Worship: For Heaven’s Sake With a death warrant on his head, Jacob left as a fugitive from the home of his parents. He had deceived his father into bestowing the coveted birthright upon himself. For that, his brother wanted him dead. (Read more below.)
Wellness: For Health’s Sake Pastor Flemons, a doctor of biblical wellness, discussed the third and fourth laws of health (fresh air and rest) in the REFRESHING Way lifestyle as it relates to the health of the digestive system. (Read more below.)
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TOPICS THIS WEEK
Worship: January 15 – The Marriage of Isaac; January 16 – Jacob and Esau; January 17 – Jacob’s Flight and Exile; January 18 – The Night of Wrestling; January 19 – The Return to Canaan; January 20 – Joseph in Egypt; January 21 – Joseph and His Brothers [All topics per Patriarchs and Prophets by Ellen G. White, accessible at this link: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/pp/pp.asp]
Wellness: THE REFRESHING WAY LIFESTYLE FOR THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM January 15 – 21
NEXT RETREAT: February 20-March 9, 2017.
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Words of Encouragement
Joel 2:21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.
Psalm 150:6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
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For Heaven’s Sake…
Before Jacob left, however, his father, Isaac, blessed him again. He confirmed the birthright to Jacob and charged him with marrying one of the daughters of Laban, his mother’s brother in Padanaram. Still, with a troubled heart because of his sin, Jacob set out on his journey to Mesopotamia, which today is roughly the region of Iraq and Kuwait, eastern parts of Syria, Southeastern Turkey, and regions along the Turkish-Syrian and Iran–Iraq borders. Leaving Beersheba in the desert of southern Israel, Jacob traveled until sunset. He then settled into a place to sleep, using the stones of that place for his pillows.
That night he dreamed about a ladder bridging heaven and earth, upon which angels traveled between the two. At the top stood the LORD, who said, “I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; … And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of” (Genesis 28:13, 15). Before leaving that place, Jacob anointed the stone and called the place Bethel, which had been called Luz.
Jacob then vowed, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God” (Genesis 28:20, 21).
God had not forsaken Jacob. “His mercy was still extended to His erring, distrustful servant. The Lord compassionately revealed just what Jacob needed—a Saviour. He had sinned, but his heart was filled with gratitude as he saw revealed a way by which he could be restored to the favor of God.PP 183.3
“In the vision the plan of redemption was presented to Jacob, not fully, but in such parts as were essential to him at that time. The mystic ladder revealed to him in his dream was the same to which Christ referred in His conversation with Nathanael. Said He, “Ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” John 1:51. Up to the time of man’s rebellion against the government of God, there had been free communion between God and man. But the sin of Adam and Eve separated earth from heaven, so that man could not have communion with his Maker. Yet the world was not left in solitary hopelessness. The ladder represents Jesus, the appointed medium of communication. Had He not with His own merits bridged the gulf that sin had made, the ministering angels could have held no communion with fallen man. Christ connects man in his weakness and helplessness with the source of infinite power.PP 184.2″ (Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, selected paragraphs, pp. 183-184)
With a new and abiding faith in the divine promises, and assured of the presence and guardianship of heavenly angels, Jacob was able to complete his journey to his mother’s homeland, where he encountered Laban, his mother’s selfish, grasping and deceptive brother. Jacob, the deceiver, reaped what he had sown. Jacob, in turn, was deceived by Laban into marrying Leah, the sister of his beloved Rachel, for whom he had worked seven years for the privilege of marrying.
For years, Jacob endured deception after deception by Laban with signal blessings of prosperity from God. Jacob remained with his Syrian uncle, out of fear that his brother would kill him if he returned home. Finally, Jacob approached God in prayer and was given another dream. In the dream, Jacob was given permission to return home with the promise that God would be with him.
(Please read Genesis chapters 28 – 31 and the chapter 17, “Jacob’s Flight and Exile” in Patriarchs and Prophets, by Ellen G. White, accessible at this link: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/pp/pp.asp.)
For Health’s Sake…
Fresh Air – Fresh air provides oxygen. The therapeutic value of the REFRESHING Way laws affects every system in the body. Even though fresh air is breathed in by your lungs, fresh air benefits the cells of the digestive system. When you lack oxygen, every cell of the body is depressed, including the cells of the digestive system. The health of the digestive system is dependent on cells being sufficiently oxygenated.
Negative ions are found in fresh air. Negative ions build the immune system and increase immune function. A weak immune system is not sufficiently capable of warding off diseases, like Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune diseases, and colon cancer.
Fresh air strengthens brain cells and increases brain function. Fresh air keeps down infection. Because of a lack of fresh air available in hospitals, it is one of the worst places to go when you are sick and your immune system is already weakened. A lot of infection is spread and picked up there. That said, hospital visits are sometimes unavoidable and necessary.
Rest – It is during periods of rest that your entire body is recharged. So is the immune system. Without it, you cannot have a healthy immune system.
Not only do we need physical rest in the form of sleep, we need to rest our digestive system. Rest reenergizes the digestive system. The digestive system rests between meals. Five hours between meals is required for the digestive system to get sufficient rest. During this time, it is important to only drink liquids.
Rest is a great stress reliever. Stress hinders peristalsis. It nearly comes to a halt. Hence, normal digestion is prevented. As a result, toxins get locked in the stomach and in sites along the digestive tract. The halted food then begins to putrefy and invite disease. Rest, therefore, enables the digestive system to operate normally and remain healthy.