.

April believes everyone is able to make the changes they desire, whether by baby steps or giant leaps—they just have to start moving!

Her vision is to get the Body of Christ and anyone who is interested in reclaiming their health to make sound choices that will lead to victory in their overall lives!

To learn more about Coach April and for a free gift, see loseweightloveyourbody.com or find her books on kingdompowerliving.com.

View Details

Dr. Jared Zeff is a licensed doctor of naturopathic medicine and a licensed acupuncturist. In addition to maintaining a private practice, Dr. Jared Zeff currently teaches at the Bastyr University, College of Naturopathic Medicine in Seattle.

Dr. Zeff is considered a traditionalist, practicing a classical form of naturopathic medicine. He began a private practice in McMinnville, Oregon, based around obstetrics and family medicine.

He was named “Naturopathic Physician of the Year” in 1989 for his contribution to the development of naturopathic clinical theory. In April, 2002, he was given the first Lifetime Achievement Award of the Northwest Naturopathic Physicians Association for his contributions to naturopathic medical education.

For more on Dr Zeff, see www.salmoncreekclinic.com

View Details

Defeating Anxiety and Control

Realize you are not in control anyway - that is an illusion.
Think back over the events in your life: list the other times that you have tried to control your circumstances. Did it work? What was the outcome?
Admit that you are powerless to make your life work out the way you want it to. (You might as well, because it’s true whether you admit it or not.)
Psalm 127:1: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.”
Proverbs 21:30: “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.”
Proverbs 19:21: “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.”
Proverbs 16:9: “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”
God wants to be first in your life. This is the key to defeating control and anxiety: we are anxious when we want something more than we want to follow God. Letting go of the thing we desire is terrifying (in fact, it feels a lot like dying to ourselves), but it is the only path to peace. The paradox is, God promises that if we lose our life, that is when we will find it. As long as we insist on controlling our lives, it will remain forever out of control.
Matthew 6:33-34: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Proverbs 21:21: “Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.”
Matthew 10:39: “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 16:25: “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”
Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Matthew 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:5: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
When we let go of “trying to find our lives” (whatever the problem is that obsesses us), we will experience grief - but it is a good, healing grief. It is a grief that leads to joy in the end, because it is the only path to life.
Psalm 126:5: “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.”
Matthew 5:4: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Psalm 30:5: "Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."
What to do instead: God invites you to bring your troubles to Him.
Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
1 Peter 5:7: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Philippians 4:4-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Psalm 55:22: “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.”
God is a good God; therefore you can trust Him. He is for you and not against you; He wants good things for you. (And He is in a better position to know what is good for you than you are. If you doubt this, stop and think about some of the things you wanted desperately in the past and didn’t get.)
Isaiah 46:3-4: “You whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
Jeremiah 33:41: “I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.”
Nahum 1:7: “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.”
Isaiah 58:11: “And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”
Psalm 34:10: “Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”
Psalm 84:11: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord bestows favor and honor; No good thing does he withhold From those whose walk is blameless.”
Psalm 103:2-5: “Praise the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all his benefits -- Who forgives all your sins And heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit And crowns you with love and compassion, Who satisfies your desires with good things So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.”
Psalm 145:16-19: “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. ...He fulfills the desires of those who fear him.”
Once you have brought your troubles to God, and prayed for a solution, your job is to do the very hardest thing of all, for people like us: wait, and trust that God will do what He said He would do.
Psalm 27:14: “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”
Psalm 37:3-5: “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”
Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”
Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”
Isaiah 30:18: “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”
Joel 2:25: “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.”
2 Samuel 23:5: “Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?”
James 1:17: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
But what if you are still supposed to do something to fix the problem? Part of trusting God is trusting that He will tell you what to do and when to do it (if you are supposed to do anything at all). That is why we have the Holy Spirit - he promises to guide you into ALL truth.
John 14:26: "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."
John 16:13: "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."
Jeremiah 33:3: “Call unto Me and I will show thee great things and difficult, which thou knowest not.”
Jeremiah 6:16: This is what the Lord says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls."
Psalm 32:8: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.”
Isaiah 2:3: “And he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.”
James 1:5-8: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”
Isaiah 30:21: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."”
Psalm 25:12-13: “Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.”
When you act according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, now you are partnering with God and can have faith in the outcome.
2 Thessalonians 1:11: “By his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.”
Isaiah 58:11: “And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”
Philippians 2:13: “it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
Isaiah 48:17: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: The Dark Side of Statins.

View Details

Ronald D. Ramsey retired from corporate life after a twenty five-year career as an organization development consultant specializing in large scale culture change. After earning a doctorate in family therapy, he has worked as a licensed marriage and family counselor in private practice. In 2017 he completed the requirements of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education for hospital chaplaincy with additional training in Palliative Care chaplaincy. The majority of his work since then has been with patients receiving palliative care and their families. Ron is the author of the powerful book Forty Days to Forgiveness: A Christian’s Field Guide to the Forgiveness Journey. The book draws from Ron’s experiences as an organization development consultant, his knowledge of the behavioral sciences and theological studies, and his own unforgiveness challenges, to lead readers on a life-changing forgiveness journey.

For more on Ron, see fortydaystoforgiveness.com

View Details

Devin Burke is an international and TEDx speaker, the bestselling author of “The Sleep Advantage,” the founder of Sleep Science Academy, and one of the top health and sleep coaches in the world. His books, keynotes, programs and videos have inspired thousands of people to improve their sleep, energy, and life. Devin Burke helps high achievers and exhausted insomniacs get and stay asleep so they can wake up with more peace, power and presence. He was named one of the “Top 25 Health Coaches in America.” and has studied innovative holistic coaching methods from some of the world’s top health and human performance experts for over a decade. As a speaker and coach, he has inspired thousands of people to open their eyes to what is possible through creating new sleep, health and performance habits, and routines.

For more on Devin, see SleepScienceAcademy.com

View Details

Dr Moshe Daniel Block is the author of The Revolution of Naturopathic Medicine: Remaining True to Our Philosophy, a book about the philosophy and practice of naturopathic medicine, and Holistic Counseling – Introducing the Vis Dialogue, a book about a breakthrough healing method uniting the worlds of Mind-Body Medicine & Psychology. He graduated from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (Toronto, Ontario) in 2000. Dr Block then went on to complete the Homeopathic Master Clinician course with Louis Klein in 2003. He now focuses his practice doing one on one "Physician, Heal Thyself!" and mentoring appointments with NDs and students enrolled in his mind-body medicine certification program called "Holistic Counseling." He continues to specialize in autoimmune illness and myasthenia gravis, a disease he was personally diagnosed as having and from which he has healed himself.

For more on Dr Block's counseling certification, see https://holistic-counseling.ca/

View Details

Michael Andrews is the author of “The Influential Christian: Learning to Lead from the Heart.” He has taught and preached in a number of churches across the country over the past 30 years. He retired as an engineer from the telecommunications industry, after directing several research and development projects. In addition to his degrees in electrical engineering, Michael has a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry. He is an ordained minister affiliated with the Churches of Christ. To learn more about Mike, see mwandrews.com, or see his book The Influential Christian here.

View Details

We jump around, but these are the scriptures mentioned:

1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Colossians 3:13: "bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do."
Matthew 6:12, 14-15. "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors... For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (The same prayer also appears in Luke 11:4)
Luke 6:37 also says, "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
Luke 17:4:“And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,' you shall forgive him.”
Matthew 18:21-35: The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. 21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
Mark 11:22-26: So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. 25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
James 5:13-16:"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Luke 17:3:“Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him."
2 Corinthians 2:5-7: "But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent -- not to be too severe. This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow."
Matthew 18:15-20: “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. 18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
John 20:23: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

View Details

Dr Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, is the Richard E. Haynes Distinguished Professor in Clinical Cancer Prevention and Director of the Integrative Medicine Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr. Cohen conducts research examining integrative medicine practices such as meditation, yoga, acupuncture and other strategies aimed at reducing the negative aspects of cancer treatment and improving quality of life. He is also conducting research to demonstrate that lifestyle changes can influence cancer outcomes.

In addition to publishing more than 125 scientific articles in top medical journals and numerous book chapters, Dr. Cohen and his wife, Alison Jefferies have published their own book, titled “Anticancer Living,” which outlines six pillars of lifestyle change to support health and well-being and reduce the risk of cancer. Dr. Cohen in fact is living proof that this approach works, as the day he finished his book, he received notice that he himself had cancer. He then “lived his book” and today is cancer free.

For more about Dr Cohen and Alison, see anticancer-living.com or check out their book, Anticancer Living.

View Details

Norm Wielsch was an agnostic police officer for over 25 years. He was exposed to many traumatic incidents and diagnosed with PTSD. Then he was diagnosed with an incurable debilitating neuromuscular disease, and had over 25 surgeries in ten years. He was prescribed opioids for the pain, and soon began to abuse the opioids to relieve the negative emotions of PTSD. After that, his daughter was diagnosed with liver tumors, and the prognosis was poor. This placed him in a downward spiral that led him to make some very poor decisions that led to a 14-year prison sentence. He responded to God’s calling, and though divine intervention, his daughter and he were both healed. He spent over 8 years in Federal prison where he co-pastored the church and taught how God heals PTSD. In prison, he obtained a master’s degree in Theology and Counseling, then a doctorate in Christian Counseling. He went on to become a Registered Addiction Counselor and pastoral care provider in a residential treatment facility. He wrote a book called, “Christ-Centered Healing of Trauma: Healing a Broken Heart” and a small group study guide to go with it. Both are on sale now.

To learn more about Norm, see www.christ-centeredhealing.com

View Details

Rick Kirschner is a retired speaker, author of 9 books, filmmaker and vitalist naturopathic physician. He is coauthor of the international bestseller, ‘Dealing With People You Can’t Stand’ now in it’s third edition and in 27 languages. He is the past President of the Naturopathic Medicine Institute.

He has worked with some of the world’s best known organizations and businesses, from NASA to Starbucks to the US Army and National Guard, as well as city, state and national governments, hospitals and healthcare conglomerates. His documentary film, How Healthcare Became Sickcare: The True History Of Medicine is available for free viewing on his website, TalkNatural.com

He lives just across the long bridge in Sagle, Idaho with his wife, one eyed cat, and 5 chickens.

To learn more about Rick, see https://talknatural.com/.

To watch his film, How Healthcare Became Sickcare: The True History of Medicine, click here: https://talknatural.com/documentary.html

View Details

Today's meditation and retelling is from Acts 16:16-40.

Introduction:

I always thought it strange that this demon-possessed girl announced the truth of Paul and Silas’s message, and yet the disciples found this troublesome. Why would a demon endorse their message, and if it did, why would that be a bad thing? There must be something we’re missing. Perhaps this gave the distinct impression to listeners that Paul and Silas were in cahoots with the demons. Jesus was accused of this very thing, too (Luke 11:15). Also, if this demon-possessed girl bothered Paul (whatever the reason), why did it take him “many days” to cast the demon out? Why didn’t he do so at once? We’re not told what was going on that would have hindered this solution, so we can only speculate. Andrew Wommack’s interpretation is that perhaps the girl had no desire to be free of the demon. If that were the case, as Jesus said, casting out one demon without replacing it with a new Spirit might leave her with more demons than she started with in the end (Matthew 12:44). As a naturopathic doctor, I think of this as similar to a course of broad-spectrum antibiotics. They might wipe out the pathogen, but if you don’t repopulate with good bacteria to defend the territory against subsequent attacks, opportunistic organisms may invade instead. The end state of that patient’s digestion and health generally can then be worse than it was to begin with. Perhaps Paul and Silas waited to see if the girl might give any indication that she wanted deliverance. But after many days of her presumably hindering their message and preventing others from coming to the Lord, they’d had enough. Unfortunately, the girl turned out to be a valuable slave, because of the demon. In their anger, her owners dragged Paul and Silas before the magistrates of the city. I’m not sure why Paul didn’t tell the magistrates that they were Roman citizens then, since apparently that would have changed everything. Perhaps God told them to keep their mouths shut about that for the time being, though it seems like if that were the case, it would have been recorded. Also, while the apostles were certainly persecuted in many cases for their faith, I can’t think of a time in scripture when God explicitly told them to submit to persecution because He intended to use it for the greater good, even though He always did so. God taking evil and turning it for good certainly isn’t the same thing as God causing evil and turning it for good. Later in Paul’s life, God specifically tried to lead him away from Jerusalem, apparently to spare him persecution (Acts 21:4-11). It therefore seems more likely to me that in the ensuing brouhaha, Paul just couldn’t get a word in edgewise. I love how God redeemed this miserable story, though. Beaten, bloody, in stocks so they couldn’t even move, and now thrown into prison, Paul and Silas surely didn’t feel like singing. Yet they offered a sacrifice of praise, anyway (Hebrews 13:15). This time, God didn’t send an angel, but an earthquake. He needed to make sure the jailer was awake to see Paul and Silas’s deliverance. As a result, rather than committing suicide (since the jailer knew that if all the prisoners escaped on his watch, he would be killed for his negligence), he and all his family were saved. Not only that, but the Roman law protected Roman citizens from being punished without a trial (Acts 22:25-29). When the magistrates learned they had thus treated Roman citizens, they were afraid, for their positions and possibly even for their lives. Naturally, word of the scandal would spread—“Did you hear what the magistrates of Philippi did to two Roman citizens? Yes, and without trial!” The next question of course would be, “What did the men do to deserve such treatment?” And so the gospel might spread even farther than it might have otherwise. Also, magistrates in other cities would be careful not to repeat the offense, protecting Paul and Silas from similar treatment in the future. The story might even have protected other believers from harassment too, as they preached; surely no other magistrates would be in a hurry to repeat the Philippian mistake. Fictionalized Retelling: I felt a sinister presence right away, at the edge of our meeting in Philippi. One minute, it felt like I had the crowd’s full attention, like they were hanging on my every word. The Holy Spirit was almost palpable. I brimmed with anticipation, eager for the awesome display of the Lord’s power that was sure to follow. But then suddenly, the energy of the group shifted, and soured. I didn’t miss a beat, and continued speaking, but I scanned the crowd for the source of the disturbance. My eyes landed on the girl at once. She was dark-skinned, her wrists spangled with bracelets and her head and waist with colorful scarves. These told me her profession at a glance: she was a diviner. All diviners were either demon-possessed or charlatans, so I wasn’t too surprised to note the sneer and hollow expression she wore. Demons I could deal with. The problem was the effect she was having upon the crowd. As I continued preaching, I saw the girl whispering to those around her, though her vacant eyes remained locked upon me. Sometimes the demon-possessed retained some control of their own bodies, but not this girl. She had surrendered herself to it totally. I couldn’t hear what she said to the listeners around them, but the effect was like a bucket of cold water upon the Holy Spirit’s flame. People began to wander away, before I had even finished. All my hopes for the great outpouring of the Spirit that night evaporated. Finally, I dismissed what remained of my listeners at dusk, urging them to return to hear me speak again the next morning. I caught the girl’s smirk of satisfaction as she wandered away, too. When we were alone again, I turned to Silas in frustration and threw up my hands. “What happened?” I demanded. “Did you feel it too? That shift?” The younger man nodded, grim-faced. “You saw her?” “Yes! What was she saying to them? Could you hear?” Silas nodded again. “It was always some variation of, ‘These men are servants of the Great High God, and they’re telling us how to be saved!’” I let out a grunt of disgust. The words were true, of course, but the effect of the words were proof enough that, coming from her, it would have the opposite effect. There were those who already spread rumors that we performed signs and wonders through the power of the demonic. The diviner girl’s apparent endorsement must have convinced at least some of them that the spirit by whom she operated and the Spirit through Whom I did were one and the same. “Maybe she won’t come back tomorrow,” Silas soothed, but I turned a deadpan expression upon him. He gave me a bashful smile and shrugged. “Just being optimistic.” He knew as well as I did that if Satan discovered his tactic had worked to hinder the gospel, he would assuredly double down on it. I huffed. “Let’s just pray that, if the girl herself is still reachable, she’ll give some indication of it tomorrow,” I murmured to my protege as I walked into town, toward the house where we were staying for the night. “Then we can cast it out, and turn her distraction to our advantage.” “We might have to cast it out anyway, whether she wants us to or not,” Silas returned, falling into step beside me. “I know, but it’ll be worse for her if we do it without her consent.” “Why?” Silas frowned. “Remember the Lord’s teaching on this? He said, ‘when a demon is cast out of a person, it goes to wander in a waterless realm, searching for rest. But finding no place to rest, it says, ‘I will go back and reoccupy the body I left.’ When it returns, it finds the person like a house swept clean and made tidy, but empty. Then it goes and enlists seven demons more evil than itself, and they all enter and possess the person, leaving that one in a much worse state than before.’” I told Silas, “If I cast it out, I want to be able to replace it with the Holy Spirit, for her sake. If I can’t do that…” “Ah, I see,” Silas bit his lip, and then looked up to heaven. “Lift the confusion and the oppression off of that girl, Lord! Long enough for her to hear that she has a choice, to hear that she can be set free!” I agreed with Silas in prayer, both of us alternately speaking in English and groaning in tongues as we interceded for the girl all the way to our house for the evening. But alas, the next day was no different—nor the next, nor the next. The girl turned up every day that we preached, souring the crowd against us and growing increasingly bold. “These men are the servants of the Most High God!” she began to shout over us. “They are proclaiming the way of salvation!” Many would-be listeners seemed to be scared off by her expostulations. Finally after nearly a week of hindrance, I approached the girl, standing right before her, peering into her eyes. I willed her to show me some indication that she was still in there, and that she wanted deliverance—but alas, she was only a shell. Still, I couldn’t let this go on. “I command you in the name of Jesus, the Anointed One, to come out of her, now!” At first, the girl’s vacant expression did not change. I turned my back on her and, unhindered, proceeded to preach again to the small crowd gathered. I had to break off, though, because their attention was arrested by the spectacle behind me. Exasperated, I turned to see what had distracted them, expecting the usual foaming and writhing of a demon fighting his eviction. I saw this, but I also saw a pair of well-dressed, burly men at the girl’s side. I suddenly understood for certain what I had only suspected before: she was a slave, and she probably made these masters of hers a great deal of money with her divinations. The girl shrieked, and then went still. I knew she wasn’t dead, having been through this plenty of times before, but her masters behaved as though I had killed her. “You!” they spat, pointing at Silas and me. My mouth fell open, which was about all the time I had for protest. In moments, the two swarthy men had each chosen a target—one falling upon Silas and the other upon me. When my huge captor got close enough, he wrapped one hand all the way around my skinny upper arm and proceeded to drag me toward the central marketplace of Philippi. “Don’t struggle!” I called to Silas, behind us. Silas let out a short laugh, which I understood to mean, As if I could! I tripped a few times as my captor dragged me inexorably along, at his own pace rather than mine. Moments later, we found ourselves before the city magistrates, on our knees. “These Jews are troublemakers!” Silas’s captor announced. “They’re throwing our city into confusion. They’re pushing their Jewish religion down our throats. It’s wrong and unlawful for them to promote these Jewish ways, for we are Romans living in a Roman colony!” This announcement was met with an uproar, from both the magistrates themselves and from the surrounding mob—always ready to be whipped into an emotional frenzy, whatever the cause. I considered retorting that the two men who seized us were really upset that they had lost their source of income from the demon-possessed girl, but it was clear it wouldn’t matter. The emotional pitch was too high. The magistrates, feeding off the energy of the crowd, tore their clothes and cried out that Silas and I were to be beaten with rods. Silas caught my eye, looking briefly terrified. In minutes, both of us were stripped to the waist, tied to a pole, and on our knees, while bloodthirsty soldiers relished laying stripes into our backs. The dull thud of the rod against Silas’s flesh and my own made me groan in rhythm with it. Then, some part of my consciousness detached as protection from the pain. I made a song of it. It was, in a bizarre sense, almost meditative. I was with the Lord, looking down at our suffering bodies, bemused. I wondered if this was how we would die. And then it was over. I scarcely heard the crowd anymore, a dull roar in my own ears. All I saw were the paving stones, slick with my sweat and blood. The tunic was replaced upon my raw flesh. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I winced in anticipation of the moment when I would have to remove it again. I decided that when the time came, I would try to soak the tunic in water so that it would not stick to my wounds when I peeled it off. These thoughts distracted me sufficiently that I was surprised to find myself on my feet, walking somewhere with an escort. It was bright, and then it was dim, dank, and chilly. We were forced into a cell, and then to our knees. Something wooden slammed across my ankles, hands and neck. Stocks, I realized. Silas received the same treatment beside me, I saw as my eyes adjusted to the gloom. The roar began to fade from my ears, too, and with it, I felt the sting and throb of my wounds begin to return. I could make out the cadence of taunts from our captors, but not their substance. Then the door slammed shut. Silas and I were alone again. We were silent for some time, probably both regaining our senses after the physical shock. I was so grateful for shock, I thought. How kind of the Lord, to build in that mechanism to the human body, so that the nerves could not be overloaded with too much pain at once. I hadn’t really felt the pain except at the very beginning, and as it crept back to me now. “You okay?” I croaked to my companion at last. Silas groaned in response. Over the subsequent hours, the pain returned in dribs and drabs, but never all at once. I felt the ache of my stiff, restless limbs, the throb and occasionally the sting of my wounds. I drowsed a few times, but then the discomfort of my position awakened me. I glanced over at the keeper of the prison, whose silhouette I could just make out from where I sat. I could tell the man had fallen asleep from his akimbo position, and his jaw that hung agape. Every now and then he let out a snore. Eventually Silas said, “So. That could have gone better.” I started to laugh, but winced from the pain of it. “The Lord has us here for a reason,” I managed. Silas snorted. “You think so, huh? We’re gonna do great things, all by ourselves down here, preaching to the rats?” I didn’t bother to rebuke him. Less than a minute later, he sighed, having apparently rebuked himself. “I’m sorry,” Silas murmured. “You’re right. Of course the Lord has a purpose. He will take what the enemy meant for evil, and turn it for good.” “Let’s praise Him for it,” I said with determination, and began to sing softly, “Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; make His praise glorious.” Silas, recognizing the psalm, joined in, “Say to God, ‘How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.” “Yes!” I agreed, louder than I meant to. I heard slight creaks and groans from other cells adjacent to ours, and suspected we had roused an audience now. The jailer was still asleep, though. I continued, terribly off-key, “All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; they shall sing praises to Your name!” We finished one psalm and went on to the next, and as we did so I felt my spirits lift. I knew Silas’s did too. I also felt a sense of anticipation that I could not explain. Neither of us could sing a lick, but our discordant voices blended in joyful noise and occasionally dissolved into laughter. I could see a few of the eager faces of our audience of fellow prisoners though our bars, cast in shadow. “Keep singing, boys,” said one hoary prisoner, his voice scratchy with disuse. “You’re doing it!” “Doing what?” asked his cell mate. “I dunno,” said the old timer, “but they’re doing something. Can’t you feel it?” I certainly could. I responded with, “The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord! He is their strength in the time of trouble.” “And the Lord shall help them and deliver them!” Silas belted as loud as he could. “He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him—” “Shh!” I hissed. I thought I’d heard a rumble, and wasn’t sure what it was. A second later, the rumble grew much louder, and the ground beneath us trembled violently. “Is that—an earthquake?” Silas now had to shout over the din. As if in response to his question, our stocks—which were locked—rattled open. So did our cell door. So did everyone else’s! “Ha ha!” Silas cried, and then moaned with relief as he straightened and gave his angry limbs a decadent stretch. “Thank You, Lord!” he cried out. I too straightened, stretched, and couldn’t help groaning as my stiff limbs began to move. All around us, I heard the other astonished prisoners doing the same. “Psst!” hissed one of the other prisoners. “This was your doing, preachers! Where should we go now?” I glanced at the keeper of the prison, who had startled awake and let out a cry when he saw that all of the cell doors stood ajar. He swore as he scrambled to his feet, and drew his sword. I watched him with alarm, thinking that he intended to attack us, until he turned it upon himself. “Stop!” I shouted. I so startled the man that his sword clattered to the ground, and he uttered another cry, as if I were a ghost. I realized that the jailer had seen the open cells, assumed we had all fled, and that he would be executed for failing in his duties. “Don’t do that!” I told him, holding up my stiff hand. “We’re all still here! Nobody’s run away!” I could still see only the man’s silhouette. He turned to shout to jailer who was out of sight. “Bring me a torch!” he cried. In a few minutes our jailer bore a lantern, held it aloft, and saw that indeed, all of the prisoners were still within, though none of us were chained or barred. He re-secured all of the other cells once more, though he did not lock any of the rest of the prisoners back in their stocks. When he got to ours, I expected him to seal our bars as well, and go back to sleep. But when he got close enough, his expression crumpled, and the lantern shook with his trembling. He came into our cell, falling on his knees before us. “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved?” he begged. Silas beamed at me, and I nodded at him to go ahead. He told the jailer, “Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!” The jailer wiped his eyes as he stood to his feet, though I hadn’t noticed that he had been crying before. “Come,” he told us. “Tell my household yourselves!” He turned and whistled for the other jailer who had stood in the shadows watching all of this, the one who had presumably brought him the lantern. The other jailer watched us, wide-eyed, as we walked out of our cell behind our original captor. “I am Jerome,” he introduced himself. “My wife is Sophia, and our daughters are Alexandra and Katye.” We did not have far to go, as Jerome and his family lived right by the prison. He called out in a loud voice to rouse his wife and daughters when we entered. The girls were young teens, and they seemed irritable to have been so awakened. Apparently the earthquake had been quite localized, and not even extended so far as to his home. His wife looked alarmed, looking at Silas and me. “Who are these men, Jerome?” she asked in a low voice, not taking her eyes off of us. “They certainly look like the men who were beaten in the square today—” “They are, but just wait until you hear—!” He tripped over his own tongue trying to tell his wife and daughters what had happened in the prison, though he got it all out of order and seemed to forget basic words in the process. At last, Silas and I helped him fill in the details. “It was a miracle!” Jerome concluded, throwing his hands up. “These men are from God, and they are here to tell us how to be saved! But quickly, we must first attend to their wounds and their bellies. Alexandra, Katye, draw some water, lather some soap, and bring some salve if we have some. I will tend their stripes myself. Then help your mother prepare these men something to eat.” “Oh, praise the Lord!” Silas uttered as Jerome bathed and applied salve to the raw flesh of his back. When it was my turn, I hissed from the sting but also let out a few involuntary praises as he dressed my wounds. He washed our bloody tunics in the soapy water afterwards and gave each of us a fresh tunic while ours dried. Around the third watch of the night, Sophia and the girls set a meal before us of bread and cold meat. My stomach growled when I saw it, but I knew we must put the Lord’s priorities first. The meal was a cold one anyway; it could wait. So Silas and I took turns telling Jerome and his family about the Lord. We told them about Jesus, His death and resurrection, and about the Holy Spirit He sent at Pentecost. We invited them to be baptized. Jerome agreed eagerly, though the only water they had on hand was now dirty with soap and blood and dirt. Jerome declared that he didn’t mind a bit, but Alexandra and Katye did. They dumped the previous basin and drew fresh water, assembled dry clothing for the family to change into afterwards, and then Silas and I took turns baptizing all four of them. As we did so, the Holy Spirit fell upon each of them. Alexandra, the most demonstrative of the family, babbled with tongues while laughing and crying. The others held back, but we could see that their faces were radiant with joy. Both teenaged girls shrieked with combined shivers and giddiness, and ran back into the house to change into dry clothing. And then, what a meal we shared! I could hardly remember when one had tasted so good, seasoned with hunger and enjoyed with the love of new brothers and sisters. “I only regret that I have to bring you back to the prison now,” Jerome cast Silas and me an apologetic look. “I know you’ve done nothing but the Lord’s work, and the magistrates only agreed to punish you because you cast a demon out of a valuable slave, and the owners wanted you to pay for it. But still, if I don’t return you to your cells, they’ll kill me—” “We know,” Silas held up a conciliatory hand. “And the magistrates also know we did nothing wrong. They can’t hold us forever.” It was just before dawn when we followed Jerome back to prison. He pleaded with his eyes for us to forgive him as he locked us in once more. We nodded to him and smiled that we understood. Silas and I had just finally drifted off to sleep the following morning when the rattle of our cell door jolted us awake. “The magistrates sent word that you’re free to go on your way!” Jerome gasped, beaming at us. “Congratulations! Go in peace!” Silas began to climb to his feet, but I held up a hand to him. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said, frowning. “We are Roman citizens in good standing, yet they beat us up in public and threw us in jail. And now they want to get us out of the way on the sly without anyone knowing? No indeed! If they want us out of here, let them come themselves and lead us out in broad daylight.” Jerome gaped from Silas to me. “You’re—Roman citizens?” he echoed. “Why didn’t you say so before?” Before I could answer, the jailer hurried from our cell, leaving the door wide open. He ran outside, presumably to relay this astounding piece of information to the magistrates. “Why didn’t we think to say that earlier?” Silas asked me, smacking his forehead. I shrugged. “Honestly everything was so chaotic at the time that it didn’t occur to me. But I think that the Lord wanted us to meet Jerome and his family anyway.” “And us!” wheezed the old-timer in the cell beside ours. He grinned through the bars, revealing several missing teeth. “Your singing was so terrible it made the earth quake!” Everyone laughed at this, just as we heard a commotion coming down the stairs. The magistrates followed Jerome, who could barely contain his smug grin. The magistrates themselves were white-faced and flustered. “You are—Roman citizens?” one cried. “You should have said—” “We had no idea! Please, forgive us—!” They tripped over one another in their efforts to apologize and beg our forgiveness, and plead with us to leave the city so that the whole affair might be quickly forgotten. Heads held high, we followed the magistrates out in broad daylight, waving goodbye to our fellow prisoners as we went. Jerome did not want to appear overly friendly with us, but his eyes twinkled at us warmly, and we nodded at him before we departed. “What do you think?” Silas whispered to me as we walked away. “Should we leave the city, as they asked?” “Soon,” I told him with a sly smirk. “But not just yet. Best not to let the magistrates breathe too easy.”

View Details

Glenn Livingston, Ph.D. is a veteran psychologist and was the long time CEO of a multi-million dollar consulting firm which has serviced several Fortune 500 clients in the food industry. Glenn has sold $30,000,000 of marketing consulting services over the course of his career. Disillusioned by what traditional psychology had to offer overweight and/or food obsessed individuals, Dr. Livingston spent several decades researching the nature of bingeing and overeating via work with his own patients AND a self-funded research program with more than 40,000 participants. Most important, however, was his own personal journey out of obesity and food prison to a normal, healthy weight and a much more lighthearted relationship with food.

To learn more about Glenn, see neverbingeagain.com

View Details

Victoria Davis’s career began in the music industry after attending NYU’s Music Business program. While attending school, her passion for health began while working at a renowned allergy- friendly bakery. This experience was the catalyst to her shifting her focus to a career in health and healing. In the years following, she experienced radical healing from Tourette Syndrome, panic attacks, anxiety, depression, food intolerances, and feminine health concerns.

Today, Victoria is a Strategist for Health and Fitness Businesses and speaker, combining her experience as a Health Coach, Certified Sports Nutritionist, Personal Trainer, and health-conscious baker. She is also the author of the book, Addicted to Health. She specializes in vision-casting and program development for Christian health and fitness business owners for their clientele’s unique needs.

For more about Victoria, see victoriapdavis.com or healthaddictionfree.com

View Details

Kathleen Trotter, MSc, is a fitness expert, media personality, personal trainer, writer, and author of Finding Your Fit: A Compassionate Trainer’s Guide to Making Fitness a Lifelong Habit and Your Fittest Future Self. Making Choices Today for a Happier, Healthier, Fitter Future You. Kathleen has been a personal trainer and fitness expert for almost twenty years.

Key Takeaways:

Consistency is better than perfection. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Keep your long-term goals in mind.
Set up systems to keep yourself on track on those inevitable days when you "don't feel like it."
Use dopamine to your advantage to help you celebrate your "small wins" along the way.
Cultivate a growth mindset.
Use your bad days to set you up for better days in the future.
Choose a form of movement that you enjoy.

Links Kathleen mentions in the interview:

Andrew H on little wins
Kathleen's article on dopamine
Kathleen's review on "Mindset"
Kathleen's review of "Atomic Habits"
A great of "The One Thing"
For more about Kathleen:

| web: | kathleentrotter.com |

fb: FITbyKathleenT

insta: @fitbykathleent

twitter: @fitbykathleent

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post on Spotlight On: Chamomile.

Chamomile flowers are in the daisy family, also known as asteraceae or compositae. Compounds beneficial to health are many and varied, and it is generally recognized as safe for consumption with few contraindications.

Chamomile is probably best known as an herbal tea, with over one million cups consumed per day, though there are other ways to access its health benefits as well. Which benefits you’re after may influence the form of chamomile you choose to use medicinally.

Chamomile for Digestion and Menstrual Cramping A carminative herb used to calm digestive upset, chamomile is known for the anti-spasmodic effects of the bioflavonoids apigenin, quercetin, and luteolin. These compounds also decrease inflammatory prostaglandin release (the same mechanism of action of NSAIDs), and extract well into water, making them easily absorbable from tea.

Anti-inflammatory effects are found in the essential oil components (called chamazulene and α-bisabolol) which don’t extract as well into tea. Bisabolol also helps to prevent and treat stomach ulcers by decreasing pepsin production without affecting HCl production. These constituents are best absorbed via capsule or tincture.

Anti-spasmodic and anti-inflammatory effects of course are both useful for menstrual cramping and pain, too.

Chamomile for Anxiety, Depression, and Insomnia Chamomile tea is one of my favorites for a nightly “wind-down” routine before bedtime, helping to calm the mind and acting as a gentle sedative. This may be due to the plant’s water-soluble glycine content, a calming amino acid which assists the body with getting into deeper stages of sleep. Chamomile has indeed been shown to improve sleep quality.

Because of this gentle calming effect, chamomile has been shown to even significantly reduce moderate to severe generalized anxiety disorder symptoms, and to assist with depression when it is comorbid with anxiety disorder as well.

Chamomile for Infection, Wound Healing, and Skin Care Topically, chamomile’s antioxidant polyphenols can assist with wound healing and restoration of a breached skin barrier. Since polyphenols extract well into water, a compress soaked in strong chamomile tea and applied to, say, a sunburn, may assist with quicker healing.

A similar compress, or even a wet tea bag, can be used on skin lesions such as acne, styes, or eczema; this is because in addition to antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, chamomile is also antimicrobial. Since a breached skin barrier often leads to opportunistic infection by normal skin flora, topical chamomile may assist the healing process in multiple ways. The essential oil has been studied for its antihistamine purposes for atopic lesions as well (see below).

Chamomile’s antioxidant properties have also been utilized topically for reduction of fine lines and wrinkles.

Chamomile for Allergies There is evidence that chamomile stabilizes mast cells, thus decreasing release of histamine for those who suffer from allergies, those with histamine intolerance, and as an adjunctive treatment for those with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome or Disorder. These effects were observed from the alcohol tincture extract form.

The Upshot Chamomile tea is consumed worldwide in large quantities for a reason, though it’s helpful to know which effects you’re after to help choose the most appropriate extraction method.

Bioflavinoids apigenin and quercetin are water soluble, which means they will easily be extracted into a tea. These are helpful for anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety, antioxidant, and sedative properties.

Essential oil components chamazulene and bisabolol do not extract as well in water. These are better consumed either in powder or capsules made from the whole dried flowers, an alcohol extract, or using the essential oil itself (diffused or topically). These have been observed to protect against ulcers, and to stabilize mast cells.

While chamomile is generally recognized as safe, some recommend caution with consumption of chamomile in high doses during the first trimester of pregnancy.

If you’re consuming chamomile as a tea, but still wish to reap some of the benefits of the essential oils, the better choice is whole leaf tea, which you can get by purchasing the whole dried flowers. Dosing is 1-2 tsp of flowers per 8 oz, and allow to steep for 15 minutes before straining. Prepackaged tea bags should still be high in polyphenol content, but the pulverized flowers means more of the essential oils will have evaporated.

View Details

A meditation and retelling of Acts 12:5-19 Introduction:

It’s amazing to me how involved angels seemed to be in the early church. This is at least the third time Peter has encountered one: the first was after Jesus’ ascension (since the story in John of Peter at Jesus’ empty tomb didn’t indicate that he encountered the angels there). The second time was when an angel had helped Peter to escape prison once before, in Acts 5. Historians date that escape in the same year as Pentecost. Given that, I’m not sure why Peter was so surprised to find himself delivered this time, though it was estimated to be about twelve years later. Perhaps it wasn’t the deliverance that surprised him necessarily, but simply the fact that he felt he was having a vision. Maybe there was a dreamlike quality to this encounter because it was in the middle of the night. Still, though, James the brother of John, one of Jesus’ core three disciples, had just been martyred publicly by the sword, to the delight of the Jewish mob (Acts 12:1-3). It certainly looked like Peter might die the next morning, too, and Jesus himself told the disciples that they could not expect to escape persecution (Matthew 24:9, Mark 10:30). Despite all this, Peter slept so peacefully that the angel had to strike him to wake him up. Either he was not bothered by the prospect of death, or perhaps he expected that he would escape somehow, given Jesus’ prophecy that he would not be martyred until he was an old man (John 21:18). Since the story mentions that the church was praying for Peter constantly (Acts 12:5), perhaps it was their prayers that dispatched the angel to free him. We’re not told the exact cause and effect, though this seems to be the implication—even though they, too, were pretty shocked to see him when he showed up (Acts 12:14-16). This Mary was mother of John Mark, who wasn’t one of Jesus’ original apostles, but instead was Barnabas’s cousin (Colossians 4:10). Barnabas and John Mark both traveled with Saul, later called Paul (Acts 12:25). At this point, Saul and Barnabas were in town (Acts 11:30), and since Mary was Barnabas’s relative, it’s possible they were staying with Mary when Peter showed up. Saul’s conversion was estimated to be not quite a decade before this, though it would be around another six years before he went on his first missionary journey—so I wonder if the other believers were still getting used to him. Neither Barnabas nor Saul are mentioned in the story, though. Why in the world did the believers in Mary's home suppose it was more likely that it was Peter’s angel at the door (presumably his guardian angel, as mentioned in Matthew 18:10) than Peter himself? Were their encounters with angels in the early church really so common as that? Perhaps… an angel again appeared at the end of the chapter, to strike down Herod for his arrogance (Acts 12:23), which presumably meant Peter could return to the city freely. Later, an angel also appeared to Paul during the tempest at sea (Acts 27:24), and the writer of Hebrews mentions that sometimes we can entertain angels without knowing it (Hebrews 13:2). At least the early church didn’t consider encounters with angels nearly so unusual as we might today. Fictionalized Retelling: “Seize him!” Herod’s soldiers surrounded me even as I was in the middle of my sermon to the assembly of the Jews before the Temple. I had no hope of escape. My listeners scattered, and I turned a resigned expression upon my captors. Even as they shackled my wrists and led me away, I marveled somewhere in the back of my mind at how much had changed, in how short a period of time. These were the days of Unleavened Bread, leading up to the twelfth Passover since Jesus had been crucified. Nearly twelve years ago, I had denied Him. I’d feared for my own life, that I might share his fate. Now, even though my brother in the Lord, James, had been publicly executed by Herod only days before, a fate Herod surely intended for me to share, I was—incredibly—unafraid. The difference was the Holy Spirit, I knew. I was a new man now. At the same time, I also knew that my time to die had not yet come. Jesus Himself had told me before His ascension that I would indeed one day die a martyr, but not until I was an old man. Bizarrely enough, I’d been incredibly comforted by this—not because it meant I would live to old age, but because it meant I would not fail Him again. The second time, I would pass the test. At any rate, though, I didn’t think early forties counted as “old.” “We’re taking no chances with this one!” one of the officers who had arrested me barked at the soldiers standing guard at the prison. “Chain him between you this time!” Two of the soldiers indeed moved forward, unshackling my wrists just long enough to chain me to themselves. “When I have to relieve myself, this will be awkward,” I quipped, but nobody smiled. I counted four squads, or sixteen soldiers, all of whom appeared to be assigned to just me. I decided not to comment. An angel of the Lord had delivered me from prison twelve years ago, shortly after Pentecost, and Herod didn’t want to chance that it would happen again. As if more soldiers would make a difference. Not that I knew whether the Lord intended to deliver me the same way again; perhaps I’d be imprisoned for years this time. All I knew was, if that happened, He would ultimately use it for good. The next several days were quite miserable in the dank prison, with stale air and food, not enough water, no exercise, and no mobility of even my own limbs. I reminded myself that the soldiers chained to me had to be just as uncomfortable as I was, except that they took turns and could escape after their shifts were completed. Whenever I felt my spirit sink, or saw flashbacks in my mind’s eye of James as he fell by Herod’s sword, I started to sing to the Lord. This first annoyed, then enraged my captors. They struck me with their elbows in my stomach, which was the easiest part of me they could reach, commanding me to shut up. When I regained my breath after each blow, I told them stories of my time with Jesus—the good news of the gospel, of course, as well as some of the miracles I’d both witnessed and performed in His name. When blows failed to shut me up, the soldiers resorted to taunts and threats. “You remember your buddy, how Herod gutted him before the people? That’ll be you in a few days, fisherman!” I shrugged and told them, “I’m sure that’s what Herod intends,” and resumed my story of Jesus feeding the five thousand men, plus women and children. “Intends?” one of them interrupted me. “Herod gets what Herod wants!” I kept talking over him, nonplussed, describing now the twelve baskets we had left over. Another of the soldiers, weary of striking me without effect, talked over my story and described in explicit detail how Herod might choose to have me executed tomorrow. Unable to completely tune out his words, I stopped talking, and instead went back to singing hymns to the Lord. The soldier trailed off in his vivid, violent descriptions with a shout of frustration. “This is torture for us, not for him!” he cried out. I looked at the soldier, past the angry mask he wore, and smiled. “The Lord loves you, too, you know.” One of the others scoffed and sneered, but the one I addressed ignored me entirely. “Don’t you want the same hope I have?” “Don’t I want to be brutally murdered before the cheers of thousands of my own people, you mean?” he spat back at me. “Just like your Jesus was?” “He was, yes,” I agreed, “but death could not hold Him, and He is still alive today. He pleads with you, through me, to accept what He did for you.” “Stop arguing with him, Tobias,” muttered one of the other soldiers. “You’re just encouraging him.” Tobias grumbled something unintelligible but said nothing more. For my part, I settled back into humming soft hymns to the Lord as day sank into twilight at the end of Passover—the last day of my life, if Herod had his way. I could not help but rejoice, as I remembered the depth of my despair this time twelve years ago, and how far the Lord had brought me since then. With this sweet thought, I drifted off to peaceful sleep. “Oof!” I woke abruptly, as someone struck me in the side. “Hurry!” I blinked up into the radiant face hovering above me, backlit as if by the sun even though it was the middle of the night. I’d met enough angels by now to know one when I saw him. I obeyed at once, but when my wrists passed right through the shackles that still bound them to the soldiers sleeping on either side of me, I decided this must be a vision only, or possibly a dream. “Get dressed. Put on your shoes,” the angel ordered. I did as I was bid, rather dreamily. Then the angel commanded, “Grab your coat and let’s get out of here!” I did so. Then I followed the angel, passing right through the bars of the cell and directly in front of the first squad, and then the second, standing watch outside the prison. They never saw us. When we arrived at the iron gate into the city, it swung open on its own. I smiled, feeling like I almost floated as I followed the angel through the gate and into the city. Then the angel vanished. I blinked, and turned around, thinking he must be behind me. Suddenly I realized that I was wide awake, and still on the other side of the iron gate, now inside the city limits. “I can’t believe it—this really happened!” I laughed aloud. “The Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod, and the spectacle the mob was looking forward to!” I ran into the city without stopping to consciously consider where I was going until I realized I was headed to Mary’s house, John Mark’s mother and Barnabas’s aunt. All of the believers met at her house regularly, so it was probably my best chance at finding several of them together—even though it was still the middle of the night. When I came to the outer gate of Mary’s home, I knocked at the door within it, feeling elated by my sudden freedom, and excited to surprise whoever I might find inside. I waited for some time, shifting my weight from one foot to the other and wondering if they were all asleep and if I should knock louder. Then I heard a pair of footsteps on the other side of the gate, quick and light. Rhoda, the servant girl, I knew at once. She too had become a believer through her mistress, and often joined our prayer meetings. “Rhoda!” I called to her softly through the gate. “Is that you?” I heard her gasp. “Peter?” I laughed softly. “Yes, it’s me!” But I stopped laughing in confusion when I heard the light, quick footsteps running away again, and back into the house. “Okay then,” I murmured, and knocked again. It took several more minutes before I heard footsteps returning. There were more than just Rhoda this time. “It’s Peter, I tell you!” I heard her insist to whoever came with her. “Maybe it’s his angel,” said a voice I recognized as John Mark’s, doubtfully. The door opened then, to reveal an astonished John Mark, with Mary and Rhoda behind him, along with Barnabas and Saul. All of them spoke at once. “Peter! How—” “—we thought, after James—!” “—after your first escape, Herod would take no chances—” “—what are you doing here? Aren’t they looking for you?” I held up my hands against all their questions, laughing. “Hush, and I’ll tell you!” I hugged each of them first, though I hesitated just for a split second before I hugged Saul. He did the same. It wasn’t so very long ago that he was one of the most zealous in persecuting the church. I’d forgiven him of course, as we all had, but I hadn’t quite gotten used to seeing him at our prayer meetings. He probably hesitated because he sensed that I did. Rhoda, meanwhile, jumped up and down a little in excitement as I released her. Then, still standing at the gate because no one had thought to invite me inside, I told them how the angel had appeared to me and released me. “We have been praying for that non-stop ever since you were arrested,” Mary confessed. Her son laughed and said, “Yes, but evidently we didn’t believe it would happen! Shame on us.” Mary finally thought to invite me inside after I’d finished my story, but I shook my head. “I don’t want to implicate any of you in my escape. Herod will be livid; I’m sure he was looking forward to appeasing the Jews with my death. Just make sure you tell James, the Lord’s brother, and the rest of the brothers that I escaped, and I’m all right.” They agreed that they would do so, and I turned to go, though I wasn’t yet sure where. I needed to be far away from Judea for awhile, that was certain. I had presumably at least a few hours before the soldiers would rouse and discover my flight. I winced for them, knowing that Herod would order their deaths in my place. But there was nothing I could do about that. “I pray that some of them heard me, and receive You before the end, Lord,” I whispered to the night air. Wishing the angel had told me what to do next, I decided to go down to Caesarea, hoping Herod’s search for me wouldn’t extend that far. How long should I stay in hiding? I wondered. I wanted to continue to preach the gospel, not hide in someone’s spare room. All I could do was pray that I would know when it was time to speak freely again, that the Lord would make it plain to me. “And thank you,” I finally remembered to add, smiling up at the stars. While I was glad that I had faced the prospect of death without shrinking back this time, I was also grateful that my work here was not yet done.

View Details

Johnny Crowder is a suicide/abuse survivor, TEDx speaker, touring musician, mental health and sobriety advocate, and the Founder & CEO of Cope Notes, a text-based mental health platform that provides daily support to users in nearly 100 countries around the world. Since his first keynote in 2011, Johnny's refreshingly candid perspective has attracted praise from hundreds of outlets, including Upworthy, CNN, and Forbes. Even when commanding a virtual stage or touring with his metal band, Prison, his infectious positivity and firsthand experience with multiple mental illnesses (ranging from bipolar disorder and OCD to schizophrenia) uniquely equip him to provide realistic, yet hopeful insight into the pains of hardship with authenticity, levity, and unconventional wit.

For more about Cope Notes, you can go to copenotes.com

For more about Johnny, you can learn about him on johnnycrowder.com or johnnycrowderlovesyou on Instagram. His Ted Talk On YouTube: How to Grow as a Person and Why It Sucks

View Details

Dr. Chacko is the new author of Amazon best seller Pilgrimage: A Doctor’s Healing Journey. She practiced medicine for decades, first as a radiation oncologist and later as a family medicine doctor, caring for the poor in Washington, DC. Now Donna works in the ministry she founded, Serenity and Health, to promote health of body, mind, and spirit.

Dr. Chacko will send Three Keys to A Holy, Happy and Healthy Life to listeners of the podcast when they sign up for her newsletter and blog.To learn more or to purchase Pilgrimage, go to https://www.serenityandhealth.com/pilgrimage .

View Details

Wendie Trubow, M.D., MBA is a functional medicine gynecologist with a thriving practice at Five Journeys, and is passionate about helping women optimize their health and lives. Through her struggles with mold and metal toxicity, Celiac disease, and other health issues, Trubow has developed a deep sense of compassion and expertise for what her patients are facing. She is the co-author of Dirty Girl: Ditch the Toxins, Look Great, and Feel Freaking Amazing!

To learn more about her, please visit: https://www.fivejourneys.com

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/5journeyshealth/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wendietrubowmd

Twitter https://twitter.com/5JourneysHealth

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/fivejourneys

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendietrubow/

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBIkSOxPL3t3wQuKmnGwGRA/about

View Details

Today's podcast comes from Daniel 6. Introduction:

I’ve known the story of Daniel and the lion’s den since I was a kid in Sunday School classes, but I never really considered before what Daniel was thinking at the time. As I wrote some of these retellings, it was obvious that the heroes were actually terrified and full of doubts, like Gideon. Samson wasn’t at all fearful, but he’d placed his confidence in himself, rather than in God. It was only very rare individuals that seemed to be completely confident in the Lord. David and Jonathan clearly had this mentality, because the things they said to those around them just before their exploits revealed their thoughts. With Daniel, it’s not quite so clear, until you put this event in chronological context with the rest of the book of Daniel. The first half of the book of Daniel is historical, telling events that transpired during Daniel’s lifetime as the kingdom changed rulership. The second half, from chapter 7 through 12, is prophetic, in which Daniel is treated to a series of profound visions which encompass the “silent” years of the Old Testament through the coming of Christ, and then apocalyptic visions that harmonize with John’s account in Revelation. We’re told in Daniel 5:31 and 6:1 that this episode of the lion’s den occurred during the reign of King Darius, and historians say he only reigned for two years. We also know from Daniel 9:2 that Darius was king during the time that Daniel received his famous seventy weeks prophecy, so these two events must have occurred relatively close to one another in time. In the seventy weeks prophecy, Gabriel appeared and helped Daniel to understand that while Jeremiah’s prediction of seventy years of captivity (Jeremiah 25:11-12) was nearly over for Israel, there was a deeper meaning for the seventy years as well. There would also be seventy weeks of years, or 490 years, from the time of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, until the end of the age. It would be sixty-nine weeks of years from the rebuilding of Jerusalem until the Messiah would come (and according to “The Coming Prince” by Sir Robert Anderson, from the time Nehemiah was sent to rebuild the walls of the city, sixty-nine weeks of years, where a year in the calendar of the day was 360 days, would work out to 173,880 days. This is to the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday, proclaiming himself to be king, Luke 19:28-44.) That last week of years, or the last seven years, will be the end of the age—and the rest of Daniel’s seventy weeks prophecy describes the antichrist, the covenant with Israel that begins those seven years, and the abomination of desolation 3.5 years in, which will initiate the last 3.5 years of tribulation. Daniel’s prophecy here doesn’t indicate that there is a gap between the 69th and the 70th week, though some scholars believe that was because there didn't have to be a gap: had the Jews accepted Jesus as Messiah when he rode in on Palm Sunday, the first and the second coming might have been one and the same. This might have been why Jesus wept as he rode into town (Luke 19:41-44). As it was, there is a pause in Daniel’s timeline “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25). In my retelling, therefore, I imagined how full Daniel’s mind must have been with such wonderful revelations. He’d seen and spoken with God’s messenger, not once, but twice (Gabriel also came to him in Daniel 8:16). He’d been in captivity nearly all his life, and now in his eighties, he realized that the time drew near for his people to return to Jerusalem. His prayer in Daniel 9:4-19 is so impassioned, one can almost picture him weeping as he contends for their release. Gabriel told him that he was greatly beloved (Daniel 9:23), and told him that not only did the time draw near for his people’s release, but also showed him God’s entire plan for history. Meanwhile, Darius wanted to promote Daniel because, like Pharaoh had said of Joseph, he had the spirit of God’s wisdom upon him (Daniel 6:3). As King Solomon wrote, a man who excels in his work will stand before kings, and not obscure men (Proverbs 22:29). Daniel did his work with excellence, but he had no ambitions in Persia. His heart was clearly with his people, his homeland, and God’s plans for the earth. So when the other governors and satraps conspired against him, I imagine that Daniel almost ignored them. He had far bigger things on his mind. He probably heard the threat, knew it was petty jealousy, proceeded about his business, and forgot about it. It was the Persian custom that a law sealed by the king could not be changed (Daniel 6:15), which was the same issue Esther ran into in her day. Clearly Darius realized that his satraps and governors had convinced him to sign such a law just to entrap Daniel. Darius wanted to rescue Daniel and tried to find a loophole (Daniel 6:14), but even he couldn’t do it, which was what his officials had counted upon. Daniel’s devotion to the Lord had made such an impression on Darius by this point that when Daniel was cast into the lion’s den, Darius declared, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you” (Daniel 6:16). Even this pagan king believed God would save Daniel! He also loved Daniel so well that he didn’t sleep that night, and rose first thing in the morning to check on Daniel and see if God had indeed delivered him. If he had been certain to find Daniel dead, he presumably wouldn’t have gone to check. What must it have been like for Daniel to spend the night in that pit? Did he actually see the angel that he later told Darius had shut the lions’ mouths? I don’t see why not; he’d seen Gabriel at least twice before by this time. If Daniel’s mindset was what I imagine it might have been, I suspect that he would have slept that night, just as Jesus did on the boat during the storm (Matthew 8:24, Mark 4:38, Luke 8:23). That’s the picture of the perfect peace of one whose mind is stayed on the Lord because he trusts in Him (Isaiah 26:3). Daniel, I think, embodied this peace. That’s why he inspired even Darius with such confidence on his behalf. When the king found Daniel alive, he then did to the conspirators what they had intended to do to Daniel. The concept of reaping what one sows is well established in scripture (Luke 6:38, Galatians 6:7, Proverbs 26:27). The fact that the lions tore them apart before they even hit the bottom of the pit proves that they were both vicious and hungry; they just hadn’t been able to touch Daniel. It seems awfully harsh to punish the conspirators’ wives and children for crimes they did not commit, and this is not God’s way (Deuteronomy 24:16, Jeremiah 31:30). But God was not the one to mete out judgment against Daniel’s accusers; Darius was. Fictional Retelling: I lived almost my entire life in exile—in the land that was Babylon for the majority of my life, and then became Persia in my old age. I was constantly surrounded by political intrigue, though most of the time, it did not concern me. My dominant thoughts lay elsewhere. Though I’d left there as a boy, my heart was still in Jerusalem: the city of my father David. It had been so many years since I’d seen it that the place had taken on a mythical quality in my imagination, and I commingled the concept of Jerusalem with that of the throne room of heaven. Every day, when my duties as one of the governors over the kingdom of Persia did not otherwise compel me, I pored over the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel for some clue of the Lord’s plans for His people. After I read, I opened the windows of the upper room of my home so that the sunlight would stream in; in my mind’s eye, the sunlight was the radiance of the Lord Himself upon his throne, emanating from Jerusalem, His city. I faced Jerusalem and I prayed for wisdom, for repentance on behalf of my wayward people, and for mercy. When I shifted my heavenly focus down to the here and now, I executed my duties as governor with the wisdom the Lord gave me. King Darius set forty provinces, led by forty satraps, under each of his three governors. My provinces prospered effortlessly—of course. I had the wisdom of the Lord. It was clear that King Darius recognized the Lord’s influence and admired me above all of the other governors and satraps, and I knew he considered putting me over the entire realm because of this. This was fine. I had no aspirations at my age. My heart and soul belonged to my own people and nation; I only labored for this one because for now, Darius was my king, and integrity demanded that I do the work he set before me to the best of my ability. I was vaguely aware that my more ambitious peers and the satraps under them envied me. I could do nothing about this though, and regarded their esteem lightly anyway. So I paid it little attention. Instead, I spent my days swept up in visions and prophecy. One morning when reading the writings of the prophet Jeremiah, his words leapt off the scroll to me that the time of Jerusalem’s desolations was to be seventy years. Sixty-nine years had passed. I tore my robes and put on sackcloth, deliberately sprinkling the floor of my upper room with ashes to symbolize repentance on behalf of my people, and determined to fast before the Lord for however long it took. Then I threw open my windows and fell to my knees, praying toward Jerusalem with such fervor that it was as though time and space fell away. I do not know how much time passed before I felt a hand on my shoulder. I was already so worked up that I jumped and my eyes flew open. The man I beheld was one I had met once before: the angel Gabriel. He was much larger and more powerfully built than the greatest of the Persian warriors, radiant with light and dressed in gleaming white. He told me I was greatly beloved. He also showed me that there was a deeper meaning to Jeremiah’s prophecy than what I had first supposed. Yes, there would be seventy years until my people could return to Jerusalem. But there would also be seventy weeks of years from the time of Jerusalem’s reconstruction to the end of the age, and sixty-nine weeks of years from the reconstruction to the appearance of the Messiah. I floated after this, so buoyant with happiness and overwhelmed with the implications of Gabriel’s message that the details of the concrete world around me paled in comparison. So when I heard that the other governors and satraps had convinced Darius to sign into law the ridiculous order that for thirty days, anyone caught praying to any god or man except to him should be cast into the lion’s den, I hardly considered it. I would not have heeded the rule at any time, but especially not now. The Lord had shown me such wonderful and marvelous things, so much larger than myself and my own life. I saw myself as a representative for my people, and Gabriel’s words had confirmed this to me. We were on the cusp of the breakthrough I had awaited all my life… would I be stymied by fear, due to the petty jealousy of those who fancied themselves my political rivals? By no means! I went home that very day and threw open the windows of my upper room as I always did. Then I knelt down and prayed to the Lord. I prayed for the end of my people’s captivity. I envisioned my own return to Jerusalem, the city of my fathers. I prayed for my people 483 years from now, when Messiah the Prince would be revealed—oh! What a day that would be! May the people of that day know and recognize and rejoice at the appearance of their hope and redemption! Two more times that day I did the same, giving thanks to God for hearing my prayers and for esteeming me so well that He was pleased to reveal to me what would come, long after my time. Both the second and third times I prayed that day, I glanced down and saw the assembly of governors and satraps on the street below, watching me, pointing, and whispering to one another. “Oh Lord,” I prayed when I saw them, “as King Solomon wrote, ‘let he who digs a pit fall into it, and he who rolls a stone have it roll back on him.’” Then I went on with my prayers, thanksgiving, and supplications. I forgot all about the men clearly conspiring against me, until I heard a pounding upon my door at nightfall. It was insistent. “Daniel!” shouted a voice I recognized as Kasper’s, one of the other governors of the realm. I could tell he was not alone, but that he was with a company—probably the very ones who had seen me praying that day. I could make out the voice of Bijan, one of the most hateful of Darius’s satraps, among them. “Open up, by decree of the king!” Instinctively and though my window was shut just then, I glanced in the direction of Jerusalem, since in my mind, that was the direction of God’s throne. More of Solomon’s words came back to me unbidden: Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished, but the posterity of the righteous will be delivered. I wrapped my nightclothes in my cloak and opened the door. Perhaps six pairs of hands grabbed me at once, and dragged me out of my house so forcefully that I stumbled, old man that I was. “Daniel!” Kasper’s voice rose above the din, even as they dragged me toward the palace, “you have not shown due regard for the king! You were seen today petitioning and praying to your God, against the royal decree. You knew the penalty for this was death by lions. We take you now to meet your fate!” I tripped and nearly fell numerous times on the short walk to the palace dungeons, had it not been for the hands upon my robes. I should have been terrified, and entirely in this moment. Yet somehow, I felt insulated, almost as if I were watching the events transpire against someone else. I kept thinking of my friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who, many years ago, had defied a similar order from King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I had been traveling on the king’s business at the time. When I returned and heard the story of their supernatural deliverance, I’d been almost envious. I so wished I’d been there with them, to have seen the Lord face to face! What a story! Now, almost sixty years later, here was my chance. King Darius met me and my entourage at the entrance to the palace dungeons, looking frantic and disheveled. “Daniel—!” he moaned, his voice thick with grief. “I did everything I could to deliver you, but the decree is iron-clad!” “I know you did,” I smiled at the king tenderly, and reached out a hand to his shoulder. It was a more familiar gesture than I perhaps would have attempted under any other circumstance, but I felt a rush of affection for him in his obvious distress. He was too inexperienced a ruler to have understood how his governors and satraps had played him. He had not known the extent of the political machinations of his court when he’d signed that decree, though he knew now. “Your God, to whom you are so loyal, is going to get you out of this!” Darius suddenly declared. I blinked at him in amazement, then beamed, even as the satraps moved the stone off of the mouth of the lion’s den. I knew this, but to hear it from the mouth of a pagan king! “You are already much closer to Him than you realize,” I told the king. “I’ll see you in the morning—” My words were cut off by a rough thrust from the hands of my accusers, shoving me toward the open pit. I stumbled, and then fell in headlong, twisting in the air. I landed hard on my palms and knees, sending jolts of searing pain up to my wrists, shoulders, knees, and hips. I gasped, but then tested my bones and joints to make sure nothing was broken. Darius let out a strangled sob up above, as the satraps and governors heaved the stone back in place. Just before it sealed, I caught a glimpse of the five great shaggy beasts pacing and growling around me. Then there was utter darkness. I closed my eyes and opened them again, and could tell no difference. The padding of great paws picked up their pace, and the growling turned to roars, one after the other, like a great cacophonous symphony. I had the sense that the lions were frustrated by the prey in their very midst, and yet they could not seem to get at it. “Let me see you, Lord,” I prayed, yawning with sudden weariness as I lay down on the floor of the pit. “I know you’re here…” Suddenly the pit filled with an otherworldly glow. Gabriel circled around me, bearing a sword in each hand. He whipped it with dazzling speed each time one of the great cats got too close. They, in turn, backed off, but roared with fury. “Go to sleep, Daniel,” Gabriel told me, and flashed me a grin. “You might as well. I’m going to be up all night, anyway.” I laughed, and the vision faded until all was complete darkness again. I tuned out the lions’ roars, though I think they eventually must have given up and fallen silent. I couldn’t say for sure. I drifted off fairly soon after that. “Daniel!” I gasped awake, squinting against the light streaming in from the top of the now open pit. I perceived a silhouette up above, though all I could see was the disheveled hair sticking out in all directions. I recognized the voice as the king’s though. He sounded nearly as anxious as he had the night before. “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve so loyally, saved you from the lions?” I sat up, glancing around the pit to see the great cats fast asleep around me, though they stirred now as I did from the light and the noise. I grinned at the king, who began to come into focus as I gazed up at him. “O king, live forever!” I called. “My God sent his angel, who closed the mouths of the lions so that they would not hurt me. I’ve been found innocent before God and also before you, O king. I’ve done nothing to harm you.” Darius let out a shout of glee, clapping his hands together. He stood up out of my view, and I could neither see nor quite hear what he did next, but I heard him speaking to someone. The next thing I knew, a thick rope with a loop at the bottom of it descended into the pit, and I saw two strong servants at the top, ready to pull me out. Two of the lions saw the commotion, got to their feet, and began to snarl and pace again. “Hurry!” cried one of the servants, glancing at the lions with alarm, just as one of the lions let out an almighty roar. “Oh, don’t worry,” I told them with a wave of my hand, as I stepped into the loop and grabbed on to the rope up above. “They’re just frustrated. They can’t even get close to me.” I wasn’t sure if the servants even heard this, as they immediately began to heave me up and out. Once I was well out of the way, the lions paced to the place where I had been lying, roaring up at me and swiping the air with their claws. The edge of one claw sliced clean through the bottom of my robe, just as one servant let go of the robe to grab me around my waist. I twisted to sit down at the top of the pit and edge away. “Daniel!” King Darius forgot his royal position and threw his arms around my neck, weeping with relief. Surprised, I patted his shoulders, and then he pulled me back to inspect me. “You are truly unharmed?” “Truly, my king,” I nodded, wiping the last of the sleep from my eyes as I yawned. “Did—you sleep in there?” he demanded, incredulous. Then he added, almost accusing, “I didn’t even sleep last night! I rushed here at first light to see how you fared!” I smiled at the king fondly. “My king honors me greatly with his concern,” I said, and shrugged. “I saw no reason to fear the lions. Besides, I was tired.” The servants behind King Darius let out an incredulous snort of laughter at this, but stifled it when the king whipped around to glare at them. One of the servants clamped a hand over his mouth, as a slow answering smile spread across Darius’s face. Then the king started to laugh too. Before I knew it, the servants were doubled over, as was the king, tears running down his face. Nervous relief? I thought as I watched them in wonder, totally missing the humor. When the king recovered himself, his expression grew suddenly fierce. He told his servants, “Tell my royal guard to seize Daniel’s accusers, the other two governors, the complicit satraps, and their families. Bring them here at once, before the hour has passed!” I felt a wave of foreboding and sympathy, suspecting I knew what the king intended to do to them for their treachery. Darius got to his feet, and I followed suit. He confirmed my fears when asked me, his expression dark, “Would you like to watch, Daniel?” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “No, my king.” “You are a better man than I, then,” said King Darius. “I rejoice at the destruction of my enemies. And your enemies have now become mine. You are dismissed.” I bowed my head and made my way alone back to my home. At a distance, I saw Kasper, his wife and children struggling against the rough hands of the king’s royal guard. His wife wept and begged. The children, I could tell, did not understand what was going on, but knew something was wrong. They cried because their mother did. Though we were far away, Kasper’s eyes locked with mine, frantic with fear. A wave of nausea rolled over me. “O God, may it be quick and painless,” I prayed. “I commend the souls of the innocents to Your mercy.” I heard later that my prayers were answered. The hungry, frustrated lions overpowered all those thrown into the den, killing them instantly before they even hit the bottom. The same messenger informed me that the king had now officially placed me above the entire realm. I had assumed this would be the case, since the other two governors had perished. The news brought me sorrow—not because I minded the position, but I had never sought it, either. All this had transpired because the governors had not wanted to relinquish their power to me. Instead of merely their power, they had lost their lives, and those of their families too. That evening, I heard the news that King Darius had sent out a royal decree to every corner of his kingdom, which read, “Peace to you! Abundant peace! I decree that Daniel’s God shall be worshiped and feared in all parts of my kingdom. He is the living God, world without end. His kingdom never falls. His rule continues eternally. He is a savior and rescuer. He performs astonishing miracles in heaven and on earth. He saved Daniel from the power of the lions.” I took the written decree to the upper room of my home, and laid it before the Lord. I thanked Him for rescuing me. I thanked Him for humbling and saving King Nebuchadnezzar all those years ago, when he returned to his right mind and served the Lord for the rest of His days. I thanked him that King Darius now honored Him too. I thought of Jonah’s ministry to Nineveh, and how they too had repented. I thanked the Lord that He did not show favoritism; He wanted to save the Jew and the Gentile alike, the rich and the poor, the ruler and the peasant. I thanked Him that though I had been brought into Babylon as a captive, now like Joseph, I found myself favored by the king, and second in command of a pagan kingdom. “You are faithful to honor Your servants who fear You, even in a land not our own,” I prayed. Yet still, my heart was not here, in this foreign nation where I had lived most of my life. For all my power and prestige, I was but a sojourner; that was the great irony. I would serve the Lord where He had placed me to the best of my ability all of my days, and would try to represent Him well. But I would daily pray toward my true home, awaiting the day of our redemption.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: Spotlight on: Oregano.

Oregano might be primarily associated in our minds with pizza and Italian food, but it’s also a powerful medicine.

A member of the mint (Lamiaceae) family which also includes basil, lavender, marjoram, and sage, oregano is a hearty plant that doesn’t require a lot of water or even especially fertile soil. It’s an easy one to grow on a sunny kitchen windowsill.

While the fresh or dried herbs will certainly confer additional nutrition to your dishes, most of the studies on oregano as medicine have been done using its powerfully concentrated essential oil. The active constituents are called thymol and carvacrol. Here are some of the medicinal properties of these compounds.

Oregano: Antimicrobial Oregano essential oil has been shown to be effective against a wide variety of different species of bacteria, and is one of the most effective antibacterial essential oils.

In test tube studies, it has been shown to neutralize multiple viruses within a single hour of treatment.

Oregano has also been recognized for its antifungal properties as well.

Oregano as an Anti-Inflammatory Inflammation is always a secondary process, so I suspect that given oregano’s other properties, it’s natural that it also acts as an anti-inflammatory. Yet it may have a direct anti-inflammatory effects as well; animal studies have shown reduction in inflammation for a variety of different lesions, as well as for colitis.

Oregano as an Antioxidant The active constituents thymol and carvacrol have been shown to have high antioxidant activity (1, 2). This goes hand in hand with decreased inflammation, as oxidative damage produces inflammation.

Oregano for Metabolic Support Oregano has recently been studied for its metabolic support as well. It has been shown to assist in lowering blood sugar and in elevated lipids, which go hand in hand.

Hypertension is also part of this picture, and oregano also helps in regulating blood pressure.

The Upshot While you might not notice dramatic effects from adding more oregano leaves to your meals, they certainly have enough beneficial properties to contribute to an overall healthy and nutrient dense diet.

To enjoy some of the medicinal benefits, choose oil of oregano in capsules, or as an essential oil diluted in a carrier oil such as olive or jojoba for topical use. Note that oil of oregano is contraindicated in pregnancy.

View Details

Today's meditation and retelling comes from Luke 1:5-25, 39-80. Background music by www.bensound.com. Foreword:

Zacharias and Elizabeth are the only other truly elderly couple in scripture to bear a child, besides Abraham and Sarah. There are a lot of parallels between Isaac and John the Baptist. Why this couple, and why now? Why did his need to be a “miraculous” birth?

Gabriel did tell Zacharias that his prayers for a child were heard (Luke 1:13), so we know that Zacharias and Elizabeth wanted children long before this. Zacharias’s response to Gabriel’s good news was skepticism, based upon their ages (Luke 1:18), which suggests that he’d given up praying for children long ago, when he thought that it was too late. But given all the promises in scripture for fertility for those who followed the Lord, and the fact that this couple was blameless (Luke 1:6), I’m sure they wondered why it seemed that the Lord had not fulfilled His end of the promise. Elizabeth also called her barrenness a “reproach” (Luke 1:25). We know from the question the disciples asked Jesus about the man who was blind from birth (John 9:1-5) that it was a common belief among Israelites that physical ailments were a direct punishment for personal sin. Thus, like blameless Job, the people likely would have believed that it was some sin on their part that had kept them from bearing children all these years.

Yet God had not forgotten them… it just took faith and patience (a lot of it!) for them to inherit this particular promise (Hebrews 6:12). One reason for this likely is because John’s conception and birth would have caused such a stir, and attracted such attention. Gabriel appears to Zacharias while he is performing his duties at the Temple, and the fact that he is subsequently struck dumb alerts everyone who was waiting for him outside the temple that he must have seen a vision (Luke 1:21-22). Then, after five months of seclusion, elderly Elizabeth reveals to all that she is pregnant. Imagine the whispers! She gives birth to the child, and then on the eighth day they break with all tradition and name him John, a name found nowhere in their lineage. As soon as Zacharias complies with Gabriel’s final decree, his tongue is loosed, and he announces to all the onlookers that this is to be the prophet they have all been waiting for these four hundred years. Had his conception and birth been ordinary, this child would not have caused such a stir, or such expectation (Luke 1:65-66).

That’s one reason why the Lord probably chose an elderly, faithful couple to be the parents of John the Baptist. But I suspect the other reason is because Elizabeth and Mary were close relatives (Luke 1:36). (In my retelling, I imagined that she was her great aunt, though the scriptures don’t say what their exact relationship is.) They obviously knew each other well, though, because Mary goes to stay with Elizabeth for three months. This close relationship with another woman who had a miracle pregnancy was probably very important for Mary, who was being asked to take such an enormous step of faith, knowing she would be ostracized for getting pregnant out of wedlock. Not only does Elizabeth’s pregnancy confirm Gabriel’s words for Mary, but then the Lord reveals to Elizabeth that Mary, too, is pregnant, by the Holy Spirit, and with the Son of God (Luke 1:42-45)! I’m sure Mary very much needed this confirmation of the angel’s word to her, and the encouragement.

While scripture never talks about the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist as children, given the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth and the prophetic connection between the two boys’ lives, they must have known each other before they each stepped into their ministries. And Jesus was born “in the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4-7); he could not have come any earlier than He did. His forerunner had to just barely precede him. So had the Lord granted Zacharias and Elizabeth’s prayer for children any earlier, they could not have been the parents of John the Baptist. I also suspect that John’s later evangelistic success was in part due to the widespread knowledge of his miraculous birth. This great honor was reserved for a faithful couple, a couple who would continue to believe in Him, even when it looked like His word had failed. But this couple—or Elizabeth, at least—knew that God’s promises never fail (1 Kings 8:56). He cannot lie (1 Samuel 15:29). His word is firmly fixed in the heavens (Psalm 119:89-90).

