To love as Christ loved is not a matter of emotion but a matter of resolution to do whatever is in the best interest of the person.

            This may mean applauding good behavior.  Jesus applauded the faith of the centurion and the sacrifice of the woman with the alabaster bottle (Matt. 8:5-10; 26:6-13).  Christlike love applauds good behavior.

            At the same time, Christlike love refuses to endorse misbehavior.  Jesus loved the woman who was caught in adultery, but he didn’t dismiss her sin (John 8:2-11).  Jesus loved his apostles, but he wasn’t’ silent when they were faithless (Matt. 8:23-26.  Jesus loved the people in the temple, but he didn’t sit still when they were hypocritical (John 2:14-16).  Love does whatever is in the best interest of a person.

            The teenager says to his parents, “If you loved me, you’d let me come in as late as I want.”  That’s a lie.  Love does whatever is in the best interest of a person.  Love sets curfews.

            The cheating husband says to his wife, “If you loved me, you’d forget what has happened and let me come home.”  That may not be true.  Love does what is in the best interest of a person.  Love sets boundaries and seeks counsel.

            The needy person says, “If the church loved me, it would pay all my bills.”  That may not be true.  It might be more loving to provide a job for that person rather than give money to him.

            The love of Christ is no sweet sentiment but rather a heartfelt resolve to do what is in the best interest of another person.  Sometimes that means cleansing a temple.  Other times that means dying on a cross.”  Max on Life p. 52 by Max Lucado, Thomas Nelson

Peppers: Regardless of their exterior, all bell peppers share a healthy dose of fiber, a hallmark of their characteristic crunch, which helps lower cholesterol and ward off colon cancer.  They also offer a wealth of vitamin B6 and folic acid, thought to protect blood vessels from damage by reducing levels of homocysteine in the body.  Plentiful A and C vitamins boost immunity and guard against a range of ailments, including heart disease diabetes, arthritis and risks associated

with smoking such as emphysema.

Be healthy and be happy

            “I’ve learned you can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk” (age 7).

            “I’ve learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they’re doing and wave back” (age 9).

            “I’ve learned that if I want to cheer myself up, I should try cheering someone else up” (age 13).

            “I’ve learned that although it’s hard to admit it, I’m secretly glad my parents are strict with me” (age 15).

            “I’ve learned that wherever I go, the world’s worst drivers have followed me there” (age 29).

            “I’ve learned that the greater a person’s sense of guilt, the greater his need to cast blame on others” (age 46).

            “I’ve learned that children and grandparents are natural allies” (age 46).

            “I’ve learned that singing ‘Amazing Grace’ can lift my spirits for hours (age 49).

            “I’ve learned that motel mattresses are better on the side away from the phone” (age 50).

            “I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a man by the way he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights” (age 52).

            “I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you miss them terribly after they die” (age 53).

            “I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life” (age 58).

            “I’ve learned you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands.  You need to be able to throw something back” (age 64).

            “I’ve learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you.  But if you focus on your family, the needs of others, your work, meeting new people, and doing the very best you can—happiness will find you” (age 65).

            “I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one” (age 82).

            “I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone (age 85).

            “I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn” (age 90).

            Some choice wisdom there, don’t you think?  Wisdom informs us of the best way to do life.

            The best for last: “I’ve learned that everyone can use a prayer” (age 72).”

            “My best teachers have been folk who don’t necessarily park lots of initials after their names.  They’re ordinary wayfarers with extraordinary wisdom.”  Out of the Hot Tub, Into the World pp 90-92 by Karl Haffner, Pacific Press Publishing Association

Flaxseeds: “Reduces attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by protecting neurons; rich source of omega-protection from cognitive decline and depression; decreases severity of autoimmune diseases; and promotes bone health.”   Full Plate Diet

Be healthy and be happy,

            I knew what it meant to fear God, and I understood the importance of serving him.  I expected one day to stand under his judgment, and I believed it was my duty to obey his commandments.  But one thing was sorely lacking in my Christian experience: any real understanding of the close relationship God wishes to have with his children.

