MEDICINE I

Spiritual and Physical Health
There are so many Scriptures dealing with our health that it is obvious that God desires that you stay healthy. I will give you various Scriptures from week to week to show you that.
Proverbs 4:
20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

In Proverbs 4 we see the importance of obedience to what God says. It brings healing to our fleshly bodies.
Healing comes from the Lord. With all the advance technology in laser surgery and nuclear medicine, the council and wisdom from God’s word is still the best. Some times God heals immediately, but most the time God gives directions to follow that will bring healing if we will obey.
One clear evidence of this is that most medical procedures have side effects, whereas God’s healing has no side effects.
Testimony: One man gave this testimony over the material I will give you over the next few weeks. “My family and I are grateful to God for the benefits we have received through these medical studies. We are learning to make wise responses to each health challenge that arises.
It is our goal to prevent illness as much a possible through adopting a Biblical manner of life that builds healthy bodies.
Comparing our prescription drug expenses over the past eight years, we discovered that there has been an 82% reduction in the medical costs of our family. And one of the keys to our family health is the Bible teaching on _____________. At the first sign of fever, instead of taking antibiotics we obeyed God’s word and healing came.
The Bible was written for both our spiritual and physical well being. We are what we think spiritually and we are what we eat and think physically.
The Bible addresses spiritual laws, moral laws, ceremonial laws, dietary laws. It talks about finances and family and fellowship. It talks about the home and happiness and health and yet the subject of health is nearly totally ignored. It should not be. We need to be wise about God’s word concerning our bodies.
Does the Bible give council and direction about man’s health? The answer is, “absolutely.”
Question: What should you do when you get sick? What should you do if the doctor diagnosis you with arthritis or cancer?”

Let me give you the first four steps:
1 – Pray for Wisdom:
James 1: 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. Fall on your knees and pray. Ask God to reveal to you why you are sick.
Our first tendency is to lean on man’s understanding rather than God’s. We so often first, run to the doctor seeking his worldly wisdom rather than seeking God and His true wisdom.
Proverbs 3:5-6 is not only spiritual but physical. It says, 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
God will not only give us direction spiritually but physically in our lives but we must believe God’s word over humanistic medicine.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
I say this kindly but most Christians have more faith and trust in medical science than God. The reason is twofold:
A - They are ignorant of God’s ways. They grew up believing the doctors have all the answers and they simply believe it to be so.
B – They don’t have the faith to believe God’s Word has answers to their health problems.
God give many methods of healing which we will discuss.
I will say this from the knowledge I have gleamed from others and from God’s Word and of those who have chosen God’s way over the medical way. 1) God’s way is far less painful. 2) It is far less expensive. 3) It is far quicker.

2 – Apply yourself to understanding
Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Learn to understand why you are ill. Trace your illness to the root cause. Don’t just take medicine. If you have headaches, find out why.
If you have arthritis, find out why. If you have indigestion after you eat, don’t just take the purple pill, find out why.
I will give you complete cures to many sicknesses in this study. I believe doctors mean well and have absolute faith in what they do but often doctors make wrong diagnosis and therefore give wrong treatment. Some years back information was leaked that blamed 40% of fatalities in hospitals on the fault of medicine or diagnoses.
I am not belittling doctors. Thank God for those who know Him and are balanced, but many today believe it is medicine or nothing. To that I strongly disagree.
**To knows God’s way takes diligence and determination and research.
How? Read your Bible. Buy a family medical guide. Seek out Christian doctors who have become naturalist and find out why?
Example: Some fifteen years ago my wife, Karen, had some physical problems. We went to three different doctors and specialist. She was told she had a lung infection, another said she had pulled muscles, another said it was her gall bladder and finally one said it was a hiatal hernia.
From the Bible we knew that diet had a lot to do with her problem. We prayed about it and chose to use some medication for help a hiatal hernia and changed her diet. She hasn’t had any problem since.
Example: Another time she became extremely weak physically and felt like she had no energy. We were told to take vitamins. My wife took every shackle vitamin they had it seems. Four weeks later there was no change. We ask for help. Someone suggested a medical doctor (Dr. Biggers) who had become a naturalist. We went and ask questions. He gave us all the answers. One question we asked was this: “Why did you begin to seek out natural medicine?” His response was quite fitting. He said, “I began to seek natural medicine when modern medicine would not heal my wife.” He prescribed one natural herb so her body could begin to absorb the nutrition into her system. She has had no problem till this day.
I found through research another herb that would do the same thing and it is found in the Bible. I will share that with you later.
I believe eighty percent of the physical problems you have can be cured through obeying God’s way. The other twenty percent must be dealt with because of prolong negligence. That means there are times you need medical procedures because we haven’t observed God’s teachings for so very long.
(What I mean by that is this. It often takes thirty, forty, fifty and sixty years of bad habits to cause physical problems. Therefore one can’t change their way of thinking and eating in a few weeks and have a cure.
Listen to three examples:
1 – Mr. Jay Martin had cancer of the liver. The first time, he let the doctors do a medical procedure to remove the cancer. Then it came back. The next time, he began to drink his carrot juice every day. After six months the cancer was gone.
One good thing Jay also had going for him is the fact that he is a diabetic and therefore he stays away from sugar. Sugar, though we all love it, it one of the greatest poisons to the body. We will study this later.
2 – Mrs. Carolyn Alley hands developed arthritis. She began the same procedure as Mr. Martin and in one year the arthritis was gone. The key is not just drinking carrot juice. It is putting 100 natural enzymes back in your system so your cell tissue can be built back 100%.
3 – Mrs. Beall was 80 years old. She had pains in her chest and went to the doctor. The doctor told her that her gall bladder had to come out immediately. She said, No sir, I will try something else. He told her, “I won’t be responsible if you die before you come back.” She said, “Fine and walked out. The next day she walked into the doctors office with over 200 gall stones she passed over night by a simple natural procedure that cost about $8.00.

