Bible Study Topics. Sugar Aches & Inflammation.

.

Bible Study Topics

“The Bible addresses so many topics that can answer our questions and help us now and in the future. What are some of the most important Bible study topics?

The Bible is a tremendous resource and a wonderful gift from God! It’s been called an instruction manual for life, showing how our Creator designed us and how we should live for the best, eternal results.

Although the Bible is a great reference book, it is not like other books you may be familiar with. The Bible isn’t written like an encyclopedia, a dictionary or a textbook. It is composed of 66 shorter books written by dozens of people over about 1,500 years—yet they all have a unified message.

Reading the Bible book by book is an excellent way to get the big picture and overview of God’s entire message. There are many read-the-Bible-in-a-year programs and other programs that you can use for this. And, of course, you can create your own plan to read the Bible through.

But it is also very helpful at times to pick a Bible study topic and try to find sections of the Bible that address that subject or answer that question.

Picking a Bible study topic and beginning your study

Many times daily life gives us questions and topics that we want answers to, and these make excellent Bible study topics. But sometimes we aren’t exactly sure what would be helpful to study, and we would like to pick from a list of Bible study topics. If that is what you are looking for, we hope the 150 topics below will be a helpful starting place for you.

Once you have a topic, you still need a method for finding the relevant passages about that topic in your Bible. Concordances and topical Bibles can help. A concordance allows you to look up every time a word related to your topic is used in the Bible. Online and electronic concordances also let you search for combinations of words or a phrase.

Topical Bibles are put together to group relevant passages together. These can be helpful, but keep in mind that they generally won’t include every possible Bible passage and will reflect the background and doctrinal beliefs of the people who compiled them.

See our article about “Bible Study Tools” for more information about how to use a concordance and other tools. You might also find it helpful to search our site about the topic you are interested in.

150 Bible study topics

Here are 150 Bible study topics and questions to get you started, grouped around the six topic areas we felt were so important we needed to highlight them on this website.

Each topic listed below is also covered in one of the biblical articles on this Life, Hope & Truth website. Just type the topic into the search bar at the top left of the web page (https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/bible-study/bible-study-topics/?) and you’ll find helpful material with many related Bible references.

Bible study topics about God

• Is there a God?
• Are God and science compatible?
• Can Christians believe in evolution?
• Is God really concerned for me?
• What are the names of God?
• What does the fear of the Lord mean?
• How can I please God?
• What’s God’s will for me?
• Who is Jesus?
• Was Jesus created?
• Why did the wise men bring gifts to Jesus?
• What do we know about Jesus’ childhood?
• What were the seven last sayings of Jesus?
• What was the transfiguration of Jesus?
• What is the Holy Spirit?
• What is spirit?
• How can I grow in the fruit of the Spirit?
• How should we pray?
• Does God answer prayers today?
• What is intercessory prayer?
• Why pray “Thy kingdom come”?
• What does it mean to pray without ceasing?
• What is fasting?
• What is meditation?

Bible study topics about the Bible

• Is the Bible true?
• Is the Bible full of contradictions?
• What is truth?
• Who wrote the Bible?
• What is the background and outline of the individual books of the Bible?
• Is the Old Testament relevant?
• What can we learn from the imprecatory Psalms?
• How can we learn to be wise?
• What was the chronology of Paul’s journeys and epistles?
• What are the 10 Commandments?
• Were the 10 Commandments around before Moses?
• Are the 10 Commandments upheld in the New Testament?
• Should a Christian avoid euphemisms for God?
• What does it mean that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath?
• Did Paul change the Sabbath command?
• Is watching porn a sin?
• What do we need to know about the great commandment?
• Is the Bible relevant today?
• What are some encouraging Bible verses?
• What is the purpose behind the Bible stories?
• Where should you start reading the Bible?
• What is doctrine?
• How can we understand the Bible?
• What did Paul mean by the curse of the law?
• What are good works?
• What is the Old Covenant?
• What is new about the New Covenant?

Bible study topics about Life

• What is the meaning of life?
• Are we children of God now?
• What is predestination?
• Are we alone in the universe?
• Does God want us to celebrate the biblical festivals? Why?
• What is Passover?
• What is the sign of Jonah? Did Jesus die on Good Friday and rise on Easter?
• What does Pentecost mean?
• What happens to those who died without hope?
• Is God fair?
• Why does God allow suffering?
• How can we deal with grief?
• Why did God’s people go to war?
• Is there life after death?
• Do humans have an immortal soul?
• What is heaven?
• What is hell?
• What are the resurrections?
• What is the way of peace?
• How can we cast out fear?
• Could your love grow cold?
• What does the Bible say about crying?
• Is being a Christian easy or hard?
• How do we judge with righteous judgment?
• How can we bring every thought into captivity?
• What does the Bible say about being successful?
• What is the key to happiness?
• How can we be ambassadors of Christ?

