Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Let our "yes be yes"

       Today I've been thinking about one of my pet peeves--not following through on commitments, so I might as well talk about it!  It seems to me that it gives Christianity a bad reputation when we say we will do something but then change our minds if something more interesting or pressing comes our way.  Isn't one of our main responsibilities as Christians to represent Christ to the world--to show them what He is like?  Do we want those who don't know Him to think He is like us--that our "yes" means "yes" only as long as nothing else more interesting or important comes up--as long as we don't have to put ourselves out too much to do it?
      I remember when I was a child, one of the things my parents taught us was to be "a man of our word" or in my case, "a woman of my word."  If we said we were going to do something, then as much as it was in our control we were to do it, no matter what came up in the meantime.  If it was at all possible, we were to honor our commitment.  We were to finish the job we began or the team we committed to play on.  We were to show up on time.   We were to do whatever it was we said we would do.  In our world today it seems that is no longer a goal to be sought.  We are now a society of doing "whatever we want to do; whatever pleases us; whatever we feel like doing."
     Have you ever been in leadership or hosted meetings or scheduled a work day where several people committed to come (or worse yet--help) and then very few showed up?  I have attended many.  In fact, it seems to be the norm these days.  We are no longer a society that honors our commitments.  To me there is nothing more frustrating or disappointing than to plan an event or meeting based on others' stated intent to attend, only to find out when the event occurs that many decided to do something else at the last minute.  That is so dishonoring to those who spent time preparing.  I understand that we are all busy and that some things come up that we just can't avoid, but for the most part I believe many of us don't fully commit in the first place even though we say "yes."  Instead we wait to see if something more interesting comes up or if we "feel" like going when the time approaches.
     Remember how Jesus talked about preferring others?  I don't see that happening much anymore.  We are a society who doesn't appear to think, or care, about the time, energy, and money that those who volunteered to host the meeting have spent in preparation, or to realize they don't have the luxury of not showing up if they would prefer to be doing something else.
      I believe one reason for this is that we no longer take God's Word seriously.  We don't study it to see what He says about how we are to live.  Have you ever looked up the "one another" scriptures?  Here are some of the phrases used in the Bible to explain how we are to act towards others:  love one another, prefer one another, be devoted to one another, honor one another, serve one another, encourage one another, submit to one another, be kind to one another, teach and admonish one another,  have fellowship with one another, greet one another, offer hospitality to one another.  Just trying to implement these alone would change the world.  I really don't see much in the scriptures about doing what we feel like doing.  (i.e.  Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me.)
      It is time that we set our hearts and minds to follow His instruction.  It is time that we let our "yes be yes" and our "no be no."

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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Another Informative Article by Dr. Mercola

        Catharine, a reader of this blog, posted a comment yesterday on the May 1, 2012 post by Dr. Mercola The Hidden Reason You Get Flabby.  She wanted to also bring the following related article to the attention of other readers.  It can be read in full on Dr. Mercola's website at: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/01/02/highfructose-corn-syrup-alters-human-metabolism.aspx.  Since many readers don't return to earlier posts it seemed best to create a new post with the information, so here it is:

Sugar May Be Bad, But This Sweetener is Far More Deadly

Scientists have proved for the first time that fructose, a cheap form of sugar used in thousands of food products and soft drinks, can damage human metabolism and is fueling the obesity crisis.
Fructose, a sweetener usually derived from corn, can cause dangerous growths of fat cells around vital organs and is able to trigger the early stages of diabetes and heart disease.
Over 10 weeks, 16 volunteers on a controlled diet including high levels of fructose produced new fat cells around their heart, liver and other digestive organs. They also showed signs of food-processing abnormalities linked to diabetes and heart disease. Another group of volunteers on the same diet, but with glucose sugar replacing fructose, did not have these problems.