Zacharias’s muteness may have been a punishment for his unbelief, but I think Elizabeth’s interpretation in the retelling is more accurate. Scripture makes very clear that death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21, and throughout Proverbs), and that we will have what we say (Numbers 14:28-29). Zacharias’s protest to Gabriel expressed unbelief; it may well have been that Gabriel struck him mute so that he could not stop John’s conception and birth from coming to pass by speaking forth his doubts.

The end of Malachi 4:6, prophesying the return of Elijah before the Messiah, says, “lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” That was the last word from the prophets for four hundred years. What a strange statement—that without the forerunner to prepare the way for the Lord, Jesus might have cursed the earth rather than redeem it! It’s hard to imagine Jesus doing such a thing; yet in His second coming, He will judge those who refuse to repent. Apparently the first and second coming could have been one and the same, without John’s six month ministry calling the people to a baptism of repentance (Luke 3).

In those six months, John became incredibly well known, and his impact continued even long after his death. In fact, after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the great apostle Apollos preached the Word accurately, but he knew of only the baptism of John (Acts 18:25). Paul found that even Gentile believers in Ephesus knew only the baptism of John, and had not heard of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-5). John’s teaching of repentance from sins clearly spread far and wide, long after both his death, and the death and resurrection of Jesus. His ministry, preparing the way for the Messiah, long outlasted him.

Many churches today, and many believers, in a way still only preach the baptism of John. They focus exclusively on repentance from sins, a necessary first step to prepare the way for the fruits and gifts that come from the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But repentance is meant to be the preparation, not the end in itself. John himself said this (Luke 3:16). We need the baptism of the Holy Spirit, just as the disciples did in order to fulfill their calling (Luke 24:49). We can’t do it without Him.

Fictionalized Retelling:

“Goodbye, my love.” Zacharias kissed me, and threw his traveling cloak around his shoulders before mounting his donkey. Then he added with a teasing wink, “Try to stay out of trouble.”

I smiled at his little joke. We lived in the hill country of Judea, we kept no servants, and we were childless—so I would be all alone, and could not possibly get up to any trouble even if I had wanted to. Usually when Zacharias’s turn came to serve as a priest in the temple, I spent the time gardening, tending our few livestock, and experimenting with new dishes to feed Zacharias when he returned home.

“What will you do with yourself?” he asked the customary question, expecting my answer to be the same as always.

Today, though, it wasn’t. “You know… I’ve been drawn to the books of the kings lately, for some reason. I think I’ll study that.” My husband had taught me to read in our early marriage. When I was younger, I required his help in interpreting what I read. Now that I was in my seventies, though, I knew the texts almost as well as he did.

Zacharias pursed his lips before moving his donkey forward. “Elijah?” he guessed, and I nodded. “Funny. I’ve been drawn to those passages too, of late.”

“Oh really?” I mused. “Perhaps the time is drawing near?” After four hundred years of prophetic silence, the last verse in Malachi promised that Elijah himself would return as the forerunner of the Messiah.

Zacharias chuckled. “Perhaps. Every generation has believed that theirs would be the one to see the Lord’s anointed. But, someone will have to be right eventually!” He winked and dug his heels in to his donkey’s side. I watched him ride to the top of the hill, waving, until he was out of sight.

Then I looked up at the sky to judge how much time I had to spend upon my studies, and went inside, withdrawing the scrolls Zacharias kept of the Hebrew texts. I meant to go straight to the records of the kings, but the scroll unrolled of its own accord to Exodus. A passage that I had meditated on years ago practically leapt off the page at me: None shall miscarry or be barren in your land.

I blinked, and tried to shake it off. I kept unrolling, and one of the scrolls fell to the table, exposing a text opened to Deuteronomy.

There shall not be male or female barren among you.

I closed my eyes, breathing through the unexpected stab of an old wound. I had clung to these verses and many others that promised the same thing in my youth, even in to middle age. But when my cycles had ceased, I realized I had a choice. Either I would believe that God had forgotten to honor His covenant, that His promises to me had failed, that He had forsaken me—or, I would consider my continued barrenness a mystery and decide to trust in Him anyway, believing that one day it would make sense. I chose the latter, since I knew the former would lead only to bitterness.

God is good. He is faithful. I had staked my entire life upon that, and I would not waver now.

Yet I had never revisited those passages in all these years. They were too painful.

I breathed through it until the emotion subsided. Another scroll slipped free, revealing the latter psalms.

Children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb His reward. Like arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

“Stop,” I gasped out loud, clutching my chest. I wasn’t sure if I was begging the Lord to stop, or some outside force… I only knew I did not want to revisit this subject.

There was more to the issue of being a barren woman than not having a child. That by itself would have been bad enough. But Deuteronomy made it very clear that God would bless those who obeyed Him, and curse those who disobeyed Him. Because of this, the common belief among the Jews was that those who suffered a curse of any kind were receiving their just deserts. The story of Job should have dispelled the concept that affliction is always connected to personal sin, and yet the idea persisted.

Zacharias and I were not perfect of course, but we believed in the Lord and in His promises, like Abraham had done. I was sure that like Abraham, our faith was counted to us as righteousness. Yet despite this, and despite the very clear promises in scripture, we remained childless. I knew that many secretly wondered what sin I had committed to merit such a punishment. I had asked the Lord about this for almost a year after my cycles had ceased, but eventually I stopped asking. I had to. The question was driving me crazy.

I took another deep breath, and opened, finally, to the records of the kings. I reread the familiar story of Elijah’s sudden arrival, announcing the famine to King Ahab. What a man he was! He reminded me a bit of King David in his outrageous faith. Without any direct word from God, he decided to take God’s statement of a famine as part of the curse in Deuteronomy, and just go declare it to the king. I could just see God watching Elijah in heaven, shaking his head and smiling—almost with incredulity, if God could be incredulous. This guy was incredible.

Over the next couple of days of Zacharias’s absence, I pored over the story of the famine, the ravens that fed Elijah by the brook Cherith, the widow of Zarephath, and the first recorded story of the resurrection of the dead. How did Elijah know that resurrection was even possible? It had never been done before, and there was no record that God had told him anything about it. But if anybody was going to test the boundaries of what was possible in God, it was he.

My favorite was the story of Mount Carmel. Surrounded by enemies, Elijah was supremely in control of himself, jeering at all the 750 false prophets. Perhaps your god did not answer because he was relieving himself! he taunted. I laughed out loud at that every time. Then he doused his own offering in water multiple times to make it as hard as possible to set ablaze before he called upon the Lord. Fire fell from heaven at once, of course, consuming not just his offering, but his entire altar, and every last drop of water!

I realized I was grinning with pride, and stopped to wonder at my own reaction. Pride implied ownership, didn’t it?

Strange. I paused in my reading, and prepared for myself an easy supper of bread and milk. I could cook, but I didn’t feel like it right now—I had no one to feed but myself, and I was too otherwise engrossed.

The day I expected Zacharias’s return, I skipped to the story in the latter kings, where God took Elijah up to heaven in a chariot of fire. Elisha, meanwhile, stood down below and watched, as Elijah’s prophetic mantle passed to him.

Then I opened to the passage at the end of Malachi: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”

What did this mean? I wondered. Send Elijah? Would he return the way he left, in a chariot of fire? Would he return in the same body, with the same mind and personality? The scripture gave no indication that a person who died could return to earth in a new body—but then, Elijah had never actually died. He was one of only two people recorded in scripture who had not, the other being Enoch from Genesis.

“And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse? I had never thought about this passage before either. Did this mean that without Elijah preceding the coming Messiah, the Messiah might find that the hearts of his people had grown cold, and might curse the earth, rather than redeem it?

That was a chilling thought. It certainly made Elijah’s second coming critical.

It occurred to me that Zacharias should have been here by now. I looked out the window at the position of the sun: it was late afternoon. Usually he returned on the last day of his service by midday. I determined not to worry about it, since there was nothing I could do anyway, and rose from my studies, grabbing my basket. I went out into my garden and began to collect vegetables and herbs for supper that evening. I rose when I heard the faint clop of donkey’s hooves behind me.

“Finally!” I cried out, turning around. I shielded my eyes from the late afternoon sun, squinting to see Zacharias atop the donkey in his traveling cloak. “It’s almost sunset, what kept you so long?”

He did not answer, though the donkey plodded on. I frowned. Hadn’t he heard me?

“Zacharias?”

Still he did not reply, though he waved and nodded that he had heard me. Something was very strange. I dropped my basket and walked forward to meet him. When I came close enough, he made an exaggerated mime of writing. Then he pointed at the house. I read his lips and saw that he mouthed the words, Get me a scroll and pen.

“Can… can you not talk?”

He shook his head no, and dismounted, leading his donkey by the reins to the stable. I stood dumbfounded as well, wondering what to make of this. Was it an illness of some kind? But if that were the case, if he had merely lost his voice, surely he could still at least whisper. Yet no sound escaped his lips at all.

Finally Zacharias joined me, putting a hand on my lower back and ushering me inside. I found for him the scroll, jar of ink, and pen, and set them on the table beside the open scriptures. He scribbled as fast as he could, I saw an angel in the temple. He said his name was Gabriel.

My heart started to gallop. “The same one who appeared to Daniel?” I gasped, and my husband nodded vigorously.

The very same, he wrote. He says you are going to bear a son.

He stopped writing and looked at me. I stared at the words. My mind went blank, but my knees suddenly gave out, and I sank to a seat beside him. Zacharias reached out and took my hand in his, nodding at me as if to say, I mean what I say.

Children are a heritage of the Lord, the verse echoed in my mind. Heritage, as in, inheritance. It’s a promise.

I looked up to heaven and whispered, “Why now? Why not… I don’t know, forty years ago?”

Zacharias wrote, We are to call him John. I know there is no one in our family by that name, he added, as if he thought that would be my next question. He is to be the forerunner of the Christ, and will come in the spirit and power of Elijah.

My mouth fell open.

That was why the Lord had taken me back to all those passages. The promises for a child. The story of Elijah. The promises for the forerunner.

That meant the Messiah was coming—soon. Probably in my lifetime.

My hands absently sought my belly. Zacharias placed his hand over mine. I looked up at him.

“But… why can’t you talk?” I whispered.

He looked a little bit bashful, and hesitated before he wrote, I talked back to Gabriel.

I let out a short little guffaw. “You did what?”

He nodded, gave me a sheepish grin, and wrote, I told him we were too old to have children. He said I would be mute until the day of John’s birth.

Now I laughed out loud. “Well, it serves you right!” I teased him, wiping away the tears that I suddenly realized had leaked onto my face. Then I caught my breath. “Wait a minute—Zach.” I shook my head. “‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Those who love it will eat its fruit’… that wasn’t a punishment. It’s because our words can stop it from coming to pass if they don’t agree with what the Lord said…” I clamped my hands on my cheeks, squeezing my eyes tightly shut. In a strange way, I was grateful for my husband’s affliction, because it served as a sign to me. I had not seen Gabriel, but Zacharias would not invent such an ailment. He never even would have thought of it. Without his muteness, I might have wondered in time whether he had imagined the encounter. But here was proof!

I lifted both hands in the air and whispered, “Praise You, Lord of heaven and earth. You have not forgotten me. You have taken away my reproach among my people. You have granted me the high honor of not only bearing a child past the age of childbearing, like Sarah, but the honor of bearing a great prophet, like Hannah.” I grinned at Zacharias. “He’ll be a firebrand, too, if Elijah was any indication!” I sniffled, wiping my tears away with the back of my hand. “I can hardly wait to meet him!”

Over the next several days, I pumped Zacharias for information until he had written down every detail of his encounter with Gabriel. I wanted to know exactly what the angel looked like, and exactly what he had said. I wanted it to be as if I had seen him myself. For the thousandth time, I was grateful that my husband had taught me to read. He wrote of how he had lingered in shock inside the temple long past the end of his service, which was why he had been late getting home. Then when he finally emerged, the people guessed that he had seen a vision when he could not speak to them.

“But you haven’t told anyone,” I pressed. “Right?” He shook his head no, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Good.” He gave me a quizzical look, and I tried to put my feelings into words. Finally I said, “You know what people will say, Zach. I’m seventy, and I was barren even when I was young. They’ll be well-meaning, but they’ll try to talk me out of it, because they don’t want me getting my hopes up. Death and life is in the power of the tongue, and—” I groped for words. “I just don’t want anyone to see me until it’s undeniable. Right now, let’s just keep this between us. We’ll study Elijah, study the Messianic prophecies so we can guide John in his purpose when the time comes, rehearse what Gabriel told you, and then just… introduce the world to our son.”

Zacharias reached out, took me by both hands, and squeezed. Then he moved one of his hands to my soft, slightly sagging belly. He leaned forward and kissed me.

For five months I remained at home, meditating upon what the Lord had done for me, and dreaming of the days to come. Then, finally, I came out of seclusion. I said nothing to anyone about the little bulge as I went into the marketplace, whistling like I had a great secret. I saw people looking and whispering, but no one was brave enough to ask me. They probably had convinced themselves that I had just put on weight in a strange way. Or perhaps that I had a tumor.

In my sixth month, Zacharias and I were at home, and I heard that we had a visitor. He answered the door, though I ran to intercept whoever it was, since of course Zacharias could not speak to them. I heard the young female voice of my grand-niece Mary, and at once, I felt little John give a great kick. It doubled me over, and in the moment I tried to catch my breath, a flash of insight came to me.

Mary is pregnant with the Messiah!

I blinked, tears of joy pricking my eyes. The thought arrived with such absolute conviction that the Lord might as well have said it out loud.

I heard Mary awkwardly trying to understand why my husband would not greet her, and I straightened, calling out as I approached, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed!” She startled, and grew suddenly pale. I grinned back knowingly. “Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said!”

Mary gave me a quavering smile, her eyes full of tears, and I understood that the Lord had given me those words for her sake. She was unmarried, a virgin, and newly pregnant—her miracle was even greater than mine. But she was not showing yet, and she was struggling to believe. That was why the Lord sent her to me: to see my miracle, as an encouragement to her! Her eyes went to my belly, and I beamed proudly, putting a hand on either side of it. She ran forward and hugged me, and burst into a song of praise worthy of King David, bless her little heart. I joined in, and though Zacharias could not, he watched us and raised his hands up to the Lord in worship.

“Stay with us,” I urged Mary when we had finished, all three of us grinning and exultant. “At least until you are showing. It’s easier that way, believe me.”

Mary’s joyful expression faltered. “But… Joseph doesn’t know yet.”

“Who’s Joseph?” I asked.

“My betrothed,” she murmured. “He had only just asked for my hand, when the angel Gabriel appeared to me—”

“Oh, Gabriel was the one who came to you too!” I cast a fond look at my husband, who looked bemused.

Mary nodded, and confessed, “I love Joseph. But I know what he will think—obviously. What else could he possibly think? Why would he believe such a story?”

I squeezed Mary’s hand. “Let the Lord take care of it,” I advised her. “It’s His problem, after all. He got you into this mess; He’ll work out the details.”

Mary giggled, and I watched her fondly. She was so very young. What an incredible weight to place upon those narrow shoulders! And yet, the Lord would never have chosen her if He did not know she was up to the task.

“Stay with us,” I urged her again. “Until John is born, at least.” I gasped, as it had just occurred to me right then—“They’ll be cousins, then! John and the Messiah!”

“Yes!” Mary laughed. “And only six months apart in age…”

“They will have to play together as children,” I asserted at once. “They’ll grow up to be great friends.” Then I added, musing aloud, “I wonder when we should tell them?”

Mary puffed out a heavy breath. “One problem at a time, please!”

I chuckled. “Very wise, child. Very wise.”

Mary did remain with us for three months. I still went out to the marketplace until just before my time, and by then, all my friends and neighbors knew my real condition, and marveled.

When I gave birth, I was so enamored with my child that it took me almost a full day to notice that Zacharias still could not speak. I was rather used to his silence now, but this confused me, and upset him.

When the time came for the child’s circumcision on the eighth day as prescribed by the law, it was also time to officially declare his name. They asked me what he was to be called, whether we would name him Zacharias, after his father. This had never occurred to me.

“No!” I asserted at once, “his name is John.”

“John?” asked the priest, perplexed. “But there is no one among your relatives who is called by that name. Surely, he will be Zacharias.”

They turned to my husband, who gestured for a writing tablet. He wrote very clearly, His name is John. As the priests stared at the tablet in wonder, Zacharias burst forth, “Praise the Lord!”

I gasped. “You can speak!”

Zacharias, laughing and crying at once, hugged me and took the little bundle from my arms. He gazed down at John with such love that for a second, I had the strange thought that I was looking into the face of God, seeing His love for my newborn child reflected in my husband’s face.

“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,” he proclaimed, “because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David,just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago. Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant— the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham. We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live”

I blinked at Zacharias, astonished, and looked around the room to see the reactions of the rest of the priests. It was clear to me, at least, that the words were not Zacharias’s own. Something—the Holy Spirit, surely—had taken hold of him.

He went on, gazing down at John, “And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”

I suddenly realized I wasn’t breathing. I sucked in a breath, and turned to one of the priests.

“Did you write all that down?” I demanded.

As if galvanized by my words, he jumped up to find a scroll and ink. I looked at Zacharias and whispered as I caressed our son’s head, “He’ll want to hear his father’s prophecy about him when he grows up.” I kissed his forehead and added tenderly, “Our little Elijah.”

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: The Anti-Aging Nutrient You've Never Heard Of.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, Health Benefits of Algae.

View Details

Today's podcast is a meditation on the scriptures of our identity in Christ, from the verses below.

Who We Are and What We Have In Christ

"Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith” (Romans 1:5)

“We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (Romans 5:1-2).

“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” (Romans 5:9)

“when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son… how much more… shall we be saved through his life!... rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:10-11).

“those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ” (5:17).

“through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (5:19).

“Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, [so] we too may live a new life” (6:4).

“count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (6:11).

“you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God” (7:4).

“we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code” (7:6).

“there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (8:1-2).

“You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you” (8:9).

“you received the Spirit of Sonship… Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (8:15, 17).

“And those he predestined, he also called; those he called; he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (8:30).

“in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (8:37).

“you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another” (Romans 15:14).

“in him you have been enriched in every way – in all your speaking and in all your knowledge” (1 Cor 1:5).

“we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1 Cor 2:12).

“we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16).

“All things are yours” (1 Cor 3:21).

“you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:11).

“the man who loves God is known by God” (1 Cor 8:3).

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Cor 1:20).

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing” (2 Cor 2:14-15).

“in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God” (2 Cor 2:17).

“Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor 3:4-6).

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).

“through God’s mercy we have this ministry” (2 Cor 4:1).

“if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” (2 Cor 5:18-19).

“Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you” (2 Cor 13:4).

“So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law” (Galatians 2:16).

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God” (Gal 2:20).

“So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith” (Gal 3:9).

“He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit” (Gal 3:14).

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (3:26-27).

“So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir” (Gal 4:7).

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ’” (Eph 1:3-9).

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity to the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory” (Eph 1:11-12).

“the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also the one to come” (Eph 1:18-21).

“God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions… and God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:4-7).

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:10).

“in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13).

“In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Eph 2:21-22).

“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Eph 3:12).

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Eph 3:20).

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Eph 4:15-16).

“filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:11).

“my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:13-14).

“Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27).

“Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3).

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col 2:9-12).

“These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ” (Col 2:17).

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col 3:3-4).

“put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col 3:10).

“the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess 1:12).

“that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess 2:14).

“This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (2 Tim 1:9).

“the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory” (2 Tim 2:10).

“He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-7).

“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Heb 7:25).

“And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb 10:10).

“who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood” (1 Peter 1:2).

“In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).

“Through him you believe in God” (1 Peter 1:21).

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

“and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities, and powers in submission to him” (1 Peter 3:21-22).

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:2).

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:3-4).

“God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (1 John 5:11).

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: Acne: Root Causes and Treatments.

View Details

Trial Lawyer, Scott Pryor, turns real life tragedies into award winning screenplays and films.

Pryor is the Founder and CEO of Pryor Entertainment which is a bi-coastal independent production company that creates films, tv, and content that inspires, empowers, and educates so that others may truly live. After setting the record for the second highest grossing domestic box office for self-distributed movies to theatres in 2020, on February 2, 2021, Pryor Entertainment is releasing digitally their most recent feature "Tulsa" starring Pryor, John Schneider, Livi Birch, Nicole Marie Johnson and Cameron Arnett.

Pryor describes himself as a big kid with really big dreams whose goal in life is to Pioneer Hope.

For more on Pryor entertainment, see officialscottpryor on all social media platforms, or pryorentertainment.com

View Details

Dr. Krystosik is a board certified chiropractic family physician, with an undergraduate degree in clinical nutrition. Dr. Krystosik has helped over 15,000 patients reclaim their health without drugs and surgery using safe, time proven, evidence based natural medicine. He is the author of 5 books on nutrition and functional medicine, including his best seller, “Carbs from Heaven, Carbs from Hell”. He’s been the host of a weekly health talk radio program, “The Other Side of Medicine,” for over 25 years and he is a nationally known speaker.

To learn more about Dr Krystosik, see his website at theothersideofmedicine.com

View Details

This retelling comes from Genesis 37, 39-45, and it appears in Blood Covenant Origins: Biblical Retellings.

Introduction:

Joseph is one of my favorite biblical characters; he’s such a great example of faith. It took thirteen years for his reversal of fortune to finally occur, and another nine years after that for the complete fulfillment of God’s promise to him. Yet if he ever wavered in his faith that God would fulfill what He showed him in his two dreams, we have no record of it. This is even more incredible when you consider that Joseph had no written scriptures to cling to like we do. He wouldn’t have even had an oral tradition of previous faith heroes similar to himself. While Abraham his grandfather had to wait 25 years for the promised child, the circumstances had little in common with Joseph’s own circumstances. He couldn’t read about the 13-17 years between King David’s anointing and when he finally became king, for instance. Moses had not yet written Deuteronomy, telling him all the blessings he could expect if he remained faithful to the Lord. All Joseph had to go on were two cryptic dreams… but it was enough. It’s fitting that the first dream showed his brothers’ sheaves of grain bowing down to his, considering it was the famine and grain distribution that propelled him to second in command of Egypt in the end. The one charge leveled against Joseph by some is that he started out arrogant: after all, what was he thinking, telling his brothers (whom he knew already envied him, due to his father’s blatant favoritism) that God had told him he would rule over them? Maybe this was arrogance, or at best, a decided lack of wisdom. He was only seventeen at the time, after all. Also, with the exception of the death of his mother when Benjamin was born, Joseph had presumably lived a charmed life: the coat of many colors that Jacob had given him was the attire of a great landowner, even though Joseph was the second youngest of twelve brothers. (Pretty foolish of Jacob, too.) It’s no wonder this galled them. Even so, their response to him shows how evil his brothers were, at that point. Had they not sold Joseph into slavery, they very well might have killed him—that was what they meant to do at first, after all. Despite this, despite slavery and then imprisonment, God said Joseph was prosperous and successful (Genesis 39:2-3, 23). Even though Joseph himself was not paid for any of his work, the blessing of the Lord was upon him, and therefore his master got blessed because of him. This is an interesting concept, that the overflow of God’s blessing upon us (Deuteronomy 28:2) can affect those around us who just happen to be in the way—including our bosses in this case, or our families as well (1 Corinthians 7:14). Joseph also happened to be very handsome (Genesis 39:6)—ordinarily a blessing, but under the circumstances it was a curse, as he drew the eye of Potiphar’s wife. If she was this aggressive, probably this wasn't the first time she had cheated on Potiphar. I suspect that the other servants, and maybe even Potiphar himself could compare what they knew of her and what they knew of Joseph and deduce the truth. But if Potiphar did not choose to believe Joseph, what could the other servants do? And wouldn’t it have disrupted Potiphar’s life more to have believed Joseph? He surely couldn’t have kept Joseph in his house with his wife; he had to get rid of one of them. So in my retelling, I assumed that Potiphar’s pride forced him to believe his wife, even though deep down he knew the truth. I would imagine that if he had truly believed his wife’s accusation, he would have had Joseph killed, rather than merely thrown into prison. So Joseph started out with two dreams of greatness, which led directly to his being sold into slavery for a decade (deduced from his age at the time he was sold, the number of years he was in prison, and his age when he was finally promoted). At the end of the decade, Joseph refused to commit adultery and sin against God (very interesting that he phrased it that way, Genesis 39:9)—yet for his integrity, he got thrown into prison. Most people would be bitter at this point, but“until the time that His word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested [Joseph]” (Psalm 105:19). Joseph was holding fast to the word that the Lord had given him through those dreams, even when it looked like every circumstance in his life was heading in the wrong direction. He did not yet know Galatians 6:9, but he seemed to understand the principle: “let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Joseph continued to exhibit diligence and faithfulness in prison, and he must have even kept up a contagious good attitude—we can intuit this because when the butler and baker each had dreams, Joseph said to them, “Why do you look so sad today?” (Genesis 40:7). You’d think they would look sad because they were in prison without cause! But apparently their distress was unusual. Under Joseph’s rule, the prison had become a cheerful place. Moreover, Joseph was not merely sulking about his own misfortune; he knew and cared about the other prisoners. Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Fictionalized Retelling: I whistled, absently twirling the cord of the colorful tunic Father had given me as I made my way back out to the fields where my brothers tended the sheep. I couldn’t stop smiling, couldn’t think about anything except the dream I had had last night. In it, the sun, moon, and eleven stars had bowed down to me! I pictured this over and over, relishing the thrill of it, knowing that these celestial bodies represented my entire family. I was already my father’s favorite, but the Lord confirmed it—I was to be the greatest of them all! Moreover, it was the second dream of its kind; in the first, a few days ago, eleven sheaves of wheat bowed down to my sheaf. I knew upon waking what it meant: all of my brothers would bow down to me one day. I told them so the next morning. It went over went about as well as I’d expected. They already envied me, and my little brother Benjamin: we were our father’s favorite, the only two sons of our mother Rachel, the woman Father had truly loved. He was duped into marrying Rachel’s sister Leah, and then in a competition to see who could bear Father more sons, both sisters had given their maids to bear children when it seemed that Mother was barren. I was the first child to open her womb, and so I was much favored even from birth. Father didn’t even try to hide it—in fact, he’d given me as a gift the multicolored tunic I now wore, of the same style as the owners of the great estates. This galled my brothers; it was a preference that should have belonged to Reuben as the eldest, and only after our father’s death. Yet here I was dressed as the heir, the second youngest of twelve, while our father yet lived. I might have felt guilty for my father’s obvious preference for me, but quite frankly, I could hardly blame him. My brothers were self-centered, lazy, and cruel. God clearly preferred me over them, also! Had I doubted it at all after the first dream, the second one clinched it. Would I somehow become a king? Maybe a neighboring nation would offer their princess’s hand to me in marriage… that was possible, as I was the favored son of a great man, and I was also exceptionally good looking. I didn’t say so out loud, nor did anyone say it to me… but I saw the way all the young women gazed after me with longing and admiration. I knew. But, it couldn’t be marriage to a princess, I mused, because then I would only be a consort, and not the king. Unless it was of a nation with different customs, in which a king could ascend to the throne by marriage… “Oh look, here comes the dreamer!” sneered Simeon as I approached. He and Levi mock-bowed to me. “So! You’re going to rule us? You’re going to boss us around?” Simeon taunted. I shrugged. “I was just telling you what the Lord told me.” “Oh, sure,” cried Levi, “and I had a dream I’m going to have a harem like Pharaoh, every concubine more beautiful than the last. I know it’s true, because I dreamt it!” I bristled, knowing he was trying to get a rise out of me, but unable to keep myself from responding. “I know it’s true, and irrevocable, because I had another dream last night just like it! This time, the sun, moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me!” Levi’s expression froze for a beat. In that half a second, I knew he believed me. Simeon recovered first. “Oooh, bow down, guys!” cried Simeon, waving his hands in the air, “bow down to our perfect baby brother, the future ruler of the entire universe!” Every time one of my brothers caught sight of me for the rest of the day, he made me an elaborate bow. They continued mocking me before my father and stepmothers that evening once we came in from the fields, compelling my father to ask what they meant by it. When he did, Issachar taunted, “Ask your little prince here! He’s got it in his head that he’s going to be greater than all of us put together!” Father turned to me with a frown. “Joseph? What are they talking about?” Feeling slightly abashed, I repeated my dreams, and my father, predictably, rebuked me. “What’s with all this dreaming? Am I and your mother and your brothers all supposed to bow down to you?” “I don’t know,” I muttered, “you’re the one who taught me that the Lord speaks in dreams, remember?” “Give him a pretty tunic, and suddenly he thinks he’s God Almighty!” cried Zebulun. But I saw my father’s thoughtful expression: he believed me, too. He had taught me that the Lord often spoke in dreams. He himself had a dream of a ladder from heaven to earth, with angels ascending and descending upon it—echoing the first dream God had given to our ancestor Abraham, in which He had cut a covenant with him. In another dream, the Lord had told my father to go home to Canaan. Father had also told me of how God had appeared to my grandfather Laban in a dream when he had fled from him, telling Laban to be careful what he said when he next encountered Father. Father knew of the power of dreams to both instruct and to prophesy. He knew my dreams must have significance, particularly since I had dreamt two that were very similar. But how could I, the second youngest son of twelve, come to rule over the other eleven? I had the same question myself—that was why I’d shared the vision. I realized, after today’s taunting, that doing so had been foolish. I should have known better, considering my brothers’ animosity and my father’s obvious preference for me. Yet, why would God give me a dream of my future without interpretation, if He did not mean for me to share it? The next day, my brothers went out from the Valley of Hebron to tend to the flocks out in Shechem. I did not volunteer to go with them, as I preferred to keep my distance from them after the encounter the day before. But my father sent me to them later that day, asking me to send word on how they and the flocks fared. I cringed inwardly, dreading the ongoing heckling, but that was hardly a reason to disobey my father. So I went. I did not find them in Shechem, however. I had to ask directions from another shepherd I came across. “I saw your ten brothers several hours ago,” he told me. “They’ve left here, but I overheard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” I tracked them down in Dothan late that afternoon. I saw the flocks first, neglected as usual. I could tell that my brothers had seen me, though they were huddled strangely in the middle of the field, as if having an intense conversation. When I was close enough, I perceived that their council had ended, and they stopped talking, spreading out in a half circle as I approached. Their postures gave me pause: they looked alert, like predators. My steps faltered. “Our father sent me to you to see how you and our flocks fared—” I began. But no sooner had I begun to speak, Judah and Dan started toward me, followed by the other eight. “What are you—ahhhh!” I tried to fight them off as they lunged for me, but at seventeen years old to their late twenties, thirties, and forties, I could not have fought off even one of them, let alone all ten. The blows came at me from all sides. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground curled in upon myself, trying in vain to protect my face, which was a swollen, bloody mess. I felt them rip my colorful tunic from me. Then three of them picked me up, carried me a short distance, and cast me down into a dry cistern. I landed with a sickening crunch, and let out a fresh cry of pain. It took me some time to test my feet, and the boundaries of the cistern. I could hear my brothers’ voices filtering down from up above me, so they were still there—but they were too far away to make out what they said. I began to cry out, “Help!” When there was no response, I tried again, “Someone let me out! Let down a rope!” I knew they heard me, as they stopped talking—but none of them bothered to help. I could just make out some sort of commotion up above—new voices had joined those of my brothers, interrupting the flow of their conversation, as well as the rumble of wheels and the characteristic jingle of merchandise. I strained to hear what they were saying, but could not. All of a sudden, Zebulun’s face appeared up above, backlit by the sun so that I could not make out his expression. He tossed down a rope and said cheerfully, “Grab on, Joseph!” I asked no questions; I grabbed on, as he and Issachar hauled me up, squinting in the brightness when I cleared the top of the cistern. Then I discerned the Midianite traders, their camels laden with spices to sell, and saw the merchants hand silver to my brother Zebulun with a handshake. My eyes widened as I began to understand what was happening. Naphtali and Dan shoved me toward them, and I cried out as the traders caught me and pinned my wrists behind me, binding them and then my feet as they tossed me sideways atop one of their camels. “No, please!” I begged, “please! Help me!” My pleading gaze happened to fall upon Simeon, who sneered, “Let’s see what comes of your grandiose dreams now, eh, little brother?” It was the last words any of my brothers spoke to me. After that, the caravan moved on. It was first an uncomfortable, then a painful journey. My position on the camel caused my abdominal muscles to spasm, and blood to pool in my head and feet as I bounced. Before long I had a splitting headache, which was no doubt worsened by my fear, despair, and previous injuries. None of the traders took any notice of me; to them I was only merchandise. The only exception to this was when they stopped to relieve themselves—they unceremoniously unslung me from the camel and made me lift my tunic right there beside it, so that they did not have to unbind me. Days passed—I lost count how many. I was constantly hungry and thirsty. The traders did feed me on bread, water, and strips of dried meat when they stopped, though never enough. I overheard one of them comment, “Don’t want him to waste away before he gets to market, or he won’t fetch a good price.” It was from this that I understood my fate for certain, though I had suspected before. I was to be sold as a slave. Once we were deep into the desert and there was nowhere I could have gone even if I had escaped, one of the traders unbound my feet so that I could ride astride my camel, rather than tossed over him between his humps like so much cargo. It was amazing what an improvement this made: my headache and abdominal cramps relieved, and at last I had some mental space to think about something besides my physical pain. Lord, I prayed. Then my mind went blank. I was so overwhelmed with my circumstances that I didn’t know where to start. I wondered what my brothers would tell my father to explain my disappearance. All I knew for sure was that they would not tell him the truth. They would tell him I’d been killed—they must. How else could they explain my long-term disappearance? I had a vision of my father weeping for me as he had wept for my mother. I saw my little nine-year old brother Benjamin, my only full-blooded brother, weeping beside him. The vision made my chest ache with sorrow and longing. I closed my eyes and shoved it away as tears stung my lashes. I took a deep breath. I’m here now, I told myself, and at least at the moment, there is nothing I can do about it. After another few miles, as the sweat rolled down the sides of my face, I tried praying again. Help me, was all I managed. I had no specifics. I didn’t know what else to pray. Presently I overheard some of the traders telling one another that they had made good time: only fifteen days, they said, when the glittering mirage of Egypt appeared on the dusty horizon. At first the sight of it filled me with dread, and terrible visions of oppression, whippings, and chains—but I shut these thoughts down, recognizing the futility of experiencing imaginary hardships before the real ones materialized. Within hours, we were in the heart of the bustling city. I was overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, and smells—never had I seen so many people and animals and buildings all in one place. There was a profusion of both wealth and waste intermingled in a confusing array. The traders allowed me to dismount on my own, but then led me with a vice grip on one arm to a raised platform. I blinked, taken aback, when I saw the lineup of naked men upon it. I had only seconds to process this when the trader who had steered me toward it released my arm and in the same motion produced a knife in one hand, gripping my tunic with the other. Before I knew what he was doing, he had sliced half of it away. I started to resist when another trader pinned me so that the first could finish the job. Seconds later, horror and hot shame rolled over me as the traders shoved me up on the platform with the other woebegone men, my hands now bound behind me so that I could not so much as cover my genitals with my fists. Lord, I cried out in my mind, but again, I could not think how to finish the prayer. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to pretend I was somewhere—anywhere—else. Trying to tune out the jeers and the haggling of the buyers. It had never occurred to me in the long journey to Egypt that the slave trade required nudity, but now suddenly it seemed obvious: buyers wanted to inspect their purchase, to see what they were getting. When the haggling began over me, even though I did not speak their language, I gathered that the bidding was fierce. I heard the note of finality in their voices that I had heard in previous sales when the price was agreed upon, and opened my eyes to behold my new master as he stepped forward. He was a tall, swarthy man—as most of them were—imposing and probably at least twice my age, if not more. I had no experience with Egyptians, but his dress suggested a uniform. I wondered if he was an officer of some kind. The man beckoned me to join him, and I meekly obeyed. Nothing like public nudity to induce humility. He produced a small knife and sliced through the bonds that held my wrists behind me. I rubbed the raw places where the ropes had bitten into my flesh, not even bothering now to use my hands to hide myself. What difference did it make? Everyone who had wanted to had already gotten a good look. Though he could not speak to me, the man produced a simple blue tunic and a length of silken cord to secure it. My eyebrows raised as I saw it: both the dye and the material suggested wealth. I put it on at once, grateful for the renewed dignity. The man gave me a nod, and put a hand on his own chest. “Potiphar,” he pronounced, very slowly. “Potiphar,” I echoed, understanding that my new master was telling me his name. I placed a hand on my own chest and said, “Joseph.” “Joseph,” he echoed, and gave another perfunctory nod, beckoning me to follow. I gaped as I beheld my new home for the first time. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined such opulence as these marble floors, sculpted columns, and dyed silken curtains. I wondered what Pharaoh’s palace must be like, if this Potiphar was only one of his officers. Potiphar introduced me to the rest of his household via charade, but I was already starting to pick up a few Egyptian words here and there. I was one of dozens of servants, male and female, their skin ranging from dark to pale and with all sorts of distinctive features of races I had never before beheld. As I made my halting introductions to the staff, an attractive woman in her late twenties approached Potiphar and languidly draped her arm through his. She drew my eye because I felt her gaze upon me, roving over my body in a way that made me feel like I was still naked. She wore fine blue silks, and her arms were spangled with bracelets. From this and from her familiarity with Potiphar, I gathered that she must be either his wife or his mistress. I looked away abruptly. The overseer of the household, an aging man who introduced himself as Babu, took me under his wing. With him, I learned to do all of the various chores, both in the estate and in the fields. Babu was also very patient with me as I learned Egyptian words, and within the next few weeks, I at least knew enough to communicate the essentials with a combination of halting Egyptian and hand gestures. I quickly grew wary of spending too much time indoors, though, as Edrice, whom I learned was in fact Potiphar’s wife, always seemed to be wherever I was. She lurked in hallways and lingered in boudoirs, sometimes pretending to be occupied but always with her eyes upon me. At first this was all she did, and I ignored her when I could not avoid her. But as time passed and my Egyptian became more proficient, she began to engage me in smalltalk, which I could not avoid without rudeness. She’d comment on the weather, ask unnecessary questions about the progress of whatever task I was engaged in at the time, or sometimes ask me personal questions about how I had come to be in their household as a slave. I answered as briefly as possible, asked no questions in return, and excused myself. Years passed. In time I grieved the loss of my freedom, my family, and my identity, and I determined that I would do the work the Lord placed before me with all my heart. Babu and then Potiphar took notice of this. Babu, I learned, was beginning to suffer from poor health, and had been hoping to find a replacement for his position. He had recommended me to Potiphar for the job, so that he could take on less responsibility. Suddenly I found myself managing scores of servants on what I later learned was one of the largest estates in Egypt—and actually, I loved it. Even in my father’s household, I’d never had either respect or responsibility. Here, I was trusted, and I rose to the challenge. Babu praised my management, telling Potiphar in my hearing that never had his fields or his wealth grown so quickly, never had his affairs run so efficiently, as they did under my care. The only blight upon my surprising happiness was Edrice. She grew increasingly bold over time, when I did not return her attentions to her satisfaction. When she started to inquire about my history with women, and whether I was still a virgin, I began to avoid her outright. At last I hinted about her behavior to Babu, who gave me a knowing glance, and said, “Edrice is a beautiful bird in a gilded cage. She longs for freedom, and will seek it where she can.” I blinked, understanding that he meant to tell me, without telling me, that she had been unfaithful to Potiphar in the past. “Does he know?” I asked at last. Babu hesitated, and then gave a very subtle nod. “Everyone knows.” “What do I do?” I whispered at last. Babu sighed. “I don’t see that you can do any more than you have. Avoid her when you can. But do your best not to spurn her outright. Her pride is… easily wounded.” Babu’s warning rang in my mind for days, particularly because I had sensed Edrice’s growing irritation with me. I needed to appease her. So when I felt her eyes upon me across the room, rather than pretending I did not notice, I looked up and smiled. She blinked, and her scowl softened in response, replaced by a flirtatious gleam in her eye. I panicked and looked away abruptly. I’d meant to appease, not encourage her—but how was I to know the difference? I’d never done this before… She crossed the room to me, and before I knew what was happening, she was beside me, stroking my forearm with her trailing fingers. I was suddenly very aware that we were alone—I had no idea where the nearest servants were. Potiphar was away on Pharaoh’s business. “Joseph,” she murmured, as if savoring my name, tracing my bicep with her fingers. “You are… so very handsome.” My heart hammered in my chest, though with fear or with arousal, or a strange combination of both, I could not tell. My throat felt too thick to reply. I just froze. Edrice gave a soft laugh. “I’m making you blush! Oh, I just love virgins…” Her hand trailed from my arm down my torso. I grabbed her wrist before it could descend any further, and found my tongue. “Look, my master doesn’t give a second thought to anything that goes on here—he’s put me in charge of everything he owns. He treats me as an equal. The only thing he hasn’t turned over to me is you. You’re his wife!” She puffed out her lower lip. “I know you find me attractive.” This was dangerous territory. There was no safe answer to that question. “That has nothing to do with it,” I insisted. “How could I violate his trust and sin against God?” “God?” she scoffed. “Your God allowed you to be sold as a slave. You owe Him nothing. And Potiphar has never paid you a day’s wages in the almost ten years you’ve been with us. Don’t you think it’s time you got a little… reward?” The hand I had not seized by the wrist also went exploring before I took hold of it too. “I cannot do this! It is wrong!” I hissed. I let go of both of her wrists at once, and fled the room. Either fortunately or unfortunately, I could not tell which, Edrice did not take this as rejection, but as enticement. I could tell by her increasing brazenness that she thought I burned for her and could barely restrain myself. At times, I wondered if this was actually true—after all, I could not stop thinking about her, even though thinking of her was a kind of torture. I successfully avoided being alone with her for the next week or so, but I knew I could not do so forever. At last, one day after Potiphar again went away on Pharaoh’s business, I was inside managing the orders for the kitchen after the morning meal. I stopped what I was doing, and frowned when I realized that the whole house was eerily silent—more so than I had ever heard before. Usually there were some servants chattering or clanging about at least in the distance. It was as if all of them had suddenly gone on holiday. A wave of foreboding passed over me, and then I sensed that I was not alone. I turned around and saw Edrice standing there in the most provocative gown I had ever seen. She rested one arm on the doorframe to give me the best possible view, her gaze inviting me to come and take her. “You know you want to,” she purred. “I promise I won't resist.” “Edrice—” my voice came out hoarse, and I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away from her nearly exposed bosom, no matter how hard I tried. She grinned and sauntered forward, swinging her hips. I could not move. The next thing I knew, she stood before me, tugged on the cord of my tunic, and began undressing me. “Sleep with me, Joseph,” she whispered. I had one choice in that moment: stay and obey her, or run. So I ran. She had a firm grip by then on my tunic, and I nearly tripped and fell on my face, as it was half off already. Instead I wrestled myself free of it, leaving my tunic in her grip, and alas—fled naked. Some of the other servants who were outside at the time saw me. I saw the fleeting looks of confusion and shock. Then Edrice began to scream. There was a commotion after that. Several of the men went running into the house, and those near enough to me cast glances of alarm in my direction. I hid myself among the shrubbery, not sure what else to do, feeling like I might throw up. I didn’t know exactly what Edrice was playing at, but I suspected I knew well enough. A few minutes passed. Babu found me and handed me one of his own tunics without a word. I saw the look in his eyes, of mingled worry and sympathy, and it alarmed me. “You should have just done as she wanted,” he murmured under his breath. “How could I do such a thing against Potiphar, and against the Lord?” I protested as I put on the tunic. Babu sighed, and shook his head. It was a long moment before he answered. “Joseph.” The way he said my name, with such regret, made my heart sink into my stomach. He bit his lip and then said, his voice barely above a whisper, “You spurned her. It’s exactly what I told you never to do. All the servants know who and what she is, and I daresay Potiphar does too, but I don’t think it will matter. She is accusing you of attempted rape.” Waves of horror washed over me. That was even worse than a consensual affair. How was it that by doing the right thing, I’d managed to make my situation even worse? “But… if everyone knows her ways…” I began weakly. Babu shook his head. “She is the lady of the house,” he murmured. “Any servant who dares to contradict her story will be subject to her wrath himself. The only one who might be able to challenge her is Potiphar, and while I suspect he knows, if he admits that she is guilty in this, it makes him a cuckold—not just this once, but the many times he has turned a blind eye in the past as well.” My breath came in short, ragged gasps. “What do I do?” Babu ran a hand through his graying hair. “I will… try… to convince Potiphar to merely sell you, rather than punish you.” I sank to my knees. Babu stood watching me. At last I murmured, “Shall I be killed?” “I do not think so,” Babu said with surprising conviction. “You would be if Potiphar believed her story, but he is not an evil man. He will want you out of his sight and out of his household, but he knows you are not capable of such a thing, even if he does not admit it to himself.” He patted my shoulder. “Stay in my chambers and do not show your face until Potiphar returns. I will attend to your needs myself, and discuss how we might best plead your case to him when he does.” The rest of that day was one of the longest of my life, with the possible exception of those first several weeks’ ride to Egypt. Fortunately I did not have to wait longer, as Potiphar arrived back home unexpectedly that evening. I heard him in the vestibule, and I heard Edrice’s renewed histrionic wails. I cowered in Babu’s small chambers, catching words here and there—mostly my name in Edrice’s high-pitched shriek, and Potiphar’s angry growls. I closed my eyes, and tried to steel myself for what came next. Heavy footsteps pounded down the hall toward me, and the door flew open. I opened my eyes and beheld Potiphar’s face. It was nearly purple with rage. He held my tunic in his hand like it was evidence against me. “What,” he seethed, “is the meaning of this?” In a split second, even though I knew it would likely make my own situation worse, I decided to try the truth. If I were married to an unfaithful woman, I would want to know. I stood up straight and said, “Your wife has been attempting to seduce me for years, Master, and earnestly for the last several months. You know this to be true. She has invented her current story because I spurned her and fled, and she kept hold of my tunic as I did so. I could not sin against the Lord and against you.” If possible, Potiphar’s color turned an even deeper shade of purple. “How—dare you!” He threw my tunic down and took two steps toward me, hands balled into fists. I clasped my own hands behind my back as hard as I could, determined not to protect myself, should he strike a blow. But I looked him directly in the eye, knowing that doing so would communicate my truthfulness better than anything else I could do. It worked, at least on some level. Potiphar nearly snorted, he breathed so heavily, his face etched in a snarl. But he did not strike me. Behind him, three of the male servants who had grown quite fond of me in the last few years, and I of them, appeared in the hallway. “Throw him in prison,” Potiphar pronounced my sentence, and turned to stalk out. “I want him out of here tonight.” The three servants shuffled awkwardly, before moving forward to fulfill Potiphar’s orders. One apologized as he began to bind my wrists. I shook my head. “That is not necessary,” I told him, and forced a smile. “You know I will not resist you.” The young man gave me a tiny nod, and the four of us marched out of the room with one abreast, two at my sides. I tried not to look around at the great manor I was leaving forever. This was the second time my home had been ripped from me; I did not think I could bear it if I looked and considered this. Edrice appeared at the entrance to the estate with one arm positioned brazenly on a marble pillar, a vicious half smile on her full red lips. She still wore the scandalous gown, which surprised me at first—wasn’t that gown evidence of my version of the story? But then I realized, it doesn’t matter. She knows Potiphar will refuse to believe her unfaithful, regardless of the evidence. She still wore the gown on purpose. It was evidence of her power over me. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” she taunted in a low trill as I passed by her. “Oh, how quickly your lust turns to hatred,” I returned, looking her straight in the eye. “The Lord sees what you have done, and will repay you for it.” My words hit the mark. Her gloating smile vanished, and she began to shriek after me, “How dare you, you filthy Hebrew slave! You should be hung on the gallows! I see to it that you’re hung on the gallows—!” The door closed behind us, cutting off her threats. I took a deep breath of the night air, and one of the other servants murmured, “Empty threats. She’s already exerted the extent of her power against you.” Another agreed, his voice still low, “We’ve seen her watching you for months, and watched you avoid her, too. We know you’re not guilty. So does Potiphar, even if he won’t admit it.” Tears pricked my eyes at this, and a lump rose in my throat. “Thank you.” We walked in silence the rest of the way. When we arrived at the prison and the other servants identified me as the prisoner to the keeper, he glanced at my unbound hands in surprise. “And… he comes willingly?” “I would not struggle against my brothers,” I said. “They are merely following orders. Besides, where could I go?” The keeper of the prison looked even more surprised at this, and looked to them for an explanation. They told my story for me, and I bowed my head. “You will never find a more capable worker or better manager, sir,” one of the servants finished, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Judge for yourself, but we are all very sorry to lose him.” The keeper of the prison let out a breath through pursed lips. At last he pronounced, “Well, this is certainly the strangest way I’ve ever been introduced to a new prisoner.” He took me by the arm and began to lead me inside, but the servants stopped him to hug me goodbye with some tears before they went their way. The keeper shook his head. “Curiouser and curiouser,” he murmured as he watched our farewell. Then he said, “Well, normally I’d take you to a barred cell, but with three witnesses such as those in your favor… you might just be a gift from the gods. I tell you, I’ve been quite overwhelmed lately with the number of prisoners, particularly managing resources from Pharaoh and directing labor. I could use the help of a skilled household manager.” I inclined my head. “Happy to be of service in any way I can.” “Splendid!” The keeper, who introduced himself as Shakir, took me to a small room with a cot and a desk near the cells where the prisoners were kept. It did have a small window though. “This will be your room, then. I’m sure it isn’t much compared to your chambers in Potiphar’s house, but at least it is neither a cell, nor the gallows, eh?” I managed a smile. “I am very grateful for your kindness. I will work hard for you and will not take it for granted.” Shakir blinked at me again and shook his head. “Poor kid,” he murmured at last, more to himself than to me. “Those good looks of yours are a curse.” With that, he left me alone and closed the door behind me. In the silence that followed, I approached the window, leaning on the sill and looking up to the stars. I reminded myself how many years my ancestor Abraham had believed the Lord for a son, looking at those very same stars. His descendants were not yet so numerous, but certainly my father had been fertile. My chest ached as I thought of my brothers, particularly of my little brother Benjamin. He had been nine when my half-brothers had sold me into slavery. He would be nineteen now. I wondered what he looked like. I wondered if he remembered me. I wondered if— No, I stopped myself. I had been about to wonder if my dreams would ever come to pass. They certainly looked impossible, as I went from my father’s favorite son, to slave, and now to prisoner. But the Lord had given me two dreams for a reason: that told me that the future it foretold was not conditional. It would happen. It was not up to me to determine how, or when. I must continue to cling to that; I must continue to believe that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, or my heart would faint. Especially tonight, of all nights. Many years ago, I’d had to release my anger and bitterness toward my half brothers, or it would already have eaten me alive. Tonight, the image of Edrice’s scandalous dress and haughty smirk floated back to me, and I gnashed my teeth. She belonged here, not me… but I knew the memory came because the Lord wanted me to release her to Him too. He was a God of justice—I knew this, despite how things looked, because of the covenant He had made with my father Abraham. He’d said to him, “Your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.” The gate was the place of power and influence, was it not? I had had power and influence over Potiphar’s house, relatively speaking. I now already seemed to have the favor of the keeper of the prison. Was that all God’s promise had meant for me? Was this the extent of the blessing I could expect upon my life? No, I told myself emphatically, closing my eyes and deliberately conjuring again the memories of the dreams, now rather faded and possibly distorted with time. I saw again my brothers’ sheaves of wheat bowing down to mine, and then the sun, moon and stars bowing to me. The Lord gave me those dreams in advance because He knew I would need them, in addition to what I knew of the covenant to His people in general, to sustain me through this dark period of my life. It would not last forever. It must not. Somehow, somehow—I would be reunited with my brothers and my family again. The Lord would place me in a position of power and influence. How prison was a stepping stone to anything, I certainly did not know. But He was God, and I was not. “I trust You,” I murmured aloud to the Lord. “I forgive my brothers, I forgive Edrice, and I leave their punishment to You. I trust You to bring Your word to pass in my life. Somehow.” I heard nothing back. I wished God would speak to me, the way He had to some of my ancestors, and even to my father Jacob. But I felt the comfort of those stars winking down at me from above, and I knew He saw me and He cared. I was not forgotten. Over the next days and weeks, I got to know the prisoners as well as Shakir, and learned the business of prison—for business it was. We had finances and shipments from Pharaoh for the upkeep of both prison and prisoners, schedules to manage and enforce, and some of the prisoners also engaged in labor as part of their service. I could see why Shakir had been overwhelmed before. But I applied the management skills I had gained in Potiphar’s household to management of the prison, and within the first month, I gained not only Shakir’s trust but his admiration and gratitude as well. He often referred to me as a “gift from the gods,” though he’d always look a bit abashed after he said it, conscious that he was profiting from my misfortune. When he apologized for the third time after a declaration like this, I finally smiled at him and said, “It is all right. The Lord is with me, and He will repay me for what was stolen.” Shakir blinked, and seemed to want to say something. He opened his mouth and then closed it again. He walked away with a puzzled look on his face. In time, the prisoners and Shakir came to be a sort of makeshift family to me, just as Babu at the other servants had been. I was surprised to wake up one day and realize that I was happy again. Despite all, I found great satisfaction in doing my work well, and in the relationships I had formed with those around me. I genuinely cared about my fellow prisoners. I came to know their stories, and wept for those whose stories were even more tragic than mine. Of course there were a few actual criminals among them, but in short order I won over even them. I rejoiced with those whose sentences were completed or commuted when they returned to freedom, even though I was still imprisoned indefinitely, with no apparent hope of escape. They were perplexed how I could maintain such hope in such a place—so I taught them about the Lord, about the covenant He had made with my fathers. “That’s all very well for you,” one of them grumbled at first, “but your god has never spoken to me or my fathers. What hope do I have?” “It’s not about what He’s said or hasn't said,” I insisted. “Yes, He made a covenant with my fathers to prosper and bless them, but how could I be assured that that blessing would extend to every one of their descendants, including me? Yes, I had two dreams that suggested I would be blessed”—I had told the prisoners the secret of my dreams, in due time—“but those were very obscure, after all. If I wished to doubt their meaning, particularly after all that has happened to me, I certainly could. What assures me is the character of Him who made those promises to my father Abraham. It isn’t about what He has done, but about who He is. He told Abraham that through him, every nation of the world would be blessed, not just Abraham’s direct descendants. That includes you, too! He is both good and mighty, as well as trustworthy. So yes, I have hope, and always shall have. You can have that same hope, if you want it.” A few months after I had arrived, the prison received two new rather illustrious prisoners from the Pharaoh’s own household: his butler and his baker. I felt sorry for them, as they seemed exceedingly upset to have found themselves in such a predicament. We all understood; every one of us, even the guilty ones, went through a period of first denial, then anger, then grief, and ultimately a depressed sort of acceptance when we arrived here. It was even worse for the two of them, as the butler had no idea why he was there at all. The baker’s cooking had apparently displeased the capricious Pharaoh one too many times. “I don’t know what I said,” the butler moaned to me, his head in his hands. “I don’t know what I did…” I clucked my tongue sympathetically as the baker sat beside him, patting his arm. “One never knows,” he murmured, “Pharaoh is like a child.” “Shh!” hissed the butler, horrified. “You must not say things like that?” The baker gave a short laugh. “Why not? What else is he going to do to me?” He gestured at the bars of their cell; they were currently in the same one, as I had allowed them to comfort one another as they could. “He could kill us, of course!” the butler hissed back, “the walls have ears, I’m sure!” “You are as safe as I can make you here,” I assured them. “We’re all family here, right guys?” I called to the other prisoners. Shouts, claps, and grunts from the other nearby prisoners responded to this, and I flashed a brief grin at the newcomers. “We’re here if you need us. Take your time.” It was a few weeks before the butler and baker worked their way through the various stages of acceptance of their new predicament. I marveled as I watched their fellow prisoners commiserate with them in the process, feeling how I’d imagine a proud father might feel as he watches one child comfort another in his distress. One day after both the baker and butler had adjusted to life in prison, and had grown cheerful for the most part, I noticed an abrupt change. Both of them seemed sad and troubled again, and did not perform their work as efficiently as usual. I frowned. “What is wrong?” I asked them. “Why do you both seem so sad today?” The butler said for both of them, “We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.” The vision of my own dreams to which I had clung for the past many years flashed across my mind as I said, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.” The two men exchanged a look, and then the butler ventured, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” My heart swelled as he spoke. I understood the dream’s meaning, and I also knew, I knew this was to be my salvation as well! “Here’s the meaning. The three branches are three days. Within three days, Pharaoh will get you out of here and put you back to your old work—you’ll be giving Pharaoh his cup just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. Only remember me when things are going well with you again—tell Pharaoh about me and get me out of this place. I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. And since I’ve been here, I’ve done nothing to deserve being put in the dungeon.” The baker’s eyes lit up too, and he declared, “Three days—that will be Pharaoh’s birthday! That is often when he commutes sentences…” He turned to me and said eagerly, “Tell me what my dream means too! It went like this: I saw three wicker baskets on my head; the top basket had assorted pastries from the bakery and birds were picking at them from the basket on my head.” I blinked at the baker, and felt my heart sink to my stomach. He saw my expression and his own faltered too. I knew this interpretation at once, also, but wished I did not have to tell him. “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days; within three days Pharaoh will hang you from a tree, and the birds will pick your bones clean.” All the color faded from his cheeks, and his mouth fell open. The three of us sat in silence, not even looking at each other. At last I placed a hand on the baker’s shoulder, who shrugged it off and hid his face. The butler and I exchanged a sympathetic look. “Well,” the butler said to me in a low tone, “at least we know that you do not hesitate to prophesy good or evil. In three days’ time, we shall see.” I nodded, knowing full well what we should see. I reminded the baker, more soberly now, “Do not forget me.” “I won’t,” he promised. Three days later it happened just as the Lord had shown me through the dreams. Pharaoh held a feast in honor of his own birthday, and summoned the butler and the baker from the prison in the middle of it. Shakir, who had been at the feast, arrived with guards to escort them. We all watched them go in dead silence. Everyone was nervous for them. Before they all vanished, I took Shakir by the arm, and asked, “Please return after the feast tonight, no matter how late it is, and tell us all what became of them.” Shakir gave me a strange look. “I thought you already knew.” “I do,” I confirmed. “But for the sake of the rest of the prisoners.” He gave me a small nod, and left, last behind the guards. Around the third watch of the night, Shakir returned again, looking haggard. Most of the prisoners dozed, but lightly. We all roused when we saw his lantern and heard his footsteps. I sat up first. “Well?” Shakir sighed. “It was as Joseph predicted,” he confirmed. “The butler was restored to the right hand of Pharaoh. The baker…” he shook his head and bowed it. There was a moment of silence. A few of the prisoners swore. One quietly sobbed. We had all grown quite fond of the two men. Despite my sorrow for the murder of the baker, I could not entirely forget that I now had an ally at the right hand of Pharaoh. I had reminded him several times not to forget me. Surely he wouldn’t! Every day I anticipated a retinue of soldiers to come and release me as well. When they did not come after a week, I grew confused. When they did not come after two weeks, I sank into depression, for the first time since those weeks riding across the desert to Egypt. Even when I’d been thrown into prison, I’d maintained my faith, and bounced back quickly. But now, when I was alone at night, I cried out to God. “It’s been eleven years!” I told Him in a hissing whisper, like He didn’t know. “Eleven years!” I panted with rage, until I finally needed an outlet of some kind and pounded my fists against my wall. “Am I ever getting out of here? Did You forget about me? Do you care at all?” I knew the answers to all of these things by the quiet reproach in my mind as soon as I’d said them. At once, my rage melted away and I crumpled, giving way to tears for the first time in years. I buried my face in my hands and wept, feeling small and vulnerable, like the child I had once been in my mother’s lap. She had died giving birth to my brother Benjamin, when I was only eight years old. I conjured her in my mind now, picturing her caresses on my back as I remembered them until I had no more tears left within me. They were followed by first a dull numbness, and then, inexplicably, a sense of peace. I fell asleep to the vision of the sun, moon, and stars bowing down to me once again, a reassurance that despite the apparent setbacks, the Lord had promised. He would fulfill His word. Over the next few days, I acknowledged to myself that it was the hope of an immediate fulfillment that had set me up for such disappointment; before, when I had placed no timeline on my deliverance, I had been able to thrive regardless of my circumstances. Now that it was clear that the butler had forgotten me, I let go of my expectations and became my old cheerful self again, caring for my inmates and managing them well. The Lord would deliver me when and how He might, but I’d just as soon not know until it happened. I never wanted to go through that again. Two more years passed before that moment finally came, and it was as abrupt as I could have wished for. I was in my office, calculating income versus expenses for the prison, when the palace guards arrived. “We are looking for the Hebrew called Joseph,” announced the guard. I frowned. “I am he.” The guard bowed to me—a prisoner. “You have been summoned to the Throne Room by His Majesty, Pharaoh.” My mind went blank. My mouth reacted first. “May I… be permitted to make myself presentable first?” I gestured at the filthy rags of an inmate I wore, and my long, unkempt beard and hair. “You may. Come.” A few of the prisoners whose cells were close enough to hear some of the commotion pressed their faces to their bars curiously. Shakir, who had heard the entire interaction, watched me with wide-eyed fear. I knew he was remembering what had happened to the baker. But that made sense—Pharaoh had known and been offended by him. He should have no knowledge of my existence. Unless… my heart beat faster as the guard led me to the river to bathe, and provided me with a razor, a servant, and a change of clothes. I bathed as quickly as I could, my nervousness only growing as I did so. I did not let my mind imagine, in case this was not what it appeared to be. When I emerged from the water, dried myself and put on the new garments, the servant combed and used the razor to trim my hair and beard before shaving my face clean. When he had finished, he gestured back to the water, inviting me to look at my new self. Tentatively, I did so, though I dreaded the change I might find—the last time I had beheld my own reflection was when I still served in Potiphar’s home, three years ago. I feared that my ordeal in the prison might have aged me ten years or more. I blinked at the man who peered down at me, and swallowed hard, raising my hands to my own chin gingerly. I had not been clean shaven since I was a boy; the face I saw therefore looked significantly younger than the one I remembered. I might have been a teenager again, though I had turned thirty this year. The guard, who had waited for my transformation, now stepped forward and beckoned me. “Pharaoh is not a patient man. Come,” he said, and I followed. The whole thing felt incredibly surreal, as I crossed the threshold of the enormous vestibule of the palace. Potiphar’s house had been a shack by comparison. The marble pillars held up a ceiling so high it might have been the sky. Colorful mosaics lined the floors, and intricate paintings of great exploits decorated the walls. The opulence astounded me; I could not stop staring, even though I kept pace with the guard. In the throne room were four men dressed in Egyptian finery. Three were gray haired and weathered. The fourth stood at a window with his arms clasped behind him, his forearms adorned with thick gold bracelets. He alone of the four wore a geometric headdress, his tunic bedecked with purples and golds, complete with a gold sash. He turned as we entered, and I saw Pharaoh’s face for the first time. He had the swarthy, coppery skin of all of the Egyptians, his black beard close-cropped. I saw that he was not much older than I was. He might have even been younger. “Joseph the Hebrew prisoner, Your Majesty,” bowed the guard, and backed away, leaving Pharaoh and me to face one another alone. The other three—advisors? servants?—stood at a respectful distance, but close enough to hear. Pharaoh regarded me with an expression I could not read. I knew nothing of the etiquette; should I speak first or wait for him to address me? Should I bow? Surely I should bow. I had just made up my mind to do this and started, when Pharaoh abruptly began. “I dreamed a dream,” he announced. “Nobody can interpret it. But I’ve heard that just by hearing a dream you can interpret it.” This is it, I realized in dazed wonder. This is really it. I found my tongue. “Not I, but God. God will set Pharaoh’s mind at ease.” Pharaoh searched my face. Something about my answer gave him pause. Then he went on, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile. Seven cows, shimmering with health, came up out of the river and grazed on the marsh grass. On their heels seven more cows, all skin and bones, came up. I’ve never seen uglier cows anywhere in Egypt. Then the seven skinny, ugly cows ate up the first seven healthy cows. But you couldn’t tell by looking—after eating them up they were just as skinny and ugly as before. Then I woke up. “In my second dream I saw seven ears of grain, full-bodied and lush, growing out of a single stalk, and right behind them, seven other ears, shriveled, thin, and dried out by the east wind. And the thin ears swallowed up the full ears. I’ve told all this to the magicians but they cannot tell me what the dreams mean.” My mind whirred with images and understanding as Pharaoh spoke, as clearly as if there had been no parable at all. The second dream overlay the first in my mind, making me even more certain that my interpretation of the first had been correct. Thank you, Lord, I prayed silently. To Pharaoh, I said, “Pharaoh’s two dreams both mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh what he is going to do. The seven healthy cows are seven years and the seven healthy ears of grain are seven years—they’re the same dream. The seven sick and ugly cows that followed them up are seven years and the seven scrawny ears of grain dried out by the east wind are the same—seven years of famine. “The meaning is what I said earlier: God is letting Pharaoh in on what he is going to do. Seven years of plenty are on their way throughout Egypt. But on their heels will come seven years of famine, leaving no trace of the Egyptian plenty. As the country is emptied by famine, there won’t be even a scrap left of the previous plenty—the famine will be total. The fact that Pharaoh dreamed the same dream twice emphasizes God’s determination to do this and do it soon. “So, Pharaoh needs to look for a wise and experienced man and put him in charge of the country. Then Pharaoh needs to appoint managers throughout the country of Egypt to organize it during the years of plenty. Their job will be to collect all the food produced in the good years ahead and stockpile the grain under Pharaoh’s authority, storing it in the towns for food. This grain will be held back to be used later during the seven years of famine that are coming on Egypt. This way the country won’t be devastated by the famine.” I had watched the transformation in Pharaoh’s face as I spoke. His hard features softened, his eyes widened, and I could see that the Lord had confirmed my words to him. He withdrew to consult with his advisors in low tones that I could not hear—yet I could hardly suppress the smile that stretched across my lips. Pharaoh returned to me, his advisors right behind him this time. “You shall be the one in charge of all you propose. No one is as qualified as you in experience and wisdom. From now on, you’re in charge of my affairs; all my people will report to you. Only as king will I be over you. I’m putting you in charge of the entire country of Egypt.” I stared at him, my mind blank. I had expected that he would believe me; that he would favor me; even that I would never return to prison. But… what had he just said? His next actions confirmed it: he took a signet ring off of his own hand, took my own hand, and placed it upon my finger. Behind me, servants I had not seen enter the room draped my shoulders with a fine linen garment, and my neck with a gold chain. As they did all this, Pharaoh went on, “I am Pharaoh, but no one in Egypt will make a single move without your approval. We must do something about your Hebrew name, though. Henceforth, you shall be known as Zaphenath-Paneah.” I bit my lip to keep the surge of tears at bay—the new name meant in Egyptian, God Speaks and He Lives. I met Pharaoh’s eyes, and to my utter amazement, I found him smiling at me fondly, like we were almost peers. More than that—like we were kin. This man just met me! How— I am restoring all that was stolen from you, the Lord whispered to my heart. Sevenfold. I found myself ushered along with Pharaoh’s servants like a tide sweeping out to sea. The day played out like a dream: they helped me into Pharaoh’s second chariot, and rode me around Egypt, introducing me to the people of the land by shouting before me, “Bow the knee! Bow the knee to Zaphenath-Paneah, second in command of all of Egypt!” I expected to wake the next morning back in prison. It took me several confused moments to remember what had happened when I saw the luxurious bed with linen curtains, and the window with a view of all of Egypt, through which the early morning sunlight streamed in. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and sat up to see servants bustling about in a corner of the enormous room, laying out my breakfast. One of them looked up and said, “Ah, my lord is awake.” He brought the food over to my bed, and then beckoned to someone outside the room. One of the advisors I had seen with Pharaoh in my encounter with him yesterday approached and bowed, introducing himself as Lateef. “My lord Zaphenath-Paneah,” he began. “We have much to discuss. Would you prefer to eat in silence and seek me after, or—” “No, no, Lateef, please.” I gestured to a chair by the window. Lateef accepted it and seated himself as I ate. He then proceeded to tell me all of the plans Pharaoh had discussed with them on my behalf while I was riding around the city in Pharaoh’s second chariot: where I was to live, who I was to marry (marry? I thought in amazement), and how I was to begin to implement the recommendations I had made to Pharaoh regarding the collection of grain. He rattled off the names of master builders they had already recruited to build both my home—to be constructed on land adjacent to the palace—and the massive storage facilities they would need to store up dried grain. Lateef was here to ask my preferences on the architecture and building materials for my home. Would I like essentially a miniature palace? Would I like a pool indoors and open to the sky, for bathing and recreation? Would I like my bedroom to face east or west? Did I prefer mosaics or simpler flooring and walls? All the questions made my head spin. I had been merely a servant in Potiphar’s house, and now my own home would be many times as grand as his. I weakly indicated that I trusted the master architects’ tastes and would be extremely gratified by whatever they chose. Lateef gave a short nod to this. Then he announced, “Pharaoh also hopes that my lord will be pleased to take Asenath to wife: she is the daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On.” I had heard about the Egyptian god On, of course; he was one of many Egyptian gods. I had a brief flash of concern that my wife would worship another god, but then I realized, what alternative did I have? The same would be true of any woman in Egypt. At least they were polytheists, and therefore would not object to my worship of the one true God. And, given the new name Pharaoh had bestowed upon me of God Speaks and He Lives, the same appeared to be true of Egyptians in general. “I would be most honored,” I told Lateef. He beamed. “Splendid. We shall arrange the wedding to coincide with the completion of your house, so that you may have a home for your bride.” Pharaoh recruited so many workers to construct my home and storage facility that both were completed within a few months. During that time, I met and courted Asenath, and was dazzled by her. Pharaoh had clearly selected her for me not only because of her pedigree, but also for her own merits. Beautiful, accomplished, and demure, she was one of the most highly sought women in the land. I was pleased to find that she was also very intelligent when I gave her the opportunity to engage with me on matters of state, and at least did not object to my worship of the Lord. I would hope for more than mere acquiescence to Him in time. I otherwise spent my days touring the land of Egypt, observing the abundance of the land, collecting and drying, pickling, salting, smoking, or fermenting one fifth of the produce of the land. Until my granaries were completed, I stored what I could, where I could, but I had designated store houses before long. One day on these tours, I caught sight of my old master, Potiphar. He saw me too. After a moment’s hesitation, he bowed, his expression like stone. I approached him alone, motioning for some of my servants who usually moved with me to remain behind. I did not know what I would say until we stood face to face. “Zapthnath-Paaneah,” Potiphar growled my new name pointedly. “Tell me, does Pharaoh know your true identity, Joseph the adulterous Hebrew slave-turned-prisoner?” I searched Potiphar’s face. “I believe you know, deep down, that I never betrayed you, and never would have done. As I told you at the time, it was your wife who attempted to seduce me, and left me no choice but to run. She accused me because I jilted her.” I watched as Potiphar’s face turned red with suppressed rage, and he balled his fists at his sides. But as I was now second in command over Egypt, he would not dare assault me. “Your own heart tells you this is true,” I went on, “in fact, you suspected her of infidelity long before I came to your house, I believe. I advise you to stop misdirecting your anger and confront her. In the meantime, whether you come to see this or not, I forgive you for what you did to me.” His mouth fell open, and he gave a short, affronted laugh. “You… forgive me?” “Yes,” I nodded, “because there is nothing you, or even Edrice, could ever do to me that the Lord would not ultimately use for my good. And whatever you think of my forgiveness now, when you finally admit the truth to yourself, you will be glad of it.” Before he had a chance to reply, I turned around and returned to my chariot, without looking back. Once my home was completed, Asenath and I married, and her father Poti-Pherah presided over the ceremony. The whole of Egypt was invited to participate in the feast, during those years of great abundance. I was grateful once again that my experience with Asenath was not tainted by guilty flashbacks to a sordid experience with Edrice. Years passed, and the sharp tang of painful memories faded in light of my newfound blessings and abundance. Asenath bore me two sons in those plentiful years, Manasseh and Ephraim. Toward the end of the seven years of plenty, very occasional moments of doubt plagued me. What if the time of plenty continued, when I had achieved my position only because I had predicted seven years of famine? All of Egypt, and Pharaoh himself, would call me a false prophet… But I stopped those thoughts before I could fret more than a few moments about them. It wasn’t, of course, that I wanted draught and famine—but the Lord had shown me that it would occur for a reason. He had never misled me before. Pharaoh had two dreams, each depicting the same thing. It was not in doubt. The first few months of the eighth year indeed produced an abrupt change. By the third month of that year, the people began to cry out to Pharaoh for food, and Pharaoh sent them to me. I had previously been busy in a leisurely sort of way; now I found myself called upon day and night by citizens desperate to feed their families. Within a few months, it was not just Egyptians who came to see me; word had spread far and wide that there was food in Egypt, and many surrounding nations came to purchase it. Then one day, I sat on a grand elevated chair at the top of a dais outside the central granary, and scanned the line of supplicants waiting to speak to me after I had dismissed the last one laden with purchased grain. My eyes fell upon a group of ten men dressed in Hebrew tunics, and I caught my breath. I steeled my expression so as not to give anything away, standing as they approached. I could tell that they did not recognize me. A lump rose in my throat as they bowed before me, the granary of wheat behind me. I had a flash of my first dream: eleven sheaves of wheat bowing to mine. Here it was. The fulfillment, over twenty years later. Almost… there were only ten of them. Where was Benjamin? I prayed silently, and with a flash of insight I knew that now was not the moment to reveal myself. I forgave them long ago, but had they changed? Or were they still the same evil men who had first plotted to kill their brother, and then sold him into slavery? I wanted to know. I needed them to volunteer information about themselves, and I could think of only one way to do this: put them on the defense. So I pretended not to recognize them either, or to understand their language. I spoke to them through the interpreter at my side, asking in Egyptian, “Where do you come from?” My brother Reuben, always their spokesperson, stepped forward and answered in Hebrew, “From the land of Canaan. We have come to buy food.” I narrowed my eyes at them. “You are spies!” I pronounced, “You’ve come to look for Egypt’s weaknesses.” I could feel the strange look from my interpreter as he translated my message, but I ignored him, watching my brothers’ responses. Issachar spoke up next. “We’ve only come to buy food. We’re all the sons of the same man; we’re honest men; we’d never think of spying.” I snarled, “No. You’re spies. You’ve come to look for our weaknesses!” I watched them all exchange helpless looks with one another. Then Reuben spoke up again. “There were twelve of us brothers—sons of the same father in the country of Canaan. The youngest is with our father, and one is no more.” I swallowed this reference to myself without flinching. So they’d told others I was dead after all. I said, “It’s just as I said, you’re spies. This is how I’ll test you. As Pharaoh lives, you’re not going to leave this place until your youngest brother comes here. Send one of you to get your brother while the rest of you stay here in jail. We’ll see if you’re telling the truth or not. As Pharaoh lives, I say you’re spies.” Their eyes widened, and I gestured to several of my guards to surround them, as they all loudly protested and struggled. It didn’t matter; ten though they were, they were no match for Egyptian guards. “Take them to the dungeon overseen by Shakir,” I said with a wave of my hand, and did not look back, attending to the next in line. I knew that Shakir would treat them kindly, even without knowing who they were to me. He could not do otherwise. But I wanted them desperate enough to do as I asked. I also admit, I wanted them to feel just the tiniest bit of what they had done to me—not to get even (three days could never do that), but to spark a bit of empathy when they finally learned the truth. After all, they did not know what kind of a man I was, or what I might do to them next. They were at my mercy, just as I had been at the mercy of Potiphar and Shakir. I slept very little those three days. It took all the will I had not to run to the prison each day and reveal myself. At last on the third day I went with my Hebrew translator, pausing at the threshold in a strange moment of deja vu—it was the first time I had set foot in the dungeon since Pharaoh had summoned me, now nine years ago. I had seen Shakir in those years, but only in my official capacity as a supplier of grain to the prison, and at my wedding. Shakir saw me first, and bowed low. “My lord Zaphnath-Paaneah,” he said, with just the tiniest smirk in his voice. I gestured to my translator, “Go on inside, I shall meet you there.” Then I pulled Shakir outside and closed the door behind him, so that none of the prisoners could hear us. He beamed and I embraced him. “It’s good to see you, Shakir.” “Joseph!” he whispered, and then reproached me, “You never come to see us anymore!” “I’ve been busy,” I confessed with a shrug and a smile. “But I’ve missed you.” “Sure, sure you have…” “How are the men I sent to you three days ago?” He shrugged. “About like all new prisoners. Angry, terrified. I put them all in one cell. They’ve come to blows with each other a few times.” I sighed, running a hand across my face. “Listen, are there still any prisoners in there who might remember me and call me by name?” “A few. Amon and Gamal. And Horos too. Why?” he regarded me curiously. “I can’t explain right now, but I don’t want the new prisoners to know my Hebrew name. Can you go in and tell Amon, Gamal, and Horos to act like they’ve never met me before?” A spark of understanding lit Shakir’s face as he put it together. “Those men are Hebrew too… you knew them, didn’t you?” Then his eyes widened. “They’re not…” he let the question trail off, and gasped as I nodded. “They are. But tell no one.” Shakir cackled, and clapped his hands together in his mirth. “They’re the brothers who sold you! Oh, this is rich… are you going to have them executed, then?” “No!” I said at once. “I’m just trying to get them to apologize!” His glee melted into confusion. “Apologize?” he said, like he’d never heard the word before. “For ten years as a slave and three as a prisoner… you want them to… apologize.” “Yes!” I hissed. “And I want them to bring my other brother, the only one who didn’t betray me. And to tell me what’s become of my father. Will you help me?” Shakir blinked at me, and shook his head. “I guess… if that’s really all you want. I’d hang them if were you, but it’s your call, of course.” He went back inside to tell the three remaining prisoners to pretend I was a stranger, and then poked his head back outside and whispered, “All right, all clear.” I met the eyes of the other prisoners, all of whom bowed and murmured my Egyptian name. I flashed a smile at Amon, Gamal, and Horos, but I needn’t have worried: they all gazed at me with disbelief and reverence, either awed by my current position even though they knew me, or else they were much better actors than I’d expected. I approached the cell Shakir led me to, though I’d have known the one anyway: it was the only cell large enough for ten men. They looked haggard, sleepless, and a few of them seemed listless. The translator waited for me and came to my side. When my brothers saw me approach, half of them jumped to their feet, and alerted the other half with swift nudges and kicks to do the same. I gave them a curt nod. “Do this and you’ll live,” I said abruptly. “I’m a God-fearing man. If you’re as honest as you say you are, one of your brothers will stay here in jail while the rest of you take the food back to your hungry families. Bring your youngest brother back to me, confirming the truth of your speech, and not one of you will die.” The translator repeated my words in Hebrew, and the brothers turned and whispered to one another, also in Hebrew, unaware that I understood them. “Now we’re paying for what we did to our brother—we saw how terrified he was when he was begging us for mercy,” hissed Dan. “We wouldn’t listen to him and now we’re the ones in trouble.” “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t hurt the boy’?” Reuben cut in. “But no, you wouldn’t listen. And now we’re paying for his murder.” A lump sprang to my throat, and I turned abruptly away, beating a path to the office-cell that was once my own just in time to hide my tears. I buried my face in my hands and wept. They truly believed I was dead! Perhaps they thought I had died in the slave caravan, or that my master had beaten me to death. Such a thing was far from unheard of. At least I knew one thing: their consciences still smote them for what they had done. Was that enough? Should I reveal myself now? Not yet, I thought, with a flash of my second dream. In it, the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed to me. That would have to represent Benjamin, my father, and my stepmother, in addition to the ten brothers who were here already. This could not yet be the end of the story. When I had composed myself again, I returned, assuming the character once again of their Egyptian overlord. “Well? Have you chosen who will remain behind, while the rest of you return and bring your youngest brother?” Reuben began to step forward, but Simeon placed a hand on his shoulder, and stepped forward in his place. “I shall stay,” he offered. “Let my brothers return to Canaan.” I gave a quick nod, and Shakir opened the cell, and handed me a length of rope. I made a show of binding Simeon’s wrists together, and gestured for the other nine to leave the cell. Many of them did not even cast Simeon a backward glance, I noted, and frowned inwardly. Maybe they weren’t yet so different as I had hoped. I would have to prod them to repentance a little harder. I sent word on ahead to the granary to fill the sacks of the nine Hebrew brothers with grain, and to likewise place the money they had brought to pay for it back with each brother’s sack, along with provisions for the several week journey back to the land of Canaan—but I told the servants strictly to make sure they did not tell the brothers that their money had been returned to them. I knew this order would raise eyebrows also, but no one but Pharaoh himself could contradict my orders, and he did not bother himself about such matters. Nearly six months I waited. I knew there would be some delay, as I had sent my brothers with grain to last about that long. I did not dare visit Simeon in the prison during those months, though I sent word to Shakir on a regular basis to ask how he fared. Toward the end of those months, though, I began to look for my brothers in my grain line every day. Then, one day, I saw them—with Benjamin! I caught my breath as I saw my brother’s face as a grown man for the first time. He was young of course, and while the other nine looked fidgety and nervous, I could only describe Benjamin’s expression as excited. He gazed around Egypt in wide-eyed wonder, and his expression reminded me forcefully of Ephraim’s, my youngest, as he discovered the world for the first time. I could hardly wait to introduce Manasseh and Ephraim to their uncle. Before they could reach the front of the line, I beckoned one of my servants to my side and pointed them out. “Take these men into my house and make them at home. Butcher an animal and prepare a meal; these men are going to eat with me at noon.” The servant gave a swift nod and made his way down the dais to where my brothers waited their turn. I smothered a laugh as I watched Reuben and Issachar startle upon being addressed. I hardly attended to the man and his wife who were speaking to me; most of my attention was focused upon my brothers’ anxious expressions as the servant led them away. I suspected what they must be thinking: this was a set up. I thought they’d stolen the money they had brought to pay for grain the first time, and I was trying to lull them into complacency, before accusing them of theft and taking them all as slaves. Asenath would know who they were of course—I’d told her six months ago, and she’d listened to me agonize nightly over when I would at last see them again. She wouldn't know they were coming to dine today, but when she saw the strange Hebrew men and noted their number, she’d figure it out. I knew I could count on her to maintain the charade as long as I chose. I finished with the couple before me, and beckoned another servant over, gesturing with my eyes in the direction of my brothers. “Send word to my steward,” I murmured, “and if those men say anything about finding their money in their sacks the last time they came, assure them that we received their payment in full, and not to worry themselves. And please also fetch their brother from the prison and bring him to them as well.” My servant bowed and did as I bid him. I paid little attention to the rest of the queue until noon, only half listening to their stories and pleas, sometimes accidentally cutting them off as I signaled for the servants to bring them grain. At last, word came that the feast had been prepared, and I leapt to my feet in relief, hurrying toward my home, where I knew my brothers waited. I entered through the back, and Asenath met me with a quizzical look on her face, dandling Ephraim on her hip. I gave her a quick kiss, and nodded, in response to all the questions on her face. Before she could ask me anything else, I washed my hands and feet, and made my way into the main dining space where my brothers stood waiting awkwardly. When I entered, as one, they all bowed to me, each man offering the present of coins he had brought back with him. Once again, I saw the stars from my second dream—all eleven of them this time. I took a moment to steady myself as my brothers straightened again. Then I cleared my throat. “Are you all still well since last we met?” They all assented that they were, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. “How is your father, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” Reuben spoke for them. “Yes—your servant our father is quite well, very much alive.” He initiated a second bow, and the rest of them followed suit. When they straightened again, at last I looked at the youngest of them. “And is this your youngest brother that you told me about?” Benjamin lifted his chin to me, and my voice came out thick. “God be gracious to you, my son.” All I wanted to do was to embrace my only full-blooded brother, but of course I could not do this without revealing myself. So instead, I turned abruptly and left the room. I was sure this confused my brothers, but I barely made it into my sleeping chamber as it was before I broke down and cried. I remained there until I managed to compose myself, probably ten minutes or so. Then I splashed my face with water to hide the evidence of my tears, made my expression as impassive as I could, and returned to the dining room. I felt my brothers’ curious stares, but I could offer no explanation. I glanced at Asenath, whose smile was fixed in place, and announced to the servants, “Serve the meal, please.” The servants began to do so, setting places for each of our guests as well as for myself and for the Egyptians in my service. I pulled one of them aside and whispered that the last place should receive a serving five times larger than that of anyone else. If he wondered at this, he did not show it, but nodded once. As the servants set the places, I directed each of my brothers to their places, beginning with Reuben at the head of the table, and then I seated my brothers in descending order of age, setting Benjamin in the last place with the largest serving. I watched them glancing at one another in astonishment at what they took to be a remarkable coincidence, and smiled inwardly. I intended to give them a hint, hoping they might start to piece together the truth on their own. The wine flowed, acting as the social lubricant we all needed. Even Simeon, after his long imprisonment, luxurious though I knew it was by prison standards, loosened up and began to tell stories from back home of the years I had missed. I caught Benjamin sneaking curious glances at me more than once. Did he recognize me at all, I wondered? Did he notice that we both had our mother’s eyes, and her cheekbones? When the meal ended, my brothers were in no condition to begin their journey home. I urged them to remain the rest of the day and set out in the morning. That night, I sought my steward. “Fill the men’s bags with food—all they can carry—and replace each one’s money at the top of the bag,” I told him. “Then put my chalice, my silver chalice, in the top of the bag of the youngest, along with the money for his food.” I caught the steward’s confused look, but he did not question me. He did as I requested. When morning dawned, I purposely lingered in bed, though I hardly slept that night. I heard the shuffling in the house of my brothers rising to begin their journeys. I waited until the house was silent, and then waited a little longer still. Asenath was awake beside me, too—she propped her head up on her hand, narrowed her pretty dark eyes at me, and demanded, “How long are you going to let this go on before you tell them?” I met her gaze, and shook my head. “As long as it takes, I suppose.” “To achieve what, precisely?” she challenged. “They can’t apologize to you without knowing who you are. You already overheard them lamenting what they did to you. You saw your brother Benjamin. What else are you waiting for?” I bit my lip. “I just want to know that they’ve changed.” “How do you plan to determine that?” The corners of my mouth curled. “Watch.” I rose, and called my steward in to our chamber as Asenath wrapped herself in silks. My steward appeared at the doorway and bowed. “Run after the men who just left,” I told him. “When you catch up with them, say, ‘Why did you pay me back evil for good? You stole the chalice my master drinks from; he also uses it for divination. This is outrageous!’” I again caught the fleeting look of confusion on the steward’s face, but he bowed again, and turned to carry out my orders. I turned back to Asenath with a grin on my face. “So you’re just torturing them a little more, is that it?” My grin faded. “No,” I protested, a little hurt that she would so misconstrue my motives. “Don’t you see? If my father is still alive, the only reason he would have kept Benjamin at home the first time my brothers made their journey must be because he favors him the way he once favored me. That was why my brothers hated me: they were jealous. Twenty years ago, if I were framed and endangered, my brothers would have abandoned me to the mercy of the Egyptian overlord and saved their own skins in a heartbeat—obviously. They did even worse than that. Now I’ve recreated a similar situation: Benjamin is suddenly the one in peril. Will they abandon him to his fate, too?” Asenath searched my face. “What if they do?” she asked quietly. “What will you do then?” I sighed. “Never trust them again, certainly. But I haven’t thought that far. I’m still hopeful they will prove to me that they are not the men they were.” I splashed my face, dressed, and waited until I heard the commotion outside indicating that my steward had returned with my brothers. I affixed my face with my most stern, imperious look, and went out to meet them. They all came back, that was something. Also, I noted the torn clothing, the haggard expressions, as they fell prostrate before me. “How can you have done this?” I demanded of them. “You have to know that a man in my position would have discovered this.” My brother Judah spoke first. “What can we say, master? What is there to say? How can we prove our innocence? God is behind this, exposing how bad we are. We stand guilty before you and ready to be your slaves—we’re all in this together, the rest of us as guilty as the one with the chalice.” I kept my expression impassive, but inwardly my heart leapt. They were all willing to take the fall together—was that not evidence of changed hearts? But I decided to push it further, just to be sure. “No, only the one involved with the chalice will be my slave,” I declared. “The rest of you are free to go back to your father.” My brothers all exchanged another anguished look, and Judah ventured for all of them, “Please, master; can I say just one thing to you? Don’t get angry. Don’t think I’m presumptuous—you’re the same as Pharaoh as far as I’m concerned. You, master, asked us, ‘Do you have a father and a brother?’ And we answered honestly, ‘We have a father who is old and a younger brother who was born to him in his old age. His brother is dead and he is the only son left from that mother. And his father loves him more than anything.’ Then you told us, ‘Bring him down here so I can see him.’ We told you, master, that it was impossible: ‘The boy can’t leave his father; if he leaves, his father will die.’ And then you said, ‘If your youngest brother doesn’t come with you, you won’t be allowed to see me.’ When we returned to our father, we told him everything you said to us. So when our father said, ‘Go back and buy some more food,’ we told him flatly, ‘We can’t. The only way we can go back is if our youngest brother is with us. We aren’t allowed to even see the man if our youngest brother doesn’t come with us.’ Your servant, my father, told us, ‘You know very well that my wife gave me two sons. One turned up missing. I concluded that he’d been ripped to pieces. I’ve never seen him since. If you now go and take this one and something bad happens to him, you’ll put my old gray, grieving head in the grave.’” My heart dropped to my stomach. This was the first time I had heard what my father believed had happened to me. Of course—I knew they believed that I had died, but they told him I had been devoured by wild animals all those years ago! My poor father… Judah went on, “And now, if I show up before your servant, my father, without the boy, this son with whom his life is so bound up, the moment he realizes the boy is gone, he’ll die on the spot. He’ll die of grief and we, your servants who are standing here before you, will have killed him. And that’s not all. I got my father to release the boy to show him to you by promising, ‘If I don’t bring him back, I’ll stand condemned before you, Father, all my life.’ So let me stay here as your slave, not this boy. Let the boy go back with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? Oh, don’t make me go back and watch my father die in grief!” As Judah spoke, my heart swelled as if it might burst out of my chest, until at last I could stand it no more. I turned to my steward and all the curious attending servants, and shouted, “Leave! Clear out—everyone leave!” They scurried to do as I asked, and even Asenath gave me a significant look before she too left the room. My brothers looked stunned and terrified; Judah still groveled at my feet. “I am Joseph!” I burst out at last, dropping to my knees where Judah lay. “Your brother, Joseph! Is my father really still alive?” I didn’t know what I expected at this pronouncement, but my words were met with utter silence. No one so much as moved. I remained on my knees, and said, “Come closer to me, please.” It took a moment for them to obey, but at last they shuffled forward. I presented my face for their inspection, insisting, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. There has been a famine in the land now for two years; the famine will continue for five more years. God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives. So you see, it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God. He set me in place as a father to Pharaoh, put me in charge of his personal affairs, and made me ruler of all Egypt. Hurry back to my father! Tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says: I’m master of all of Egypt. Come as fast as you can and join me here. I’ll give you a place to live in Goshen where you’ll be close to me—you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and anything else you can think of. I’ll take care of you there completely. There are still five more years of famine ahead; I’ll make sure all your needs are taken care of, you and everyone connected with you—you won’t want for a thing.’” I could tell they were beginning to believe, and pressed them, “Look at me. You can see for yourselves, and my brother Benjamin can see for himself, that it’s me, my own mouth, telling you all this. Tell my father all about the high position I hold in Egypt, tell him everything you’ve seen here.” Benjamin’s eyes widened at last, with a look of recognition on his face. “Joseph?” he whispered, and for a flash, I saw the little boy of nine I remembered from all those years ago. He reached out a tentative hand toward my face, and that was all the incentive I needed. I reached out and embraced him, and he me, our tears intermingling as they flowed down both our cheeks. I held Benjamin this way a long time, but them I embraced all of my other brothers as well. For the rest of that day, I delegated grain distribution to other servants so that I could spend time with my brothers, at last with no secrets between us. Word reached Pharaoh that my brothers had come to Egypt. I had never told Pharaoh the story of how I had come to be in Egypt, so he held no animosity on my behalf, but was pleased for me. He summoned me to the throne room, and when I appeared and bowed before him, he told me, “Tell your brothers, ‘Load up your pack animals; go to Canaan, get your father and your families and bring them back here. I’ll settle you on the best land in Egypt—you’ll live off the fat of the land.’ Also tell them this: ‘Here’s what I want you to do: Take wagons from Egypt to carry your little ones and your wives and load up your father and come back. Don’t worry about having to leave things behind; the best in all of Egypt will be yours.’” I grinned at Pharaoh and thanked him profusely for his kindness to my kin, and hurried back to my brothers. I helped them gather provisions for their journey, including a new tunic for each of them, but five for Benjamin, as well as three hundred pieces of silver. Then I loaded up ten additional donkeys with spices and silks, and ten more with grain, bread, and food for their return trip to Egypt. The complete fulfillment of my second dream did not occur until a little over a month later. My brothers went to Canaan and returned in a large caravan with their families, their belongings—and my father. I had imagined that moment so many times. In my mind, each year I aged my father a little more, and so though he looked so much older that I hardly recognized him from my memories, his appearance did not surprise me. I was just so grateful that he was still alive, and that I got to embrace him once more. I held him and he held me, and we wept together for some time. At last he pulled back to gaze at me, taking my face in both of his hands. “I am ready to die a happy man,” he whispered, “since I have seen your face. You are still alive!” “I am,” I agreed, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “As are you.” I touched my forehead to his, and breathed a contented sigh. At long, long last, I understood. What my brothers meant for evil, God used for not only my ultimate blessing, but also to bring about fulfillment of His covenant to our father Abraham—despite the circumstances which otherwise might have destroyed us. It would have been nice if You’d told me all that while I was still a slave and a prisoner, I reproached the Lord. But then, hadn’t He? Why else would He have given me those dreams so many years ago? He had shown me the end from the beginning. He had shown me this moment all those years ago, and in doing so, it had served as both as the incident that occasioned my long and circuitous journey, and also as the encouragement I needed to cling to hope along the way. I’d imagine the most difficult time in Joseph’s entire journey came after the baker’s execution, and the butler’s return to the right hand of Pharaoh. Joseph expected the butler to say something on his behalf (Genesis 40:14), which leads me to believe that Joseph hoped this would be the moment of deliverance. But the butler forgot Joseph for two more years (Genesis 40:23, 41:1). Hope deferred makes the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12), and this was the first time we have a clear indication that Joseph expected his circumstances to eminently change. It’s one thing to remain faithful while expecting deliverance sometime in the unspecified future; it’s another to expect it every moment, and to suffer continual disappointment. Many would have given up at this point. We’re not told how Joseph dealt with such a blow. Yet God is not a man that He should change His mind (1 Samuel 15:29). He had given Joseph two dreams, not one—and Joseph himself later told Pharaoh that “the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass” (Genesis 41:32). Joseph must have known that this principle applied to himself also. When the reversal finally came, it was very sudden, and it did indeed come from the butler, though much later than Joseph had expected. One day Pharaoh simply sent for Joseph. He paused long enough to make himself presentable (Genesis 41:14), and then, within the space of mere hours, he went from the dungeon to the palace. In a few hours more, he was suddenly second in command of all of Egypt! This must have made his head spin—Pharaoh did not even know Joseph, yet he immediately placed him in a position of power second only to himself. What incredible favor (Psalm 5:12)! At this point Joseph was set up to see the fulfillment of his dreams, but it had not yet come to pass. I imagine by this point he had an idea of how it would look, as he gathered and stored grain, and then a few years into the famine, he began to distribute grain to those who came from surrounding nations. It makes sense that Joseph’s brothers would not have recognized him after all this time: for one thing, he was seventeen when they had sold him, and he would have been about thirty-nine when they saw him again. He would have changed quite a bit. For another, he was way out of context—they certainly would not have expected to find him a ruler of Egypt. He also certainly would have spoken Egyptian like a native. They, on the other hand, would not have changed nearly as much as he had, as they were all fully grown men when they had sold him. They were also all together, dressed in their usual attire, and exactly where he would have expected to see them. Joseph had all the advantages. If Joseph truly forgave them for their treachery, why didn’t he just reveal his identity to them at once, rather than putting them through such trials beforehand? I suspect there were several reasons. First, when ten brothers appeared before him, he knew this was not yet the fulfillment of his first dream, which had shown all eleven brothers bowing down. Benjamin was still at home. He also longed to see his only full-blooded brother, and the only one who had not been part of the plot against him. In his second dream, the sun and moon also bowed to Joseph, which he had interpreted as his father and mother. Rachel had died before Joseph was ever sold, though, so this must have been Leah, his father’s other wife. Still, when Joseph saw his brothers alone, even once they brought Benjamin, it still was not the complete fulfillment. He’d waited long enough, and he wanted the whole thing. But I suspect there was another reason too. While our forgiveness cannot be contingent upon the other person’s repentance, of course Joseph longed to know that they did repent; otherwise there could have been no true restoration of relationship. They would have bowed to him in fear, had he revealed himself to them at once, but Joseph did not want his brothers to fear him (Genesis 50:19); he wanted his family back. I wonder if he also hoped they might guess his identity on their own, when he returned their money to them (Genesis 43:23), and then when he seated them in their birth order, and also ate with them when Egyptians considered it an abomination to eat with Hebrews (Genesis 43:32-34). It also should have been a clue when Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as the rest of the brothers’ at mealtime. Meanwhile, he learned, as he tested them, that they regretted what they had done to him (Genesis 42:21-24), and that they had learned their lesson when they refused to treat his brother Benjamin as they had treated him (Genesis 44:13-34). This was apparently what he waited to learn, as he revealed himself immediately afterwards. How must it have gone when the brothers had to tell Israel their father that Joseph, whom they had told him died at the hands of a wild animal all those years before, was in fact alive and ruling Egypt? He did not believe them at first (Genesis 45:26). How could they explain without admitting to what they had done? Even when the brothers accepted Joseph’s identity and his provision for them and their families, they still thought that he secretly longed for revenge and it was only their father that prevented him from harming them (Genesis 50:15-17). I love what Joseph says to them: “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). Thousands of years later, Paul would say it this way: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, and to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). God certainly did not cause Joseph’s brothers’ hatred. He did not make them sell Joseph into slavery. He did not make Potiphar’s wife falsely accuse Joseph. But He used the free will choices of evil people in order to bring about His good purposes—not just for Joseph, not even just for Joseph’s family and the budding nation of Israel, but for all of the surrounding nations as well. Joseph understood how all of this fit into the larger context of God’s covenant with Abraham’s descendants. God had told Abraham, “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years, And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions… But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Genesis 15:13-16). Joseph knew the Israelites would one day return to the land of Canaan, and in fact he made their children swear that they would carry his bones with them when they went (Genesis 50:25). With all of Joseph’s faithfulness through the trials of his life, it was this statement that earned him mention in the “faith hall of fame” (Hebrews 11:22). Joseph understood God’s covenant with His people. He knew that just as God had fulfilled His promises to himself, He would certainly do the same for the nation of Israel.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: Health Benefits of Quercetin.