Bible study topics about Prophecy

• What is the Kingdom of God?
• How will world peace come?
• What does the world need most right now?
• What do the parables of Jesus mean?
• What is the Great Tribulation?
• What is the Day of the Lord?
• Who is the beast?
• How do we avoid the mark of the beast?
• What is the abomination of desolation?
• What does the Bible say about the interpretation of dreams?
• How can we recognize the Antichrist?
• What is Armageddon?
• When will Jesus return?
• Why is our modern world under ancient curses?
• Where are we now in Bible prophecy?
• What is the purpose of prophecy?
• What are the promises to Abraham?
• Why did God choose Israel?
• What is the role of Jerusalem in prophecy?

Bible study topics about Change

• What is sin?
• What does the Bible say about anger?
• What is the unpardonable sin?
• What is justification?
• What is repentance?
• What is forgiveness?
• What should we do when forgiveness isn’t easy?
• What is baptism?
• What is conversion?
• What is faith?
• How can we grow in faith?
• What can we learn from the women of faith in the Bible?
• What are God’s promises?
• How can we deal with doubt?
• What is living faith?
• What is grace?
• What does it mean to be saved?
• What is the Church?
• Why are there so many world religions?
• What did Jesus mean by “narrow is the gate”?
• What did Jesus mean by “judge not”?
• How does temptation occur?
• What is the biblical name of the true Church?
• What is the mission of the Church?
• What kind of worship does God want?
• Who is the Bride of Christ?

Bible study topics about Relationships

• How do we speak the truth in love?
• What does the Bible say about gossip?
• When should you answer a fool?
• How should we fellowship?
• What does God expect of the unmarried?
• What does it mean to be equally or unequally yoked?
• What questions should you ask before getting married?
• How do great marriages work?
• What does the Bible say about marriage problems?
• How can we help our children build a relationship with God?
• How do we teach our children to honor the elderly?
• How do we teach our kids about money?
• How can we raise contented kids?
• How can we raise resilient kids?
• How can we build a strong family?
• How can we honor our parents as an adult?
• What is the biblical role of men?
• What is the biblical role of women?
• What does the Bible say about dealing with debt?
• What are biblical personal finance principles?
• What does the Bible say about gambling?
• What is tithing?
• What is divine healing?
• What does the Bible say about coping with anxiety?
• How can we be a good neighbor?
• How can we deal with difficult people?
• How can we deal with aging?

Other resources for Bible study topic ideas

Your daily life will likely give you many topics to study in your Bible, and these can be the most helpful Bible study topics!

But if you have run out of ideas and want more inspiration, here are some more resources:

All-Topics Page: This page lists all of the articles on our website, and new articles are being added regularly. As you look through the list, you are sure to find something that is relevant to you, something that you’ve wondered about or that would help you in your personal walk with God. The articles also will give you a starting place for your study. You can look up the passages mentioned and read more of the context in your Bible.

Weekly Newsletter: This link takes you to the subscription form for our weekly email newsletter. The newsletter features the new content on our website, including video commentaries, blogs and articles. We hope you’ll find at least one Bible study topic that grabs your interest in the newsletter each week.

Discern magazine: Our bimonthly magazine regularly covers a variety of biblical topics. We’d be happy to give you a free subscription to Discern. Digital subscriptions are available worldwide; print subscriptions are currently available in the United States, Canada and much of Europe.

Topical Bibles and Concordances: These Bible study tools can help you find the relevant passages once you have chosen your Bible study topics. However, scanning through them can also give you dozens of topics for your future study.

Bible study topics for youth

We also have resources geared toward young people and their parents. See the “Encourage, Equip & Inspire” section for dozens for useful Bible study topics for youth and parents.

See also the 47 Bible stories and coloring pages in our “Bible Stories” section.

Start now!

Finding Bible study topics might be challenging, but having too many to choose from can be daunting as well. Don’t let “analysis paralysis” keep you from starting. Hopefully several of the ideas in this article looked interesting and helpful to you. Pick one now and get started!

You may also want to start with this helpful overview article: “How to Study the Bible.”

Please let us know if you have questions or if we can help in any way.”

RELATED ARTICLES

From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/bible-study/bible-study-topics/?

_______

Sugar Aches & Inflammation,  By Darlene Kvist, MS, CNS, LN

“Yes, you read that right. Sugar-aches. I don’t mean the sugar lust that comes from the aroma of fresh brownies or the Blizzard-of-the-month sign at the Dairy Queen®. I mean what happens after you consume high-sugar foods that in turn create inflammation, aches and pain throughout your body; in other words, sugar-aches.

Do You Have Sugar-Aches?

This achy feeling may appear as stiff joints, achy muscles, migraines, added asthma or PMS symptoms. Chronic sugar-aches can lead to giving up your favorite pastimes such as golf, gardening, or other activities because you're in too much pain.

