Mom - et al

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock”

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We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.

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Kind Act &Pleasant Words Promote Health

Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. Proverbs 16:24

Kind, cheerful, encouraging words will prove more effective than the most healing medicines. These will bring courage to the heart of the desponding and discouraged, and the happiness and sunshine brought into the family by kind acts and encouraging words will repay the effort tenfold. The husband should remember that much of the burden of training his children rests upon the mother, that she has much to do with molding their minds. This should call into exercise his tenderest feelings, and with care should he lighten her burdens. He should encourage her to lean upon his large affections and direct her mind to heaven, where there is strength and peace and a final rest for the weary.

His kindness and loving courtesy will be to her a precious encouragement, and the happiness he imparts will bring joy and peace to his own heart.

The sweetest type of heaven is a home where the Spirit of the Lord presides.... Anything that would mar the peace and unity of the family should be firmly repressed, and kindness and love should be cherished.

Home should be a place where cheerfulness, courtesy, and love abide; and where these graces dwell, there will abide happiness and peace.

Those who are fighting the battle of life at great odds may be refreshed and strengthened and encouraged by little attentions which cost nothing. Kindly words simply spoken, little attentions simply bestowed, will sweep away the clouds of temptation which gather over the horizon of the soul.

Under the influence of meekness, kindness, and gentleness, an atmosphere is created that will heal and not destroy. [153]

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Health And Happiness

I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. Psalm 16:8, 9

The Christian should live so near to God that he may approve things that are excellent, “being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” His heart should be attuned to gratitude and praise. He should be ever ready to acknowledge the blessings he is receiving, remembering who it is that has said, “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.” ...

It is the duty of every one to cultivate cheerfulness instead of brooding over sorrow and troubles. Many not only make themselves wretched in this way, but they sacrifice health and happiness to a morbid imagination. There are things in their surroundings that are not agreeable, and their countenances wear a continual frown that, more plainly than words, expresses discontent. These depressing emotions are a great injury to them healthwise, for by hindering the process of digestion they interfere with nutrition. While grief and anxiety cannot remedy a single evil, they can do great harm; but cheerfulness and hope, while they brighten the pathway of others, “are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”

Christ came to restore to its original loveliness a world ruined by sin.... In the new earth there will be no sin nor disease.... And the body will be restored to its original perfection. We shall wear the spotless image of our Lord....

The development of Christian character, tending toward this state of perfection, is a growth toward beauty.... As the heart becomes transformed by the renewing of the mind, the graces of the Spirit leave their impress on the face, and it expresses the refinement, delicacy, peace, benevolence, and pure and tender love that reign in the heart....

*****

Give “thanks always for all things unto God.” [154]

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Water

Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:13, 14

In health and in sickness pure water is one of Heaven’s choicest blessings. Its proper use promotes health. It is the beverage which God provided to quench the thirst of animals and man. Drunk freely, it helps to supply the necessities of the system and assists nature to resist disease. The external application of water is one of the easiest and most satisfactory ways of regulating the circulation of the blood.

Pure water to drink and fresh air to breathe invigorate the vital organs, purify the blood, and help nature in her task of overcoming the bad conditions of the system.

Water is the best liquid possible to cleanse the tissues.

If those who are afflicted would assist nature in her efforts by the use of pure, soft water, much suffering would be prevented.

Water treatments, wisely and skillfully given, may be the means of saving many lives. Let diligent study be united with careful treatments. Let prayers of faith be offered by the bedside of the sick. Let the sick be encouraged to claim the promises of God for themselves.

The refreshing water, welling up in a parched and barren land, causing the desert place to blossom and flowing out to give life to the perishing, is an emblem of the divine grace which Christ alone can bestow, and which is as the living water, purifying, refreshing, and invigorating the soul.

In the East water was called the “gift of God.” [140]

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Sunlight

Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. Ecclesiastes 11:7

There are but few who realize that, in order to enjoy health and cheerfulness, they must have an abundance of sunlight, pure air, and physical exercise. We pity little children who are kept confined indoors when the sun is shining gloriously without.