View Details

Today's podcast is a meditation on the letters to the seven churches of Revelation 2-3

View Details

Justin Frandson is an Athleticism Performance Coach that has worked with amateur and professional athletes for over the past two decades. He saw his athlete breaking down from the excessive levels of EMF from their SMART watches, wireless earbuds, and electric cars. He has tested hundreds of homes and clients. He sells the Grounding and Faraday Bags at doctor clinics throughout the country. The Grounding Bags are hand-mined crystals with moisture and magnetic properties to ground and repel EMF, all for a deeper night's sleep. This is Mother Nature's way of protecting us from the excess rollout of man-made radiation, not a man-made device attempting to keep up with the other man-made levels.

To learn more about Justin, see athleticism.com or EMFRocks.com

View Details

Today's podcast is a meditation and retelling of 1 Samuel 8-10. Introduction How disappointing for God. He had chosen this nation, and had a special relationship with them, promising nothing but blessings galore (Deuteronomy 28), if only they would obey Him. He always intended to lead them personally, through one judge as His liaison. He knew they wouldn’t be faithful to Him, but I doubt that made it any less heartbreaking when time and time again, the people abandoned Him and worshipped false gods. He was covenant-bound to withdraw from them when this happened, leaving them open to the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy. When they’d had enough finally, the people would cry out and God would send the deliverer who was to be their next judge—whoever was the best option He had at the time. Samuel had been one of the good judges, and perhaps it wouldn’t have ended as it did if his sons had been like him. It is strange that Samuel thought his sons would succeed him though, since God’s judges were never meant to be a dynasty. Presumably Samuel also knew of his son’s shortcomings. It’s very clear in this story that God didn’t think a king was a good idea, and took it as a personal rejection (Hosea 13:11). Yet He granted what the people wanted anyway. It’s interesting how often in Old Testament stories God gives the people what they demand, even though He knows it isn’t for the best. God chose to make creatures with free will, and because of it, God rarely gets His first choice. I’m thinking of the story of Balaam: God told him not to go with Balak’s messengers the first two times he asked. Balaam should have left it at that, instead of pressing God to give in! But, Balaam wanted financial gain, just as the Israelites wanted to govern themselves rather than having to rely on God. Moses also permitted divorce, even though Jesus said that wasn’t God’s first choice either (Matthew 19:8). God gave the people what they asked for, consequences and all. At the same time, I have to wonder whether the Israelites’ desire for a king was somehow premature. Saul reigned for forty years, Acts 13:21, and David began to rule when he was thirty years old, just after Saul’s death, 2 Samuel 5:4. That means David wasn’t even born until the tenth year of Saul’s reign, though God began to look for a “man after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14) in the second year of Saul’s reign. Saul’s beginning was certainly less than illustrious, and we can see seeds of the cause of his downfall, insecurity and fear of man, from the very beginning. It almost seems like Saul was just a placeholder, until David was old enough to be anointed and trained up in the “school of hard knocks,” as it were, to become ready for the throne. That said, it’s interesting how God used natural circumstances (Saul’s father lost his donkeys and had sent him and a servant to look for them) to bring Saul and Samuel together. Samuel’s prophetic insight to set aside the best cut of meat, expecting Saul to show up the next day, surely primed Saul to accept Samuel’s proclamation that he would become king. God knew that a man like Saul wouldn’t just believe such a word; he would need to be convinced. Then Samuel gave him a number of other confirmatory events to look for in the subsequent seven days, so that he would be ready for the big “reveal” of the man God had anointed a week later. Unfortunately, Samuel’s presentation fell flat when their new king was literally hiding among the baggage. Presumably his absurd behavior was why some of the men of Israel despised him. Shortly after this, God used an attack from their enemies as a means to galvanize Israel to fight under Saul’s leadership (1 Samuel 11). Thus Saul redeemed himself, earning a new and better coronation. Yet only a year later, in the second year of Saul’s reign, Saul disobeyed God for the first time, causing God to proclaim through Samuel that God would take the kingdom away from Saul and give it to a “man after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). A decade or so later, after Saul again disobeyed, God formally rejected Saul as king. Saul’s response to this was interesting: he asked Samuel to at least continue to honor him before the people (1 Samuel 15:30), indicating what really mattered to him. He wanted the honor and respect of men, not God (Proverbs 29:25). This was exactly why God chose David instead. Fictionalized Retelling: I couldn’t help wondering, in the quiet of night, whether it was all my fault. The Lord had never told me that the position of judge should be hereditary, nor had it ever been so in Israel’s history. Yet I’d had it in my mind since my sons were born that as soon as they were old enough, they could share my load. I suppose I had this idea because Eli had practically raised me, and the priesthood was hereditary. Eli’s sons had turned out poorly too, though. I don’t know why I thought that would be a good model to follow. Yes, I did know. I had wanted to believe it. I wanted the latter part of my life to be easier than the first part had been, but I also had a romanticized ideal of sharing what mattered most to me with Joel and Abijah. I was so focused on this goal that I failed to see—I refused to see—the men my sons had become, just as Eli had done. The elders of Israel all assembled before me one day and shouted their accusations from all directions. “Look, you’re an old man, and your sons aren’t following in your footsteps!” one called. Old? I winced inwardly. I was barely sixty—but I was certainly tired, after forty-eight years of ministry. I felt old. “They cheat us!” another of the elders cried. “They’ll rule in favor of whoever bribes them the most!” These words struck me like a blow. I’d seen this tendency in my sons from their youths. I didn’t think either of them had ever heard from the Lord. Secretly I had worried that they did not truly fear Him, but I’d hidden those fears even from myself. Now, here was the proof. “Appoint a king to rule us, just like every other nation!” I cannot vouch for my expression when I heard this demand. I was not a man given to tears, but after all I had done for them—after devoting forty-eight years to judging these people, delivering them from the Philistines and bringing them back to true worship of the Lord, they had rejected me. Their words felt like a personal betrayal. “I will bring your request before the Lord,” was all I could manage before I retreated from them, slamming the door to my home in their faces. I’d continued in prayer from then until now, on my knees in the temple before the Lord. It was now past midnight, but the Lord never spoke according to my timeline. “Go ahead and do what they’re asking,” came the Lord’s whisper at last. “They are not rejecting you. They are rejecting Me as their King.” I swallowed, somehow both saddened and soothed to hear that the Lord felt exactly as I did. “From the day I brought them out of Egypt until this very day they’ve been behaving like this, leaving Me for other gods. And now they’re doing it to you.” I nodded. “I know they have, Lord,” I murmured, “they are a stubborn people. I don’t know what they think a king is going to do for them that a judge won’t do.” But as soon as I’d said this, I realized I did know. The judge acted in the position of Moses, constantly returning for the Lord’s direction before every decision, both militarily and in government. The king would not be in such communion. He would do as he thought best, without need to consult the Lord. He would be dependent upon human wisdom, though—and because of this, he would probably be even more prone to corruption than my sons were. “Let them have their own way,” the Lord said. “But warn them of what they’re in for. Tell them what they’re likely to get from a king.” I knew enough of how kings of neighboring nations behaved to be able to guess what He meant, but He gave me a vision of it anyway. When the Lord’s vision finished, I rose, feeling desolate. I wasn’t entirely sure if I was now sharing in the Lord’s own heartbreak, or because my own vision for the latter part of my life had been destroyed, or because I had been forced to confront my sons’ corruption. I splashed water on my face and went to my own home, walking the dark, empty streets illuminated only by moonlight. I always imagined that the Lord Himself walked beside me on these moonlit strolls. Tonight, I needed the company. The next morning I sent for Joel and Abijah. I told them first what the people had said, so that they could get their own initial outrage out of the way before they encountered the news publicly. It went precisely as I had imagined it would. Joel sulked and turned stony and silent. Abijah threw a fit, shouting, throwing, and breaking things. “What are we supposed to do now, then?” he demanded. “You raised us to be Israel’s judges!” “That was my own fault,” I sighed heavily. “You both have other skills—Joel, you have some knowledge as a farmer, and Abijah, you can work for your brother—” “Work for my brother?” Abijah ranted, “it’s his fault the elders of Israel rejected us! He’s the cheater!” Joel leapt to his feet, and the boys almost came to blows in a pattern they had repeated hundreds of times since they were children. I always inserted myself between them to force them apart, if I was present at the time. If not, someone got bloody. I played my role again now, but felt too tired to engage with their accusations. “The elders will assemble to hear the word of the Lord in one hour,” I told them. “It would be seemly if you were both present and in one piece. If you are not… well. That will be your choice.” Then I turned and walked away, ignoring their shouts and protests. My sons did not appear with the elders in front of the temple an hour later, to my sorrow but not to my surprise. To do so would have required a measure of humility I knew they did not possess. If they had, we might not be in this situation in the first place. “This is the way the kind of king you desire would operate,” I called out to the people in warning once they quieted down. “He’ll take your sons and make soldiers of them—cavalry, infantry, regimented in battalions and squadrons. He’ll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury. He’ll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. He’ll conscript your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends. He’ll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize workers and best animals he’ll take for his own use. He’ll lay a tax on your flocks and you’ll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don’t expect God to answer.” The elders in the front row cried out, “We will have a king to rule us!” Another voice rose above the clamor of agreement, adding, “Then we’ll be just like all the other nations. Our king will rule us and lead us and fight our battles!” My heart felt so heavy. Didn’t they know that until now, God had fought their battles for them? Yet they wanted a leader they could see. Do as they say, I heard the Lord whisper to me. Make them a king. I took a deep breath and cried, “The Lord has heard you! Go home, each of you to your own city.” They dispersed slowly, and I stood there on the temple steps until the last of them had gone. Last of all, I wandered away. “Who, Lord?” I asked aloud once I was alone. “What man is there in Israel whom You would trust with such power?” I heard no response that day, nor the next, nor the day after that. This silence, I knew, and the wait, were the very reasons why the people wanted a king in the first place. Hearing from the Lord was unpredictable. His timing was His own. I knew enough of Him to wait in peace, but the elders tended to fret in the silence, wanting to take matters into their own hands. A king would do just that. About a week later, the Lord finally spoke to me. “This time tomorrow, I’m sending a man from the land of Benjamin to meet you. You’re to anoint him as commander over my people Israel. He will free my people from Philistine oppression. I have heard their cries for help.” “Huh,” I replied aloud. “Benjamin?” It was the smallest of the tribes, ever since the concubine incident several generations earlier which had almost wiped them out. I’d have expected the Lord’s anointed to come from any tribe but that one. The next day was a local sacrifice in the land of Zuph, where I lived. Tradition held that I should go and bless the people’s sacrifice to the Lord so that they could eat of it. Since the Lord had told me I would meet His anointed before the sacrifice would occur, I told the people to set aside the best portion of the sacrifice and give it the following day to the one I indicated to them. The day of the sacrifice, I went my way up to the high place, and stopped just as I exited the city. Two men approached: one was clearly a servant, and the other was a sight to behold. He was taller than any man of Israel I had ever seen, powerfully built, and had a head of thick dark hair and a full beard. He practically radiated with health and beauty. He’s the one, the man I told you about, the Lord said to me. He is the man who will reign over my people. Though I had previously been heartbroken when the people asked for a king, I’d gotten used to the idea in the intervening week of silence from the Lord. Now, the moment I beheld this incredible specimen of a man, I felt a throb of pride, almost as if he were my son. The man approached me directly. “Pardon me, but can you tell me where the Seer lives?” “I’m the Seer,” I told him. “Accompany me to the shrine and eat with me. In the morning I’ll tell you all about what’s on your mind, and send you on your way.” Then in a flash of insight, the Lord revealed to me why they were here and what concerned them. “By the way, your lost donkeys—the ones you’ve been hunting for the last three days—have been found, so don’t worry about them. At this moment, Israel’s future is in your hands.” The magnificent man looked thunderstruck. “But I’m only a Benjaminite, from the smallest of Israel’s tribes, and from the most insignificant clan in the tribe at that,” he stammered. I was struck by the strange contrast between his looks and his manner. “Why are you talking to me like this?” I regarded him, but despite the temptation to reveal all now, I obeyed the prompting of the Lord. “I will tell you in the morning,” I reiterated, and let the way to the high place for the feast. When we arrived and found that all the people were already assembled, I gestured for the man, whose name turned out to be Saul, and his servant to take their seats among the people. I noticed how the people stared at him in awe, yet Saul did not seem to notice. Presumably he’d grown used to the stares over a lifetime. I pulled the cook aside and whispered, “Bring the choice cut I pointed out to you, the one I told you to reserve.” The cook looked slightly bemused, but did as I had asked, and brought out the thigh, placing it before Saul. “This meal was kept aside just for you,” I announced to Saul, loudly enough that all who were assembled could hear. “Eat! It was especially prepared for this time and occasion with these guests.” Saul looked terribly embarrassed, but after a feeble protest or two, he eventually did as I had bid him. The rest of us took our portions of the sacrifice from what was left. We all ate and drank merrily before the Lord, and then Saul and his servant returned with me back to my house. I prepared a bed for them in the top of the house cooled by the breeze, and slept little that night myself. At daybreak I called to Saul, “Get up and I’ll send you off.” I offered them breakfast, and walked with them to the outskirts of the city, but then at last told Saul, “Tell your servant to go on ahead of us. You stay with me for a bit. I have a word of God to give you.” After my promise the day before, and also my strange behavior at the feast, Saul had evidently been expecting this. He simply nodded to his servant, who sped up while we hung back. When the servant was far enough ahead that Saul and I were alone, I withdrew from my cloak a flask of anointing oil, and gestured for Saul to kneel before me. He did so, and I poured the oil over his thick black hair until it ran down his beard. He looked astonished, as I took his face in my hands, kissing him on both cheeks. “Do you see what this means?” I proclaimed, “God has anointed you commander over his people. This sign will confirm God’s anointing of you as king over his inheritance: After you leave me today, as you get closer to your home country of Benjamin, you’ll meet two men near Rachel’s Tomb. They’ll say, ‘The donkeys you went to look for are found. Your father has forgotten about the donkeys and is worried about you, wringing his hands—quite beside himself!’ Leaving there, you’ll arrive at the Oak of Tabor. There you’ll meet three men going up to worship God at Bethel. One will be carrying three young goats, another carrying three sacks of bread, and the third a jug of wine. They’ll say, ‘Hello, how are you?’ and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept. Next, you’ll come to Gibeah of God, where there’s a Philistine garrison. As you approach the town, you’ll run into a bunch of prophets coming down from the high place, playing harps and tambourines, flutes and drums. And they’ll be prophesying. Before you know it, the Spirit of God will come on you and you’ll be prophesying right along with them. And you’ll be transformed into a new person! When these confirming signs are accomplished, you’ll know that you’re ready: Whatever job you’re given to do, do it. God is with you! Now, go down to Gilgal and I will follow. I’ll come down and join you in worship by sacrificing burnt offerings and peace offerings. Wait seven days. Then I’ll come and tell you what to do next.” Saul stared at me in mute amazement as I said all of this; I could almost see his brain spinning as he tried to process all that I had said. I gestured for Saul to rise to his feet, which he did as if in a daze. I marveled once again, now that he was right next to me, at what a tower of a man he was. Then I patted him on the back to give him the indication to get going and to catch up with his servant. Seven days later, I called all the people together at Mizpah. I was excited: today was to be the great day of the Lord’s unveiling of the people’s king. My sons, once again, were conspicuously absent—sulking, no doubt—but I did not let this bother me. I wondered if, after the Spirit of the Lord had come upon Saul, I would even recognize him as the timid man I had met on the road. When all the people were assembled, I stood up and spoke to all of them as I had weeks ago spoken to the elders. “This is God’s personal message to you: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt. I delivered you from Egyptian oppression—yes, from all the bullying governments that made your life miserable. And now you want nothing to do with your God, the very God who has a history of getting you out of troubles of all sorts. And now you say, ‘No! We want a king; give us a king!’ Well, if that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get! Present yourselves formally before God, ranked in tribes and families.” I wanted to maximize the impact of this ceremony—not just announce Saul as the king, but to really give the moment the build-up it deserved. When I chose the tribe of Benjamin, I heard the whispers. They were my own reaction, and Saul’s as well. I waited for the whispers to subside, and then announced, “Tribe of Benjamin, now arrange yourselves by families!” They did so, and I frowned—Saul was a head taller than all the men of Israel. I should have been able to spot him easily. Where was he? Yet I felt the Lord lead me to the family of Matri, so I chose them. The men of the family came forward, and I scanned the lot of them, searching for the face I expected. “Saul, son of Kish, is the man!” I cried out, with rather less impact than I had hoped. “But where is he?” I felt the Lord draw my attention to a pile of baggage brought by their tribe, since they had to come from all over Israel for this ceremony. I heard the Lord say to me, he’s right over there—hidden in that pile of baggage. I felt a wave of—dread? embarrassment?—but I walked toward the pile of baggage with my head held high, gesturing for some of Saul’s own family to help me move the bags one by one. I uncovered Saul’s chagrined face, which was bright red, as well it should be. “Get up,” I hissed. “Fortunately for you, not everyone in Israel has a good view of this ridiculousness!” Saul crawled out from under the pile in which he’d been hiding, and brushed himself off. I pulled him up to the raised area from which I had been speaking, and added under my breath, “Head high, and for goodness’ sake, try to look like a king!” Then I cried to the people, trusting that Saul’s extraordinary looks would be the first thing they would notice, “Take a good look at whom God has chosen: the best! No one like him in the whole country!” “Long live the king!” the people cried out, their voices joining together and rising in a crescendo. “Long live the king!” That was a good start. I hoped it meant the story of the baggage wouldn’t spread, but as I left, I overheard the whispers. “Deliverer? Don’t make me laugh!” “How can this man save us? He hid himself at his own coronation!” “What a marvelous leader he must be!” I closed my eyes but chose not to rebuke them on Saul’s behalf. He would have to do that himself. He was Israel’s leader now, after all—not me.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: The Toxic Effects of Glyphosate.

View Details

Today's blog review comes from this blog post: Fiber and the Benefits of Butyrate.

View Details

Today's podcast is a meditation on the story of the Israelites' first attempt to take the Promised land from Numbers 13-14, when they finally went in and did it from Joshua 1-6, when Caleb took the mountain in Joshua 14, and the writer of Hebrews' reflection on what this means for us from Hebrews 4.

View Details

Dr. Eric Zielinski is the author of the bestselling primer on using essential oils for general health, The Healing Power of Essential Oils, which is in 8 languages worldwide. Together, he and Sabrina Ann Zielinski run the top health website devoted to brand-neutral essential oil education Natural Living Family, with more than 4 million users every year. In THE ESSENTIAL OILS APOTHECARY: Soothing Remedies for Anxiety, Pain, High Blood Sugar, Hypertension and Other Chronic Conditions they bring their masterful and authoritative knowledge to the complexities of chronic illness.

For more on Dr Zielinski, please visit naturallivingfamily.com or eoapothecary.com.

The Essential Oils Apothecary: Advanced Strategies and Protocols for Chronic Disease and Conditions

View Details

Satan has power; he once had authority too (Luke 4:6), but Jesus won it back and gave it to us (Matthew 28:18, Colossians 2:15).
Satan still tries to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). He's even more likely to do it if we're standing for God's word or against his plans (Mark 4:17, 2 Timothy 3:12). Now anything he tries to do to us is illegal, but he can still get away with it if we allow it. We must resist him, standing firm in faith (1 Peter 5:8-9, James 4:7).
How we resist:
- Be aware who the real enemy is (Ephesians 6:12).
- Recognize that our weapons are spiritual and can tear down the enemy's strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4).
- Our armor is God's, not ours--Jesus gave it to us (Ephesians 6:11, 13).
- Keep the truth (God's word) always buckled around your waist (Ephesians 6:14), or before your eyes, meditating on it consistently (Joshua 1:8). It is not just the truth, but the truth we know, that sets us free (John 8:32).
- Remember you are righteous through Christ (Ephesians 6:14)--unlike Old Covenant believers where disobedience took them out from under God's protection where Satan could curse (Deuteronomy 28:15), in the New Covenant, Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13) and gave us His righteousness. Now, every promise found in scripture is yes and amen for us (2 Corinthians 1:20).
- - Don't let Satan tell you differently. He's the father of lies (John 8:44). Sin can still give place to the devil to come in and steal from you (Ephesians 4:27), but only because your heart might condemn you for it and rob our confidence in prayer (1 John 3:20-22). We must believe we receive when we pray (Mark 11:24).
  - Unforgiveness is one way in which our own hearts may hinder our prayers (Mark 11:25-26). Remember you wrestle not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). Forgive them, so you can fight the real enemy behind them.
- Stay in peace (Ephesians 6:15). Confidence in prayer requires faith/trust (Philippians 4:4-7, Isaiah 26:3). The opposite of faith is fear (1 John 4:18). Since we have the authority Jesus won back from Satan for us (John 16:33, Matthew 28:18), Satan has to get us to fear him in order for him to get away with stealing from us. We do not have to accept the spirit of fear (Romans 8:15) but remember we have the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
- "Above all," use faith to extinguish Satan's lies (Eph 6:16). We do this by renewing our minds with God's word (Romans 8:6, 12:2). We have the belt of truth already, but we have to mix the Word of truth with faith, or it profits us nothing (Hebrews 4:2). Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2); we must keep our eyes on Him.
- The helmet of salvation (Eph 6:17). I assume the significance of this is the fact that it's protecting the mind. The Holy Spirit is the seal that proves we belong to God (2 Cor 1:22, 5:5, Eph 1:13-14, 4:30), and He bears witness that we have salvation and belong to God (Romans 8:16). So Satan can't lie to us and tell us otherwise.
- The sword of the spirit (Eph 6:17): this is the only offensive weapon. Jesus used the Word as His weapon against Satan (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13). It is living and powerful (Hebrews 4:12). The word of our testimony of God's goodness likewise has power (Revelation 12:11).
- Pray with all kinds of prayer (1 Timothy 2:1), including supplication and intercession (Eph 6:18), praise and thanksgiving (Phil 4:7), and agreement (Matthew 18:19-20), with perseverance.
- When you have done all this, stand your ground (Ephesians 6:13). This is the persistence in faith that achieves results and justice (Luke 18:1-8). Forcefully lay hold of what Christ died to give you (Matthew 11:12)!
The end: we will always triumph in Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14). We will overcome the world and the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) with our faith (1 John 5:4).
Even under the Old Covenant, God fought for His people in the spiritual realms (Exodus 14:13, 23:27; Leviticus 26:5-8; Deuteronomy 1:30, 3:22, 7:22-24, 9:3, 11:22-25, 20:1-4, 23:14, 28:7, 31:6, 33:29, Joshua 1:5, 23:10; Judges 7:22; 1 Samuel 7:10, 14:15-20, 17:47; 2 Samuel 7:9-11, 22:33-37, 48; 2 Kings 17:39, 19:7; 2 Chronicles 18:31-32, 20:15-25; Isaiah 41:10-14, 43:1-2, 45:2-3, 54:17; Jeremiah 1:8, 33:27, 39:18; Esther 4:14; Psalm 6:10, 37:5-9, 59:10; Proverbs 3:21-26, 21:31). How much more will He do so today, when there is no more curse, but all the blessings of Abraham are ours through Christ (Galatians 3:13)!

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: Are Soil-Based Probiotics Better than Traditional Probiotics?

View Details

Music by Ben Sound at www.bensound.com

Today's meditation comes from Matthew 26:17-30, Mark 14:22-26, Luke 22:14-23, and John 13:1-30

Introduction:

I found it rather difficult to synthesize the four versions of the Last Supper in the gospels, and particularly where Judas was, and where Satan was relative to Judas, at any given time. Matthew and Mark’s gospels kept the story simple and short, moving directly from Jesus’ mention that one of them would betray him into communion. There is no mention in those gospels that Judas left at all, or that Satan was present. They also both showed that Jesus started with the bread and then moved to the cup. There was no mention of anything Jesus told them afterwards, either; they just sang a hymn and then Jesus led his three closest disciples down to the Garden of Gethsemene. Judas clearly left at some point, because hours later he arrived in the Garden with soldiers; it just isn’t mentioned when. Luke went into more detail. He wrote in Luke 22:3 that Satan entered into Judas when he approached the chief priests and made a deal to betray Jesus. There was no mention that Satan departed Judas and entered into him again later, but perhaps he did, since John later makes mention that Satan entered into Judas after Jesus passed him the bread at the table (John 13:27). Also in Luke’s version, the cup came first and then the bread (not that this really matters). Jesus didn’t mention His betrayer until after communion in Luke’s version, suggesting that Judas was there at the time. Perhaps he was, though Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:27 that whoever eats and drinks the Lord’s supper in an unworthy manner is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. I suppose this would not be any truer of anyone in history than of Judas that night. John didn’t actually describe the Last Supper in terms of the bread and the cup at all, but he alone recorded that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. John 13:2 says that the supper was ended, though apparently the Greek phrase could have also been translated “during supper”—so I interpreted this as meaning they had eaten the Passover lamb and herbs, but Jesus had not yet instituted communion. Jesus’ comment that His betrayer was the one to whom He gave the bread after He had dipped it (John 13:26) is consistent with similar phrasing in Matthew 26:23 and Mark 14:20, just before Jesus institutes communion, suggesting this comment came first. Since John explicitly mentioned that Judas left right afterwards, and he was more specific about Judas’ whereabouts than Luke, his was the interpretation I used in the retelling. It also makes sense to me that Judas would not have been present for communion, for two reasons. First, Jesus hates hypocrisy (as evidenced by his many run-ins with the religious leaders), and he knew that Judas was not one of His, as He repeatedly said that night. If His betrayer were to take communion right before Him on the very night of His betrayal, it would have been the ultimate hypocrisy. Second, Jesus was always walking the fine line of trying to tell the disciples what was going to happen to Him in enigmas and riddles (Proverbs 1:6), but without spelling it all out until after He had already risen (Luke 24:13-49). There may have been many reasons for this, but one of them was surely that He didn’t want Satan to understand His plan, or else he would never have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). Jesus knew Satan was in the room as long as Judas was. I suspect this was another reason why He didn’t want to explain about the body and the blood until after Judas had gone. Passover was instituted the night the Israelites left slavery. It was from then on both a ritual of remembrance, and also a prophetic act. The Egyptians painted the blood of their Passover lamb over their door posts, which protected those inside from the destroyer (Exodus 12:23). This was a perfect symbol of the blood of Jesus, God’s Passover Lamb, protecting believers from the destroyer. Here, Jesus took the last Passover meal with His disciples, and then instituted the new feast of communion on the eve of his crucifixion. Christians no longer celebrate the Jewish Passover feast, symbolic of the Old Covenant, but take communion instead, symbolic of the New Covenant. Communion, too, is both an act of remembrance (Luke 22:19) and also a prophetic act of the marriage supper of the Lamb (Luke 22:18, Revelation 19:9), when Jesus will wed His bride: the Church. That will be its ultimate fulfillment. Fictionalized Retelling: I felt an almost physical oppression in my chest as I climbed the steps to that upper room. My legs felt like wood, resisting My every step. This time tomorrow… but I stopped the thought right there. I had much yet to do between now and then. John approached and touched My elbow as I crossed the threshold of the upper room. I turned to see him searching My face with a concerned expression. I gave him a tight smile that did not quite reach My eyes, and a tiny nod that I was all right—relatively speaking. The servants came in and began to set the evening meal on the low table: the Passover lamb, the bitter herbs, the unleavened bread, and the wine. I could not stop staring at the lamb. I settled on to a cushion at the head of the table. John sat beside me, still glancing often at My face. The other disciples chatted amongst themselves, though the atmosphere felt strained. It had already been an intense week, even for them. They all knew the religious leaders wanted Me dead, and feared that by extension, their lives were in danger too. I knew they also wondered why we were celebrating the Passover a day early, on the thirteenth instead of the fourteenth day of Nissan. I’d told them repeatedly as plainly as I could, but they still hadn’t understood. Tonight I would be still more explicit. But not yet. I watched Judas, who fidgeted in his seat constantly. I needed him out of the room before I spoke plainly. The disciples still wouldn’t understand what I said until afterwards, but Satan might, if he heard it. If that happened, all would be lost. When they had finished all but the last loaf of unleavened bread, I rose from the table, wordlessly laying aside My outer garment and tucking a towel around My waist. An empty basin sat by the threshold along with a pitcher of water. I poured the water into the basin and carried it to Matthew, who sat nearest Me. I set it down beside his cushion and gestured to him to swivel around and remove his sandals. He stared back at Me in astonishment. “Master?” I nodded and beckoned again with My fingers. Slowly he obeyed, though I could sense his acute embarrassment. The rest of the disciples watched in silence as I washed Matthew’s feet, and then used the towel about My waist to dry them. Next I moved to Bartholomew beside him, who obeyed more readily now that he’d seen the precedent. None of them knew what to make of this. Next I came to Judas. He removed his sandals and placed his feet in the basin at once, but he winced just slightly as his eyes met Mine. Up close, I could see his dilated pupils. He was nervous, not sure if I knew, or if I would publicly confront him for his treachery. As I washed his feet, I thought of Solomon’s proverb, You will heap coals of fire on his head, and the Lord will reward you. Without a word, I moved on to James, and then to Peter, who recoiled from Me. “Lord, are You washing my feet?” “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later,” I assured him. “Never shall You wash my feet!” If it were any other night, I might have smiled. Tonight, though, I just said wearily, “If I do not wash you, you have no place with Me.” Peter blinked as he absorbed this. Then he plunged his feet in the basin, leaning forward and spluttering, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” This wrung a short laugh out of Me, even tonight. Good old Peter. “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; otherwise he is completely clean,” I answered. Then I said to the rest of them, “And you are clean—but not all of you.” I glanced at Judas as I said this, whose eyes shifted this way and that. Now he knew that I knew. He was itching to leave already, probably trying to think of an excuse. When I’d finished washing all of the disciples’ feet, I placed the basin back by the door, removed the towel and replaced My outer tunic before settling back at the head of the table. They all watched Me uncertainly, not sure what to do or say. “Do you know what I have done for you?” I looked at each of them in turn, pausing to see if they had any reply. When they did not, I went on, “You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’; and you are correct, for so I am. So if I, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example, so that you also would do just as I did for you. Truly I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the One who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. I am not speaking about all of you,” I added, with a sidelong glance at Judas. “I know the ones whom I have chosen; but this is happening so that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’” Judas squirmed again. How much more direct would I need to be? “From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I am He. Truly I say to you, the one who receives anyone I send, receives Me; and the one who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” Still no one spoke, and still Judas remained at the table. The oppression in My chest grew. I needed him to leave before I did what needed to be done next. Time to just come right out and say it. “One of you is going to betray me.” Shock rippled around the table, and the disciples began to murmur amongst themselves—all except Judas, whose eyes darted this way and that, his breathing short and shallow. But the other disciples were so focused on themselves that they did not even notice. “It isn’t me, is it?” asked Peter first, loudly. Before I could reply, James cut in, “Surely, not I?” at the same time Philip and Bartholomew talked over each other. “Is it me, Master?” Instead of replying, I rose and took the last loaf of unleavened bread in My hands. I saw Peter make eye contact with John, and gesture at Me with his head in silent communication. When I sat back down again, John reclined against Me with his head on My chest and whispered, “Lord, who is it?” “It is he to whom I give this bread once I have dipped it.” I broke a piece of bread from the end of the loaf, and rose again to dip the bread in the dish of oil. Then I handed it across the table to Judas, and our eyes locked. The others at last noticed this, looking from Judas to me. “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?” Judas asked at last, his voice even. “You have said it yourself,” I replied. The others looked at one another, their expressions a mixture of alarm and confusion. Judas took the bread from Me, and put it in his mouth. At that moment, though I did not see it with My natural eyes, I knew that Satan had entered into him. I could sense it. “What you do, do quickly,” I told him in a low tone. Judas rose from the table as soon as I said this and sped out of the room without looking back. As I watched him go, I felt an unexpected pang of pity for the suffering I knew he would yet endure. Once Satan had used him for his own purposes, I knew that Judas would come back to himself and would despair for what he was about to do to Me. He would be dead before I was. But he had made his choice long ago, and was beyond My help. There was nothing more I could do for him. “Is… he going to make a purchase for the meal?” asked Peter, suspicious. Judas was our treasurer and had often gone on such errands in the past. “Or to offer alms to the poor, perhaps?” I met Peter’s questioning gaze, but did not answer. He would understand all too soon, and I had more important business to attend to at the moment. I took what remained of the last loaf of unleavened bread, and poured some wine into the simple chalice before me. Then I looked up to Heaven. “Thank You, Father, for Your provision,” I prayed, “of this bread and wine, and also of the Passover Lamb it represents.” I saw the look of confusion that passed among the disciples at this. Surely, they were thinking, the Passover lamb we just ate represented itself? I went on, “Ihave eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then I took the loaf and broke it right down the middle, flinching only a little. I passed half to John on one side, and to James on My other. “Take and eat; this is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” James gingerly held the half loaf I’d handed him, a look of horror on his face. But John broke himself a piece and passed it to Philip on his other side without comment. James finally followed his lead and did the same. They were all now remembering the comment I had made which had lost me some ninety percent of my disciples early in My ministry. I had announced that My followers must eat My flesh and drink My blood, or else they would have no life in them. This had so confused and revolted them that the vast majority had left, and I never had explained Myself to those who remained. How could I? None of them dared disobey Me now, though I knew they still did not understand. Once they had all solemnly taken and eaten their piece of the bread, I passed around My chalice of wine. “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it with you, new, in My Father’s kingdom.” Each man took a sip and passed the cup around in silence. When James finally handed it back to Me, I took the last swallow, savoring it in My mouth. Then I looked around the table, My heart burning as I looked into each man’s eyes one by one. I saw not the fearful, uncertain men before Me now, but the firebrands they would become when they had received the Holy Spirit. I saw some of them as old men; others, I knew, would not live long enough to see old age. The Holy Spirit gave Me just a flash of their futures—glorious ones, all. I swallowed the lump in My throat before I could speak again. “I am giving you a new commandment,” I managed, “that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.” I had so much I wanted to tell them, and these were My last few hours in which to do so. I prayed silently for guidance. I knew they would understand none of it now—and because they did not understand, they would have three days of utter hell ahead of them. If they could just hang on through those three days which would look like the end of all their hopes… “Let not your hearts be troubled!” I almost begged them, praying as I said it that they would be able to hold onto My words in the the coming days, when they would need them most. “You believe in God; believe also in Me!” I told them all I could that night: of the coming Holy Spirit, of peace, of their direct path through Me to the Father, of the tremendous power of prayer, and of their sorrow turning to joy. I could tell from the heaviness of their expressions that all they heard was goodbye. They did not understand the manner in which it would come, but they felt the significance of My speech. I felt the same heaviness Myself. When I had finished, I ended the meal with a hymn: one of David’s psalms set to music. The others joined in with Me, and all of our voices merged together in a beautiful, if halfhearted, cacophony. The noise of it had always made me smile, though today the finality of it wrung tears from My eyes. I felt the pull in My spirit now. I desperately needed to withdraw and talk to My Father. I hadn’t much time left.

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post: Are Nightshades Inflammatory?

Our sponsor: trylgc.com/cnh, and enter the coupon code CNH20 for 20% off your order.

View Details

Today's podcast is a retelling a meditation on Numbers 22-25:1-3, Numbers 31:16, 2 Peter 2:15, Jude 11, Revelation 2:14 Introduction What an incredible illustration of the power of words! This Old Testament Seer, who was not even one of the Israelites, nevertheless was sought by princes and kings to bless and curse their enemies—and he was paid handsomely for it. Was there anything special about Balaam’s words versus anyone else’s? I don’t think so—stories of blessings and cursings abound in Genesis especially (consider the power of Isaac’s blessing stolen by Jacob to set off a twenty year feud). Names also seemed to hold the power of prophecy (consider the power of Abraham’s and Sarah’s new names to foretell their destinies, and of Jacob’s “heel grabber” later turned to “Israel”). Solomon later had much to say about the power of words to shape a life (Proverbs 12:14, 13:2, 13:3, 14:3, 18:7, 18:20-21, 21:23). I suspect what made Balaam different from others was his faith in the power of his words to come to pass, whereas others might waver if the effects were not immediate. As Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” It’s the 'believing before you see it' part that trips most people up. In this story, I imagined that Balaam didn’t struggle with this because he had a rare gift of seeing into the spiritual realm from time to time. If he could see the effects of his words before they were manifest into the physical, he’d certainly have had an easier time believing in their power. This is also an interesting story because Balaam wasn’t an Israelite, nor was his heart pure—yet still, God spoke to him. He had no covenant to cling to, but he clearly understood covenant, and he knew how to manipulate it to his own ends. The story in Numbers doesn’t actually show Balaam explaining to Balak how to get the Israelites to curse themselves; it cuts straight from Balaam’s oracles of blessing over the Israelites in Numbers 22-24, to the Israelites’ harlotry with the Moabite women and worship of Baal in Numbers 25. But we know that this was Balaam’s doing from Numbers 31:16, Jude 11, and Revelation 2:14. 2 Peter 2:15 reveals that Balaam’s motivation for this was financial gain. I used to think it was very strange that God gave Balaam permission to go with the Moabites and then sent an angel to kill him along the way because he went. That certainly seems contradictory. But God did tell Balaam no the first time, which should have settled the matter. (Maybe there’s a lesson here: if God says no the first time, probably don’t keep asking?) The fact that Balaam asked again perhaps indicated that he was likely to do it regardless of what God said. Perhaps it wasn’t God’s best for Balaam to go, but He allowed it as a concession, knowing there was a potential danger in this loose cannon with impure motives. God’s concession, though, was for Balaam to wait until the men came to call him again in the morning; if they did, then he could go with them. There’s no indication that he did wait—Balaam just rose, saddled his donkey, and went. The fact that Balaam did not exactly follow the Lord’s instructions was a harbinger of what was to come. Balaam’s words had great power, and while God could use him to bless the Israelites, He could not afford to let this man say or do anything God did not explicitly authorize—hence the avenging angel. Once Balaam was sufficiently terrified into submission, God let him live and continue on his way. And indeed, he did bless Israel only... but he still wanted Balak’s money. So he found a loophole in God’s instructions, which he exploited to his own benefit. Fortunately for us today, we are now no longer under the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13-14), and we cannot curse ourselves with bad behavior as the Israelites could. Even so, we can still disqualify ourselves from receiving all the blessings God wants for us, if we do not mix His promises with faith (Hebrews 4:2). Fictionalized Retelling I am what my people of Amau call a Seer. Most people perceive with their physical senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. So I suppose I must have been born with a gift, though I’ve never known anything different. I am as aware of the spiritual world as I am of the physical, though I cannot always perceive it with my eyes. Because of this, I learned from childhood that the spirit realm affects the physical—that in fact, it is the greater reality of the two. And yet, I could affect the spirit realm by my words. My words influenced the unseen, and then the unseen influenced and changed what was seen. There were some limits to this, though. The primary limit was that there was a Power in the unseen realm much greater than I. I knew a few details about Him: that He is One, not many, like so many other cultures seemed to believe. That He is righteous, balancing mercy with justice. He does not let the wicked go unpunished. This instilled in me a healthy fear of Him: I did not want to end up on the wrong side of that equation. I also understood that while my words had power to influence the physical realm through the spiritual, He did not always authorize me to use them. I wasn’t totally sure what might happen if I tried to speak that which He explicitly forbade, but I did not wish to find out. By rumor, as I grew, I also learned that He had favorites. In fact, He had one favorite people group in particular: the people of Israel. All the surrounding nations heard the stories of how the Lord delivered this band of former slaves from their captives in Egypt, and led them across the Red Sea. They had even plundered their former masters before they went. I heard how they had driven back the Amalekites, and defeated the Amorites. Now they were camped in the plains of Moab, on the other side of the Jordan from Jericho. I dwelt near the Euphrates with my own people, but even we felt the tension in the air. So when the messengers from Balak, king of Moab came to me, I knew why they had come before they spoke. But a young man I recognized from the king’s court drew near and bowed low before me. “I have come to you in the name of King Balak of Moab. Thus says the king to my lord, Balaam the Diviner: A people went out from Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they dwell next to me. And now, please come curse this people for me because they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I will prevail, and we will defeat them, and I will drive them out of the land because I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” I glanced behind the messenger who had spoken, to another who held a small leather pouch in his hand, which jingled just a little as he moved. A little shiver of anticipation ran down my spine. If that pouch was filled with gold pieces, it represented a fortune! Little wonder: Moab was surely sick with dread of the Israelites. They knew that the Israelites’ strength came from the spirit realm, and that was the realm of my influence. No fee would be too high. I resisted the urge to ask to see the coins right then. “Lodge here tonight,” I told them, “and I will bring you word again, as the Lord will speak to me.” They did as I asked, and I withdrew at sunset to inquire of the Lord. It usually took longer for Him to respond to me, but that night, He spoke at once. Whether the words were aloud such that other human ears could have perceived it, I do not know, but to me, it was audible. “Who are these men with you?” He said. I was pretty sure He knew the answer; He was just starting the conversation. I told Him, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me, saying, ‘A people went out of Egypt who covers the face of the earth. Now come, curse them for me. Perhaps I will be able to battle them and drive them out.’” Please, please, please… I thought, my imagination filled with what I could do with the gold in that pouch. What a great man that would make me! The Lord said, “You will not go with them. You will not curse the people because they are blessed.” I deflated. “But… God…” I bit my lip. “Surely there’s some minor curse I could pronounce against them?” He said nothing more. I knew from experience that this meant the conversation was over. My father used to do that when I was young: he’d lay down the law, and then give me the silent treatment as I wheedled, begged, and threw tantrums, until I finally accepted that he meant what he’d said. I sighed. In the morning I returned to the men of Moab, and told them with great reluctance, “Go to your land. The Lord refuses to let me to go with you.” The messengers exchanged a look of consternation with one another. “Are… you sure?” one ventured, holding up the pouch and deliberately jingling it before my eyes. “The king will pay you handsomely for this service of yours.” I let out an involuntary groan and averted my eyes from the pouch. “Would that it were up to me,” I told them. “But it is not.” At last they returned the way they had come. When they had gone, I looked up at the sky and shouted, “Why?” When He still gave me the silent treatment, I added, “What is so special about this people of Yours? What makes them any better than Moab, or the Amalekites, or the Amorites, or the Amauites for that matter? Why do You bless them, and You won’t bless me?” Silence again, though I felt His reproach. He had blessed me. I had a great gift that apparently was quite rare. I’d often wondered if there was anything special about my words, or if anybody else’s words might have the same effect as mine—it was just that, since I could see into the spirit realm where they had an effect, I did not waver once I’d spoken them, nor contradict them by speaking only what I saw already manifested in the physical realm, thus negating the effect in the spirit. Because of this ability, I was already prosperous: I’d used the words of my mouth to bless my own flocks and herds, crops and home, and I had quite literally eaten the fruit of my lips. If that weren’t enough, I used this same ability on behalf of others, and was paid handsomely for my troubles. I did not get my hands on that delicious little sack of gold, though… I whimpered at the thought, and huffed, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at nothing in particular. “You’re unfair,” I accused the Lord. “You play favorites. That’s inherently unfair!” Silence still. I heaved another put-upon sigh, and went about my business for the day, saddling my donkey and taking her into the marketplace. Late that day, just before sunset, I saw a large company on the horizon riding to my home. As they drew near, I saw their splendor: these were princes and warriors of Moab, not the messengers I had seen the day before. My eyes widened and my heart pounded with anticipation. Balak was not giving up then! One of the princes dismounted and bowed down low before me. I pasted on a smile as I scrutinized his fine clothing, imagining what it might look like upon me. “My lord Balaam,” the prince said by way of greeting. I could get used to being called ‘my lord.’ He went on, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Do not let anything keep you from coming to me, because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me.” An involuntary groan escaped my lips at this. How could I continue to refuse? But I managed, “Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God. Now spend the night here so that I can find out what else the Lord will tell me.” The men agreed, and I withdrew from them and fell prostrate before the Lord. “‘I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say’?” I quoted Balak to the Lord. “How can You expect me to refuse such an offer? I cannot! Let me go with them, I beg You!” There was silence at first. But then the Lord replied, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only say what I tell you to say.” “Ha ha!” I cried, triumphant. I could barely sleep that night. I rose at first light and saddled my donkey. My conscience pricked at me that the Lord had told me to wait for the princes to call me, but hadn’t they essentially already done that by coming the day before? I ignored this detail and went to rouse them. “The Lord gave me permission to go with you,” I told them breathlessly. “Take me to your king!” The princes seemed as glad to hear my response as I was glad to give it. They readied themselves quickly, and I mounted my donkey and followed them. At first we traveled in one company, but soon my donkey began acting strangely. She fell behind the others, and then even strayed from the path they were following, ignoring my tug upon her reins and venturing into one of the fields. “What are you doing?” I cried impatiently, tugging harder. She utterly ignored me, which both confused and infuriated me. I’d never seen her act like this before, and I needed to catch up to the others. From one of my saddlebags I dug out a switch, and used it to beat her flanks. She let out a sharp bray that made me wince. “Well, if you don’t want more of that, do what I tell you!” I retorted. At last, she returned to the road. I dug my heels into her flanks to try to get her to speed up to catch up with the company, but she refused—in fact, it felt like she was fighting me with every step. Presently the road narrowed, as a wall on either side delineated vineyards of different owners. Suddenly my donkey veered sharply toward one wall—but there was nowhere to go, so she just pressed against it and stopped altogether, crushing my foot against the wall in the process. I let out a roar and beat her harder. “What is wrong with you?” I shouted, gritting my teeth against her sharp bray of pain. “Come on!” She shuddered under me, and hesitatingly moved forward again, still hugging one wall but not so closely that she crushed my foot. Presently the lane narrowed so that she could no longer do even this: there was nowhere for her to turn aside. So she literally lay down under me, right there in the path. “Why you worthless ass—!” I beat her as hard as I could, and she yelped and shuddered, but refused to budge. The third time I struck her, she half turned her head so that she could see me from one of her eyes. “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” I blinked, and my hand froze in midair. I could see into the spirit realm from time to time, and I had spoken to God, but this was a new one. Still, the sensible thing to do would be to answer her. “Because you have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!” “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” I had to admit. Suddenly I perceived that she and I were not alone. A brilliantly glowing man stood directly in front of the path, barring our way, sword drawn. My mouth dropped open, and I slid off of my donkey’s back and fell to the ground before him. “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times?” the angel demanded. “I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one.The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her.” I caught my breath, as a wave of terror passed through me. “I have sinned,” I admitted. I meant in beating my donkey, but as I said it, I realized that I’d also sinned in not waiting for the men to call me in the morning, as the Lord had instructed. “I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.” The angel sheathed his sword, and stood to one side, making a very narrow path for us. “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.” I swallowed hard, understanding the emphasis. I had not explicitly obeyed the Lord’s instructions before. I was given safe passage now only on condition that I do better in the future. My donkey got to her feet and picked up her pace to catch up with the company of princes. I was rattled, and she probably was too. She never spoke to me again. When I arrived in Moab, King Balak hurried out to meet me. “Did I not send you an urgent summons?” he scolded by way of greeting. “Why didn’t you come to me? Am I not able to reward you?” I had best disabuse him of any false expectations he had now, I realized, not much caring to face the avenging angel again. “Well, I have come to you now,” I told him. “But I warn you, I can’t say whatever I please. I must speak only what God puts in my mouth.” Balak smirked. “I am sure God will see fit to allow you to speak whatever is in your own best interest.” Before I could protest again, he turned and said, “Come. We will sacrifice to your God to appease him.” He led the way, along with the company of princes he had sent to collect me, to a place called Kirjath Huzoth. There he offered oxen and sheep to the Lord, and he provided me and his princes with sheep to offer likewise. I considered telling him that if his intent was to ‘butter up’ the Lord to get Him to do what he wanted, that he was wasting his time. But Balak would learn that soon enough. The following morning, Balak beckoned me alone, and took me to the high places where their people sacrificed to Baal. I saw this, and knew what the Lord would think of it—there was no Baal, He was the only God, and this was precisely why He wasn’t likely to bless Moab—but I chose not to comment on it. There was no point; Balak wouldn’t listen, and that wasn’t why we were here. The king pointed down into the plains, and I blinked, taken aback by the sheer number of the Israelites. “These are my enemies,” Balak told me unnecessarily. “Now, curse them for me!” I took a deep breath. Then I said, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” I was kind of stalling for time, and kind of doing the very thing I’d mentally mocked Balak for the day before: trying to butter God up. Seven was a special number to Him, though I wasn’t entirely sure why. It was a number of completion. I also knew, as every nation knew intuitively, that He required blood sacrifices. I again considered telling Balak to tear down the altars to Baal while we were at it, but dismissed this. I doubted he would take kindly to this suggestion. Balak had the animals I requested brought to us, and while he built the altars, I prepared the animals for slaughter. Then the two of us offered one bull and one ram on each of the altars, and set fire to them. Then I told the king, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” I ventured alone to a desolate hill connected to the one on which we had built the altars, and prayed to the Lord. “Oh Lord, may it please you to curse the enemies of Balak!” The Lord’s reply, I knew, was not one that would please the king. When He had finished, He said, “Return to Balak, and tell him what I have said.” I trudged back to the king with a heavy heart, and to my dismay, I saw that in the interim, the princes of Moab had also joined him. I groaned inwardly, but when I was near enough, I called out, “Thus the Lord has bid me speak: From Aram Balak has brought me, Moab’s king from the mountains of the East, ‘Come curse Jacob for me, And come, denounce Israel!’ How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? As I see him from the top of the rocks, And I look at him from the hills; Behold, a people who dwells apart, And will not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, And let my end be like his!” As I spoke, I had my back turned to Balak and his princes, but I could sense their gnashing of teeth. Sure enough, when I turned around, I saw Balak’s dark countenance. “What have you done to me?” he demanded. “I took you to curse my enemies, but you have actually blessed them!” I felt miserable. But what could I do? I imagined the avenging angel, sword drawn, standing right beside me, ready to strike me down should I misspeak. “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?” The king huffed, and then turned and conferred with his noblemen. In the interim, I looked up to heaven and shook my head at the Lord in annoyance. “Will you let me say nothing that pleases him?” I complained. Balak turned back to me, his expression smoothed as if with renewed determination. “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and curse them for me from there.” I felt my hopes rise too, irrational though I knew it was. After all, God had changed His mind from forbidding me to go with the men from Balak the second time I approached and asked Him, had He not? True, He’d given me permission and then sent an angel to slay me along the way, but I think that was due to a technicality… At any rate, I went with Balak and his men, across the ridges of the adjoining hills, across the field of Zophim to the top of Pisgah. There, Balak and some of the princes built seven more altars, and the remaining men went to retrieve seven more bulls and seven more rams. We again offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord, though I also noticed and ignored the altars to other gods nearby. Again I told Balak and the princes to stay by the offerings while I went to consult the Lord. No sooner had I wandered ashrimp inway from the group, the Lord told me, “Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” It was no better than before. Feeling a little sick to my stomach, I turned around and trudged back to them. “So soon?” Balak asked eagerly, eyebrows raised. “Come now, what did He give you to say?” I sighed. “Thus says the Lord: Arise, O Balak, and hear; Give ear to me, O son of Zippor! God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless; When He has blessed, then I cannot revoke it. He has not observed misfortune in Jacob; Nor has He seen trouble in Israel; The Lord his God is with him, And the shout of a king is among them. God brings them out of Egypt, He is for them like the horns of the wild ox. For there is no omen against Jacob, Nor is there any divination against Israel; At the proper time it shall be said to Jacob And to Israel, what God has done! Behold, a people rises like a lioness, And as a lion it lifts itself; It will not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain.” I watched as the lines of Balak’s face deepened into a scowl as I spoke. I could hardly blame him. When I had finished, he shouted, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” I felt utterly wretched. “Did I not tell you, ‘Whatever the Lord speaks, that I must do’?” Balak turned his back on me with a snort of disgust, and went to confer with his nobles once more. At this point, I just wanted the encounter to be over. He returned, his expression implacable. “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there.” Why he still thought location would make any difference at all, I did not know, but I went with him without comment. Balak and his nobles led me to the top of Peor, a mountain which overlooked a wasteland. As before, I instructed Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” The Moabites followed my instructions, and offered their sacrifices. Even so, I did not bother to withdraw to pray to the Lord this time and ask Him to let me curse the people of Israel. He would not. I could say only what He gave me to say. And yet… as I turned to look at the altars of Baal behind the altars the Moabites had just built to the Lord, the germ of an idea began in my mind. I turned my back upon them again for now, though, and turned to look out over the wilderness. I gave over my tongue to the Lord and uttered His prophecy as it came to me: “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened; The oracle of him who hears the words of God, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered, How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel! Like valleys that stretch out, Like gardens beside the river, Like aloes planted by the Lord, Like cedars beside the waters. Water will flow from his buckets, And his seed will be by many waters, And his king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted. God brings him out of Egypt, He is for him like the horns of the wild ox. He will devour the nations who are his adversaries, And will crush their bones in pieces, And shatter them with his arrows. He crouches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him? Blessed is everyone who blesses you, And cursed is everyone who curses you.” Balak fairly shook with fury as he listened to this oracle. As if needing to lash out physically somehow, he clapped his hands together forcefully. Then he jabbed a finger in my direction and accused, “I called you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have persisted in blessing them these three times! Flee to your place now. I said I would honor you greatly, but the Lord has held you back from honor!” I shook my head. “Did I not tell your messengers whom you had sent to me, saying, ‘Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything contrary to the command of the Lord, either good or bad, of my own accord. What the Lord speaks, that I will speak’? I will go back to my people; but come, and I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the days to come.” The germ of what I intended to do had grown in my mind, but I had decided that I would first stoke Balak’s fear of the Israelites before I gave him my recommendation. That way, he might yet be disposed to honor me, though I could not do what he had summoned me to do. I turned back out to the wilderness where we could see Moab in the distance, and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, And the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, The oracle of him who hears the words of God, And knows the knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, yet having his eyes uncovered. I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star shall come forth from Jacob, A scepter shall rise from Israel, And shall crush through the forehead of Moab, And tear down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be a possession, Seir, its enemies, also will be a possession, While Israel performs valiantly. One from Jacob shall have dominion, And will destroy the remnant from the city.” Then I turned in the direction of Amalek, and pronounced, “Amalek was the first of the nations, But his end shall be destruction.” I turned in the direction of the Kenites, and declared, “Your dwelling place is enduring, And your nest is set in the cliff. Nevertheless Kain will be consumed; How long will Asshur keep you captive?” I opened my arms to encompass all these nations, and cried in a loud voice, “Alas, who can live except God has ordained it? But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim, And they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict Eber; So they also will come to destruction.” I turned and beheld the stunned horror on the faces of Balak and all of his princes. I smiled. “Here is the end of the matter,” I said. “The Lord has blessed Israel; neither I nor you nor anyone on earth can curse those whom the Lord has blessed. But I will tell you what you can do instead.” I pointed at the altars of Baal. I saw confusion cross their faces as they turned to look where I pointed. “No one outside of Israel may curse them, but they can curse themselves.” King Balak whipped around to face me again, eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?” he demanded. “Why would they do such a thing?” “Simple,” I shrugged. “They are in covenant with the Lord, but it is not an unconditional covenant. If they violate their end of the agreement, they bring themselves out from under His protection. They will be as weak and susceptible as any other nation. In fact, the covenant itself enumerates the curses that will come upon them, should they cease to follow the Lord their God only.” Balak’s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. He was practically salivating. “What are these rules that they must keep?” he demanded. “And how can we entice the Israelites to break them?” “Your land is a land of beautiful women, is it not?” I asked casually. Balak and the princes nodded eagerly, and I went on, “And harlotry is included as one of the rituals of your worship to Baal, is it not?” “Yes!” Balak cried, the beginnings of understanding dawning on his face. I nodded. “Very good. The Israelites’ first two commandments given them by the prophet who led them out of Israel were these: ‘you shall have no other gods before Me,’ and ‘you shall not make for yourself a carved image; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me.’” I left out the part I had heard about His blessings to the thousandth generation of those who love Him. “So you see? I do not believe you could directly entice them to sacrifice to Baal, unless you gave them an incentive. But if your beautiful Moabite women were to entice the Israelite men into sexual encounters, provided it is in the context of Baal worship…” I opened my hands with a casual flourish, and Balak and the princes now shared my smile. “The people will curse themselves.” Balak’s grin hardened into a snarl. I kept my hand open before him and let it hang there, until he finally glanced at it and took my meaning. He smirked, and gestured to one of the princes beside him, “Pay the man. He has given us what we wished, after all.”

