Worthy Devotions – Daily Christian Devotion » Health

Psalms 119:103  How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Recently, my wife and I have had a renewed sense of the need to take vitamins for our health.  As I was pondering vitamins, it dawned on me how taking vitamins is like a mature approach to reading the Word of God.  When I first became a believer, I remember reading each passage and it was like a bolt of lightening each time I read it!  As I’ve grown in the Lord, reading His word, I still get an occasional bolt, but now it’s more like taking vitamins.  What am I saying here?

Well, why do we take vitamins?  We take them for long-term benefit to our physical health.  Taking a vitamin pill will not produce a sudden burst of adrenaline or bolt of energy, but over time, taken regularly, vitamins will strengthen our immune system and improve our general health and well-being!

Take your daily dose of God’s Word, and you will find that the long term effects of regularly digesting scripture will promote your spiritual health and well-being. Though it may not be like a bolt of lightening every time you sit down –you can be certain it will boost your immunity to the fiery darts of doubt, disbelief, and deception!  As the scripture says, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God!”  So by all means, take your “vitamins” today. Don’t you know,  there’s so much work to be done!

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers”…when the term “peacemaker” is used the initial thought is of someone who keeps the peace between two opposing parties. A “peacemaker” solves dilemmas often without the force of violence, although the threat of violence is sometimes present and to be used if necessary.

When I was growing up, I watched dozens of westerns where the sheriffs — or the good guys — were armed with the Colt 45 “peacemaker.” How ironic that one of the most famous guns of the 1800’s was named the “peacemaker”. The rationality is simply you can only have peace through strength.

When Jesus (Yeshua), the Prince of Peace (in Hebrew the “Sar Shalom”) returns again, He will usher in the Messianic age of Shalom — His strength will be on display as He rules with a “rod of iron.”

Interestingly enough, as I was studying the Hebrew New Testament, the word “peacemaker” has a completely different connotation than our understanding in English. The word peacemaker in Hebrew is the phrase “rod-fey shalom”.

Shalom has a much richer meaning than simply the word peace. It can also mean completeness, prosperity, safety, contentment, health, blessing and rest. The word “rod-fey” in Hebrew literally means to “run after” or “to chase!”

So, in Hebrew it says to “chase after shalom” — to run after God’s shalom! And one can only find God’s shalom through our “Sar Shalom” – our Prince of Peace!

Let’s strive to reach a new level of intimacy with our Lord! Let’s run after a deeper knowledge of our Lord and in doing so, we’ll experience new levels of peace, contentment, blessing and rest! With so much work to be done, isn’t it good to know this is available to us NOW through our Sar Shalom!

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Sar Shalom, in Hebrew). You may have already known that the word “shalom” means peace. But actually, it has several meanings in the Hebrew. Shalom means peace, completeness, prosperity, safety, contentment, health, blessing, and rest — and not only that. Shalom is the common word for hello and goodbye.

So, when you greet someone or bid them a farewell “shalom”, what you are actually doing is speaking all those blessings upon them — and really, speaking over them the ultimate peace, Jesus, Himself!

‘Tis the season to speak shalom over one another! So much work to be done!

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

My wife came across a joke that’ll surely make you ladies laugh out loud — and you men too– that is, if you know what’s good for you, lol!

A small-town couple was celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and their long, loving relationship had long been the talk of the town. For this special occasion, a local newspaper reporter paid them a visit to inquire as to the secret of their happy marriage.

“Well,” explained the husband, “it really all goes back to our honeymoon. We visited the Grand Canyon and took a trip down to the bottom of the canyon by pack mule. We hadn’t gone too far when my wife’s mule stumbled. My wife quietly said ‘That’s once.’ We proceeded a little farther when the mule stumbled again. Once more my wife quietly spoke: ‘That’s twice.’ We hadn’t gone a half-mile when the mule stumbled a third time. My wife promptly removed a revolver from her purse, hopped down off the beast, and shot the mule dead. I began to protest over her treatment of the mule when she looked at me and quietly said, ‘That’s once.”’