Dr. Mercola's Comments:
This study takes its place in a growing lineup of scientific studies demonstrating that consuming high-fructose corn syrup is the fastest way to trash your health. It is now known without a doubt that sugar in your food, in all it's myriad of forms, is taking a devastating toll.
And fructose in any form -- including high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and crystalline fructose -- is the worst of the worst!
Fructose is a major contributor to:

A Calorie is Not a Calorie


Glucose is the form of energy you were designed to run on. Every cell in your body, every bacterium -- and in fact, every living thing on the Earth--uses glucose for energy.
If you received your fructose only from vegetables and fruits (where it originates) as most people did a century ago, you'd consume about 15 grams per day -- a far cry from the 73 grams per day the typical adolescent gets from sweetened drinks. In vegetables and fruits, it's mixed in with fiber, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and beneficial phytonutrients, all which moderate any negative metabolic effects.
It isn't that fructose itself is bad -- it is the MASSIVE DOSES you're exposed to that make it dangerous.
There are two reasons fructose is so damaging:
  1. Your body metabolizes fructose in a much different way than glucose. The entire burden of metabolizing fructose falls on your liver.
  2. People are consuming fructose in enormous quantities, which has made the negative effects much more profound.
Today, 55 percent of sweeteners used in food and beverage manufacturing are made from corn, and the number one source of calories in America is soda, in the form of HFCS.
Food and beverage manufacturers began switching their sweeteners from sucrose (table sugar) to corn syrup in the 1970s when they discovered that HFCS was not only far cheaper to make, it's about 20% sweeter than table sugar.
HFCS is either 42% or 55% fructose, and sucrose is 50% fructose, so it's really a wash in terms of sweetness.
Still, this switch drastically altered the average American diet.
By USDA estimates, about one-quarter of the calories consumed by the average American is in the form of added sugars, and most of that is HFCS. The average Westerner consumes a staggering 142 pounds a year of sugar! And the very products most people rely on to lose weight -- the low-fat diet foods -- are often the ones highest in fructose.
Making matters worse, all of the fiber has been removed from these processed foods, so there is essentially no nutritive value at all.

Fructose Metabolism Basics

Without getting into the very complex biochemistry of carbohydrate metabolism, it is important to understand some differences about how your body handles glucose versus fructose. I will be publishing a major article about this in the next couple of months, which will get much more into the details, but for our purpose here, I will just summarize the main points.
Dr. Robert Lustig[i] Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, has been a pioneer in decoding sugar metabolism. His work has highlighted some major differences in how different sugars are broken down and used:
  • After eating fructose, 100 percent of the metabolic burden rests on your liver. But with glucose, your liver has to break down only 20 percent.
  • Every cell in your body, including your brain, utilizes glucose. Therefore, much of it is "burned up" immediately after you consume it. By contrast, fructose is turned into free fatty acids (FFAs), VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol), and triglycerides, which get stored as fat.
  • The fatty acids created during fructose metabolism accumulate as fat droplets in your liver and skeletal muscle tissues, causing insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Insulin resistance progresses to metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes.
  • Fructose is the most lipophilic carbohydrate. In other words, fructose converts to activated glycerol (g-3-p), which is directly used to turn FFAs into triglycerides. The more g-3-p you have, the more fat you store. Glucose does not do this.
  • When you eat 120 calories of glucose, less than one calorie is stored as fat. 120 calories of fructose results in 40 calories being stored as fat. Consuming fructose is essentially consuming fat!
  • The metabolism of fructose by your liver creates a long list of waste products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout.
  • Glucose suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates leptin, which suppresses your appetite. Fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes with your brain's communication with leptin, resulting in overeating.
If anyone tries to tell you "sugar is sugar," they are way behind the times. As you can see, there are major differences in how your body processes each one.
The bottom line is: fructose leads to increased belly fat, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome -- not to mention the long list of chronic diseases that directly result.