Clothe your boys and girls comfortably and properly.... Then let them go out and exercise in the open air, and live to enjoy health and happiness.

The pale and sickly grain-blade that has struggled up out of the cold of early spring puts out the natural and healthy deep green after enjoying for a few days the health-and-life-giving rays of the sun. Go out into the light and warmth of the glorious sun, ... and share with vegetation its life-giving, healing power.

No room in the house should be considered furnished and adorned without the cheering, enlivening light and sunshine, which are Heaven’s own free gift to man....

When God had made our world, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, he said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good. Shall we close our houses, and exclude from them the light which God has pronounced good?

If you would have your homes sweet and inviting, make them bright with air and sunshine.... The precious sunlight may fade your carpets, but it will give a healthful color to the cheeks of your children. If you have God’s presence, and possess earnest, loving hearts, a humble home, made bright with air and sunlight ... will be to your family ... a heaven below.

Exercise and a free abundant use of the air and sunlight—blessings which Heaven has freely bestowed upon all—would give life and strength. [139]

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Outdoor Activity

The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.... And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Genesis 2:8-15

To Adam and Eve was committed the care of the garden, “to dress it and to keep it.” Though rich in all that the Owner of the universe could supply, they were not to be idle. Useful occupation was appointed them as a blessing, to strengthen the body, to expand the mind, and to develop the character.

Let men and women work in field and orchard and garden. This will bring health and strength to nerve and muscle.... Every part of the human organism should be equally taxed. This is necessary for the harmonious development and action of every part.... God made nerve and muscle in order that they might be used. It is the inaction of the human machinery that brings suffering and disease.

More people die for want of exercise than through overfatigue; very many more rust out than wear out. Those who accustom themselves to proper exercise in the open air will generally have a good and vigorous circulation.

Morning exercise, in walking in the free, invigorating air of heaven, or cultivating flowers, small fruits, and vegetables, is necessary to a healthful circulation of the blood. It is the surest safeguard against colds, coughs, congestions of brain and lungs, inflammation of the liver, the kidneys, and the lungs, and a hundred other diseases.

Go out and exercise every day, even though some things indoors have to be neglected.

The more nearly we come into harmony with God’s original plan, the more favorable will be our position for the recovery and preservation of health. [137]

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Prosper And Be In Health

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2

The Saviour in His miracles revealed the power that is continually at work in man’s behalf to sustain and to heal him. Through the agencies of nature, God is working, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, to keep us alive, to build up and restore us. When any part of the body sustains injury, a healing process is at once begun; nature’s agencies are set at work to restore soundness. But the power working through these agencies is the power of God. All life-giving power is from Him. When one recovers from disease, it is God who restores him....

The words spoken to Israel are true today of those who recover health of body or health of soul. “I am the Lord that healeth thee.”

The desire of God for every human being is expressed in the words, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power—these are the true remedies.

The things of nature are God’s blessings, provided to give health to body, mind, and soul. They are given to the well to keep them well and to the sick to make them well....

Nature is God’s physician. The pure air, the glad sunshine, the beautiful flowers and trees, the orchards and vineyards, and outdoor exercise amid these surroundings are health giving—the elixir of life.

Nothing so tends to restore health and happiness as living amid attractive country surroundings.

Life in the open air is good for body and mind. It is God’s medicine for the restoration of health.

****True religion and the laws of health go hand in hand. [136]

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Prayer

Ultimately, we should pray because we love God so much, and we just can’t help sharing everything in our lives with Him: our joys and life’s “wins,” our burdens and worries, our requests and daily needs. “We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to Him as naturally as the flower turns to the sun. Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. . . . His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest. . . . The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, pp. 99, 100.

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A Nutritious Diet

Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Isaiah 55:2

Health reform is an intelligent selection of the most healthful article of food prepared in the most healthful, simplest form.

