Worship: For Heaven’s Sake God has blessings in store for us. However, we may not be as ready to receive them as we think we are. We need to be prepared. This is our preparation time. (Read more below.)
Wellness: For Health’s Sake Pastor Flemons, a doctor of biblical wellness, says, “It’s okay to get dolled up,” but not at the risk of your health. “Look nice naturally.” (Read more below.)
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Words of Encouragement
Jeremiah 33:14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
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For Heaven’s Sake…
Every week God provides a dry-run for us to help measure our readiness for His blessings. The day before the weekly Sabbath is the day of preparation. Actually, preparation day is the final day of preparation. It is the last day to put the finishes touches on projects begun earlier in the week that need to be in place for the sacred hours of the Sabbath.
In the book of Exodus, we find our basis for preparing for Sabbath blessings. (Read Exodus 16.) The Israelites were fed manna in the wilderness. It was a daily miracle, with one exception: the Sabbath. That is, every morning manna appeared just after the dew disappeared. It was like frost: small and round. It was white like coriander seed. And it tasted like a honey wafer. Moses called it bread.
It had to be gathered daily before the sun waxed hot, or it would melt away. It could be baked or stewed. And it had to be completely consumed that day. Any left over to the next day would spoil, as it would breed worms and stink.
This was not so for the day of preparation, however. On Fridays, they were instructed to gather twice as much and prepare it for that day and the next. Miraculously, the manna remained fresh for consumption on the Sabbath day. Just as miraculous was the fact that on Sabbath mornings, the dew left no manna.
The blessings that are enfolded into the Sabbath hours are only weekly precursors to the blessings God has in store for us in heaven for all of eternity. Pastor Flemons suggests we allow God to help us find the beauty of keeping holy the Sabbath of the LORD. “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:11).
“God requires that His holy day be as sacredly observed now as in the time of Israel. The day before the Sabbath should be made a day of preparation, that everything may be in readiness for its sacred hours. In no case should our own business be allowed to encroach upon holy time. God has directed that the sick be cared for; the labor required to make them comfortable is a work of mercy and no violation of the Sabbath; but all unnecessary work should be avoided. Work that is neglected until the beginning of the Sabbath should remain undone until it is past. EP 203.4
“The Israelites witnessed a three-fold miracle to impress their minds with the sacredness of the Sabbath: a double quantity of manna fell on the sixth day, none on the seventh, and the portion needed for the Sabbath was preserved sweet and pure.” EP 204.1 (Ellen G. White, From Eternity Past, pp. 203.4 and 204.1)
For Health’s Sake…
Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, MD, in his article, “Major Risks From Cosmetics & Personal Care Products,” stated this: “Most cosmetics and personal care products on store shelves today contain five major categories of toxic ingredients. These are: frank carcinogens (cancer causing); precursors of or “hidden” carcinogens; endocrine or hormonally disruptive; penetration enhancers; and allergens.”
We need to understand the risks of making up our faces and skin. Because the skin is our body’s largest organ, what adversely affects our skin naturally affects our overall health. The skin is a porous membrane. It is highly sensitive to toxic chemicals. Dr. Epstein says, “What we put on our skin affects our health just as much as, if not more than, what we put in our mouths.”
The late Senator Ted Kennedy, in his presentation before the 1997 senate hearing on the USFDA (United States Foods and Drug Administration) Reform Bill, warned that the cosmetics industry had borrowed a page out of the playbook of the tobacco industry in “putting profits ahead of public health.” What led, at least in part, to his concern was the wide use of toxic and illegal hormonal phthalates and synthetic aroma boosters that intensify organic fragrances in personal care products. The fact that there are no warnings posted on cosmetic product packaging lend them to being more dangerous than tobacco products. “Their ingredients pose unrecognized lifelong dangers to the entire U.S. population, including the fetus, following maternal use and absorption through the skin into maternal and fetal blood.”
This year, President Obama is said to have “told reporters at the July 10 Group of 8 news conference, ‘We have to bend the cost curve on health care, and there are some very specific ways of doing that – – game changers that incentivize quality as opposed to quantity, that emphasize prevention.’ ”
Pastor Flemons mentioned having read that processed bat manure and roadkill are among the toxic ingredients that end up forming the base of personal care products. It is no wonder, then, that people who are otherwise health conscious are diagnosed with diseases that cause the endocrine system to malfunction. He says, “If we would just eat better, our skin would be clearer.” He encourages us to think of the pores of our skin as “millions and millions of little bitty tiny mouths.”
Remember essentially this: What we put on our skin, we are eating.
(Access the full article at this link: http://www.drfranklipman.com/risks-from-toxic-ingredients-in-cosmetics-personal-care-products/.)