            In college I met a professor who amazed me.  He would sometimes talk about his relationship with Jesus Christ as though he had just had lunch with him.  He seemed to be able to relate to Jesus as to a friend or brother, having relaxed conversations with him.

            I couldn’t understand that type of relationship with the “immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible hid from our eyes”—but I wanted it.  And so I started hanging around the professor after class until one day I got up the courage to ask, “How do you seem to know Christ in a way that I don’t?”

            His answer clicked in my mind: “Maybe you understand Jesus only as the forgiver of your sins.”

            The professor was right.  A few years earlier I had admitted my sinfulness and recognized my need for a Savior.  I had bowed the knee to Christ, and he had cleansed me.  Grateful for his grace in my life, I had been praying, “O Lord, thank you for dying on the cross to forgive my sins.”

            Besides relating to Jesus as forgiver, I also related to him as Lord of my life.  But I didn’t yet understand the whole dimension of relating to him as he asked us to in John 15:15: “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

            “If Jesus were to explain this verse to you personally,” the professor told me, “this is what he might say: ‘I want to relate to you as your forgiver and Lord, but I also want to be your friend.  I want our conversations to bring you comfort. . . .  I want you to know you’re never alone. . . .  I want you to discover my presence in your daily life.’”            Too Busy Not to Pray pp 170-172 by Bill Hybels, Inter Varsity Press

Broccoli: Prevents anemia by enhancing the absorption of iron from other foods.  California and Arizona grow 99% of the US broccoli crop.  One cup cooked supplies 5 grams of dietary fiber, 55 calories, 1 gram fat.

Be healthy and be happy,

About A.D. 400, Bishop Ambrose taught, “This helping of the Spirit is very emphatic in the original; as a man taking up a heavy piece of timber by the one end cannot get it up till some other man takes it up at the other end. . . .  The Spirit of God comes at the other end, and takes the heaviest end of the burden, and so helps the soul to lift it up.”

The apostles were not outstandingly men of prayer until Pentecost.  J. Stuart Holden [says] that being filled with the Spirit is “the only secret of a real prayer life.”

Sometimes [God] draws you to prayer by showing you how great is some need and how helpless you are to meet that need.  Sometimes He draws you by giving you a vision of all God longs to do.  Only the Spirit can convey to you the heartbeat of God, the priority of God, or the spiritual battle in which He calls you to fight.

            You do not know when some friend or loved one is in need of your prayer, is facing danger, is ill, is facing temptation, or is seeking an urgent answer from God in which he or she needs your prayer partnership.  But the all-knowing Spirit can call you to fix that person upon your mind so that through the Spirit you know you are to pray.

            Thank God, you can depend on the Spirit to give you desires, drawing, and hunger to pray at the very time your prayer is strategic to the advance of Christ’s kingdom.

            Says James McConkey, “Never disobey this drawing of the Spirit to prayer.  It is a special call of God to the individual who is conscious of it. . . .  Tremendous issues may hang upon obedience to that call to prayer.”  It is always tragic to neglect prayer, but it is doubly so when the Spirit thus calls you.  Some person in a crisis may need your prayer just then, or some danger may be averted if you pray just then.  Often only eternity will cast full light on the importance of obeying such a call to prayer.”  Mighty Prevailing Prayer pp 111-114 by Wesley L. Duewell, Francis Asbury Press

“Nearly all pizzas at restaurants or in frozen food sections are made with processed grains, contain no fiber, and are usually high in fat and sodium.  Good Foods from Your Store: Whole Foods 365 Organic Whole Wheat Pizza Crust; Boboli 100% Whole Wheat Pizza Crust; Trader Joe’s Tabula Grain Crust.  Pizza sauces, Eden Organic Pizza Pasta Sauce; Green Mill Classic Pizza Sauce; Ragu Pizza Sauce—Homemade Style.”  The Full Plate Diet 

Fun Facts: Americans eat 350 slices of pizza every second; that’s 100 acres of pizza a day.

