Practical Information For Today's Christian Woman

Your Creator, the God of heaven and earth wants you to be healthy. If you get sick, He wants to heal you but there are also many practical things you can do to stay healthy.

Here is the second part from my booklet 51 Ways to Stay Healthy Naturally:

5. Get plenty of sleep. This will help bolster your immune system and will aid your body in functioning at its peak. Some researchers say that every hour of sleep you get before midnight is worth 3-4 hours after midnight.

6. Use natural deodorants instead of antiperspirants. Deodorants counteract odor while allowing your body to perspire and get rid of toxins. Make sure the deodorant you use is free of aluminum and other dangerous substances.

7. Replace the white bread in your diet with 100% whole wheat bread, which is more nutritious and is a good source of fiber. In a 10-year study ending in 1984, Harvard researchers found that adults who ate high-fiber breads had less strokes and heart attacks than those who ate bagels and baguettes. Fiber is also helpful in weight control.

8. As often as your budget allows, use organic beef and chicken rather than regular. Organic meat is free from the antibiotics, hormones and pesticides often found in other meats.

9. Instead of unrefined sugar, try using raw, unfiltered honey as a sweetener. (Should not be given to children under 1 year of age). Raw, unheated honey is chock-full of nutrients and contains many medicinal properties. Remember, it is a sugar, so it’s best to limit the amount you use to 2-4 tablespoons daily.

Source:

7. The Journal of American Medical Association (April 2, 2003)Lisa Barley, White Bread vs. Wheat Bread, Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc (2009), http://www. vegetariantimes.com/ features/ editors_ picks/389 (accessed October  2009)

Recently I wrote a booklet called 51 Ways to Stay Healthy Naturally. I will be posting excerpts from this booklet for the next several weeks:

Living a life that’s optimal and free of sickness does not have to be an overwhelming process. This booklet will show you a fairly painless way to make one healthy change at a time.

1. Get familiar with the health food stores in your area. Find out where they are located and what they carry. Read the labels on their products and ask questions. Not everything that is sold in a health food store is good for you but you may find that you are able to replace a lot of the items you use now with a healthier product.

2. Use air dried sea salt in place of regular table salt. Unrefined sea salt contains mineral elements that the body needs without the unhealthy additives found in regular salt. You can save money by buying the coarse salt and grinding it yourself.

3. Use butter rather then margarine. Organic is best. Butter is a natural food and is a source of vitamins, minerals and important fatty acids. Margarine is an unnatural substance and contains trans-fatty acids.

4. Eliminate or minimize the use of refined sugar (corn syrup, table sugar etc.) in your diet. Excessive use of refined sugar is linked to cardiovascular problems and cancer. It can also suppress your immune system and reduce your resistance against infectious disease.

Each of us has a destiny.  Will we step out and do what God has called us to do or will we allow fear to  hold us back?  Today’s article is written by Dr. Sharon Schuetz. 

Destiny’s Call
By Dr. Sharon Schuetz

One of my favorite Bible stories is of a common Jewish woman who found her niche in history by simply being herself. Queen Esther’s quiet spirit of obedience gave her favor with God and man. God used her to save her condemned people because she found favor with the king.

Esther was lovely, but so were the other virgins brought to the palace by King Ahasuerus of Shushan. He was replacing his wife Queen Vashti, who had refused to let him flaunt her beauty to his court and visitors. The King’s counselors warned him that she set a poor example for all wives in the kingdom and advised him to dispose of her.

Every compelling story has a villain. Our rogue’s name is Haman. The King promoted Haman above all the other princes, second only to himself. Haman advised the king to enter a decree that at a certain time all Jews in the nation were to be killed. This is because they followed their own laws and refused to bow down and worship him as the King’s most powerful ruler. The king made the proclamation, although he had no inkling that his beloved Esther was a Jew. She had kept this to herself.

Her uncle, Mordecai sent word to her of this plan and told to make a plea to the king for the sake of her nation. She sent word to Mordecai that, “All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces know, that whoever, whether man or woman, shall come to the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except him to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter, that he may live: but I have not been called to come into the king these thirty days.” (Esther 4:11, Webster Ed.)

Mordecai responded, “Do not think within yourself that you shall escape in the king’s house more than all the Jews. For if you are completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall arise to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house shall be destroyed. And who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:13, 14 NKJV) Mordecai did not waste these words on Queen Esther. Through fasting, prayers, and God’s grace, she found favor when she entered the king’s presence, and ultimately saved her people.