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post, Fat Burner Shots.

View Details

Today's meditation comes from Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13.

Introduction

For the first thirty years of Jesus’ life, He did nothing that the gospel writers saw fit to record, save for the one episode where He remained behind in the temple at twelve years of age, listening at the teachers’ feet and astounding them with His wisdom (Luke 2:41-52). He otherwise appeared to be a normal young man, until He was anointed by the Holy Spirit and received power from on high. This marked the beginning of His ministry. He had the power to do miracles at this point, but He had never yet performed one. Strangely, the first thing the Holy Spirit did was lead Him into the wilderness, to be tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1). The Holy Spirit actually intended for the temptations to occur. Yet we know God never leads us into temptation (Matthew 6:13, James 1:13); Jesus was a special case, for this too. Why? In my retelling, Jesus recited to Himself the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness, believing that His own time in the wilderness was a parallel of theirs. They left Egypt (the life they knew), just as He left His old life of obscurity behind. They had never before known power, and then suddenly they were delivered with great signs and wonders. Then the Lord drove them into the wilderness, where they confronted daily needs, and with them, temptations to doubt the Lord’s goodness and provision. The story in the Old Testament does not record that it was Satan stirring up the people against the Lord, but then, the Old Testament had (almost) no doctrine of Satan. Presumably he was there, though, and the Israelites gave right in, every time. In order for Jesus to be our perfect sacrifice and substitute, He needed to be tempted in all ways as we were, and yet remain without sin (Hebrews 4:15). So the first temptation, according to both versions of this story in Matthew and Luke, was turning stone into bread. This parallels the temptations of the Israelites in the wilderness: much of their grumblings against the Lord had to do with lack of food and water. Notice that Satan waited to offer this temptation to Jesus until he’d been fasting for forty days, and was literally beginning to starve. Bread was not a luxury, but a legitimate need at this point. Yet would He trust in the Father to provide, or take matters into His own hands? If He did the latter, it would demonstrate potentially two things: lack of trust in God’s provision, and also doubt in His own identity. It’s interesting that Satan begins two of his temptations with “If You are the Son of God.” These would not have been temptations if Jesus had no inclination to doubt who He was. Yet after thirty years of doing nothing remarkable, how could He not? Giving in to this doubt would have been sin, though, as “whatever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23), and the root of all sin is unbelief (John 16:9). The order of the second and third temptations varies in the two accounts in Matthew and Luke, though the content was the same. According to 1 John 2:16, there are only three areas in which Satan tempts us: the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” The temptation to turn stone to bread was lust of the flesh: putting the needs of His body above following God. He responded to this temptation by comparing God’s Word to bread: no doubt this was exactly what the original manna in the wilderness was meant to represent. Pride of life would have been showing off by jumping off the pinnacle of the Temple, just to prove to the Jews (and to Himself) that He had the power to call angels to His assistance. Satan even tried to twist scripture to convince Jesus to fall for this one, adding to and omitting portions of Psalm 91 to suit his purposes. Satan’s version of Psalm 91 made it sound as though God had promised carte blanche: complete protection under any and all circumstances. But Jesus understood that His power was not to be spent upon His own lusts (James 4:3)—and indeed, He did not benefit personally from any of the miracles He performed (unless you count taking His portion from the food He multiplied when feeding the 5000 and the 4000). Here too, Jesus responds to the temptation by quoting from Deuteronomy, as He does with all three. As Paul tells us, the Word is a sword, our only offensive weapon against the enemy (Ephesians 6:17). The last temptation according to Matthew’s account was the lust of the eyes, as He beheld all the glittering kingdoms of the world. Luke’s gospel records Satan’s assertion, “this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish” (Luke 4:6). Notice that Jesus didn’t contradict this: the earth and all its kingdoms were Satan’s, and they both knew it. Jesus had come to earth, in part, to regain the authority that Adam had lost. Here, Satan offered it to Him freely. I doubt Satan realized that the alternative was the cross, since Paul tells us that if he had understood this, he would never have crucified Him (1 Corinthians 2:8). But Jesus knew it, which presumably made the offer all the more enticing. Yet even if Satan had kept his end of the bargain (which is doubtful), regaining authority for Himself only was never Jesus’ goal. He wanted us back, and there was only one way to get us. If Jesus had sinned, He could not have become the perfect Lamb of God, our substitutionary sacrifice. He could not have ushered in the New Covenant. Fictionalized Retelling (from Jesus' POV)

It was time. I had, from time to time over the last six months, lingered some distance away from the Jordan River as my cousin John baptized the hoards of Israel who came to him seeking repentance. I watched smiling, laughing, and sometimes weeping as the prodigals came home. “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few,” I murmured aloud on more than one occasion, bursting with pride in my cousin. But I had never revealed my presence to him over the past six months. His fame grew, though I remained in obscurity. Until now. My heart hammered in my chest in a blend of excitement and anticipation as I made my way right down to the banks of the Jordan this time. John was waist deep in the river, helping a middle aged man plunge beneath the waters and come back up again, his nose plugged and eyes closed while everyone around him cheered. Grinning, John released him. “Bear fruit worthy of repentance, friend!” John shouted after the man as he waded toward his friends, arms thrust into the air in victory and face streaming with water. John turned to see who was next, and our eyes locked. His smile froze while mine widened. Understanding struck him. “Of course it’s you.” He was too far away and the rushing water was too loud for me to hear him, but I saw his lips form the words and his eyes fill with tears. Then he started laughing, even as the tears spilled over onto his cheeks. Answering tears pricked in my own eyes. I had always imagined this moment: how John would react when he realized that I was the Messiah. The reality was better. “Behold!” John bellowed to everyone around him, making a grand sweeping gesture to me with one hand as he wiped his cheeks with the other. “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” My chest felt like it might burst with love for My cousin. I waded up to him as he spoke, positioning Myself to be baptized as the others before Me had done. His expression changed from awestruck to appalled, and he held up his hands in protest. “I need to be baptized by You,” he protested, “and are You coming to me?” “Let it be so now, for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” I told him. He shook his head, but in wonder, not refusal. I knelt down, plugged My nose, and closed My eyes, as My cousin took hold of my shoulders and lowered Me below the chilly rushing waters. He lifted Me out again, and I shook My hair and beard, water streaming from My face as I wiped it away. The sky above us was cloudless that day, but even so, it seemed to part like a pair of blue curtains. Beyond it, I saw the scene Ezekiel had described: a still sapphire sea, and a throne surrounded by an emerald rainbow. The One on the throne was all flame and rainbow, more glorious than the sun. “Father,” I whispered. It was the first time I had ever seen Him with My human eyes. He rose to His feet, and threw something in the air. As it descended through the parted sky, I could make out the form of a gleaming white dove. It landed on My shoulder. “Holy Spirit!” I breathed, like embracing an old friend. He burned Me, but without pain, as Moses’ bush had burned without being consumed. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” My Father declared. With that, the sky rolled back across the heavenly scene like a scroll. The dove too had vanished, and the burning faded—but He was upon Me still, just like He had come upon the prophets of old in power. I knew He would be with Me from now on, until My mission here was complete. I turned to John, curious whether he had seen and heard what I had, or whether that had just been for Me. His awestruck expression, still turned toward the sky, told Me all I needed to know. Then he looked back at Me. “How long have You known?” he murmured. I smiled back at him. “As far back as I can remember.” “And yet You never told me!” It was an accusation, but then he held up a hand and said, “No no, I understand. It was better this way. I’d have asked far too many questions, though by all rights I should have guessed.” He shook his head and added to himself, “I must have been intentionally blinded until now; it’s the most obvious thing in the world—Jesus! where are You going?” I was wading back to the banks, and already the crowds had parted to make way for Me. I pointed up to the heavens. “The Spirit compels Me away from here just as surely as if He tugged Me by the hand. I must go.” “Where?” John called after me. “I’ll come with You!” “Into the wilderness, and I must go alone,” I called, giving him an apologetic glance. “You, meanwhile, still have work to do here.” I cast him one more grin, and made my way through the crowds gazing at Me with amazement on the banks, My robes streaming with water and gathering mud at the hems. I walked out into the lonely places of Israel, as the chatter of the crowds grew distant behind Me. My clothing dried and stiffened with the sediment from the Jordan as the day progressed. Wild animals heard my footsteps and fled as I drew near. The Holy Spirit pulled me deeper and deeper into the wilderness. Yet there was another presence here too, besides Him and Me. I felt, though I did not see him yet. His hatred pulsed all around Me, like the heat radiating from the sun. It was almost tangible. I made camp that first night after the sun went down, and lay My head upon a flat stone for a pillow. I closed My eyes. It was then that I heard the first whispers. You imagined it all, Satan taunted. There was no open heaven, no Father, no Holy Spirit. You suffer from delusions of grandeur. What are You but a poor dead carpenter’s son? I huffed and turned over. “It just happened today,” I said aloud. “At least have the decency to wait a few days before you try to make Me doubt it.” He fell silent for perhaps an hour. Then when I hovered in that space between sleep and waking, he whispered, You’re not the Messiah. You’ve never done any miracles in your life. John is greater than You are! I groaned, mostly annoyed to be disturbed out of slumber. Aloud, I countered in a voice thick with sleep, “Born in Bethlehem, of a virgin, from the tribe of Judah and of the line of David. I was called out of Egypt, while Herod massacred the children two and under at the time of my birth. My cousin, also born of a miracle, came in the spirit and power of Elijah and has been my forerunner for six months…” I kept quoting prophecies I had fulfilled already until I sensed that Satan had given up for the night. Then I breathed a sigh of relief, and drifted off at last. Day and night, this cycle repeated—intensely for the first three days, when I was hungriest. By the third day, my hunger receded, and so did the whispers. After that, Satan’s daily temptations seemed almost halfhearted, and he gave up easily. “Isn’t that just like you,” I panted to him aloud as I crested a hill with a large tree where I could rest in the shade. “Not one to waste your efforts in a battle you know you cannot win!” I knew I would not feel hunger again for the most part until I literally began to starve, which would happen around day forty. I did not know how long the Holy Spirit intended for me to spend out in the wilderness, though I guessed forty days and nights—that number recurred throughout scripture. The hardest battle would come near the end, when I was at my weakest, both physically and emotionally. Until then, I walked, I rested, and just when I could stand my thirst no more, I came across streams and springs where I slaked my parched tongue. I quoted the Pentateuch to Myself aloud. I sang the Psalms, inventing melodies for some of them that had never been set to music in My day. I talked to the Father and to the Holy Spirit, though I got no more audible or miraculous responses as I had in the Jordan. What are You doing out here? What is the point? Satan whispered several weeks in. “Symbolism,” I informed him, as much for My benefit as for his. “The Israelites left their old life in Egypt, were ‘baptized’ as they passed through the Red Sea, and entered the wilderness, where they learned trust and dependence upon God day by day, despite constant opportunities to doubt. Forty years for them; forty days for Me. Then they entered the Promised Land, through the Jordan at flood stage. Jordan means ‘destroyer,’ which symbolizes you, of course. The waters of the ‘destroyer’ parted and were cut off all the way back to the city called Adam. It was, for them, as if the fall had never happened, as long as they remained on the right side of the covenant. You had no power over them anymore. Only then did they began their work of taking territory and slaying giants. In the same way, after I defeat you in the wilderness, then My ministry will begin. Then I will take down your ‘giants’ of sickness, death, and disease, set the captives free, and proclaim the good news of the kingdom.” If this is Your wilderness experience like what the Israelites experienced, then where is your manna? Satan sneered. God fed the Israelites, but He’s happy to let You starve. You know why? You’re not really His son. He’ll let You die out here like the blasphemer You are. I rolled My eyes at this attempt, though in truth, My stomach responded differently. It growled at the thought of manna. The awakened hunger persisted after that. At first upon is return, it gnawed here and there and then quieted for the rest of the day. It was worse on the days when I did not come upon a stream. A belly heavy with water could soothe the ravenous beast for awhile. By day forty, though, the hunger was constant and nearly unbearable. I hardly felt the Holy Spirit’s presence at all, but Satan’s whispers seemed always just behind Me. I squinted against the glare of the midday sun, not sure if My eyes were playing tricks on Me. But surely if I were to see a mirage, the shriveled, misshapen being before Me is not what I would have conjured. “Satan,” I greeted the creature. I had never seen him before with My human eyes, yet I recognized him at once. I looked him up and down, noting the leathery skin like that of a bat, the emaciated features, the beady flashing red eyes. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen,” I commented. My human eyes had never beheld him in his pre-fall glory either, but I knew the story from Isaiah. His lip curled at this, returning the inspection. “I could say the same of You, if You truly were who You claimed to be. But You and I both know You’re not. At least I once glowed brighter than the morning star. You, on the other hand…” he gave a wheezy laugh. “A delusional carpenter whom God will permit to die of starvation in the wilderness, whose carcass will be picked clean by the vultures.” “How well-named you are,” I retorted. Satan meant accuser. “If You are the Son of God,” he returned, circling Me like one of the vultures he had referenced, “command that these stones become bread.” He gestured at a large boulder at my feet. Immediately My stomach gave a loud, painful growl. Unbidden, I saw the hot loaf in My mind’s eye, dripping with butter, sweetened with honey. My mouth flooded with saliva I could ill afford to spare: I was dehydrated enough. But I had not quoted the Pentateuch for forty days and nights for nothing. I knew the stories: God gave Moses the rod that he used in power to deliver the Israelites from every one of their challenges, and yet he was only to use it as God had prescribed. He could not bring water out of any rock, nor could he do it by any method he chose. When he forgot this, he had forfeited his own right to enter the Promised Land. In the same way, the power of the Holy Spirit was Mine, but I could not use it when and how I pleased—lest I forfeit My Promised Land. “It is written,” I panted back, swallowing back the saliva, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Satan knew the reference as I did: it was from Deuteronomy. His beady eyes flashed, but he tried to control his expression. I should have felt a flash of triumph, but all I felt was hungry. Satan circled Me, and fastened his reptilian hands upon My wrists. In a whirl of wind and the blink of an eye, he spirited us together to the pinnacle of the temple of Jerusalem. My eyes widened and I took a step back from the ledge, as down below I saw the bustle of the crowd of worshippers, or priests bearing lambs or goats they had just bought and washed for sacrifice. They did not seem to see us—yet. “Prince of the power of the air,” I murmured to Myself, amazed. It was an impressive trick. He smirked at me, and gave an exaggerated little bow. Then his proud expression hardened and he took a step closer to me—too close. “If You are the Son of God,” he hissed, and gestured at the ledge casually, “throw Yourself down.” His words again conjured a clear picture in my mind: the gasps, the cheers, the crowds flocking to Me in amazement. What a spectacular way to announce My ministry! Satan shrugged and added, “For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” I gnashed My teeth together. That was a misquote of Psalm 91. Technically it was correct, but it was completely out of context. It angered Me how subtle his lies were, though less for Myself, and more for all those precious ones whom I knew he would lead astray with exactly this kind of deceit throughout the ages. I retorted, “It is also written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God!’” This was also from Deuteronomy. “Don’t play this game with Me, Satan. You think you know the word better than I do? I am the Word. You cannot win.” “Oh, can’t I?” he whispered back, clutching My wrists in his fists once again. I did not know where he planned to take Me now, but I knew he would choose a different tactic this time. He couldn’t make Me doubt My identity, so— I caught My breath. We were at the top of a snow-capped mountain, well above the clouds, though I did not feel cold. This was a vision, I realized. I looked down, and all around me I saw—time. All of it. From the beginning to the end, every glittering kingdom of earth merged with one another, their rising and falling, their wealth and their greatness. But even more than this, I saw the people in those kingdoms: great and small, young and old, good and evil. My heart ached. They were why I had come. I longed for them, so desperately—My sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, all lost and hopeless and hurting without Me! Satan leaned so close to My ear that I could feel his breath upon My neck. “All this authority I will give you, and their glory. It has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. If You will fall down and worship me, all will be Yours.” I whirled on him, horrified at the longing I felt. Adam gave the authority of all the earth to him, and he offered it back to Me now. It was precisely what I had come to reclaim, and he now offered Me a shortcut—without the sacrifice. Without the cross. “Away with you, Satan!” I snapped. “For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve!’” His expression sank into a deep scowl, and he bared his pointed yellowed teeth at Me. Then in a whirlwind, he was gone. I found Myself alone in the wilderness once again, on My hands and knees, panting. Then I felt a hand on My shoulder. I jerked back, expecting to see Satan once again, but I softened when I saw a beautiful face I somehow also recognized. “Gabriel?” He smiled at me tenderly, and gestured behind him. There, I saw a cake sizzling upon a stone, and a jug of water. My stomach gave an answering, painful growl. I thought at once of the story of Elijah in the wilderness as he fled to Mount Sinai, and an angel met him along the way with just such refreshment as this. Gabriel hovered just behind me as I wolfed down the repast, closing My eyes in bliss as I savored the flavors. The cake was smaller than I would have liked, but I also knew better than to break such a long fast with a large meal. Nevertheless, had I had the option, it would have been hard to resist. When I had finished, I turned back to Gabriel. “I wonder that I have never met him before,” I said, meaning Satan. “But then, I’ve never drawn attention to Myself before.” The angel nodded, and pointed at the sky with a slight smirk. “That got his attention, I think.” I laughed, and then grew thoughtful. “Yes. But I needed it, too.” Of course, I literally needed the power of the Spirit to begin My ministry—but what I meant was that I had emotionally needed the open vision and the Father’s voice, too. After thirty years of obscurity, I had not doubted My identity per se, but the overt confirmation had certainly been a relief. Gabriel understood this. “That has always been the struggle,” Gabriel agreed. “Physical manifestations of power alert Satan to where the battle is.” Then he added, “He gave up for now, but he’ll be back, whenever he thinks You’re at Your most vulnerable. He’s like the Amalekites in that way.” I gave a short laugh, catching the reference to the tribe that had first attacked the Israelites in the wilderness by picking off the weak and stragglers among them. “Of course he is. The Amalekites got that strategy from him.” I sighed and mused to Myself, “I’ll have to be careful. Anything I say plainly or do in the natural realm is double-edged: he can see or hear it just as surely as those for whom it is intended. Which is why so many of the prophets spoke in mysteries and dark sayings.” Gabriel sank down to the ground beside Me, mimicking My posture with his arms around his knees. “He never understood any of the prophecies about You until it was too late,” the angel agreed. “Oh, he knew vaguely of course: Seed of Eve, line of Abraham, and that kind of thing—so he did his best to corrupt the earth, keep Abraham’s line barren until there were too many of them to bother with that strategy, and then kill or corrupt the Jews in general. But if he could have narrowed it down to Your exact line…” He shook his head. “Even at the time of Your birth, the best he could do was inspire Herod to kill all the babies two and under in Israel. He didn’t understand that—” “‘Out of Egypt I have called My Son,’” I finished, quoting from Hosea. Gabriel nodded. “Right. He was looking for you in the wrong country. The truth was written in black and white—” “But in a dark saying,” I agreed, and bit My lip. I thought of David’s seemingly superfluous musical gift of the harp, which turned out to be his ticket into Saul’s palace. I, likewise, had a gift for story telling. Now I understood why. I looked up at Gabriel. “I am to teach the people in parables,” I realized. “So that ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding’…” “Except for those whose hearts have been prepared to perceive and to understand,” Gabriel agreed. “By My cousin.” I gave a short laugh, and then sighed. “Even then, I’ll have to be careful what I say. He’ll be watching Me very closely from now on.” Gabriel stood and brushed himself off, which was also My cue that it was time to head back to Capernaum. “Yes,” he said, “I daresay Satan won’t take his eyes off of You for a second, from this moment on.”

View Details

San Diego-based Joy Stephenson-Laws is a wellness warrior! She is the founder of LA-based Proactive Health Labs (pH Labs), a national nonprofit health information company that provides education and tools needed to achieve optimal health. She is also author of Minerals – The Forgotten Nutrient: Your Secret Weapon for Getting and Staying Healthy, and founding and managing partner of Stephenson, Acquisto & Colman (SAC), the health care industry’s premier litigation law firm established in 1989. pH Labs’ includes a diverse team of health care professionals who are experts in making complex health and health-related topics easy-to-understand and easy to apply to your daily lives.

To learn more about Joy, see her website: pHlabs.org

View Details

Krzysztof Czeczot is a Polish actor, director, and producer. Krzysztof has produced over 400 hours of dramatized audiobooks, among others: Game of Thrones, The Godfather and Blade Runner. He is a winner of The Best European Audio Play and the founder and director of the Audio Bible Super Production, a one of a kind ecumenical project. It’s the world's largest 3D radio drama with Hollywood A-list artists, including some of the most famous names in business, has its own dedicated music and background sounds recorded in the Holy Land, and will be available on a modern mobile app. To top it all off, anyone has a chance to participate and share their voice. Apart from professional actors, they invite people from different walks of life to take part in the production.

For more about the Audio Bible Super Production, visit audiobiblesuperproduction.com

View Details

Jane Wenning is a certified Medical Technologist with a degree in Clinical Laboratory Science. She is an Athletic Trainer, and Health Mentor who has been helping women improve their mental and physical health for over 20 years. During high school and college, she was overweight, struggled with eating disorders, had low self-esteem and brain fog. Obtaining a degree in Clinical Laboratory Science and working with athletes, Jane merged these two worlds together to create a structured wellness plan focused on four pillars – Recovery, Emotional Energy, Nutrition, and Movement. Outside of her degree she has spent hundreds of hours learning about nutrition, longevity, brain health, sleep, interval training, fasting, epigenetics and estrogenics. With daily reading of the bible she finds confirmation in God’s word that He wants us to live abundant, healthy lives. Jane now equips women (and some men) with the tools to transform into healthier and stronger versions of themselves to live life with vitality.

Jane's Contact Info:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jane.wenning.165

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jane-wenning-4-pillarshealth

Website: https://www.4-pillarshealth.com

View Details

Today's podcast is a meditation on and retelling of John 2:1-11.

This retelling comes from Messiah: Biblical Retellings. The second book in this series is Daughters of Zion: Biblical Retellings.

Introduction Why was this Jesus’ first public miracle? It’s clear he didn’t actually intend it to be. He tried to tell Mary no, and that his time had not yet come, but Mary insisted. Presumably these were close friends of hers, and she was embarrassed for the host that they had run out of wine. She also knew Jesus could help, which is remarkable in itself. Up until this point, Jesus had been baptized by John in power, but he had not yet done any miracles. Mary surely knew that he could do miracles as the Messiah, but it’s remarkable that she had the faith that he would, even after he told her no and he never had before. It was her faith that made this one happen: she actually ignored his ‘no’ and told the servants to go ahead and do whatever Jesus said to do. What must they have thought, when they knew they’d filled up the vessels with just water, and then brought them to the master of ceremonies to taste? Were they snickering amongst themselves? Were they wondering what they would say as explanation? After Jesus was baptized by John and anointed with the Holy Spirit, he had the powerto do miracles. Satan tempted him in the wilderness to do miraculous signs to prove who he was to himself, since he had never yet performed any miracles. Satan wanted Jesus to doubt his identity. So when Jesus was beginning to literally starve after 40 days with no food, and Satan tempted him to turn a stone into bread, a necessity for himself—and he resisted. Yet now, when Mary wants him to turn water into wine—a luxury for others, he does it. Not only does he do it, he makes up to 180 gallons of it! It takes 5 normal sized bottles of wine to make a gallon, so this is 900 bottles of apparently exquisite wine. No matter how big this wedding, that’s way more than they could ever drink, even with a marriage celebration that went on for days. He continues this theme of abundance throughout his ministry: in the feeding of both the 5000 and the 4000, there was far more left over than he started with. When Jesus told Peter and his partners to cast their nets on the other sides of the boat, there were so many fish that the boats began to sink. He is a God of more than enough. Moses’ first miracle under the Covenant of Law was to turn a rod into a serpent (a symbol of sin). Jesus’ first miracle as the bringer of the New Covenant of Grace is to produce an excess of wine (a symbol of joy) for a celebration. This reminds me of the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut 16:9-15): in both cases, the people are to take a portion of what he has blessed them with and enjoy it themselves—all God asks is that they invite Him to the party. He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8). Fictionalized Retelling: from Mary's POV Deborah had been one of my dearest friends since the earliest days of my marriage to Joseph. She and her husband Zev had thought they were barren for many years, before the birth of their daughter Yasmin. Later they had two boys too, but Yasmin was the princess of the family. I watched her grow up with my own children, and loved her like one of my own. When Joseph passed away, her family and ours grew even closer. Zev cared for me like I was one of his own sisters, though my sons were old enough to take care of me then. Alas for Yasmin, though, her parents were too poor for much of a dowry, and she was never a beauty. When she reached eighteen with no marriage prospects, Deborah privately cried with me that perhaps Yasmin would never marry. What would she do in her old age, once her parents were not around to provide for her anymore? “Her brothers will no doubt provide for her,” I soothed my friend, though inwardly my heart broke for Yasmin, too. Yasmin did not let on, but I knew how it must hurt her not to be chosen, and how she must fear growing old without a family of her own. So when she met Tobias, a poor merchant’s son who seemed to see in her what all of us saw, we held our breaths… until the day finally came, when Tobias approached Zev for the Shiddukin, or commitment. When Zev asked Yasmin privately if she would consent to become Tobias’s wife, Deborah told me that Yasmin had burst into happy tears on the spot, choking out her yes with so much emotion that they could hardly understand her. I had been present for Yasmin’s Erusin, or betrothal ceremony to Tobias. I thought my face might split, I was grinning so hard as she and Tobias traded the wine goblet under the huppah. Betrothals typically lasted a year, and Tobias would need that long to prepare a place for his bride. From nine months after that day on, Yasmin kept her oil lamps burning in the house twenty-four seven, in case Tobias sounded the shofar and led the bridal procession to collect her in the night. I knew that Deborah and Zev privately fretted about this, since they could not really afford that much oil. But they dared not deny their girl this little luxury, after all she had suffered. The oil became a problem when nine months turned into a year, and twelve months became fifteen. Zev finally told Yasmin they could not afford to continue burning the oil lamps. Deborah told me of the tears that followed, and I understood why. Yasmin was not crying because she was denied the oil for the lamps. The oil lamps symbolized her hope that Tobias would ever return, and her hope was dwindling. Had he changed his mind? Would he return at all? So when the shofar sounded in the streets of Cana after a seventeen month betrothal, the entire town turned up to celebrate the Nissuin. We all loved Yasmin, Deborah, and Zev. I was relieved that Jesus had just returned home in time, as well: he had been baptized in the river Jordan and then went off into the wilderness for forty days, though I did not know how long he would be gone. He had made it clear to me that he would not necessarily share with me all the details of where and when he would be going from this point forward. I understood the significance of what he was saying. Since his very unusual birth, I had anticipated the day he would step into his role as the Messiah. I wanted to ask him what had happened in the wilderness, but he happened to arrive on day three of the Nissuin, at which point there was such hubbub and commotion that I could hardly ask him anything. He also arrived with a group of several men I had never seen before, orienting themselves around him like disciples. I beamed at my son and waved at him across the way when Deborah intercepted me, all aflutter. My face fell as I focused on my friend, and for one wild second, I thought, what crisis now? “We are out of wine!” she gasped. “It’s only the third day, and we are out of wine!” I understood what she meant immediately. It was considered shameful to run out of wine at all, let alone on day three. Although wedding guests typically helped to pay for the seven day wedding feast of Nissuin, none of our friends were wealthy people. There was no one to whom they could appeal for help. “This is because of the excess of oil burning all those months?” I guessed, and Deborah gave me a tearful nod. I bit my lip, and looked back at Jesus, then at Deborah again. “Leave it to me,” I whispered with determination, and crossed the room. I grinned and hugged my son, but when I got close enough to his ear I whispered pointedly, “They have no more wine.” When Jesus released me, I saw that he scrutinized my face with a slight frown. “What does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I know about the dove from heaven,” I whispered back, referencing the rumors I had heard about the voice that had declared Jesus’ identity when John baptized him in the river. “You’ve stepped into your ministry now. You even have disciples. If Elijah and Elisha could both multiply oil and flour, I know you can do this! Besides, it’s Yasmin!” I insisted. “She’s practically your sister…” I saw that Jesus was about to protest again, so I turned away before I could hear it, gesturing at the servants nearby. I pointed them to Jesus. “Whatever he says to you, do it,” I instructed them, turning back to Jesus. I might have worn a slightly triumphant expression. He returned a mock glare, but the corners of his mouth turned upward. I knew I’d won. With a slight sigh, Jesus turned to the servants and pointed at six enormous empty waterpots used for ritual purification. “Go and fill the waterpots with water,” he instructed. I saw the servants frown at each other skeptically, but I reminded them, “Do it!” They shrugged, and went to do as they were told. It took two men to carry each filled pot back to Jesus, since they held about thirty gallons each, sloshing water over the edges as they carried them. When they returned, Jesus nodded at them and said, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” The servants at first did nothing. One finally echoed, “Take him some… water.” Jesus returned the look I knew so well: that unblinking quiet confidence that said he meant just what he said, and wasn’t going to change his mind. The servant shrugged and said, “Well, okay then…” and dipped a goblet into the water. Then he looked down into the goblet and started. He looked back up at Jesus, then down at the goblet, then up at Jesus again. Jesus’ expression had not changed, though there might have been just a twinge more amusement. I smiled at Jesus with gratitude, but hurried after the two servants. They brought the goblet to Tobias’s father Uri, acting master of the feast. Uri was tipsy already, and gave a loud and cheerful “Hey!” when he saw that the servants had brought him another goblet of wine. He raised it to his lips, though his attention was elsewhere. All three of us watching eagerly for his reaction. He raised his eyebrows, lifted the goblet to his nose, sniffed it, and swirled it before bringing it to his lips again. Then he looked first to the servants, then to Deborah in amazement. He beckoned his son to him across the room, and Tobias came trotting over. “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” he cried out, clapping the boy on his back and drinking a long draught from the goblet. “Well done!” Tobias turned to us, looking confused. I giggled, and gestured to the servant. “Bring the bridegroom a goblet too!” I told them. “Bring me one as well!” They did so, whispering excitedly among themselves. Many of the guests turned to Jesus after they had no doubt heard the story, with expressions ranging from skepticism to amazement. Tobias shared his goblet with Yasmin, who went to Jesus to thank him. In minutes, the story had traversed the room, and the people swarmed Jesus, wanting to know if it was true. I could just see him through the crowd that now surrounded him, and I raised my goblet in the air to him in a silent toast. “To my son,” I whispered to myself. “The Messiah.”

View Details

Barbara Samuels is an international speaker, transformational wellness coach, CEO, and life strategist. She operates a successful lifestyle coaching company "Living All Alive", that empowers individuals to take control of their health and reverse type 2 diabetes, and she is the author of the book, Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally.

Barbara has over 27 years’ experience working in the field of nursing as a registered nurse. Her experience in this field spanned on two continents. She has worked in England, Jamaica, and the United states. During her time as a nurse, she was deeply grieved as she witnessed the pain/suffering and untimely death of her patients from type 2 diabetes complications.

She knew there must be more that she could do. She wanted to have a greater impact, and so she decided to become actively engaged in improving the health of others through education and wellness coaching. She left the hospital setting and has been making a major impact in helping to restore the lives of individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Barbara is married with 3 children. She is passionate about sharing the gospel, through avenues of health and wellness. Barbara’s mission is to help others live and experience the abundant life that they were created to have, enjoying all the blessings that God has for them.

For more about Barbara, see her website, Living All Alive, or find her on Instagram @LivingAllAlive.

For more on our sponsor, Let's Get Checked. go to trylgc.com/cnh, and enter the coupon code CNH20 for 20% off your order.

View Details

Introduction Shinar was in what is now modern day Iraq. The land of Babylon got its name from the Tower of Babel, so named because the Hebrew word Bāḇel means confusion. Presumably the etymology of the English word babble comes from its Hebrew equivalent. It’s interesting what is not in the text in this story. The people of the earth built a fortified city and a tower, intending for it to reach up to heaven. We know from God’s reaction that what they did was somehow evil, but there’s nothing inherently evil in building a city or a tower. What was the problem? I think the clue is in the phrase, “…a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Remember that this was only one hundred (and one) years after the flood—Noah and his sons were still alive. Could the point have been that their descendants were trying to protect themselves against a future act of God, even though He had already promised He would never again send a flood upon the earth? Was the problem that they were trusting in their own might and seeking their own glory, leaning on “their own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5-6)? Did the tower up to the heavens imply that they saw themselves as equal with God? Ultimately I think the issue was pride—and the fact that, left unchecked, the people might actually achieve their ends. God had to intervene once more; He had to make sure that the people of the earth did not once again become corrupted beyond redemption, beyond the point where He could bring forth a savior. The fact that He went about it by confusing their language is profound, though. He said, “the people are one and they have one language, and… now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech” (Genesis 11:6-7). What a powerful statement about the power both of the tongue (Proverbs 12:14), and of agreement of vision and purpose! The Hebrew word for “nothing they propose to do” is zāmam, translated elsewhere as devise, imagine, or plot. We do nothing without first imagining or considering it, conceiving it in our minds. In the same way, the writer of Proverbs tells us to guard our hearts (or our minds or imaginations), “for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23), and “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). First comes the thought; then comes the word, and this translates into the deed or the action itself. We are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27), and God spoke the world into being (Genesis 1:3). In the same way, our words have great power (Proverbs 18:21). When God saw that the descendants of Noah used this power to pursue their own ends and to forget Him, He dealt with it by confusing their language. He could not change their thoughts without violating their free will, so He intervened at a later stage in the process. Their words, lacking understanding, also lost the power of the unity of vision. Even with the loss of a huge percentage of his workers, Nimrod son of Cush, the son of Ham still went on to found Babylon, Assyria, and Nineveh, as well as many other cities (Genesis 10:8-12). Imagine what he could have done had they maintained the unity of language! In the same way, think of all the seemingly impossible advances in knowledge, understanding, and technology that have occurred even within our own lifetimes. All of these began as an idea, an imagination, a vision—which were subsequently communicated to others who caught the vision and could then add their own skills in pursuit of a common purpose. God Himself said of this process, “now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (Genesis 11:6). What a statement! What incredible power He has given to mankind, to use for good or ill. I also find it interesting that while this initial incident of producing different tongues divided and scattered mankind across the globe, Pentecost had the exact opposite effect: the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the church united those who had been divided by language in a common purpose and vision (Acts 2:1-12). The Lord brought men together with the supernatural understanding of one another’s languages, and as a result, the church swelled from one hundred and twenty people (Acts 1:15) to over three thousand in a single day (Acts 2:41). What struck me most about this story was that Noah was still alive at the time—in fact, he lived for another 150 years after this (Genesis 9:28). I’d never thought of that before. Everyone on earth at the time would have been family to him: his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. How did the patriarch let this happen? How did his descendants go astray only one century after the flood? And how awful for him to essentially lose much of his family when they could no longer communicate with one another. It wasn’t like they could just pick up the Rosetta Stone and learn; this was the advent of all the new languages of the earth. Even if there existed a written alphabet for the original language they all spoke, there certainly wasn’t one yet for any of the new languages. So those who shared a language in common presumably migrated together to found new nations with their new tongues (Genesis 11:8). Fictionalized Retelling: Preincarnate Jesus' Perspective I looked down at the earth and frowned. It was desolate, compared to the lush world before the flood one hundred years earlier. The earth had given forth its fruit and prospered in the last hundred years, but it was nothing to what it had been before. The temperate climate I had intended, and the tropical forests and glades spanning the globe had now become predominately ocean, desert nearer the equator, and tundra toward the poles. Still, My intention was for Noah’s descendants to repopulate the inhabitable portions of the earth, such as it was. That was not what they were doing. There were just over ten thousand of them now. I had kept my covenant with Noah simple. I needed a nation of those whose hearts would follow Me before going into detail about morality, to both teach them that they needed the Seed of Eve to come and redeem them, and to keep them pure enough that He could come at all. They weren’t there yet. In fact to start, I needed one man whose heart toward me was pure. That was why I frowned upon the earth now. I had given my vow to Noah that never again would I wipe out the earth’s entire population, and yet here they were only a century later, already challenging that resolution. “We told them to fill the earth and subdue it,” the Father observed to Me. “Yet they have all settled in Shinar, and the rest of the earth remains uninhabited.” “Yes, and see what they are doing,” the Spirit growled. “They are building a great city, with a temple to reach to heaven. Nimrod thinks he is God.” “Satan heard the covenant too, that we would never again destroy the earth in a flood,” I murmured. “He thinks that means if he corrupts mankind again, there will be nothing We can do to stop him.” The Father sighed. “If mankind can only get past this stage without complete corruption, and give Us something to work with—” “Where is Noah?” I groaned. I knew the answer, but expressed my frustration. Noah was their patriarch, the eldest man of the earth and the father of them all, at over seven hundred years of age. Yet he had said nothing to hinder the rebellion of his descendants, or to remind them of Us. He had grown complacent. He had Our promise, repeated several times per year in the heavens after each rainfall, that We would never again destroy the earth in that way again. We had not explained to him Our ultimate purpose. We had not explained that he and all mankind had an enemy that longed to keep Us from bringing the Seed that would ultimately redeem them. He would not have understood if We had. So he watched as his grandchildren and great-grandchildren grew ambitious for their own legacy upon the earth, and forgot Us. He was actually even proud of their accomplishments. He did not think to warn them. He too was blinded. We would have to get involved once again, since We lacked a man upon the earth to do it for Us. Yet We would need to do it without destruction, abiding by the rules of Our own covenant with Noah. “I will go,” I announced, “and see this city and tower which the children of men have built.” So I descended from heaven to the land of Shinar, deliberately obscuring My radiance so that they would not know Me. I walked about the city incognito, like a stranger to those parts, dismayed at what I saw. Under the direction of Nimrod, son of Cush, all of the men of the land worked together toward Nimrod’s common vision. They had developed bricks and mortar, just like men had done before the flood, and had used them to create a sprawling city. At its center was a ziggurat, built with successive layers and a tower at the center which reached halfway to the sky. With an intricate system of pulleys, the people of Shinar continued to pile layer upon layer to the tower, with a spiral staircase on the inside so that they could still climb to the top. They worked well together. Too well. “In and of itself, the tower is not evil,” I murmured to the Spirit, who was with Me, but invisible to the men around us. “No,” He agreed, “but what is the motive for building it?” This was rhetorical, but I answered anyway. “The people have become great in their own eyes, convinced they can accomplish anything they wish, without Us.” “To a large degree they are correct,” He replied, pensive. “They are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be impossible for them.” I sighed, and made My way to the center of the ziggurat beside the tower, where Nimrod and his family lived. From there, he gave orders to all of his sons and nephews and cousins who built the tower with him. I frowned, listening and observing, until he had a moment of reprieve between the giving of orders. “You are in charge of this land?” I asked him. Nimrod looked at Me, narrowed his eyes, and sniffed with disdain. “Whose son are you? I do not recall.” “God’s son,” I told him. He gave Me an odd look followed by a little sneer. “Mmm, aren’t we all.” “Yes, though it seems you have forgotten it,” I said. “What is the purpose of this great city and the tower you have built?” He regarded Me again, as if deciding whether or not to dismiss Me. But, not willing to give up an opportunity to boast, he replied, “My grandfather, and probably Your great-grandfather, saw the earth destroyed in a great flood. This was only possible because the people had not fortified themselves against such disaster. We shall not make such a mistake.” I arched a brow at him. “You think that your ziggurat would save you against the hand of God, should He decide to destroy this generation?” Nimrod puffed out his chest. “Yes,” he declared. “My grandfather Ham told me that the flood waters rose above the peaks of the highest mountain of the earth. My tower shall reach higher than that, up to the very heavens themselves!” I considered telling Nimrod to ask Ham, or Noah, how it really was when the fountains of the deep broke open. The very idea that this ziggurat or its tower would have survived that was laughable. But it did not matter; Nimrod would not hear it, and the point was moot anyway. “You do recall the Lord’s covenant with Noah that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood,” I said. “Why fortify yourself against a disaster which shall never recur?” “Ah,” Nimrod’s mouth curled at the edges. “Perhaps not a flood, but there are other kinds of disasters, are there not? This fortress would withstand a cyclone, or an earthquake, or a volcano, or a rebellion—whatever disaster may befall, my great name shall live on in the earth. My descendants shall still speak of me for thousands of generations to come.” “So your goal is your own glory, then,” I concluded. He shrugged. “Mine and that of my children after me. My glory is their glory. Why am I still talking to You? Get back to work!” I regarded him, and then murmured, “You have fortified yourself and your children against physical destruction, yes. But there is a kind of disaster that you cannot guard against, which shall destroy your best laid plans and bring them all to nothing.” He sneered. “‘Awh nem, wama hdha?” He blinked, confused, and then suddenly frightened. He clapped a hand over his mouth. “Madha faealt bi?” he demanded. “I have confused your language,” I informed him, though I knew he would no longer understand Me. “And not yours only. All around, you will find that your workers no longer understand one another. A few will share each tongue, and those few shall become tribes unto themselves, and will scatter together across the globe—” “Madha faealt bi?” Nimrod wailed, lunging at Me. I casually raised a hand as if to deflect him, and lifted the veil from his eyes so that he could behold My true form. His eyes widened, and he collapsed to the ground in terror as My glory radiated all around him. I left him like that, groveling on the ground, as I strolled down the stairs of the ziggurat, joined by the Spirit as the cacophony of new tongues erupted all around Us. They shouted at one another now, as if that would help. Halfway down the ziggurat, We caught sight of the seven hundred year old Noah, and his son Japheth. I felt a pang of sorrow as Japheth shouted at his father, “Miért nem tudsz megérteni engem?” Noah shook his hoary head with dismay, as he at last realized that this was no joke. “I’ve lost my children,” he moaned to himself. “I’ve lost them forever—” He raised his eyes to Me then, and though I had again resumed My cloaked appearance, he knew Me. “We have forgotten You,” he whispered. “So you’ve made their language like the babbling of a baby to me.” “This is a mercy, not a punishment,” I told him gently. “Just as it was when We expelled Adam and Eve from the garden so that they could not take of the tree and live forever in their fallen state. Left unchecked, Nimrod and all your family in unity against Me would have corrupted the earth, just as surely as did the Nephilim.” “Have you left me anyone at all?” Noah choked. “Shem, Arphaxad, and his children retain your language,” I murmured, laying a hand on his shoulder. “You will journey together with them to the land of Ur of the Chaldeans, together with their wives and children.” “What of Nimrod?” he asked me. “And Shinar?” “Nimrod will remain here, of course, along with all those who share his language. But he now has less than a tenth of the men he had before. He will continue to build here, and then will move on to construct the beginnings of other mighty nations. Your great-grandson will yet be great upon the earth, though not the absolute ruler he had imagined himself.” Noah covered his face with his hands, and I allowed him to fall into step beside Us. He looked back at the ziggurat once we had descended to the earth with one last look of sorrow, the unintelligible shouts mingling together in an angry, distant din. “Nimrod had called it the Tower of Shinar,” he murmured. “But hereafter I will call it the Tower of Babel.”

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: Excitotoxins, MSG and Aspartame.

View Details

Today's meditation is on Luke 18:1-8, the Parable of the Unjust Judge (or the parable of the persistent widow)

View Details

Denise Sultenfess lives in Maryland with her husband on the family farm where they raise grass-fed and grain-finished beef, wool sheep, and organic laying hens and grow organic herbs and cut flowers. She has six children, all grown and on their own except her caboose kid who is 14. Twelve years ago, Denise received a diagnosis of acute Lyme disease. She battled the illness for a decade. In 2018, she eradicated the disease through a skilfully curated integrative Lyme protocol which she continues today. Denise is a writer and is a faith-based certified integrative health and wellness coach who helps women with a health crisis or challenge build new habits and overcome obstacles so they can live life from a place of wholeness.

Learn more about Denise at denisesultenfess.com

Our sponsor info is trylgc.com/cnhomega, and enter the coupon code CNH20 for 20% off your order.

View Details

Today's podcast is a meditation on 1 John 5:14-15: "And this is the confidence we have in Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we asked of Him."

View Details

Teresa Shields Parker has lost more than 250 pounds, more important she is keeping it off. Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds is her sixth and most powerful book. She leads Overcomers Academy, a Christian weight loss group, that has numerous courses available to members. She also loves doing one-on-one freedom coaching. With more than 40 years of experience as a journalist and publisher, Teresa lives in Columbia, MO with her husband, Roy, where they are active in their local church. They have two grown children and have also been foster parents to 10 behaviorally and developmentally challenged young adults.

Learn more at teresashieldsparker.com, get her free ebook What Is a Stronghold? here, or get her book Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds here. Her podcast is called Sweet Grace for Your Journey.

Our sponsor today is trylgc.com/cnhthyroid, and enter the coupon code CNH20 for 20% off your order.

View Details

As mentioned, Messiah: Biblical Retellings is here. Daughters of Zion: Biblical Retellings is here. Covenants: Biblical Retellings is coming soon.

Introduction:

I put the story of Job in a book about covenants, even though God never makes a covenant with Job, because I believe the only way to properly interpret the events in the story is within the context of the covenants that did (and did not) exist at the time. Most scholars place the story of Job after the flood and before Abraham’s covenant with God in Genesis 12. This means that the only covenant Job had with God are those of Adam and Noah. When Adam sinned and obeyed Satan, God was left on the outside of the world He had made, looking in—like a landlord whose tenants had turned Him out. Satan was now the god (little g) of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). While God had promised to bring the promised Seed of Eve (Genesis 3:15), He would need a people willing to more or less play by His rules in order to do so, and then the cooperation of generations of prophets to speak Him into existence. He hadn’t gotten that far yet. Job is a righteous man, and so clearly favored by God that Satan takes notice. It’s actually God’s blessings that paint a target on Job’s back. While Satan of course comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10), in this story he does so not for the sheer pleasure of it, but to prove his point to God, almost as if in a courtroom drama. He aims to establish that our love for God is contingent upon God’s blessings. If Satan can establish this for the most righteous man on earth at the time, it would follow that the same is true for all the rest of us. In Job 1, God brings up Job to Satan before Satan mentions him, which seems to indicate that it was God who placed Job in Satan’s crosshairs. But God is omniscient, and Satan’s immediate rejoinder showed that Satan was already thinking about Job. I suspect God just knew what Satan was thinking and cut to the chase. Many translations of Job have it that God “allowed” Satan’s attack against Job, which would seem to make God complicit in Job’s misery. But the context of the covenants in place at the time indicates that God allowed it only in the loosest sense of the word. Job lived at a time when God had not yet established a reciprocal covenantal protection for His people. God had to allow Satan’s request, even though He hated it. Did He have the power to refuse Satan? Technically yes, but He did not have the authority to do so—because He had given that authority to man in the garden. Man, in turn, had given it to Satan. At that point, Satan became the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) and the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). By nature, all of Adam’s descendants were slaves of Satan (Ephesians 2:3). So legally, Satan had the authority to do what he asked to do to Job. Had God refused, He would have violated the integrity of His word. The writer of Hebrews tells us that it is the integrity of God’s word that holds the very universe together (Hebrews 1:3). While in Job 2:3, God said to Satan, “You moved Me against him,” God only moved against Job in the sense that He withdrew the “hedge of protection” (Job 1:10) that He had placed around Job when Satan complained about it. Ecclesiastes 10:8 says, “whoso breaks a hedge, a serpent will bite him.” Without the hedge, the serpent had access to bite. Satan’s challenge put God in a very difficult position. Satan (meaning adversary in Hebrew) is only mentioned by name 18 times in the Old Testament, 14 of which are in the book of Job. He isn’t even mentioned as Satan in Genesis (maybe because he wasn’t the adversary yet—this was the story of how he became the adversary), or in Isaiah 14, where the story of his fall appears (there he is called Lucifer, meaning “Light Bringer”—his angelic name). As mentioned in the story, I suspect God did not warn mankind about Satan and his angels because there was nothing they could have done about them at this point in history anyway. Why tell someone they have a terrible, bloodthirsty enemy if they are powerless to avoid him? Would that not produce only terrible fear and paranoia, with no benefit? Yet because Job had no doctrine of Satan, that meant he had no context to explain his tragedy. He, and his three friends, believed calamity was a punishment for evil (which sometimes it is, according to the writers of Proverbs and Psalms). Since Job knew he had done nothing specifically wrong to warrant all of this, the only logical alternative in his paradigm was that God did this to him unjustly. Satan was counting on this, and counting on Job to curse God because of it, even though God was innocent. In Genesis, Satan essentially told Adam and Eve that God was holding out on them—that He didn’t truly love them. Job was the story of Satan doing the same thing to God: telling God that Job didn’t truly love Him. The adversary was busily trying to convince each side that they were not loved. It isn’t until the fourth friend Elihu finally speaks in Job 32 that Job (and the reader) learns there is a third option. Andrew Wommack argues that Elihu was the writer of the book of Job, because the rest of the book is written in the third person until Elihu begins to speak in Job 32:15, when he transitions to the first person. This is important for context, because it tells us which chapters we can rely upon as divinely inspired, and which are mere opinions of the speaker. God later rebukes most of what Job and his three friends say, so that leaves only Job 1, 2, and 32-42 as accurate theological representations, at least of what was happening at the time. Elihu informs Job in 33:12 that Job is not righteous. From the perspective of the New Covenant, we understand that “there is none righteous; no, not one” (Romans 3:10). While Job’s specific sin may not have occasioned this attack, the general sin of Adam, the covenant head of mankind, had rendered all of mankind unrighteous. But then comes the bombshell verse: Elihu prophesies that God is working to provide the savior! “If there is a messenger for him, a mediator, one among a thousand, to show man His uprightness, then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’… He will redeem his soul from going down to the Pit, and his life shall see the light” (33:23-28). Today, with the benefit of hindsight and the entire Bible, we have some ability to conceptualize what Job went through, but Job himself did not. He couldn’t read the first two chapters of Job, to learn that he had an enemy who was using him as a pawn to prove a cosmic point. He had no context to understand what God was doing behind the scenes. I think this is why God responded to Job the way He did. Explaining to a man in Job’s day about sin and the need for a savior to be born a man and die as a substitutionary sacrifice for all mankind would have been like trying to explain calculus to an ant. So instead, God’s approach was to remind Job of how much bigger He was than Job, and how little Job truly understood. Even though we can comprehend God’s predicament better than Job could have done, there is still much we don’t and cannot know. The message God gave Job—to magnify His glory and to trust His greater wisdom when He cannot give us a direct explanation—still applies to us today. Job’s initial responses to his tragedy in chapters 1 and 2 are often quoted by believers today as a godly response. He says, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21), and then the writer of the book says, “In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (Job 1:22). A popular worship song actually quotes this verse, holding it up as an example of how believers should respond to tragedy. But while Job did not sin in what he said, he was still incorrect. God was not the one who had taken from Job; that was Satan. God did remove the hedge of protection from Job, but only because He had no choice: Job had no covenant which would have given God a legal excuse to protect him. We do. The Law of Moses made provision for blessings and protection from the enemy for God’s people, so long as they followed His law. God warned them that He could not protect them if they ceased to follow His law and uphold their half of the covenant, though. Disobedience would allow Satan access to them in order to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). These blessings and curses are all laid out in Deuteronomy 28. In most of the Old Testament, there is no distinction between the curses God inflicts and those inflicted by Satan due to God removing the protection of the covenant from His people—but again, I suspect this was because in the Old Testament, there was essentially no doctrine of Satan at all. That’s part of why Job is so fascinating: it gives us insight into the real chain of causality in Heaven. God was “responsible” only insofar as He withdrew His protection and blessing, and He did that much only when His hand was forced. It was never what He wanted to do. He is a good God! Even the curses of the law of Moses no longer apply to us today. Jesus followed the law perfectly, fulfilling it on our behalf (Matthew 5:17). He became a curse for us, redeeming us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Now all that is left are the blessings for those who are in Christ Jesus. Accordingly, Satan’s name changed from the Old Testament to the New. Satan meant accuser, but in the New Testament Greek, he is referred to as diabolos, meaning false accuser. He could legally accuse us to God before Jesus came, but no more! There are no modern day Jobs. God can now protect and bless those of us who have accepted His New Covenant, ratified by the blood of Jesus. Praise the Lord! Even in this time before covenantal protection, it’s helpful to place in Job’s tragedy in context. Job 3-42 takes place all in one day. The whole book covers a little over a week in Job’s life. He still lost his children and his servants, a lasting tragedy—but after this trial, God restored everything to Job so that he was twice as great as he had been to begin with (Job 42:10-17). He had the same number of children (seven sons and three daughters) restored, his daughters were known as beauties throughout the land (Job 42:15), and he lived another 140 years afterwards. God restored the years the locusts had eaten (Joel 2:25). (Side note: what are the behemoth and the leviathan mentioned by God in Job 40 and 41? To me, the former sounds like an herbivorous dinosaur, such as a brontosaurus (Job 40:15-24) while the latter sounds like a mythical dragon. It even apparently breathed fire (Job 41:18-21). This is why I had Noah take some of the dinosaurs onto the ark with him in my retelling: it appears they did survive the flood, at least. Also, particularly in Revelation, Satan is referred to as a dragon. I decided to give him the idea of taking that form as he listened to God wax poetic about how magnificent a creature it was.) Fictionalized Retelling, from Satan's POV: This was Round Three: me against God. My first strategy was a raging success. Adam simply handed me his authority on the earth—it was almost too easy. God cursed the serpent for it, but what was that to me? I wasn’t the serpent; I’d just borrowed its body for awhile. The only part that bothered me was that Seed of Eve business. I didn’t understand what that meant, but I felt like it was important somehow. Presumably it required a human descendant of the line of Eve, though, whatever else it meant. So in Round Two, using the proverbial carrot of Adam’s authority, I enticed a third of God’s angel army to follow me to earth. My once glorious beauty had become shriveled and warped since my expulsion from the garden, but they crossed over into earth in all their godlike majesty. The daughters of men were helpless before them. So the earth swelled with their demigod progeny, perpetuating down through the generations until contamination of God’s original bloodline was almost complete. Until that damn flood. I never saw that coming. Since the flood waters had receded and repopulation of the earth had commenced, I’d prowled the earth, gnashing my teeth and looking for another opportunity to strike. I corrupted Ham’s progeny with my fallen angels once again, but it was halfhearted this time. I already knew God would not allow me to pollute the entire human race with defiled blood, so what was the point? There was some inherent value in corrupting, maiming, and killing those He loved, though, because it hurt Him. That was always the real goal; they didn’t matter to me one way or the other. I’d have completely ignored them, except for the fact that He loved them. But what I needed now was another master stroke that would enable me to win the whole human race; not just pick them off one at a time. As I prowled the earth in my own dimension, a curious flaming hedge drew my attention. It would have been strange enough to see a self-perpetuating wall of flame in the earthly dimension, but what in the world could it be doing in mine? I crept up close, and tested it with my finger, crying out as it singed my withered flesh. Instinctively I shoved my fingers in my mouth to tend the burn. Then I peered through the wall as best I could, ignoring the heat and trying to understand its purpose. It reminded me of the two angels God had placed on every side of the Tree of Life, with their flaming swords. They, too, were in the spiritual dimension. God clearly sent this wall—but why? Inside the hedge, I saw a man, his household, and the houses of presumably his progeny. The man, whom the servants called Job, seemed middle-aged by the standards of the day, around sixty years old. He also appeared to be fabulously wealthy: I crept around the perimeter of the wall of flame and counted seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a large retinue of servants. He also had seven grown sons and three grown daughters—who, I noted, took turns holding feasts in their homes daily for all their other siblings. They indulged themselves, and worked very little, as children of wealthy men are wont to do. Their behavior seemed to bother Job, who daily offered ten burnt sacrifices, one for each of his children, after each feast. Huh, I thought to myself, tapping my fingers against my chin and narrowing my eyes as I peered through the hedge. Then a slow smile curled my lips as I understood several things at once. Job was a righteous man. God loved him. God loved all his ridiculous creatures, of course, but He prized Job, because Job loved Him back, unlike most of them. Because of this, God had blessed Job hand over fist, on every side. The hedge of fire was in my dimension because God was protecting Job—from me. But that was illegal. By God’s own decree, He gave the earth to Adam, and all of Adam’s progeny after him. Adam obeyed me, and therefore, it was mine. I had the authority to afflict any man I chose, yet God saw fit to use His power to prevent me from doing so! I saw my strategy. God’s angels, those who still served Him, presented themselves before His throne in Heaven daily to receive their assignments. That day, I joined the queue. I went there as little as possible, as the sight of Heaven’s bounty, God’s glory, and the beauty of those who still served Him made me writhe inwardly. At last I got to the front of the line. Since I had received my new form after my expulsion from the garden, I could no longer look directly at God—He was too radiant. Instead I was forced to slink forward, bent double, with my head down. It was humiliating. “From where do you come?” boomed the voice of the one on the throne. “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it,” I answered. Even my voice, once so resonant and lovely, now came out like a snivel—particularly in the massive and spectacular halls of the throne room. I could feel God’s penetrating gaze piercing through my thoughts, though I could not look directly into His face. He already knew exactly why I was here. “Have you set your heart against My servant Job?” He demanded. Then His voice softened, like a lover waxing poetic about His beloved. “There is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man. One who fears Me and shuns evil.” I sneered, “Does Job fear You for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. Stretch out Your hand and remove the wall of fire, that I might touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” God was silent for a long moment. I risked a glance up at Him, and immediately regretted it, as the sight of Him seared. Then He heaved a great sigh, and said, “Behold, all that Job has is already in your power. Only do not lay a hand on his person.” “Ha!” I gloated, clapping my hands together and vanishing at once. I was eager to get out of Heaven anyway. I went straight to Job’s estate, and laughed and danced when I saw that indeed, the hedge of protection was gone. I had free reign! I prowled closer, to the home of one of Job’s children. It was the middle of the day, and all ten of them were in there eating and drinking like lazy gluttons. I tapped my chin with my fingers, musing how I might go about this. I could personally appear and wipe out everything Job owned… but if Job knew that I was responsible for his misfortune, that would defeat my whole purpose. He would be miserable, yes, but what did I care about that? I wanted Job to blame God for his tragedies, and to curse Him to His face. I wanted to prove to God that Job only loved Him for His gifts, not for Himself. So I needed to be crafty. Fortunately, that was my specialty. I roamed a short distance away and found a band of Sabean warriors. I could always use them to my advantage with little prompting. They were greedy, vicious, and bored, and I had trained them well to consider plunder and murder as the only antidote to boredom. So I whispered in the ears of the leaders, and led them straight to Job’s property, where the oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them. I watched with glee as they stole the animals, and relished the screams of Job’s servants as the Sabeans put them to the sword. This wasn’t even necessary—the servants feared the Sabeans and would not have fought them. The Sabeans slaughtered for the rush of it. It was utterly delicious. I caused the Sabean’s eyes to pass over one of the servants in the group, and whispered into that servant’s ear, “Go and tell your master what you have seen.” It was all the incentive he needed; he ran off in wild terror, as if I myself ran after him. But would a human raid cause Job to blame God? I mused. No. I needed something more supernatural. Humans called natural disasters ‘acts of God,’ which I thought was just fantastic—they didn’t know who was actually in charge here. Maybe more than one type of disaster, I decided, just in case he might otherwise think it was a coincidence. Even though Job had sheep and camels and more servants, I whispered in the Sabean chief’s ear that they were satisfied, and they rode off with their spoils. Next, I observed the hills where the sheep roamed. I sauntered over to them, and spooked them so that they all ran in the direction of the barn where the servants were. I needed them all in one place. Then I snapped my fingers. A bolt of lightning fell from the sky, setting the barn ablaze. The sheep and servants who had not been hit or already consumed began to flee, so I summoned another bolt and another, until only one servant ran helter-skelter down the hill to tell Job what he had witnessed. Perfect, I thought, rubbing my hands together. Job would have to blame God for that… but quite frankly, lightning wasn’t as fun as watching humans murder each other. What was it about murder? Was it the betrayal? That moment of utter hatred in the victim before the slaughter? Hmm… The Sabeans had already taken off, but the Chaldeans weren’t far away. I whispered in their ears that there was a cache of camels nearby, if they would only follow me. The leader separated his men into three bands, to sneak up on the remaining servants. Then with a war cry, swords drawn, they descended en masse, capturing the beasts and spilling every drop of human blood, save one. Once more, I protected a single servant, who set out at a run for his master, to share yet more awful news. “So,” I mused aloud once all was silent again, “Job is a pauper now, and it’s not even mid-afternoon. Now for the last and best blow…” I roamed back to the house where I had seen his gluttonous children. They had conveniently all gathered in the same place. One more ‘act of God,’ I thought—though not lightning again. I wanted to make very sure Job knew this was intentional. I prowled around the structure, observing its foundations. They weren’t particularly strong. A normal storm wouldn’t take them out, but if I sent a wind against each wall from all four directions, that should do it. Also, it had the added benefit of peculiarity. Normal wind blew in one direction or another, or at most, in a cyclone. A perfect hit on all four sides, though—that could only be God. In Job’s mind, at least. I called upon three of my demonic allies, and stationed one on each side of the house. With the gust of our mouths, the four walls collapsed, killing the revelers within—all except one servant from inside. He crept terrified but unharmed from the rubble, and ran to his master to tell him of the tragedy. My three demons were too busy cackling with enjoyment at their destruction to notice my disappearance. I enjoyed the death of Job’s children—but I wanted to be there when all four messengers reached Job. I wanted to hear and relish that moment when he cursed God. I appeared, brimful of delighted anticipation, beside the unsuspecting Job right at the moment that the first messenger reached him. Breathless, he burst out, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabean raided them and took them away—indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” I watched Job eagerly, my grin stretching wide at the look of horror on his face. He barely had time to process this before the second servant arrived. “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” I hooted at his choice of words. The fire of God! Job let out a cry of anguish and clamped his hand over his mouth. But it wasn’t over yet… the third messenger right right on his heels. “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” Job groaned and fell to his knees. I danced in place, so eager was I for the master stroke—here was the fourth messenger! He looked bedraggled, covered with soot from the rubble, and he gasped out, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” Job gave an indiscernible wail, and tore his robe in his grief. He lay there in a heap, weeping for some time. My anticipation waned, and I grew irritated. “Curse God, you fool!” I whispered in his ear. “Come on!” My whisper did seem to rouse him, and he staggered to his feet, finding a knife. I raised my eyebrows. This might be interesting… but no, he just used it to shave his head, wailing all the more as he did so. Where his hair fell to the ground, he then knelt—and worshipped God! “Naked I came from my mother’s womb,” he whispered, “and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” My jaw hung open. I could hardly process this. I’d succeeded in making Job think God had done this to him… yet he worshipped Him anyway? I let out a shriek of fury, and ran at Job, prepared to tear him limb from limb. But as I got close, I saw the wall of fire spring forth all around him—the same one I had seen around his property in the beginning. Lay not a hand on his person, God had said. I shrieked again. “That’s not fair!” I raged at the sky, “he’s mine by right!” For the next human day, I rampaged, inflicting wanton destruction on any creatures that came in my path, since I could not afflict the one I truly wished to harm. I could have demanded God remove the hedge around Job’s person, but even in my fury, I recognized that killing him would be pointless. Satisfying for a moment, but I’d have ultimately lost the challenge. But then in a sudden stroke of insight, I realized what I’d missed. “A-ha!” I cried aloud, and vanished. I reappeared in Heaven, doing my best to ignore the envy gnawing at me as I beheld all the beauty I had lost. I was here on a mission. I merged in the queue to enter God’s throne room, annoyed that I was forced to wait my turn. “From where do you come?” God asked when I reached the front of the line. Bent double, not looking at him, I slunk forward, my voice coming out in the whine I hated, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” God’s next words practically radiated with pride. “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears Me and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” I snarled, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and remove the hedge from around him. Let me touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” The One on the throne heaved a heavy sigh. “Behold, he is in your hand—” “I know he is, Your hedge is illegal! He’s mine!” “—but, spare his life,” God added. I was just about to tell God that He had no right to withhold even Job’s life from me—he was of the line of Adam and therefore he was mine if I wanted him, and we both knew it. But I bit my tongue. I reminded myself that taking Job’s life would not win me the contest. In fact, it would rather be an admission of defeat. I needed him to live, and fester in his misery, until he railed against God for his misfortune. “Very well,” I sniveled, and vanished. Job was right where I found him: robe torn, head shaved, mourning on the ground. I crept up as close to him as I had been before when the hedge of fire popped up around him—but there was none. “Ha!” I gloated, and poked Job in the cheek. Where I touched him, a deep, angry red boil appeared. Job gasped with the pain of it, and his hand flew to his cheek. “Yes!” I cried, and planted my hands all over his body, from head to toe. Job cried out in agony. But I afflicted him everywhere, across the backs of his legs and buttocks, to the soles of his feet. He could not sit, stand, kneel, sit, or lie down without pain. He would have no relief. “Curse Him!” I taunted Job. “Curse God!” Job rose to his feet, crying out with each step. His hands too were afflicted, but he managed to grab a piece of pottery. It was filled with ashes. He poured them on the ground, and then dashed the pot against the ground where it shattered. He took one of the shards, scraping the boils on his hands and arms to lance the pus and relieve the pressure. This, I knew, would create a new kind of burning pain, particularly as he was now sitting in a heap of ashes. Job scraped and wept—but no curse did he utter! I let out another howl of frustration. But then I turned around and saw Job’s wife approaching. I’d forgotten all about her. Her face was tear-stained, but I saw that her expression was hardened. I grinned, and slunk up behind her. “Tell Job to curse God,” I whispered. As if it had been her own idea, the shrew put her hands on her hips and demanded with scorn, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity?” Job said nothing, scraping and sniffling in the ash heap. “He ignores you, how dare he!” I whispered in her ear. “Job!” she snapped, now shrill. “Give it up! Curse God and die!” “Yes!” I crowed, pumping my fists in the air, as I watched Job, holding my breath. At last, as if in a dream, Job turned his disfigured face to her, and managed through infected lips, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” I stared at Job, dumbfounded. “NoooOOO!” I shrieked, grabbing fistfuls of my hair. I fell to the ground and began beating it with my fists. When I’d spent my rage, I regrouped. I needed to step up my game. Job had been the greatest of the men of the East, so word of his sudden misfortune spread fast. I made sure word got to three of his friends whom I knew well: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Job respected them and would therefore be likely to listen to them. Yet while they considered themselves religious, they didn’t truly know God at all. Moreover, they were were haughty, judgmental, and could not bear contradiction. This made them perfect for my purposes. Within a day of Job’s affliction, the three of them connected with one another, and together made the rest of the journey to his estate. But unfortunately I could not stop a fourth from joining them from a neighboring city: a much younger man named Elihu. I frowned. I did not like Elihu. I couldn’t use him at all; in fact, he might be a problem. But, perhaps I could use his humility to get him to keep his mouth shut, and let his elders do all the talking. When the four friends saw Job from a distance, with his head shaved, robe torn, disfigured with boils and sitting in a pile of ashes, they all cried out. “Is that him?” asked Bildad. “It can’t be,” gasped Eliphaz. “I hadn’t heard he was diseased too, had you?” But when they got close enough to realize it was their friend after all, they tore their robes also. Each of them took of the dust at his feet and sprinkled it upon his own head as they came. Tentatively they approached Job, kneeling in the ashes beside him. “Tell him this is God’s punishment,” I whispered to Bildad, Eliphaz, and Zophar in turn. “Tell him he must have committed some great sin to have deserved all this. Tell him!” But they said nothing at all. All four of them sat with Job in silence. For an entire week! Seven days and seven nights! Nothing I could do could entice them to speak. I paced. I whispered. I screamed. I ranted. On the seventh day, I shook Job by the shoulders and cried out, “Don’t you have anything to say? How do you feel about everything that has happened to you? Speak it out, damn you!” At long last, the fool opened his mouth. ““Obliterate the day I was born. Blank out the night I was conceived! Let it be a black hole in space. May God above forget it ever happened. Erase it from the books! May the day of my birth be buried in deep darkness, shrouded by the fog, swallowed by the night.” He waxed poetic about his misery, which was gratifying at first, but I quickly grew impatient. I made a reeling motion at him with my withered hands as he went on and on about the stars and the grave and the light and all such nonsense. “Curse God, come on!” I snarled. But he didn’t. He finished as he had begun, bemoaning his terrible lot in life, but casting no blame. I looked at the friends, and demanded, “Are you going to stand for this? He’s making it out like he’s a victim here! He must be guilty; tell him so!” Eliphaz obliged. “Think! Has a truly innocent person ever ended up on the scrap heap? Do genuinely upright people ever lose out in the end? It’s my observation that those who plow evil and sow trouble reap evil and trouble.” “Yes, yes!” I clapped my hands, turning to Job eagerly. Eliphaz went on, “So, what a blessing when God steps in and corrects you! Mind you, don’t despise the discipline of Almighty God! True, he wounds, but he also dresses the wound; the same hand that hurts you, heals you.” I got up in Job’s face. “Are you going to stand for this? Defend yourself! Who’s the real villain here? It’s not you, so Who’s left? There’s only one possibility!” Job replied with yet another long soliloquy of his sorrow, but at long last he began to get to the point. “Confront me with the truth and I’ll shut up, show me where I’ve gone off the track!” he demanded of his friend. “You pretend to tell me what’s wrong with my life, but treat my words of anguish as so much hot air!” “God is to blame!” I shouted at him, shaking my fists. At long, long last, he got there, and started to shout up at Heaven. “What are mortals anyway, that You bother with them, that You even give them the time of day?” he demanded. “Let up on me, will you? Can’t you even let me spit in peace? Even suppose I’d sinned—how would that hurt You? You’re responsible for every human being. Don’t You have better things to do than pick on me? The way things are going, I’ll soon be dead!” “Finally!” I roared, triumphant for a moment—until I realized that he had not actually cursed God, though he had blamed Him. That was a start. “Goad him,” I whispered to Bildad next. I was sure that if the others doubled down on blaming Job for his troubles, that Job would eventually do what I wanted in order to clear his own name. But I jabbed a finger in Elihu’s face. “You stay quiet in the presence of your elders, boy!” What followed was a long, exasperating afternoon of high tempers, and no actual progress. I succeeded in getting Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar to accuse and even yell in Job’s face. Job persisted in swearing to his own innocence, and in blaming God—even demanding that God explain Himself. Elihu, meanwhile, grew angrier by the minute, and I suspected I wouldn’t be able to shut him up forever. But if I could just get Job to curse God before Elihu opened his mouth… Suddenly Job declared, “I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life—and eventually He’ll take His stand on earth. And I’ll see Him—even though I get skinned alive!—see God myself, with my very own eyes. Oh, how I long for that day!” “Whaaaat is wrong with you?” I shrieked at him, yanking on the tufts of my hair, “why do you want to see the God responsible for all your misery?” The sun rose higher in the sky, peaked, and then began its descent. Just before sunset, Job declared, “Oh, if only someone would give me a hearing! I’ve signed my name to my defense—let the Almighty One answer! I want to see my indictment in writing. I’m prepared to account for every move I’ve ever made!” At last, Elihu could stand it no more. “I’m a young man, and you are all old and experienced. That’s why I kept quiet and held back from joining the discussion. I kept thinking, ‘Experience will tell. The longer you live, the wiser you become.’ But I see I was wrong—it’s God’s Spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty One, that makes wise human insight possible. The experts have no corner on wisdom; getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense. So I’ve decided to speak up. Listen well! I’m going to tell you exactly what I think.” I swore and hissed, “Shut up, shut up, shut up—” though I knew it was useless. I had no influence over this kid at all. Elihu declared, “It’s impossible for God to do anything evil; no way can the Mighty One do wrong.” He held the floor as sunset streaked across the sky, declaring God’s power and majesty, and rebuking Job for asserting his own righteousness at God’s expense. I cringed away from him as he finally declared, “Mighty God! Far beyond our reach! Unsurpassable in power and justice! It’s unthinkable that he’d treat anyone unfairly. So bow to him in deep reverence, one and all! If you’re wise, you’ll most certainly worship him.” All at once, the progressing sunset grew dark, like a snuffed candle. With it, a sound of blowing wind intensified, and condensed into a mighty whirlwind. “Uh oh,” I muttered, knowing what the whirlwind portended. I dashed behind a corner of Job’s barn. Not that it mattered; I just didn’t like standing before God if I could possibly avoid it. All five of the men stared in awe as the whirlwind descended from heaven, and then fell on their faces. A burnished orange glow emanated from the inside, and I cringed away as the booming voice sounded from within. “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” God demanded. “Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.” Job managed a tiny squeak, understanding that God addressed him. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” God continued, His tone actually sarcastic. I raised my eyebrows at this—I’d never heard God be sarcastic before. I thought I’d invented that technique. “Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy?” I growled under my breath at the reference. All those ‘morning stars’ he referred to were the angelic chorus—who had been under my direction. I had been their leader, the most talented, most glorious, and most respected of them all. The memory of what I had been still made me gnash my teeth. God continued with this same line of questioning, expounding upon the wonder and majesty of creation, while all five men trembled in their pile of ashes. He really drove the point home, starting with the planet, then the animals, particularly the dragon—already the stuff of human legends. I secretly liked that beast, actually. I liked to imagine myself the way God described it to Job: “any hope of overcoming him is false. No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up. With his terrible teeth all around… his sneezings flash forth light, out of his mouth go burning lights; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke goes out of his nostrils and a flame goes out of his mouth.” A dragon, I mused, stroking my pointed chin with my shriveled hands. I might adopt that image, encourage the humans to think of me as a dragon… what a beast to strike terror into the hearts of all who envision it! Distracted with my own thoughts, I had not noticed that Job was speaking now. I had to creep out from my hiding place to hear his voice. “I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’ I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head. You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’ I admit I once lived by rumors of You; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.” I gave a snort of disgust, but then remembered myself and darted back into my hiding place before God could address me directly. God upbraided Job’s three pompous friends next, and demanded they repent and offer sacrifices for their sins, but I paid little attention to this. I knew what was coming next, and didn’t care to see it: God would forgive them all, and restore to Job all I had stolen from him and probably then some. I vanished into the wilderness, and there regrouped with a few of my demons. They watched me with baleful eyes. “Well, it wasn’t a complete failure!” I snapped before they could say anything. “He didn’t renounce God, but he did accuse Him of being unjust.” “That’s only because Job doesn’t know we exist,” Abaddon pointed out. “I don’t know why God didn’t just tell him…” I shook my head. “He can’t tell him. He knows if humans understood that nothing restrains us from stealing, killing, and destroying from them, and they have no power to stop us, they’ll be consumed with fear and thus, useless to Him. It’ll be just as if we’d already won the war.” “We could just steal whatever God restores to Job again?” Abaddon suggested. “I don’t care about Job! Job’s not the point!” I roared. No one spoke for a long moment, and I paced. We were all thinking the same thing, but no one wanted to say it. God made these wretched creatures with free will because He wanted them to love Him. To choose Him freely—for Himself, and not just what He could give them. I wanted to prove to Him that the whole exercise was pointless. They would never love Him the way He wanted them to. So I chose the best, holiest, most righteous human on earth, the one specimen He and I both agreed upon as fulfilling that role, as a type of all the rest. If Job would renounce God, it would prove there was no hope for the rest of humanity. God might as well give up now. But he didn’t. In Job’s logic, the only possible cause for suffering was the sin of the individual, or the wanton cruelty of God, and he knew he hadn’t sinned. He had no understanding of the spiritual world, no reason to think that a third option even existed. Even so, even as he railed against God, he did not ultimately renounce his love for Him. I had lost. “All right boys,” I muttered, looking at each of my demonic generals. “That was just a battle, not the war. On to Round Four.”