Be healthy and be happy,

            The most straightforward answer to this perplexing question is “I don’t know.”  I wish—desperately so—that every single person who sought Healing Prayer were instantaneously and totally healed.  But it simply does not happen that way.  Some are, and we thank God.  Many others evidence substantial improvement, though not total healing.

            As Kenneth Swanson reminds us, “We all live in a fallen world, where illness, suffering, and pain are part of the fabric of existence.”

            Sometimes we make a faulty diagnosis of the problem and pray, for example, for physical healing when the real need is for emotional healing.  Sometimes we neglect the natural means of health such as diet and exercise and sleep.  Sometimes we refuse to see medicine as one way God heals.  Sometimes we do not pray specifically enough or do not get down to the root problem. . . .  The sad fact is that sometimes we stand face to face with one for whom we have prayed and he or she is not well.

            What are we to do?  Well, first of all, let me tell you what we are not to do.  Under no circumstance are we to tell those receiving prayer that it’s their fault: that they lack faith, or that there must be some sin in them that is hindering the prayer, or any such thing.  This will only redouble the burden they must carry. 

            The one thing we are to do is show compassion.  Always!  The Gospel writers frequently mention that Jesus was “filled with compassion.” . . .  In one story a leper came to Jesus, begging to be healed.  When Jesus looked at the leper, he was moved with compassion. . . .  Jesus could have kept his distance and commanded the man to be well, but instead he touched him.  Jesus’ touch of compassion was comparable to our taking hold of a person with AIDS, stopping the bleeding with our bare hands, and putting our own life in jeopardy.  This is the compassion of Jesus.”  Prayer Finding the Heart’s True Home pp 206-208 by Richard J. Foster, Harper San Francisco

Sunflower Seeds: alleviate severity and frequency of hot flashes in menopausal women; reduces risk of colon cancer.

Fun Facts:  “Native Americans used the seeds as a snack, pounded them into meal, cooked them as a mash, and used them to make bread.  The Russians remain the world’s top producer of the seeds to this day.”  The Full Plate Diet

Be healthy and be happy

            One of the most intimate teachings He gave to the disciples was about the abiding relationship of the vine and the branches.  Listen carefully to our source of joy:

            I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. . . .  As the Father loves Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.  These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.  (John 15:5, 9-11)

            This is the abiding relationship with Christ that brings His joy into our lives.  Joy flows through Him into us.

            There’s not a way in the world you can know the joy of the Lord without abiding in Him.  That requires time with Him; it necessitates a diligent prayer life.  You cannot abide in Him without talking with Him and listening to Him.

            He doesn’t just give you joy; He is your joy.  If you ever become “detached” from the vine, you’ll automatically wither and lose your joy.  You cannot produce such joy on your own any more than a branch that has been cut off can produce fruit on its own.  Instead, quite the opposite happens.  You become brittle, dry, and hard.  You lose the life that produces fruit.

            Joy is fruit of the abiding relationship with Christ.

            Paul said, “We know that all things work together for good to t hose who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).  This verse doesn’t say, “All things work out just like we want them to.”  But it reminds us that God is in control.  God is fulfilling His purposes in our lives.  We can have joy because we trust that God’s will for our lives is best.”  Experiencing the Resurrection pp143, 145 by Henry & Melvin Blackaby, Multnomah Books

Good Foods from your Store: Arrowhead Mills Organic Buckwheat Pancake & Waffle Mix, 1/3 cup, 7 grams of fiber.  Arrowhead Mills Organic Oat Bran Pancake & Waffle Mix.

