Dear Captain
Ronald Thomas,
Thanks for
your email encouraging what I wrote earlier on what Christians normally pray.
Just to add a
few more thoughts on why we need to give thanks to God for each day of life
given to us, especially for the daily food we receive. Maybe you would like to
share this also with your Christian friends.
We need to
thank God each morning when we wake up, and each night before we retire. We
thank Him for the breath of life He spared us each passing day.
We all live
day-to-day, and we should never take life for granted that there will be
another tomorrow for us. We may not even wake up to see another day.
Appointments taken
for granted:
Most of us
make arrangements and appointments weeks, or even months ahead as if we will
‘sure to be there’ to meet these engagements? We only assume we
would always be alive to make future appointments for all eternity.
More
importantly, we need to give grace – a short prayer of thanks to God for every
meal we partake. This is because that food was given to us by Him. It is a gift
of God given to all His living creatures, including you and I. This living gift
is what money can never buy no matter how rich we are. I shall elaborate this
later.
The Energy of
Life:
Food can only
come from something that was once living, namely, having life in it before we
sacrificed that life (physically ‘kill’ it) so that it can transfer its ‘vital
force’ to us and to others in order to continue the chain of life for all who
partake in it.
Each life can
only give one life to the next, but not Jesus who can transfer His life to as
many as is needed because His life is unlimited. His Life is eternal, infinite
and unlimited.
That is
why Jesus is able to sacrifice His life just once, yet able to transfer His
eternal life force to all humanity without limit so that everyone who believes
in Him, too shall have life throughout all eternity.
We
cannot buy life for certainty, no matter how rich we are. Food which must come
from another living creature; be it from an animal or a plant. It must be
sacrificed (die) first so that an energy field residing undetected within its
physical body can leave the body and be transferred to another body to continue
its life force there. This is a higher order of vital force, which is so
different from the chemical energy derived from food nutritionist, biochemists,
and food scientists talk about.
Without his
‘vital force’ being transferred continuously from one body to the next, all
creatures shall surely die.
I am not
talking about the usual chemical energies in food that powers the biochemical
machinery in a living body. I take one or two steps beyond this to look at a
higher order.
I am talking
about another form of energy existing on another plane, one or several steps
beyond what my scientific counterparts understand and normally talk about.
This ‘energy
of life’ or ‘life-forces’ cannot be detected, let alone quantified using any
scientific instrument or method. It is present in all living
creatures, but it escapes when an animal or a plant dies. This ‘life-energy’ is
indestructible. It is always there in the cosmos. As it cannot be destroyed, it
can only be transferred from one animal or plant to the next another animal or
plant as it is eaten.
Conservation
of Life:
Even if an
animal is not eaten, and left to decompose in the open, bacteria will still act
on it, and this life force is then transferred to the bacteria of
decomposition. Even if a human corpse or an animal carcass is cremated, the ash
(minerals) still remains to give life to plants if returned to the soil. It is
always there.
What I mean
is, life force is always there and can never be destroyed no matter what we do
to a dead body as much as neither matter nor energy can be destroyed as
prescribed under the conservation of mass and energy.
They are only
interchangeable. They are like the conversion of mass into energy, and
energy into mass. Likewise, is the spirit transferred from one the body of the
next along the line when one dies.
Man
eat Food, Not Nutrients:
But some will
argue that even if we don’t have natural food, we can still eat synthetic
foods? The answer is no!
Since the
1960’s and 1970’s the USSR, has been experimenting extensively
on artificial food proteins.
Around May
2013 food scientists have even produced the most expensive artificial hamburger
in the world
The project was started by Dr Mark Post and his colleagues at Maastricht
University. They used some 20,000 muscle fibres from cow’s foetuses and
cultured them till they got some grey-white protein from which they made an
‘artificial’ hamburger.
The cells from
organic cows were cultured into a nutrient solution to form muscle tissues
which are then teased into thin strands of ‘meat’.
Living
Sources:
Other methods
have
also been developed to produce artificial caviar and artificial
meat, potatoes, macaroni and other food products. However,
all of them were made from high-quality milk protein casein.
An aqueous solution of casein (cow’s
milk protein) is blended with a texturizer such as gelatin, into chilled vegetable oil, resulting in the formation of particles resembling fish eggs.