Let's back up. Where do your sugar-aches originate? They can come from a mocha and muffin at the coffee shop or maybe from a generous serving of pasta, or sub sandwich, at lunch. On the other hand, they may be from the hard to resist candy stash at your co-worker’s desk.

You're probably getting the picture ... sugar is hiding, in high amounts in many beverages and foods.

While you wouldn’t consume spoon after spoon of plain sugar, you may drink soda or eat popular foods that result in sugar-overload in your body without realizing it.

Here's a simple equation to see how much sugar you are actually consuming, beyond what's listed on the label. 4 grams of carbohydrates = 1 teaspoon of sugar in your body. When you check product labels, look for serving size so you can complete the equation for the amount of food or beverage you want to consume. 

Sugar-Loaded Snacks to be Cautious of:

• Potato chips: A nine-ounce bag of chips breaks down into 32 teaspoons of sugar (most people can’t stop after four or five chips). If you wash down the chips with a soda, that’s another 16 or more teaspoons of sugar.
• Dots: One box of movie-theater sized Dots contains 5.5 servings. If you consume the whole box, you have eaten the equivalent of 48 teaspoons of sugar! (Maybe that’s the reason you are so stiff when you leave your seat at the end of the movie.)
• Blizzard: One small Dairy Queen Blizzard has 530 calories and 83 grams of carbohydrates, which equals 21 teaspoons of sugar. And that's a small size!
• One soda contains more than a day's healthy ration of sweetness.

This list is just a start to be cautious of. Read about even more with this Healthy Snacks Debunked post.

A Natural Solution to Sugar-Aches

Instead of relying on an endless supply of pain relievers to manage aches and pains, I have a better suggestion – start eating real foods and see how much better you feel. In 2002 the American Journal of Cancer Nutrition found that foods high in sugar resulted in inflammation. So the research, and 20+ years of clinical experience, have shown that food choices directly affect levels of pain and inflammation in the body.

As a nutritionist, I see clients’ lives change dramatically when they eliminate processed, high-sugar foods and switch to real foods. Clients that could barely climb the stairs to our office on their first visit returned to their favorite activities after following an anti-inflammatory eating plan for a few months.

Remember that highly processed foods (pizza, cereal, granola bars, popcorn and the list can go on forever), mostly all contain sugar and trans-fats (damaged fats and oils that are hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated, such as margarine and refined vegetable oils) which are known to increase inflammation and pain.

Eat This, Not That

The key to avoiding sugar-aches lies in eating real foods instead of processed foods. What do we mean by real foods?

• Carbohydrates – Vegetable carbs are best, three additional servings of vegetables per day have been shown to reduce your risk of stroke by 22%.
• Unprocessed food, nothing in a package or box.

Real foods can ease the inflammation you feel, as well as hidden low-grade chronic inflammation associated with Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, cancer, fibromyalgia, heart disease and strokes.

Do your own experiment. Stop eating processed carbohydrates for three full weeks. Avoid soda, candy, chips, cereal and bagels, and I am willing to bet that you will experience less pain and inflammation. Then come back and let us know how you feel!

That said, each body is extremely unique with your own health history and goals. For a more targeted approach and help reading your body’s cues, consider a nutrition consultation, available by phone or in-person with one of our nutritionists.

Nutrition is your best line of defense against sugar-aches!

From: https://www.weightandwellness.com/resources/articles-and-videos/sugar-aches/

________

Praying for Our Daily Bread. The Lord’s Model Prayer. Salt: The Scapegoat for the Western Diet.

.

Praying for Our Daily Bread

“We're told to pray for our daily bread.

God tells us to pray for our daily bread. The Bible gives examples that help us more deeply understand what He means by this and how to apply it today.

It’s hard to pack for a two-year journey across a barren wilderness. It’s even harder when you’re hurrying out of the country that oppressed you and your people for many years as slaves. So it’s little surprise that, a month or so into their grand exit from Egypt, the Israelites started to notice something of a rumbling in their stomachs.

Their response, however, was ridiculous. Rather than trust in the God who had just brought one of the world’s mightiest nations to its knees through supernatural plagues and then led His people through a sea without even getting them wet, they instead complained bitterly. They accused Moses, their leader, of dragging them into the wilderness to “kill this whole assembly with hunger” (Exodus 16:3).

Bread from heaven!

God responded with a miracle that would last for 40 years—every day, except the Sabbath, He sent bread from heaven. The Israelites were to “gather it according to each one’s need” (Exodus 16:16) but not “leave any of it till morning” (verse 19). Anyone who tried to be clever and stockpile for future days (excepting the Sabbath) found a nasty surprise—by the next morning, the manna “bred worms and stank” (verse 20).

