I do not believe cholesterol causes heart disease. Everyone's cholesterol is different, the amount is not very important. It's about the lack of stress. Stress is what causes cholesterol to stick to the arteries when the arteries inflame. When the arteries do not inflame the cholesterol flows right on through without sticking. Food does not affect the heart, it is the inflamed arteries that allow the cholesterol to stick and build up over time.
I am not a doctor, but I do know that often the medical community pays more attention to the symptoms than the causes.
I have known people who ate fat all their lives and lived to be old, but they were also people who were "easy going", not taking things too seriously and not workaholics.
I'm not a doctor, but have had some life observations that seem to make sense to me.
Here's what God says causes a long life, It's not the food, but it is the lack of stress from trusting Christ.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 "7"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. 8"For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.…"
Psalm 40:4 "How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood."
Proverbs 3:1-3 "1 My son, do not forget my teaching, But let your heart keep my commandments; 2 For length of days and years of life And peace they will add to you. 3 Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.…"
Our length of life has little to do with food, it has to do with our stress level, if we trust in the Lord our stress is far less. We have also been given a certain number of days, no more no less, God's in charge of that.
Just noticing, the use of the term "hogwash" can be very offensive when used to describe foolishness to those who spout it. LOL
Sometimes the statements of rebellious people are so ridiculous that words fail us, then out pops, "hogwash", just can't help myself because any discussion with these people is impossible.
We are living in times when rational thinking is actually on the fringe, just one generation ago we all knew what was rational and sensible, but no longer is this true.
1 Corinthians 3:19
"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God For it is written, "He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS";"
Romans 1:28-32
"28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,
30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;
32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."
Sadly, we not only see this foolishness in the world we are now seeing it in the church. We are living in the days of the "Laodicean" church as described in Revelation.
1 Corinthians 1:20
"Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?"
Revelation 3:14-17 Message to Laodicea
14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
17 Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,"
(Cold: a refreshing drink of cold water or Hot: on fire for Christ. Both cold and hot are for Christ, but the lukewarm are indifferent to Him, which translates into a form of hate.)
There is nothing more painful for the victim than to have others coddle and embrace the wicked person who harmed them, even chastising and bludgeoning the victim to manipulate them to forgive.
I can't think of anything more twisted than this. When we coddle the perpetrators of evil we make the evil grow. As believers in Christ our job is to comfort the down trodden, not those who down trodden the victim.
There is such a thing as justice, we are only required to forgive someone if they are repentant. We are commanded not to forgive those who refuse to be sorry, God doesn't and we should not either. Consequences are the only thing that wicked people can understand. Without consequences, there is no humbling or sense of shame for evil behavior.
Ephesians 4:32…31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and tender-hearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
As Christ forgave you! How did Christ forgive? He forgave through repentance, without confession of sin there is no forgiveness, without confession of sin there is no change in the heart or behavior.
1 John 1:9
"IF we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Did anyone notice that "IF", in 1 John? We are not forgiven by God if we will not be sorry and God does not require us to forgive when evil people will not be sorry. Just because we cannot forgive the unrepentant wicked, does not mean we automatically become bitter, that is a lie of psychology, having nothing to do with the Bible.
I have grown weary of the victims of abuse being bludgeoned and pressured to forgive their wicked abusers while the abuser feels no sense of pressure but rather even blessing from misguided self righteous believers, who desire to be seen as good by the world. Throwing the victim under the bus while coddling the evil perpetrator only serves to devalue the victim.
The requirement for forgiveness is confession and sorrow over the sin. God operates this way and He expects us to do so too. This is about reconciliation, there can be none when someone has harmed another person, is not sorry for doing so and will continue that evil unless they are stopped.
Proverbs 28:13
"Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy."
Psalm 32:5
"I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah"
The reason we have so many people in our society that believe we and God are obligated to forgive even if they are not sorry and have no intention of stopping their evil, is because of this foolish ungodly, unbiblical doctrine of forgiving even if someone is not sorry.
You will not find one scripture that says we forgive for our own sake. Forgiveness is for the sake of reconciling a relationship. Relationships cannot be reconciled if there is not sorrow over the sin.
Acts 19:18
"Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices."
We are commanded to forgive when the offender is sorry, not before.