View Details

Nate Palmer is highly passionate about helping humans perform at a higher level. He also happens to be a dad, husband, and the #1 bestselling author of Passport Fitness and The Million Dollar Body Method. Nate helps business owners and entrepreneurs improve their physique, finances, and family time using fitness and nutrition as force multipliers.

Nate is a coach, speaker, and writer, whose work has been popularized in media outlets such as The Huffington Post, Testosterone Nation, Ask Men, Breaking Muscle, STACK Media, and Thrive Global.

For more about Nate, go to https://n8trainingsystems.com/groups or pick up a copy of his book, The Million Dollar Body Method here.

The Million Dollar Body Method: The Entrepreneur's Diet for Superhuman Focus and Rapid Fat Loss

View Details

Today we're meditating on the relationship between forgiveness and justice.

Verses:

Matthew 6:14-15
Genesis 37-50
Colossians 3:13
Psalm 37, 103:6, 59:10
2 Thess 1:6-7
Heb 10:30-31
Isaiah 30:18, 35:4, 49:25, 54:15-17
Luke 18:7-8
Prov 20:22
Romans 12:19-21

View Details

W. Lee Cowden, MD, MD(H), is internationally known for practicing and teaching integrative medicine. He is skilled in evaluative kinesiology, homeopathy, orthomolecular and herbal therapies, reflexology, neural-therapy, and electro-acupressure, as well as fixed-magnetic, electromagnetic, and detoxification techniques. A U.S. board-certified cardiologist, internist, and clinical nutritionist, Dr. Cowden now teaches full time. He has contributed to many health books and is a co-author of:

“Foods that Fit a Unique You”
“Create a Toxin-Free Body & Home Starting Today”
“BioEnergetic Tools for Wellness: How to Heal from Fatigue, Pain, Insomnia, Depression, and Anxiety”
“An Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide to Cancer”
“Cancer Diagnosis: What to Do Next”

He has traveled to Peru numerous times over the last two decades to help identify plants for use in supplements.

For more about Dr Cowden, see acimconnect.com

View Details

Today's podcast is a meditation on and retelling of Genesis 22:1-19. Intro: This always seemed like a very strange story to me. God said in Jeremiah that child sacrifices never even entered His mind (Jeremiah 19:5), and it’s certainly inconsistent with His character as depicted everywhere else in scripture. True, God did not intend Abraham to actually go through with it, but Abraham didn’t know that. Why test Abraham in such a seemingly cruel way? I don’t fully understand the answer, but I do suspect it involves two things: the Old Testament concept of covenant involving a reciprocal exchange, and the type and shadow of God’s future sacrifice of His own son. The parallels between Jesus’ sacrifice and this one are many. God told Abraham to perform this sacrifice on the mountain of Moriah. David later offered sacrifice there too (2 Samuel 24:17-19) and then Solomon built the Temple on that very spot, making the rock at the top the Holy of Holies (2 Chronicles 3:1). Today, this is the hotly contested spot sacred to both the Arabs and the Israelites, currently the site of the Dome of the Rock. Isaac was therefore a type of the sacrifice for sin which would later be offered in that very place for the sins of Israel, ultimately fulfilled for all time in Jesus. We know that Isaac was less than thirty-seven years old at this time, since Sarah died when she was one hundred and twenty-seven years old, making Isaac thirty-seven at the time (Genesis 23:1). Because of the parallels with Jesus, some scholars believe he was thirty-three when this occurred, as Jesus was at the time of His death. Just as God willingly sacrificed His beloved, long-awaited, only Son, born of a miracle, destined to bless the whole world, so Abraham willingly offered Isaac: beloved, long-awaited “only son” of the promise (22:2), born of a miracle, through whom all the nations of the world were to be blessed (22:18). Just as Jesus carried the cross he was to die on, so Isaac carried the wood he was to die on (Genesis 22:6). When Isaac (by now surely beginning to suspect) asked Abraham where the sacrifice was, Abraham’s answer was prophetic, whether Abraham realized it or not. He didn’t say, “God will provide the lamb;” he said, “God will provide Himself a lamb” (22:8). Did he understand that this was a prophetic pre-enactment? We know that Abraham did not believe that Isaac would die and stay dead; he either expected God to provide an alternative sacrifice all along, as this statement suggests, or he believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead if need be (Hebrews 11:17-19). Either way, he told the servants, “we will come back to you” (22:5). Not I will come back. Like Jesus was able to endure the cross because He looked past it, to the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2), so Abraham saw past the moment of sacrifice to the moment of God’s redemption, though he did not know in advance what form it would take. Considering Abraham was one hundred years older than Isaac, there is no way he could have overpowered Isaac in order to sacrifice him. Isaac must have been a willing participant, laying down his life as Jesus did (Titus 2:14). Like Jesus, there is no record that Isaac said anything at all when he was led to slaughter (Genesis 22:9, Isaiah 53:7, Matthew 27:14). So this sacrifice was clearly a type and shadow, one of many in the Old Testament. God also told Hosea to marry a prostitute as a type of His own marriage to unfaithful Israel (Hosea 1), and told Ezekiel to lay on his side for a year as a symbol of Jerusalem’s upcoming siege (Ezekiel 4). Isaiah walked around naked and barefoot for three years to symbolize the coming judgment against Egypt and Cush (Isaiah 20:3). I’m sure these things got people’s attention, but still—why? The best answer I’ve heard comes from Charles Capps, though I still feel it's incomplete. Old Testament covenants always symbolized an exchange: the two parties shared both assets and liabilities in common, and the terms of the covenant were like a legal agreement today, outlining what each party must do in order to fulfill his end. The exchange of blood and of names served as symbols for the seriousness of the agreement, and of two identities merging into one. But Abraham (then Abram) was asleep when God cut the covenant with him (Genesis 15)—he thus did not participate as one of the two parties. God later gave Abraham the sign of the covenant, circumcision—but still, Abraham had not really done anything to validate his side of the agreement. Given the heavenly courtroom drama we saw from the book of Job, is it possible that God needed Abraham, our covenant head, to demonstrate his willingness to offer up his only son, so that God could “legally” offer His son on our behalf? If Abraham had not been willing, would he have failed to ratify the covenant of faith, giving Satan a legal loophole to contest the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf? Retelling: Years passed, and Isaac grew into manhood. He was our pride and joy, and everything Sarah and I could possibly have wished for in a son: obedient, dutiful, handsome, and so very patient. I often marveled at how mild he was, particularly given his mother’s fiery temper. He was the best of both of us, with his mother’s good looks and common sense, and my quiet trust and confidence in the Lord. Yet while Isaac seemed content to live his life moment by moment, never fretting about what was to come, Sarah agonized over where to find him a wife. “He’s already over thirty years old!” she insisted one evening when we were alone. “We should send a servant now!” “The Lord has not told me to do that,” I reminded her, “and yes, I’ve asked Him about it, and I’ve continued to ask Him. He will tell me when the time is right. Isaac is the promised child, Sarah. Obviously he will have to marry.” “When?” Sarah demanded. “I’m over one hundred and twenty years old, Abraham, Father of Nations! I’d like to live to see my grandchildren!” What she did not say was that Hagar, her longtime rival, already enjoyed five grandsons through Ishmael, and three granddaughters as well. Sarah’s animosity for her former maid had simmered after Isaac’s birth, but had reignited once Ishmael had married and his wife began to bear children. “Patience, my love,” I murmured, kissing the top of her head. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “He will marry. He will have children. Our descendants will be as the grains of sand and the stars in the sky, remember? Surely you cannot doubt that now.” She sniffled. At long last she grumbled, “I don’t doubt it, I’m just sick of waiting. I don’t see why you can’t just send a servant back to Ur. Why do you have to wait for the Lord to tell you to do it? Isn’t it obvious that’s what has to be done?” I raised my eyebrows at her. “Really?” I let my question hang in the air between us. She knew exactly what I meant: the last time she had tried to help God out, Hagar had borne Ishmael, and Sarah herself had gained a lifelong enemy. She sighed. “All right fine, but—will you please at least ask Him again?” I nodded, squeezed her shoulder, and went out of the tent. I spotted Isaac sitting off by himself and gazing up at the stars, as he often did. He gave me a cheerful little wave. I smiled back. “Abraham.” I froze, and instinctively glanced back in Isaac’s direction, even though I knew the voice had not come from him. He had not turned to look at me, though—apparently the voice was only in my head this time. “Here I am,” I answered the Lord, taking another tentative step away from my tents and flocks, toward the wilderness. He went on, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” I stopped walking. I had heard the words, but I had to repeat them in my mind several times before I understood their meaning. “Do what, Lord?” He repeated the words, but did not elaborate. For a brief flash, my imagination conjured the image of my only son’s bloody lifeless body, the trail of smoke ascending to heaven. “No,” I said aloud, but not to the Lord—to my imagination. Instead, I did as Isaac was doing: I looked up at the stars of the sky. That was the promise. He was the promised child. I’d been through this already. The Lord had made it very clear that He would bless Ishmael for my sake, but Isaac was the one through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed, and the one through whom I would be the father of nations. Yet Isaac was not married and had no children yet. That meant he had to live. The Lord just told me to kill him, but he had to live. I either wouldn’t have to go through with it, or else—God would raise him from the dead. From the ashes, if necessary. I didn’t want to think about what my relationship with my son would be like after I’d slain him, not to mention my relationship with Sarah. But I couldn’t think about that. My imagination tried all night long to return to the moment of slaughter. Every time, I redirected it to afterwards: the moment when Isaac and I would climb down the mountain, together. I did not sleep at all. The next morning I rose before sunrise, eager to get this whole ordeal behind me. I split the wood for the sacrifice, saddled my donkey, and when Isaac rose, I told him to do the same, as well as two servants I intended to take with us. I told the servants to prepare food and water for our journey, and I told Isaac to bid his mother goodbye. I could not do so; my heart was like stone in my chest, and I knew Sarah would take one look at me and demand to know what I was hiding. Isaac surely knew something was wrong, too, but he did not pry. We rode for three days in the direction of the land of Moriah, and spoke as little as possible. I caught Isaac glancing at me with concern on more than one occasion, but it was all I could do to grit my teeth and picture the two of us coming down that mountain together. He promised, I reminded myself fiercely. God promised. God never lies. God cannot lie. I might have asked myself why God would ask something of me that seemed so far out of character for Him, if I had had the capacity to do so—but it was as if I had tunnel vision. All my attention was focused entirely upon what I had to do, and all my energy upon clinging to God’s promise that somehow, against all hope and against all reason, it would turn out the way God said it would. I had no mental space left over for questions. By the third day, I felt like all of my muscles were made of solid rock. Whenever one of the servants tried to speak to me I either did not answer at all, or I snapped my reply. At last, I looked up and saw the mountain of Moriah in the distance. I knew that was it. “Stay here with the donkey,” I told the servants. “The lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” I saw Isaac watching me with a troubled expression as I took the wood I had split from the donkey’s back, and placed it between Isaac’s shoulders instead. My hands trembled so badly that I could barely get the saddlebag open to retrieve the knife and the flint. Then I turned my back on Isaac, heading for the mountain with fierce determination. When we had left the servants far enough behind us, Isaac ventured at last, “Father?” “Yes, my son.” “We have flint and wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” I swallowed before I answered. My mouth was so dry. At last I managed, “Son, God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” I stopped walking, as I listened to my own words. I had not meant to phase it that way; the words simply slipped out. God will provide Himself the lamb. God will provide Himself, the Lamb. Over and over the words rattled around in my mind as the mountain grew nearer. I did not understand their significance, but I had a feeling that the words meant more than what I had consciously intended: that we would find a lamb at the right moment for the sacrifice. Isaac asked no more, and we walked on, then climbed, in silence. At the pinnacle of the mountain, Isaac dropped the wood upon the ground. An inner tremor seized my body, but I breathed through it, assembling the stones for an altar. Isaac helped me, though I could not look at him anymore, and he did not dare address me. When the altar was built, I painstakingly arranged the wood. I had been in such a hurry to get here and get this over with, yet now that the moment was here, I wanted to delay it as long as possible. But at last, there was nothing more to do. The time had come. I had a length of rope in my pocket. I took it out and turned to my son. He watched me with wide, solemn eyes. We looked at each other for a very long moment, and I knew he knew. I further knew that if he resisted me, this would be impossible. He was thirty-three years old; I was one hundred and thirty-three. He could overpower me with hardly any effort at all. At last, he stretched out his wrists toward me. I swallowed the lump in my throat, and took a step toward him, then another. I bound his wrists together. Tears ran freely down my cheeks and his as he climbed upon the altar, allowing me then to bind his ankles as well. When this was done, there was nothing to do but retrieve the knife. When I had clasped its hilt and approached my son, I could hardly see for weeping. I raised the knife over his chest. “Abraham, Abraham!” called a voice from Heaven. The knife clattered to the ground, and I fell to my knees. “Here I am,” I gasped. “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” I cried out and buried my face in my hands, weeping violently with relief and pent-up anguish. “Father, look!” Isaac managed to break through my sobs. When at last I looked up, I first heard the rustling behind me and then turned around to see a ram with its horns caught in a thicket. I staggered to my feet, unbound Isaac’s ankles and wrists, and he climbed off of the altar. Then he gently took the knife from my hand, crossed to the ram, and slit its throat. Once it was dead, we untangled its horns and dragged its body to the altar. I took the flint and set fire to the offering. “The Lord did provide,” Isaac whispered to me over the blaze. “Just as you said.” The clouds above parted, and we both looked up. Then the voice declared, “By Myself I have sworn, because you have done this this, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gates of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” When the Lord finished speaking, I looked at Isaac, breathless. “Did you hear it too?” Isaac nodded at me, eyes wide. He reached out and clasped me by the forearm, and I leaned into his shoulder. We sat like that until the ram was consumed and turned to ash, and the smoke began to trail away. At long last, Isaac murmured, “You told me before that the Lord had already promised those things to you. I was not aware that the covenant was conditional.” I shook my head. “Neither was I, until four days ago.” I had recovered enough now that I could stand. We had brought nothing with us but the knife and the flint, as the wood had all been consumed. Isaac retrieved these for me, and together we made our way back down the mountain. “Why, do you think?” Isaac asked at last, when we were about halfway down. “Why was the covenant dependent upon your willingness to sacrifice me, even if He didn’t mean for you to actually do it?” I shook my head. I had been mulling over this same point, but I knew that if the Lord had intended to tell me, He would have done so already. Covenants between humans were always conditional; there were always terms for each party, and each side must fulfill his terms, or the covenant was null and void. I had been asleep when the Lord had made His first covenant with me, though. In my vision, the two parties who walked between the pieces of the sacrifices were a smoking firepot and a flaming torch. I had an inkling then that God Himself represented both parties: He was cutting the covenant with Himself, though I didn’t know what that meant. I was unconscious, and thus, a mere passive recipient. Years later, when God had told me to circumcise every man of my household, I had actually been relieved: here at last was something I could do to participate. And yet, in retrospect, this was not truly participation in the covenant, so much as a sign of the covenant. A covenant meant the two parties shared everything in common: what’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is mine. We hold all of our assets and our liabilities in common. Yet God had all the assets; I had none that He had not first given me. I therefore had never ratified my side of the covenant. Not until today. Today, it became binding. God will provide Himself, the Lamb. Yes, God had given me Isaac, and in that sense He had provided the lamb. He had then provided the ram as a substitute. But there was more to it than that… “Father?” Isaac prodded me. I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I said slowly. “I have a vague idea that you and I are re-enactors on a stage. But… what were we reenacting?” Isaac looked at me. “Or foreshadowing?” His words gave me chills.

View Details

Dr. Ian Hollaman’s primary focus is to help his patients achieve their health goals through natural methods, including functional medicine, with ease of care and empowerment. He too has experienced the “machine” of traditional healthcare, and strives to provide a different type of experience for his own patients. During his graduate studies, Ian became chronically sick and after 8 providers found a functional medicine doctor that guided him back to health and inspired his journey to master the art of natural medicine! He holds a Master’s in Nutrition and Functional Medicine, certification in functional medicine through the Institute of Functional Medicine, and functional neurology/neurofeedback certification through the American Functional Neurology Institute. Dr. Ian loves to do custom woodworking (yes, he built the furniture in the office), falconry and spends time with his amazing kids enjoying the great outdoors.

Learn more about Dr Ian at drautoimmune.com**

View Details

Royce King has served in ministry for nearly 30 years. She’s held leadership roles within the church, including youth group leader, Bible study leader, retreat speaker, and others. Her heart for at-risk populations has always spurred her to serve and mentor women and young girls.

Royce King, published author, speaker, and coach, has served startups and nonprofit organizations who desire to grow in revenue and develop leadership skills since 2012.

In this new season of life, Royce is serving missionaries around the world, and is committed to helping others develop a relationship with Jesus. She and her husband reside in Colorado, and have two grown children and a precious granddaughter. She enjoys hiking, traveling, good food, and reading.

Get a copy of her book, Unwrapping Your Worth In Christ here or on her website at roycekingauthor.com.

Unwrapping Your Worth in Christ: Relishing Moments With God

View Details

Adam J. Weber is the “no BS, common-sense” speaker, author, product creation specialist, and owner of the highly successful companies Weber Real Estate Advisors and Weber Advisory Group. He helps people reduce stress through his highly celebrated meditation technique: “Easy to Meditate.”

When he first tried meditating, Adam was frustrated with the “flowery woo-woo fluff” of meditation books. He wrote Meditation Not Medicine to share his simple, practical approach to meditating, helping others reduce their stress without medication. He lives in New York with his wife, Haley; his two sons, Andrew and Daniel; and his best bud, Churchill, a Golden-Retriever-English-Setter mix.

Find his book here, or find out more about him at www.meditationnotmedicine.com.

Our sponsor link is trylgc.com/CNHomega, and enter the coupon code CNH20 for 20% off your order.

Meditation Not Medicine: Survive and Thrive in Our Stress-Filled World

View Details

Ken Fish is a native of the Los Angeles area and an honors graduate of Princeton University with a degree in History and Philosophy of Religion. He subsequently earned his Master of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary with emphases in theology and intercultural communications. Ken had a 25-year career as a Fortune 500 executive after earning an MBA in finance and strategy from UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management. Throughout his life, Ken has worked with parachurch ministries and in the church. In the 1980s he worked full-time for John Wimber for several years at Vineyard Ministries International (VMI). Since 2010, his ministry has taken him to over 40 countries on all six inhabited continents, working alongside churches of varying denominations and great diversity. Ken’s work includes vision-casting, teaching on leadership, equipping the saints in healing, prophecy and deliverance to further the advance of the Kingdom of God, and releasing fresh anointing in the midst of visitation. He has worked alongside national leaders in many countries, led training events for the International Association of Healing Rooms in different parts of the US, and been interviewed on nationally-syndicated radio and television shows such as The Eric Metaxas Show and Premier Christianity. He also hosts his own podcast,“God is Not a Theory”. His meetings are often accompanied by manifest signs and wonders that include prophetic ministry and healing of many types.

For more about Ken, visit orbisministries.org

View Details

Tim & Bertha Eaton are the co-founders of NutraMedix. Established in 1993, the company manufactures natural medicines that are sold to health care professionals and consumers in over 100 countries. Each year NutraMedix donates a minimum of 50% of profits to multiple charities around the globe.

Tim & Bertha actively serve at King’s Wings, a non-profit that provides air transportation to the Bahamas for humanitarian relief, missionaries and mission teams. Tim joined King’s Wings in 2003 and is a commercial pilot with multi-engine, instrument, seaplane and glider ratings. Bertha was born into a family of pilots in Lima, Peru. Her father, retired General Victor Rubio, is noted for recording the highest flight time of anyone in the Peruvian Air Force.

The Eatons have been married for 28 years. They met in Peru in 1990 while Tim was serving in the Amazon as a missionary pilot. Tim & Bertha have two children, Clark, 25, and Jessica, 23, who both are employed at NutraMedix.

Learn more about them at nutramedix.com

View Details

Meditation on Judges 5-6

IntroductionDeborah was the only female judge recorded in Israel’s history. We don’t know why that is, or how she got into that position, though we do know that she was a wife and a mother (unless the mention that she is a “mother in Israel,” Judges 5:7, is symbolic of her role over her people). When God instituted judges to help Moses, he was specifically instructed to appoint men to that position. Perhaps, as in the days of Gideon, the men of Israel were all so cowed by their oppressors that God could not find a man of faith, so he found a woman instead. (Gideon eventually did as God asked, but it sure took a lot of convincing on God’s part.) We can see that faith is scarce by Barak’s response when Deborah told him to go up against Sisera—he was so fearful that he insisted that she be the one to lead the armies into battle! Presumably had he done what the Lord commanded through Deborah without shrinking back in fear, the glory for finishing off Sisera would have gone to him, rather than to Jael.
It’s easy to understand why the men were so fearful, if you only look at the situation in the natural. They had been oppressed by King Jabin for at least twenty years. The Israelite armies had not one shield or spear among forty thousand (Judges 5:8), compared to Sisera, who had nine hundred chariots of iron. Most of the tribes of Israel refused to heed Barak’s call (Judges 5:13-18), so even their numbers were pitiful compared to what they might have been. But it didn’t matter: the Lord caused the river Kishon to sweep the chariots away (Judges 5:21). This might have been due to rain overflowing the banks, and the water from the mountains rushing down to the banks as well (Judges 5:4-5)—perhaps due to marshy conditions, the chariots got stuck and were rendered useless. Regardless, when the Israelites came against Sisera’s far more powerful army, they killed every last one of them (Judges 4:16) by the sword—swords they didn’t even have to begin with! Sisera alone fled on foot. Since the Israelites had no swords, presumably they took their enemies’ own swords and used those against them.
Heber, meanwhile, was mentioned just before the verse that someone told Sisera of the assembly of Barak’s armies, so presumably he was the one who tattled. Sisera would have felt safe in Jael’s tent, as she was Heber’s wife. He just assumed that she shared her husband’s political views. Oops.
Jael’s action can be considered as an act of war, rather than murder. She was not permitted to fight openly on the battlefield, so she did what she could. Any of the soldiers on the battlefield would have been delighted to do the same, had they been given the chance.

Fictionalized Retelling

Deborah:The two disputing Israelite women, now reconciled, made their way down through the mountains of Ephraim. I sat alone under my palm tree now, awaiting the next case the Israelites would bring before me for judgment.
This was my favorite part, though: the moments in between. The moments of peace, where I could just listen to the wind whipping through the palm branches above my head. I closed my eyes, letting the breeze caress my face.
It is time.
My eyes flew open. The sound came to my spirit like a whisper, and yet I knew it as the voice of the Lord. My heart beat faster, because I knew what He meant, too: I had been pleading since my early adulthood, for the past twenty years, to deliver us from the oppressive hand of King Jabin of Canaan. We were the Lord’s people, and He had given the land of Canaan to us—and yet, due to our disobedience, He had allowed us to be oppressed by our enemies. We had not one spear or shield among forty thousand Israelites: not even the means to defend ourselves. We had no money to pay the men who risked their lives on our behalf. I had expected the Lord to provide both of those things before a military approach would be feasible.
And yet, with neither weapons nor money, and most of Israel still trembling in fear, God still told me, It is time.
“What should I do, Lord?” I asked aloud.
What came next was an impression, rather than words. I saw Barak, son of Abinoam from Kedesh, of the tribe of Naphtali. He was on Mount Tabor, with a sea of Israelite men, though I knew without counting that there were ten thousand of them. They were sons of Naphtali and of Zebulun. I saw Sisera, commander of Jabin’s armies, coming against him, his nine hundred chariots of iron all around him. The battle took place at the River Kishon. Despite the inequality of weapons and the fact that Sisera was not taken unawares, in my vision, Sisera’s entire army fell before Barak’s.
“You have shown this to Barak as well?” I asked the Lord out loud. I sensed that the answer was yes.
The next person I saw cresting the hill to where I sat was my husband Lapidoth, and our three children. They skipped like little lambs, and I stood up, grinning, to welcome them. Lapidoth had a basket slung over his arm, which I knew contained whatever food he was able to scrounge up for our midday meal. It was never much, but we never went hungry either. The Lord always provided.
“Busy today?” he asked me, as we all settled down to eat.
My eyes shone as I told him what the Lord had shown me. “Would you summon Barak when you return to the valley?” I asked. “I must speak with him today.”
Lapidoth did as I asked, and several hours later, just at the golden hour before sunset, I saw Barak cresting the hill, alone. He was a large, thickly built man, with a heavy brow and an expression etched in stone. He looked every bit the military commander.
“Has not the Lord God of Israel already told you what you are to do?” I asked him, and described what I saw. “Thus says the Lord: ‘I will deliver Sisera into your hand at the River Kishon.’”
Barak shuffled his feet, cleared his throat, and did not answer me immediately. At last he said, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”
I stared at him, not sure I heard him right. This man weighed as much as three of me. I was a wife and a mother! True, God had placed me as judge over Israel, though I had always wondered why He had chosen a woman for the position, when Moses had originally indicated that the job should be held by “able men, such as fear God, men of truth …to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds… and let them judge the people at all seasons.” Men, he had specified. Yet, here I was. Was that because God could not find a man worthy to fill the role? Of course I never intimated these thoughts to my husband, who chafed enough that I held a position of leadership in Israel when he did not. But now I saw before me the man God had chosen to lead his armies, and yet he had so little faith that he would demand a wife and mother lead his troops into battle for him!
When I recovered my tongue, I said sternly, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, there will be no glory for you in the journey you are taking, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”
Barak looked less chagrined at this than I thought he should have. Truth to tell, he looked more relieved than anything else. I arose and went with him to his home of Kedesh, and he sent messengers to the tribes of Israel to recruit soldiers willing to obey the word of the Lord. I was appalled but not surprised when entire tribes refused: Reuben, Gilead, Asher, and Dan sent not a single man. We had a few from Ephraim and from Benjamin, but the bulk of the army, as I had seen in my vision, were from Naphtali and Zebulun. They arrived at Mount Tabor in the coming days bearing what weapons they could find: pitchforks and other instruments of harvesting, stones and homemade slingshots. My heart swelled with the pride of these men who did Israel proud, unlike their brothers.
Oh Lord, there are still some who believe in You!
Yes Daughter, I heard in my spirit. There are always a few.
Down below, Sisera had somehow gotten word that Israel had assembled troops against him—but that was all right. I had expected from my vision that he would. I felt the men grow apprehensive around me as they watched the chariots of iron assembling from Harosheth Hagoyim to the River Kishon. They looked from the chariots down below to their makeshift weapons of farming equipment, their expressions ranging from apprehension to terror. I suppressed a sigh of exasperation.
“Up!” I declared to Barak. “For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you?”
I led the charge down the mountain toward the army below, though I had no weapon in my hand at all. As soon as Barak saw me move, he kept pace with me and soon outstripped me—his legs were much longer than mine. The ten thousand troops kept pace with him, and I soon found myself lost in the thick of the fighting men.
When we reached the River Kishon where Sisera’s armies awaited us, I was confused at first why he did not direct his chariots to surge forward to meet us. Then I saw that their chariots had been rendered useless to them, the wheels stuck in the marshy ground left over from the rain. Sisera’s army had alighted from their chariots to try to dislodge them when Israel descended upon them with a mighty war cry. In short order, the men of Israel had slain their first victims and stolen their swords, at which point they tore through the rest of the army. But I fixed my gaze upon one man, whose chariot looked more impressive than all the others. When it became apparent that he could not dislodge it from the marshy ground, and the first wave of Israelites defeated the front lines of his army, he alighted from his chariot and fled on foot. He ran in the direction of the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, where I suspected his allies were. Behind him, the Israelites slew every last man of his army. He alone escaped.
My eyes narrowed at the man. That, I knew, was Sisera.
Jael:My husband Heber was a traitor.
We Kenites had historically been allied with the children of Israel, as descendants of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law. But Heber was an opportunist, and decided to ally himself with Jabin, the King of Canaan, instead. He would never fail to side with whoever would benefit him the most.
So we had moved away from the rest of the Kenites, away from everyone we had ever known, and pitched our tent at Zaanaim, where Heber could spy on Israel and report what he had learned to Sisera, Jabin’s military leader. Since Zaanaim was right next to Kedesh, Heber saw when Barak assembled his armies at Mount Tabor. It was he who had alerted Sisera to gather his chariots so that Barak’s army would not take him unawares.
Heber had gone early that morning, to watch what he expected to be the massacre of the Israelites from a safe distance.
Hours went by. I was grateful to have the day to myself at least, but I spent most of it fuming.
I hated King Jabin. I hated Sisera. I hated Heber.
I wanted to be an Israelite again. Or at least an ally to the Israelites. I wanted to belong to their God.
But I was no soldier. I was left out of all machinations, as I was only a woman. What could I do?
Suddenly I froze, hearing a noise I couldn’t quite make out at first. The sound slowly sharpened into the pounding of feet on the ground, and when it got close enough, I heard that it was accompanied by panting as well. Frowning, I approached the flap of my tent and pulled it aside.
Sisera stood before me, alone and on foot, streaming with perspiration.
“Please, my lady,” he gasped, dropping his hands to his knees as he caught his breath. “May I—trouble you for your hospitality?”
I blinked quickly, my mind whirring. Fortunately my mouth worked faster than my brain, and I at once affected womanly concern. “Oh, turn aside, my lord! Turn aside to me; do not fear.” I stepped aside to let the grateful commander pass into my tent. I knew already what I planned to do; I just did not yet know how.
“All of my men have been slaughtered,” Sisera confessed to me, eyes wild with fear. “I alone escaped on foot as you see, and I am sure that the Israelites are pursuing me too now!”
“Never fear, I will keep your secret,” I soothed, and gestured to our own bedding on the ground. “Rest from all your worries. You will need to sleep for a while to have your wits about you, for whatever comes next.” Whatever, indeed.
With no further prompting, Sisera collapsed onto the bed. I clucked my tongue as I pulled a blanket over him, and watched him close his eyes.
“Please give me a little water to drink,” he croaked, “for I am thirsty.”
“I will do better than that,” I cooed, “I have a jug of milk.” I went and retrieved it, and as if he were an invalid or a child, I lifted it to his lips. He drank greedily, the cream running down his chin. He wiped it away with his forearm and lay back down again with a sigh of contentment and relief.
“Stand at the door of the tent,” he begged, “and if any man comes and inquires of you, and says ‘Is there any man here?’ you shall say ‘No.’”
“I will, my lord,” I murmured. “Now close your eyes and rest awhile.”
He needed no further encouragement. Within a few moments, I heard the soft sounds of his rhythmic breathing, followed by occasional snores. I smiled, and went outside the tent, pulling up one of the tent pegs. I wiped off its dirt upon my skirts, and then went back inside, rummaging around for the hammer my husband had used to place it in the first place. Then, grasping the peg in one hand and the hammer in the other, I approached the sleeping commander. He still snored peacefully. Ever so gently, I placed the peg at his temple so as not to wake him. Then, heart pounding, I hammered it in. Straight through to the ground.
Only a woman, I thought, and smiled.
I wiped the blood on my skirts, right next to the dirt, and calmly walked to the tent entrance to wait for the Israelites whom Sisera had said would be hot on his trail.
I recognized Barak as the commander of the Israelite army by the way he was dressed, and flagged him down.
“Come,” I said “I will show you the man whom you seek.”
He followed me inside, and gasped. Then he let out an incredulous chuckle.
“‘The Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman,’” he murmured, but to himself, as if quoting something. Then he looked at me. “I thought He meant Deborah!”
“Your judge?” I asked, confused.
Barak nodded. “I certainly never thought he meant the wife of our enemy!”
I stiffened. “Do not judge me with my husband. We do not see eye to eye, to say the least.”
“No, I can see that,” Barak agreed, with a glance at the dead man in my bed.
After Barak, waves of other Israelites followed, including the famous prophetess herself. Together, Barak and Deborah composed a song of worship to the Lord on the spot, singing about the great victory to the Lord had given them, both at the river, and here in my tent. I choked back tears when they sang about me. The rest of the Israelite soldiers learned the song as they composed it, singing along. I found myself singing along too.
What will Heber say, I wondered with fierce pride, to come home and find that his wife is now the blessed of Israel?

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post on zeolite.

View Details

Today's meditation and retelling are from Joshua 2 and 6.

Introduction:

Rahab is mentioned three times in the New Testament: twice commended for her faith in Hebrews and in James, and once in Matthew 1:5, in the genealogy of Jesus. We know from the latter that she eventually married Salmon, of the tribe of Judah. Joshua never mentions the name of the two spies, but some tradition holds that Salmon was one of them (and it makes a for better story if he was, I think!) Despite her profession, she was commended for the same reason Abraham was: by faith (Romans 4:20-22). She heard the stories of God’s mighty works, and she believed them so completely that she put her life on the line as a potential traitor to her country in order to side with God’s people. Faith has always been what pleased God. Not only did the Israelites spare her life and those of her family, but she even went from harlot to being so highly esteemed in the eyes of the Lord that she became an ancestress of Christ. Interesting, since her act of faith is clearly self-interested, and she also had to lie to accomplish it. But (as James points out in James 2:25), the act, regardless of what it was, demonstrates the depth of her faith that God would do what He promised. It was her faith that motivated her to make sure she and hers were protected. Like the passover when the Israelites painted blood upon their doorposts so that the avenging angel would pass over their houses (Exodus 11-12), the scarlet cord Rahab tied in her window as a signal to the Israelites is likewise symbolic of the redemptive blood of Jesus.
Presumably even in Canaan, harlotry was frowned upon. Rahab’s family might have disowned her or otherwise shunned her. If they had, her offer to bring them into her house and keep them safe probably made for an awkward week or two, depending upon how long they were there. Rahab knew she had at least three days from the time she let the spies go. Then it probably took them at least a day or two to return with the whole army. When they did return, they marched around Jericho for seven days before the walls finally fell. So Rahab and her family were holed up in her home for at least that long. I wonder if she had enough food for everyone!
The mention of flax that she was spinning into linen and the scarlet cord on her roof suggests that she was manufacturing and dying linen, and presumably selling it, to try to support herself in some other way. Perhaps this is an indication that she didn’t want the life of prostitution and was looking for a way out.
Rahab’s house was built upon the walls of Jericho (Joshua 2:15). If the walls were thick enough for all that, it makes it even more miraculous that they fell down with nothing but shouts and trumpets. Also if the walls fell down, but Rahab and her household were not crushed in the rubble, God either must have held up just the section of the wall that served as the foundation for Rahab’s house, or else he must have supernaturally protected the structure as it fell to the ground. I assume the latter, since Joshua sent the spies back to her house to lead them out (Joshua 6:22). That meant there still was a house.
In her initial encounter with the spies, Rahab told them how the people of Canaan’s hearts had melted within them ever since they heard the stories of God parting the Red Sea. This must have been such a confirmation to Joshua and Caleb when they heard it: they were the only two spies from the first generation who had believed God (Numbers 13-14), and the only two of that company still alive now. Had they gone in and taken the land forty years earlier like God had told them to, Rahab’s words confirmed that they would have succeeded easily. God had already fought the battle for them in their enemies’ minds. For forty years, the people had continued to tremble at the stories of the Israelites’ exploits, until God’s promises could come to pass.

Fictionalized Retelling There weren’t very many occupations for a single Canaanite woman. And despite my beauty, I would always be single, thanks to a smooth-talking scoundrel who deflowered me in my youth. No respectable man would now have me as his wife.
But plenty of them would be happy to have me on other terms.
I was a practical woman, and saw no point in spending time weeping over what was. Most men visited harlots only in secret, in the dead of night, and if they spoke of it at all, it was in hushed tones. Houses of ill repute were known only by word of mouth, and they did not advertise.
I scorned this idea. If I was to be a harlot, I intended to be a prosperous one.
As a consequence, my family disowned me. This hurt, but I saw no point in weeping over that either. They would do what they would do, and I would have to get on with it.
I purchased a house on credit right on top of the enormous walls of Jericho, by the city gates, so that every traveler would have a good view and would know at a glance exactly what we were. I then recruited other girls to work for me, in exchange for a safe place to live and do their business. Prostitution was often a dangerous occupation, as our customers were always unscrupulous to varying degrees. I would provide for my girls’ basic needs, and even some of their luxuries.
In time, this proved so lucrative that I soon could afford to promote myself to business manager, no longer needing to offer my own services at all. I paid off my creditor, and even had enough seed money to let myself dream of one day supporting myself in a respectable trade. I purchased flax and scarlet worms, teaching myself to turn flax into linen, and dye it scarlet. The roof of my home was flat, so I left the linen there to dry overnight before taking it into the marketplace for sale. Then during the day, while my girls slept, I disguised myself and took my scarlet linen into the Jericho marketplace. This was where I first heard people talk about the Israelites, and their God.
I heard only snippets at first. I had the impression that the stories were old ones, from before my time. Apparently the Israelites were a nomadic people, having spent decades living in the desert after their God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt miraculously.
“He parted the Red Sea and they walked across on dry land! Yes!” one customer told me when I asked him how they had escaped from Pharaoh. I blinked, and felt the corners of my mouth turn up, skeptical.
“Surely you exaggerate,” I said, but the man shook his head emphatically.
“I do no such thing! After they crossed over, the waters consumed the Egyptians, chariots and all!”
I asked around, but all the other customers told me that they had heard the same story. Most of them said it with awe.
“Then they completely destroyed the kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og!” another customer told me. “These aren’t soldiers, mind you. They were slaves, and now they are nomads. But it doesn’t matter; their God fights their battles for them.” Then he lowered his voice and whispered, “Rumor has it they have their sights set on Jericho next!”
I was taken aback by this, catching the fear from my customer like a contagion. I gave him his linen and closed up shop for the day in the late afternoon. When I returned, Pigat, one of my girls, was awake and readying herself for her work that evening. She saw my expression and frowned.
“You look like you’ve heard bad news,” she observed. “What’s wrong?”
I turned to look at her. “Have you heard of the nomadic people called the Israelites, who used to be slaves in Egypt?”
“Oh! My father and uncles were terrified of them when I was little,” she nodded, and told me the same story I had heard in the marketplace: of millions of people crossing the Red Sea on dry ground, and the Egyptians consumed in the waters. If it had been exaggerated, surely the story would change from person to person, wouldn’t it?
“Why was your family afraid, though?” I pressed. “What have we to do with them?”
Pigat’s eyes widened. “They say their God led them out of slavery to give them a land of their own. Our land.”
I shivered involuntarily as she said this. “But didn’t the Red Sea story happen decades ago?” I asked. “If their God intended to give them our land, why hasn’t it happened already?”
Pigat shook her head. “I don’t know, but my family was sure they would come against us eventually.”
Each time I went to the marketplace and had the opportunity after that, I asked about the Israelites. I heard more stories, too: of the ground opening up and swallowing those among the Israelites who were disobedient to the leaders. Of bread falling from heaven and miraculously feeding the people. Some said the people did not come in to take our land nearly forty years ago because they had done something to anger their God, but it was still foretold that Jericho would fall to them. And not Jericho only, but all of Canaan.
The Israelites began to infiltrate my dreams. My mind conjured images of great warriors suffused with a supernatural glow of power, storming Jericho with flaming swords, and slashing down everyone in their path, before turning their swords upon me.
I woke in a cold sweat, gasping, and placed a hand upon my pounding heart. At first I thought the sound I heard was my heart slamming against my ribcage. But as I reoriented myself to the present, I recognized that the pounding was coming from the door downstairs. I peered out my window and frowned when I saw the moon high in the sky. We sometimes got late customers, but this was ridiculous. All my girls were surely fast asleep—or they were, before all this racket.
I pulled on my shawl, the one I preferred for warmth rather than for enticement, and padded down to the door, prepared to tell the visitors to return tomorrow at a more reasonable hour. But when I opened the door, something about the two men’s appearance stilled my tongue.
Both of them wore simple garments of unadorned cloth, though they looked new enough. The men were both perhaps in their early thirties, like me—tall, well built, and imposing. Both had long dark hair and long black beards that looked as though they had not been trimmed in many years. I noticed one in particular more than the other. His black eyes glittered at me in the moonlight, and he had a powerful chest, straight nose, and high, clear forehead. I had not offered my own personal services to a customer in over a year now, but I found myself thinking, this time, I might not mind…
“It is very late,” I said instead, “and my girls are in bed. If you return tomorrow, you may have your pick—”
“Please,” the man I had admired stopped me, holding up a hand. “We are not here for that, we simply wish to beg a room for the night.”
I blinked at them suspiciously. “This is no inn.”
“We know that,” said the other man, “and we know the nature of your business. But the Lord God told us to come here, so we have come.”
It was like a password, somehow, though I could not have said why. I stepped back from the doorway to let them pass inside. The handsome one, I noticed, averted his eyes from me and gave me a wider berth than necessary. I might have felt ashamed, but I could sense that his behavior was motivated by suppressed attraction rather than disgust. I found this far more intriguing than if he had openly ogled me.
“I do have a room available, though just the one, I’m afraid. One of my girls has recently moved on.” I looked at the other man, and gestured to the open doorway. “You may sleep here.” Then I looked at the man who refused to meet my gaze, and considered inviting him to share my chamber. I almost wanted to do it just to see if could make him blush, but in the end I held my tongue. Of course he could never respect me, given what I was. But for some strange reason I could not explain, I found that I wanted to try to earn his respect all the same.
“You both may sleep here if you wish, though one will have to take the floor,” I said at last.
The handsome one raised his eyes to me now. “Thank you,” he said, genuine gratitude in his voice. I realized he had feared the offer I had almost made, and was suddenly very glad I had not made it.
“May we know the name of our hostess?” asked the friend.
I bowed my head, trying to remember the manners of a lady I had learned and then forgotten so long ago. “I am called Rahab,” I told them. “And, may I know yours?”
“I am Berel,” said the friend, “and this is Salmon.”
Salmon, I repeated the name in my mind. “Those are peculiar names in Canaan,” I observed, “you must be visitors to these parts?”
“We are,” said Berel, guarded.
I watched them, wondering if I should say aloud what I suspected from the moment they referenced the Lord.
“You are Hebrews,” I guessed, watching their faces. “The Lord sent you to spy out our land and see where we are vulnerable.”
The two men exchanged wide-eyed a look, which was as good as confirmation.
“Do not worry,” I said at once. “I will not betray your secret.”
Berel frowned, suspicious. “Why not?”
I didn’t know the answer myself yet. But just as I opened my mouth to answer, I heard another pounding at the door, sharp and insistent. It was accompanied by a shout though the door: “Rahab! Open up!”
“It’s one of the kings’ soldiers!” I hissed, “quick! Follow me!”
I scampered up to the rooftop, open to the air, and pointed at the stalks of flax I had collected and not yet spun into linen. “Hide in there, go!”
I did not wait to see that they obeyed; I hurried back downstairs, seeing lanterns flicker on in my girls’ bedrooms as I went, and a few of them poked their heads out at me to see what all the fuss was about. They could hardly avoid being awakened by all the commotion.
“Shh, go back to bed!” I hissed at all and sundry, smoothing my wrap and taking a deep breath before I pulled open the rattling door.
I had seen the soldier who glared down at me before, making his rounds in the city. There were three other soldiers behind him.
“I come by order of the king,” the first soldier barked. “We were told that men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country, and that they have entered your house. Bring them out now.”
In a moment, I decided how to play this: the soldier in front was all business, and I knew he at least would not soften in response to coquetry. So instead I affected an expression of wide-eyed innocence, and told them just enough of the truth. “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out.” The words were already out of my mouth before the fear struck me that someone might have told the soldiers when the men had come to my home. If they had, this lie would immediately mark me as a traitor. But I’d said it now; nothing to do but double down. “Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them!”
It worked. The soldier in front was clearly in charge; he turned on his heel without another word and rushed away from my door and toward the front gates. The other two followed behind him. I watched until I saw them disappear by the road to the Jordan, to the fords.
Breathing a sigh of relief when they had gone, I closed the front door behind me. All the girls except Pigat had gone back to bed. But she continued to gaze at me with her torch in one hand, frowning. I made a shooing motion with my hand.
“All is well, not to worry,” I told her. “Go back to sleep.”
“The Israelites were here?” she echoed what she had heard, her voice trembling.
“Yes, apparently, but they are gone now. It’s all right.”
“Then it’s happening!” she declared with a shudder, tears pricking her eyes, “we are about to die! They will kill every last one of us!”
“Shh, go back to bed,” I insisted. “They won’t kill us if I have anything to say about it. We’ll talk about this in the morning, now go on.”
She gave a hesitant nod, sniffled, and blew out her torch, closing her door again.
I heaved a sigh, trying to calm my pounding heart as I climbed back to the roof.
“Psst!” I hissed, “it’s just me!”
The two heads poked out from among the flax.
“You can come out for now, but I’m afraid I cannot offer you lodging inside after all, lest my girls see you in the morning.”
“What did you tell the soldiers?” Berel asked as they got to their feet, apprehension knitting his brow.
“That you did come to me, but I had already sent you away. They are pursuing you on the road to the Jordan in the direction of the fords as we speak.”
Salmon gazed at me in wonder. “You realize that if your king discovers what you have done, he will have you executed as a traitor?”
I took a deep breath, fidgeting with my wrap. “Yes. I know this.”
“Then—why?” Salmon pressed. “Why are you helping us?”
I met his gaze. “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things. our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath.” As I said this, I saw Salmon’s expression clear from suspicion to surprise, to something else—something softer. I dropped my gaze. “Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”
Salmon opened his mouth to speak, eyes wide. He hesitated, and what he said was, “But—you are a Canaanite woman. You are a Canaanite harlot!” I winced at his blunt statement, but he did not seem to notice, adding, “And do you believe in the Lord God? In our Lord?”
Trying to recover myself, I said at last, “There is no other God in heaven or on earth who can do what your God can do. If I must choose sides, I choose to side with the winner. This is entirely self-interested on my part, I assure you.”
Berel shot a look at his open-mouthed friend. “You are correct that the Lord has given Jericho and all of Canaan into our hands,” he told me. “But many of our own number, who have seen daily miracles in the wilderness, struggle to believe in the Lord as fully as you have just now expressed. That is what Salmon is trying to say: he is impressed.” He nudged his companion with a slight, almost teasing smirk, before turning back to me. “And yes: our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.”
I swallowed, casting an involuntary glance at Salmon, and then gave Berel a quick, business-like nod. “All right. Follow me. I can lower you down on the other side of the city wall through the window of the empty room we were just in.” I grabbed a thick flaxen cord from the roof as well, already dyed scarlet.
Behind me, the men’s footsteps were almost silent. When we entered the dark room and I led them to the window, I started to see Salmon closer behind me than I had expected. Both of us drew back very quickly, and, for what might have been the first time since my girlhood, I felt myself actually blush. Berel bit his lip, as if trying not to laugh. I cleared my throat, even though I kept my voice to a whisper as I tied the scarlet rope against the bedpost to secure it.
“Here, let me,” said Salmon in a husky whisper, accidentally brushing his fingers against mine as he took over the job of tying the knot. I self-consciously tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, confused by the unfamiliar flutter I felt. When he had finished, together we hoisted the cord out the window, watching it fall almost down to the path outside the city. They would have to jump the last distance, but it was small. Or at least it looked small from up here. I hoped it really was.
I turned to Salmon. “Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way.”
Berel nodded, and said, a warning note in his tone, “We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord you have used in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home. So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house onto the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear.”
I bowed my head to him. “According to your words, so be it.” Even though I wondered how I would explain to my family, who had all but disowned me from the time they discovered my profession, that they needed to lodge in my house of ill repute for an unspecified amount of time. At least I had three days to figure it out.
Berel stepped between Salmon and me, taking the scarlet cord from my hands.
“I’ll go first,” he volunteered. “That’ll give the two of you a moment to, ah—say goodbye.”
I caught the sharp glare Salmon shot his friend. Berel laughed quietly, swinging himself to the outer edge of the window before he vanished.
The air immediately felt thick with tension as soon as he had gone. But Salmon was a stranger to me; I knew nothing of him, or of his culture. I hadn’t the slightest idea what to say.
He cleared his throat unnecessarily, before he said, sounding rather awkward, “Thank you. For helping us.”
I shrugged. “As I said, it’s pure self-interest.”
“It’s faith,” he corrected me. As he said this, I saw his arm move toward me, hesitate, and then freeze in midair before dropping back to his side.
“I know that my profession makes me abhorrent to you,” I whispered, dropping my eyes.
“No! You misunderstand…” Salmon ran a hand through his hair, sighed, and looked away. “Well, yes, sort of,” he admitted, “but—”
“It’s okay,” I cut him off with a wave of my hand, gesturing at the window and taking a step back from him. “I need no approval from you. I’ve learned to live without it everywhere else. Go on, your friend is waiting.” I was hurt. I recognized this much, though it was absurd that this man I had barely spoken to should be capable of hurting me.
Salmon seemed upset, but did not know how to make it right. He hesitated, and then did as I had commanded, moving toward the window and taking hold of the rope. He glanced at me, swallowed, and at last managed, “I hope we will meet again someday. Goodbye, Rahab.” Then he vanished.
I let out a breath I had not realized I had been holding, and then leaned out my window to watch Salmon’s descent next to Berel. When he had leapt the last distance to the ground, both of them looked up at me, waved, and ran off in the direction of the mountain.
I hauled up the cord after them so that a visitor to the city might not look up at the window and discern what might have happened. Then I went back to the rooftop, retrieved a knife, and sawed off the bulk of it, leaving just enough of a scarlet cord tied on the outside of the window to serve as our signal.
I had three days.
I barely slept that night, turning over in my mind what I should do next. I had a sense that Salmon and Berel were men of action; they would not tarry. The Israelites would probably descend upon Jericho within the week. I decided that I could not trust most of my girls not to betray me to the king—but neither could I abandon them to slaughter, at least not without giving them a choice. I determined to wait until the last minute, when the Israelites were already upon us, and then I would tell them they could stay with me and join the Israelites, or leave. Then they would not have enough time to betray me.
My family posed a bigger problem. I could not convince them to lodge with me, given the infamy of my profession, without giving them a good reason. And I could not give them a good reason without putting my life in their hands. I knew they disapproved of me, but surely they would not give me up to execution as a traitor, not when my intention was to save their lives along with my own?
I didn’t know, but I would have to risk it.

The next morning, I arrayed myself in my drab linen clothing so as not to draw attention to myself, just as if I were going to the marketplace. But instead, I went to my father’s house for the first time in over a decade. I gritted my teeth, steeling myself against whatever might come.
The door swung open, and I gasped. “Mother!”
The woman in the doorframe looked like a shadow of her former buxom, laughing self. Her skin was papery and white. It had been ten years, but she looked like she had aged at least twenty. Her hooded eyes briefly searched my face and widened.
“Rahab?” She took a step away rather than towards me, which stung. “You shouldn’t be here. Your father—”
“Disowned me, yes, I remember,” I said with a fixed smile, “and I came anyway, because your lives are in danger. All of ours are. I alone can save you.”

Twenty-four hours later, my entire estranged family crammed into my house of ill repute. My father, after first ordering me out of his home, finally changed his tune and instead went to my brothers and sisters, bearing my message. While my parents recruited my siblings, I went to the marketplace to buy enough food for all the sudden guests, to last through the siege. I did this in multiple trips, hoping not to raise eyebrows at why I felt the sudden need to stockpile supplies.
I hoped the Israelites would return soon, if only to curtail my awkward family reunion. Then I felt guilty for thinking this, as the Israelites’ return would mean the slaughter of every citizen of Jericho save those in my own home. They had no idea, I thought, as I passed mothers with children in the streets. As always, they crossed to the other side of the street when they saw me coming, wanting to avoid contamination. This used to hurt, long ago. Then I became calloused to it, ignoring those who shunned me. Now, I felt compassion… but not enough to risk my own life to warn them. I had risked enough in warning my own family, and I had no more room in my home for anyone else anyway. Most of my girls left in a huff after my sisters insulted them. Only Pigat remained, having guessed why they were there after seeing the Israelites. With each passing day, I wrung my hands, fearful that the girls who had left would turn me in to the authorities as a traitor, though I had officially confessed nothing.
On the second day after Berel and Salmon had left my house, I watched over the wall and saw the soldiers of Jericho return empty-handed. I held my breath as they passed by, fearful they might knock on my door again and wonder why I suddenly played host to so many. Fortunately they had no other reason to approach me, and they passed on by.
On the third day, nothing happened at all. I knew that was the day the two spies would leave the mountain and return to their camp. My father began to sneer at me, accusing me of lying to all of them, and ruining their reputations by their sudden association with me. My mother snapped at him to leave me alone, which brought tears to my eyes. But when she turned away from him, she did not look at me either.
On the fourth day, I thought I heard the distant rumble of marching in the desert. I ran to the rooftops, and peered out into the distance. Pigat crept up behind me.
“Is that them?” she whispered.
“I don’t know,” I whispered back.
She wrapped her little hands around my forearm, and I leaned into her, grateful for her companionship.
“I’m scared,” she confessed. “Everything is about to change, isn’t it?”
I kissed the top of her head, and smoothed back her hair. “Yes, little one,” I whispered back. “But I believe it will be a change for the better.”
“How do you know?”
I considered this, and a thousand images flashed across my mind: of losing my virginity and my virtue. Of the awful things I had to do since then to support myself. Of all the respectable people who had turned against me. Of the moment my father had disowned me, many years ago. Of the nights I had cried myself to sleep with loneliness and regret, before rising in the morning with determination to make my own way. Of grieving as I finally understood what had happened to my own soul, by watching it play out in the broken girls who worked for me.
Then I thought of how I had felt when I started to hear the stories of the God of Israel. The Canaanites had gods, but honestly, I had never thought much of them. They had no power. They certainly had no goodness. Yet the Israelites’ God used His power to deliver His people from their oppressors, to grant them victory over their enemies. That did not necessarily make Him good, but it certainly made Him great. I wanted to ally myself with that God, if only because I did not wish to suffer the fate of His enemies.
Then I’d met Berel and Salmon. It was so very brief, that to draw any major conclusions about Israelites in general based upon that one encounter seemed foolish. Yet they had been kind. It had been so long since a man had been truly kind to me that I hardly remembered what it felt like. They said their God had directed them to come to me, even knowing what I was. They spoke to me with respect, even gratitude.
I realized I had never answered Pigat. She had asked how I knew that this would be a change for the better.
“All my adult life, it’s been me against the world,” I told her at last. “A father is supposed to protect and defend his daughter, a brother his sister, a husband his wife. I had none of these. No one to rely upon but myself.”
“You did a great job, even so,” Pigat said with a tentative smile.
I returned her smile affectionately, and said, “But I would never have chosen this life, had I had any other choice. None of us would. It was a matter of survival, that’s all. Then I heard of a God who protects and defends His people, and…” I looked at her and confessed earnestly, “I want that. More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. I wasn’t born one of them, but if it’s possible to become one of them anyway, then whatever it takes, I want to do it. I want to belong to the God of Israel.” Tears pricked at my eyes as I said this. I didn’t realize how deep that ran: my desire to belong to someone who valued me. I would give my life for it.
Pigat blinked up at me, and gave me a tiny nod of agreement, answering tears swimming in her own eyes. I knew she felt the same way.
I turned back to peer out into the desert, and gasped. “Look!”
It was them at last, and more than I possibly could have imagined. From this distance, the Israelites looked like a swarm of locusts.
“It’s starting,” I murmured.
“Should we go inside?” Pigat whispered.
Down below, I heard the gates of the city closing. The watchmen had spotted the approaching army too.
“You can if you want to,” I told her. “I think I want to watch.”

It took a week, all told. I grew impatient as day after day, the men of Israel marched around the walls of Jericho once, blowing trumpets but otherwise holding their peace. They did not storm the city gates, or make any attempt to enter.
“What are they doing?” my sister Hurriya murmured beside me on the third day: the first time she had voluntarily spoken to me since she had come
I shook my head and shivered. “I have no idea, but it’s unnerving. I wish they would get on with it already.”
Inside our walls, the city of Jericho uneasily tried to continue life as usual, which I knew only by looking out the windows and seeing the usual traffic in the streets. A few men even came to my house at nightfall, seeking the services of my girls. I turned them away, of course. Two of them, already drunk, became violent, until my brothers Keret and Paebel came to my defense. The men scampered off in a hurry. Once they were gone, the moments afterwards were awkward.
“Thank you,” I mumbled, not daring to meet my brothers’ eyes.
Paebel gave me a curt nod and walked off. Keret snapped, “Just tell me you’re not going back to harlotry when this is all over.”
I slapped him. I did it without thinking, surprised by the violence of my own emotions. His cheek reddened in where my hand had stung him.
“I will never be a harlot again!” I hissed. “I never would have been one in the first place, had I any other choice! Do you think I wanted this life?”
I stalked off before he could reply, leaving him gaping behind me.
Over the next three days, my family began to offer me awkward and overly polite acknowledgements for the food and lodging. They even stopped treating Pigat like a ghost, though it was clear they were uncomfortable with her. And all the time, the Israelites marched around Jericho’s walls, in silence save for the trumpets. Sometimes I went up to the room where the scarlet cord was tied, where my brothers slept, and peered down below to see if I could identify the faces of any of the Israelite soldiers. I was looking for Salmon, though I never would have admitted it.
On the seventh day at last, something changed: instead of just once, the Israelites marched around the city walls seven times. They were still silent save for the trumpets, but they had picked up their pace considerably. My heart thrummed in my chest. I knew something was on the verge of happening, though I had no idea what it would be.
Then, on their seventh pass, when the trumpets blew, as one all the Israelites raised their voices in a mighty shout. I wondered that their voices could have made such noise, until I realized that the sound was now coming from the very foundations of my house. I felt it in the stones below me. I looked and saw, to my horror and amazement, that the city walls—thick enough for houses and businesses like mine to be built atop them—fell down flat in a ripple effect. And then—
I screamed, grasping wildly for something to hold on to, but it was no use. I was airborne, as the ground below me collapsed.
I collided with the ground again, gasping and trying to orient myself as I groped to my feet. I looked up and saw that the roof held, as did the floor. I ran to the window with the scarlet cord, which moments ago had been far above the ground outside the city walls. Now, suddenly, it was only one story above ground level… and there were no more city walls. Outside my window I saw the invading army rushing by with swords drawn, still shouting their battle cry. I trembled in terror, praying that they would see the scarlet cord and remember their promise to me.
The next thing I knew, Pigat and my entire family all crowded in that little room with me, huddled together in fear. Then I heard the ominous sound of pounding on my door down below, above the din of the battle.
“Ignore them,” Pigat whispered to me in a tremulous voice. “Maybe they’ll go away!”
The pounding started again, three times, insistent.
“Maybe not,” Keret said gravely, and rose to his feet, trying to be brave. “I will see to it—”
“No,” I stopped him, reaching out an arm as I rose instead, trying to be brave. “They do not know you. I, at least, have met two of them. If they will spare anyone, they will spare me.” My voice was remarkably steady, though I trembled as I descended the stairs—marveling vaguely that as the foundation of my home beneath us fell down flat, its structure was somehow still intact.
The pounding began again, this time accompanied by a voice.
“Rahab?”
I caught my breath and rushed to the door, throwing it open.
Salmon and Berel looked glorious now, no longer like spies, but like warriors. Their swords were sheathed, but their hair was backlit by the sun and their eyes glowed with the heat of battle. I felt my face split into an involuntary grin.
“You came back for me!”
Salmon looked almost affronted. “Of course we came back for you. We are men of our word.” He reached out an arm to me and beckoned, “Come, you and your household. Our leader Joshua has sent us to escort you outside the city where you will be safe. Take with you any possessions you wish to keep, as well, as we plan to burn the city to the ground.”
My eyes widened. I turned to spread this message to the others, but they were all halfway down the stairs before I could get to them. My parents, siblings, and Pigat already had gathered up what they could carry.
“My flax!” I said, rushing up to the roof to gather what I had already spun into linen and had planned to sell at the marketplace. It was not yet dyed, but I figured that the Israelite camps would still have plenty of use for linen. I scooped as much as I could carry into my arms, and turned to find Salmon standing very close behind me. I was so jittery and startled that I dropped it all on the ground again.
“Oh!” I gasped, a hand flying to my chest. “You—scared me.”
He did not answer for a moment; he gazed at me, a look of curiosity and wonder on his face. All around us raged the shouts of battle, and yet here we were, alone, mere stories above it all. Salmon seemed to recall himself before I did, and murmured, “Here, let me get that.” He scooped up what I had dropped, and gestured for me to return inside. “Grab any other valuables you have.”
I did as he instructed, rushing back downstairs and collecting my few precious belongings: candlesticks and bowls, one golden ring, and a head scarf I had treasured as a young girl, before my life became what it had been. Berel was already carrying a load of Pigat’s valuables.
“Let’s get out of here!” my mother begged. Berel nodded swiftly, being the closest to the door.
“This way,” he said, and hurried out first. Pigat, my mother and sisters were right on his heels, followed by my brothers, my father, and then Salmon and me. Salmon brought up the rear, and I realized that he and Berel served as protection for my family between them. The army would recognize them, and would not touch us.
The hike to the Israelite camp was not as far as I had expected, but it still took us several miles. As each of us fell into our relative paces, I found myself striding alone beside Salmon. I wasn’t sure if that was his doing or mine.
“Thank you for coming back for us,” I said at last.
Salmon nodded. “As I said, Joshua sent us back for you.” I didn’t know what to say to this, so I said nothing. Seeming to realize his mistake, he amended, “Not that—I wouldn’t have volunteered to do so. If he hadn’t.”
I glanced at him with a small smile, and then lapsed back into silence. I was worried about what was to come next. I had left behind me everything I had ever known—and while I certainly did not regret the loss of that life, surely the Israelites did not view prostitution any more favorably than did my family. Would I become an outcast among the Israelites as I had in Jericho, and have to resort to the same profession after all in order to support myself? Would the God of Israel want nothing to do with me?
“You need not fear,” Salmon said gently.
I glanced at him, startled, and saw that he was watching me. “What?”
“I suspect I can guess your apprehensions. I won’t pretend the cultural adjustments won’t be significant. But our leader Joshua is disposed to deal kindly with you, for how you aided Berel and myself, and by extension, all of Israel. I told him how you risked yourself for our sakes, because you heard of the great works of the Lord and believed in Him.”
I was surprised at the lump which sprang to my throat at this, and the ache in my chest.
“But what if your Lord wants nothing to do with a woman like me?” I whispered. I had not meant to say it; the words just slipped out.
To my surprise, Salmon shifted his load to one arm so that he could reach out and touch my hand with the other. I stopped walking, startled, and jerked my hand away from him like I had been burned.
“You should want nothing to do with me, either! You know what I am!”
But Salmon reached out for me again, taking my hand in his firmly this time. “Yes,” he said, “I do know. You are a woman who merely heard of God’s works, and without ever seeing them for yourself, you believed—even to the point of staking your own life upon your allegiance to Him. How many Israelites do not believe, even when they have seen? You are a woman who so loved her family, even when they shunned her, that you risked your life to save theirs. You are a woman who clearly loves and protects one of your girls like your own little sister, who I’m guessing has no one else to care for her either. You are an enterprising woman who obviously wants to find any other means of support for herself and those under her protection, hence the linen.” He indicated the burden he was carrying, and shook his head. “I do not know what blows life has dealt you to lead to you to the place you have been. But Israel can be a second chance for you, if you want it to be.”
Tears ran down my cheeks as he spoke. I couldn’t even wipe them away, since one arm grasped all my remaining worldly belongings, while Salmon firmly held my other. I sniffled, and confessed, “I want that more than anything in the world!”
He gave me a swift nod. “Then that’s settled.” Then with a sly smile, he said, “I will introduce you to the women of Israel as a merchant of scarlet linen, and leave it at that, shall I? And Pigat is… your apprentice.”
A grateful laugh and sob together escaped my lips, and I nodded, unable to speak.