From
there they are made to taste like meat, much the same way we have vegetarian
mutton, vegetarian beef, and vegetarian fish made out of soya and mushrooms to
make them taste like meat.
Unfortunately,
these artificial foods were still made from natural food materials in the first
place. No artificial food has so far been made from non-living substances such
as out of plastic, soil, sand, bricks and mud so far. If that can be done, only
then can we call them artificial or synthetic foods.
All artificial
foods begin from a living source, such as casein, soya, cultured muscle fibres,
stem cells, etc. In short, they were actually derived from natural food sources
which once had life in them until we changed them into something else.
Consumers
Rejection:
However, even if food can be artificially synthesized, we do not know if anyone
wants to eat artificial meat? We do not even know if such artificial meat is
toxic, let alone able to provide nourishment the normal way like natural foods
that support life.
Even if food
scientist manage to synthesize artificial proteins using other methods other
than through cultures of living tissues, the complexity of producing high-molecular-weight compounds, which include food bio-polymers, especially proteins and polysaccharides (starch and cellulose), makes the fabrication
of food products highly uneconomical and unworkable, let alone
acceptable by ordinary people.
The only
‘nutrients’ that can be produced in a factory are the
low-molecular-weight compounds, such as vitamins and amino acids.
But these are minor nutrients, not food. Unfortunately, men don’t eat
nutrients, they eat food.
Synthetic amino acids and combinations of them are only added to natural food products to increase their organoleptic
(sensory) qualities. They may also be used in nutrition
support therapy such
as in the intravenous feeding of patients where normal swallowing is difficult or impossible.
All foods
synthetically produced must first be derived from living sources of natural
foods through cultures. These living sources were created and given by God from
the beginning. These were not created by scientists.
Man, not the
provider:
Hence there is
no other way we can create food, let alone life. Food is a free gift
given to all of us only by God, not by agriculturists, food scientists, food
manufactures, supermarkets and food sellers.
No man can
create life and allow it to multiply to become food for all of us. The only
person who was able to do this was Jesus Christ who was able to
multiply five loaves and the two fish, broke them and fed 5000 people who
(Luke 9:16; Matthew 14)
Christian laws
about food:
In the Old
Testament a command was given to the Israelites that some food are unclean and
should not be eaten (Leviticus 11 verses 1- 47; Deuteronomy
14:9).
This was because
of certain diseases, example foot and mouth diseases among hoofed animals and
poor food hygiene practices at that time.
God needed to
give this command to His children (Moses, Aaron and the
community of Israel) to avoid certain foods that may spread zoonotic
diseases. Zoonotic diseases are diseases that are transmitted from animals into
humans.
God did it
right to prevent the spread of disease just as we will advise our own children
on food hygiene. God is never wrong.
However,
thousands of years later when these animal-to-human diseases probably were no
longer a threat, probably with much better food hygiene, food handling and practices,
Jesus then commanded that all foods are clean (Mark 7:19).
God gave the
apostle Peter a vision in which He declared that formerly unclean animals could
be eaten:
“Do not call
anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15).
When Jesus
died on the cross, He fulfilled the Old Testament law (Romans
10:4; Galatians 3:24-26; Ephesians 2:15). This includes the laws
regarding clean and unclean foods.
This much is
the viewpoint of Christians concerning ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’ foods, disease and
hygiene as given in the Old Testament.
A Blessing to
all Mankind:
All life
created and given to us as food is a blessing from God to every living creature
in this world so that we can all stay alive, and that our lives can be passed
on to the next living creatures including bacteria and worms that consume us
when we die.
This is the
carbon chain of life passed on from one life to the next.
The Lamp of
Life:
Life is like a
lamp, like a whole body. A lamp has oil as fuel as is food to the
body. A wick is made up of fibres that resemble the cells, tissues,
organs and system of a body.
A living body
sucks up the nutrients from food so that it can feed and sustain the actual
flame which is the flame of life that gives off heat and light.
Even if the
flame of the lamp resembling the life in a body is extinguished (dies), the
oil, wick and lamp that are the physical body, remains, but the heat of the
flame (energy of life) escapes into the atmosphere.
But that heat
is still there somewhere except it is ‘diluted’ in empty space. Heat
as energy cannot be destroyed as one of the laws in physics. It can only be
converted into another form of energy.
Similarly,
life forces may have escaped, but it is still there even though it is no longer
attached to a physical body. In short, life cannot be destroyed.