John 20:22-23
"And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
James 4:7-10
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you."
We do the wicked no favors by giving them a pass on the evil that they do and we have no love or empathy for the victims when we bludgeon them to forgive without repentance on the part of the evil one.
This is the foolishness and evil of the psychological thinking of our day. The wicked man gets the compassion while the victim is pressured to forgive an unrepentant evil person. Unbelievable.
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Sometimes the worst thing we can do for people is to continually prop them up. They become weak because we have allowed them to depend on us.
Helping people is wonderful, right and good, until we are doing for them what they should do for themselves. Then we become their crutch, instead of allowing their crutch to be Jesus Christ.
Constantly propping up someone else makes them weaker. Support should be temporary, except when it is Christ supporting someone, then that help from God should be continual.
When we attempt to play God by supporting someone too much, then we are not helping them, but rather weakening them. Perhaps deep in our soul we are more concerned about being liked than we are about the overall well being of our friend.
We must realize that help becomes a hindrance to growth when that help causes our friend to depend on us rather than Christ.
The best thing we can do for our friend is to guide them to Christ, giving them a temporary boost and then letting them fly by themselves for a time to learn dependence on Christ. We can be there for them with encouragement and prayer, while allowing them to work through with Christ.
We live in a culture that praises far too much. Everyone needs to be able to do and be what is right when no one is praising them for it. People pleasers are more concerned about "appearing" helpful and encouraging than they are about actually "being" so.
The only One that anyone should depend upon is the Lord Jesus Christ. All friendships should point us to Christ at all times, making Him and His principles a priority.
When we meet someone who wants our help but rejects God's way of help, based on His principles, then we should have no other help to give them. It is time to walk away, allow them to flounder and fail until they see their need for Christ. We do no one any favors by removing their dependence on Christ.
To replace Christ in someone's life by being their help for them continually, is to play God. Notice I said "continually." We ought to be there for our brothers and sisters whenever needed, however we must be discerning to be able to know when our help is through Christ or whether it is our own desire to be elevated. We must be willing to do the hard thing to help our friend become dependent on Christ and successful in their Christian walk, sometimes that is to say no, in a kind and loving way.
Never feel guilty about letting go to let God, when the Holy Spirit is speaking this to us. Never give into the pressure of others expectations of us, we must be completely dependent on Christ to resist the pressure from others to do their will over the will of God.
Romans 12:2
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
Ephesians 5:17
"Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
1 John 2:16-17
"For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."
Matthew 6:33
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
There are those who claim living together before marriage makes for a better marriage because you can get to know whether or not you are compatible. HOGWASH, these lines are nothing more than an excuse to use someone to see if you want to commit.
Everyone who engages in this practice is lacking respect and commitment. No one is compatible with another person, we have to develop compatibility through the work of learning about another person, that is not what we do in bed, it's what we do when we work out dilemmas, care enough to give up our own desires for the sake of another and from choosing to love through our attitudes and actions. It takes the love of Christ to be able to understand this commitment and dedication.
The facts show that those who live together without marriage have a higher rate of divorce than those who don't do it, it comes down to respect. If we do not respect another person enough to commit our lives to them without using them first, then we will not respect the marriage covenant either.
People are not used cars, you don't take them for a test drive, allow a serious bond and then decide later you will not bother making them a permanent part of your being, notice I said being, rather than life.
Romans 7:2-3
"2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man."
God's principles are for the protection of the family and each member in that family.
We have a prayer request. My husband's sister and her husband live about an hour and a half from us, they are being evacuated from their home in the hills because of the fires.
The fires are only a half a mile away from them, the air is full of smoke and the flames are licking up around them. They are in the process of gathering their important items to evacuate. They have a couple of options for places to go to be safe. We have offered our warehouse if they or someone else needs it. The warehouse has a kitchen, bath and bedroom, so it would be adequate.
We have been watching ash fall on our car today, with the windows all open last night because of the heat, the tables in our home are covered with ash from all the surrounding fires.
Only just two days ago I had not been paying attention to what was going on and was not aware of how much was burning in our state of Washington and across the river in Oregon.
May the Lord protect the believers as they are displaced. May the Lord bring many unbelievers to Himself as they see their need to trust in Him.