Esther was a woman of destiny. Like you and I, she was God’s woman for her time. The same can be said when God asks any of us to do something for Him. We can let fear cause us to miss an opportunity to serve our generation. Or, we can beat back our fear, grab hold of our destiny, and change our world in the New Year ahead. I vote to make a difference in 2010. How about you?

Dr. Schuetz is an ordained minister and has been in ministry with her husband for twenty-five years. She has a PhD in clinical Christian counseling. She and her husband, Michael, of 33 years have 2 sons, 1 daughter, 9 grandchildren.

2008 by Dr. Sharon Schuetz

http://www.DrSharonSchuetz.com

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS-MAKE A WEBSITE

Is there ever a time when we need to cut off negative relationships?  Guest writer Richard Jarzynka shares his thoughts concerning this touchy subject.  

Christ and Cutting Somebody Out of Your Life

Author: Richard Jarzynka

Is there a time for you, as a Christian, to tell somebody that you will no longer have anything to do with them? And, if so, how do you do that in a Christlike manner?

Last May I ended an acquaintance that had lasted for ten years. I had encountered this man, on average, a couple of times per week over that decade and from the start I noticed that he tended to become very negative about many things. Sometimes I agreed with him. Most times, I did not. But our conversations were usually friendly and occasionally thought-provoking, so, I maintained the relationship.

But over the course of years, I steadily wore down.

We had several bitter arguments about matters of little importance. And a couple of others in which I told him straight-out that I am a Christian and that I was not going to listen to his sordid sexual comments about women or racial slurs of immigrants and Muslims. Like me, this man claims to be a Christian.

Notwithstanding my increasing discomfort with this man, I felt the need to be something of a friend to him. I apologized after a couple of arguments and, perhaps, should have done so more. I encouraged his efforts to get in shape. And I made at least a half-hearted effort to understand his contrary points of view and look past his pessimistic nature, put-downs of others, and gossip. But more and more I found myself anticipating his next negative barrage and preparing my counter-arguments. I discovered myself, a number of times, actively hoping not to see him and engaging in speculative arguments with him in my head. It wasn’t good. In the words of my three-year-old nephew, “It made me cwanky.” And after seeing him, I would become even “cwankier.”

Finally, there came a day when he pounced on me – in public and within earshot of friends – and barked an attack that I had fairly well anticipated. I tried to present him with the facts and solid reasoning that countered his rant, but I ended up ranting back.

Hours later, I was still carrying on the mutual diatribe in my head. Something had to change. It was simply not good for my mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being to anticipate seeing this man, to actually attempt a conversation with him, and to then be still ranting in my brain with him hours after our last encounter.

I prayed about it and I went to scripture. There, I found the following verses:

“Do not speak to fools, for they will scorn your prudent words.” (Proverbs 23:9)

“Do not answer fools according to their folly, or you yourself will become like them.” (Proverbs 26:4)

“Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good character.” (1Corinthians 15:33)

Now, I may or may not be accurate in assessing this man to be a fool, but there can be no doubt that, for me, this man was, indeed, Bad Company.

I resolved to take action.

Two days later, the man approached me, smiling, and asked an innocent question. I could have easily smiled back and let by-gones be by-gones, but I answered shortly and then said without hesitation, “You and I can no longer speak with each other.” (That may sound harsh. I ask you to consider that it took ten years for me to get there.)

He flinched slightly, recovered quickly, and said, “That’s no problem.”

I went on to explain, “You’re the most bitter and abrasive person I know and I can’t have that poison in my life.”

He repeated, “That’s no problem,” and walked away.

We have not spoken to each other in the eight months hence, and I have no intention of breaking my silence. I have not said anything to our mutual friends about the man or my decision not to speak with him. I pray for him nightly. And I ask God to heal our relationship, but until – and unless – that happens I know that it is God’s command for me to have nothing to do with him. His bitterness is poison to my soul and nobody’s “friendship” is worth that.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/christianity-articles/christ-and-cutting-somebody-out-of-your-life-1761034.html

About the Author

Richard Jarzynka is the author of “Blessed with Bipolar” (http://www.bipolarman.org) He has used the “symptoms” of the disorder to help him counsel clients; run a marathon; grow in his christian faith; and earn a masters degree in psychology, a scholarship to law school, and a football scholarship. He blogs at www.bipolarman.org/blog