The lamp
needs a wick and oil (fuel or food) in order for it to continue to burn (to
remain alive).
We can
have the entire unlit lamp (body, wick and fuel). But not the flame
(life)! This first flame MUST come from somewhere outside the body
to lit up the first lamp to give the first life on earth before it can spread
on earth like wildfires. This is the handiwork of God as He promises Isaac:
“And I will
make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven” (Genesis 26:4). Only God can
do that!
God gave Life:
Remember God
needed to blow into the nostrils of lifeless Adam to give him the first human
life on this plane.
“And
the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul”. (Genesis
2:7).
This is
similar to resuscitation when we do CPR on someone who is no longer breathing.
God performed the first CPR.
God is the
First Doctor:
God was also
the first anaesthesiologist (Genesis 2:21), and at the same time was also the
first transplant surgeon (Genesis 2:22). Praise to God our Lord.
So, it looks
like Genesis 2:7 clearly tells us our physical body does have a soul. I call
this “the spirit or the flame of life residing inside a physical body”. These
are my own thoughts.
My thinking is
it is not just a physical body powered by mere food and subsequent metabolic
chemistry as myopic scientists think.
It is this
‘energy of life’ as a higher order that commands the chemistry of life as the
lower order to proceed in a biological system. It is this vital force that
commands the regimented orders of biochemistry.
But when this
vital force leaves the body all biochemical reactions and body chemistry breaks
down and returns to dust from here, they came. There is no order anymore.
Scientists are
able to write volumes about biochemistry to fill up all national libraries, but
not how and why biochemistry can only proceed as chemical law dictates only
when a body is living.
If life is
mere chemistry and their reactions, why must it stop and break down when
something else of a higher order is no longer there to command and instruct to
continue?
Chemicals
of Life Still Intact:
After all, a
body that has just died still has all the biological fluids, sugars,
amino-acids, DNA, electrolytes, oxygen, etc in the body for them to continue as
in life. But why do they go into reverse, and finally reduced to dust from
where they first came. Astronomers tell us we are all made from stardust. So
does the Bible (Genesis 3:19).
It would be
far too long for me to write my thoughts on this here. It may take weeks or
months typing non-stop. A lecture series with slides is much, much faster. Even
that may take hours or days. It is difficult to prove a hypothesis with
experimental data, but a forest of unexplained questions based on logical
thinking remains.
So be very
thankful and always remember whenever we eat, a life has been sacrificed so
that it can transfer its ‘life forces’ into our own body. Food is much more
than just energy giving nutrients – the energy we know as joules or in
calories.
Only
nutritionists with blinkered eyes and training, think that food is just
calories. He thinks that the powerhouse in biochemistry is generated via the
(Hans) Kreb’s Cycle. There is no other source of energy or a higher command
than via the tricarboxylic acid cycle.
Life
cannot be destroyed:
Don't
think that when a flame (life) has been extinguished it is gone forever. Only
myopic people and short of understanding people like Nicodemus in the Bible
think that way. He thinks only in physical terms – of a physical birth, not a
spiritual one of being reborn again.
Once again,
the flame (life) may be extinguished, but the heat (soul) has escaped into the
environment. I have explained that.
Remember, in
physics neither matter nor energy can be destroyed. They are still there in the
enclosed entropy. They can only be interchanged (transferred) from one system
to another somewhat like a thermodynamic equilibrium.
Always
remember to give grace to God for every morsel of food we put into our mouths
at every meal. Say grace before we eat. Be thankful for the food because a life
has to be sacrificed.
Money cannot
buy life:
We can never
create life or buy it. So is food which was life before being sacrificed.
We buy food
from the market and put it into our mouths. But have we ever thought that had
not God created life in the first place to keep that “flame” going in a chain
to spread it like a forest fire from an initial spark, none of us here will
have anything to eat let alone buy it. So be thankful and give grace before we
eat.
Do not think
if we have money, we can buy anything we like. Do not be arrogant. Be humble so
that God can give us wisdom and vision.
Even if we are
atrociously rich and are able to buy the entire kingdoms on earth - land,
properties, estates and everything else, all these are non-living materials
made of rocks, sand, bricks, cement, etc like buildings, land and real estates.
None of them can be eaten. There is only one thing that can be eaten, that is
food. That is the only thing we can never create and buy.