Panic in the Corn Fields

As the truth comes out about HFCS, the Corn Refiners Association is scrambling to convince you that their product is equal to table sugar, that it is "natural" and safe.
Of course, many things are "natural" -- cocaine is natural, but you wouldn't want to use 142 pounds of it each year.
The food and beverage industry doesn't want you to realize how truly pervasive HFCS is in your diet -- not just from soft drinks and juices, but also in salad dressings and condiments and virtually every processed food. The introduction of HFCS into the Western diet in 1975 has been a multi-billion dollar boon for the corn industry.
The FDA classifies fructose as GRAS: Generally Regarded As Safe. Which pretty much means nothing and is based on nothing.
There is plenty of data showing that fructose is not safe -- but the effects on the nation's health have not been immediate. That is why we are just now realizing the effects of the last three decades of nutritional misinformation.
As if the negative metabolic effects are not enough, there are other issues with fructose that disprove its safety:
  • More than one study has detected unsafe mercury levels in HFCS[ii].
  • Crystalline fructose (a super-potent form of fructose the food and beverage industry is now using) may contain arsenic, lead, chloride and heavy metals.
  • Nearly all corn syrup is made from genetically modified corn, which comes with its own set of risks.
The FDA isn't going to touch sugar, so it's up to you to be proactive about your own dietary choices.

What's a Sugarholic to Do?

Ideally, I recommend that you avoid as much sugar as possible. This is especially important if you are overweight or have diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure.
I also realize we don't live in a perfect world, and following rigid dietary guidelines is not always practical or even possible.
If you want to use a sweetener occasionally, this is what I recommend:
  1. Use the herb stevia.
  2. Use organic cane sugar in moderation.
  3. Use organic raw honey in moderation.
  4. Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners, which can damage your health even more quickly than fructose.
  5. Avoid agave syrup since it is a highly processed sap that is almost all fructose. Your blood sugar will spike just as it would if you were consuming regular sugar or HFCS. Agave's meteoric rise in popularity is due to a great marketing campaign, but any health benefits present in the original agave plant are processed out.
  6. Avoid so-called energy drinks and sports drinks because they are loaded with sugar, sodium and chemical additives. Rehydrating with pure, fresh water is a better choice.
If you or your child is involved in athletics, I recommend you read my article Energy Rules for some great tips on how to optimize your child's energy levels and physical performance through good nutrition.

What Else Does the Science Say about the Health Impact of Fructose?

According to GreenMedInfo.com, scientific studies have linked fructose to about 30 different specific diseases and health problems. Select the hyperlinks provided to review how fructose may:
Raise your blood pressure, and cause nocturnal hypertensionInsulin resistance / Type 2 DiabetesNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
Raise your uric acid levels, which can result in gout and/ormetabolic syndromeAccelerate the progression of chronic kidney diseaseIntracranial atherosclerosis(narrowing and hardening of the arteries in your skull)
Exacerbate cardiac abnormalities if you're deficient in copperHave a genotoxic effect on the colonPromote metastasis in breast cancer patients
Cause tubulointerstitial injury(injury to the tubules and interstitial tissue of your kidney)Promotes obesity and related health problems and diseasesPromotes pancreatic cancer growth
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Monday, September 17, 2012

For the Greater Glory

      Have you seen the movie, For the Greater Glory, based on the true story of the 1920s Cristero War in Mexico.  It is a sobering reminder of how quickly religious freedom can be lost and the price that must be paid to regain it.  A lesson for us today, I believe, and therefore a very good reason to see the movie.
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Sunday, September 16, 2012

Reading the New Testament in Chronological Order

      Do you set aside a time each day to read your Bible?  I continue to try to get up early enough to spend some time in Bible reading and prayer every morning, but it seems there are so many things that compete for my quiet time that I have not been nearly as disciplined lately as I want to be to read a specific portion of scripture every day.  I am determined to change that.
      Over the years I have used several different Bible reading plans but I decided to do some research and find a new one to begin this week.  Since I have never read through the New Testament chronologically, I thought that would be a good plan to look for.  I found this one at  http://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-reading-plan/chronological-new-testament.html.  It is set up in such a way as to cause one to read through the New Testament in 3 months.
      To help me, and anyone else who might be interested, I thought I would post the entire plan today.
      As you can see in the plan below each reading is linked to the actual scripture as it appears on the Bible Study Tools site where it can also be read in several different translations, so I won't even need a Bible to begin reading.  I'm planning to use my Bible, though, most of the time so that I can add notes and insights I receive while reading.
      If you aren't already following a plan, I invite you to begin with me.  I encourage your comments on new insights discovered, difficulty following the plan, or any other related ideas.  I need all the encouragement I can get.