For 40 years, six days a week, the Israelites would get up in the morning and gather their bread for the day, gathering a double portion only the day before the Sabbath.

And so for 40 years, the continued survival of the entire congregation of Israel depended on whether or not God provided them with bread in the morning.

A few millennia later …

Fast-forward to the present. There’s a significantly good chance you’re not reading this from your tent in the wilderness; and in all likelihood, your bread doesn’t rain from heaven so much as it gets plucked from the aisles of your local supermarket. It’s been a long, long time since the now-scattered Israelites have had to depend on manna from above. In fact, if you live in America, you live in a country where an average of 247 pounds of food is wasted per person per year.

That’s the equivalent of every American taking a pile of food the weight of Dr. Phil and throwing it in the garbage. Every year.

How does this relate to the Lord’s prayer?

When Jesus Christ gave His disciples a template for praying to God (Matthew 6:9-13), He provided a list of categories to include in our daily prayers. Important categories, like “Your kingdom come” and “forgive us our debts” and “do not lead us into temptation” and “give us this day our daily bread” and—wait, hold on.

Give us this day our daily bread? In a world that throws away mountains of unwanted food, isn’t praying for daily bread a little … outdated?

A parable

Jesus Christ also told the story of a man who found himself with more food than he knew what to do with. After a bountiful harvest—so bountiful that there wasn’t enough room to store it all—the man resolved to tear down his old barns, build bigger ones and live a life of ease for years.

His plan hit a snag, however, when “God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’” (Luke 12:20).

Overnight, the man’s possessions, however plentiful, lost all value to him.

Stockpiles are not security

As human beings, we seem to be hardwired with the inclination to stockpile stuff. We want to hoard; we want to keep; we want to possess. And so we save—we pile up goods and money and food, saving it all for a rainy day. Of course, saving is a wise principle.

However, if we’re not careful, it’s easy to start believing our stockpiles will carry us through any rainy days—that our stuff will sustain us through all of life’s difficulties. We tell ourselves that if we can just hold on to enough things to keep our heads above water, we won’t have to worry about anything.

Except for the fact that depending on stuff only breeds more worries. Because, as it turns out, food can rot. Possessions can be destroyed. Economies and, yes, entire civilizations can collapse. And when our survival hinges on a pile of stuff that can vanish in a moment, we’ll spend our lives concerned about losing our grip on those stockpiles.

The parable of the rich fool reminds us that stockpiles cannot bring security. In fact, stockpiles can actually cause us to forget the source of true security.

Why pray for daily bread?

The Israelites learned in a concrete, physical sense that without God’s continued provisions they would perish. It was literally impossible for them to stockpile manna, because it would spoil by the next morning. They were constantly aware that their food, each and every day, was provided for them directly by God.

We forget. Our breakfast doesn’t come from the heavens; it comes from a grocery store. America alone throws away tons of wasted food, and it’s easy to forget that our pantries full of meals were made possible by our Creator.

So we pray for our daily bread. We pray not just for the possession of it, but for the blessing of partaking of it. Because having it in abundance means nothing if we die or we have it ripped from us. It is a blessing from God, not ourselves.

Tucked away toward the end of Proverbs is a prayer that deepens the meaning of praying for daily bread. It is a prayer to “feed me with the food allotted to me; lest I be full and deny You, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God” (Proverbs 30:8-9).

Having the “food allotted” to us helps keep us from trusting in the false god of stockpiles.

Worry not

Trusting stockpiles can breed worries, but God offers us a different way—trusting Him. Christ tells us, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. … For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:25, 32-34, emphasis added).

Pray for your daily bread. Do your part in earning it, but trust God to provide it. Don’t look to your own possessions for deliverance, but to your Father in heaven, “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).       From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/god/blog/praying-for-our-daily-bread/

_______

The Lord’s Model Prayer

“Matthew 6:9-13

“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

This passage is often called the “Lord’s Prayer,” but it really isn’t a prayer, but an outline of the kinds of things to pray about. Christ prayed many prayers, and if you had to pick one to call the Lord’s Prayer, the one recorded in John 17 might be the most likely candidate.

There is a lot packed into this outline about our approach to God; about our need to focus on the good news of His promised Kingdom; about praying for the needs of others and ourselves; and about overcoming Satan, temptation and sin through seeking God’s help and forgiveness.

For more details on this passage, please see “The Lord’s Prayer” and “Do You Pray the Way Jesus Taught?” including the infographic “Jesus Christ’s Model Prayer.”  From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/the-lords-model-prayer/?

_______

Salt: The Scapegoat for the Western Diet

“Salt isn’t the cause of health problems, the real culprits are the foods people eat that are loaded with salt and fat, such as bacon, cheese and processed foods.

