Christian Natural Health

This retelling comes from Genesis 37, 39-45, and it appears in Blood Covenant Origins: Biblical Retellings.  Introduction:  Joseph is one of my favorite biblical characters; he’s such a great example of faith. It took thirteen years for his reversal of fortune to finally occur, and another nine years after that for the complete fulfillment of God’s promise to him. Yet if he ever wavered in his faith that God would fulfill what He showed him in his two dreams, we have no record of it. This is even more incredible when you consider that Joseph had no written scriptures to cling to like we do. He wouldn’t have even had an oral tradition of previous faith heroes similar to himself. While Abraham his grandfather had to wait 25 years for the promised child, the circumstances had little in common with Joseph’s own circumstances. He couldn’t read about the 13-17 years between King David’s anointing and when he finally became king, for instance. Moses had not yet written Deuteronomy, telling him all the blessings he could expect if he remained faithful to the Lord. All Joseph had to go on were two cryptic dreams… but it was enough. It’s fitting that the first dream showed his brothers’ sheaves of grain bowing down to his, considering it was the famine and grain distribution that propelled him to second in command of Egypt in the end.  The one charge leveled against Joseph by some is that he started out arrogant: after all, what was he thinking, telling his brothers (whom he knew already envied him, due to his father’s blatant favoritism) that God had told him he would rule over them? Maybe this was arrogance, or at best, a decided lack of wisdom. He was only seventeen at the time, after all. Also, with the exception of the death of his mother when Benjamin was born, Joseph had presumably lived a charmed life: the coat of many colors that Jacob had given him was the attire of a great landowner, even though Joseph was the second youngest of twelve brothers. (Pretty foolish of Jacob, too.) It’s no wonder this galled them. Even so, their response to him shows how evil his brothers were, at that point. Had they not sold Joseph into slavery, they very well might have killed him—that was what they meant to do at first, after all. Despite this, despite slavery and then imprisonment, God said Joseph was prosperous and successful (Genesis 39:2-3, 23). Even though Joseph himself was not paid for any of his work, the blessing of the Lord was upon him, and therefore his master got blessed because of him. This is an interesting concept, that the overflow of God’s blessing upon us (Deuteronomy 28:2) can affect those around us who just happen to be in the way—including our bosses in this case, or our families as well (1 Corinthians 7:14).  Joseph also happened to be very handsome (Genesis 39:6)—ordinarily a blessing, but under the circumstances it was a curse, as he drew the eye of Potiphar’s wife. If she was this aggressive, probably this wasn't the first time she had cheated on Potiphar. I suspect that the other servants, and maybe even Potiphar himself could compare what they knew of her and what they knew of Joseph and deduce the truth. But if Potiphar did not choose to believe Joseph, what could the other servants do? And wouldn’t it have disrupted Potiphar’s life more to have believed Joseph? He surely couldn’t have kept Joseph in his house with his wife; he had to get rid of one of them. So in my retelling, I assumed that Potiphar’s pride forced him to believe his wife, even though deep down he knew the truth. I would imagine that if he had truly believed his wife’s accusation, he would have had Joseph killed, rather than merely thrown into prison.  So Joseph started out with two dreams of greatness, which led directly to his being sold into slavery for a decade (deduced from his age at the time he was sold, the number of years he was in prison, and his age when he was finally promoted). At the end of the decade, Joseph refused to commit... Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: Health Benefits of Quercetin. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today's podcast is a meditation on the letters to the seven churches of Revelation 2-3 Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Justin Frandson is an Athleticism Performance Coach that has worked with amateur and professional athletes for over the past two decades. He saw his athlete breaking down from the excessive levels of EMF from their SMART watches, wireless earbuds, and electric cars. He has tested hundreds of homes and clients. He sells the Grounding and Faraday Bags at doctor  clinics throughout the country. The Grounding Bags are hand-mined crystals with moisture and magnetic properties to ground and repel EMF, all for a deeper night's sleep. This is Mother Nature's way of protecting us from the excess rollout of man-made radiation, not a man-made device attempting to keep up with the other man-made levels. To learn more about Justin, see athleticism.com or EMFRocks.com Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today's podcast is a meditation and retelling of 1 Samuel 8-10.   