Worship: For Heaven’s Sake This story highlights five lessons applicable to us today. (Read more below.)
Wellness: For Health’s Sake Pastor Flemons, a doctor of biblical wellness, reviewed the lesson plan and showed how to apply the principles. (Read more below.)
(NOTE: Before following any advice given here, please read our disclaimer on this page.)
Special Prayer was offered for a live call-in listener: 8537. Please pray for Pastor Flemons today. It is his birthday. He is requesting that we pray for divine guidance for him that he may be led of the LORD to do His will in all things. And pray that he sees more of the character of GOD that he may overcome all weaknesses in his own character.
Listeners Speak Out!
“I love y’all! … It is no mistake that you are in my life.” —-Annette (Michigan)
“Thank you for [the] presentation. It hit home in many ways. It was confirmation for me for things that I have been praying about.” —-7587 (Virginia)
Listen
Watch
Playback: To listen by phone to former broadcasts, call (712) 770-4019. Access Code: 635270. Reference number for today’s broadcast: 381.
Please join us for a special week of evening prayer, beginning today at 7pm Eastern.
TOPICS THIS WEEK
Worship: February 19 – The Division of Canaan; February 20 – The Last Words of Joshua; February 21 – Tithes and Offerings; February 22 – God’s Care for the Poor; February 23 – The Annual Feasts; February 24 – The Earlier Judges; February 25 – Samson [All topics per Patriarchs and Prophets by Ellen G. White, accessible at this link: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/pp/pp.asp]
Wellness: February 19 – February 25 – Natural Remedies to Heal the Circulatory (Cardiovascular) System
SHARE THIS PRESENTATION on your social media sites.
DONATE on this site. HELP expand this ministry.
***
Words of Encouragement
Romans 8:16-17 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Psalm 125:4 Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.
***
For Heaven’s Sake…
The first lesson is in seeking God’s will in everything first that you may know what to do. Joshua was deceived into making a league with the Gibeonites, who pretended to be travel worn. Three days later, as the Israelites traveled to the next settlement, they realized that the Gibeonites were really residents of the neighboring city. They had a reputation for being mighty men of valor. But they were in terror of the Israelites and decided to save themselves through deception. By not seeking God’s will first, Joshua and the Israelite leaders were deceived, and they needlessly incurred the anger of the people at large.
The second lesson is in never resorting to deception for any reason. The Gibeonites had heard that the Israelites were to destroy all the inhabitants in the Promised Land. Therefore, the Gibeonites sold themselves into needless poverty and servitude. When Joshua learned of the deception, he and the leaders permitted the Gibeonites to live. Nevertheless, the Gibeonites were made to serve as “day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord,” according to Joshua 9:27.
Apparently, the Gibeonites had not heard of any other option that could save their lives. The Israelites had a policy that any strangers willing to live as they lived and worship God were to be treated as those born as Israelites. (See Leviticus 19:33 and 34.) They were not to be vexed. They were to be loved in just the same way as the Israelites loved themselves. (See Numbers 15:15.) The lesson is in being willing to accept those who are willing to be children of God as children of God and loving them as you love yourself.
People today tend to see the Bible and the acts of God as outdated and not applicable now. But the Bible says that the LORD GOD is the same today, yesterday and forever. (See Hebrews 13:8.) The lesson is in taking God’s word seriously enough to obey His will, even today. Disobedience brought retribution. Obedience brought blessings. Just as God was with Moses, God was with Joshua. Just as God miraculously fought for Moses and the Israelites, God fought for Joshua and the children of Israel. And if we are faithful and obedient, God will fight for us today.
The next time Joshua was approached with a request from the Gibeonites, he prayed first before responding. The lesson is that there is power in prayer. And people of prayer are people of power. The Gibeonites requested the Israelites to help them defend themselves against five kings who declared war upon them. Once God gave the word and promised success, Joshua went forth into battle and defeated all five armies and eventually took all of their cities. Pastor Flemons reminded us of the saying, “We are to pray as if everything depends on God and work as though everything depends on us.”
As a result of his prayer life, Joshua and those with him engaged in battle witnessed a miracle in nature. God was able to use them to show His power over all creation. Joshua prayed for more time to complete the work God had ordered him to do. He needed more sunlight, and he asked that the sun stand still. And it did. In fact, the sun did not go down the whole day. The sun remained over Gibeon, and the moon stood still over the valley of Ajalon.
Besides that, God rained down hail during the battle, which destroyed more of the enemies than the Israelites did in hand combat. God will still use as weapons fire, hail, snow, vapor, and stormy wind in behalf of His faithful people. (See Jeremiah 50:25 and Job 38:22, 23.) Revelation 16:17 to 21 reveal that when Jesus stands up and declares “It is done,” an earthquake will take place like no other, the great city will be divided into three parts, every island and mountain will disappear, and a great hail of stones from heaven will fall on men and plague the earth.
God’s people are promised protection. Psalm 125:1-2 remind us to not fear. “They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people henceforth even for ever.”
(This study is based on Joshua 9 and 10 and chapter 47, “League With the Gibeonites,” in Patriarchs and Prophets (PP), by Ellen G. White, available at this link: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/pp/pp.asp.)
For Health’s Sake…
There is a process for applying the principles, he says. First, we must know how our bodies work in its normal state. We must know anatomy and physiology. We must ask the question: How should our circulatory system behave normally?
Next, we must learn what is actually happening and ask why. We must learn what the issue or condition is, in order to properly address it. If we learn that our arteries are clogged, we must find out whether the cause is stress due to anger or bitterness or whether it is stress induced by diet.
Clogged arteries and veins don’t happen overnight. Neither will unclogging them. Something in the lifestyle must change. Biblical wellness depends on obedience to the Bible in caring for the health of the body–in maintaining it and regaining it. We must know what the Bible says and live accordingly. Lifestyle is key.
Finally, sometimes the body needs nature’s help in regaining health. Natural remedies work with the body and not against it in regaining health. Natural remedies help. They do not destroy healthy cells. Knowing them and knowing how and when to apply them is the focus of this final week on the circulatory or cardiovascular system.