Food is Life:
We cannot even
create a tiny grain of rice, or just a blade of grass for ourselves, let alone
food aplenty for the entire humanity on earth. This is not about physical
aspects of agriculture, food science, food technology or nutritional sciences.
It is about the unseen Science of Life which scientists cannot understand let
alone measure.
Be humble,
grateful, be thankful and adopt beautiful child-like qualities (not childish
behaviour) as Jesus taught us. Always remember to give thanks
(grace) before we partake in a meal.
A father gives
food to his child, but a child does not understand where the food came from and
how food nourishes, gives him life, and helps him to grow. He merely receives
food in good faith.
But it
was the good faith that kept a child alive because it was provided to him by
his father. Likewise, a heavenly Father provides for our every need.
Remember only
Jesus is the Bread of Life who can give us life. He demonstrated this in the
Sermons of the Mount when he multiplied five small barley loaves
of bread and two small fish (from living sources) and was able
to feed 5000 people (Matthew 14:13-21, John 6:6 -59). He just blessed the
barely and the fish and the food just multiplied.
That happened
2000 years ago that no food scientist can mimic even this 21st Century. His
was divine powers.
That is why
Christians give thanks and grace before a meal even though they may not
actually know the reason behind except the faith being taught for their
Christian practices. I hope this explanation reaches out to the
Christians. But it is okay if they still cannot understand. Just a simple thank
to God like a child to his father will do.
Likewise, it
is only Jesus who has eternal life, a life that is infinite and unlimited who
can easily transfer life unlimited to every single soul on this planet provided
we believe in Him. His life is eternal (endless) so there is no end to Jesus
giving life abundantly to anybody, to all of humanity as they multiply on
earth, and as much as they want.
The physical
food we eat can only give us temporary physical life provided we continue
eating by sacrificing a physical life every day. But having a
physical and temporal life is not what we want.
Giving
Grace to God:
Having said that, often than not, most people do not even give grace and
thanks to God before a meal. A lot of Christians do, including Muslims, but not
all. Like Christians, Muslims do give thanks before a meal, similar to the
Christian practice of saying grace. The term for this in Islam is
"Bismillah," which means "In the name of Allah (God)."
Muslims say "Bismillah" before starting to eat to seek blessings and
to acknowledge that the food they are about to consume is provided by Allah.
The same
expression of gratitude in Buddhism. Buddhists often express gratitude before
meals. Monks and laypeople may recite verses that acknowledge the effort that
went into preparing the food and the interconnectedness of all beings. One
common chant is the "Mealtime Gatha," which reflects on the food's
origins and the need to consume it mindfully.
In Hinduism
too the same gratitude. Hindus often offer prayers to express gratitude and
seek blessings before meals. A common prayer is the "Brahmaarpanam,"
which acknowledges that the food is a gift from God and seeks blessings for the
meal. Additionally, some might recite the "Annapurna Stotram," which
praises the goddess Annapurna, the deity of food and nourishment.
So is in
Sikhism where Sikhs usually offer thanks to God before meals with the
"Ardas" (a Sikh prayer) or a shorter version known as
"Simran." They also emphasize the importance of sharing food (Langar)
and often say "Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh" (The
Khalsa belongs to the Almighty; Victory belongs to the Almighty) before eating.
Not forgetting
in Judaism where Jewish people traditionally say a blessing called the
"HaMotzi" before eating bread, which is part of many meals. There are
also blessings for other types of food. After the meal, a more extended series
of blessings called the "Birkat Hamazon" is recited to thank God for
the sustenance provided.
In
Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrians often say prayers before meals, expressing
gratitude to Ahura Mazda (the supreme god) for the food. The "Ashem
Vohu" prayer is commonly recited before meals. So is in Jainism where
Jains practice a form of prayer called "Pratikraman" before eating,
reflecting on the food's purity and the non-violence principle. They also
practice fasting and offer gratitude for the food's nourishment.
These
practices reflect the diverse ways in which various religious traditions
express gratitude and mindfulness regarding food.
Jesus
naturally often did this, giving grace before a meal. Just a few examples here
will do where we read in Matthew 14:19 that says, “And he (Jesus) directed the
people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and
looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to
the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people."
In John 6:11,
"Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who
were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish."
Jesus then
feeds 4,000 up on the top of a mountain. This is given in Matthew 15:36:
"Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks,
he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the
people."