Salmon was as good as his word. When we reached the tents where the women, children, and elderly waited for the return of their soldiers, he introduced Pigat and me as linen merchants. He also told them that we had hidden him and Berel, and told them how to escape. My family easily could have contradicted the story, but they did not. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I was surrounded by respectable women who did not mind if their children played in my presence. I learned that Israel was comprised of twelve tribes, and I also gathered that Salmon was a prominent and well-respected member of the tribe called Judah. Israel had no princes, but if they had, it seemed, he would have been one of them. This made me shy in his presence, though he treated me just as attentively after I learned this as before.
“And as a proselyte, you can choose which tribe you join!” one of my new friends told me cheerfully. Then she dropped her voice and added, “Unless you marry into one, in which case, the tribe chooses you.” She cast a significant glance in Salmon’s direction at this, not bothering to hide her implication from anyone. He grinned, and I blushed furiously and dropped my eyes—a reflex I had not known I still possessed.
It was a strange contradiction, to feel so happy while the city that had been my home burned in the distance. Death and tragedy was all around us, and yet I had never felt so hopeful or at peace.
Suddenly, anything seemed possible.

View Details

Dr. Josh Axe, founder of Ancient Nutrition and DrAxe.com, is a certified doctor of natural medicine (DNM), doctor of chiropractic (DC) and clinical nutritionist (CNS) with a passion to help people get healthy by empowering them to use nutrition to fuel their health. He is the bestselling author of KETO DIET, Eat Dirt, and COLLAGEN DIET, and author of the upcoming book Ancient Remedies (releasing Feb 2). Dr. Axe founded the natural health website DrAxe.com, one of the top natural health websites in the world today. Its main topics include nutrition, natural remedies, fitness, healthy recipes, home DIY solutions and trending health news. Dr. Axe is also the co-founder of Ancient Nutrition, which provides protein powders, holistic supplements, vitamins, essential oils and more to the modern world. Most recently, he launched his podcast, The Dr. Axe Show which features interviews with top health influencers such as Dr. Oz, The Skinny Confidential, Dr. Perlmutter, Dr. Will Cole & many more! He has an incredible fanbase on Facebook (2.7m) & Instagram (656k) and shares his many health tips on these platforms with the goal of transforming lives using food as medicine.

The Collagen Diet: A 28-Day Plan for Sustained Weight Loss, Glowing Skin, Great Gut Health, and a Younger You

Keto Diet: Your 30-Day Plan to Lose Weight, Balance Hormones, Boost Brain Health, and Reverse Disease

Ancient Remedies: Secrets to Healing with Herbs, Essential Oils, CBD, and the Most Powerful Natural Medicine in History

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, UTIs, Interstitial Cystitis, and Bladder Health.

View Details

Today's meditation and retelling comes from Mark 8:22-26.

Preorder "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here. (Published under my pen name, C.A. Gray)

Afterword

This story gets only four verses, so of course I embellished a lot—we know nothing of this man’s name, family situation, or the circumstances surrounding his blindness. But we do know a little more about Bethsaida: in Matthew 11:21, Jesus rebukes it for the fact that they did not repent, despite the mighty works that had been done in the city. When Jesus fed the 5000, the wilderness was just outside of Bethsaida, so presumably many of those 5000 men, plus women and children, lived there.

While there are plenty of other examples of Jesus getting a person alone or putting away the crowds in order to perform a miracle, this story is unique in that it is the only time recorded where complete healing did not manifest on Jesus’ first attempt. In the case of the woman with the issue of blood, all she had to do was touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, and she was instantly healed. The Centurian’s servant was healed by a word at a distance. And yet Jesus had to take this man by the hand, lead him out of town, and then intentionally lay hands on him twice in order for his healing to fully manifest. The deficiency could not have been on Jesus’ side, so presumably the blind man himself was the problem. Since Jesus had rebuked the town of Bethsaida, and then told the newly healed man not to go back there, I assume that the town itself contributed to this man’s unbelief. We know from Jesus’ reception in his hometown that unbelief hinders mighty works (Mark 6:4-5), so this was probably why Jesus didn’t want this man to return there. Those who receive healing have to know how to stand when the devil tries to devour them again (1 Peter 5:8).

Bethsaida could not have been all bad, though: it was the home of Philip, Andrew, and Peter (John 1:44). And at least two people did have faith that Jesus could help this man, since it said “they” brought him to Jesus—but there is no indication that the blind man himself sought his healing. This was surely part of the hindrance as well. But he allowed himself to be led out of town by the hand by a complete stranger—that took faith. There were a few other people around besides him and Jesus, since he saw “men as trees walking.” Still, he probably felt vulnerable. What if Jesus left him out there? Could he find his way home again, stone blind as he was?

Why did Jesus spit on and touch the man’s eyes? He spit on the eyes of the man born blind also (John 9:41), but when Jesus had been holding his hand all the way out of town, why would he then need to do anything else? It might have been because the man’s faith had been primed to expect a healing touch (Mark 8:22). Jesus had intended to go to the Centurian’s house when the Centurian sent a delegation to say he believed that Jesus’ word at a distance was enough. The Syro-Phoenician woman likewise believed her daughter was healed when Jesus spoke the word only. The woman with the issue of blood put her faith in touching the hem of his garment. Jesus had said, “According to your faith be it done to you” (Matthew 9:29). So perhaps this man’s faith was that he would be healed when Jesus specifically touched him for that purpose.

In Mark 8:24, Jesus told the man to “look up” (anablepo in Greek). This was the same word used when Jesus “looked up” and broke bread before feeding the 5000, and it means not just looking up physically, but looking into the unseen realm, where there is “every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). This was the moment when the man could see clearly—in fact, the word “clearly” is telaugos, meaning shining, radiant, or in full light. Perhaps bolstered by the initial improvement in his vision the first time Jesus laid hands on the man’s eyes, he then had hope—and “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Now, he could truly see—in every sense of the word.

Healing of the Blind Man at Bethsaida

Before the accident, I had been a carpenter, with a specialty in fine furniture.

That was an understatement, actually. My name was synonymous with elegant wood carvings in Bethsaida, and even in the surrounding cities. I attracted only the wealthiest clientele. Young hopeful apprentices sought me out, hoping to learn from the master. I’d gruffly rebuffed them for years, even though I was pleased by their interest and flattery; I considered them to be more trouble than they were worth. As time went on, though, I had more clients than I had time, and I realized that it made good business sense to bring on an apprentice. I interviewed several, and chose Ugo, the most eager of the bunch.

That was the biggest mistake of my life.

Ugo worked hard, but he was always in a hurry when he wasn’t actually carving, and so he was accident-prone. I could not make him slow down, no matter how hard I tried. One day in his haste, he collided with a precarious pile of unfinished wood, sending a beam hurtling directly toward his head. On instinct, I knocked him out of the way.

I should have let it crush him.

When I came to, I thought at first that I was in a pitch dark room. Yet there were people all around me, commenting fretfully on my appearance. That was when I comprehended the awful truth.

“I can’t see,” I blurted. “Why can’t I see?”

“Shh, lie still, don’t overexert yourself,” the doctor soothed.

“Why can’t I see?” I bellowed, straining against his hands. “Will my vision come back? It’s only temporary, right?”

There was an awful silence. Finally the doctor murmured, “I really can’t say. But I’ve seen injuries like this before, and… usually not.” There was a long pause. I felt like he’d knocked the wind out of me. Then he murmured, “I’m so sorry.”

I lay back against the soft pillow under my head in shock. People moved about somewhere nearby, speaking to one another in low whispers.

“I’ll kill him,” I snarled at last. Then I shouted, struggling to my feet, “I’ll kill that foolish bumbling idiot! Where is he? Where’s Ugo? Put his neck in my hands, right here—!”

A collection of louder voices and large hands forced me back onto my bed, though I bucked and strained against them until I’d spent the last of my meager strength. I at last lay panting and sobbing until I cried myself to sleep.

In subsequent years, I grew used to my condition, at least. I had a new routine. I had done well enough while I worked that I was not yet beggared, though I knew the time would come when I would be, if not for the charity of my brothers’ families, who cared for me. From time to time, I wondered if I was already living off their charity, but I spared little thought for that or for anything else. My life was darkness, both literally and figuratively. I slept, ate, and sat, waiting for the days to end. I had neither joy nor hope. When I thought at all, I brooded over what I had lost. I gnashed my teeth when reports reached me of how prosperous Ugo had become. All my clients were now his. He had utterly ruined my life.

Oh, how I wished I could kill him.

One day I overheard my brothers talking about a young rabbi, whom they heard was a new prophet in Israel. I snorted.

“There are no more prophets in Israel. Not for hundreds of years. God has abandoned us.”

“What about John the Baptist?” my brother Jacob insisted. “People said he was Elijah.”

I scoffed. “Elijah did miracles. John never did. He wasn’t a prophet.”

“Well, Jesus does miracles, from what I hear. Lots of them!”

“I doubt it,” I muttered.

I knew what the reaction to this would be. Jacob got very stubborn when he was contradicted, and I contradicted him daily. He’d called me a curmudgeon even before my accident, and accused me of becoming ten times worse afterwards.

“You can doubt it if you want, but if he comes to Bethsaida, we’re taking you to him, whether you like it or not!” Jacob informed me.

I uttered under my breath, “I’d like to see you make me.”

But I thought about it later. A lot.

I started to casually ask Jacob, always in a mocking tone of voice, if he’d heard of any new miracles this Jesus had “supposedly performed.” Jacob always had an enthusiastic response for me, often of entire crowds receiving their healing at his hands. He particularly highlighted the stories of eyesight restored. I realized that I started looking forward to these stories as the highlight of my days. Then one night, I dreamt that I could see again. I hadn’t had a dream like this in many years.

I dropped the mocking tone after that when I asked for stories of Jesus. Then I started asking Jacob, as casually as I could, if he’d heard anything about Jesus coming to Bethsaida.

“Nothing yet,” Jacob told me, with a tone of sympathy I hated. “I’ll tell you as soon as I hear—”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said savagely, “It’s all nonsense anyway.”

Abigail, my sister-in-law, scolded me. “You don’t mean that. You’re just trying not to get your hopes up. But maybe you should! Maybe that’s exactly what you need!”

“What do you know about it?” I lashed out at her. “When have you ever been disappointed? When did you lose your entire life in the literal blink of an eye? Don’t you dare lecture me about hope!”

“That’s enough!” Jacob roared as I heard Abigail’s quick, light footsteps leave the room, “never speak to my wife like that again!”

I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest, turning away from the sounds of his voice.

“Sorry,” I muttered about five minutes later. I knew he was still there, as I hadn’t heard him leave. “I know she was just trying to help. But—really! No one understands!”

“If you’d take half a second to get out of your rut of bitterness, there might be a chance for you yet,” Jacob said quietly. “I didn’t tell you this, but before I knew anything about Jesus, he was already here in Bethsaida. And you know what he said about us? He said woe to us, that he did all these miracles and we didn’t repent of our sins and turn back to God. He said—this is what I heard, anyway—‘it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgement than for you!’”

I absorbed this, and then felt my whole body deflate. “Then he’s never coming back,” I croaked.

“There you go again, seeing the worst in everything!” Jacob snapped, “that’s not what I said, and that’s not what he said! My point is, he wants repentance! And your whole life now is a big ball of ‘woe is me,’ because something bad happened to you, and hatred for Ugo because you think it’s all his fault. Yes, something bad happened to you, and yes, it was Ugo’s fault,” he cut me off as I was about to protest, “but it was an accident, and you need to forgive him and let it go instead of letting it consume the rest of your life! Even if you never get your sight back! Then, maybe, if you ever do meet Jesus, you’ll be in a position where you can receive from him!”

I recoiled like he’d struck me. It was, possibly, the first time he had ever successfully rendered me speechless.

Jacob took advantage of the opportunity and stalked out after Abigail, leaving me to absorb his words.

We barely spoke for the next few days. Abigail brought me food, and left. I thought Jacob also came to check on me, but he never spoke to me. On the third day, when I heard footsteps, I called out irritably, “All right, fine! You were right! I’m sorry! …Are you happy?”

The steps came back. “What was that?” Jacob trilled, his tone all exaggerated sweetness.

I huffed. “You heard me.”

“Yes, but I’d like to hear it again. I want to savor this moment for ever and ever…”

“Shut up,” I muttered, but felt a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. “I’m not saying I forgive Ugo, though. I will never forgive him. Not for as long as I live.”

I could hear the shrug in Jacob’s voice. “Suit yourself. It’s not doing him any harm.”

I heard another set of footsteps behind him. I recognized them as belonging to my other brother, Caleb. He sounded like he was in a hurry.

“Jacob, Jesus is in Bethsaida! Right now!”

“What?” Jacob gasped, as I caught my breath. “I haven’t heard that!”

“Because he just arrived! Come on, I know where he is!”

I had already leapt to my feet. Jacob and Caleb took me each by an arm, and hurried me forward a bit too quickly. I stumbled, and Caleb had to catch me.

“Slow down so I don’t fall over,” I muttered, hiding my almost painful excitement beneath my usual gruffness.

I hadn’t been truly out in a crowd in years. The sound of chatter, laughter, shouts, children, and animals assaulted my ears when we got outside. When I had first lost my vision, it had been very strange to know it was daytime, and yet still not perceive even light, as I once did through closed eyelids when the sun streamed down upon me. I was used to it now, though—the world was universal blackness. Now that there were obstacles everywhere, though, I felt terribly vulnerable. My brothers shielded me from the crowds on either side, and I heard them pressing through, apologizing, and from time to time murmuring to me, “Watch your step, down here,” or “careful, big rock next to your left foot, there you go.” Finally when we must have been close enough, Jacob cried out, “Jesus! Rabbi—let my brother touch you, please!”

My heart hammered, though I felt completely overwhelmed by all the sensory input I had lacked for so long. Jacob let go of my hand, and I felt a sudden wave of terror, even though Caleb still had me firmly by the other hand.

“This is your brother?” said a new voice. It was calm, steady, authoritative. Inexplicably, it set me at ease.

“Yes, Rabbi,” said Jacob, “and as you can see, he is stone blind. But if he can just—”

“Let me take him from here.” A new hand took my free one, and I felt Caleb let go too. The stranger began to pull me away, slowly enough that I did not stumble, but inexorably.

“Where… are you taking me?” I managed.

“Outside of Bethsaida,” he answered.

“Are my brothers with us?”

“No, I left them behind with most of my disciples to restrain the crowd,” the man answered. “There are a few still with us.”

I should have felt frightened by this, but somehow, I wasn’t. The murmur of the crowds behind us began to die away.

“Are you Jesus?” I asked at last.

I thought I could hear slight amusement in his reply. “Yes, of course. Did your brothers not tell you they were taking you to me? Did you think they would leave you with just anyone?”

I relaxed a little. “They did tell me. I was… just making sure.” Then I added, “Why are we leaving town?”

“Because you have enough of your own unbelief to overcome, without the influence of that town on top of it,” he said, a hint of a growl in his tone. “They are not a healthy influence at present. This is far enough,” he added to the other disciples. “Now.” I heard a sound I recognized as spitting, and then felt the unexpected sensation of wet fingertips on my eyelids. I almost recoiled, but then understood what must be happening. “Do you see anything?” he asked me.

I opened my eyes through the caked mud and gasped, blinking very fast. “Light! I see light!” I started to laugh. “I haven’t seen anything but darkness in five years—”

“What else?” Jesus asked patiently.

I turned my head this way and that, squinting from the sudden brightness. I saw one short form in front of me, probably crouching. Behind him, I saw three tall dark shapes moving.

“I see men like trees, walking,” I said at last.

The one in front of me—Jesus, I was sure—reached forward and touched my eyes again. “Look up,” he told me. “Not physically. I mean, look up.”

I looked up literally, because I didn’t really understand what he meant otherwise. But as I did, I thought back—not just to before my accident, but long before I was a master craftsman. I thought back to when I used to play with Jacob and Caleb in the fields when we were children, bathed in golden sunlight, laughing so hard my sides hurt. Not a care in the world.

I looked back, and saw the man before me. He was young, dressed as a rabbi, with dark hair and beard, and kind brown eyes. My own eyes filled with tears.

“I can see you!”

Jesus smiled, and one of his disciples behind him let out a low whistle. “Phew, I was starting to get worried!” the disciple said, in a joking tone. Another disciple smacked him on the arm. “Just kidding,” the first disciple protested. “You have to admit, that was a lot harder than usual…”

“Don’t go back to Bethsaida,” Jesus told me, ignoring the antics of his disciples. “Go your way, back to your home.”

“Are you kidding me?” I laughed, “I want to tell everyone!”

“You can tell your family, but not the people of Bethsaida,” Jesus warned. “They will make you doubt your healing. I want you to keep it.”

I blinked, sobered. “I want that too,” I murmured, a little confused. “I… guess I could start my business again in another town. Let Ugo—keep my clients here?” I choked on this last sentence, but it somehow felt right, as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Jesus smiled and gave me a tiny nod of approval.

“Now, you can see indeed,” he affirmed.

View Details

This week's podcast comes from this blog post, 2021: Hitting a Reset Button.

View Details

Today's podcast used this blog post as a jumping off point (loosely): Fitness Benefits of cutting down on sugar.

View Details

Today's podcast is a meditation on Luke 2:36-38, just after Jesus' birth. You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray Intro We know very little about Anna: just three verses encompass her entire life. She was married seven years, and then widowed for eighty-four; probably the youngest she could have been married would have been fourteen, which would make her at least one hundred and five by the time she sees Jesus. The Old Testament makes provisions for widows. If they are widowed young, as Anna would have been, a kinsman redeemer is to marry her and provide for her. Perhaps she had none, or perhaps he refused. Anna may have had children who had grown by now; maybe she chose to live at the temple only after they had grown. But the verses seem to imply that she had lived at the temple from the time of her widowhood, for eighty-four years. This to me suggests that in seven years of marriage, she never had any children. So either she or her husband were likely barren (and in those days, the woman was usually blamed). Would that be why she never remarried, because she was assumed to be barren? There are promises for the faithful of Israel that none shall be barren or miscarry, though the Word must always be mixed with faith to receive it (Hebrews 4:2). It’s pure speculation to imagine what might have happened in Anna’s case. In my retelling, though, I imagine that her decision to remain a widow and live at the temple all her life started out as what she thought was her only choice. As a widow with presumably no family to care for her, she was dependent upon offerings to sustain her anyway (Deut 26:12-13), so it makes sense that she would live at the temple. But as she grew closer to the Lord and invested all her attention on pleasing Him rather than on pleasing a husband, she realized that this was actually better, as did the later Apostle Paul (1 Cor 7:32-40). The Lord is the husband to the widow (Isaiah 54:4-5) just as the Church is the Bride of Christ. What did she do during those long years, though? How do you fast and pray for eighty-four years? Paul writes that we are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). This does not mean constantly petitioning the Lord for the same things like a broken record, though. Most prayer is not petition at all. Like Adam and Eve strolling with God in the cool of the day, it is simply being aware of Him, spending time with Him. Like David in the Psalms, it is praising Him for who He is, for His goodness, for what He has done. For us today (though not yet for Anna), it is the Holy Spirit showing us things to come and leading us into all truth (John 16), and praying the hidden mysteries of God in tongues (1 Cor 14) to build us up in our faith (Jude 1:20). It’s meditating on and renewing our minds with the Word (Romans 12:2). I imagine that Anna also had plenty of time to pour over the prophecies of the Messiah. She did not yet have the Holy Spirit upon the HS was probably upon her but not w/in her her (or maybe she did, since Simeon did, Luke 2:26, and He came upon Old Testament heroes from time to time!). Regardless, like God’s friends of old such as Abraham and Daniel, He must have revealed to Anna what he was about to do on the earth. That’s why she knew to come in to the temple “that instant,” when Mary and Joseph were presenting the sacrifices for Jesus according to the law. God probably wanted to share with those attuned to Him enough to listen, just like we want to share good news with the people closest to us. He wanted his friends to celebrate with Him! Fictionalized Retelling I could have attempted to remarry when I was widowed at the young age of twenty-one. But it would not have been easy, for several reasons. First, my husband had no unmarried brothers. There were distant cousins to whom I could turn as kinsman-redeemers, but I knew they would not want me. In the seven years of our marriage, I had not produced a child, so it was to be assumed that I was barren. I had a brother and a kindly sister-in-law who would have taken me in, but this would have been a great burden upon them. They were poor, and had three children at the time to provide for already. Also, given my barrenness, it was unlikely that I would ever be taken off their hands. So it was clear that I should choose a life of pure devotion to the Lord. I was already predisposed to do so anyway, as I had learned to read at a young age, and during my husband’s long illness, I had poured over the scriptures for comfort. At first the stories of old were just stories to me. But in time I began to see the broken heart of God as the theme interwoven through them all: His deep love for His people who time and time again betrayed Him. His love for Israel was like the jealous love of a husband for his unfaithful bride, Israel. The first time I read through Hosea, I wept and wept for the Lord. I was only one woman, but I longed to make it up to Him on behalf of my people, to the best of my poor abilities. He would be my husband, and I would be his bride, spending every moment and every year and every last bit of my strength in loving and worshiping Him. In return, He filled me up with His love so completely that I often felt I could burst with the joy of it. No earthly wife was ever so satisfied as I was with my groom. I dwelt in the temple night and day, fasting and praying before the Lord. I slept in the Chamber of the Hearth. I joined in as those who came to the temple presented their little ones for dedication and sacrifice, thanking God for them with as much fervor as if they had been my own. Many times the Lord would give me a specific word for their lives, and I would lay hands on them and prophesy to their parents what they would become. He often led me to join with those who wept and mourned, and lend them the strength and comfort He had given me. I didn’t resent it or feel like I was just being used as an instrument to bless others—it was more like I was partnering with my Husband in His work. It made me feel closer to Him. I had been there for almost fifteen years, the first time the Lord let me see Him. Whether it was in the body or in the spirit, I do not know, the Lord knows. But for the first time, I understood what the prophet Ezekiel had described. His language of the Throne Room had been so fantastical that I could not grasp it until I saw it myself. Then I realized that our language falls pitifully short, and Ezekiel had done the best he could! The throne shone a vibrant, clear, shining blue—like a sapphire, though it was not a sapphire. The One who sat on the throne—oh! I have never before beheld anything so beautiful! He burned like fire, except he was not fire itself. It was his glory that shone, radiating an amber color from the waist up, like the vibrant orange of a flame; from the waist down, beholding Him was like looking at the sun, or a star. But the light He produced split into all its component colors, a shimmering rainbow so bright I could scarcely look at it. I, too, fell on my face before Him. “Stand, Daughter,” said the voice of the One on the throne, and though it sounded like many waters, in it was also infinite tenderness. “And approach. She who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” I recognized the passage as the first verse of Psalm 91. I had spent many years now meditating upon the meaning of the secret place. Here it was! The Lord granted me the desire of my heart—to behold it. To dwell in it! The only way to get into the shadow of the throne was to do as He bid me, to approach very close indeed. It was the one thing I wanted so badly I could hardly stand it, and yet I was so terrified that I dared not move without invitation. But He Himself had invited me! I rose, quivering. Somehow my legs obeyed me, and the next thing I knew, I was running to Him. He laughed, and the sound of His laughter filled the throne room with almost palpable joy. Then He stood up, opening His arms to receive me. I had intended to dive behind the throne and hide in its shadow, but to run past His waiting arms would be to reject Him—and that was the one thing in the world I could never, never do. Though I hardly knew how I dared, both terrified and yet bursting with His joy, I ran straight into them. And oh, the bliss of that moment—it is almost indecent to describe it! I have not left that embrace these almost seventy years since. Not once. As the years went on, the Lord took me more and more to the scriptures that prophesied the coming Messiah, from the prophecy of Eve’s Seed who would bruise the head of the serpent to the Rod of the stem of Jesse prophesied in Isaiah. This meant we would know His lineage, I realized. He would have to come as a baby, not as a conquerer from the ends of the earth! As I realized this, I had a vision of a child, ordinary looking in every way. Oh, how I longed for that Child, far more than I had ever desired a child of my own! Then one day, the priest named Zacharias emerged from his duties at the temple. There was a commotion around him. Curious, I joined the small crowd of onlookers as he emerged into the outer courts. “What took you so long, Zacharias?” the other priests pressed him. “You were in there for ages! We thought we would have to pull you out by the rope!” There was a smattering of laughter at this, but it died away quickly as Zacharias gestured at the Holy of Holies, then up at the ceiling and down, then with his fingers splayed out again and again. “What’s he saying?” a few murmured. Another said to him, “Can’t you speak?” “I think he’s seen a vision! Did you see a vision, Zacharias?” When the priest nodded vigorously, there was a ripple of shock. The questions came faster and all at once after that, but the priest pushed past them, apparently done trying to communicate. It was clear he was eager to leave. He saw an angel, I realized. I swallowed, and asked the Lord, Does this have to do with the coming of the Christ? He did not answer me, but I felt that it did somehow. Yet why couldn’t the old priest speak about what he had seen? Why would the Lord reveal something to him in a vision if he could not communicate it to us? That must mean that the vision was just for him… Nine months later, I had my answer. I was not there when the elderly priest’s newborn son was circumcised, but the temple was abuzz with the stories. “His tongue was loosed as soon as he proclaimed the child’s name was John, and then he prophesied that he would be the forerunner of the Christ, the one Malachi spoke of!” My pulse quickened, and again, I had a flash of the baby: the Lord’s anointed. This John was not Him, but He would come soon, I realized. He would come to this very temple for His dedication and sacrifice. I would see Him! Will I see Him, Lord? I begged silently. Will I live that long? I was an old woman, over one hundred years old—but surely the Lord could let me live just a little longer. As I had remained in the Father’s embrace all these years, might I also hold Him with my natural arms, before I fell asleep for the last time? I petitioned the Lord for this honor daily for the next six months. Then one day, I saw devout old Simeon hurrying through the outer courts of the temple. He did not live in the temple as I did, but he was there very often. Usually he was friendly to me—but today, he was on a mission. I followed close behind him, my heart burning with anticipation. Then suddenly, he froze. A young couple stood before him. The girl mother held a small bundle, and her husband stood beside her. Both were simply dressed. My eyes fell to the babe in her arms even as I saw Simeon approach them, and my heart leapt to my throat. Simeon reached out for the babe, and the surprised mother yielded him to the old man’s arms. “Lord,” Simeon said, his voice loud and clear, yet trembling with emotion, “now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” The man and his wife exchanged a look of wonder. Still cradling the child, Simeon looked up at the girl and proclaimed, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against—yes, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also—that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” He then relinquished the child into the mother’s arms again, and turned to look at me with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. Trembling, I walked forward for my turn, and beseeched the girl with a question in my eyes. I hoped—oh, so desperately!—that she would offer to let me hold him too. I reached out my withered old hands, and then retracted them again, suddenly fearing that I might be too frail. What if I could not support Him? But just as I pulled away again, the girl gave me an encouraging nod and reached out, placing the bundle in my arms. My eyes swam with tears as I held my Lord, as He had held me my whole life long. I looked into the innocent little face. He looked back up at me with His wide dark eyes that seemed just like those of any other infant, and yet—did He know me? I fancied He did. Then He smiled, giggled and cooed. I giggled back like a schoolgirl, the tears running freely down my face. I dared not spare a hand to wipe them away while I held such precious cargo. I thought my heart would burst. But if it did so now, if I died right here, that would be all right. “Thank you, Lord,” I managed, “for granting my petition, for granting that I might see and hold the redemption of Your people, here in the land of the living! This is the Child who was foretold in the beginning, the Seed of Eve, the root of Jesse, the Lion of Judah, and the Lamb of God!” I lifted up my eyes in thanksgiving, as the mother whispered, looking from me to where Simeon had been, “How do you both know this?” “The same way the shepherds knew,” her husband murmured to her. “Everyone close to the Lord seems to know…” “It’s an open secret,” I agreed, grinning at the man. “He’s only been talking about it since the dawn of time.”

View Details

Michael Rubino, an innovative expert in mold contamination and remediation. Rubino and his company All American Restoration have been featured in USA Today, NJBiz, Reader’s Digest, New Jersey Monthly and Digital Trends. He was also selected as a speaker for the Spring 2020 Indoor Air Quality Association Meeting and Expo.

Rubino received a Bachelor of Science degree in 2008 and is a council-certified microbial remediator from the American Council for Accredited Certification, and a New York State Department of Labor Remediation Contractor. He has spent the past seven years involved in construction and remediating mold contamination.

Rubino’s focus is not just on removing cosmetic damage resulting from mold. It’s on removing all traces of mold, the spores they leave behind and the toxins produced by the mold. He’s discovered that a person suffering from hypersensitivity to mold needs all three types of decontamination to regain their health.

To educate those who are suffering, Rubino wrote the book Mold Medic. In detail, Rubino advises readers how to choose a mold remediation company and the exact processes that company should be using.

Get the book here: https://www.allamericanrestoration.com/

Email him at: michael@allamericanrestoration.com

View Details

Dr. Hal Bradley is a veteran and pastor with a PhD in pastoral counseling and a passion for helping the homeless and those in distress. Before becoming a pastor, he was a drug lord, and at one time the largest cocaine trafficker in the Pacific Northwest. He served four years at the Springfield medical center for federal prisoners and one year in Leavenworth federal prison. He then worked as a contractor for the Department of Justice, where he helped to capture the drug kingpins. He now lives a quiet life focused on working with the homeless, the afflicted, and people with broken souls with the hospice ministry over the past 17 years.

He is currently recovering from an attack, allegedly ordered by a drug cartel. But he faces life with joy in his heart, without hate or anger, and feels blessed that God has chosen a purpose for him and that he survived such horrible things. He carries love wherever he goes, and this extends to his work with the homeless and others whom many people choose to ignore.

To get a copy of Crisis Victory, go to crisisvictory.com

View Details

Joani Schultz is Group Publishing's Chief Creative Officer. She oversees the creation of Group's resources, training, and services for children’s ministry, youth ministry, adult ministry, and church leadership. She's the author of numerous books including "Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore," and "The 1 Thing." She leads the teams that create Group's Bible curriculum, vacation Bible school, books, magazines, conferences, music, and training.

Today I’m specifically interviewing her about Eyewitness: The Visual Experience Bible, by Jeff White.

Learn more at experienceeyewitness.com

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, How Nature Supports Mental Health.

The link for our sponsor is trylgc.com/cnh, and enter the coupon code CNH20 for 20% off your order.

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

Today's retelling comes from Genesis 2:21-3:24.

Intro:

Ugh. How heartbreaking it must have been for God, though He knew that this moment would come from the very beginning. Every good gift comes down from the Father of heavenly lights (James 1:17), and He had bestowed the best He had upon Adam and Eve, the crowning glory of His creation. But what He wanted was a real relationship with them, in which they chose to obey Him—not because they had no alternative, but out of love and respect. They had to have a choice in order to do this. So God placed the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the “midst” of the garden—presumably, right in the middle. They would have passed by this tree more often than any other in the garden. The choice was always right there, in plain view. But when they were innocent, they did not even notice it. Why would they? Every need had already been met. They trusted God implicitly.

Enter Satan, who would not be so called anywhere in the book of Genesis. Perhaps it was he who took the form of the serpent, or perhaps he would just inspire the serpent to deceive Eve. In his cunning, he overlooked every blessing, every ‘yes’ God had given Eve, and focused entirely on the one ‘no.’ It’s also interesting that he approached Eve instead of Adam. God had never told Eve anything about the tree directly—He had told Adam that it was forbidden, and Adam had relayed this to Eve. Her knowledge of what God had said about the tree was secondhand. Because of this, just like playing “telephone,” she got it just slightly wrong. She thought they had been forbidden even to touch the fruit of the tree. God never said this, which may have been significant. Perhaps when Eve touched the fruit and nothing happened, it convinced her that the rest was false also.

Satan also convinced Eve to question God’s character. Temptation to sin always includes some element of this. If she had never wondered whether there was a blessing that God had withheld from her, she never would have eaten the fruit (2 Cor 11:3).
Why was their nakedness what they noticed first after the fall? Andrew Wommack’s theory is that they were previously so dominated by their spiritual “sight” that they simply did not notice the physical. I don’t think this is entirely true, since everything else in the garden was physical—but it is true that they died spiritually as soon as they disobeyed God. It was not until after Jesus’ resurrection that spiritual rebirth became possible. The challenge now is to renew our minds so that we can see into the spirit, where we have every spiritual blessing available (Eph 1:3), rather than walking by sight (2 Cor 5:7).

Immediately after the fall, Adam and Eve experienced fear for the first time (Gen 3:10). Fear does not come from God (2 Tim 1:7); it only comes when we do not understand and trust in God’s perfect love, which casts out fear (1 John 4:18). But if they had understood God’s perfect love, they never would have obeyed the serpent in the first place. Punishment did come, but it was not for punishment’s sake. The world was now corrupted, and it was God’s mercy that expelled them from the Garden so that they could not eat from the Tree of Life and live forever in that fallen state! God did not want that for them: to be always decaying but never dying, always separated from Him, always in their sin. He wanted us to have eternal life, but spiritually, not just physically.
Once they became aware of their nakedness, they needed to cover it—which required death. They died spiritually the moment they fell, but physical death would come, for them, centuries later. To “cover” them until then, God had to kill an animal—a symbol of Christ’s ultimate atonement for all sin (Hebrews 9:22). (I chose a lion in this retelling because Christ is referred to as both the Lion of Judah and also the Lamb of God, but I figured a single lamb probably wouldn’t produce enough skin to cover both Adam and Eve unless God wove its wool into clothing, and the scripture doesn’t say He did that.)

When God pronounced that the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head, this of course referred to Jesus. It’s interesting that part of Adam’s curse was that the ground would produce thorns, and Jesus wore a crown of thorns on the cross—a symbol of bearing the curse for us so that we could be redeemed from it (Gal 3:13). But Eve did not understand that the Savior would be many generations hence. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “Behold, I have gotten a man, the Lord” (Gen 4:1, though some translations say, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” The original Hebrew does not include the word “from”). She presumably thought this was the Messiah, come to redeem them already. Perhaps she hoped that through him, she and Adam would be able to return to Eden. Sadly, rather than becoming their redemption, Cain became the first murderer instead.

When Christ comes the second time, in the New Jerusalem, the Tree of Life will again be freely available to the redeemed (Rev 2:7), and its leaves will be for the healing of the nations (Rev 22:2). Then, restored to our original perfection, eternal life—body, soul, and spirit—will be ours once more.

Fictionalized Retelling:

I breathed in, and I was. The air filled every part of me with life.
This was the first thing I knew. Then I opened my eyes.
The Face I beheld was like light itself, though there was also light behind Him. I had no concept of anything until that moment, but that Face was the very definition of beauty. I gazed up at Him, rapturous. His eyes were like liquid love, bursting with color, their expression infinitely gentle.
“Hello, my dear,” said my Creator.
“Hello,” I murmured back in wonder, marveling at the sound of my own voice, at the feel of it vibrating in my throat. On instinct I reached for Him, but had not fully completed the action when I stopped, distracted by the wonder of my own limbs. I held them up before my face, wiggling my fingers and watching them obey me. My Creator chuckled, and the sound thrilled me with warmth. I shivered, every nerve humming with the sensation.
“We are Elohim,” the Creator told me. “You may call me God.”
“God,” I whispered, reaching again for His face. He did not repulse me, but let me caress Him, leaning in to my palm and covering it with His own. He grinned down at me, and I reflexively grinned back.
“Come. There is someone I want you to meet,” God said. He set me on my feet, and I marveled at the feeling of the spongy, dewy ground beneath my feet. As soon as I noticed the sensations, the words for them came to me. I marveled at that too: that I knew so many things I had never learned.
I looked up at God, and though before I had thought of Him as infinitely larger than I was, I found that he was only about a head taller. He held my hand in his. He shone like the orb overhead that bathed us all in its light. I turned my attention to it next, and then to all it illuminated. There was a canopy of green above us, the foliage of thick trees. I identified the sounds around us as flowing water and chirping birds. I turned to see the cheerful river behind us. Flowers of every color, shape, and size bloomed all around us, and living creatures hummed all around them: hummingbirds, butterflies, bees. Other creatures covered in fur or feathers roamed throughout the land too, each of them unique and lovely in its own way.
“What is this place?” I asked in wonder.
“Do you like it?” He asked, but the delight in his question made it clear He knew my answer already.
“Oh, yes!”
“I have called it Eden. I made it for you, Adam.”
I turned back, excited to hear my own name. “Am I called Adam, then?”
“You were taken from Adam, your husband. I have given him the task of naming all My other creatures, so I will give him that privilege with you as well. Until then, you too are Adam.” God gestured before us, under a palm tree. “This is your Adam. He is called a man.”
A new sensation stirred in me as I beheld the creature God indicated. The man had flesh instead of fur or feathers, like I did. My eyes traced the curve of his face. His strong jaw beneath his dark beard. My mouth fell open in awe. Like all the animals, he too was beautiful, but in a completely new way. His kind of beauty allured me in a way that none of the other animals had done. As I took all of this in, he sat up, as if waking from a deep sleep.
Then he saw me. His expression went slack, and I watched, gratified, as he drank me in as I had him. Slowly, he rose to his feet and took tentative steps toward me.
Beside us, God beamed, delighting in our admiration of each other as much as we were. He said, “Adam, meet your helper. I have fashioned her from one of your ribs. I trust you prefer to have it back in this form.”
Adam’s eyes filled with tears, as he turned to God, unable to speak, the gratitude obvious in his face. Then he looked back at me, and spoke. I could tell, even though I had never heard him speak before, that his voice was hoarse with emotion.
“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.” When he got close enough, he reached for my face, in the same way that I had originally reached for God’s. I copied the motion, laying my hand on top of his when he touched my cheek.
“I will call her Eve, because she will be the mother of all the living.”
“Eve,” I repeated, trying the sound of my own name on my tongue. I liked it. I smiled at Adam and he smiled back at me. There was nothing more to say.
“I will leave you two to get acquainted,” God murmured, and took His leave. For a second the thought that He was gone alarmed me, but then Adam slid his hand from my cheek to my hand, entwining his fingers with mine. When I turned back to him, the expression on his face was so full of tenderness that I felt answering tears prick in my eyes.
“You… are… exquisite,” Adam whispered to me. The words filled me up almost the way that first breath had done. I had not known I wanted to be exquisite until my husband said it—but suddenly, it was all I wanted.
“Aren’t you going to show me around?” I teased, though I was very pleased that he could not seem to look away from me.
“I will try, but I cannot promise I will be able to walk without tripping over my own feet,” he replied in the same tone. “I’ll be too busy looking at you.” I giggled, marveling at that instinct too and delighting at the feel of it. Somehow, I knew what laughter was.
Adam led me through the garden by the hand, calling the animals to him by name and then showing them to me. I reached out to caress them all, from the elephant to the lion to the mouse, and they nuzzled me affectionately in return. I gestured to the lion to open his mouth for me, marveling at how sharp his teeth were. He let me poke them with the tip of my finger, patiently waiting for me to extract my hand before he went about his business. I watched as he used those sharp claws to dig up root vegetables hidden in the earth, so hard that I would not have considered them food. But the lion’s incisors tore into the vegetables with no trouble at all.
My own stomach growled as I watched the lion eat. Adam explained, “You are hungry. Here.” He plucked a bunch of berries from a tree, handing them to me. Then from another, he plucked something very hard and brown. I frowned at it, unsure how it might turn out to be food like the berries, until Adam showed me how to remove the outer shell to reveal the soft meat inside. Nuts, he called them. When I tasted them both, my face lit up wth delight as the flavors exploded on my tongue: tart and sweet and savory, all at once.
“What about that one?” I pointed at a tree that bore round fruit that looked like burnished gold.
“You want one of those?” Adam grinned, trotting over to the tree and plucking two of the golden fruit. He returned and handed me one, taking a bite out of the other himself. “I think this one is my favorite too. God called it the Tree of Life.”
“So many different kinds of food!” I exclaimed, looking around the garden to see if I could distinguish all the fruits around me from the flowers.
“God gave us all of the green herbs and fruits with seeds for food,” Adam explained, “except for the one in the middle, the one that makes those sort of oddly shaped reddish brown fruits, see it?” He pointed at the tree next to the Tree of Life, and I nodded.
“Why not that one?” I asked.
“He said it is called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and He said that we shall not eat it, for the day that we eat of it, we shall surely die.”
For the briefest second, I felt an ominous shadow pass over my heart at these words. Die? What did die mean? But then it was gone. I shrugged. We had plenty of other trees to choose from. I saw no reason to bother about the one forbidden tree.
The day began to wane and the light changed from white to golden before we had finished our tour of Eden. I pointed up at the sky with a slight questioning frown, though I wasn’t concerned so much as confused.
“It is called sunset,” Adam explained. “Day and night lasts a total of twenty-four hours. It’s not precisely twelve and twelve hours of day and night, but close. God says the ratio between the two will change with the seasons.”
“What are seasons?” I asked, wide-eyed.
Adam shook his head. “I don’t exactly know, I haven’t seen them yet. But God says it’s when weather changes, and the sun and celestial bodies change their positions throughout the year.”
I thought about how I knew that twelve and twelve made twenty-four. This too delighted me. But I forgot all about addition when I watched as the colors changed across the sky, from golden light to pinks and golds and purples. I gasped, clapping with delight.
“God!” I called out to Him, suspecting He was not far away. “Good show!”
He emerged from the trees in the cool of the day, strolling unhurried, and beamed at us.
“Thank you, my dear,” He said, sitting down on the marshy grass beside us. We sat too, and I leaned into his gleaming white robe, nestling my head on one of His shoulders. God stroked my long dark hair away from my face. I sighed with contentment. Adam sat down on God’s other side, interlocking elbows and also leaning into Him. The three of us watched as the sun descended below the horizon, and then suddenly the darkness was not just darkness.
“What are those?” I exclaimed in wonder, pointing up at the tiny pinpricks of light in the dark sky. “And that?” I pointed at the large glowing orb spangled with shadows.
“The moon and the stars,” God explained. “The moon is to govern the night just as the sun governs the day. Stars are just like the sun, but much, much further away in outer space.”
“What is outer space?” I asked, wide-eyed.
“It is where the earth is hung, and there are other planets also, though not exactly like earth. Earth is very special,” He told me with a tender smile, touching the tip of my nose affectionately. Satisfied, I nestled back against Him, yawning.
“Why do I feel so tired?”
“Because it is time for you to sleep,” God whispered, lowering me down to the spongy ground beside my husband, who automatically wrapped an arm around me. “It restores your energy so that you will be fresh again tomorrow morning…”
I did not hear the last of God’s words before I drifted off.
The first rays of the sun filtered through my eyelids the following morning. They fluttered open and I sat up, mouth agape in wonder yet again as the same colors from sunset danced across the sky at sunrise as well. I glanced at Adam, who somehow managed to continue his slumber despite the light. A little family of squirrels slept on the ground near us, and beside me, a bear stretched its sharp claws, yawned, and took a swipe at the fruit on a nearby tree. I skipped over to him and stroked his fur in good morning. But then I jumped back—not from the bear, but from something living in the branches of the tree beside us that I had not seen before. It looked like one of the branches itself, but it seemed to slither. My eyes scanned until I found first its tiny legs, and then its face. The eyes sharpened upon me, and it opened its mouth.
“Good morning, Eve,” it hissed.
I had not heard any of the other animals in the garden speak besides Adam, myself, and God. But everything was new to me, so I thought nothing of it.
“Good morning, serpent,” I greeted it, remembering the name Adam had given the creature.
I was just reaching for the same fruit the bear had breakfasted on, when the serpent said, “You don’t want to eat from this tree. The fruit is very bitter.”
“Oh,” I hesitated. But then I shrugged, and turned to a vine nearby, bearing clusters of juicy-looking red grapes. But the serpent’s words stopped me again.
“You know which fruit tastes more delicious than all the others?” I looked at him, curious, and he gestured with his head toward the center of the garden. “That one.”
“The tree of life?” I asked, delighted. “Yes, Adam and I sampled it yesterday, and it was my favorite so far!”
“No, not that one, the one beside it,” the serpent hissed. “The one with the reddish brown fruit.”
I frowned. “The one from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?” The serpent nodded, and I said, “But… Adam said God forbade that one.”
“Is that right?” the serpent hissed, slithering its head closer to me. “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’”
I frowned, trying to puzzle out the meaning of this phrase. The negatives in it confused me. When I finally worked out its meaning, I said uncertainly, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” I thought that was what Adam had told me. It had been something like that, anyway.
“Ah,” hissed the serpent, his fork-like tongue flicking out toward me as he spoke. “You shall not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
I blinked at the serpent, then turned to look at the tree. I tried to process the serpent’s words. He was saying… God… lied to us? That He was withholding a blessing from us out of… jealousy? The thoughts felt clunky and unfamiliar. They made no sense. God was perfection. Our only experience of Him was that He was good and kind and wonderful. He loved us.
I had paid almost no attention to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil before. Yet now that the serpent pointed it out to me, I noticed that the fruit, strange looking though it was, did look enticing. And the serpent said—even God had said—that the tree would make us wise, as God Himself was wise. And after all, if God had not wanted us to eat of it, why did he put that particular tree in the midst of the garden, I reasoned? I took a hesitant step toward the tree, and then another and another until I stood right in front of it. I reached out and touched one of the reddish brown fruits, cringing for half a second—but nothing happened. It was just like touching any of the other fruits in the garden. I laughed, exultant, and plucked the fruit from the branch, all hesitation now forgotten.
“What are you doing, Eve?” I turned to see Adam standing beside me, a note of alarm in his voice.
A new emotion of defiance rose up on the inside of me. I had just proven that what Adam told me God said about the tree had been false, hadn’t I? I had touched it and had not died! I plucked a second fruit from the tree and tossed it to Adam. Then, before he could stop me, I opened my mouth and took a bite.
“Eve, no—!” Adam shouted, reaching out as if to dash the fruit from my hand—but it was too late.
I chewed, savoring the delicious burst of sweetness across my tongue. For a brief second, I relished the thought that the serpent was right—the fruit was indeed the best I had yet tasted. But just as quickly, a bitter flavor overtook the sweetness. I made a face, dropping the remainder of the fruit to the ground and staring at it. I had a sudden urge to wash away the taste.
“You shall die,” Adam croaked. His expression cut me to the heart. Suddenly I felt another new emotion come over me: horror. What had I done?
“It was only one bite,” I whispered back. Suddenly the wind whipped around my body, and I looked down. A hot wave of shame passed over me as I realized—I was naked! I dropped to a crouch to cover myself, a sudden impulse from an instinct that I had not had before. How had I not noticed? How had Adam not noticed? He was naked too, yet he still stood unashamed, displaying himself before me and all of the creatures in view. We had been naked even before God Himself!
Adam’s focus was not on his body, though; it was on the fruit I had given him.
“If you must die, then I must die with you,” he murmured, raising sorrowful eyes to me. “I do not want to live without you.” Then he opened his mouth, and despite the look of disgust, also took a bite.
He chewed and swallowed, then dropped the remains of the fruit on the ground as I had done. He stared at it with sudden revulsion. Then he looked down at his body, and I saw his cheeks color as he realized what I had realized a second before. He moved both hands to cover his nudity.
“How did we not know?” he moaned. “Oh! How shameful!”
“All the animals have fur or feathers, but we—” I agreed, wincing. “What are we to do? We must at least cover ourselves somehow before God returns…”
Adam shrugged, biting his lip. He gestured with his chin to the leaves of the tree from which we had just eaten, unwilling to move his hands away from his genitals. “I’ll try to sew together some of the leaves,” he said, “but I’ll need to use my hands to do it, so you have to promise not to look.”
“You have to promise not to look at me, either!” I declared.
Adam gave me a sad smile. “But you are so beautiful.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, not in the mood. He sighed.
“All right, I promise. Turn around.”
I obeyed, but since we had promised not to look at each other anyway, I decided I might as well make myself useful, and approached the tree where I had seen the serpent. Both serpent and bear were gone now, so I began to pluck leaves from that tree, wondering how Adam intended to weave them into clothing. I collected a pile of leaves, and then stripped some of them to just the stalk that ran down the center of the leaves, thinking that would somehow serve as thread. I started to knot some of them together, and then poked holes in the remaining leafy part of the other leaves, so as to thread the knotted leaf stem through them. It was slow work, and many of the leaves tore before I could connect enough of them to do any good. I finally managed to make myself a little apron to at least cover my genitals, but it was a poor covering indeed, and hid very little. I realized I'd have to connect many more leaves to cover my breasts, and the sun was already past peak in the sky. I decided instead to try to find something sticky, so that they could adhere directly to my body. I tried clay, but that lasted all of two seconds. Then instead I used a bit of sap from a tree. This worked better, but it meant everything else I touched adhered to my hands—
“Eve!” Adam hissed, and I perked up my ears, at once understanding what he meant. We both heard the sound of footsteps, and knew they belonged to God. My poor leaf apron fluttered to the ground as I fled, hiding with Adam among the underbrush. The branches poked at us, but I hardly noticed, my heart pounding so hard with fear that we would be seen. Once in the bushes, I tried to wipe the remaining sap off of my hands on its leaves, but found that it would not go.
“Stop it, He’ll hear you!” Adam hissed, stilling my fidgeting hands.
Just then, we saw God enter the clearing from between the branches of our hiding place. I suddenly envied Him His gleaming white robe. When His face turned so that we could see it from our hiding place, I saw His puzzled, slightly concerned expression.
“Adam! Where are you?” God called out.
I looked at Adam, shaking my head sharply, but I saw that he intended to reply.
He opened his mouth and called back, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and hid myself.”
Now God turned and looked straight at the bush where we hid. Adam stood up only so high as to expose his chest, still kneeling to conceal the rest of him. God’s expression grew stern.
“Who told you that you were naked?” He demanded. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
Adam trembled, and then pointed at me, still fully crouched beside him. “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
My mouth fell open, indignant. But then I realized that I could not truly protest. His statement was quite true.
God turned to me. “What is this you have done?” He demanded.
It took me a moment to find my tongue. When I did, I blurted, “The serpent deceived me! And I ate.”
God waved His hand, and the serpent appeared from nowhere on the ground between Him and us. The sky grew dark, and God said in a terrible voice to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go—” and as He pronounced this, the serpent’s legs dissolved into nothingness, until he was all tail, “and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
Even as God spoke it, I saw its fulfillment in my mind’s eye. My Seed would be my son. He would conquer the serpent. He would redeem Adam and me from what we had done. He would be the Lord Himself…
No sooner had God finished speaking, though, He turned to me. I was compelled to look at His face, and I saw at once mingled anger and heartbreak. It made me want to weep.
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
I bowed my head, accepting God’s punishment. Since I got us into this mess, it was only fair that I should labor and travail to bring forth the Savior who would get us out of it. And Adam was right—it was my choice to disobey God, not his—at least not originally. If I had listened to my husband, none of this would have happened.
Then God turned to Adam, who trembled under God’s gaze.
“Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
Adam buried his face in his hands and wept. God’s expression sank into sorrow as well, all His anger now spent.
“Lion,” he called out, and summoned the creature I had met the morning before. The great cat bounded toward the Lord, frolicking around Him playfully and swishing its tail this way and that. The Lord caressed its mane tenderly. Then, with one swift jerk, a horrible crack sounded. I screamed, and the lion slumped, lifeless.
I could not stop screaming, even though Adam hushed me as best he could. Even God wept openly now.
“The wages of sin is death,” He said to us, a terrible grief in His voice as He removed the lion’s skin and knit it together into tunics to clothe us. When He had finished, he approached the bush where we both shied away from Him, and deposited both tunics upon the top of the bush, turning away from us. Adam shimmied into his first, standing up fully for the first time once he was covered. Then I did the same, standing beside him.
We heard Elohim say to Himself, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—” He turned back to face us, tears still flowing freely. “You must leave the garden now,” He said, “and go out into the wilderness to make your way as best you can. To live forever in your current state would be a fate far worse than death.”
Fresh tears gushed on to my cheeks at this word. “But—you said my Seed would crush the head of the serpent!” I blubbered, hardly able to make myself understood. “He will redeem us, surely?”
“Yes, daughter, He will,” God assured me, “but not for what to you will seem a very long time.”
So Adam took my hand, and led me through our lush home for the last time. Beyond it lay nothing but desert. We would survive, of course—I must bring forth a man, so we must survive somehow. Death, it turned out, was not immediate. And yet, leaving the garden and leaving the Lord God behind us was a kind of death. For the lion, death had certainly been immediate, I thought with a pang of sorrow. And the poor lion had done nothing wrong. It died for our sin, to cover our nakedness.
I turned around to look back at the garden one last time. A ring of creatures that looked like the Lord in luminescence stood before the tree with the golden fruit, bearing swords that shone like the sun. Then I turned away again, looking out into the wilderness that was to be our new home.
“But we will still return one day,” I whispered to Adam as we walked out into the desert. “Right?”
“One day,” he whispered back, and squeezed my hand.

View Details

Esther Blum is an Integrative Dietitian and High Performance Coach. She has helped thousands of women permanently lose weight, eliminate the need for medication, lose stubborn belly fat, and reverse chronic illness. Esther teaches her clients to cultivate a warrior mindset when it comes to healing their relationship with food and unconditionally loving their bodies. Esther is the bestselling author of Cavewomen Don’t Get Fat, Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous, Secrets of Gorgeous, and The Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous Project. She currently maintains a busy virtual practice where she provides 360 degrees of healing with physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual support. Esther has appeared on Dr. Oz, the Today Show, and Fox News Live.

Freebie: Crush Your Cravings at Estherblum.com/cravings

For a free 30 min call, go to estherblum.com/call

Eat, Drink, and be Gorgeous: A Nutritionist's Guide to Living Well While Living It Up

The Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous Project: Three Months to a New You

Secrets of Gorgeous: Hundreds of Ways to Live Well While Living It Up

Cavewomen Don't Get Fat: The Paleo Chic Diet for Rapid Results

View Details

Today's podcast is a meditation on a concept found throughout scripture of walking by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7) but we jump around a LOT on this one.

View Details

After 40 years on a diet, yo-yoing up and down the scale, Renée Jones had learned every diet – and every cheat – before finally stopping the comfort eating and self-sabotage to lose “those last 30 pounds” yet AGAIN in 2012 – and has not gained it back. Then she dug a bit deeper and found more freedom from the baggage she’d dragged with her for decades.

Now she helps others do the same. Renée has a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Counseling and a Clinical Residency to guide her international counseling and coaching practice of traditional and contemporary models as well as relaxation and horse-assisted methods. Her book, What’s Really Eating You: Overcome the Triggers of Comfort Eating, is an Amazon best seller, and her TEDx talk helps her reach people around the world.

Her free gift for listeners: get The Compass here!

What's Really Eating You?: Overcome the Triggers of Comfort Eating

View Details

Today's podcast is a meditation on Psalm 37. God is still on the throne!

Background music courtesy of bensound.com

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, Melatonin for Pain.

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

Today's meditation is on Jesus cursing the fig tree, but the retelling covers Matthew 21:1-22, Mark 11:1-24, Luke 19:28-47, and John 12:1-19.

Introduction The context of this event is very important: Jesus has just ridden into Jerusalem for the last time on the first Palm Sunday. The people have all heard about Lazarus’s resurrection and turn out in droves, crying “Hosanna in the highest!”, carpeting the road before him with their cloaks and with palm branches like they did for the kings of old—effectively declaring Him king and Messiah. How heartbreaking that must have been for Jesus: He so desperately wanted the love and allegiance of His people, and they appeared to be giving it to Him; yet He knew that not only would they turn on Him, many of them would even cry out for His blood in less than a week. His emotions are running high. Right after the initial encounter with the fig tree (by Mark’s depiction), Jesus enters the Temple of Jerusalem and finds it overrun with commerce, just as John’s gospel tells us it was at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. This fills Him with righteous indignation, and he turns over the tables just as he did the first time, driving out the sellers and money changers. The Temple supposed to be the place of prayer and worship to the Father, and yet His people have turned it into something mercenary. He knows His earthly ministry is coming to a close. He’s done all He can do, and here’s evidence that the Jews’ hearts are still hardened. The fig tree was a symbol of Israel (Hosea 9:10, Jeremiah 8:13 and chapter 24, Micah 4:4, Luke 13:6-9). In Jesus’ parable of the fig tree in Luke 13, after three years (the length of Jesus’ own ministry to the Jews), it is barren, not producing fruit (of repentance, of righteousness). The owner wants to chop it down, while the dresser of the vineyard pleads that it should be given special treatment for a bit longer. If it is still unfruitful, then it should be chopped down—as in fact happens when Jerusalem is sacked by the Roman army in 70 A.D. Meanwhile, the apostles spread the gospel to the Gentiles. So when Jesus sees the fig tree with leaves, which should mean that it is bearing fruit (the figs precede the leaves on a fig tree, at least on the variety that grow in Jerusalem), and then He finds that it is barren, he curses it. I’m sure that this was not just because He was hungry and frustrated in his attempt to eat; to Him it was probably another symbolic representation of the spiritual state of Israel. By and large, they still had not received Him. Yet this event turned into one of Jesus’ clearest teachings to the disciples on the subject of faith. Matthew’s account indicates that the fig tree withered immediately, while Mark shows a delay: a day after Jesus curses it, they pass by the tree and find it withered. The two accounts can be harmonized with Jesus’ subsequent teaching in Mark 11:23-24: “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” Several important points here: first, Jesus says to speak directly to the mountain (or as he did: to the fig tree). Not to pray to God about your mountain. Second, he must believeand not doubt. If believing automatically excluded doubt, He would not have made this distinction—so it is possible to believe and to doubt at the same time (as was implied in the Parable of the Sower, Mark 4:3-20, and James 1:6-8). The doubt can negate the faith, working in the opposite direction for a net effect of zero. Third, he should believe he receiveswhen he prays, not when he sees the manifestation. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Fourth, the manifestation may not be instantaneous, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t already been done (Mark 4:28). In this case, Matthew said that the tree withered instantly while Mark said it was the next day. Both are true: the tree instantly died at the root, but it took a day for the results to manifest on the visible parts of the tree. Even though Jesus did not see instant manifestation of His words, He did not doubt that it was already done. When the disciples passed by the next day and saw that the tree was withered, Peter pointed it out to Jesus in amazement. Jesus was probably exasperated when he replied, “Have faith in God,” to this. Remember, this is the last few days of His earthly ministry. He’s passing the baton to these disciples, and for three years now He has tried to impart these same ideas to them… yet Peter’s amazement indicates that He still hasn’t gotten it. Fictionalized Retelling The energy of the crowd was palpable, the dull roar of their excited chatter at a fever’s pitch. Jesus had stopped them between Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. His throat was thick with emotion as he instructed Matthew and Bartholomew, “Go into the village opposite you,” here he pointed to Bethphage, “and as soon as you have entered it you will find a donkey and a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose them and bring them. And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ’The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them here.” The two disciples nodded and hastened to obey. Jesus waited for them now, standing aloof from the rest of his disciples, and from the crowd. How many of them knew that he was doing this in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9? he wondered. He had told his disciples over and over again that he was going to his death, but he knew they didn’t understand what he meant. They thought it was a euphemism for something else. Particularly now, when he was surrounded by adoring worshippers, all bubbling over with excitement that their king was about to enter Jerusalem. This was the culmination of his earthly ministry. The earth had been waiting for this moment, for the King of Kings to enter the Holy City in glory, since the fall of man in the Garden. There was almost a “charge" in the air, of the spirit converging upon the physical; the people could do nothing but worship. Yet these same people would turn on him and cry out for his blood in less than a week. He felt so very alone. Thank you, Father, he prayed silently, that You never leave me or forsake me. Normally people crowded Jesus everywhere he went, but something about His troubled expression today must have put them off. Many instead clustered around the exuberant Bartimaeus, whom Jesus had healed of blindness just a few hours earlier. He and his formerly blind friend had since cast off their beggar’s cloaks and joined his entourage. Of the two, Bartimaeus was by far the more gregarious, and he entertained the crowds. He seemed a born performer. Matthew and Bartholomew returned, leading the colt and the donkey to Jesus by the reins. The people saw this, and immediately understood that they were about to head into the city now. They got busy, excitedly throwing their cloaks over the animals’ backs for Jesus to sit upon. Some of the people threw their cloaks in the road, an ancient Jewish practice for welcoming a conquering king. Others cried out, “Palm branches too!” This was a reference to a wider cultural practice of the same, and it met with great enthusiasm. The crowd scurried about, retrieving fallen palm branches and snapping or sawing off those that they could reach from nearby palm trees. Jesus meanwhile mounted the colt. It meekly accepted his weight, despite the fact that it was unbroken. Matthew and Bartholomew raised their eyebrows and exchanged a look at this, impressed, but said nothing. Beside the colt which Jesus rode, John led the donkey by the reins like a groomsman. As his most empathic disciple, Jesus suspected that John sensed his mood and lingered nearby for emotional support. He felt a rush of affection for his friend. As Jesus began the journey, the people spread the branches they had collected on the ground before the colt along with their cloaks, and began to shout, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” From oldest to youngest, they all picked up this refrain as Jesus began his last ride into Jerusalem. The people danced and sang, and once he’d passed over cloaks and palms, they picked them up again and ran forward, laying them on the road before him. Jesus’ chest constricted with conflicting emotions. The people who worshipped him now did so genuinely; and yet, their hearts were the stony ground of his parable. They were those who would immediately receive the word with gladness, but when tribulation or persecution arose, they would stumble and scatter. It would come all too soon. The commotion of Jesus’ entourage drew a crowd of onlookers from Bethany as they descended the Mount of Olives, whispering among themselves. Jesus knew what they were saying. Many asked who he was that drew such a response. Others, the scribes and Pharisees who joined the onlookers, murmured amongst themselves against him. Finally, one of them cried out, “Teacher, do you hear what these are saying? Rebuke your disciples!” Jesus looked at the one who had shouted and replied in as steady a tone as he could manage, “Yes, I hear. I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones themselves would cry out.” The Pharisee who heard him turned to his fellows with furious grumbling. Jesus turned away, and from his position on the slope of the Mount of Olives, he saw Jerusalem spread out before him in the distance. The tears that he had kept at bay until then sprung unbidden to his eyes, and spilled over his cheeks. Most of the people did not notice, but John did, and placed his free hand on Jesus’ shoulder in comfort. Jesus cast him a quick, sad smile, and then looked back at the city. “If you had known,” he whispered, “even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” He saw it all by the Spirit: the sacking of the city by the Romans in about forty years. It didn’t have to happen. After all of the Father’s promises to the Jewish nation under the Mosaic covenant, if they would obey… after he paid with his blood for a new Covenant that would not even require their physical obedience as such, only their love and worship… his stiff-necked people would still reject him. And with him, they would reject his blessing and protection, and would be scattered to the four corners of the earth. It broke his heart. The sun began its descent in the sky just as Jesus descended the mountain, the crowd still crying out behind and before him. The journey was only two miles, but with the entourage on foot, retrieving the branches and cloaks from behind and laying them again before him, it was a slow procession. Once they entered Jerusalem, though, more onlookers gathered and whispered. Jesus, now giving the donkey the opportunity to bear his weight, steered it toward the Temple at nightfall. He narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Most of the customers had gone, and the merchants’ booths were closing up for the night. “We will come back here first thing tomorrow morning,” he growled to his disciples. Peter and Andrew were nearest him when he said this, and nodded, understanding what he meant. They had been with him at the beginning of his ministry, when he had once before overturned tables of the money-changers and those who were buying and selling, and driven them out of the Temple. Now, three years later, they were back to all their old practices. They knew what was coming. “Lord, should we return to Lazarus’s home for the night?” John suggested, as he looked around. “Most of the crowd has dispersed, so I’m sure we could return a lot faster than we came.” Jesus sighed, troubled and weary. “Yes, let us go back. I do wish to be among friends tonight.” As they passed by Bethphage, Bartholomew and Matthew returned the colt and the donkey to their owners, with Jesus’ thanks. Mary pressed Jesus and his disciples to stay with them every night of their sojourn in Jerusalem, if they so chose. In the morning, the disciples rose before Lazarus and his sisters, mostly because Jesus did not wish for Martha particularly to feel obligated to feed all thirteen of them breakfast. So on their return journey to Jerusalem on foot the next morning, they were hungry. As they went, Jesus spied a curious sight: a fig tree in the distance already bore leaves, though it was not the season for figs. Fig trees typically bore figs before leaves, though, so this one seemed to promise a good breakfast for them all. Jesus veered off the path to the tree, and the others followed. But when he came to the tree, he found it barren: there was nothing but leaves. He closed his eyes for a second as the symbolism of this hit him. “I saw your fathers as the first fruits on the fig tree in its first season,” he quoted to himself in a whisper. “Yet now, ‘no grapes shall be on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things I have given them shall pass away from them.’” He opened his eyes again, envisioning what he knew he was about to encounter in the Temple and suddenly shaking with rage. He responded to the fig tree, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again!” Then he marched on inexorably toward the Temple, so fast that the disciples had no almost jog to keep up with him. No one said a word for the rest of the journey, partly because they dared not when Jesus was in such a mood, and partly because they had no extra breath for it. Jesus burst into the outer courts of the Temple without breaking his stride, and went straight to the nearest booth, in which merchant and customer were exchanging coins. The two of them looked up only when he was almost upon them, and had just time enough for their eyes to widen and to duck for cover as Jesus lifted the table and tossed it on its side, coins jingling to the ground all around them. “Out!” he shouted, seething with rage as all the people scattered away from him. He turned to the next nearest table, one selling doves for sacrifice. The doves’ wings beat in their cages in terror, and flew to the tops of them just in time, as Jesus lifted the booth and all its wares in a mighty heave, sending it all crashing to the ground. The squawking of the doves mingled with the angry shouts of the merchants, but Jesus was louder than them all. “You there!” he shouted, pointing at another merchant who had tried to pass unnoticed behind the onlooking crowds, his arms heavy with wares. “Out! Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves!’” The customers beat a path to the door, now congested with merchants also trying to escape. None of them dared to confront Jesus. The scribes and the Pharisees alone lingered in their wake, consulting one another in angry whispers. Jesus knew what they plotted against him. He further knew that in a matter of days, he would willingly submit to their schemes by the will of the Father; for a short while, they would believe they had succeeded. He turned to glare at them now, though, as if daring them to speak aloud what they only had the courage to whisper. Meanwhile, a young man ventured tentatively into the outer court of the Temple, leading a blind beggar by the hand. The beggar was one they all recognized. He had sat outside the Temple, begging for alms for many years. The pair hesitated, the young man looking anxiously at Jesus. Jesus turned away from the Pharisees and saw the young man and the beggar, his face instantly softening. He reached out an arm and beckoned them forward. The young man’s face flooded with hope. “Is… is it all right?” asked the young man. “Would you heal him?” “The answer to that is always yes,” Jesus replied. “Come.” The disciples watched and marveled as the atmosphere in the outer courts changed in minutes. Word must have spread throughout Jerusalem that Jesus had come to the Temple, and that he was healing all those brought to him. Soon the crowds were so thick that they could barely move inside the outer courts, and they spilled outside onto the streets. As it was on most days of Jesus’ ministry, he healed everyone who came to him, for many hours. The blind saw. The lame walked. The children cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” The Pharisees gnashed their teeth as they heard this, and elbowed through the crowd just as Jesus laid hands on an invalid boy and he sat up again, grinning at Jesus. “Teacher! Do you hear what these are saying?” they demanded, indignant. Jesus, still grinning back at the boy as he gave him back to his mother, did not bother to even look at the Pharisee who had spoken to him. He responded, still smiling but his voice now hard, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants you have perfected praise’?” “That verse reads ‘strength,’ not praise,” the Pharisee muttered back. “You do not realize that the two words are interchangeable,” Jesus replied. “Their strength is found in their praise of me.” When the hour was late and the people at last dispersed, Jesus and his disciples wearily made their way back to Bethany once more. They had inadvertently fasted all day, simply because they never had the opportunity to get away to eat. But Martha, bless her, would be expecting them for dinner, though they arrived well after nightfall. They made their way back into the city the next morning. On their way, Peter happened to glance at the fig tree that Jesus had cursed. He blinked at it, astonished. “Rabbi, look!” he pointed. “The fig tree which you cursed has withered away!” Jesus too looked astonished, but at Peter, not at the tree. He had been with them now for three years. He had less than a week left on earth. After all they had seen, did they yet not understand? I must be yet more explicit, Jesus thought, pausing to steady himself before he answered. “Have faith in God,” he said, very clearly. “For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,” he pointed at the Mount of Olives behind them, “‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” Jesus kept walking as the disciples hung back, puzzling among themselves what he meant by this. He knew what they were thinking. He couldn’t really have meant he could speak to the mountain and remove it. That was a figure of speech, surely. Did he really mean you should believe you have what you ask for the moment you ask? Even if things look exactly the same in the natural? No, he couldn’t have meant that… well if he didn’t mean that, why did he say that? What did he mean, then? I don’t know, why don’t you ask him? …Me? Why don’t YOU ask him? Jesus sighed, and prayed to the Holy Spirit, When You come, You’ll remind them, of this, and of everything I’ve said and done. He prayed this mostly to encourage and remind himself. They don’t understand now, but they don’t have You living inside of them yet to help them. By themselves, they can do nothing. But when they have You, they will understand all these things. It will be enough. The Holy Spirit replied, Yes. It will be enough. They seem weak and confused now. Yet with these men, I will set the world on fire.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, The Redox (Oxidation/Reduction) pathways

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

Today's podcast is a meditation/retelling of the first Passover, and Moses parting the Red Sea found in Exodus 11-14.