Fun Facts: In 1561, competition between waffle sellers became so heated that King Charles IX of France made a law requiring them to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from one another.  Thomas Jefferson brought a waffle iron home from France in 1789.  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that pancakes and waffles are good.”  Full Plate Diet

Be healthy and be happy,

Lorraine

            The answers to these questions are yes, people act crazy when they have no godly wisdom; and no, the godless are unable to weigh the consequences of what they are doing.  They do foolish things because they have no sense of what is right.  The description of a fool is a person who cannot see the consequences of his behavior. . . .  Wisdom and understanding of the consequences of our actions come from having a fear of God.

Having the fear of God means you have such a love and reverence for God that you are afraid of what life would be like without Him.

Some people believe there is no God.  Others think there might be a God, but they refuse to acknowledge Him in their lives because they certainly don’t want Him telling them how to live.  They want to do what they want to do.  This is what the Bible says about such people, “There is none who seeks after God.  They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. . . .  Destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known.  There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:11-12, 16-18).

In contrast to that, having the fear of the Lord causes a person to do the opposite.  It causes them to seek God and His truth, to do what’s right, to promote life, to build up and not tear down, to bring peace, and to run from evil.

We live in a culture that can be poisonous.  God’s ways are mocked and sin is glorified.  All we have to do in order to slide backward is do nothing.  We don’t have to seek out evil; it seeks us out.  Evil presents itself, and we have to choose to turn away from it.   We have to turn away from ungodliness and turn toward God.  We must ask the Lord to put godly fear in our hearts to keep us on the right path.  “I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My heart in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me” (Jeremiah 32:40).

We have to say, “Lord, put Your fear in my heart so that I will not depart from You in any way.”  The Power of a Praying Life pp 95, 96 by Stormie Omartian, Harvest House Publishers

Make an effort to eat foods that don’t come prepackaged or prepared.  Read the nutrition labels on the packaged foods you do eat so you can learn more about the food’s sodium and fat content, as well as the many ingredients that are contained in the packaged foods. If you can’t pronounce the ingredients on the label, chances are the food is not your best choice nutritionally.

Be healthy and be happy,

Lorraine

            His word tells us that everyone inherently has knowledge of two things: that He exists and that there are moral principles.  Furthermore, the Bible goes on to tell us that we have all fallen short of God’s perfect standards.  This sin, to use God’s terminology, has short-circuited our relationship with our Creator.  A holy and just God cannot allow sin in His presence.  However, rather than leave us in this predicament of separation from Him, the Father designed a plan of reconciliation—He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the price for our transgressions.

            This plan is the plan that we need to share with our children, and prayer is its foundation.  Through it we embrace God’s provision of salvation through Jesus Christ.  The significance of Jesus cannot be underestimated.  As He said Himself, “I am the way the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).  In addition, the apostle Peter said, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).  Children must be given this understanding from an early age.

            Realize that God is more concerned about your child’s eternal destiny and happiness than you are.  “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise . . . He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

            Beforehand, pray specifically that God will give you insights and wisdom in dealing with each child on his maturity level.

            Deal with each child alone and don’t be in a hurry.  Make sure he understands.  Discuss.  Take your time.

            When drawing children to Himself, Jesus said allow them to come to Him.  Only with adults did He use the term compel.  Do not compel children.  See Mark 10:14 and Luke 14:23.

            Remember that unless God Himself is speaking through the Holy Spirit to the child, there will be no genuine heart experience of regeneration. . . .  Look at God’s character—He is love! . . .  Wait on God’s timing.  Pray, with faith, believing.”  The Power of Family Prayer pp 19, 20, National Day of Prayer Task Force

Watermelon is rich in the B vitamins necessary for energy production. Watermelon is a very good source of vitamin B6 and a good source of vitamin B1, magnesium, and potassium. Part of this high ranking was due to the higher nutrient richness of watermelon. A whole cup of watermelon contains only 48 calories; it delivers more nutrients per calorie—an outstanding health benefit.