Remember the “simple believeth every word” (Pro 14:15).
Don’t be simple or ignorant of your health. Don’t believe every thing a doctor says. Do your own research. You are in charge of your health, not the doctor.

3 – Seek many counselors
Proverbs 11: 14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
A counselor is one who will give you information based on training and experience. That means go beyond one or two medical opinions.
Ask for documented results of what the doctor gives. You will discover that competing medical regulation will discredit each other.
Now assume that there is some truth in both as you filtered absolute truth through God’s Word.
So seek and investigate medicine, natural remedies, herbal treatment, nutritional information and actual testimonies of people who have your same problem. The final decision is up to you.

4 – Use Discretion
Proverbs 2: 10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
You must through wisdom, research and come to the conclusion of what is right. You must have peace about the choice you make.
But know this: Every illness is related and can be helped or cured better by doing things God’s ways through Scriptural information.

Example: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean (Psalms 51:7).
We know the spiritual application here, but hyssop was used as a healing herb for thousands of years which modern doctors laughed off as superstition, but the latest research has discovered differently.
“Traditionally, hyssop has been used as a strewing herb, and many of its historical healing properties that had been previously dismissed as superstition are once again being acknowledged.” Wikipedia Encylopedia
The herb has been used in the aid of muscular rheumatism, bowel and colon disorders, asthma and other problems.

In these studies I will give you Biblical remedies and examples and testimonies of people who have by following Biblical procedures:
1 – Removed warts and moles.
2 – Experienced the cure for rheumatism and arthritis.
3 – Be cured of types of cancer or had their lives extended.
4 – Blood pressure and Cholesterol have gone back to normal.
5 – Backaches disappeared from many different methods.

The information I will give you will come from God’s Word and a wealth of wisdom put together through Godly doctors and nurses and midwives. I will be sharing many of their personal experiences and healings with you to examine and apply if you wish.

Illustration: One man who was on cholesterol medicine decided to go God’s way. He added fiber to his diet and reduced the intake of fat and sugar. He lost thirty pounds and his cholesterol dropped from 246 to 208 in a few months.
Genesis 3: 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground…
After the fall God told Adam to eat bread. Bread for thousands of years was made with the whole wheat which is rich in fiber. Since man removed fiber from bread to make it lighter, softer and sweeter, scores of physical problems have fallen on man. (Again we will deal with this later).
When Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” He meant this spiritually but it has a physical application.
As Christ will feed your soul and make you spiritually healthy, physical bread (the whole fiber) will make you physically healthy.
Modern day bread is a picture of modern day religion. That which is good for you has been mostly removed. Even whole wheat bread bought in the store has only 10% of the fiber in it. It should be called 10% bread.
And so in most religions in the world, the “True Jesus” is not preached. Why? Because as whole wheat bread is hard to swallow and takes time to make and then to chew; the pure unadulterated preaching of God’s word is difficult for most people to swallow today. Many folks don’t want to take the time to chew on God’s word and meditate on it.

Illustration: Proverbs 17:22, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine…” A group of professional people were wired to equipment that monitored their autonomic (involuntary) nervous system responses which resulted from simply simulating various facial expressions.
The subjects were not told how to feel but were instructed to simply move specific muscles that would create smiles, frowns and expressions of anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust and surprise.
The researchers found a significant change in heart rate, respiration and skin temperatures just by changing the emotion-mimicking facial expressions.
They were amazed to discover that each mimicking facial emotion led to a different nervous system pattern.
They concluded that if our mimicking emotions would heighten or lower our physiological system, which we have demonstrated, then this opens the door to explaining how true emotions causes physical disorders.
They said, “If a voluntary movement can modify a physiological condition, this means that the way you feel can cause you to smile or frown, or on the other hand the forcing of a smile or frown can also direct the way you feel.
--This research confirms the value of three types of smiles.
1 – An obedient smile: Smile because God tells you to whether you like it or not. This smile tells the world you are God’s child.
Be ye not drunk with wine but be ye filled with the spirit,” is a command. Ephesians 5:18
2 – A ministry smile: Smile because you want to encourage those around you. You may not always feel like smiling. Jesus said “Let your light so shine that men may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven.”
3 – A joyful smile: Smile because you feel like it. If you walk with the Lord, you will in time walk in the Spirit.

Proverbs 15: 13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
14 The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
15 All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
One last Biblical example that I have personally seen cure many diseases is found in James 5: 14 Is any sick among you? 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 shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Of 850 recorded calls from Churches that practiced this over a six month period 66% of the illness were healed.

The key is to be obedient to the Scriptures:
Since you became sick, have you practiced verse 14, 15, 16?
1- Humble your self and ask the Church to pray for you. Ask the church to anoint you with oil in the name of Jesus Christ.
2- Believe by faith God can and will heal you.
3- Confess your sins that you are guilty of. If you have offended a brother in Christ, make it right or you will receive no healing.

When we begin to do things God’s way I believe everything from cancers, to diverticulitis to high blood pressure to stomach problems to colon problems to heart disease to obesity to the common cold can be healed God’s way.
Then our bodies will be healthier for His glory.