Here's the transcript:

It was evening. The people of Israel had just finished the meal as prescribed by the Lord, of roasted lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. I knew the meal was heavy with symbolism, but I didn’t understand what it symbolized—and quite frankly, I didn’t care. I was too nervous about what was to come for curiosity. Aaron and I wandered amongst the Israelites and supervised as they completed the last and most important portion of the Lord’s instructions: each family dipped bunches of hyssop in a basin containing the blood of the Passover lamb they had just slaughtered, and painted the blood across their doorposts. I wanted to make very sure that every single Israelite family did this, and did it thoroughly. If there were over 3million people I wonder how Moses could have watched every house? Beside me, Aaron chuckled darkly and smacked me on the arm. “Are you seeing all this plunder?” he murmured, and I followed where he pointed to a pair of Hebrew sisters, arms so laden with Egyptian family heirlooms of gold and silver that they could hardly walk. Then he called out to the sisters, “Did you leave anything in their house at all?” “Not much,” one sister grinned back. The other added, “I’ve served this family my whole life, and I’ve always admired their silver bowls and this golden diadem—so I asked for them, and they just-- gave it to me! They practically begged me to take all the rest!” I offered the giddy sisters a distracted smile. “Have you painted your doorposts?” “Yes of course, we completed that first,” one replied, sobering up. I glanced down at their clothing: all the Israelites already wore the prescribed belt around their waists, sandals on their feet, and those who had a hand free carried their staffs as well. I glanced up at the darkening sky. “Everyone get inside!” I bellowed, and those outside scampered to obey. Aaron gave me a slight reproving look. “The Lord said midnight,” he murmured, “it’s barely dusk. No need to scare them.” “You saw the last nine plagues,” I returned under my breath. “I am afraid of the Lord. Aren’t you?” It was a rhetorical question, and Aaron took it as such. We made our way back to the hut where my siblings Aaron and Miriam grew up, and I noted that Miriam had already painted our doorway with the blood of our Passover lamb. With one last look around to verify that the rest of the Israelites were safely shut inside their homes under their banners of blood, I ducked inside and closed the door. Aaron’s wife Elisheba and his four sons stood in the middle of the hut, staffs in hand. Elisheba watched me with wide eyes: anxious, but not quite frightened, which was how I felt. Miriam paced. “Should we try to get some sleep? A few hours at least?” Aaron suggested, putting an arm absently around his son Eleazar’s shoulders. We all looked at each other. None of us felt like sleeping. “I suppose we should try,” Miriam ventured. The hut was small for all of us. The boys, now in their late teen years, lay on the ground back to back. Aaron put his arm around Elisheba, and they leaned up against the wall and closed their eyes, staffs leaning upon the wall beside them. Miriam and I chose opposite walls and did the same. I stretched my legs out in front of me and closed my eyes. A few minutes later, I bent my knees. Then I leaned forward against my legs instead of against the wall. Then I folded my arms and tried to rest my head against them. Every few minutes for what felt like hours, I changed position—but it was no use. What time was it? I wished I could peer outside to tell. Was the Angel of Death passing over now? Were the firstborn children all over Egypt even now breathing their last? Then the wailing began. Someone had awoken in the night. One cry became several, and then a chorus. Miriam, Aaron and I looked at each other: it was a discordant choir. Surely every man, woman, and child in Israel had been awakened by the sound, and knew what it meant. Some time later, a fist pounded on the door of our hut. I was already on my feet, and answered mid-knock. One of Pharaoh’s officials stood at the threshold, his face ashen. He looked not at me, but at the blood painted upon the lintel. Then his haunted eyes met mine. He and I had never spoken before, as Aaron always spoke directly to Pharaoh on my behalf, but he had seen me in the throne room many times since the whole ordeal had begun. The official swallowed. “None… have perished… within this house,” he said, his voice quavering. “Have they?” “Of course not,” I replied, matter of fact. I held on to the outside of the door, waiting for what I knew he would say next. “Of course not,” he repeated in a whisper, eyes cast down to my feet. Then he swallowed again, and said, “I bring word from Pharaoh. He says, 'rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and... bless me also.’” The official ended his statement with a whispered plea, and then turned those haunted eyes back upon mine, as if begging for himself rather than for his sovereign. I placed a hand on the man’s shoulder, bowed my head, and prayed silently to the Lord for him. Then I turned to find my family already on their feet and ready to go, staffs in hand. Miriam and Elisheba had each bound up their kneading bowls under their cloaks, containing the unleavened bread, while the boys distributed their share of the plunder from their Egyptian neighbors among their things. The Israelites came out of their homes at the ready, as their neighbors either knocked or called. The nearby Egyptians heard the commotion and came out of their homes, every last face streaked with tears and horror. We assembled too slowly for them. “Go!” shrieked one grieving mother at our growing ranks. “Get out of here, go!” Another man added, “We shall all be dead if you linger a minute longer! Go!” I ignored their shouts, waiting until Aaron could verify for me that all the Israelites were alerted and assembled. I saw Miriam wiping tears from her cheeks in empathy for their Egyptian neighbors, but I could muster no sympathy for them. Had I not warned them? Had I not told them how to protect themselves from the Destroyer? After nine previous plagues, did they not think I meant what I said? In fact there were a few Egyptians who had heeded my warning, who had been circumcised, eaten the Passover meal with us and who had taken refuge inside our blood-painted homes with their families. Those few proselytes had seen and feared the power of the Lord and decided to join our ranks, to leave Egypt with us and go with us to the Promised Land. These grieving men and women could have done the same, had they chosen to do so. I looked up at the sky, estimating that it was perhaps an hour after midnight when we finally began our exodus out of Egypt. Just before we left, Aaron handed me my cargo wrapped in linen, and I tied it between my shoulders. While the others took treasures from their neighbors or their kneading bowls of unleavened bread, I carried the exhumed bones of the patriarch Joseph. He had exacted a promise at his death that his descendants would take his bones back to the Promised Land upon our exodus, which he knew would occur based upon the promise the Lord had made to his great grandfather, Abraham. “So…” Miriam whispered to me, “none of us have ever seen this Promised Land before, including you. How exactly do we know where to go?” I had just been wondering this myself, when Aaron nodded to me that the people were all accounted for: six hundred thousand men, plus women, children, flocks, and herds. We would not be moving quickly. Staff in hand, I turned back to begin our hike, and startled to see a pillar of fire hovering in midair, blazing and crackling just far enough ahead of me to keep the heat from becoming uncomfortable. My mouth fell open. When I’d recovered myself, I turned to Miriam, gesturing at the pillar. “There’s your answer,” I told her. The Lord, as the pillar of fire, led us from Rameses to Succoth, some eight miles away. When dawn came, the pillar began to fade away, and I wondered if the Lord meant to lead us only by night. But in its place, a pillar of cloud appeared, guiding us on. It vanished in late morning, once we had reached Succoth. I took that as our cue to give the children and elderly a rest. We were all exhausted, though, both emotionally and physically: few of us had slept at all before our journey began. But miraculously, of the millions of people in our group, there was not one feeble person among them. The women unwrapped their kneading bowls, heated coals, and baked unleavened cakes from the dough for the morning meal, while as many as were able napped or rested. Aaron sat beside me as we ate, looking out in the direction of the now fabled Promised Land, the land that the Lord had told us flowed with milk and honey. “That way is Philistine country,” Aaron murmured unnecessarily. I nodded. “The Lord has already spoken to me that He will not lead them that way.” Aaron shrugged. “It is by far the shortest route…” “I know that, but the Lord is concerned that if we immediately lead the people into war, they will change their minds and retreat back to Egypt. He will take them to the wilderness and toward the Red Sea.” Aaron looked back over his shoulder at the mixed multitude, including many women, children, and elderly, and pursed his lips. “That’s true. Soldiers, these are not.” “It doesn’t matter if they are soldiers or not,” I retorted, perhaps a bit more harshly than I’d intended. “The Lord fights our battles for us, regardless. We do not even need weapons. But the people do not understand that yet. They have seen the Lord’s works, but they do not understand His ways, as we do. They do not know His character, and so they cannot predict what He will do next. They cannot trust Him, as we can.” Aaron was a bit taken aback by this, catching my emphasis. “Yes, brother,” he repeated at last. “As we can.” When the people were refreshed enough to continue, the cloud reappeared. Aaron and I again took the lead, and the cloud took us from Succoth to Etham. At dusk, Aaron, Miriam and I watched in appreciative amazement as tendrils of flame licked through the cloud at dusk, transforming it to the pillar of fire before our eyes. The pillar stopped at Etham, where we camped that night at the edge of the wilderness. The next several days were much the same: walking through the wilderness at a very slow pace behind the pillar of alternate cloud and fire, stopping to rest and camp for the night. I did not need to know where I was going, so I was surprised when the Lord spoke to me on the third day. Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea, He said. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. I pictured the land the Lord meant, puzzling over His instructions silently: mountains on two sides, and the Red Sea on a third, with Pharaoh’s army blocking our only route of escape. It must have shown on my face. “What is it?” Aaron asked me. “You’re frowning.” I told him what the Lord had said, and my brother’s eyebrows shot up. “Pharaoh is going to… pursue?” he balked. “Shh!” I looked around this way and that, to make sure none of the Israelites had overheard. “Yes, apparently. Remember I originally asked him to let us journey three days into the wilderness only? Only a fool would expect us to return after all that has happened, but perhaps he still does. Clearly Pi Hahiroth is not on the way back to Egypt, and it will signal to Pharaoh that we’re not coming back… but it sounds like the Lord also wants to entice him to follow us by making us look like easy prey.” Aaron let out a puff of air through pursed lips, and dragged his hand across his face and beard. “Yes, but then what? We will be easy prey.” “No,” I said fiercely, pinning him with my gaze. “We will not, because the Lord is on our side!” “So, what, you think He’s going to mow down Pharaoh’s army for us?” Aaron demanded. “You think he’s going to—what, part the sea so we can walk through it?” His tone of scoffing incensed me. “I do not know how He is going to deliver us, but yes, after the ten plagues, and the pillar of cloud and fire, and the willing plunder of our captors? I do believe He is going to deliver us. As should you!” Aaron blinked at me, looking at once skeptical and chagrined. He held up his hands. “We do as the Lord commands. Of course.” So I went and told the Israelites where we were going, but not why. No one asked. They blindly trusted that I knew best—until anything appeared to go wrong. Then they all turned on me, as I knew full well. I wasn’t looking forward to that part. When we arrived at Pi Hahiroth, and some of the men of Israel saw the tactical disadvantage of such a camp, I could feel their restless energy, and thought I overheard some of their rebellious grumbles. None had the courage to directly challenge me, though a few approached Aaron. I saw him speaking to them in low, earnest whispers. Still, they went away looking dissatisfied. Dusk fell, and the pillar of cloud became a pillar of fire. It hemmed us in against the sea. Then we heard the hoofbeats, and the rumble of chariot wheels. My heart beat faster. This was it. At first, before the Israelites admitted to themselves what it was, they simply seemed to grow more agitated. But as it grew louder, and when at last they could see the Egyptian army beyond the pillar of fire, the wailing and the pandemonium began. “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?” they cried out, and “Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?” and, “Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?’ For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness!” Women cried out and tore their clothing. All around us the people wept and trembled and raged. I had never had a strong voice; that was why I had pleaded with the Lord to allow my brother to be my mouthpiece. Fortunately, he did so now. “SILENCE!” Aaron thundered, his rich baritone suddenly amplified and echoing with such supernatural authority that the stunned people actually obeyed. In the brief lull that followed, Aaron turned to me, and gave me a small nod of his head. I cleared my throat, and raised my arms. Then, with more confidence than I had ever heard in my own voice before, I cried out, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace!” Then silently I added as I watched the army approaching, Okay, Lord. Now would be a good time. The Lord responded to my spirit, Why do you cry to Me? I blinked, watching as the army drew closer. I should think that is obvious, I told Him. I gave you the rod, did I not? The Lord replied. My power is in your hand. Use it! Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. So the Lord did indeed intend for us to go through the sea! I wondered if that had been His intention all along, or if He did that just because Aaron had mocked the idea. It otherwise certainly never would have occurred to me. The army halted before the pillar of fire that divided them from us. I had the impression that the Lord had hidden us from their sight, though fire should have illuminated us instead. “What are you doing?” Aaron hissed as I marched toward the Red Sea. “Exactly what you suggested,” I hissed back. “Which is what?” “Parting the Red Sea.” Aaron gave a short snort of laughter. Then he saw my face in profile, hard as stone. “You’re serious.” I held up the rod with a quick glance at my brother. “Watch me.” Then I stopped at the edge of the waters, and did as the Lord commanded: I stretched out my hand over the waters. Suddenly a howling gust of wind seemed to blow from my staff, straight down into the waters to the sea floor. The waters peeled back layer by layer, as if they had been cut with a knife, rising like pillars to the right and to the left. The land at the bottom of the sea appeared, filled with coral and seaweed and mud. An instant more, and the sea bed dried up completely. I stood there gaping for a moment, forgetting to breathe. What a sight! Was it real? Was it possible? Then I remembered I was far from alone. With a quick glance over my shoulder, I beckoned Aaron with a gesture of my head. He practically had to scrape his jaw off the ground, but he recovered himself, in turn beckoning the people to follow. I led the people through the sea, looking in amazement at the sight of the pillars of water on either side of us. A few unfortunate fish flopped on the dry ground at our feet. Miriam took pity on the ones she came across, and picked them up with her fingers, tossing them back into the walls of water. I overheard some of the delighted squeals of the children as they found starfish and lovely pieces of coral. The sound brought tears to my eyes, as I pictured those same children as adults, telling their own children, “Yes, this is a very special starfish! I found it on the dry seabed of the Red Sea, when the Lord led us through and delivered us from our enemies!” All night we crossed, as the wind continued to blow, whipping our hair and robes all around us. I glanced back behind us several times, and saw that at the far back of our company, the pillar of fire brought up the rear, hiding and guarding the people from Pharaoh still. Beyond that, I thought I saw that, incredibly, Pharaoh had pursued us. “They’re actually coming after us,” Miriam said to me under her breath. “Pharaoh and his army! He sees that the Lord parted the Red Sea for us, and he’s still pursuing! How stupid is he?” Behind me, I heard the people’s shrieks of terror. “They’re going to catch us!” women cried, and men shouted at me, “Should we go back and fight? Moses! Moses!” I gritted my teeth, ignoring them and staring straight ahead. The sea floor had already begun its sloping ascent to the shore, though I estimated that shore was probably another hour’s march ahead, given the speed and number of the Israelites. It was true: we were incredibly slow, and on foot. Pharaoh’s army rode chariots and horses. In the distance, behind the pillar that guarded us, I heard the whinnies and neighs of the horses, and the sounds of battle. I whirled around now in dread, and blinked at what I saw. The wheels of Pharaoh’s chariots had popped off! The army was in pandemonium. Many of the chariots were overturned, or piled up upon one another. Aaron let out a short laugh of glee. “Come on!” I shouted, picking up my pace to the shore. I suddenly knew what I had to do. For some time, I outstripped the people by a considerable margin. Aaron and Miriam hurried to catch up, along with Aaron’s family, who tried to bridge the gap and urge the rest of the Israelites to make haste. These people are insufferable, I thought in amazement, but did not say. The thought was not meant to be directed to the Lord, but the Lord answered me anyway. Oh. You don’t know the half of it yet. When I’d reached the shore and the last of the straggling Israelites climbed up beside me, I looked back over the Red Sea, waters still parted from shore to shore, with a pillar of fire standing between us and the Egyptian army. The army had made no progress from the time the Lord began to trouble the wheels of their chariots. It looked like they were trying to flee back in the opposite direction, but they couldn’t seem to do that either. The first glimmer of dawn appeared on the horizon. Stretch out your hand over the sea, the Lord said to me, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen. Staff in hand, I did so. With a mighty thunderous crash, the walls of water collapsed, as if the invisible hands holding them in place had been removed. We heard not so much as a cry from our pursuers. They simply vanished before our eyes in the sea. For a long moment, I could hear nothing but the thunder of the waters. When the waves calmed, I heard the shouts of the people behind me. I closed my eyes, stinging with tears, a lump in my throat. You did it, Lord, I told Him. You are… incredible! Tell the people, He replied. Lead them in a song of praise. Memorialize this moment, and mark every detail. For they will soon forget. How can any of us ever forget what wonders you have done for us this night? I thought. You are so good, so powerful, so righteous! Tell the people, He said again. They will follow your lead. So I did. I was not much of a speaker, and even less a singer, but my skill did not matter. I turned around, let the people see my tear-streaked face, and raised my hands. Then I opened my mouth in song. It came to me fully formed, in perfect verse, and with a melody simple and catchy enough that the children picked it up at once. Miriam had brought her timbrel, so she danced among the people, encouraging all the young women to join her. The children did too, making up all their own steps as they went. Even the most stoic of the people clapped their hands and learned the words. We laughed, sang, danced, and rejoiced before the Lord with all our hearts. They will soon forget, the Lord had said. But for this moment—for this moment, they were thankful.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, Maintaining Your Peace.

This is the handout on defeating anxiety and control.

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

Today's retelling of Jesus healing the demon-possessed man from the Gadarenes comes from Matt 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, and Luke 8:26-39.

Introduction

This story happens immediately after Jesus calms the storm at sea. Everywhere Jesus goes, he’s mobbed by people who want to hear him teach and to be healed. He could theoretically have stayed where he was, and ministered to thousands of people. Instead, he crosses the stormy see from Galilee to the wilderness of the Gadara—interesting for several reasons. First, it’s not part of the Jewish nation; this is one of the ten cities of the Decapolis, east of the Jordan river, and according to Josephus, it was inhabited mostly by Greeks. Jews would not have kept a herd of pigs, as they considered them to be unclean, so these were definitely Gentiles.

Second, the only thing Jesus does when he gets there is to heal this one demonized man. Immediately afterwards, the people are so terrified that they beg him to leave. It appears Jesus traveled all this way, through the storm, just for this one guy. To me, this seems like an illustration of Jesus’ three parables: of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost (or prodigal) son. One man is worth all of this time and effort on Jesus’ part!

We see a bit of the reason for this as soon as Jesus arrives. Despite the fact that he played host to a “legion” of demons (at least two thousand apparently!), the real man is still down there, wanting to be free. We know this because when he sees Jesus from afar, he runs toward him, falls at his feet, and worships him (Mark 5:6). All the dialogue listed appears to be between Jesus and the demons, so the man may not at that point have had use of his vocal cords. But he had enough control over his body that he could run toward the Messiah, which no doubt was exactly the opposite of what the demons wanted him to do. When he got there, the demons begged Jesus not to torment them. They knew they’d had it now.

How did the man know who Jesus was, anyway? He lived naked and alone among the tombs, and the other Gadarene people obviously kept far away from him. He wouldn’t have heard any rumors about Jesus from them. So presumably he knew who Jesus was because the demons knew. They recognized him in the spirit, and called him “Jesus, son of the Most High God”. No humans had even received this revelation yet! So perhaps the man “overheard” the demons discussing who Jesus was in his mind.
How would this produce faith in him to run to Jesus, though? Satan’s very name means "false accuser”; surely the demons would have told the man all the ways in which he was not worthy. They might have lied about Jesus’ character, and told the man that he would be tormented if he approached the Son of God. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the Father must have broken through the influence of that legion of demons, and given this man a revelation of who Jesus was (his character and his love, not just his title). Nothing else would have induced him run to Jesus and fall at his feet. That was the man’s act of faith. It was all he could do, but it was enough. Praise God that no matter how bad off we are, we are never outside the Father’s reach!

The subsequent interaction between Jesus and the demons peels back the veil between worlds, and gives a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of the spirit realm. Jesus commands the demons to leave, and instead of just doing it, they argue with him: “I adjure you by God that you torment me not.” The Greek word adjure (horkizo) means “to command under oath with a threat of penalty.” They think Jesus is breaking the rules, that God gave the demons authority until a set time which had not yet arrived (Matthew 8:29). When Adam obeyed Satan in the Garden, he made Satan the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4). From that point on, outside of God’s later covenant of protection which covered the Jewish people only, the fate of individuals legally was in Satan’s hands (Job 1:12). This man is not a Jew; he had no covenant to protect him. So the demons think that even if Jesus has the power to cast them out, as God, he should not have the authority to do so: the earth isn’t His anymore.

What they don’t understand is that the earth and everything in it was given to mankind to subdue in the Garden (Gen 1:28). It’s as though God owned the property, earth, but leased it to mankind. Men then “sub-let” the property to Satan, yes—but the official authority to act upon the earth still belonged to mankind. Jesus was now a man. He had not yet died and risen again to become the “last Adam,” redeeming us from the curse we brought upon ourselves (1 Cor 15:45), but as God wrapped in a human body, he did have legal authority on earth, in a way that God the Father did not. He was basically a Trojan horse. The demons didn’t get this: they thought God the Father was intervening before the “earth lease” had run out, and they cried foul.

But whether the demons understood the source of Jesus’ authority or not, they still had to obey his power. They didn’t want to go back to the abyss, or Sheol, and asked Jesus’ permission to go into the herd of pigs instead. Presumably they needed to inhabit physical bodies in order to remain on earth. Jesus granted this. But the demons’ new home didn’t last long, of course: once the pigs lost their minds, ran off a cliff and killed themselves, the demons presumably had to go back into the abyss anyway!
Whoever owned those two thousand pigs was no doubt very unhappy, as the herd would have represented a substantial investment. The scripture says the people were afraid because of the miracle Jesus had performed, though, so this was the primary reason that the Gadarenes begged him to leave their region, rather than because of the loss of the pigs. (Interesting that they weren’t afraid of the naked guy roaming around the tombs, cutting himself and wailing and unable to be bound by any chains. But once he’s clothed and in his right mind, now they’re terrified.)
The man begged to follow Jesus after he had been set free, but Jesus did not allow him to do so. Instead, he gave the man an assignment: to go back and tell his friends and family what God had done for him. Perhaps this was the reason Jesus did not allow the man to come with him—or perhaps it was because his primary ministry was still to the lost sheep of Israel. Bringing a Gentile with him might have been an impediment to this. Regardless, the man’s testimony was evidently effective, because the next time Jesus went to the Decapolis, crowds turned out to hear him and be healed (Mark 7:31-37, Matthew 15:30).

Fictionalized Retelling I watched longingly as Jesus climbed into one of the boats, and as the whole small company of his disciples set out across the lake, fading into the distance. I longed to be with them… but Jesus had given me an assignment.
I turned around to face the crowd of my townspeople that watched the boats sailing away at a distance, making sure that Jesus left. Then, deliberately, I thrust both fists in the air. “I’m free!” I shouted. “That man called Jesus set me free!” I climbed the hill where they stood watching warily. As soon as I reached them, I told them this story.

How to explain what it was like?
I can only find words in retrospect. At the time, there were none.
Imagine that there is a parasite living under your skin. You can see it slithering around, eating you alive from the inside. That is why I cut myself with stones: I was trying to expel the creatures who had taken over my body. Yet the action was worse than useless. I never got anywhere near the source of the problem. It was not even on the plane of the physical world. Some part of me knew this, yet I couldn’t stop. It was compulsive, as if the next slice might make the difference. In the same way, anything that bound or shackled me had to come off, because to me, it was a symbol of the creatures that had bound my soul. That was also why I ripped my clothes, and why I snapped any chains that bound me.
I lived among the tombs because, where else could I go? Living humans shunned me. I cried out in torment: I had no other power over my vocal cords. I could not speak. Crying out in anguish was my only relief, and poor relief it was.
Did I sleep? I don’t know. There were large gaps in my memory, but I did not know if this was when the beings inside me took over, or when I lost consciousness.
I ate living creatures, raw and wriggling. (I’m sorry if that offends you.)
If I could have killed myself, I would have. That is the other reason I slashed at my skin with stones. But had I succeeded, my death would have banished the creatures from my body—and of course, they could not permit that. They did not mind if I mutilated myself, so long as I continued to exist.
Then one day, when dawn came, instead of roaming about among the tombs and wailing as I had done for countless years, I instead got to my feet and made my way down to the Sea of Galilee. This was not a conscious choice, either of mine or of the creatures inhabiting my body. It was as if I were compelled by something stronger than any of us.
A long way off, I saw boats docking. Suddenly the creatures exploded in my mind.
That is Him! That is the Most High God! shrieked one. Flee! Flee! Do not let Him sense us!
It cannot be, God does not walk the earth! protested another.
Do you not sense the power radiating from Him, even from here? the first one demanded. Do you not recognize Him? Look!
I turned to look with the creatures, and gasped aloud. Suddenly the world appeared in gray instead of color, mere moving shapes and shadows—except for one point of bright, radiant light, like the sun. It stepped off the boat, pulsing and radiating with palpable glory, almost painful in its beauty.
“Jesus!” the demons formed the name on my tongue. I knew then that the name belonged to the man, and that the man was God Himself. In exactly that same moment, hope bloomed in my chest.
My feet began to move. If ever I had power over my own body, I exerted every last shred of it then, though I felt the demons inside of me seizing up my limbs to try to make me stop. I tripped and fell on my face. I tasted blood, but got back to my feet and kept running. The demons in my head screamed at me to stop, to turn around and go back to the tombs.
He will despise you! they cried, you are an abomination! He will destroy you, you filthy, unclean wretch!
Good, I thought back. Better to be destroyed by Him than to live a thousand years as I am. It was not just the relief of death that I sought. If the brightness of this man’s radiance incinerated me like a ball of flame, it would be all worth it, just for that split second beforehand when I would coexist in the sphere of His glory.
My vision returned to normal. I saw color again, and the glorious radiance that had surrounded Jesus faded until he looked like just an ordinary man. He moved deliberately in my direction, apart from the others who docked several of their little boats behind him. When I reached him, I threw myself at his feet.
Jesus opened his mouth and commanded, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!”
The demons took over my tongue to reply. The voice that rasped from my throat was not my own.
“What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God that You do not torment me before the time!”
I looked up into the face of this man. He was surprisingly young, with a stern expression in his hard eyes. At the same moment, my memory overlaid the cloud of glory around him that I had seen in the spirit moments before. I raised my hands in worship; it was all I could do.
“What is your name?” Jesus demanded.
My own tongue rasped back, “My name is Legion; for we are many. Do not send us out of the country and back into the abyss!” I felt my head swivel to one side, and saw a herd of swine feeding near the cliffs overlooking the sea not far off. “Send us into the swine, that we may enter them.”
“Go!” Jesus commanded.
The sensation within me was like a rushing wind, as if I were caught up in a hurricane—and then, silence.
I collapsed, clutching the sand on the shore, gasping. I looked at my fingers in front of me in wonder. They were caked with dirt, the fingernails long and curled and filthy—but they were mine. I wiggled them in front of my face, marveling that I had no resistance.
“I can… speak,” I croaked in wonder, looking up at the face of my rescuer. Jesus smiled down at me.
“Yes, my son,” he said, his tone gentle now.
All the others who had arrived with Jesus began to gather around me, tending to my needs. Several brought basins of fresh water, sponging away the dried blood and dirt from my various swollen cuts. One trimmed my nails from my hands and feet. One draped a cloak over my shoulders. One tilted a mug of water to my parched lips. It all overwhelmed me. I was used to people running from me and shunning me. I did not know how to respond to kindness.
“Jesus, look!” one of them said, in the midst of these ministrations. The speaker pointed at the cliff where the pigs were. They scampered this way and that, squeaking and squawking in an utter chaos that seemed to me a perfect representation of the way my mind had felt for ever so long. The men who must have been tending the pigs were running the other way, down the mountain. Then, a few of the pigs ran off the cliff and into the sea. More of them seemed to notice this as a means of escape, and within moments, every single one of them flung themselves into the water. I knew exactly how they felt; anything was better than playing host to those demons.
Abruptly, the unearthly squeals of the pigs ceased.
“We do not have long now,” Jesus observed. “The people will hear the story from the swine herds shortly and will make their way here.”
“The owner won’t be happy,” muttered one of Jesus’ disciples, and Jesus shook his head in agreement.
“No, indeed,” he agreed.
The other disciples continued their ministrations to me, trimming my beard and combing my matted hair. One shared food with me: bread and cooked fish. It was the first normal food I had tasted in years.
As grateful as I was, though, I was significantly less concerned with my physical needs at the moment. All I wanted was to hear what Jesus was saying to the disciples nearest him. The man who trimmed my beard noticed that I was staring after Jesus longingly, straining to hear his words. He approached him for me, pointing in my direction, and Jesus walked over to me again. As much as I had wanted Jesus’ attention again, now that I had it, I trembled with shame. He looked ordinary now, but the sharp memory of his glory made me shrink back and drop my gaze.
Jesus must have understood. He placed a hand on my shoulder, and said gently, “Son, take heart. Your sins are forgiven.”
I dared to look up at him again, hopeful now, and whispered, “Do they all know who you are?” I pointed at all the other disciples around.
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Sometimes they know, but they forget easily. Not all have seen what you have seen.”
I was about to reply, but Jesus looked beyond me to the crowds from the town. Evidently the swine herds’ story had already reached their ears, and they came to see who had caused such a commotion. I turned, and saw all of the townspeople glancing at Jesus, then fixating upon me. I knew by their expressions and whispers that they recognized me. I stood up, pulling the cloak around me, and tried to reassure them.
“It’s okay!” I called, and attempted a smile. It was probably more like a grimace, though, given how out of practice my facial muscles were. “I’m… me again! See?” I wiggled my fingers in the air, as if to demonstrate that they were under my control. “I won’t terrorize you anymore. You don’t have to be afraid!”
Unfortunately my words seemed to have the opposite effect. They all drew back, their whispers coming fast and furious now. Some of the other disciples with Jesus stepped forward to try to explain, too.
“Jesus cast an entire legion of demons from this man,” one said, and another added, “the demons asked to be sent into the pigs. Jesus just gave them permission.” Another added, “We’re… sorry about your herds…”
The expressions in the crowd all looked terrified. One man, whom I vaguely recognized as a magistrate or someone important, cleared his throat and stepped forward.
“Please, leave us now.” His voice was low and even. He looked mostly at Jesus, but at the other disciples as well. “We do not know what manner of power can do such a thing, but we do not want it here. Please go.”
I looked back at Jesus to see how he would take this. He met the man’s gaze squarely, and did not apologize, but he did incline his head in understanding.
“As you wish,” he said, and gestured to his disciples to get back into their boats.
I leapt to my feet at once.
“Wait!” I pleaded, running after them. “Take me with you! I—I want to be one of your disciples too!”
Jesus turned back to me, his expression full of compassion. I deflated as soon as I saw it, knowing what it meant.
“No, son,” he said, and gestured behind me to the townspeople with his eyes. “You go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”
I absorbed this disappointment, but then stood up straighter.
“I will, Lord,” I promised. “I will tell them all every day, every chance I get, whether they want to hear it or not!”
Jesus grinned in spite of himself. “I believe you will,” he said. “We’ll be seeing you again, I’m sure.”

“And now you know all that I know,” I finished, speaking to the small crowd still gathered on the hill top. I beamed, and declared again, “I’m free! The Lord has set me free!”
They all marveled at my story. The town magistrate shook his head at me in wonder, looking off into the distance where the boats had long since disappeared.
“Well,” he murmured at last. “Now I rather regret running him off like that.”
“My sister is crippled,” said another woman. “I wonder if he could have healed her?”
“And I’ve had this pain in my back for ever so long…” murmured another.
“I haven’t slept properly in thirteen years!” cried a third.
“He’ll be back,” I said to them all with confidence. “He promised! And if he can set me free from two thousand demons, all of that stuff will be nothing for him!”
“Maybe he can,” muttered the magistrate. “But will he? After we asked him to leave?”
I shook my head. “You don’t understand, he’s not like you and me! He doesn’t hold grudges.” How I knew this when I’d barely spoken to him, I couldn’t have said. But I did know it, from that glory cloud alone. Tears pricked my eyes, and I added in a whisper, “He’s absolute perfection.”

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, Get the Most Out of Your EFAs.

Our sponsor link is trylgc.com/CNHomega, and enter the coupon code CNH20 for 20% off your order.

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

Today's meditation is on Jesus calming the windstorm in MT 8:18-27, MK 4:35-41, and LK 8:22-25.

Introduction Jesus had been teaching the crowds, as well as the disciples, about the power of seeds to bear fruit all that day (Mark 4:35). He explicitly told the disciples that the seeds are His word (Mark 4:14), and then he urged them to take heed of what they heard and to value it (Mark 4:24-25), because those seeds that land on “good ground” would produce thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold. But those that land on the path, among stones, or among thorns will be stolen or choked: “even what he has will be taken away from him” (Mark 4:25).
Remember, Jesus’ word is the seed, containing the power in itself to bring the word to pass, just as the seed contains power within itself to germinate into life when placed in the right soil. His word concerning the lake was, “Let us cross over to the other side” (Mark 4:35). Not let’s go halfway and drown!
Because Jesus is confident that his word will come to pass, he goes to sleep—which itself is quite a feat. Have you ever been on a boat during a windstorm? Even without the sea spray, which may or may not have splashed Jesus as he slept (he was in the stern, but we don’t know if there was any sort of structure over him as he slept), I can’t imagine sleeping through that. Even if he wasn’t getting splashed by each wave, the boat was filling up, so it’s unlikely Jesus was totally dry. But he’d been teaching all day and presumably was exhausted—or, maybe he knew the windstorm was coming, and wanted to test the disciples to see if they had grasped what he’d been teaching all day. He knew his calling as Messiah was to die for our sins on a cross, not to drown in a boat. He knew they would be fine, whether there was a storm or not, and whether he rebuked that storm or not.
But the disciples were fishermen by trade. They would have had a lot of experience with storms, and this may have added to their unbelief. Presumably they knew the difference between a no-big-deal windstorm, and the kind that sinks boats like theirs. Jesus’ word may have, in their minds, paled in comparison to what they knew in their natural minds and from their past experiences. They were doing everything they knew to do to weather the storm, and they were still losing.
At last they woke up Jesus with the accusation, “Don’t you care that we perish?” The implication here seems to be, “You should be helping! You’re not pulling your weight!” Presumably they wanted him to help bail water, though, not to calm the storm with a word! If they had expected the latter, they would not have been so terrified when the wind and the waves do obey him (Mark 4:41).
I think the disciples were only thinking of the immediate danger when they asked this question. They probably were not thinking that Jesus would survive to carry on his mission, but they would die. I suspect in the throes of the storm, when they said “don’t you care that we perish,” they included Jesus in that “we.” Had they taken him at his word of “let us go to the other side,” and considered it as a statement of fact, perhaps they might have considered more possible nuances of the statement: “us” might mean all the boats crossing with theirs (as there were multiple: Mark 4:36), or it might mean just the boat Jesus was on, though the others might be lost… or it might mean Jesus plus a select few survivors who floated to shore on flotsam beside him. I’ve heard all of these as possible interpretations of the disciples’ question: sure, Jesus, maybe you’ll be fine, but what about the rest of us? Do we have any guarantees?!
I doubt the disciples meant any of this, though. In the adrenaline of the moment, I suspect they had forgotten Jesus said anything about their survival at all. Their natural unbelief had completely taken over, they were overwhelmed with trying to keep from sinking or capsizing, and they were furious that they had another crew member who wasn’t helping—who was sleeping, of all things! In a way, their indignation reminds me of Martha’s frustration with Mary when she sat at Jesus’ feet, rather than helping with the cooking. Not life-and-death, obviously, but it’s still the implication of, “I’m overwhelmed with work, and you’re just sitting there being lazy! How dare you!” In reality, of course, Mary’s choice placed higher value on what really mattered. Jesus’ peace even unto sleep was a physical manifestation of his faith. (He’d also been ministering all day, and would be again the next day, and he probably needed his rest—storm or no!)
When the disciples do finally rouse Jesus, he commands the sea in Greek to siopao and phimoo: to hush or be silent, and to muzzle or make speechless. From a poetical standpoint, it’s interesting to consider that the sea and the waves were speaking until this point. What were they saying? “You are perishing!” was their message to the disciples. They were flatly contradicting the earlier words of Jesus: “Let us cross over to the other side.” The disciples believed the words of the waves—the words of their natural circumstances—rather than the words of Jesus. That is the definition of unbelief.
It also appears that until the disciples woke him, Jesus had no intention of calming the storm. He was going to just sleep through it! Presumably he calms it for the sake of the disciples—and then he rebukes them. “Why are you so fearful?” he demands. “How is it that you have no faith?” Fear is the opposite of faith: in this case, it’s putting “faith” in the words of the circumstances, rather than in the words of Jesus. He was probably extra frustrated because he’d just spent all day talking about how words are seeds, and they contain in them the power of the kingdom of God to bring themselves to pass—if mixed with faith. Then he gave them a word that should have been all they needed to get through this storm. He expected them to weather the storm in faith, as he himself was doing.
He probably did not yet expect them to speak to the wind and the waves themselves, though, because even though they had already seen Jesus command nature a few times (when he turned water into wine, and when Peter caught massive amounts of fish the first time they met), he had not yet fed the 5000 or the 4000, placed the coin in the fish’s mouth, cursed the fig tree, or walked on water. He also had not yet given power to the disciples to heal sickness or cast out evil spirits (that was in Matthew 10:1). So even though Jesus later says that his followers will do greater things than he had done (John 14:12), he says this only just before he goes to the cross, and then he tells the disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they receive the power of the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t want them to go out and try to do all these great works in their own strength.
All this suggests to me that Jesus is not frustrated with the disciples that they did not command the winds and the waves themselves. He’s frustrated that they did not rest in confidence that they would survive the storm, however tumultuous things looked in the moment—simply based on the power of his word.
Today, we as believers have the power to do both: to speak to any mountain that stands in the way of what God has promised or called us to do (Mark 11:23), but also to rest in the middle of the storm, knowing that “in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Once the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they had to fight the giants, but ultimately God’s intention was for them to enter His rest. He still has that rest for us today (Hebrews 4:9-10), for all who mix God’s words with faith. Fictionalized Retelling (from Peter’s POV) It was dusk. The crowds, who had hung on Jesus’ every word that day, reluctantly dispersed after he dismissed them. Then he turned to us, and indicated the sea at our backs.
“Let us cross over to the other side,” he said, with a heavy sigh. He looked exhausted, and it was no wonder: he’d been teaching for about twelve hours in the hot sun, and hardly pausing to eat or drink. I was exhausted, and I hadn’t done half of what he had done. I might have suggested we sleep in our boats on shore, except that I suspected the only reason the crowds had dispersed at all was because they thought Jesus was leaving. If we stayed where we were, I wouldn’t put it past them to mob us even in the night. We had no choice: we had to set sail.
The thirteen of us had come in four small vessels. Jesus climbed aboard mine, along with James and John, and we pushed off first. I tried not to notice the ominous stillness of the water as the other disciples set out from shore in our wake. I told myself I was being silly, until John joined me at the helm.
“It doesn’t look good, does it?” he murmured. I looked up sharply.
“I hoped it was just me!”
But John shook his head. “I’ve seen this enough times. So have you. I just hope it holds off long enough for us to get to shore.”
“Hey!” James called to us, as he put up the sails. “Little help here?”
John and I went to do as we were bid, but I looked around for Jesus. He had disappeared. I frowned, pointing at the stern, which was the only structure on board.
“Is he in there?”
James nodded. “He said he’s going to catch some shut-eye, as much as he can. No doubt he’ll be mobbed on the other shore in the morning too.”
“Assuming we get there,” I muttered under my breath, looking around with apprehension. Sure enough, the wind had started to pick up. I heard the high-pitched howl I so disliked, and within minutes, the water went from glass to pitching from side to side.
“Doesn’t look good, fellas,” called James, “man your posts!”
We did, as the wind rose higher and louder, and the waves pitched the little boat like it was a toy. We weren’t making any forward progress, and within about twenty minutes, we were soaked to the bone. More than once I reflexively glanced back at the stern. The door was still shut, though surely the deck inside was just as wet as we were out here.
“How can he sleep through this?” John shouted at me.
I shook my head, intending to reply but spluttering instead as I inhaled seawater.
Water splashed into the boat once, twice, three times—then we lost count. It rose on the deck until it was up to our ankles, and then halfway to our knees. We hung on to keep from sliding into the water ourselves, all three of us bailing water when we were upright as hard as we could.
It was obvious to all of us that it was an exercise in futility, though. For every bucket we bailed, the sea returned ten more to us.
“We’re going to drown!” James shouted. “Where is Jesus? Why isn’t he helping?”
“Will it matter?” John cried.
“It might! Every extra pair of hands counts!” The wind cut off his next words, but I thought he said, “Peter, you’re closest, you go wake him up!”
I slipped on the deck as it pitched almost a full ninety degrees to one side—or at least that’s how it felt. The slap of the boat back down on the waves catapulted me forward so that I slammed into the structure in the stern. I managed to pry the door open, letting in a cascade of water with me. Then I couldn’t hold it, and slid all the way to the back of the stern, slamming my shins into the cot where Jesus slept.
He was still sleeping. Somehow his head had not even left his pillow, though the pillow was sopping wet. He looked completely at peace, like a child.
For a moment, indignation overwhelmed my fear. I reached out and shook him by the shoulders.
“Teacher!” I shouted, “do you not care that we are perishing?”
Jesus sucked in a breath, a sign that he had regained consciousness. He blinked at me blearily, and then took in our surroundings. What was the expression on his face? Was that… irritation?
Without responding to me directly, Jesus sloshed through the water to the door of the stern and threw it open, somehow keeping his balance perfectly. Then he bellowed, “Peace, be still!”
The howling ceased at once. The waves began to settle down too, expending the last of their momentum until they smoothed out into the same almost eerie stillness they had been when we set out. I followed him outside, to see with my eyes what I felt and heard. Sure enough, the water was now smooth as glass.
Then he turned to me, a stern look on his face.
“Why are you so fearful?” he demanded. He directed his next question at James and John, who stood stupefied on the still waterlogged deck. “How is it that you have no faith?”
Without waiting for a response, he turned and went back into the stern, shutting the door behind him—presumably to go back to sleep.
None of the three of us moved for what felt like a long time. At last, John whispered, his full voice suddenly sounding too loud in the great calm, “Who is this, that even the winds and the waves obey him?”
We all exchanged a terrified look, far more afraid now of the man in the stern than we had been of the storm a few moments before.
There could be only one answer.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: Detoxing: Glucuronidation.

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

Today's podcast is a meditation on and retelling of the Woman with the Issue of Blood, from Luke 8:43-48, Mark 5:24-34, and Matt 9:20-22

It’s interesting that this woman is not named, even though three different gospel writers tell her story. This could have been for her protection: at the time that Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote their gospels, the woman was likely still alive, and she had clearly violated the Jewish law. A woman with an issue of blood was considered ceremonially unclean, and thus should not have been in public. Anyone she touched would likewise have become unclean. Think about what this meant for this poor woman. If she was married, she could not have sex with her husband (Leviticus 15:19-30, Ezekiel 18:6). The extrabiblical Talmud laws are far more stringent: if she did have sex with her husband deliberately, her husband could be arrested and potentially killed. If it was accidental (perhaps if a woman did not realize she was starting her period), they would need to offer a sacrifice to atone for their sin. Chances were, therefore, that this woman was unmarried—either she had never married because of her condition, or her husband had left her. This would not have been difficult, as divorce could be had for the asking, regardless of the cause (Deut 24:1). Even if she had a husband who stuck by her, she still would have been terribly lonely. She could not touch anyone or anything without consequence. She would have been barren at least for those twelve years, as well, which was especially hard for a woman in those days. We don’t know her age, but she was young enough to still have a period, yet old enough to have had it for at least twelve years. This puts her in her early 20s at the youngest. For the purposes of my story, I assumed she was unmarried and in her late 20s. Throughout those twelve years, she had done all she knew to do. She had seen many doctors, which had cost her all she had—yet still she grew worse. No doubt she was heartsick (Proverbs 13:12: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life”) as well as physically exhausted from severe iron deficiency. It’s a wonder she could even crawl through that crowd!
Despite all this, the woman had incredible faith. We can see this by what she says to herself about Jesus: “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.” Not might be; shall be. That is incredible for someone who had suffered for so long! How did she find such confidence? The woman must have known that Jesus was the Messiah. She had likely heard the stories of his miraculous healing power, since she lived in Capernaum (Matthew 9:1, Mark 2:1) which was Jesus’ home base. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17)—so as she heard that Jesus had healed others, faith must have been born in her heart. Maybe she also knew what was written in Malachi 4:2: “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings and you shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.” The word wings here in Hebrew is the word kanaph, which means wing, skirt, or corner of a garment. Another use of the same word appears in Numbers 15:38: “Speak unto the children of Israel and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders (kanaph) of their garments throughout their generations and that they put upon the fringe of the borders (kanaph) a ribband of blue.” So when Malachi uses the same word, speaking of the Messiah, he was prophesying that healing would be in the fringes of his prayer shawl. Even so, especially in Capernaum, Jesus was always surrounded by a crowd. About 1500 people lived in Capernaum in Jesus’ day, and he usually drew crowds from the surrounding areas as well. This meant she, a ceremonially unclean woman, could not help but defile large numbers of people on her way to the Messiah, and potentially Jesus himself! Not only that, but if she lived in Capernaum, many of those people would likely recognize her. So she must have planned this in advance. She had been meditating beforehand on how she might touch Jesus’ garment without being seen—we know this by what she says to herself in her heart. Perhaps she heard when Jesus would next be in town. Perhaps she disguised herself so she would not be recognized. She had to really want her healing, and go to great trouble and risk to get it. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” She gets exactly what she believes for! This is the only example in scripture of someone who receives their healing from Jesus without his awareness or involvement. Jesus knows what happened, though—he can somehow feel the difference between a mere press of the crowd, and an intentional supernatural healing. Probably he’s impressed, and wants to see and commend the one who had such faith as to take their healing by force (Matthew 11:12). But the woman is afraid to admit it was her. Is she afraid of the punishment of the Jewish law, or is she afraid of Jesus himself? She obviously knew that healing flowed even from his garments, but she might not have understood his heart—just as the Israelites knew God’s acts, but not His ways (Psalm 103:7). If she was afraid of Jesus, though, she isn’t anymore after he speaks to her. He calls her “daughter,” the only woman addressed this way in scripture. Then he tells her that her faith has made her whole: the word for whole in Greek in sozo, which means not just healed physically, but safe and sound, rescued from danger, healed, restored, and saved in the spiritual sense. The word made in Greek is perfect tense (meaning an action in the past that affects the future), active voice (her faith made it happen), and indicative mood (it’s progressive: she may not have 100% sozo right that second in her body and her life, but it’s promised, and it’s therefore as good as done). Then he tells her to go in peace. The verb go is in imperative mood, indicating a command—it is up to her to continue in peace. The word for peace here is eirene, which means prosperity, harmony, joy, and peace. She was potentially in danger for violation of laws, and yet Jesus is declaring her safety. After twelve years of being an unclean, lonely outcast, Jesus says that she is a daughter who walks in peace and wholeness! But it’s up to her to walk in that knowledge, to maintain that new identity. It’s up to us to remember and walk in the knowledge of who we are in Christ, too.
The Retelling How did I get here? I wondered despairingly as I lay in my bed, day after day, year after year.
My life had become a living nightmare. All my girlhood dreams of marriage and motherhood and laughter and purpose and come to this: at twenty-eight, I was already considered an old maid. No man would ever touch me; indeed, none could without risking severe punishment. I was unclean, and had been for the last twelve years, since I was sixteen years old.
I should have been married that year. I should have made a happy bride. I should have a brood of children by now.
Instead, I was a severe burden to my aging parents. My father had constructed a separate dwelling for me so that my uncleanness would not contaminate the rest of the household, and my mother brought me my meals, careful never to touch me nor to sit down on or handle anything I might have touched. They spent all they had to send me to the best doctors, some of whom I had to travel far to see. The worst of their useless treatments involved blood letting. I was already bleeding continuously, but these doctors thought that opening my veins and letting out yet more of my blood might cure me.
I was so weak by this point, I could hardly bathe or to feed myself. The majority of my energy was wasted upon my tears. Often I longed for death. I had no hope of anything in this life anymore.
But one day, when my mother brought me my tray for the midday meal and I looked up at her wearily, I saw a new sparkle in her eye. I could muster no curiosity about its cause, but she was determined to tell me anyway.
“Aila,” she said to me, breathless. “There is a prophet in Capernaum, a prophet who is said to possess the power to heal! There are those who say he must be the Messiah!” And she began to tell me about this man named Jesus. I wondered at all she told me: she had never mentioned him before, so I had the impression she had just heard the stories of his miracles that day, and had spent the morning gossiping to learn as much about the man as she could. She told me rumors of a wedding in Cana, in which the host ran out of wine and Jesus provided it by telling the servants to fill vessels with water, which became the finest wine when brought to the host to taste. She told of how he had all but announced himself as the Messiah in the Temple when he read from the scroll of Isaiah 61, and then declared to all those listening that “today this is fulfilled in your hearing.” She told me a story of a paralytic so eager to meet Jesus that his friends took the tiles off of a roof where Jesus was preaching to a great multitude, and lowered him down before Jesus’ feet. Jesus healed him, and the man took up his mat and walked out, to the amazement of all.
As my mother spoke, I saw the tears sparkling in her eyes. Answering tears stung my own, always so near the surface. I swallowed down the lump in my throat. Something intangible began to bubble and swell in my chest, something that I had not felt in many a year: hope.
“He lives in Capernaum? This man Jesus?” I pressed, and my mother nodded.
“He does, but he travels to all the surrounding regions of Israel, apparently drawing crowds everywhere he goes.” Her expression faltered. “That… is the problem. The crowds.”
My face fell too, and the bubble in my chest nearly burst. But before it could extinguish altogether, a scripture came to mind out of nowhere, one I had not even known I knew.
“But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings…” I whispered, and my eyes met my mother’s. Understanding spread across her face too, mingled with doubt. “If he is who you say he is,” I told her, “I do not need his attention. I just need to get close enough to touch the hem of his garment.”
My mother let out a puff of breath, looking troubled as she shook her head. “Aila, you can barely stand, let alone walk. And there will be a crowd pressing all around! Will you make all of them unclean? Do you know what they will do to you if you are discovered? They could stone you!”
Suddenly my eyes flashed. “I don’t care!” I cried. “Death is better than the life I live now! If this man Jesus is my only hope, there is nothing I will not risk to get to him, nothing!” I looked away so I could not see my mother’s horrified expression, and set my jaw. Then I mused aloud, “I just need to know when he is expected back in Capernaum.”
She said in almost a whisper, “I already asked. The rumors are that he is on his way back today, and is expected by this time tomorrow.”
“Good,” I said, “less time to wait. I also need a disguise.” I had not been out in the city for quite some time, but surely there would still be those who remembered me and might recognize me. My mother was a talker; they would all know of my uncleanness if they knew who I was.
My mother hesitated, but said, “You may borrow my gray cloak. It will cover your face.”
I nodded, and gave her a glance of gratitude, knowing this was a gift and not a loan. Once I had touched it, and possibly bled on it, she could not take it back. It also occurred to me that I might not need to cover my face—if I managed to stand and walk, it would not be for long. When I envisioned the scene, I saw myself crawling on all fours toward Jesus, stretching all the time for the tassels of his prayer shawl. That was all I needed. I pictured my hand clasping the tassels, stealing my healing, and then standing up and quietly slipping away with no one the wiser. My heart, always a weak and pitiful flutter in my chest, beat faster for the first time in ages as I thought of it.
By this time tomorrow, I would be healed, or I would die trying. Either way, it would be better than this.
Normally I spent most of the day drowsing, but never truly sleeping deeply. I picked at my food all day long, and never ate a full meal. But for the rest of that day and into the next morning when my mother brought my breakfast, I felt a surge of strength born of my hope, even though I still trembled from weakness. With my breakfast, my mother brought me her promised gray cloak.
“He is here,” she whispered. “A great multitude has already abandoned their work for the day and has flocked to him. He is by the docks!”
“The docks!” I breathed with momentary despair.
“It is not far,” my mother murmured, correctly understanding my exclamation. “Perhaps a ten minute walk from here.”
“For you!” I shot back, but then got hold of myself, as resolve steeled my bones. “No. No. I can do this. I must do this.”
For the first time in years, I finished my entire breakfast, and donned my mother’s cloak. I gave her a brave smile, and she burst into tears, covering her face. I could not even touch her to comfort her. An ache bloomed in my chest at this thought. But then I said aloud, my words catching in my throat, “When I return, I will be clean! When I return, I can hug you again.”
This only made her cry harder. I left her standing in the middle of the room, opened the door, and made my way out into the streets—also for the first time in years. Today was a day of firsts.
I was surprised that my legs carried me at all, though I was winded within minutes. I had to slow down. I kept my head down so that the cloak covered my features, but could tell from my periphery that the crowds grew thicker and denser as I approached the docks. I managed to touch no one for most of the journey, but I could tell when I had arrived at my destination. The crowds were so densely oriented around one central figure that even though I could not see him, I knew Jesus must be at the center. I took a deep breath, and plunged into the crowd.
It went against every instinct I had to deliberately elbow my way through the men and women all eager to meet Jesus. I tried not to think about how many I contaminated along the way, or what they would do to me if they knew.
At last I saw the man dressed as a rabbi at the center. I did not get a good look at his face, but knew that he must be Jesus. I was almost there!
Suddenly a hush fell over the crowd, and one voice rose above the others.
“My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live!”
The rabbi nodded. “Take me to her,” he said.
The first speaker leapt to his feet and began to lead the way, and the crowd surged forward, following Jesus. Despair threatened to crush me as the people jostled me this way and that, and I even lost sight of Jesus for a moment. As I was momentarily off balance, the crowd shoved me from behind, and I fell to my hands and knees, exactly as I had seen in my vision.
Somehow, oddly enough, it was this that galvanized me. This was what I had pictured. It was easier to make my way through the crowd on all fours than it was standing upright. I was entirely focused on one thing: the edge of that prayer shawl. I did not see it yet, but I scanned the clothing of the people around me as I crawled, ignoring all else. People stepped on my hands and made me cry out in pain. People kneed me and kicked me on accident. I did not care. I kept going, until at last I saw what I was looking for: the fringes of that shawl.
If only I may touch his clothes, I shall be made well, I repeated in my mind over and over, like a mantra. If only I may touch his clothes, I shall be made well. If only…I reached out, just as he moved away. I crawled faster, kicked and jostled but determined. I reached out again, grabbed on to the tassels, and—
Power at once surged through my body, a sensation I had never felt before. The trembling weakness was instantly gone, and the constant feeling of the flow of blood between my legs suddenly dried up! I released Jesus’ garment and sat gasping, as the crowd began to push on past me. But Jesus stopped walking, and turned around.
“Who touched my clothes?” he demanded.
A new terror seized me. I did not know what to do. I shrank back, hoping that the rest of the crowd would shield me from him. What would he do? Would he command the crowd to stone me anyway, for breaking the law?
One of the men beside him said, “You see the multitude thronging you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
Jesus shook his head and insisted, “Somebody touched me. I felt power go out from me.”
It was clear he did not plan to move on until I revealed myself, and the people beside me looked around to find the culprit as well. Several noticed me at last, and one shouted, “Hey! I think I found her!”
Jesus now looked at me. He was surprisingly young, not much older than I was. I was trembling now not from weakness, but from fear, bowing lower still to his feet. What could I do but tell the whole truth?
“Lord,” I choked out, “I have suffered a continuous flow of blood these twelve years.” What a shameful thing to confess in a crowd of mixed company, a crowd whom I had contaminated! “I have spent all I had on physicians and have only grown worse. But I heard about you, and I thought, I need not trouble you! If I could only touch your clothes, I would be made well. So I did, and so I have: the fountain of my blood dried up and I was healed at once. I know I have broken the law and I have no excuse for myself except my very great desperation. I can do nothing but beg for your mercy!”
When Jesus did not immediately reply to this, at last my curiosity overcame my fear, and I looked up into his face. The look of compassion and tenderness in his wide brown eyes took my breath away. Despite the similarity in our ages, his expression reminded me of the way a father might gaze at his newborn child. His next words confirmed this.
“Daughter,” he said, in a voice so low it felt only meant for me, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”
As he was saying this, the man who had begged for his help at the beginning tore his attention away from me. I sat there dazed, as Jesus moved on, and the crowd surged after him, passing around me like water around a stone in a stream.
He called me daughter, I thought in amazement. He didn’t rebuke me. He didn’t condemn me!
He is the Messiah, I realized as I continued to sit there, long after the crowd had moved on. I had known this before, or I would never have done what I did. But if he was the Messiah, he was the Lord’s anointed, and he called me daughter… he had compassion on me… then who was this angry God the Pharisees preached?
I closed my eyes and remembered the tender expression in Jesus’ wide brown ones, treasuring the words he had said to me almost as much as my healing. Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.
And so I would. I stood up, brushed myself off, and walked home with my head held high. I did not care who saw me now.
I had my whole life ahead of me.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: EMF: How Do You Know If It's Too High?

Our sponsor: trylgc.com/cnhthyroid, and enter the coupon code CNH20 for 20% off your order.

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

Today's meditation and retelling comes from Luke 5:4-10, John 21:3-8.

I guess I just didn’t know what to do with myself. Too much had happened—both the worst and the best. My Master’s horrific death, my own failure to stand by Him in His hour of need, and then—He rose again! He returned to us. He was the Messiah. We had been witness to the event that all of the Law and the Prophets, all of human history had been pointing to. Now what? The only clue Jesus gave to us of what to do next was to go into Galilee, and He would meet us there. He wasn’t with us all the time now, not since He rose again. Things were different, though He never told us what He was doing when He was not with us. I felt like my brain was always spinning since then, never arriving at its destination. I wanted something familiar, something I could do with my hands that would anchor me in the present. I was a fisherman by trade, though I hadn’t actually fished commercially in the last three and a half years since Jesus came into my life. We were here in Galilee now, but Jesus gave us no other specifics. We didn’t know when or where He would meet us, beyond somewhere in Galilee. “I’m going fishing,” I announced to James, John, Nathaniel, Thomas, Matthew, and Bartholomew who were with me. It was nighttime, but we always used to fish at night. That was when it was coolest. I was surprised at the suddenness of their reply: “We are going with you,” they all agreed. Evidently I wasn’t the only one who longed for some occupation to pass the time. As we prepared our nets and set out to the Sea of Galilee, I couldn’t help remembering the last time I had done this very thing. James and John were my partners then, and the three of us had fished all night in the Lake of Gennesaret, and caught nothing. We were exhausted, and washing our nets until the next time when a great multitude suddenly converged upon the shore. They all seemed to be centered upon one man, a young rabbi. I had never seen him before, but as soon as I saw him—his purposeful stride, the authority with which he carried himself—I couldn’t look away. I forgot all about my nets. I thought at the time that the crowds must all have seen what I saw, and that was why they followed him. But then I noticed that the man was looking at me, too. He strode right up to me, and gestured at one of our two boats on shore. “Will you put out a bit from the land with me? You see how the crowd presses all around me.” “Yes!” I stammered, forgetting my fatigue. I rushed to obey, dragging my half-cleaned nets behind me and stuffing them into the boat. James and John remained on shore with the crowd, but did not leave. They too seemed to have forgotten their exhaustion in their eagerness to see whatever it was that the crowd expected to see. It was just Jesus and me in the boat on the lake that day. He sat down and began to teach the crowds from the boat. I sat behind him, and with his every word, my soul burned within me. It was a sensation I had never experienced before, but I have many times since: that sense that I was hearing truth spoken in mysteries, falling from the lips of a man of exceeding greatness. I was a Jew, and I had always worshipped Jehovah in theory. But never before had I been stirred in such a way that worship was wrung from me as the only possible response, like water from a cloth. When the rabbi dismissed the crowds, and they reluctantly began to disperse, it was already in the heat of the day. He looked at me and said, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” It was such an unexpected thing to say that I balked for a minute. Why? I wondered. What did that have to do with anything? “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing,” I began, but then caught myself. I did not wish to argue with this man, of all people. If he wanted me to let down my net, I’d do it out of respect, even though it would mean extra work for me. “Nevertheless, at Your word I will let down the net,” I told him. I paddled a little way back out to the lake, though not to the deepest part. I had several nets, but I let down only the one—this was only a gesture, after all. I knew there were no fish to be had in the lake today— “What is this?” I cried out in shock, as the net grew taut in my hands. I thought at first I had snagged it on something, but that could not be; the lake was much too deep. I managed to tug just enough for the shiny slippery silver bodies to break the surface of the water, wriggling and writhing all over each other. I gasped, and felt rather than heard the ripping of the rope down below the surface. “James! John!” I shouted back to shore, and just glanced up to see that they were still there, awaiting my return. They had apparently seen enough of what was going on, and both of them jumped into the other boat and paddled out to where we were, along with two of our other partners. “Steady, steady!” called John, as he held the side of his boat against ours. He threw a rope across to climb into my boat, so that he could help me pull in the catch. It was all I could do to hold on to the edges of my net, but I certainly could not haul it onto the boat by myself. Finally I glanced at Jesus. He stood watching us, and I could swear he was silently laughing, his eyes crinkled with amusement. I glanced back down at the water. Before my very eyes, more fish jostled each other to swim into my net! I looked back at Jesus. Now he was laughing outright. “Ready, heave!” John cried to me, recalling my attention to the ever growing problem at hand. “The net is breaking!” “I know, that’s why I signaled you!” I returned. It was all we could do to lift the top of the catch out of the water and just let the fish spill onto the bottom of our boat in a great pile; I knew yet more had managed to escape underneath where the nets had ripped. Meanwhile, James and our other partners had taken the hint and let down their nets—plural this time—and were even now drawing their enormous catch on board. “We’re sinking!” John gasped to me as the fish continued to spill into the boat. “So are we!” James cried back from the other boat beside us. John and I watched as fish we hadn’t even caught in our nets jumped out of the water and into our boat. Our jaws dropped. I turned to Jesus, who had tears in his eyes now, he was laughing so hard. I released my end of the net entirely, and sank to my knees before Jesus’ feet as best I could, amid all the fish. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” I gasped. Jesus still grinned, but his expression softened as he looked down at me. I had the impression that he was pleased I had understood that this was his doing, even though it could not have been more obvious. “ “Do not be afraid,” he said to me. “From now on you will catch men.” When we got back to shore that day, salvaging our boats and some of our nets with the most enormous catch of fish we’d ever had before or since, James, John and I left everything and followed Jesus. We’d never looked back. Three and a half years later, so much had changed that I scarcely remembered the man I was then. Tonight, as that first night before Jesus showed up, we had caught not a single fish. I watched as the sunrise streaked pink and red across the sky, and gritted my teeth against the ache in my chest. I missed him. He had risen, but He wasn’t here with us now. Everything had changed. He had risen, but now what? Where did we go from here? What did the rest of our lives look like? He had risen, but I had still denied Him when He needed me most. “Children!” called a voice from the shore. We all turned to see a stranger, hands cupped around his mouth to amplify the sound. “Have you any food?” “Children?” Bartholomew muttered. “That fellow can’t be any older than we are.” James answered for all of us. “No! We’ve fished all night but caught nothing.” The stranger shouted back, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” We all blinked at this strange instruction. Nathaniel grumbled, “As if that would make any difference.” Yet my heart burned within me. I didn’t consciously think of it at the time, but it was the same sensation I had had when on the road to Emmaus with Cleopas and the stranger. The same I had as I listened to Jesus preach that first time. “Do it,” James, John and I all said at once. We exchanged a look with one another and took over the net. That was when I realized that they, too, were remembering the same thing I was. It was as if we were right back there, three and a half years ago: the moment we slipped the net on the right side of the boat, the rope grew taut, and fish fought each other to swim in. “Heave!” John cried, and we tried—but there were too many. We could not even lift the nets back into the boat between the three of us. John’s face split into a wide grin as he turned to look on the shore. The stranger had set a fire on the beach and was tending to it. “It is the Lord!” he cried. Of course it was—I had known this already. But at John’s declaration, I couldn’t wait even to get the boat back to shore. I had removed my outer garment as we worked, so now I put it on again and jumped into the sea, swimming to Him as fast as my arms and legs could carry me. Behind me, the other disciples steered the ship to shore, dragging the net in the water behind them. I reached the land only moments before they did, for we had not been far out to sea. The stranger looked up, first at me, and then at the others, then at me again. I fell to my knees before Him, amazed once again that He looked so different now, though His features had not changed. “Lord,” I managed, dripping from head to toe. He smiled back at me, and I saw that He already had fish and bread cooking over the coals. He glanced over my shoulder, and I followed His eyes to the other disciples, who were now attempting to drag the catch of fish from the water to the shore. “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught,” Jesus said. I took the Lord’s hint and ran to help. Remarkably, this time the net was not broken. When we laid the fish out on the sand, Bartholomew, the quickest of us with numbers, informed us that we had caught one hundred and fifty three. “Come and eat breakfast,” Jesus called to us. We took six of the fish, one for each of us plus the fish Jesus had already prepared. We cleaned and roasted them over the fire Jesus had set, largely in silence. I saw all of the other disciples sneaking surreptitious glances at Jesus as if to assure themselves that He was the Lord. He endured this patiently and without comment. When the fish had cooked, He took the bread, blessed and broke it, and did the same with the fish. We ate in silence as well: a silence that was not so much awkward as it was thick, at least for me. I so desperately wanted to make things right. When we finished breakfast, Jesus turned to me. “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” A lump sprang to my throat. The word He used for love wasagape. Do I agape—perfectly, selflessly love—Him more than anything else, as I had once so boldly declared? More than anything I wanted to proclaim that I did, but my actions belied this. “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” But I used the word phileoin place ofagape. The word meant familial affection. Far less lofty than agape. Jesus’ eyes bore into mine. “Feed my lambs,” He replied. Silence fell again. I tried to swallow down the lump in my throat. Jesus said again, “Simon, son of Jonah, do youagapeme?” I felt the other disciples shift around us uncomfortably, but I did not care that they were witnesses. This was between me and the Lord. I had to compose myself before I managed to answer again, “Yes, Lord, you know that Iphileoyou.” “Tend my sheep,” Jesus replied. Another stretch of silence. Then He ventured once more, “Simon, son of Jonah, do youphileome?” I bit my lip to keep the tears at bay. I flashed back to the night of His trial, to my three denials that I even knew the man who was dearest to me in the world. He asked me three times to affirm Him now, to erase those denials. But He’d downgraded the word love now fromagapetophileo, the word I insisted upon using. The Lord knew how badly I wanted to use the wordagape—the word that meant I would do anything for Him, even die for Him, as He had for me. But I had made that declaration once before, and broken it hours later. I knew better now. I knew my own weakness. “Lord, you know all things,” I whispered. “You know that Iphileoyou.” Jesus did not speak for such a long moment that I finally looked up and met His eyes. He gazed at me so tenderly, like a father to his newborn child. No wonder He had called us children. “Feed my sheep,” He said. “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” I swallowed, understanding what He meant. I would indeed die for Him one day. Had He given me such a prophecy at any other time, it would have seemed almost like a curse. But right now, it was the purest blessing He could have pronounced. He was telling me I would get another chance, and the next time, I would pass the test: the very thing I wanted most in the world. Briefly, I let the Lord's pure love, His agape, His acceptance wash over me, to cleanse and restore me. No sooner did I bask in this, though, it was marred by a stab of jealousy as I glanced at John, sitting very close to Jesus. I’d always been just a bit jealous of John’s closeness to the Lord. I think we all had. Before I could stop myself, I pointed at John and said, “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus raised his eyebrows at me, and John looked taken aback. I immediately regretted that I’d said it out loud. “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?” was Jesus’ gentle rebuke. “Youfollow me.” I bowed my head, and turned to look at the enormous catch of fish strewn on shore. He had performed the same miracle when I first met Him, and now again at the end—for I knew this was the end. His remaining time on earth was very short. The first time He had said, “From now on, you will catch men,” and I had left everything to follow Him. Now, after His resurrection, when all of us wondered what our purpose could possibly be, this side of the cross—His answer was the same. Tend my sheep. Feed my lambs. Go and catch men. I had fished all night with all my worldly equipment and skill and partners, and caught nothing. Yet everything changed when I went whereHedirected, and fished whereHe commanded, with the powerHeprovided. I could not fail.

View Details

Today's podcast is an interview with the newest doctor to our care team at Nature Cure Family Health, Dr Laura Villa. To learn more about Dr Villa, click here. https://www.naturecurefamilyhealth.com/doctors/dr-laura-villa/

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

This week's meditation and retelling is from 1 Sam 14:1-23.

This is such a crazy story, and to me, it so perfectly illustrates why Jonathan and David became such good friends. In boldness, they were pretty much the same person. Jonathan had taken down a garrison of Philistines once before (1 Sam 13:3) before this episode ever occurred, which may well have been what gave him the confidence to propose the idea of two of them attacking an entire garrison, with one sword between them. God never told him to do this—it was his own idea, but it was based upon Jonathan’s understanding that Israel had a covenant with God, and the Philistines didn’t (we know this by the fact that he referred to them as “uncircumcised,” the same way that David referred to Goliath). He did include a caveat, at least: if the Philistines said this, it meant God had given them into the hands of Israel. If they said that, it meant he hadn’t, and they should come back another day. But even that, he made up. He just assumed that God would honor the “fleece” he chose. And sure enough, God did! Why was there only one sword between them, anyway? According to 1 Samuel 13:22, there were only two swords in all of Israel, belonging to the king (Saul) and the crown prince (Jonathan). The Philistines had so oppressed Israel that they had disarmed them, expecting that this would keep this in subjection. No wonder the rest of the Israelites were hiding in caves, even though there were hundreds of them. Not only were the Philistines in a better tactical position, but they had weapons and the Israelites did not. Only Jonathan did not see this as a problem. Like Caleb and Joshua when they saw the giants in the Promised Land, Jonathan was undeterred by what he saw in the natural. When Jonathan and his armor bearer (who didn’t even get a name) moved forward in faith, all they had to do was kill about twenty men. Then, just as in the case of Gideon and the Midianites, God sent fear among the Philistines and they destroyed themselves! Then the Israelites, seeing that their enemy was on the run, decided to join the fight. But it took the faith of Jonathan and his armor bearer to set the whole thing in motion. "Why exactly are we hiding in this cave?” I wanted to know. I asked the question of my armor bearer, who had been with me since my earliest days as a soldier. He was my servant, but I considered him a dear friend too. Certainly, I respected him far more than I did the majority of my father’s soldiers, six hundred of whom just cowered here in the pomegranate cave at Migron, at my father King Saul's apparent direction. “The Philistines are right there. Why don’t we just go slaughter them?” My armor bearer shrugged, as mystified as I was. Yes, the Philistines were large—giants, some of them. It was also true that our men had no swords; the Philistines had gotten rid of all blacksmiths, and had required us to come to them to sharpen our tools for farming, so that they might keep us in submission. The only two swords in our company belonged to my father and myself. So what? The Philistines were uncircumcised! They had no covenant to protect them. We, on the other hand, had the Lord on our side. We literally could not lose. I’d proven this by defeating the garrison of Philistines at Geba, and all the Hebrews had heard of it. Had they already forgotten? I sighed, frustrated. I refused to sit here and do nothing for another moment. “I have one of the two swords, have I not?” I muttered aloud, and then gestured at my armor bearer. “Well. You do.” My armor bearer nodded as a slow smile of anticipation crept across his face. “I do indeed!” I snuck a surreptitious glance at my father, who was in council with several of his cowardly advisors, and did not notice us. Then I looked at my armor bearer and whispered, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, by many or by few.” The armor bearer grinned back at me, eyes bright. “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish, Behold, I am with you heart and soul!” I loved this guy. I nodded and whispered, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we all show ourselves to them. If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.” I added the caveat, just in case the Lord wanted to stop us for some reason. He hadn’t chosen the sign, it was true, but I knew He directed the steps of His faithful ones, and I knew the covenant promised victory to the Israelites. I only wanted to test whether or not this was the way in which He meant for it to occur. Together, we crept out of the cave, between two rocky crags named Bozez and Seneh. The Philistines spied us approaching from a distance, and we saw their attention turn to us. Once we were in shouting range, they taunted, “Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves!” They beckoned us, and cried out, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing!” I turned to my armor bearer and we shared a fierce grin. That was exactly what I’d been hoping they’d say. “Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel!” I declared. I had to climb up using my hands and feet to where the Philistine garrison waited. My armor bearer came after me, sword in its hilt at his side. When I finally reached the top of the rocky crag, something (Someone?) knocked the men down before me as if they had been hit by a great gust of wind. My armor bearer did not waste it: as soon as he crested the hill, he slashed them down right and left, twenty men in all. As this happened, panic spread throughout the camp and the garrison. The men began to flee, and the stampede seemed to make the mountain itself quake. I turned around, and behind us I finally saw my father and his six hundred men emerge from their cave. But before they ever reached the scene of the battle, it was already half over: there was such confusion in the Philistine garrison that they struck and killed one another. Some of my fellow Israelites were among the Philistines, and they turned upon their fellows. Israelites who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim saw and came to join the fight. In the end, the Philistines fled beyond Beth-aven, and the Lord gave us victory. As I knew very well He would. He had promised He would, and He is not a man, that He should lie!

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, EMF and Mitochondrial Toxicity.

Our sponsor: trylgc.com/cnhomega, and enter the coupon code CNH20 for 20% off your order.

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

Today's meditation comes from the story of Hannah's miraculous conception of Samuel, from 1 Samuel 1-2.