In The Last
Supper (Matthew 26:26-27) it was clearly stated “While they were eating, Jesus
took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his
disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body.' Then he took a cup, and
when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of
you.'"
Yet another
example where even Jesus gave grace is found in Luke 22:19: "And he took
bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body
given for you; do this in remembrance of me.'"
These passages
illustrate that Jesus consistently gave thanks to God before partaking in a
meal,
The reason I write all these reminders is because, when I was a little boy I saw a Chinese man in my hometown in Batu Pahat, Johore, Malaya who was preaching in the streets. But I do not know what religion he followed. There was a small crowd including me following him everywhere.
After that, he went to a coffee shop to have his meal. I was astonished to see him lifting up every spoonful of food from his plate, tilted his head slightly backwards, and with an opened mouth gave thanks to God for that spoonful of food before putting it into his mouth.
Wow! that was amazing. He was absoutely devout. He did that for every spoonful of food, not just for a plate. I thought this may not be necessary, but he did it. He must be extremely thankful for everything he got, even in bits and pieces.
On hind thought, I think this should be the way as we owe every beat of our hearts and every breath of our lungs to God through the food and nourishment we receive daily.
That for me was indeed a fascinating and touching memory. The practice of giving thanks for each spoonful of food demonstrates a profound level of gratitude and mindfulness. It highlights the importance of being thankful for every small blessing and appreciating the sustenance provided. This level of gratitude is admirable and can be a powerful reminder to all of us to appreciate the small things in life.
But what I
personally notice is, not all Christians or Muslims or others with different
belief systems give grace before a meal. Like most people, they merely put the food straight
away into their mouths without giving any thanks for that daily provision.
Sometimes I too make that mistake, not that I am ungrateful, but sometimes I
forget or are not mindful enough. Sometimes I neglect this due to my
shortcomings and human weaknesses, or my own laziness. But I do seek God for
forgiveness after that for my all my mistakes
Many argue there is no reason why they should give thanks to God for
that provision because they worked and paid for it with their own money. They
argue that it was not God who gave them food, but they personally bought it
from the market and supermarkets with their own wealth and money, and there was
no reason whatsoever why they need to give grace (thanks) to God? So,
they just conveniently pop the meals into their mouths without a care or a
thought.
They say it was the farmer, the food supplier and food manufacturer who
produced the food, not God. This kind of argument suits the ungrateful,
and all soulless hearts.
But they did explain what happens if God did not cause the rains
to fall, and the seed of life as food to sprout from the soil. They did
not explain that it was the stones, rocks and clay on the soil that sprang up
alive as living food for them and for all living creatures. They claimed that
when their food sprouted out automatically on their own from the dry rocks and
soil, they merely conveniently used their money and their wealth to buy it from
the shops and markets. How mindless and ungrateful. Let us remind ourselves
that even kings and presidents of any country with all their wealth and powers
cannot bring forth stones, bricks, concrete, building and their empires into
life as food for them if not for this Grace from God.
In fact, even FAO and all countries are worrying about food security and
their ability to feed the growing billions of humans, especially with climate
change. Bear this in mind very seriously about famine, starvation, epidemics
yet to come. Do not be ungrateful for every morsel of food we put daily into
our mouths.
Life Eternal:
We need
eternal life, and it is only Lord Jesus who can transfuse and transfer this
‘eternal life force’ into us.
The existence
of life forces is not about biology, biochemistry, physiology, nutrition,
medicine or anything like that taught in universities. It is far, beyond what
science understands.
Pray
for the sick:
In Christian
prayers, it is also correct to pray for those who are sick, lame and blind, and
ask God to heal and comfort them. You may also request to be healed if you are
sick yourself. Jesus did that all the time with his miracles. He will answer
that prayer. Just follow in His footsteps.
Causes of
Disease:
Disease is
only partly caused by specific or non-specific pathogens, or from multiple root
causes (examples stress, dietary lifestyles, bad habits, smoking, aging,
genetic, etc, etc). The causes of physical illness are far too many
to discuss here. It includes an understanding, anything from microbiology,
nutrition, molecular medicine, cellular pathology to disorders of immunity
right down to genetics.
We shall not
discuss them. You name them; they are all described in standard textbooks on
medicine.
These physical
causes of illness are what researchers, doctors and medical scientists tell us
all the time. I too was blinded in one eye by such training. I was led astray
by my university professors for years.