Our bodies are built up from the food we eat. There is a constant breaking down of the tissues of the body; every movement of every organ involves waste, and this waste is repaired from our food. Each organ of the body requires its share of nutrition. The brain must be supplied with its portion; the bones, muscles, and nerves demand theirs. It is a wonderful process that transforms the food into blood and uses this blood to build up the varied parts of the body; but this process is going on continually, supplying with life and strength each nerve, muscle, and tissue.

God has furnished man with abundant means for the gratification of an unperverted appetite. He has spread before him the products of the earth—a bountiful variety of food that is palatable to the taste and nutritious to the system. Of these our benevolent heavenly Father says we may freely eat. Fruits, grains, and vegetables, prepared in a simple way, free from spice and grease of all kinds, make, with milk or cream, the most healthful diet. They impart nourishment to the body and give a power of endurance and a vigor of intellect that are not produced by a stimulating diet.

Let the table be made inviting and attractive, as it is supplied with the good things which God has so bountifully bestowed. Let mealtime be a cheerful, happy time. As we enjoy the gifts of God, let us respond by grateful praise to the Giver.

God has given us the fruits and grains of the earth for food, that we might have unfevered blood, calm nerves, and clear minds. [133]

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The Talent of Time

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15, 16

God bestows talents upon men, not that these talents may lie unused or be employed in self-gratification, but that they may be used to bless others. God grants men the gift of time for the purpose of promoting His glory. When this time is used in selfish pleasure, the hours thus spent are lost for all eternity.

Our time belongs to God. Every moment is His, and we are under the most solemn obligation to improve it to His glory. Of no talent He has given will He require a more strict account than of our time.

The value of time is beyond computation. Christ regarded every moment as precious, and it is thus that we should regard it. Life is too short to be trifled away. We have but a few days of probation in which to prepare for eternity....

The human family have scarcely begun to live when they begin to die, and the world’s incessant labor ends in nothingness unless a true knowledge in regard to eternal life is gained. The man who appreciates time as his working day will fit himself for a mansion and for a life that is immortal. It is well that he was born....

Life is too solemn to be absorbed in temporal and earthly matters, in a treadmill of care and anxiety for the things that are but an atom in comparison with the things of eternal interest. Yet God has called us to serve Him in the temporal affairs of life. Diligence in this work is as much a part of true religion as is devotion. The Bible gives no endorsement to idleness. It is the greatest curse that afflicts our world. Every man and woman who is truly converted will be a diligent worker.

****The moments are freighted with eternal consequences. [116]

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In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. Psalm 102:25, NIV.

In the beginning, God was revealed in all the works of creation. It was Christ that spread the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth. It was His hand that hung the worlds in space, and fashioned the flowers of the field. “His strength setteth fast the mountains.” “The sea is his, and he made it” (Psalm 65:6; 95:5). It was He that filled the earth with beauty, and the air with song. And upon all things in earth, and air, and sky, He wrote the messages of the Father’s love.

Now sin has marred God’s perfect work, yet that handwriting remains. Even now all created things declare the glory of His excellence. There is nothing, save the selfish heart of man, that lives unto itself. No bird that cleaves the air, no animal that moves upon the ground, but ministers to some other life. There is no leaf of the forest, or lowly blade of grass, but has its ministry. Every tree and shrub and leaf pours forth that element of life without which neither man nor animal could live; and man and animal, in turn, minister to the life of tree and shrub and leaf. The flowers breathe fragrance and unfold their beauty in blessing to the world. The sun sheds its light to gladden a thousand worlds. The ocean, itself the source of all our springs and fountains, receives the streams from every land, but takes to give. The mists ascending from its bosom fall in showers to water the earth, that it may bring forth and bud.