People following vegetarian diets have been consistently found to have lower blood pressure, irrespective of their sodium intake; and indigenous communities in which hypertension is rare typically consume a diet that resembles far more of a vegetarian than a western, urban diet (even when their native diet may be very high in sodium).¹² When these people migrate to the city and westernize their diets with more animal products and processed foods they develop hypertension, type-2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. It’s the basic foods, not the salt that underlies health and disease.”

Read More at: https://www.drmcdougall.com/articles/common-health-problems/salt-the-scapegoat-for-the-western-diet/

_______

How to Pray for Others. Whose Prayers Won’t God Hear? Whose Prayers Does God Answer? How Not to Pray. Doctors’ Nutritional Ignorance.

.

Intercessory Prayer: How to Pray for Others

“God appreciates people who pray fervently for others facing trials. Why does God command intercessory prayer, and how does He want us to pray for others?

What is intercessory prayer?

Intercessory prayer is prayer for the needs of others. Praying for others is an unselfish expression of love.

Why does God want us to pray for others? Because intercessory prayer reflects God’s own character of outgoing love and mercy. God wants us to think like He does, and praying for others helps us to think beyond ourselves and to grow in compassion for others.

God compares prayer with sweet-smelling incense that pleases Him (Revelation 5:8).

Who should we pray for?

Here are a few biblical principles for effective intercessory prayer. We should:

• Pray for others from the heart, with deep feeling and sincerity. (See our article “Prayer From the Heart” for more about this.)

• Pray for others regularly. In what is often called the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus told us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11; see “The Lord’s Prayer”). We should pray for our needs and the needs of others every day.

• Pray for others in detail. God knows everything; but He wants us to come to Him with all our specific requests because He likes to hear from us and to know what is important to us. The Bible compares our prayers to incense, and God loves prayers that are like “sweet incense beaten fine” (Leviticus 16:12). Detailed, thoughtful prayers are more pleasing than rushed, summary prayers to “bless everybody.” Making a prayer list or prayer journal can help you remember the details.

• Pray for others with faith, knowing that God has all power and loves the people we are praying for. Faith reminds us that God knows what is eternally best for each person, and that even if God does not answer in the way we want at the time we want, we can trust He has all of our best interests in mind. (For more about faith, study the scriptures in our article “What Is Faith?” and the other articles in that section.)

• Pray for others with love. Remember that names on a prayer list represent real people with deep needs, struggles and feelings. Consider that God loves each of them and wants us to have the same outgoing concern. Godly love is totally unselfish and is the essence of God’s character (see “God Is Love”).

• Pray for others fervently—with intensity, zeal and passion. James 5:16 tells us “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

• Pray for others with a desire to help where we can. This might include physical help and encouragement. Cards, calls and visits might be helpful. It is not wrong to tell a person you are praying for him or her if it will help encourage the person.”

More at: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/god/prayer-fasting-and-meditation/how-to-pray/intercessory-prayer/

_______

Whose Prayers Won’t God Hear?

Psalm 66:18

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

Does God hear the prayers of sinners? Yes and no.

Yes, our merciful God always loves us and works with us, and Jesus Christ even died for us “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). We were all sinners (Romans 3:23), so if God did not hear our cries for forgiveness, there would be no human He would hear. After sinning, David prayed, “Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities” (Psalm 51:9). God heard that prayer.

But without repentance, as Isaiah wrote, “Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

Psalm 66:18 talks about sin “cherished” in the heart (New International Version). “If I have known it was there and encouraged it,” then God wouldn’t listen (Adam Clarke’s Commentary on Psalm 66:18).

To be assured God will hear and answer us, we must repent and work to root sin out of our heart with God’s help. See more about repentance in “How to Repent.””

From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/whose-prayers-wont-god-hear/?

________

Whose Prayers Does God Answer?

1 John 3:22

“And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

Jesus Christ said, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:14). That sounds like a blanket promise that could be easily abused. But John clarifies in 1 John 3:22 what Christ meant and why He could say that. His followers would, by definition, be those who strive to obey God’s commandments and to please God. Christians must seek God’s will and so must pray according to God’s will.

It only makes sense. Why would God act like a genie and give us things that wouldn’t be good for us? Why would He reward disobedience to His perfect laws? He wouldn’t.

He wants His followers to learn His will and to ask according to His will. Then He can give “whatever we ask” at the time that He knows is best for us in His eternal plan.

For more about His commandments and pleasing Him, see “The 10 Commandments for Today” and “How to Please God.”            From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/whose-prayers-does-god-answer/?

________

How Not to Pray

James 4:3

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

In this chapter James is giving correction about selfish desires and the wrong actions they produce. Selfishly trying to get things for ourselves can lead from lust and coveting to fighting and even murder and war. And still people don’t get what they want, James says, “because you do not ask” (James 4:2).

Of course, James knew that some of his readers would automatically respond, “What do you mean we don’t ask! We ask God for the things we want all the time! So why doesn’t God answer?” Verse 3 is James’ response to this expected objection.