But now I
see. Apart from specific physical pathogens which we have been
brain-washed thoroughly, there are also unseen energy and un-measurable forces
entering our bodies that alter our patho-physiology, body chemistries and
bio-mechanisms.
Many of these
entities cannot be detected, let only analyze and measured by Science.
Beyond
physical factors:
For instance,
I have always wondered why some people are prone to certain diseases, others
not? Scientists talk about risk factors. They talk about factors such as
nutrition, pathogens, environment, age, gender, genetics, family history,
smoking, obesity, lifestyle, stress levels, etc, etc down the long list. They
tell us these are the confronting or causative risk factors.
Scientists and
medical researchers know these too well. They understand medical statistics and
causative factors. Repeating them is boring and unnecessary.
Beyond
Understanding:
But what I
have always asked myself is, why is it that monozygotic (identical)
twins, doing everything exactly together - from staying in the same house,
eating exactly the same food in quality and amount, wearing the same type of
clothes too, having the same body weights…etc, etc.
They have
exactly the same traits, DNA make-up, characteristics, exposures, and
chemistry, and yet, … years down the line, one of the twins develop a disease,
whereas his / her identical half did not? Why?
Surely there
is something far more than mere diet, nutrition, genetics, age, environment,
lifestyle and other causative factors, etc that made them different, or were
their internal body chemistry so different.
It is my
personal belief that there is a spiritual entity far beyond science and body
bio-mechanism that commands and orders the chemistry of the body to take
different patho-physiological pathways. What could be the cause of that
difference?
Didn’t Jesus
Himself tell us the same thing about unseen spirits and demons possessing our
bodies to make us ill as given in Mark 5: 2 -43. He tells us that clearly.
There is some kind of unseen and a force beyond measure residing inside a
living soul that controls the physiological and pathological chemistry other
than all those physical risk factors I mentioned above.
Because of
this unseen and un-measurable entity, that may explain why in a biological
(life) system the laws of physics and chemistry cannot be strictly applied.
This is
so different in non-living systems or in materials such as gasses, mass,
volume, speed, pressure, force, etc that strictly obeys a set of physical laws.
Biological
variations:
In a living
system where some living force resides in a physical body, there would be so
many biological variations; so much so that biostatisticians need to analyse
data of measurements from large populations in order to derive meaningful
conclusions.
This is so
different from measurements taken from non-living materials in physics where
the laws are so fixed and immovable. You may get a straight-line correlation (r
= 1.00) between two variables in the physics of materials, but not in a
biological system. We might get a scattergram instead.
Demons:
Jesus is never
wrong when He cast out demons in those who were possessed.
Had Jesus
practiced medicine according to “scientific” methods of “modern medicine” He
could never have raised Lazarus from the dead, or instantly healed the lame,
sick, paralyzed and the blind.
He can see and
tells us things we do not know. He could detect, measure or pump vital energy
into our body to heal it. Obviously when we are sick our vital
energy is very low, and in death it becomes zero.
Jesus could
even raise them from the grave. It is just too bewildering for us to understand
fully except probably some vital life forces are being pumped back into a dead
body to reverse all the previously broken-down molecules and put them together
again. What a Divine power. Praise unto the Lord.
Absolutely no
doctor today can perform any miraculous healing using mere physical or chemical
(pharmacological) methods as science teaches. Jesus saw life energies far
beyond what Science understands.
Dust-to Dust:
As I said
earlier, when that vital force leaves the physical body upon death, all
biochemistries crumble into pieces, and the molecules from which life was
created crumbles back into dust. Isn’t that already foretold here?
“In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for
out of it wast thou taken for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt
thou return” (Genesis 3:19).
This verse is
comparable with the similarity about the carbon chain of life scientists tell
us.
Another World:
Naturally,
because Jesus came from another world (John 18:36) He was given divine
powers by God, His Father. No human in history was bestowed such
stunning supernatural powers.
Many prophets
before Jesus in the biblical past have performed miracles, but not as divinely
awesome as what Jesus did when He was able to raise dead people. Jesus was the
only exception.
Moses for
instance did a few miracles such as changing the rod into a serpent before Pharaoh
and striking the rock to gush out water in the desert (Exodus 7:9, Numbers
20:11). But they were much less impressive.
