Put a Knife to Your Throat

When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what is before you,
and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.
Do not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
                      ~Proverbs 23:1-3 ESV

Someone might read these words of wisdom and think, "I'll be careful next time I sit down to eat with a ruler.  Not going to happen any time soon.  It's not like the Queen of England or POTUS will invite me to tea at Buckingham Palace or the White House."

 EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU EAT,

   YOU SIT DOWN WITH A RULER.

You are a slave.  I know it is hard for some people to comprehend, but the Bible is clear in Romans 6: You are either a slave to righteousness, serving Christ, or a slave to sin, serving Satan.  You may not know it.  You may not believe it.  It's true, nonetheless.  Read Matt Slick's article, The Methodology of Satan, to understand more.

So, when you sit down to eat, you sit down with a Ruler.

The question is, which Ruler are you thinking about as you observe what is before you on the table?

Daniel was offered all sorts of delicacies, but he resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food.  He paid no attention to the King of Babylon.  He was thinking about the King of Kings.

Every time I sit down to eat, I resolve to think about my Ruler.  It is a battle I must wage in my mind.  I've struggled with weight issues all of my life, from the time I was about 14 years old.  A broken leg left me immobile for weeks, and I gained about 30 pounds.  Since then, my weight has been an issue.

A few years ago I lost nearly 50 lbs, and kept most of it off for a couple of years.  It slowly started to pile back on and I was thinking I'd have to do something about it, then I broke three bones in my foot.  Three months later I am sitting here with an extra 30 lbs.  I can blame the broken bones, the wheelchair, the lack of activity... but the truth is, I should have paid attention.   I should have made wiser choices, knowing that this would be a struggle.  I chose to ignore the tighter clothes, the flabby belly - I chose the excuses (It's Christmas!) and refused to face reality.

I chose to ignore the voice of my Saviour.  I wanted to eat those delicacies.

I Chose to Pay NO Attention to His Voice

Listen with undivided attention!

I know I can pay no attention to my King, and succumb to the wiles of the prince of this world, who seeks only to destroy my health and my testimony.  His food is deceptive food - designed to kill.  "Just a little tasty treat," he hisses.  "You can diet tomorrow.  You know it tastes really good.  And after all, God made all things, so this is His gift."   His words are twisted lies.

My Lord Jesus only wants what is best for me.

I am His slave, and He loves me.  He wants me to hear His voice, and He wants to give me life and health and strength to serve my husband and family at home.  He wants me to learn to mortify the flesh and exercise self-control.  He wants me to stop making excuses.

Dear Lord Jesus, Ruler of my Heart,
Teach me to put a knife to my throat in the face of my enemies - lust, appetite, delicacies, driving desires.  You fasted for 40 days and nights in the wilderness.  Teach me how to deny myself.  Help me to resist the devil so that he will flee from me.  Keep my heart and mind turned toward You, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. I want to keep my eyes on You, to keep my ears tuned to Your voice, to listen to You with my whole heart and with undivided attention.  May it be, dear Lord.  Amen.

Confessions

I've been away.

Away from my blog.

Away from my Bible.

Away from my Bible Notebook, from early morning musings, from meditation and prayer.

I've been busy.

And I don't know where the last week went to. 

I do know that I started a new eating protocol in an attempt to take off the excess pounds that have been affecting my life, my energy, my joints.  The accident I experienced four years ago left me in enough pain that I did a lot more sitting and a lot less moving, and I gained weight.  Lots of weight.

Since then, I've worked at shedding 45 pounds; but over Christmas, it snuck back on, slowly but surely, until I ended up within 30 lbs of my highest weight.  Ugh.

My daughter told me about a medical protocol for re-adjusting the hypothalmus, which controls the three forms of fat in the body.  She was having great results, but I balked at it.  I didn't want to go on a low calorie diet.  I didn't want to have to give up cream in my coffee, or my relaxing glass of red wine in the evening.  I didn't want to have to stop frying my eggs in butter or snacking if I felt like it.  I stomped my feet (virtually, not in reality) and stubbornly refused to even consider it.

In the Providence of God, our church is studying a book on Spiritual Disciplines. One of the chapter was on fasting.  It makes the point that fasting IS a Spiritual Discipline.  Jesus fasted.  Great men and women of God fasted.  They did it for a purpose, for their own souls to draw closer to God, or for heightened awareness of God in prayer.  Some, like John Wesley and David Brainerd, fasted weekly.  Others fasted rarely... but always for a purpose.

Another thing that was discussed was the fact that fasting can be from all food, or from food and water, or from certain foods.  It can be for a short time (missing one meal) or for an extended time. 

I thought about that a lot.   The Holy Spirit kept prompting me, reminding me, whispering to me... "why not consider this very low calorie diet as a time to break free from the habit of eating whenever you want to?  Why not break free from the selfishness you have exhibited?  Why not give up delicious things for an even better reward - a body that is fit for service, and an attitude that is free from the bondage of having to eat lots of food, on time, many times per day?"

It was a struggle, but I gave in.

When I did, to my surprise, some family members joined me on this journey.  What a blessing it's been to see the pounds drop off!  More than that, what a blessing it's been to realize that I don't have to be controlled by food.  I can control myself by exercising the gift of self-control!

So, I've been busy learning.  I've been reading and counting calories and weighing grams and studying protocols.  I've been measuring and planning and preparing food for myself and the others who have joined me on this journey.  I am so proud of them!

Here's a website where you can learn more, if you struggle with the same issues.  We've lost a family total of 54 lbs so far.  More to follow. 

I'll be back tomorrow, Lord willing.

Back to my Bible.

Back to my Bible Notebook.

Back to my meditations and ponderings and blogging. 

See you then! 

All Good.

No sign of any cancer in my dear husband.

What a mercy!