God does not want us to pray with a list of selfish “give mes.” Asking “amiss” is asking for selfish reasons—not seeking God’s will, which truly is in our long-term best interest. Selfishly seeking pleasures now is short-sighted.

Instead our prayers must be based on right motives and right priorities, such as described in Matthew 6:33. Jesus said we should seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then the other things we need “shall be added to you.”

For more about priorities and where we should focus, see “Seek First the Kingdom of God.”        From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/how-not-to-pray/?

_______

Doctors’ Nutritional Ignorance

Medical education continues to under-emphasize clinical nutrition.

Transcript of video at: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/doctors-nutritional-ignorance/

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

“The World Health Organization blames literally millions of deaths every year on inadequate fruit and vegetable intake. Almost as deadly as smoking. So if we care enough about ourselves and our families to not want to die a horrific death from smoking, we should put the same effort into eating more fruits and vegetables. We should eat fruits and vegetables as if our lives depended on it, because in a way they do.

Why haven’t many of us heard of this change from 5 A Day to 9 A Day? Well, the Federal Government spends about $10 million a year to educate people about healthy eating. Candy corporations spend about twice that amount just launching a new candy bar. Okay, but why don’t most doctors pass this information along? Because, odds are, your doctor never learned any of this. Less than a quarter of medical schools have even a single dedicated course on nutrition, and less than six percent of graduating physicians may have received any formal nutrition training.

Out of thousands of hours of pre-clinical instruction, your doctor may have gotten an average of three hours of nutrition training. There was even a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that pitted doctors versus patients in a head-to-head test of basic nutrition knowledge—simple true or false questions. Guess who won? The patients. People off the street knew more about nutrition than their doctors, yet people still ask their doctors for nutrition advice.

What doctors may be telling their patients to eat may be killing them. It wasn’t too long ago that doctors were advising pregnant women to smoke cigarettes to help with morning sickness. Until doctors are taught more about nutrition, their advising us about diet may be physician-assisted suicide.

There is one doctor though, everyone trusts. Perhaps the most famous physician of all time: Dr. Benjamin Spock. Always on the forefront of important social issues. And in the final edition of his book, the bestselling book in American history (second only to the Bible), he recommended that all children be raised on meat- and dairy-free diets to prevent diseases like cancer.”

_______

What Is the Real Meaning of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus? Test All Things. Why You Should Care About Nutrition.

.

What Is the Real Meaning of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus?

“The parable of Lazarus and the rich man can seem to tell of men going to heaven and hell after death. But is that the real meaning and lesson of this parable?

The parable of Lazarus and the rich man is one of Jesus’ most misunderstood parables. You can read it in Luke 16:19-31. This parable is often interpreted as being about the immediate fate of the dead. After all, a surface-level reading seems to show the beggar Lazarus dying and going to heaven while the selfish rich man dies and descends to hell.

But a problem with this explanation of the parable is that there are several scriptures—many of them from the mouth of Jesus Himself—that contradict the idea that people go to heaven or hell immediately after death.

How should we understand this parable? Is it really about what happens to people right at the time they die? Or did Jesus intend for us to learn a completely different lesson?

What did Jesus say about death?

Jesus made clear statements throughout His ministry about what does and doesn’t happen after a person dies.

In John 11, Jesus resurrected His friend Lazarus (the brother of Mary and Martha, not the character in the parable). Before doing so, He told His disciples: “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up” (verse 11). When the disciples were confused about what He meant, Jesus clarified that He meant Lazarus was dead (verses 13-14).

Jesus likened death to sleep—a state of unconsciousness. Jesus’ words harmonize with other scriptures that show the dead have no conscious thoughts (Ecclesiastes 9:5). So it would be contradictory for Jesus to teach that the rich man and the beggar Lazarus were very much awake after they died.

What did Jesus teach about going to heaven?

Jesus made a clear statement about going to heaven: “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven” (John 3:13). The New English Translation is even clearer: “No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.”

So it would be strange and inconsistent for Jesus to say in one situation that no one has gone to heaven and then later say that Lazarus the beggar went to heaven.

What did Jesus say about hell?

In Matthew 10:28, Jesus said: “But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Jesus associated hell with destruction. When something is destroyed, it ceases to exist. Jesus described hell as a place of complete destruction rather than a place with conscious and tormented dead individuals. This is consistent with how other biblical writers described the fate of the wicked (Malachi 4:3; Romans 6:23). You can learn more about this topic in our online article “Eternal Torment?”

So these statements give us a clear understanding of Jesus’ teaching. After death people don’t immediately go to heaven or hell. Instead, they await a future time when they will be resurrected from the dead (Luke 14:14).

What moral lesson was Jesus teaching?

When examining a parable, we have to recognize what a parable is—and is not. A parable is a short, fictitious story designed to teach a moral or spiritual lesson.