Reading Schedule
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Saturday, September 15, 2012

Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda: Build a Hedge for Your House

    I can only say "amen" to this excellent article by the Chavdas!  There is so much wisdom and truth contained here that it needs to be read several times to take it all in.  
      We must know who we are--children of the King--and recognize and walk in the authority God has given us through Jesus.  We are His ambassadors, sent to establish His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.  Let us be about the Father's business.

Then the Lord said to satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" So satan answered the Lord and said, "Does Job fear God 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." Job 1:8-10

This is a spiritual reality. There is a hedge of protection that comes through Jesus for you and your house. It's invisible, but it's there. As we pray, the Lord will put a hedge around us, our family, our household, and around all that we touch and all that we have. You can visualize this as a physical hedge, or as we often say, think of it as a bubble of God's glory. There is an atmosphere around you that has a force. It carries the presence and power and promise of Heaven. Negative things can be all around you, but as they encounter that bubble, they hit a barrier they can't penetrate. Within that sphere, the blessings of God will come as well as increase. It carries a vibration of Heaven that brings everything else into harmony with God's plan and purpose.

It has been known to happen that a praying farmer's land has been protected and well-watered when all around him there was drought. It's the same with individuals—trouble all around, but it won't touch you. How do you walk in this? First, it comes through Jesus. He became a curse that you might walk in the blessings of Abraham. What is that blessing? His presence living in you and through you. Where His presence is, everything else has to bow. The more we make His presence a priority, becoming congruent with Him, the more the atmosphere around us becomes saturated in His glory.

Building a Hedge
There are specific ways we can build a hedge: First, steward your atmosphere. Be faithful to instill the basic disciplines that are part of living a healthy, fruitful, and vibrant spiritual life. Spend time in the Word, prayer, praying in the Spirit, worship, and fasting on a regular basis. Stay plugged into a local church where you are fed and cared for by spiritual leaders. Stay in joy, praise, and thanksgiving. Keep a childlike heart of faith and expectation.

Speak the Word of God into that situation. Jeremiah 1:11 says,"I am alert and active watching over My Word to perform it."God wants to do His Word. His Word is alive, active, and full of power. Do not underestimate the power of God's living Word. What you say makes a difference. Your words have power. Agree with faith not fear when you speak. Stay in the glory bubble. Confess the blessing of the Lord over your children. Speak destiny and promise over your house, your job, your church, city and nation. Speak in harmony with God's truth. Release life, shalom, and wholeness.

Appoint angels. Psalm 34:7, "The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them." Welcome the angel of the Lord to encamp around you, your family, your children. Psalm 91:11, "For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways." 2 Kings 6:15-16, "And when the servant of the man of God arouse early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, 'Alas, my master! What shall we do?' So he answered, 'Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.'"

There are things happening in the spirit realm that are more real than the real things. When I, Mahesh, was a young man, I flew from Africa on my way to Texas where I was going to attend the university. I had only $7 in my pocket. When I got to New York, they told me that I didn't have a ticket to Texas. I was so scared, didn't have much money, I didn't know how to use the telephone; I was just standing there wishing I could talk to my mother. I saw a giant of a man with a cowboy hat and boots on—he was from Texas. "You look like you are in trouble." I didn't say much in response. He asked me what was the matter, and I told him. "I'll take care of it." He went to the ticket counter, came back, and gave me a ticket. "You are sitting with me."When we arrived some people were there to meet me. I greeted them and went to introduce them to my new Texas friend, and he wasn't there! I knew he was one of God's angels.

Define yourself in the Lord. When David returned from battle in 1 Samuel 30, he and his men discovered that the enemy had burned their town, plundered their goods, and taken captive their wives and children. His men immediately turned on David in anger and despair to stone him. What did David do? He strengthened himself in the Lord. Once he got back into the presence, it was like he stepped back into the bubble of glory. He was no longer defined by the empty village streets and the smoke that burned his eyes and nose. He was defined by the presence, and he got God's strategy for victory—"Pursue, overtake, recover all." You are going to possess the promises of God, but you are going to have to take them. The enemy will try to discourage you. You may face a reality that looks like complete defeat. You may even be attacked. But there is another vibration that you can tap into where the living glory brings a different message and a higher reality. In the glory, opposition becomes opportunity for great victory.