I hope you liked that. Now, I’ve heard that children laugh 300 to 400 times a day while we adults laugh only a mere 15! Believe it or not, experts say that laughing aids digestion, lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, boosts the immune system, triggers the release of endorphins which are the body’s natural painkillers, heals broken relationships and produces a general sense of well-being!

Let’s not take everything so very seriously! Let’s start laughing at ourselves a little, and laughing at our enemy’s attempts to keep us burdened and oppressed! God has our victory –always! And there’s so much work to be done!

Psalms 90:17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Charles William Eliot, former president of Harvard University, had a birthmark on his face that bothered him greatly. As a young man, he was told that surgeons could do nothing to remove it. Someone described that moment as “the dark hour of his soul.” Eliot’s mother gave him this helpful advice: “My son, it is not possible for you to get rid of that hardship…But it is possible for you, with God’s help, to grow a mind and soul so big that people will forget to look at your face.”

Yes, it’s true. All of us have things we’d love to change about our bodies. And many of us tend to spend an awful lot of time and money trying to change, fix and cover those things up. But I think there is much truth in Mrs. Eliot’s words. When we are shining boldly for the Lord, I don’t believe anyone sees them!

Do you REALLY want to make a drastic difference in your appearance today? Let’s stop focusing on our outward issues today and start focusing on what really counts — walking uprightly and wholeheartedly with the Lord — a spiritual extreme makeover! We will glow like never before, at a low low price and 100% guaranteed!

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

Jesus asked this man “Do you want to be made well?” Of course he did! Wouldn’t you? Why did Jesus ask a question like this when its answer was so clearly obvious? It seems the Lord wanted to hear him verbalize his need.

In the biography of George Mueller, a strong man of God who established orphanages throughout England in the 1800’s and raised the kids up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, this amazing Saint relied upon God for every single need that he faced without making any financial appeals. He laid before the Lord every aspect of these orphanages. He prayed for the locations, the buildings, the furniture to fill them, the workers to run them, and everything else he could think of. When the first orphanage was ready, Mueller realized one major thing was lacking — orphans!! He forgot to ask the Lord to provide the orphans!

Sometimes the obvious things just smack us in the face, don’t they? On several ocassions, I’ve found myself in this very position! Silly me — I forgot to ask!

The Lord is asking us today, “Do you want to be made well?” Whether it be physical healing, spiritual, emotional or financial healing, no thing is too great or too small for our Lord! Perhaps we’ve just forgotten to ask Him!

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

We’ve been working on so many different things recently and we’re just exhausted. But this is a word of advice the Lord gave us. Perhaps it’s for some of you too.

Oftentimes we forget that our spiritual, mental and emotional livelihood is directly connected to our physical one. What I mean by that is when we don’t take care of our bodies, not only can we get physically sick, but spiritually, mentally and emotionally as well. The media and the medical industry may have a lot of ideas and “quick fixes” for getting healthy but it really all boils down to a few important fundamentals.

Let’s consider for a minute the way we’ve been treating our bodies. Have we been drinking enough water? Lot’s of water is the number one cure for many bodily ailments including weight loss. Are we eating the kinds of things we should? We can’t expect to put junk in our bodies and expect them to function normally. Are we moving enough? We need to get some form of exercise each day, even if it’s just taking a stroll around the block a few times. I know exercise is a scary word for some of us, but it’s so very important! Are we getting enough sleep? At least eight hours a night for any length of time is key!

Have you been running, running, running and losing your cool? When we don’t take care of our body the way we should, it’s bound to happen! Want to do greater things for the Lord? Want to get God’s direction for your life? Want to get more stable mentally and emotionally? Let’s commit to taking care of our body. It is the Temple of the Holy Spirit living in us. We should strive to keep it in good shape. There’s so much work to be done!!