Jesus needed
to come to this world in a human form so that we can be comfortable with Him
and not treat Him as an alien from another world.
But He clearly
said He was not from this world (John 18:36). But He has to live, move
about and stay among us. He has divine powers, and yet He assumes such humble
and child-like qualities.
Believing is
Seeing:
If we believe
in Him, we will be given the same vision. It is to believe first before seeing,
not the other way round. I believe in Him absolutely in order now I
am able to see.
All these
needs are added into a Christian prayer. Prayer is not about asking God for
protection against made-made crimes and violence.
Neither will
God protect us if we decide to commit suicide by jumping down from a height,
etc. Only Satan wants to lead us astray by convincing us that God
will protect us if we want to do ungodly things (Luke 4:9).
Neither do
Christians pray for wealth and power on Earth such as asking for winning
lottery numbers. They only seek for peace, forgiveness of sins, and strength
against ungodly temptations.
If we need
physical protection against man-made violence, we need to employ bodyguards,
not ask God to protect us. Jesus provides us spiritual strength
against temptations and against the work of Satan.
Yet He is fair
to everyone, whether His children or to non-believers, whether in sunshine or
against natural disasters.
“That ye may
be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to
rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the
unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
Christians
need to remember to thank the Lord in their daily prayers. They need to say
grace before each meal for that gift of life no money in the world could buy.
We can be
super rich, and can buy almost anything we want, but if God had not given us
rain, no life can survive, and no food is available.
Do not be
arrogant if we are rich and think we can buy food in abundance from hyper
supermarkets at any time we like because we work for it and have the money.
I have
explained if this gift of life is not given to every creature on Earth, there
will be no food. Even with the wealth of all the kingdoms of this world, there
will still be no food to buy. Remember that!
But I think
most religions, and their followers, rich and poor, are grateful and
thankful – Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'i,
etc. They do give grace before their meals. That is good.
May God be
with all of us!
5 comments:
"Food is A Gift from God. Always Say Grace Before a Meal"
Dear Sifu Dr. Lim Juboo,
I would like to commend you without reservation on this well researched, beautiful, very holistic, comprehensive & detailed write-up on the subject medically and spiritually...Well done!
As a muslim, we also have the same believe...
Islamic Diet & Manners
"Muslims are a part of so many cultures and have contributed much to the nutritional practices of the world.
However, the Islamic nutritional practices (including every other action) are expected to be predominantly determined by the injunctions and regulations of Islam as outlined by the Holy Qur'an and explained by Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
More than 900 million Muslims of different nationalities, societies, and geographical backgrounds of this world make this nutritional practice unique..."
http://www.islamicbulletin.org/newsletters/issue_16/diet.aspx
You be the judge.
Cheers & do keep up with your articles.
Lokman Sardon (flyer168)
Dear Dr Lim,
Really profound.God has given you Wisdom to apply the knowledge you have for a very unique application for 'saying grace at meals'.
I enjoyed reading and what you have stated has a new meaning to (and I will quote of-the-cuff):
Ps 103:5 - "who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles"
Ps 104:27,28 - ' what you give them they gather in; You open Your hand and they are filled with good'
Ps 23 - 'He restoreth my soul'
I am not too sure whether you know that man is created with a spirit, soul, and body. Gen 2:7 'living being' refers to the soul. so the breath of God is the spirit in man, and living being is the soul and flesh (out of the dust).
However,I still feel that SOME of the Lev 11 and Deut 14 restrictions should hold good in spite of what stated in Acts. eg.vultures, and birds, fish, and animals that scavenge. Nor anything that dies of itself.
Acts 10:15 states- 'What God has cleansed you must not call common" (NKJV) So God has to cleanse which also points to your point of "saying Grace"
I have been blessed by your passage and grateful for it.
Warm regards,
Roland
Thank you Captain Lokman Sardon and to you too Captain Roland Thomas for both your kind thought and encouraging comments
If we have God in our hearts and lives, God will give us the wisdom to lead us on. It is the daily provision He gives us from day-to-day that makes us eternally grateful to Him
Thank you to both of you once again for sharing
lim juboo
شركة تنظيف منازل بالدمام
شركة مكافحة حشرات بالدمام
شركة تنظيف فلل بالدمام
شركة تنظيف منازل بالدمام
شركة مكافحة حشرات بالدمام
شركة تنظيف فلل بالدمام
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