Take Your Place
Ezekiel 22:30, "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one." As we welcome the anointing, make up a hedge and stand in the gap. We aren't just to enjoy the anointing, but we are to make up a hedge on behalf of the Lord so destruction doesn't come in.Ezekiel 13:5, "You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord." When your family and friends have a need, God has called us to stand in the gap. Every Christian has a hedge, but there are times when the enemy will pick on certain churches, families, or people and there's a gap. We need to stand there and pray. When you see gaps, don't point them out and throw darts and condemnations. Come to their aid and run to the place of battle to defend that person with mercy.

This is true on an individual as well as a corporate and national level. God has given each of us the authority and the calling to be the change agent for our families, our cities, and particularly, our nation. The glory is permeated with the mercy of God and mercy is permeated with glory, compassion, and grace (Exodus 33). Like Moses of old, the presence and favor of the Lord on our life is about more than our personal dreams and destiny. It is about stewarding that anointing for the destiny God has for our nation. If you see weakness and wickedness in your nation, stand in the gap. Build up a hedge of prayer and intercession. Fast and pray according to 2 Chronicles 7:14. Be the remnant of Joel 2 that wept between porch and altar for God's mercy to deliver their land from destruction. Harmonize with Heaven, and pray for God's glory and protection for your land.

                                 Ambassador of Glory
2 Corinthians 5:20, "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ." You are becoming an ambassador of the glory of the Lord. You are a treasure in an earthen vessel. No matter how much darkness, the light will prevail. Jesus came to give life. The thief came to kill, steal, and to destroy. Sometimes the very circumstances in which you find yourself are not about you, but about positioning you to carry the reality of God's protection and grace into that place of chaos and darkness. You may not feel like it, but you are an ambassador of life and glory.

A few years ago a woman came for prayer for her young son who was in a coma after a head-on collision. She came carrying a vibration from the doctors, "Your son is brain dead. It's time to pull the plug." But there was another vibration for this young man. As soon as the mother began to tell me, Mahesh, about her son, I saw her son going to school. The Lord began to show me the dreams and purposes He had for this young man as he grew older. It was like I was sitting in a theater watching an internal movie of this young man's life and I was able to speak from that reality and release that vibration for her son. Just a few days later her "brain dead" son woke up from his coma.

The Lord was there; the glory was there. You are becoming divine surfers on the wave of the glory. The situation may be dark and growing darker, but it doesn't matter because I Am that I Am is standing with you. I Am: Jehovah Rophe, your healer; Jehovah Jireh, your provider; Jehovah Rohi, your shepherd; Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts. I Am: the Source of the anointing, of provision, of healing. You are His representative, and you can carry His glory wherever you go.

When Jesus comes, every demon in Hell bows! Often you are the only link to the Lord in a bad situation. God is raising up an end time army with healing in their hands, deliverance in their mouth, and glory on their faces. It has very little to do with you, it's Jesus. So don't be a person who goes into a hopeless situation and pray, "If it be Thy will." Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, "All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." The government is on His shoulders. Have faith in the name and authority of Jesus and release the power of the Blood of the Lamb.

God has a purpose and a destiny for you here and now. There are demonic principalities that would like to hold people, regions, and nations in terror and fear. The only people who can make a change are the praying, believing saints. Let us arise, shine, and build a hedge of protection and glory around our families, our workplaces and communities, our churches, and our nation in this hour.

Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda
Chavda Ministries International
Email: info@chavdaministries.org

Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda have been releasing the reality of Heaven's power for salvation, healing, deliverance and transformation for over thirty-five years. In that time more than a million people have come to salvation and thousands more have received healing from critical diseases like AIDS and Stage-IV cancer. Both Mahesh and Bonnie desire that every person be fully awakened to Jesus and flourish with power and purpose for living! Mahesh and Bonnie pastor All Nations Church and spearhead a global prayer network, The Watch of the Lord®.

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