Many are surprised by Jesus’ comment that He did not use parables to make it easy for the crowds to understand, but so they wouldn’t understand (Matthew 13:11-15). He often had to explain the meaning of parables to His disciples.

When Jesus wanted to teach something clearly, He didn’t use parables (as we see in His above clear statements about death, heaven and hell).

Jesus designed His parables to be somewhat ambiguous on the surface (Luke 8:10). This, by itself, should show us that we have to be careful about interpreting a parable through a mere superficial reading. Instead, we must dig deeper to identify the core moral lesson Jesus was talking about—and not get lost in the details of the fictional story He used to deliver that lesson.

As an analogy, we can think of a parable as the wrapping paper concealing a gift. Instead of getting caught up in the details of the wrapping paper (what it looks like, how it’s wrapped, etc.), we should really be concerned with the gift inside.

So what was the core lesson Jesus taught with this parable?

We have to begin by looking at the context in which He gave it. Right before He told this parable, Jesus had been in a conflict with the Pharisees.

“Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. And He said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God’” (Luke 16:14-15).

Jesus was dealing with people who were fixated on the accumulation of wealth and who hypocritically put on a false front of being righteous before people. However, internally their hearts were unrighteous. Simply put, these people pretended to be righteous, but in reality were full of greed and lack of concern for others. Their “righteousness” was just a show. Jesus used the parable of Lazarus and the rich man to warn of the pitfalls and dangers of living a life driven by greed and a lack of love for others.

The context of the parable was not about death or what happens after death. The context was the danger of greed and hypocrisy.

The real meaning of the parable

There are two main characters in this story—the rich man (who lived a posh life and ate well every day) and a poor man named Lazarus (who was covered with sores and it seems was unable to work to feed himself).

Instead of helping Lazarus, the rich man coldheartedly ignored his suffering.

They both eventually died. Jesus then transitioned the story to the afterlife. Here, the roles are completely reversed. Lazarus is healed and in a state of comfort, while the rich man is in a state of mental distress. (Considering the biblical timeline of the resurrections, this seems to refer to the short time discussed in Revelation 20:14-15 when the wicked who have already had their opportunity for salvation are raised and condemned to the second death in the lake of fire.)

The rich man begs Lazarus to comfort him, but it’s too late, and there’s nothing he can do to help. The rich man even begs that someone warn his brothers to repent and change their lives so they can avoid the same fate.

The spiritual lesson is profound: Get your priorities correct now. Instead of being greedy and hypocritical, prioritize loving God and serving other people above all other things—now. Don’t put it off, because you never know when your life will end.

An additional lesson this parable teaches is a principle Paul wrote about later in 1 Corinthians 1:27: “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.”

At the beginning of the parable, Lazarus was as weak and powerless as any human being could be, while the rich man was wealthy and mighty. But in the end, those roles were reversed. Lazarus’ humility and righteousness resulted in his standing beside Abraham, and the rich man’s greed and lack of compassion led to his being brought very low.

The meaning and lesson of Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus is relevant to all of us today!

For more insight on this parable, read our article “Lazarus and the Rich Man: Proof of the Existence of Hell?”   From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/life-after-death/what-is-hell/meaning-of-parable-of-rich-man-and-lazarus/

________

Test All Things

1 Thessalonians 5:21

Test all things; hold fast what is good.

In the post about John 14:1, we covered how the essential starting point of true Christianity is a genuine belief in God. In 1 Thessalonians 5:21 the apostle Paul shows us the great extent to which that belief in God extends into every aspect of our lives. God’s way of life revealed through the Bible is to be the filter through which we “test,” or examine, all ideas, beliefs and activities.

Here are three keys to fulfilling this scripture:

• Any individual who claims to represent and teach about God is to be tested against the Bible—the Word of God. The starting point for this testing is whether or not the teacher teaches and observes the law of God (Isaiah 8:20). Jesus Christ also admonished us to watch for false religious teachers (Matthew 7:15-16, see also 1 John 4:1).
• To “test all things” we must have the approach of the Bereans, testing all things by studying the Word of God (Acts 17:11).
• Every idea or activity that comes before us in life should be scrutinized through the filter of God’s truth. To mature as a Christian is to become skilled at discerning between “good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14) and between what is and is not acceptable to God (Ephesians 5:10).

Once we determine the truth, we must hold fast to it, meaning we must be “steadfast” and “immovable” (1 Corinthians 15:58) in our belief in God and His truth!

To learn more about what you need to find and hold fast to, read “What Is Truth?”

________

Why You Should Care About Nutrition | NutritionFacts.org

Transcript of video: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/why-you-should-care-about-nutrition/

"Does it really matter what we eat? Well, the good news is, we have tremendous power over our health destiny and longevity. The majority of premature death and disability is preventable, with a healthy enough diet. It’s…the…food.