This is the text of my retelling:

I had come to hate the yearly trek to Shiloh. Which was terrible! We were going to sacrifice and worship the Lord, and I knew it was wrong to do anything but rejoice—that was what the Lord called us to do, after all. And yet it was the worst time of the year for me. The rest of the year, I could avoid my husband Elkanah’s other wife Peninnah and her children. At home her family and I lived in different tents, and I managed to fix my daily routine such that I almost never interacted with her at all. I did this because Peninnah was horrible to me at every opportunity. Even if she hadn’t been horrible, seeing her was like an arrow in my heart, as it seemed she was perpetually pregnant or nursing. She now had six children--and I none. As if that weren’t enough, she took every opportunity to taunt me for my barrenness. Elkanah tried to tell me this was because she was jealous of his love for me, and seemed to expect this would comfort me. It didn’t. I valued my husband’s love greatly, but it in no way compensated me for the children I lacked, and I was not compassionate enough to empathize with my rival’s motives. My own pain was too acute. During the yearly trek to Shiloh, though, we all traveled together as a family—Elkanah, his two wives, and Peninnah’s children. I couldn’t get away from her. After Elkanah’s sacrifice, when it came time to eat the sacrificial meat, he distributed portions to his wives and children. As if to compensate me for my barrenness, he gave me a double portion. He meant well, but even this wrung tears from my eyes. Peninnah taunted me even about this: what a sorry exchange this was, how glad she was that she had children rather than extra meat. I shoved my plate away and ran out of the tent so that I might cry alone, my appetite spoiled. Elkanah, a gentle man, followed me into the night and put his arms around me. “Hannah, why do you weep?” he asked me softly, though of course he knew the answer. And I could not reply to him anyway. “And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” I let him hold me, but there was no satisfactory reply to this. The answer was a decided no, but he would not understand this, and would be hurt by it. After all, he had no need of more sons—he had them already, by Peninnah. Also, he was not only mine. I would always, always have to share him, not only with her but also with her children. I felt like an interloper on a family tableau, the one person who did not belong. After a reasonable amount of time had elapsed such that Elkanah would not feel slighted, I tightened and then released my embrace. “Give me leave to visit the Temple,” I murmured, wiping the tears from my eyes. Elkanah looked slightly puzzled, but nodded. “Of course, if you wish to seek the Lord alone.” I nodded and hurried off, scarcely noticing Eli the priest sitting beside the doorpost of the Temple as I entered. The Temple was otherwise empty, as the sacrifices had taken place earlier that day, and all the priests, like my husband, had taken their portions back to their families to feast and celebrate. This was precisely what I wanted—to be alone. When I reached the Court of Women, the Outer Court, I fell to my knees and released all the tears I had held back throughout the day and the journey. Between sobs, I poured out my heart in my spirit--and though my lips moved, my voice remained silent. “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.” I meant by this last addition that he would be a Nazirite, holy and set apart to the Lord. It was desperation that made me say all this. Once it was out of my mouth, it occurred to me that I was attempting to bargain with God. Was that okay? I knew the scriptures reasonably well, as my husband was a priest, but the only example I could think of where anyone said to God, ‘if you do this for me, I’ll do that for you’ was the Judge Jephthah, who said that if God helped him win the battle against the Ammonites, he would sacrifice the first thing that greeted him when he returned home from battle. It turned out to be his daughter. Not exactly an example I wished to follow, and yet—that’s what desperation does. A few years ago, I would never have made such a vow as to part with my firstborn son, not for anything in the world. Now I would do it with all my heart, if the Lord would only listen and remember me… I did not see Eli the priest approach as I prayed on my knees until he spoke. His tone and his words were harsh. “How long will you go on being drunk?” he demanded, and when I looked up at him I saw the scowl on his face. “Put your wine away from you.” “No, my lord,” I gasped, understanding that he thought I had overindulged at the feast. “I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” The priest’s face softened, and he rested a hand on my shoulder as he answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” I bowed my head, closing my eyes against the answering flood of tears that threatened yet again—only this time they were tears of gratitude. The High Priest himself had just blessed me! Scriptural precedent or not, that meant I had my petition of the Lord! “Let your servant find favor in your eyes,” I managed, as I stood and dried my eyes, beaming at the priest. Then I hurried back to our tent, suddenly ravenous. I had a double portion of sacrificial meat still waiting for me, and I could stand anything now, even the taunts from Peninnah. I was as good as pregnant! Peninnah’s children and she had finished their portions when I returned to eat alone. But Peninnah watched my radiant face closely, frowning. “What got into you?” she sneered, but I could see that she was troubled by my uplifted mood. I simply smiled at her, and said, “The Lord is good and gracious!” She blinked, put off by this response. She rose and left the table without saying a word. The next morning, we rose, worshiped at the Temple one last time, and returned to our home at Ramah. Elkanah hardly left my side on the return journey, which nettled Peninnah. When we arrived home, he shared my bed. I was not surprised, both because of his concern for me and also because of Eli’s prophecy. I suspected right then, but I knew for certain within a month that I was with child. I knew before his birth that he would be a son, because that had been my petition of the Lord. Elkanah suggested family names, but I said no—he should be called Samuel, "because I had asked for him from the Lord." The following year, when the time came for the family sacrifice, I begged Elkanah’s leave to remain behind with Samuel. He was only three months old and still nursing; much too young to leave at the Temple with Eli. At first Elkanah did not understand why I could not travel with Samuel and return home with him again, until I explained, “I made a vow to the Lord, and I intend to keep it when the time comes. As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.” What I did not tell him was that I didn’t want to make a habit of going to the Temple with Samuel and then returning home with him again. That would make it so much easier for me to tell myself, ‘I’ll leave him with Eli next year,’ and when next year came, to say the same again. I did not want to tempt myself not to keep my vow to the Lord. Five years later, Samuel was fully weaned, and the time had come. I made the yearly journey once again to the Temple to worship, and reminded myself that this was a time for joy and not for mourning. The Lord had granted my request! Yet my heart ached at the idea of leaving behind my only son forever. Samuel was a serious, reserved child, well suited for service to the Lord—and yet still, he was so young. Would he be frightened? Of course he would be frightened to be left among strangers. Was I doing the right thing? Perhaps I should take him home again and return again next year, when he was a bit older— “Why are you sad, Mama?” Samuel had crept into our traveling tent beside me. I had explained to him already that he would remain in the house of the Lord, while his father and I would return home to Ramah without him. He had not seemed disturbed by this, but I had assumed that was because he didn’t really understand what I’d said. I looked at my little boy, so peaceful and trusting, and my anguish began to ebb away. “Do you understand that you will remain at Shiloh, while I and your father and all that you know will return home to Ramah?” I asked him. He nodded. “Yes. You told me so already.” “And you are not afraid?” He blinked at me, frowned, and shook his head. “I will be with the Lord, will I not?” “Yes, my darling. You will dwell with the Lord forever.” “Then why would I be afraid?” A little sob of gratitude rose up in my throat, but I swallowed it down, and hugged my son close. It was as if the Lord himself had whispered, peace to my soul. When we arrived at Shiloh, Elkanah and I brought Samuel to the Temple, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine as a sacrifice. Elkanah slaughtered the bull, and when he had finished offering the sacrifice, together we brought Samuel to Eli. Samuel, fearless little man he was, stepped forward to meet Eli boldly. Eli looked down at the boy quizzically, and then up at me. “Oh, my lord!” I said, “As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” Samuel looked at me. “Is the Lord in this place, Mama?” “Yes, my darling.” I stifled the sob that rose in my throat, and tucked his hair behind his ear. And then, as if he knew exactly what to do, Samuel fell to his knees, and raised his little hands in worship. Eli’s face lit with delight, and something moved me to kneel beside him. The words that came to my lips were not my words—they flowed far too well, as if I were reading something written long ago. I spoke aloud, in the presence of the high priest. “My heart exults in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.” I thought of Peninnah’s face as I said these words, and felt a fierce swell of satisfaction. She did not taunt me anymore. “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength.” I had a sense that I was now prophesying, speaking of something broader than just of Peninnah and myself. Was the Lord reminding me of His goodness, to give me strength to leave Samuel behind? “Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.” Oh, let that be a prophesy for me! I thought. “The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.” Now I knew I was prophesying, for Israel had no king—our King was the Lord. We had only judges. Who was to be the king? I looked at Samuel, and wondered—would he be one of the judges? Or would he have anything to do with future kings of Israel? When my psalm had finished, Elkanah put an arm around my shoulders and led me from the Temple, leaving Samuel behind. We had discussed that it would be best to go quickly, and not look back. I was surprised, pleasantly so, that a balm of peace spread over my soul as I went. Though now ostensibly all was as it was before, and I was effectively childless, Peninnah never taunted me again. In my secret moments of sorrow, I clung to the prophesy that had sprung from my own lips: “the barren has borne seven.” I knew seven was a number of perfection and completion and perhaps not literal, but surely one was not a number of perfection and completion, was it? Yet for the next few years, when we returned for the sacrifice and I brought Samuel a new and slightly larger little robe I had made for him, he remained my only son. He was happy and at peace each time I saw him, and this was consolation to me. And yet. When Samuel was seven, before we left, Eli the priest approached us, placing a hand on each of our shoulders. With a fond look at Samuel, he said to Elkanah, “May the Lord give you children by this woman for the petition she asked of the Lord.” Oh, what a joy those words were! Spoken by the high priest, just as the first blessing had been, I knew they carried with them the same seeds of promise. In the succeeding years, as Elkanah and I returned for the yearly sacrifice, I introduced Samuel to his brothers and sisters: five of them in all, six including him. As many as Peninnah had. And yet, each year as Samuel grew strong in the presence of the Lord, I became more certain that he would be the greatest of them all. The hand of the Lord was upon his life, and he had been born for a purpose. My vow had been no coincidence. I watched eagerly for glimmers of what he was to become.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, Wisdom in a Time of Chaos.

The TED talk mentioned can be found here.

Let's Get Checked: trylgc.com/cnh, and enter the coupon code CNH20 for 20% off your order.

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

Today's podcast meditation and retelling comes from Judges 6-7.

In Judges 6, Israel was overrun with the neighboring Midianites. These were the descendants of Abraham’s second wife, Keturah (Genesis 25:1-2), after Sarah passed away. Gideon must have been a young man, since he was still living in his father’s household—though many of the Israelites were dwelling in caves at the time to hide from the Midianites, so it’s unclear to me whether he too was living in a cave. In the retelling, I assumed so.
The story opens with Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress to hide from the Midianites. Winepresses were dug out of the ground, and threshing is the removal of the kernel of grain from its stalk. This can be done by beating it by hand, or using animals to tread over the grain. Once the kernel has been separated, it is separated from the chaff (the part you don’t eat) by throwing it up in the air and letting the wind blow it away. If Gideon had done this above ground, the Midianites would come and steal what little he had. So this opening scene is rather pitiful. A winepress is also used elsewhere in scripture to symbolize God’s wrath and judgment (Isaiah 63:3-6, Lamentations 1:15, Joel 3:12-13), which makes sense: the Israelites are in this predicament of servitude in the first place because they have disobeyed the Lord, and they’re on the wrong side of the covenant (Deuteronomy 28). God told them exactly what would happen if they disobeyed Him and ran after other gods. But God is merciful, and every time Israel disobeys Him and suffers the consequences, they cry out to Him for deliverance. Gideon is God’s answer to their prayers, only he doesn’t know it yet. He doesn’t much want to be God’s answer, either: he’s very much a reluctant hero, which makes me wonder if he was just the best God had to choose from among the Israelites of that time. He’s certainly no David. It’s interesting to me that before God delivers the Israelites, the first thing He has Gideon do is destroy the idol to Baal. It’s like He’s reminding the people, You want me to help you? Remember the First Commandment? Remember why you’re in this situation in the first place? A covenant is a covenant, and they’ve disobeyed their side of it. God is just, and He’s not going to simply ignore the fact that the Israelites are in violation. He needs to get them back on the right side of the covenant before He can fulfill His end of the bargain. Praise God, Jesus did this for us, and now we are always on the right side of the covenant—Jesus became a curse for us and so redeemed us forever from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Gideon wasn’t thrilled about pulling down Baal’s altar; he knew that the worthless men of Israel would come against him and might even threaten to kill him for it. So he does it at night, when no one is awake to see it. It doesn’t matter—by the next morning, somehow everyone knows it was him anyway, and they come knocking at his family home/cave and demanding of his father Joash that he give up Gideon so they can kill him for it. Even though Joash had worshipped Baal too, he surprisingly defends Gideon with words that echo the wisdom of Gamaliel in the New Testament: when Peter and John are standing trial before the Sanhedrin, Gamaliel advises the Pharisees to let them go on the grounds that if what they are teaching is not from God, it will dissipate anyway. But if it is from God, they will only find themselves fighting against God (Acts 5:38-39). Similarly, Joash tells the people who want to kill his son, if Baal is a god, he can contend with Gideon himself! They accept this logic, give Gideon a new name (Jerubbaal, meaning ‘let Baal contend,’) and go away.
Now that God has His people back on the right side of the covenant, He sends Gideon into battle against the Midianites. Gideon then asks for his infamous fleece sign, to verify to him that he indeed heard God speak: that in the morning, the fleece will be wet and all the ground dry. Gideon knows he heard God; the request implies that he’s struggling to believe what He said. This becomes especially true when Gideon gets his request, and then thinks, What if that was coincidence? So he asks again, and this time reverses the request. This time, he wants the fleece dry and the ground wet! Meanwhile, all the armies of Israel are assembling to fight. I wonder what he planned to do if his fleece sign didn’t work as he expected! Tell them all to go home, I guess? I’m kind of amazed at how patient the Lord was with Gideon through all this. Perhaps that is because Gideon has never seen a miracle before (as he says at the beginning of Judges 6)—he’s only heard the stories of his ancestors. It’s not like the Israelites coming out of Egypt who saw God’s power literally every day. One of God’s principles is, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48). Paul even says in 1 Timothy 1:13, “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.” So God grants Gideon his two fleece signs. Then Gideon presumably is feeling pretty confident with his 32,000 fighting men, even though the Midianites are described as “numberless.” Then God told him, no. He knew that if Gideon took that many men into battle, being a faithless people for the most part (that’s how they got in this predicament in the first place), they would forget God and glorify themselves for the victory (Deuteronomy 8:17). God didn’t want them to be able to boast (1 Corinthians 1:26-29); He wanted to make sure they knew this was all Him. So He whittled the army down to three hundred. Now, Gideon freaks out again. Can’t say I really blame him. God realizes He needs to give Gideon yet another sign, but this time God makes it up: He tells Gideon to take his servant and go down to the Midianite camp (which is kind of funny in itself: you’re afraid to go with your army of 300, so how about you go to the enemy camp alone! That sounds less nerve-wracking.) We’re told over and over again that the Midianites are numberless, like locusts, so how does Gideon know where to go? God takes care of that part. He takes Gideon right where he needs to go, and then gives one of the Midianites a dream, and his buddy the interpretation of the dream: that Gideon is going to defeat them all! God presumably could have given that dream to one of the Israelites, but then it could have been written off as wishful thinking. Not so when the same dream and interpretation comes out of the mouths of Gideon’s enemies, and God supernaturally leads Gideon right where he needs to go to hear it. Now, at last, Gideon is ready. There’s nothing in the story to indicate that God gave him a battle strategy—it seems that Gideon came up with the trumpets, pitchers, and lanterns idea on his own. But it makes sense: obviously 300 swords against a numberless army isn’t going to work! Gideon separates his army into three groups of one hundred, and sends each group to a different quadrant of the Midianite army. It was at night, which was key to the deception: the Midianites could not actually see how few of them there were. All they heard was smashing of pitchers, blowing of trumpets, and shouts all around them, and they saw lanterns that looked like they were surrounded. We can also gather, by the dream and its interpretation, that God had already struck fear into the hearts of the Midianites—so this was no more than what they expected. Panicked people don’t behave rationally, so they assumed that Gideon’s army was already upon them, and they started fighting each other! They defeated themselves by the power of deception. Then, as in many other disproportionate battles in scripture, the other Israelites who had been sent home saw the Midianites as they fled and joined in the battle. After the battle, Gideon was honored as the next Judge of Israel for 40 years. Unfortunately, he did not end well. Despite God’s amazing deliverance, once they had peace, Gideon led the people into worshipping other gods. It must have broken the Lord’s heart: no matter how spectacular His deliverance, no matter how He provided for his people, once they were no longer in crisis they continually forgot Him. All He wanted was their love and worship! But Israel knew only God’s deeds; they did not know His ways (Psalm 103:7). They missed His Father heart for them. God’s kindness was always meant to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4). This retelling is, of course, through Gideon’s eyes.

My father Joash used to tell me that I was born old. I’d never truly been a carefree child. I was serious, responsible, and prone to worry. This had only intensified in the last seven years, spanning my late childhood and early adulthood. Israel had been oppressed for those long years by the Midianites—ironically also descendants of Abraham, though by his second wife Keturah, rather than by our Princess of a Multitude, Sarah. The blood we shared created no kinship between us, however: the innumerable Midianites had decimated our land. Any food we planted and harvested, they took for themselves. Any animals they confiscated. They had reduced us to hiding in mountain caves and strongholds, pitiful and starving. Many of us died of starvation, though the rains were plentiful and the land bountiful: it did not matter. Ours was a manmade famine. I, for one, was furious—but not just with the Midianites. I was also furious with my fellow Israelites, who persisted in their worship of Baal. I knew enough of the scriptures to strongly suspect that our oppression had been permitted by the Lord, because we were on the wrong side of the Mosaic covenant. We had forsaken Him, so He forsook us. Yet even in our oppression, the Israelites continued to worship false gods! I could not comprehend how they failed to make the connection, particularly after a prophet came to us and told us that our oppression was due to our disobedience. Were the old stories so distant to them that they regarded them as nothing more than fairy tales? Did they not remember Moses and the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, Joshua and the battle of Jericho? If I were completely honest, I was also angry with the Lord. We were His chosen people, yet we were reduced to this! I knew it was unfair of me to feel this way. The Lord had told us clearly in the Torah what would happen if we did not follow after Him wholeheartedly. We had not upheld our end of the covenant. Our misery was no more than we deserved. He had not broken His word. Yet here I was, skulking in caves and threshing wheat in a winepress so that the Midianites would not see and confiscate what little I had to live on. It was pathetic. I wiped the sweat from my brow when I’d come to a stopping place, and climbed out of the winepress. Nearby was a terebinth tree, one of the few living things that still survived in Israel. Presumably that was because the tree produced nothing edible. I startled to see a man sitting beneath the tree, watching me. My heart went to my throat: at first I assumed he was one of the Midianites. But they did not travel alone: they swooped down en masse like a swarm of locusts. The man sat patiently, his robes new and clean, the lines of his face smooth and unconcerned. “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor!” was his surprising greeting. My mind did quick math. The man’s robes were too clean, almost glowing. He face seemed radiant with an inner glory. These things combined with his strange greeting, as if he knew me and had been waiting for me, told me this was no ordinary man. I might have thought his epithet for me was sarcastic, but there was no sarcasm in his tone. Rather, the words had almost the effect of a spell. I felt emboldened by them. Something about the man’s countenance invited confidence, too. So, in response to his greeting, I spilled out all my pent up emotions. “Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The man listened to my outburst, unperturbed. Then he said with ringing authority, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” I blinked, inspecting the man once again. Was it possible? I had thought perhaps this might be an angel. But could it be the Lord Homself? Hope, fear, and doubt mingled in my breast as I said, “Please, Lord,” I tested him with this title, “how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” This was true: I was the youngest of my father’s sons, and the weakest in physical might. Of all the men of Israel that the Lord might have picked as his champion, I seemed the unlikeliest choice. The man answered, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” I took this in for a moment, uncertain. Finally I said, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.” He knew what I meant. In the old stories, when people spoke to the Lord or to angels, they always knew it. This man was not so remarkable as all that. At least, I still felt like there was room for doubt. “Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” He inclined his head. “I will stay till you return.” I went into the cave that served as my family home, where we hid our stores of food and our flocks. I prepared a young goat, and placed the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. As these were cooking, I took an ephah of flour to prepare unleavened cakes. Then I took all of it back to the terebinth tree and presented them to the man. “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them on this rock,” he said, indicating a large flat stone, “and pour the broth over them.” I obeyed and stepped back. Then the man took the staff he carried, and reached out its tip to touch the offering. Fire sprang up from the rock, and consumed the meal, The the man vanished, right before my eyes. I gasped, suddenly trembling all over. “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” A word came to my spirit then. I knew it was not of myself, because it felt Other and carried with it a balm to my soul. “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” I needed to do something. I needed to respond to this great thing that had happened. My ancestors all seemed to respond in the same way, by building an altar and naming it according to their experience of the Lord in that place, so I did the same. I assembled stones to build an altar, placing the flat one that had just served as the platter for my offering at its pinnacle, now scorched by the angel’s fire. I named the altar The Lord is Peace, for the word He had spoken to my soul. I spent the rest of that day ruminating on what the angel had said to me, though. Save Israel from the hand of Midian? How was I supposed to do that? Where should I even begin? In the night, the Lord answered me… sort of. “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” This made sense, I thought. The reason why Israel had been oppressed was because of our disobedience. So the very first step would be to turn their hearts back to the Lord; then they would be on the right side of the covenant, and then the Lord would be just in routing our enemies. But even this lesser command caused me to tremble in fear of the men of Israel who worshipped Baal and Asherah, not to mention of my own family. They would take it as a great offense if I were to do this thing. They would no doubt even seek my life for it. Of course, I had to obey a direct command from the Lord, though. He’d spoken to me in the night for a reason, though, surely? Perhaps he meant for me to do the deed in the cover of darkness, so that no one would know it was me? I approached ten of my servants that night, and shook them awake. “The Lord has commanded me to tear down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah pole, and rebuild the altar of the Lord,” I explained when I had assembled them together. “Then we are to offer a bull as a sacrifice for the many sins of Israel, and use the Asherah pole for wood.” I saw my own trepidation reflected in their faces, though to a lesser degree—after all, I would be held responsible for the act if anyone found out who had done it, not they. But they did as I commanded. We worked until the darkest part of the early hours, and retired to our beds before dawn. I couldn't sleep, though. I lay awake, heart pounding, waiting for someone to discover the deed and demand my blood in payment. Sure enough, by morning, the men of Israel had seen, had inquired, and had determined that I was responsible. “Bring out your son, that he may die!” I heard angry voices demand of my father Joash. “For he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it!” Many clamors of agreement echoed the sentiment. I was seized with fear, and hid in the interior of the cave, imagining what it might be like to die by stoning. Somewhere in the back of my mind, as I cowered, the angel’s words came back to me. Mighty man of valor, indeed. “Will you contend for Baal?” my father’s surprising answer echoed back to me. “Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” I was stunned. Then, I felt a rush of gratitude toward my father. I had half expected him to hand me over to the mob, rather than defend me. After all, he too had worshipped Baal! Yet here he was, threatening those who came against me with death! Grumbles of the men reached my ears, and I heard the term “Jerubbaal” used to refer to myself, as in “let Baal contend against him.” But they said this as they left our household, obeying the demand of my father. When they had gone, I emerged from the depths of the cave, afraid to meet my father’s eyes and see his disapproval. But he surprised me yet again. He nodded when he saw me, a look of respect on his face. “You did what I should have done long ago, son,” he said. “It took great courage, and reminded us all of Whom we truly serve. I am proud of you.” I blinked, unable to reply due to the lump in my throat. Instead I nodded back, and my father clapped me on the shoulder. I pondered his words, replaying them over and over again in my mind, along with the angel’s greeting. The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor! What was true? Who was I: Gideon who hid in a cave and in a winepress, Gideon who obeyed the word of the Lord only by night and in cover of darkness, and then quailed in fear of discovery? Or Gideon, mighty man of valor, pride of his father? Who did I want to be? In the following days, the Midianites and the Amalekites joined forces and crossed the Jordan, camping on our land in the Valley of Jezreel. Already a change had begun in me after the incident with the altar and the words from my father. Until then, fear had prevailed. Now, a righteous anger from the Lord took its place, consuming all fear, and all at once, I grew bold. What would a mighty man of valor do? I thought. The Lord had told me to go up against the Midianites, had he not? I needed an army for this, did I not? So I sounded my trumpet, and sent out messengers to the nearby tribes to join me in fighting against our enemies. Nevermind that these were the very men who sought to kill me for dismantling their altar not long ago. They would come, because the Lord willed it. Alas. Once the messengers had been sent, the boldness of the Lord left me, and my old friend Fear returned. I replayed my encounter with the angel who had burned up my offering with fire and vanished before my eyes. I rehearsed his words to me, trying to beat back the fear and recapture the boldness that I had felt just hours before. It was no use. The fear was winning. I felt a little sick to my stomach that night, as I thought of the sea of the Midianite and Amalekite armies. No matter how many of the Israelites responded to my call—thousands, perhaps—we would still be hideously outnumbered. And I had never even seen battle before. What did I know of commanding an army, or the strategy of war? Images of my own slow death played on repeat in my mind, gored by a Midianite sword… I just wanted to be sure the Lord hadn’t changed His mind about me, or that I hadn’t somehow misunderstood. “O Lord,” I murmured, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” When I arose the next morning, the fleece was not just damp; it was so wet, I wrung out enough dew to fill a bowl with water. The surrounding ground was dry. But, what if I hadn’t made my test hard enough? Perhaps the dew fell in the night, collected in the fleece and was trapped in its fibers, but there was enough time for it to evaporate from the rest of the ground! I should have done it the other way around, I thought; this sign could have just been coincidence. I thought about this all day, as the men of Israel began to arrive in companies and camped all around, awaiting my orders. I now had two signs, I reminded myself: the angel, and the fleece filled with dew. But what if the angel had been… something else? I had no idea what else, since I’d never seen any creature conjure fire or vanish like that before, but he’d sure looked like an ordinary man. Perhaps my eyes had played tricks on me, or perhaps he was a magician, like those in the household of Pharaoh in the days of Moses. As for the fleece: I’d really almost explained that away. I felt convinced now that the same would happen every night, if I laid out the same fleece, because that was just the way of things. So I prayed that night, as the armies assembled around me, “O Lord, let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” When I awoke the next morning, I was almost afraid to set my feet upon the fleece. If it were damp, what would I tell all the assembled men, after my bold proclamations? And I was sure it would be damp… But no. It was bone dry, while the surrounding ground was slick with moisture. I closed my eyes in a prayer of thanks. I had not assembled my armies in vain. The Lord was with me. The Lord would deliver us by my hand. I was a mighty man of valor. I chanted these words in my mind, that I might come to believe them. Mighty man of valor. Mighty man of valor. That morning, I assembled all those with me, 33,000 men in all, and we marched to camp beside the spring called Harod. The camp of the Midianites was north of us, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. When we arrived, I sought the Lord for battle strategy. I wished I hadn’t. “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Can I be one of those? I thought but did not say, though of course the Lord knew I was thinking it. But, I was on the hook now. The Lord had given me all my requested signs; how could I not obey? So I made the announcement to the men of Israel, and 22,000 of my troops responded and went home, much to my dismay. I had only 10,000 men left. The Lord spoke to me again. “The people are still too many.” Are you kidding me? I thought. I was already in a panic over ten thousand, versus an army without number. The Lord went on, “Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” I did as the Lord commanded, taking my remaining meager ten thousand men down to the spring. Each of them naturally approached the water for a drink. The Lord spoke to me and said, “Everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, everyone who kneels down to drink.” I thought I knew where this was going, and I didn’t like it one bit. But I did as the Lord commanded. Of course, the vast majority knelt down to drink and cupped the water in their hands, or else placed their faces directly in the water. Lapping was highly inefficient, so of the ten thousand, only three hundred men chose it. I was surprised it was even that many. I knew what the Lord would tell me even before the word came. “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” My voice was hoarse, and it might have squeaked once or twice when I made this announcement to the men. I wondered what the result might be if I asked those remaining 300 now which of them was afraid. The Lord spoke to me again as night fell, with the numberless camp of Midian below us in the valley. “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” I almost laughed at the irony.If I’m afraid to go with my meager army, go by myself instead, into the enemy camps. Obviously. But, one thing I was good at, after seven years of occupation: I knew how to hide. I’d been doing it for most of my adult life. What I did not know, and didn’t realize I didn’t know until I was already in the valley, was that I had no idea where I was going. There were hundreds of thousands of Midianites and Amalekites. Upon whom, exactly, was I supposed to eavesdrop? I did not have to wonder long. On the periphery of the enemy camp, hidden in shadow, the first two men I came upon talked by a fire. One of them related a dream from the night before to his comrade. “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat. It was a very odd dream, to be sure, and it felt different than most usual dreams, is if it were both prophetic and symbolic in some way. What do you suppose it could mean?” The comrade shook his head and replied with trepidation, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp!” I almost laughed aloud at the ridiculousness of this conversation. The Lord had given a dream to my enemy, and led me straight where I needed to go in order to hear both dream and interpretation from men who should not even know my name, let alone be inclined to predict their own defeat at my hands! How many signs did I need? I had the angel; I had the fleece, twice; and now, this. At long last, I felt what the angel had first pronounced me to be: a mighty man of valor. Purah and I snuck back up to the Israelite camps. When we arrived, I announced to the men, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand!” The battle strategy was suddenly obvious to me, as well. How else could three hundred men come against a vast and numberless army, but by trickery and deception? I divided the three hundred men in three groups of about one hundred each, distributing trumpets, jars, and torches among them. “Look at me, and do likewise,” I commanded. “When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, “For the Lord and for Gideon!” I and my company of a hundred men gave enough time for the other two companies to get in place around the opposite sides of the Midianite camp. About the middle watch of the night, my company approached the edge of camp. Then I raised the trumpet to my lips, closed my eyes in a silent prayer to the Lord, and blew. All around me there was a sudden cacophony of trumpets, followed by the shattering of jars, the blaze of torches, and the shouts of a hundred voices, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” Surrounding the Midianite army, the other two companies did the same. The effect in the blackness, I had to admit, was impressive: the noise and the torches made our meager three hundred men seem like a vast army. The effect was immediate. The Midianites cried out, roused from sleep and caught unawares. Some of them ran. Many of them grabbed their swords, supposing us to be inside their camp, and began to cut one another down. Those who escaped the swords of their fellows fled until morning and long into the day, to Beth-shittah and even as far as the border of Abel-meholah. As the Midianites fled, men who had abandoned my army at the direction of the Lord came out from their homes and pursued them with us, from the tribes of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh. I sent messengers to Ephraim as well, so that they too might help us force the Midianites and Amalekites even as far as the Jordan River. And so the word of the Lord came true, just as it did in the stories of old: three hundred men routed an army without number, fighting not with swords, but with trumpets, jars, and torches. My only accomplishment in the matter was that I finally believed the Lord, and did as He commanded. I promised myself that if ever I had the chance, I would believe Him much more readily the next time. Before, I had only the stories of my ancestors. Now, I had my own victories as well, which I determined to pass down to my children, and to my children’s children, that they might know and call upon the name of the Lord. He is Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts, who fights or me. He is El Shaddai, who destroys my enemies. He is Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord my victory and deliverance. And He is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post by Dr Mariah Mosley: Germ vs Terrain Theory.

The link for Let's Get Checked for thyroid testing is https://trylgc.com/CNHthyroid

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

When David was anointed king, he was between 14 and 17 according to scholars. By this time, he’s thirty years old, and he’s been on the run in Israel with his 600 Mighty Men that whole time. At last, in Chapter 27, David says he will “one day die at Saul’s hand.” That’s definitely not what God said: God said he would be king. But after 13-16 years of running, I can certainly understand that his hope deferred made his heart sick (Proverbs 13:12). He takes his Mighty Men and leaves Israel altogether, to go and dwell in the land of the Philistines. It’s not clear, but I suspect this wasn’t God’s will for him, based on what happens next.

David doesn’t go to just in any Philistine territory, either: he’s in Gath, Goliath’s hometown! King Achish of Gath recognizes him as the hero of whom the Israelites sang, “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens thousands.” Yet for some reason, Achish trusts David implicitly, giving him and his Mighty Men their own city of Ziklag. From there, David takes his men on raids against the Amalekites and other surrounding enemies of Israel, carrying out God’s instruction to take the territory, as King Saul should have been doing. Yet whenever Achish asks him where he’s been, David tells him he was raiding the Negeb, part of Israel. So he lies, basically. This further convinces Achish that David is his man: the Israelites will never take him back now!

Two things happen as a result of this: first, David makes a lot of enemies among the surrounding nations, who want retribution for his raids and plunder against them. They also know the location of his home base of Ziklag. The second is that, when the Philistines march into battle against Israel, Achish wants David by his side. According to the text, David wants to go, too. Scripture almost never records a person’s motives or thoughts, though; only their actions and words. Knowing what we know of David, it seems extremely unlikely that he meant what he said. The other Philistine leaders refused to let David go into battle with them, though, lest he turn on them from within their own ranks. I’m sure they were right, and David would have done just that. There’s no way the anointed king would have slaughtered his own people!

So David and his men are sent back to Ziklag, which they had left unprotected, expecting to go to war. When they arrive, they find it in flames. The Amalekites took their opportunity for revenge, and ravaged the city.

Imagine how David and his men felt as they approached the city from a distance, and saw the smoke trailing up into the sky. When they carried out raids against their enemies, they left no survivors. Surely the men would have therefore assumed their families had all been slaughtered! No wonder the Mighty Men, who had been following David for over a decade and had little to show for it, turned on him at last. They spoke of stoning David, blaming him for their devastating loss—and maybe it was his fault! After all, were they supposed to be living among the Philistines? Were they supposed to have gone off to war with Achish, considering David earned their place there through deceit? I’m sure all these thoughts went through David’s head too. Had he irrevocably stepped outside the will of the Lord? Was there no going back?

David’s response to this crisis is truly incredible. He’s been on the run for 13-16 years, clinging to a promise that seems utterly impossible. He made some poor choices, with seemingly devastating consequences. Now, he’s lost everything, and the only men loyal to him have turned against him. But instead of despairing, he “encourages himself in the Lord.” There was no one else to encourage him; they all wanted to kill hiM! He had to do it himself. To dramatize this part, I put David’s own Psalm 61 in his mouth, since that apparently was written about Ziklag, and he may well have penned it during those moments.

Next, he calls for the ephod: a garment worn by the priest, also used to receive direction from the Lord. He then asked the Lord if he should take his men and pursue the Amalekites. The ephod could only give him a yes/no answer, and yet the scripture says that God told him, “pursue; you will recover all.” This must have been a word spoken directly to David’s spirit. I’d imagine it also occurred to David as he spoke to the Lord that there were no bodies at Ziklag, so they must have taken their families captive, rather than slaughtered them! Why? Presumably this was God’s favor and protection, since David and his men showed no such mercy to their enemies.

David manages to convince four hundred of his six hundred men, so lately intent upon stoning him, to accompany him in his raid. Two hundred were too exhausted to go on. David didn’t know where the Amalekites had gone, but God provided direction in the form of one of their abandoned Egyptian slaves. They found him wandering in the desert, where he likely would have died of starvation if not for David and his men’s kindness. In return, the man agrees to lead them to the Amalekites’ camp. The men catch them unawares, reveling and rejoicing in their spoils. David and his four hundred men beat them for twenty-four hours straight until four hundred of the Amalekites escape and flee—the same number of men that David started with!This alone tells us David’s men were vastly outnumbered, yet it doesn't matter. God is with them. And just as God promised, they recovered all: wives, children, livestock, wealth. They even gathered some of the spoils that the Amalekites had taken from other raids, and David sent some of it to Israelite leaders as a gift, to reestablish the contacts he had lost during his time living with the Philistines.

Meanwhile, during the battle against the Philistines, both King Saul and his son Jonathan are killed. David doesn’t learn this until three days afterwards, when a messenger comes to tell him—carrying Saul’s crown.

The moment has come at long, long last. David is crowned king first of Judah (Saul’s other son Ishbosheth initially succeeds Saul in Israel). Then a few years later, David reunites the entire kingdom. In a period of just a few days, he goes from losing everything, on the verge of losing his life to the men sworn to protect and follow him, to being crowned king.

God can take an utterly impossible situation and turn it around in a moment.

This is the text of my retelling:

My soul weariness at times threatened to turn my heart bitter. But that, I could not allow. It had been sixteen years since the day Samuel the prophet had anointed me king. I was a fourteen-year old dreamer then. Now at thirty, I felt as disillusioned as a man twice my age. I could scarcely remember the boy I once was. For most of those years, I had been on the run from King Saul, who ironically was so dear to me that I could not raise my hand against him. For one thing, he still held the position of the Lord’s anointed until the Lord saw fit to remove him, and that alone would have been enough to stay my hand. For another, he had been my father-in-law. Well did I recall the days when I had dreamt of his daughter Michal as the beautiful princess I had never yet seen. As a reward for defeating Goliath, she had become my bride. What a triumph my wedding day had been! One of the pinnacles of my young life, a symbol to me of all that the Lord had promised. It had been years since I had even seen Michal. By now, I was sure she had been given away to another man. Saul was also dear to me for the sake of his son, Jonathan. I loved Jonathan far more than any of my brothers by blood. Whatever souls are made of, his and mine were the same. I also owed him my life. Though Jonathan was next in line for the throne, he knew his father sought to kill me, and aided in my escape. He knew of the Lord’s calling on my life, and told me that he planned to give me his throne. He would be content to be second in command, he said! What a friend. Yet it had been many years since I had seen Jonathan, either. I wondered if we would even still recognize one another. It wasn’t as if the Lord had completely abandoned me in all these years of running and hiding. He had given me my Mighty Men—my own personal army, six hundred in all. True, they were made up of the misfits and former criminals of Israel, the men who were poorly esteemed and therefore had no love for King Saul. They had followed me wherever I went all these years, and so far had nothing to show for their pains. Finally in exhaustion and discouragement, I’d just gotten tired of never having a place to lay my head. If I stayed in one place in Israel, I feared that Saul would at last find and kill me. That wasn’t what Samuel had prophesied, but what if there were different kinds of prophesies—those that would be, and those that may be? What if my choices made a difference in whether or not the word came to pass? I could not hope to ask Samuel about this, as word had reached me that he had died. And the truth was, I’d reached the end of my endurance, emotionally. I could not flee anymore within the borders of Israel. So, about a year and four months ago, I’d crossed Israel’s borders into Philistine country, and presented myself before Achish, king of Gath. The irony did not escape me: this was Goliath’s home country, the great warrior I had killed in my youth. King Achish was enormous, like all of the Philistines, but not as large as their champion had been. I shall never forget the confusion on Achish’s face when I presented myself to him, and he did the math, sizing me up. “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his tens thousands,” Achish had murmured to himself. This was the song the young women of Israel had sung in praise of me all those years ago: one of the inciting causes of Saul’s jealousy of me. The song had been sung far and wide, and apparently had even reached Gath. I bowed my head in acknowledgement. “Yes my lord, that was me.” “But you are so small!” he exclaimed, and I had the impression he had not meant to say it aloud. I laughed, and then he laughed. Suddenly we were friends. “You would be surprised what this ‘small' man can do with a sword, my lord. Not to mention a sling. You know that story, I trust.” “I see now why you needed the sling! You would not have been able to reach Goliath with a sword!” It was an exaggeration, but I let the king enjoy his mirth at my expense. I needed him in a good mood. When he had finished, I said, “Be that as it may, you have heard the stories. I offer my sword to my lord to fight against his enemies, both mine and those of my six hundred fighting men with me.” Achish shook his head, confused, but remarkably unsuspicious. “Why should Israel’s great hero offer his sword to me?” I was prepared for this question. I had expected it, and I had the best possible answer. I sighed. “Because King Saul has been trying to kill me for the last fifteen years, and I am tired of fleeing from him in Israel. I do not think he will continue to seek me here, in the land of his enemies.” “Kill you! One of his best warriors?” Achish exclaimed. “Why should he do such a foolish thing?” “Jealousy makes a man do strange things, my lord.” “Ah,” Achish’s expression cleared with understanding. “The song.” I let him think that was all. I did not tell him I had been anointed king in his stead all those years ago. That was a secret that would not serve me well in the country of Israel’s enemies. Achish not only allowed me to remain within the Philistine borders, but gave to me and to my men the country town called Ziklag. It was the first home base I and my men had known in over a decade. From there, we went out on raids against Israel’s enemies in neighboring territories, doing what the Lord had told King Saul to do: taking the land back from the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. We brought the spoils back with us to Ziklag. Whenever Achish asked what we had been doing, I would always tell him we had raided the Negeb. Why this convinced the king of my loyalty to him, why he never asked any questions, I never knew. Perhaps the Lord gave me favor in his eyes. Unfortunately, Achish’s trust in me ran so deep that he called upon me and my men to fight with him against Israel. I had suspected that day might come eventually, but it meant the end of our respite. Achish, who had accidentally become a friend of sorts, would know my true loyalties when I and my men began to fight against him for Israel, from among his own ranks. Where would we go then? Having carried out raids against enemies in surrounding nations, we could hardly seek refuge there. Achish would become my enemy. Saul was still trying to kill me, so returning to Israel was less than ideal. But what choice did I have? My men assembled with the Philistine army at Aphek at dusk, to march upon the Israelite army in Jezreel come daybreak. My heart ached with homesickness as we approached. I wondered if any of the soldiers I had known in my youth would be among them. I wondered if Jonathan would be there. Of course he would; he was a man of valor, and would never be content to sit home while the armies of Israel went to war. He would be on the front lines. I would fight by his side, if I could. I only hoped I would not be called upon to kill my friend Achish. The Philistine commanders stared at my men and me with narrowed eyes. I saw them approach Achish, and I knew what they were saying. “What are these Hebrews doing here?” Achish would defend me, as I knew from his posture that he was doing even as I watched from a distance. “I have found no fault in him to this day!” he would be saying. The commanders’ response looked angry. “He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us!” This I imagined, for this was the truth. Shortly, Achish withdrew from his commanders and approached me, his posture telling me what he had to say before I heard his words. “As the Lord lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” A great weight lifted from my heart, though it mingled with sadness that my vision of fighting for Israel again, side by side with Jonathan, would not come true. Channeling these mixed emotions, I replied, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” Achish replied to me, “I know that you are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God. Nevertheless, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ Now then rise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who came with you, and start early in the morning, and depart as soon as you have light.” I told my men the will of the king, to the general relief of all. They did not mind betraying Achish in battle, but they had not cared for the prospect of losing Ziklag. Nor did I. I roused the men and we set off back to Ziklag again at first light, before the battle between Israel and the Philistines began. My heart broke as we left, and I wrestled with sadness and despair and anger on the three days’ journey from Jezreel back to Ziklag. When would I be allowed to return to my homeland, the nation I loved more than my own life’s blood, the nation I had been anointed to rule? I was now thirty years old, and I had been anointed at fourteen! How much longer? Had I somehow already missed my opportunity? When I came to the land of the Philistines, even though I had remained loyal to Israel throughout, had I stepped irrevocably outside the will of the Lord? Would He not tell me? Would He say nothing? I was still in this dark mood when we came to Ziklag, longing to pour out my heart to Abigail, my wise and clever wife who always seemed to know what to say and do. But as soon as the city came into view, I stopped abruptly. So did all six hundred of my men. The smoke of the city’s remains trailed up to the sky. I fell to my knees and let out a wail of grief. All around me, my men did the same, shouting and weeping. Some ran on ahead to inspect the decimated city close up, but we found exactly what we knew we’d find: there was nothing, and no one left. “You did this,” snarled one of my men at last, extending a shaking finger at me, cold fury in his eyes. Then he raised his voice to his fellows. “This is David’s doing! He led the raids against the Amalekites, and this is their retribution! He left our city and our wives and our children defenseless while we went off to fight a duplicitous war! This is what we get in return for years of loyalty to him! Let’s kill him! Stone him, it’s no more than he deserves!” I recoiled in shock, but could not muster the strength to reply. I hid my face, despair threatening to crush me from the inside. The mighty man’s declaration met with grumbles of agreement, but without any real animosity behind them. They did not hate me, I knew; not truly. They were bitter in soul at the loss of their wives and their children, and wanted someone to blame. No doubt, I was to blame: I was the one who made all the decisions that had led us to this place. Perhaps I did deserve to die. Perhaps it would be better if I died; then all my struggles in this miserable world would be over. No. The word rose up on the inside of me unbidden, like a beacon of hope. It did not come from me, but it stopped my destructive thoughts in their downward spiral. No. The Lord was good. His promises still stood, no matter how impossible things looked. I would encourage myself in the Lord; I would not allow myself to despair. “Hear my cry, O God,” I whispered, “listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him! So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day.” I felt steadier when I had finished praying. Then, suddenly, it occurred to me how strange it was that there were no bodies. That meant the Amalekites had taken our wives and children alive. Why had they done so? In our raids against our enemies, we had left no survivors. All was not lost; those we loved yet lived, though among our enemies, and surely our livestock and wealth too had been plundered, but not destroyed! I knew what I had to do next. I called to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, and said, “Bring me the ephod.” He brought me the garment worn by the priest, used in both worship and in seeking the will of the Lord. I sought direction now. Beneath the breastplate, I removed Urim and Thummim, flat stones with markings upon them. Then I prayed to the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” The stones themselves were capable of only yes or no answers. They now said yes, but I heard in my spirit, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” I closed my eyes. Relief flooded me, as if the raid were already complete. This mourning would not last. It would be turned to joy! I stood and announced to my men, “The Lord has told me to pursue the Amalekites. We shall overtake them and rescue our families!” I announced. “Come, we have no time to lose!” The reception of this announcement was mixed. Some received it with immediate relief, as I had. Some cursed me for my optimism. Some merely watched me with hopelessness and exhaustion. But at last I persuaded all six hundred of them to arm themselves once again, and follow me. It became apparent, though, that two hundred of my company were too exhausted to participate in the raid, heartsick as well as weary. I know from too much experience that the former can be far worse than the latter. A crushed spirit who can bear? Quite frankly, I did not want their negativity in our company anyway, as the mood was infectious. I was more than happy to leave them behind at the brook Besor. The four hundred remaining men and I rode on in the general direction of where the raiding band of Amalekites was likely to be. Truth be told, I did not know exactly where I was going, and hoped the Lord would give me a sign. It came, in a surprising form: a dark-skinned, weak, and half starved man, wandering alone in open country. He was some distance away from us, but I called my men to halt, and to bring him to me. I had compassion on him, and before we spoke, I ordered him to be given bread and water from our stores. When he ate this hungrily, I encouraged the men to find him something more: a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins. When he had eaten and was satisfied, his eyes brightened and his whole countenance changed. At last, I asked him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” The man answered, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” There was a murmuring ripple through my men at this information. My heart leapt within me with fierce joy: this mistreated man was the Lord’s provision for us! “Will you take me down to this band?” I asked him. A brief look of trepidation flitted across the man’s features, but then it cleared. Had we not already proven ourselves kinder than the master he left? “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.” “Do this for us, and after that your life shall be your own,” I swore. “We shall even send you on your way with a portion of the spoils.” So the servant led us where we needed to go, right to the heart of the Amalekite camp. We found them unawares, eating and drinking and dancing in celebration of their great spoils from the Philistines and from Judah. No doubt they expected no one to pursue them, as the battle between the Philistines and Israel still raged on. Had we not been sent away by Achish, we too would still have been at war. Alas for them! My men, revived and incensed at the sight, attacked and struck down the Amalekites from twilight that day until the evening of the next. Of the entire company of them, only four hundred escaped on mounted camels—the same number of my entire avenging army. When the fighting was done, I sought among the women and children we had rescued for my two wives, Abigail and Ahinoam. All around us, my exhausted and filthy men reunited with their families with shouts and tears. Best of all, not a single thing was missing that the Amalekites had taken, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. We recovered all. We even took flocks and herds that had not belonged to us, driving them before us on our return journey to the brook Besor where we left the other two hundred men. Some of the four hundred who had come with me grumbled and begrudged their brothers their portion of the spoils, but I rebuked them for this. “The Lord has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” I was in a generous mood, and besides, I did not wish to alienate one third of my men, nor to encourage favoritism. We were a family, and we would act like one. When we returned to our burned and ruined city, I sent portions of the spoil to the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord.” It was a way for me to reestablish contact with the men of my country, from whom I had been estranged during the long years of my flight. Some of the spoil had originally been theirs, too, according to the Egyptian servant, whom we had also sent away a wealthy man. In the following two days, the men set about rebuilding Ziklag, though I did not join them. I knew in my heart that I would not be here long enough, though I did not know why. On the third day after our return, I had my answer. I saw a messenger running toward me, his clothes torn and dirty. I froze, as if my heart had turned to stone. He carried with him a crown and an armlet. He carried a crown.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, The Effects of CBD.

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

Today's podcast is a meditation on and retelling of 1 Kings 19.

This is the test for the retelling:

I wasn’t even winded, despite running all the way from Mount Carmel to the city of Jezreel. I was, however, soaked to the bone. This was just as well, as it washed away all the blood from my skin and clothes. I didn’t think anything would ever fully remove the stains, though. It still stormed when I took shelter from the driving rain against the wall of the fortress shielded from the direction of the wind. I shook from adrenaline, too. It had been quite a day. Three and a half years ago, I’d prophesied a draught over Israel for their disobedience to the Lord, which would last until I said it was over. I’d spent most of those three years in hiding, since I knew that King Ahab and Queen Jezebel would love to kill me as the source of their troubles—though at the same time, I knew they wouldn’t dare, since if they killed me then theoretically the draught might last forever. But today, I’d gathered together eight hundred and fifty false prophets on top of Mount Carmel, not to mention all the people of Israel as witnesses. I’d proven that the God of Israel was the one true God. Well, He proved it, with fire from heaven; I just cooperated, I guess. The Israelites were convinced. They cried out that He was the One True God—took them long enough to figure that out—and together they apprehended the false prophets. Then I slaughtered every last one of them with the sword in the Kishon Valley. Eight hundred and fifty men. I’d never killed anyone in my life before—but that was the penalty for being a false prophet in Israel, according to Deuteronomy. No one else was going to carry it out; Ahab was evil, and I was the only prophet of the Lord left. So it was all up to me. I wondered if I would ever purge those gory images from my imagination. That wasn’t even the end of the day. Ahab had stood as a witness to all of this, and then I’d prophesied the end of the draught. I wouldn’t have done this on my own, since I knew the draught was the only reason Ahab hadn’t attempted to kill me yet. But the Lord told me the draught needed to end, yet He was cooperating with my original word to Ahab that it would end only at my word. So, I did as I was told. Then I prayed seven times before I saw the manifestation of clouds in the heavens. Only then did I tell Ahab he’d better beat it to Jezreel lest the rain stop him—and I ran 17 miles ahead of his chariot, all the way here. I’d still been buzzing with the adrenaline of slaughtering a virtual army of false prophets, I supposed, and needed a way to burn it off. Neither of us arrived ahead of the rain, but I did get here before he did. But, there he is now. I looked up to see the drawbridge lower, admitting the king’s chariot to the interior of the fortress. The charioteer saw me and fixed me with a glare before they vanished from view. He would tell his master that he had seen me, surely. Why had I come to Jezreel exactly? This suddenly seemed like a terrible idea. The fortress was elevated over the valley so that the water ran down in rivulets, but I saw the water accumulating in every reservoir down below, soaking into the parched earth. A figure approached on the same road from which Ahab had just come, riding on the back of a donkey: my servant, whom I had left behind on Carmel. He had seen the direction in which I’d gone and rode after me. I raised my hand to wave at him, but was distracted by the approach of a third person. He was a servant of the king, dressed in the livery of the fortress. He approached me directly, knowing exactly where to find me from the charioteer, no doubt. He gave me a slight incline of his head, which was more acknowledgement than bow, and said, “From my Lady the Queen.” Then he handed me a very small scroll, and retreated back to the fortress again. I protected the scroll with one hand from the driving rain, and unrolled it with the other to read. It said, “Ahab has informed me of your violence against my prophets. So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” The first thought I had upon reading this was not in words; it was the image of blood to my ankles from earlier that day, surrounded by slashed corpses. In my mind’s eye, the face of one of the corpses was mine. The draught is over, I thought, and my heart seized in fear. There’s nothing to stop her now! I don’t know why at the time, it didn’t occur to me that if she could have killed me, she would have sent a soldier with a sword, rather than a servant with a note. All of Israel had seen my triumph on Mount Carmel and were behind me now, at least for the time being—crowds, I knew, were fickle. Still, Jezebel couldn’t balk public opinion so soon afterwards and have me murdered without suffering for it herself. But I was not thinking clearly; all I could see was the vivid image of my bloody corpse. So I ran. I ran right past my servant, close enough to hear him say, “Aw, really? I just got here!” but too fast for him to catch up. I ran more than five times as far as I’d done earlier that day, because I just didn’t feel like I could get far enough away from Jezebel and her threat—or perhaps more accurately, from the picture in my mind. It was with me all the time. It was the middle of the night when I arrived in Beersheba. The clop-clop of hooves behind me from my servant’s much-abused donkey presently approached when I stopped running. “Let’s find a place here for the night,” my servant said, sounding exhausted. And he’s just been riding the whole way, I thought. “Any of the men of Israel will be honored to offer hospitality to the great prophet Elijah!” But I envisioned my host sending a message to Jezebel as I slept. “The one you seek is here.” “No!” I said at once. “No, you stay here. I will go on.” “Master, you’ve run almost through the night! Will you run yet more?” I didn’t even bother to reply, so anxious was I to be gone from here. Gone from any prying eyes of the city, sheltered in the wilderness where no one would know to find me. I ran until I’d left the city of Beersheba. By then, my fatigue superseded my anxiety. I slowed to a walk, and went on like this until the sun rose, peaked, and set again. I hadn’t slept in two days, and I hadn’t seen another soul since Beersheba. At last, I sat down under a broom tree. “It is enough,” I whispered to the Lord. “Now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” I was just done. I didn’t want to do this anymore. I didn’t want to stand boldly alone before a murderous and adulterous generation, proclaiming and enforcing the word of the Lord. My fathers before me had done exactly that—and been killed for their pains. If they had been so treated, why would I be any different? Of course I was no better than they were. Why should the Lord protect me if he did not protect them? If I wielded the power, and could cow my enemies into submission, then sure—but the power was never mine to begin with. It was His, to use as He saw fit. Or not. I lay down beneath the tree, and closed my eyes, briefly aware that after two days of running in terror, I was famished. But I was equally exhausted. I slipped into unconsciousness. A gentle hand shook my shoulder when the moon was high in the sky. I blinked up into a radiantly glowing face. “Arise and eat,” the angel said, gesturing just above my head. I followed his gesture, and saw a small arrangement of hot stones with a cake sizzling on top, and a jar of water beside them. My stomach rumbled at the sight of them. I sat up, ate and drank, and felt strangely satisfied for such a small meal. Then I lay down again, slipping back into sleep. When dawn broke, I was already almost conscious when I felt the hand on my shoulder again. I looked up again into the bright face of the angel, who gestured to the same spot and the same meal. “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you,” he said again. I did as he bid me, and then rose to my feet again. They throbbed in protest of their recent abuse, but I did feel new strength from the heavenly meal. Also, I had slept myself into some measure of purpose: I now knew where I was going, not just what I was running from. I traveled on for the next forty days, finding shelter each night where I could. I did not see the angel again, but I did not need to. Somehow those two cakes and jugs of water sustained me until I arrived at my destination: Mount Sinai, also called Mount Horeb. The Mount of God. The place where Moses had received the Ten Commandments. The place where He had beheld the face of the Lord. I can’t necessarily explain why I needed to be there, in that place. The Lord had spoken to me plenty of times before, and I did not need to be in any special location to hear Him. But I hadn’t heard from Him at all since Mount Carmel--if one counted fire from heaven at my request as a conversation. He’d surely sent the angel, but the angel had said nothing other than “arise and eat.” I needed Him to talk to me. I didn’t even care what He said, as long as it wasn’t yet another task to complete that would put my life on the line before my enemies. Though knowing Him, it might be. Still, I needed to be near Him. When I at last arrived at Mount Sinai, it was nighttime. I took refuge in a cave a little way up the mountain, and lay down for the night. But before I could drift off to sleep, at last I heard the word of the Lord again. “What are you doing here, Elijah?” A lump sprang to my throat. I didn’t think or censor my words; I just spewed forth what I felt. “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away!” I was breathing hard when I finished this outburst. The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” So I did. I arose and wrapped my cloak around my shoulders against the chill of the night, venturing out of the cave and on to the face of the mountain. Once I was no longer sheltered by the cave, a violent wind whipped my cloak almost out of my hands. On instinct, I leaned toward the mountain to grasp on to the boulders as I could, but the wind was so strong that even chunks of the boulders dislodged and flew out into the whirling night. Terrified, I dropped to a crouch, raising my arms over my head to protect it from falling boulders. Abruptly the wind stopped. But then the ground beneath me began to tremble and crack. I thought the mountain would shake me right off its face, and send me hurtling to my death down below—or else the earth might split and swallow me whole. Then the earthquake stopped, as lightning fell from the sky. At once, it seemed as if the vegetation on the entire mountain was ablaze—all around me, right next to me. In a second I would be consumed. I got to my feet and ran back to the cave. There, at least, there was nothing to burn. The fire vanished as quickly as it had come. All was still. I trembled from head to foot, too terrified to think, let alone move. It was as if the Lord used demonstrations of His power to shake me out of my tantrum, to get my attention. Well. He had it. But then I heard the sound of a low, gentle whisper. It was like the sound of a parent calming a fussy child. My galloping heartbeat slowed, and I felt compelled to venture out of the cave. I wanted to see the Lord face to face, so very much—but I feared that for a sinful man to behold such holiness would mean instant death. So I wrapped my cloak around my head, and groped my way back to the entrance to the cave. The voice that came next was right in front of me, and crystal clear despite the folds of fabric over my ears. “What are you doing here, Elijah?” It was the same question as before, so the same answer overflowed from my bitter, exhausted heart. It should have occurred to me that the Lord asked me the same question because I gave the wrong answer the first time, but alas, it did not. My words came muffled through the folds of my cloak. “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” The Lord did not reply to my complaint, at least not at first. What He said was, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” The first two commands, I must admit, washed over me and made very little impression. They involved yet more danger, one in the land of Israel’s enemies, and the other back in Israel, which was also currently a land of my personal enemies (or at least they were until Carmel, and likely would be again by the time I returned). But I perked up when the Lord commanded me to anoint my replacement. My replacement! He was letting me off the hook! Finally! A wave of relief and gratitude passed over me. And then—seven thousand? Vaguely I registered surprise at the number. I had known, intellectually, that my complaint that I was the only prophet of the Lord left was false, as Obadiah had told me he had hidden a hundred others in caves and fed them. I felt justified in my complaint nevertheless, because though those hundred might technically exist, they were in hiding. They were not out boldly proclaiming the word of the Lord as I was, and risking the sword, as I was. Still, I had thought at best, there were only those hundred others. But seven thousand? Wow. Not that it mattered. Only one thing mattered to me right now: I was free! I knew the moment the Lord departed from me, even though I could not see Him. I uncovered my face, walked back to the cave, and lay down, fast asleep within minutes. By the time I awoke, the sun was already high in the sky, indicating late morning. I set out on my way back, but I did not go to the wilderness of Damascus, as the Lord commanded. Nor did I anoint a new king in Ahab’s place in Israel. I went straight to where I knew I would find Elisha son of Shaphat. No need for me to anoint the two new kings; Elisha could do that, couldn’t he? Wasn’t that the whole point of a replacement? I found Elisha in his fields, plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. He stood by the twelfth, so engaged in his work that he did not see me approach. As I did so, I unfastened my cloak from around my neck, a symbol of the mantle of my position. When I passed by him, I cast my cloak upon him and kept right on walking, not even slowing down. He would have questions, probably, but I didn’t care. The Lord wanted me to anoint him; the Lord could tell him whatever else he needed to know. Elisha abandoned his oxen in the fields at once and ran after me, carrying my cloak with him. “Elijah!” he cried, knowing exactly who I was and what the cloak meant. “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you!” I glanced over my shoulder and shrugged. I’d slowed my pace, but even now I did not stop. “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” It didn’t matter to me whether Elisha accepted the job or not. I’d done what the Lord told me to do; now it was His problem. Still, it was a bit surprising that Elisha was so ready for this new calling. I’d expected a little more resistance than this, quite frankly. God had presumably been preparing him for his new role in advance. He probably has no idea what he's in for, either, I thought cynically. Elisha slaughtered the oxen he’d been using to plow when I came upon him, and threw a great feast for his servants and family: a celebration of his new calling, and a symbol of the end of his old life. He begged me to remain for the feast, and I did so—after all, the last meal I’d eaten was the cake and water given me by the angel more than forty days before. Beef might not have been the best way to break a forty-day fast, but I didn’t care. I, too, felt like celebrating. It was the best meal I ever had. It tasted like sweet, sweet freedom.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, Hydrogen Sulfide SIBO.

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

This week's podcast is a meditation on and a retelling of 1 Kings 18.

I read the text with some discussion first, and then read my retelling (below).

I was still in the home of the widow of Zarephath and her son, who now adored me and followed me around like a shadow, when the word of the Lord came to me again. “Go,” He said, “show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth.” It had been three and a half years since I had originally prophesied the draught to Ahab. The famine had been severe even when I came to the widow two and a half years ago. People were dying of starvation. Still, I wasn’t thrilled about returning to Ahab, for I knew that as soon as the draught ended, he would try to kill me. Probably he would have done so already, had he been able to find me. I said my goodbyes to the widow and her son, and the little boy clung to me despite my prickly animal hair garments. I’d been his father figure for the last two and a half years, and I would never see them again, more than likely. A lump rose to my throat as I hugged him goodbye. I was less emotional than I might have been, though, had I not been so distracted by the prospect of what awaited me. One hundred miles I traversed from Zarephath back to Israel. This trip was less bitter than my original journey had been, because I carried water with me from the widow’s well. I also must have followed a slightly different path, because after I had reentered Israel’s borders, I came upon a spring of water in a valley. The jar I had brought with me from Phoenecia was long since dry, and I gratefully refilled it. When I straightened again, I saw a man I recognized from Ahab’s court coming toward me. He seemed hesitant at first, and then ran and fell on his face before me. “Is that you, my lord Elijah?” I knew him as Obadiah, who was in charge of Ahab’s household. Yet I also knew that he feared the Lord. He must have kept that from the king and queen, or he would surely be dead now. “It is I,” I replied. “Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’" A shadow of terror passed over Obadiah’s face. “H-how have I sinned,” he replied, “that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent to seek you. And when they would say, ‘He is not here,’ he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you.” Huh, I thought. No wonder the Lord sent me all the way to Zarephath. Obadiah went on, "And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’ And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where. And so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water?” I started at this—I had not known. I was impressed, too: for Obadiah to do such a thing right under Ahab’s nose! Obadiah finished, "And now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here,’ and he will kill me!” I promised him, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” To emphasize my point, I sat down, indicating that I would wait right there. Obadiah grimaced. “As you say, my lord.” Obadiah must have believed me enough to tell Ahab where to find me, but not enough to return with him when he came. Presently, Ahab crested the hill alone before the valley where I sat. When he was still a long way off, he cried out to me, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” I balked a little. I knew he blamed me, but really! I called back, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals!” He approached me, and I stood up to look him in the eye. “Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” Ahab narrowed his eyes at me, understanding my implied challenge. Mount Carmel was where the altar of the Lord had been during the time of the Judges, before Jezebel’s prophets had thrown it down. He knew I meant for this to be a showdown. No doubt in his mind, it would end with my public execution. I suspected that was the reason for the malevolent glint in his eyes as he hissed, “Agreed. I shall assemble them all there at sunrise tomorrow. In the meantime,” he took a step closer, until we were nose to nose, “you will come with me. I’m not letting you out of my sight again.” I grinned back at him, lifting my chin a bit to show that he did not intimidate me in the least. “I am a man of my word, Ahab. I told you I would be there, and I will be there. But do not attempt to arrest me now. It’s just you and me here, and if it came to a struggle—we both know who would win.” Ahab blinked, gritted his teeth, and took a step back, fixing me with a gaze of purest hatred. My threat rang true: though Ahab and I were evenly matched in terms of size and strength, I had the Lord on my side, as the three and a half year draught clearly proved. The king was a coward at heart. I knew he would back down. “Sunrise," he snarled. “Sunrise,” I agreed. Then he was gone. I climbed to the summit of Mount Carmel the next morning when streaks of pink stretched across the morning sky, and found that I was almost the last to arrive. Hundreds, if not thousands of Israelites had camped out on Ahab’s orders--awaiting my bloodshed, probably. Obadiah was there among Ahab’s servants. He caught my eye and gave me the tiniest nod of encouragement. My servant was already on top of Carmel as well, waiting for me. Behind the prophets, I saw that some of Ahab’s servants had brought animals for sacrifice. Good. The dull roar of chatter died down as soon as I made my appearance. “How long will you go limping between two different opinions?” I cried out to the people. “If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” I stopped, waiting for a reply. They gave none, but hung on my every word. “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men,” I went on. I knew this wasn’t strictly true because of what Obadiah had told me, but it still was, for practical purposes. I was the only prophet no longer in hiding. “Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” I didn’t know whether or not the people would understand my reference. As it was written in the Chronicles, when Solomon built and consecrated the Temple, the Lord answered with fire from heaven, consuming the sacrifices. Whether they caught the reference or not, though, a murmuring ripple passed through the crowd. “That sounds fair,” I heard several of the braver voices say, and, “It is well spoken.” I turned to the prophets next, and cried out, still in my stage voice, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” One of Ahab’s servants came forward with the largest and finest bull they had brought, and the crowd of prophets swarmed around it. The bellows of the bull abruptly ceased, and many of the prophets took part in preparing its remains for the sacrifice. They laid it upon the wood on their altar, and formed a ring around it. The people hushed, and then the prophets raised their voices as one. “O Baal, answer us!” they cried out. “O Baal, burn up this offering we have prepared for you! O Baal, answer with fire!” The cacophony of supplications grew louder. They danced, they leapt, they raised their arms to heaven. But nothing happened. Hours passed. Their shouts grew hoarse. Their dancing turned to limping. The people grew restless. Many of them stopped watching altogether, unpacking the food they had brought with them and chatting amongst themselves. I smirked. “Cry aloud,” I taunted the false prophets, “for he is a god. Either he is musing, or perhaps he is relieving himself! Or he is on a journey. Or perhaps he is asleep, and must be awakened!” The prophets cried out all the more at this, unsheathing their swords and lances and drawing their own blood, as was their custom. When there was still no reply, they cut themselves all the more, until they were too weak to dance or shout, covered in their own blood. Enough of this, I thought, getting to my feet. I grew bored myself, and I’d made my point. It was clear nothing was going to happen, and most of the people had now finished their lunch. “Come near to me,” I called out to the people of Israel, who had scattered. “Gather around.” I waited until they had obeyed, though most of them still looked as if they didn’t expect much. With my servant’s help, I began to repair the twelve stones of the altar of the Lord from antiquity. A few of the men of Israel, when they saw what I was doing, reluctantly moved to help me. When we had finished, I dug a deep trench all around the altar. The men who had been helping me looked at me quizzically, but I did not bother to explain. Two of them took over. “Deeper,” I commanded when they looked to me for direction. I, meanwhile, assembled the wood, and slaughtered the bull given me for my sacrifice. “Is this deep enough?” one of the men digging the trench asked me. It was about enough for one seah of seed. I shook my head. “Double it,” I commanded. The three men exchanged a look, but did not argue and set again to work. Meanwhile, my servant and I cut the bull’s carcass in pieces, laying it upon the wood. When the men had finished digging, next I commanded them, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” I glanced at Ahab when I said this, whose expression deepened into a scowl. Water was a precious commodity these days. I didn’t care. The men did what I asked, filling jars down at the Kishon Brook at the base of the mountain and returning again to douse the offering. Then I commanded, “Do it a second time.” They hesitated slightly, glancing at each other and at Ahab, whose arms were crossed tightly across his chest with disapproval. But he did not contradict me, so they obeyed. “Do it a third time,” I told them when they’d finished. I had everyone’s attention now. With the third drenching, the people now understood the purpose of my trench: the water saturated the offering, the wood, the altar, and filled up the trench too. It was yet another taunt against the false prophets, without words. Doesn’t matter how hard you make this, it told them. The Lord can handle it. I glanced at Obadiah, whose lips twitched, trying not to smile at my audacity. My heart pounded in my chest with anticipation. I was not afraid, though; I knew full well that the Lord was about to do something spectacular. I raised my hands to the sky. “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,” I declared in a booming voice, “let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back!” The answering bolt of lightning seemed to rent the heavens in two. I was momentarily both blind and deaf with the sound and the flash of it. When the dust cleared, there was nothing left at all: the offering, wood, stones, water, and indeed a huge chunk of the ground beneath the altar had been vaporized, leaving a crater behind. There was a moment of terrified silence, and then to a man, the people of Israel fell on their faces and cried out, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God!” I looked to the prophets of Baal. They were frozen, shaking in terror. I turned back to the people on their faces, and commanded, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape!” My words galvanized everyone at once. The prophets began to flee down the mountainside, while the people pursued them. I met them all down at the Kishon, and drew my sword. I had not known why I had brought it, until this moment. The Lord had commanded the death of the false prophets in Deuteronomy, lest his people be led astray by them. And who was there now to carry out the word of the Lord but me? So, at the Kishon Brook, I slaughtered every last one of them. The men of Israel apprehended the prophets, each of them awaiting my sword of vengeance. I cannot explain how I did it. I’d never killed anyone before, yet suddenly I killed eight hundred and fifty men in a single day. A part of me was utterly horrified even as it was happening. Ahab watched, but did not intervene—not that he could have, if he’d wanted to. The hearts of the people were with me now. When I’d finished, I was as soaked in blood as if I’d bathed in it. I turned to Ahab, who seemed transfixed in utter disbelief. I stalked toward him, trembling all over with left over adrenaline, and pointed at his carriage. Then I declared, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” The sky was blue and cloudless, but Ahab’s eyes widened. He had not eaten throughout the ordeal, though I did not doubt that he had brought a feast with him from the fortress. Without a word, he moved toward his carriage with his servants—including Obadiah, I noted. He tried to catch my eye, but I turned away. I threaded my way through the crowd of amazed onlookers, and gestured to my servant to follow me. Together, we climbed back to the top of Mount Carmel, and the men of Israel, their wives and children, dispersed to their homes. When I reached the summit, I sat down beside the crater that had once been the altar of the Lord, and put my face between my knees. I did not want to look at the sky, to behold its cloudlessness. I needed to see with my spirit, rather than with my eyes. My servant said nothing, probably too shellshocked at everything we had witnessed that day to question my strange behavior. With my head hidden and my voice muffled, I told my servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea. Then return and tell me what you see.” He went, and as he was gone, I prayed, Lord, bring rain. You commanded me to bring rain. Fulfill your word now. I heard my servant’s footsteps return. “There is nothing,” he declared. “Go again,” I told him. Again, the footsteps receded, and I prayed, Lord, bring rain. Fulfill your word. Seven times we did this. Never once did I look up to the sky. The seventh time, the servant returned, and told me, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” I lifted my head from between my knees, and smiled. Then I pointed at the base of the mountain where Ahab still feasted with his servants. “Go, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot an go down, lest the rain stop you.’” My servant did as he was told. As he went, I watched as the heavens grew black with clouds. The wind kicked up, and Ahab climbed into his chariot down below and made for Jezreel. I stood too, and began my descent from Carmel. As I did so, the first drops of water began to fall from the sky. As I drew level with my servant who waited for me at the foot of the mountain, something came over me—the hand of the Lord? The desire to burn off the excess buzz of energy from the day I’d just had? Regardless, I felt the sudden need to run. I tucked my garment in my waistband, and flew like the wind just as the heavens opened and the downpour began. “Where are you—?” I heard my servant begin to ask, but the rest of his question was lost in the sound of rushing rain. Behind me, I thought I heard him swear in frustration. Ahab had quite the head start, and he was in a chariot while I was on foot, yet I outstripped him in moments. Why was I running to Jezreel, anyway? I had no idea. But where else would I go? I had only just come from Zarephath, in Phoenicia, and I was now essentially homeless. The Lord had not yet told me where to go next, nor what to do. For now, though, I was fully in the moment. My muscles burned with the joy of exertion, and the water washed away the blood of the false prophets, making me clean again. It was the most glorious bath I’d ever had.

View Details

Today's podcast is an interview with Dr Kyrin Dunston.

Leading by example, OBGYN Dr. Kyrin Dunston lost a life-changing 100 lbs. and healed herself from chronic disease by addressing the root causes of her overweight and dysfunction. She left OBGYN practice in 2011 to pursue helping women heal with this revolutionary type of natural medicine after becoming fellowship trained in Anti-Aging, Metabolic and Functional Medicine. She is the author of “Cracking the Bikini Code: 6 Secrets to Permanent Weight Loss Success”, the host of “Her Brilliant Health Radio Podcast” and The Menopause Boss Youtube series, and she coaches private clients in her Menopause Boss Jumpstart virtual coaching program.

Dr. Kyrin has been featured in numerous podcasts and summits and on NBC, CBS, Fox, Reader’s Digest, The Huffington Post, First for Woman & Best Self Magazines. She has been invited to give a TED talk in June of 2020.

Dr Kyrin offers a 20 min guided Meditation for Brilliant Hormone Balance. Click here!

For more on Dr Kyrin, please go to kyrindunstonmd.com

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

Today's meditation and retelling comes from 1 Kings 17.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, COVID-19 Naturopathic Strategies.

I also reference this blog post by Dr Mariah Mosley on How Fear Affects Your Immune System.

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

An extra podcast to celebrate Easter: four retellings of the Resurrection from various perspectives, drawn from all four gospels.

Happy Easter!

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: Blueberry Extract for Cholesterol.

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

This week's meditation is on 1 Samuel 16-17, the story of David anointed as king, and then his defeat of Goliath.

View Details

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, A Calorie Isn't Always Just A Calorie

View Details

You can get a copy of "Messiah: Biblical Retellings" here: my collection of retellings of the miracles of Jesus, published under my pen name, C.A. Gray

Today's podcast is a meditation on and retelling of the book of Jonah.

Christian Natural Health: Recent Episodes

Christian Natural Health