Introduction How disappointing for God. He had chosen this nation, and had a special relationship with them, promising nothing but blessings galore (Deuteronomy 28), if only they would obey Him. He always intended to lead them personally, through one judge as His liaison. He knew they wouldn’t be faithful to Him, but I doubt that made it any less heartbreaking when time and time again, the people abandoned Him and worshipped false gods. He was covenant-bound to withdraw from them when this happened, leaving them open to the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy. When they’d had enough finally, the people would cry out and God would send the deliverer who was to be their next judge—whoever was the best option He had at the time.   Samuel had been one of the good judges, and perhaps it wouldn’t have ended as it did if his sons had been like him. It is strange that Samuel thought his sons would succeed him though, since God’s judges were never meant to be a dynasty. Presumably Samuel also knew of his son’s shortcomings.    It’s very clear in this story that God didn’t think a king was a good idea, and took it as a personal rejection (Hosea 13:11). Yet He granted what the people wanted anyway. It’s interesting how often in Old Testament stories God gives the people what they demand, even though He knows it isn’t for the best. God chose to make creatures with free will, and because of it, God rarely gets His first choice. I’m thinking of the story of Balaam: God told him not to go with Balak’s messengers the first two times he asked. Balaam should have left it at that, instead of pressing God to give in! But, Balaam wanted financial gain, just as the Israelites wanted to govern themselves rather than having to rely on God. Moses also permitted divorce, even though Jesus said that wasn’t God’s first choice either (Matthew 19:8). God gave the people what they asked for, consequences and all.   At the same time, I have to wonder whether the Israelites’ desire for a king was somehow premature. Saul reigned for forty years, Acts 13:21, and David began to rule when he was thirty years old, just after Saul’s death, 2 Samuel 5:4. That means David wasn’t even born until the tenth year of Saul’s reign, though God began to look for a “man after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14) in the second year of Saul’s reign. Saul’s beginning was certainly less than illustrious, and we can see seeds of the cause of his downfall, insecurity and fear of man, from the very beginning. It almost seems like Saul was just a placeholder, until David was old enough to be anointed and trained up in the “school of hard knocks,” as it were, to become ready for the throne.    That said, it’s interesting how God used natural circumstances (Saul’s father lost his donkeys and had sent him and a servant to look for them) to bring Saul and Samuel together. Samuel’s prophetic insight to set aside the best cut of meat, expecting Saul to show up the next day, surely primed Saul to accept Samuel’s proclamation that he would become king. God knew that a man like Saul wouldn’t just believe such a word; he would need to be convinced. Then Samuel gave him a number of other confirmatory events to look for in the subsequent seven days, so that he would be ready for the big “reveal” of the man God had anointed a week later. Unfortunately, Samuel’s presentation fell flat when their new king was literally hiding among the baggage. Presumably his absurd behavior was why some of the men of Israel despised him. Shortly after this, God used an attack from their enemies as a means to galvanize Israel to fight under Saul’s leadership (1 Samuel 11). Thus Saul redeemed himself, earning a new and better coronation.    Yet only a year later, in the second year of Saul’s reign, Saul disobeyed God for the first time, causing God to proclaim through Samuel that God would take the kingdom away from Saul and give it to a “man after His... Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today's podcast comes from this blog post: The Toxic Effects of Glyphosate. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today's blog review comes from this blog post: Fiber and the Benefits of Butyrate. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Today's podcast is a meditation on the story of the Israelites' first attempt to take the Promised land from Numbers 13-14, when they finally went in and did it from Joshua 1-6, when Caleb took the mountain in Joshua 14, and the writer of Hebrews' reflection on what this means for us from Hebrews 4. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Dr. Eric Zielinski is the author of the bestselling primer on using essential oils for general health, The Healing Power of Essential Oils, which is in 8 languages worldwide. Together, he and Sabrina Ann Zielinski run the top health website devoted to brand-neutral essential oil education Natural Living Family, with more than 4 million users every year. In THE ESSENTIAL OILS APOTHECARY: Soothing Remedies for Anxiety, Pain, High Blood Sugar, Hypertension and Other Chronic Conditions they bring their masterful and authoritative knowledge to the complexities of chronic illness.  For more on Dr Zielinski, please visit naturallivingfamily.com  or eoapothecary.com. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Satan has power; he once had authority too (Luke 4:6), but Jesus won it back and gave it to us (Matthew 28:18, Colossians 2:15). Satan still tries to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). He's even more likely to do it if we're standing for God's word or against his plans (Mark 4:17, 2 Timothy 3:12). Now anything he tries to do to us is illegal, but he can still get away with it if we allow it. We must resist him, standing firm in faith (1 Peter 5:8-9, James 4:7). How we resist: Be aware who the real enemy is (Ephesians 6:12). Recognize that our weapons are spiritual and can tear down the enemy's strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4). Our armor is God's, not ours--Jesus gave it to us (Ephesians 6:11, 13). Keep the truth (God's word) always buckled around your waist (Ephesians 6:14), or before your eyes, meditating on it consistently (Joshua 1:8). It is not just the truth, but the truth we know, that sets us free (John 8:32). Remember you are righteous through Christ (Ephesians 6:14)--unlike Old Covenant believers where disobedience took them out from under God's protection where Satan could curse (Deuteronomy 28:15), in the New Covenant, Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13) and gave us His righteousness. Now, every promise found in scripture is yes and amen for us (2 Corinthians 1:20). Don't let Satan tell you differently. He's the father of lies (John 8:44). Sin can still give place to the devil to come in and steal from you (Ephesians 4:27), but only because your heart might condemn you for it and rob our confidence in prayer (1 John 3:20-22). We must believe we receive when we pray (Mark 11:24). Unforgiveness is one way in which our own hearts may hinder our prayers (Mark 11:25-26). Remember you wrestle not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). Forgive them, so you can fight the real enemy behind them. Stay in peace (Ephesians 6:15). Confidence in prayer requires faith/trust (Philippians 4:4-7, Isaiah 26:3). The opposite of faith is fear (1 John 4:18). Since we have the authority Jesus won back from Satan for us (John 16:33, Matthew 28:18), Satan has to get us to fear him in order for him to get away with stealing from us. We do not have to accept the spirit of fear (Romans 8:15) but remember we have the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). "Above all," use faith to extinguish Satan's lies (Eph 6:16). We do this by renewing our minds with God's word (Romans 8:6, 12:2). We have the belt of truth already, but we have to mix the Word of truth with faith, or it profits us nothing (Hebrews 4:2). Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2); we must keep our eyes on Him. The helmet of salvation (Eph 6:17). I assume the significance of this is the fact that it's protecting the mind. The Holy Spirit is the seal that proves we belong to God (2 Cor 1:22, 5:5, Eph 1:13-14, 4:30), and He bears witness that we have salvation and belong to God (Romans 8:16). So Satan can't lie to us and tell us otherwise. The sword of the spirit (Eph 6:17): this is the only offensive weapon. Jesus used the Word as His weapon against Satan (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13). It is living and powerful (Hebrews 4:12). The word of our testimony of God's goodness likewise has power (Revelation 12:11). Pray with all kinds of prayer (1 Timothy 2:1), including supplication and intercession (Eph 6:18), praise and thanksgiving (Phil 4:7), and agreement (Matthew 18:19-20), with perseverance. When you have done all this, stand your ground (Ephesians 6:13). This is the persistence in faith that achieves results and justice (Luke 18:1-8). Forcefully lay hold of what Christ died to give you (Matthew 11:12)! The end: we will always triumph in Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14). We will overcome the world and the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) with our faith (1 John 5:4). Even under the Old Covenant, God fought for His people in the spiritual realms... Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.