I didn't realize how uptight I was about it until Rick told me the good news.  The weight that lifted off my shoulders was palpable.

He has to go back for a re-check in three months, poor guy.  But so far, so good.

Tumour

Just a tumour. Or two, or three. A scope revealed that the bleeding my husband has been experiencing is due to some tumours where there ought not to be tumours.

"We'll take them out," the doctor said.

"Then we'll check again. You'll have to come in every three months or so..."

So, what do I say when my world comes crashing down?

What time I am afraid, I will trust in you.

And what do I do when I find out that my worst case scenario is happening?

I nag. "Don't smoke. No sugar for you. Drink lots of water with lemon."

Sigh.

I trust. Yes I do. But I'm gonna be nagging, too.

Vitamin D - Essential for your health!

I am convinced that this is an important message. Get the word out, people! If only one death is prevented, then it's worth it.

For more information, go to Dr. Mercola's website.

The Truth About the Flu Shot

The Truth About the Flu Shot
Sherri Tenpenny, DO
July 17, 2009

What's in the regular flu shot?

Egg protein and avian contaminant viruses
Thimerosal (mercury): in multi-dose vials
Polysorbate 80: allergen; infertility in mice
Formaldehyde: carcinogen
Triton X100: detergent
Sucrose: table sugar
Resin: known allergen
Gentamycin: antibiotic
Gelatin: known allergen

Do flu shots work?

Not in healthy babies: A review of 51 studies involving more than 294,000
children it was found there was "no evidence that injecting children 6-24
months of age with a flu shot was any more effective than placebo. In
children over 2 yrs, it was only effective 33% of the time in preventing the
flu. Reference: "Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children." The
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2 (2008).

Not in children with asthma: A study 800 children with asthma, half were
vaccinated and the other half did not receive the influenza vaccine. The two
groups were compared with respect to clinic visits, emergency department
(ED) visits, and hospitalizations for asthma. CONCLUSION: This study failed
to provide evidence that the influenza vaccine prevents pediatric asthma
exacerbations. Reference: "Effectiveness of influenza vaccine for the
prevention of asthma exacerbations." Christly, C. et al. Arch Dis Child.
2004 Aug;89(8):734-5.

Not in children with asthma (2): "The inactivated flu vaccine, Flumist, does
not prevent influenza-related hospitalizations in children, especially the
ones with asthma.In fact, children who get the flu vaccine are more at risk
for hospitalization than children who do not get the vaccine." Reference:
The American Thoracic Society's 105th International Conference, May 15-20,
2009, San Diego.

Not in adults: In a review of 48 reports (more than 66,000 adults),
"Vaccination of healthy adults only reduced risk of influenza by 6% and
reduced the number of missed work days by less than one day (0.16) days. It
did not change the number of people needing to go to hospital or take time
off work." Reference: "Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults."
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 1 (2006).

Not in the Elderly: In a review of 64 studies over 98 flu seasons of elderly
living in nursing homes, flu shots were non-significant for preventing the
flu. For elderly living in the community, vaccines were not (significantly)
effective against influenza, ILI or pneumonia. Reference: "Vaccines for
preventing influenza in the elderly." The Cochrane Database of Systematic
Reviews. 3(2006).

What about the new Swine Flu vaccine?

Some of the new H1N1 (swine flu) vaccines are going to be made by Novartis.
These shots will probably be made in PER.C6 cells (human retina cells) and
contain MF59, a potentially debilitating adjuvant. MF-59 is an oil-based
adjuvant primarily composed of squalene. All rats injected with squalene
(oil) adjuvants developed a disease that left them crippled, dragging their
paralyzed hindquarters across their cages. Injected squalene can cause
severe arthritis (3 on scale of 4) and severe immune responses, such as
autoimmune arthritis and lupus. Reference (1): Kenney, RT. Edleman, R.
"Survey of human-use adjuvants." Expert Review of Vaccines. 2 (2003) p171.
Reference (2): Matsumoto, Gary. Vaccine A: The Covert Government Experiment
That's Killing Our Soldiers and Why GI's Are Only the First Victims of this
Vaccine. New York: Basic Books. p54.

Federal health officials are starting to recommend that most Americans get
three flu shots this fall: one regular flu shot and two doses of the vaccine
made against the new swine flu strain. School children who have never had a
flu shot are targeted for four shots in the fall - twice for seasonal flu,
twice for pandemic swine flu. (July 15, 2009 news). HHS Secretary Kathleen
Sebelius has been talking to school superintendents around the country,
urging them to make plans to use buildings for mass vaccinations and for
vaccinating kids first. (CBS News, June 12, 2009.)

What can you do? You can't do it all, but you can do something!

Give this information to everyone you know and love, especially church
members, social groups, school teachers and administrators, and first
responders (EMTs, Paramedics, Firemen, etc). Contact your local police,
sheriff, city council members, county commissioners and chamber of commerce.
Discuss your concerns about forced vaccinations. Their support is important
to maintain your right to refuse.

Email or fax this information to local TV and radio stations. Call or fax to
your State and National political representatives.

Connect with other activist organizations - those who support 2nd amendment
issues, the environment and animal rights. Help spread the word about their
passion and get them involved with yours.

Write a small article for LOCAL, community newspapers. Watch for samples on
www.PandemicFluOnline.com

Check out www.oathkeepers.org. Share this with your local law and military
folks. A pdf for easy printing is available on www.DrTenpenny.com

Have at least 3 weeks of food and water on hand; be prepared to voluntarily
self-quarantine.

Stock up on Vitamin D3 (3000 IU per person), Vitamin A, Vitamin C, fish oil,
and zinc.

As stated years ago by Margaret Mead, "Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only
thing that ever has."

Dr. Tenpenny Vaccine Information Center: www.drtenpenny.com