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Add To Temperance Patience

Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. James 1:4

“And to knowledge, temperance.” This is the third step in the path toward perfection of character. On every side there is indulgence and dissipation, and the result is degeneration and corruption. The inhabitants of our earth are depreciating in mental, moral, and physical power, because of the intemperate habits of society. Appetite, passion, and love of display are carrying the multitudes into the greatest excesses and extravagance.... The people of God must take an opposite course from the world. They must take up the warfare against these sinful practices, deny appetite, and keep the lower nature in subjection.... It is for us to “search the Scriptures,” and bring our habits into harmony with the instruction of the Bible....

“And to temperance, patience.” The need of becoming temperate is made manifest as we try to take this step. It is next to an impossibility for an intemperate person to be patient.

Some of us have a nervous temperament, and are naturally as quick as a flash to think and to act; but let no one think that he cannot learn to become patient. Patience is a plant that will make rapid growth if carefully cultivated. By becoming thoroughly acquainted with ourselves, and then combining with the grace of God a firm determination on our part, we may be conquerors, and become perfect in all things, wanting in nothing.

Patience pours the balm of peace and love into the experiences of the home life.... Patience will seek for unity in the church, in the family, and in the community. This grace must be woven into our lives. [98]

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Where Is God?

Do you feel spiritually dead? Are you questioning, “Where is God?” When you feel He is distant and you can’t seem to hear Him, ask Jesus to come into your heart and remove anything that is standing between you and Him. There are no perfect people in this world. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It is because of sin that we need a Savior. John 3:16 declares, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” If it were not for Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary all would be lost, and because Jesus paid the price for our sins, He also has the power to forgive us our sins. It’s important to remember that sin will always separate you from God. Whatever unconfessed sin you are harboring–make it right. Keeping hatred, anger, bitterness, or any other sin in your heart will only drive you further away from God. Remember that Jesus and hate cannot live in the same heart, so if you are wanting a close relationship with Jesus, first you must get rid of all the sin and ugliness that’s keeping you from Him. When you do, you’ll feel like a whole new person! The weight will be lifted from your shoulders, and your heart will sing with gladness. Whatever is troubling you, don’t let it keep building up until everything seems hopeless and you sink deeper into despair. God wants you to be happy. The Bible says in John 10:10, ” I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” And in Jeremiah 29:11, we are reassured, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” You can always count on this: when God seems distant, it will never be because He has turned His back on you. People leave God, but God never leaves His children. You can claim God’s promise in Hebrews 13:5: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Isaiah 59:2 KJV - But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid [his] face from you, that he will not hear. Romans 5:8 KJV - But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Hebrews 7:25 KJV - Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Jeremiah 24:6-7 KJV - For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull [them] down; and I will plant them, and not pluck [them] up. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I [am] the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

source: © Brenda Walsh Ministries www.brendawalsh.com

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Seasons of Life

Our journey here on earth is like the seasons, representing the different phases of our lives. Spring represents birth and the innocence of everything new. Summer is filled with the vitality and naivety of youth, with hopes, dreams, and the pursuit of life at its fullest. Then it seems we quietly slip into fall, with confidence from lessons learned, knowledge to approach challenges more realistically, and feeling a sense of urgency to accomplish our goals. Then, all too quickly, winter is upon us. Our hair reflects the fallen snow, we move a little slower, feel the aches and pains of aging, and still can’t comprehend how quickly we’ve become the “older folks” we never thought we’d be. Our thoughts will take us to the things we wish we had done, wanted to do, and even regrets of what we did do. But all too soon winter will come to an end, and only what is done for Christ will last. Now is the time to determine what mark you will leave on this earth, for whatever you want to accomplish in life – do it quickly. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today – for how you live today will determine whether or not you will live forever with Jesus. Choose to live a godly life, sewing seeds of kindness and sharing God’s love in every season so that you’ll be prepared for eternal life in heaven

1 John 1:9 KJV - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Hebrews 10:22 KJV - Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Romans 2:15 KJV - Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and [their] thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) Acts 23:1 KJV - And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men [and] brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.