Most deaths in the United States are preventable, and related to nutrition. According to the most rigorous analysis of risk factors ever published — the Global Burden of Disease Study, the number one cause of death in the United States, and the number one cause of disability, is our diet, which has bumped tobacco smoking to number two. Smoking now only kills a half million Americans every year, whereas our diet kills hundreds of thousands more.

What we eat is the number one determinant of how long we live. What we eat is what determines most whether we’ll die prematurely. What we eat is what determines most whether we become disabled or not.

So, if our diet is the number one cause of death and disability, if most deaths in the United States are preventable, and related to nutrition, then, obviously, nutrition is the number one thing taught in medical school. Right? Obviously, it’s the number one thing your doctor talks to you about at every visit. Right?

Unfortunately, doctors suffer from a severe nutrition deficiency—in education. Most doctors are just never taught about the impact healthy nutrition can have on the course of illness, and so, they graduate without this powerful tool in their medical toolbox.

Now, there are also institutional barriers—such as time constraints, and lack of reimbursement. In general, doctors aren’t paid for counseling people on how to take better care of themselves. Of course, the drug companies also play a role in influencing medical education and practice. Ask your doctor when’s the last time they were taken out to dinner by Big Broccoli—it’s probably been a while.

That’s why I started NutritionFacts.org. It’s the tool I wish I had in medical training. NutritionFacts.org is a free, nonprofit, science-based public service, providing daily updates on the latest in nutrition research via bite-sized videos. There are videos on more than 2,000 health and nutrition topics—all free—with new videos and articles uploaded every day on the latest in evidence-based nutrition.  What a concept."

_________

How to Pray. The Wheat and the Tares. DAIRY IS SCARY!

How to Pray

“The Bible answers the questions: To whom should we pray? When should we pray? How long should our prayers be? Should our prayers be public or private? What or whom should we pray for? Is there a prescribed posture to assume in prayer? The Lord’s Prayer was part of Jesus’ instruction about how to pray.

The pages of the Bible teach us to direct our prayers to God the Father—not Mary or the saints.

If you’re wondering about how to pray an effective prayer, you’re not alone—even a disciple of Jesus asked Him for instructions about how to pray:

“Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples’” (Luke 11:1).

Prayer is our means of communicating with God. As with any personal relationship, interaction with God matures as we spend more time with Him.

As the Lord’s disciple indicated, prayer is something that does not come naturally to us—it’s something we have to be taught. The inspired Word of God provides the answers to some frequently asked questions about how to pray.

Pray to the Father

Jesus was very clear that our prayers are directed to God the Father: “Pray to your Father who is in the secret place” (Matthew 6:6). “In this manner, therefore pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name’” (verse 9).

Now that Jesus Christ is in heaven as the Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), we pray “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). Jesus said we can ask the Father for anything in His name (John 14:13-14).

Though Christ was very clear, it is amazing how many churches pray in ways that directly contradict this instruction. Prayers are not to be directed to angels, Mary or any saints!

How often should I pray?

The Bible provides no absolute “prayer schedule,” but we do see many examples of faithful men and women who consistently set aside time each day for prayer.

When should we pray?

The Bible doesn’t prescribe a “correct” time to pray—on the contrary, it shows us that many of God’s people prayed throughout the day and at different times.

In Psalm 55:17 King David said he would pray in the “evening and morning and at noon.” Daniel also prayed three times a day (Daniel 6:10, 13).

There are several references to praying in the middle of the afternoon (“at the ninth hour”) while the 119th Psalm talks about praising God “seven times a day” (Psalm 119:164). Many Christians make it a point to pray at the beginning and end of each day, making sure they “bookend” their days in conversation with God.

There’s no wrong time for prayer—the important thing is that we set aside time to pray regularly. Paul even said to pray “without ceasing”—meaning that prayer should be a regular and consistent part of our daily lives and not something we resort to only at difficult times (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

How long should my prayers be?

The Bible teaches us that God wants to hear from us and that our relationship with Him grows by spending time with Him. God is more concerned with the content of our prayers. Our prayers should be as long as they need to be to say what we need to say and ask what we need to ask.

How long should our prayers be?

How long you pray is a lot like when you choose to pray—the Bible doesn’t offer any specific guidelines for us on those counts.                    Continued at:  https://lifehopeandtruth.com/god/prayer-fasting-and-meditation/how-to-pray/?

_______

The Wheat and the Tares.

Matthew 13:24-30

(24) Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; (25) but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. (26) But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. (27) So the servants of the owner came and said to him, "Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?" (28) He said to them, "An enemy has done this." The servants said to him, "Do you want us then to go and gather them up?" (29) But he said, "No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. (30) Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."""

Matthew 13:37-40

(37) He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. (38) The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. (39) The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. (40) Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.”
New King James Version Change Bible versions

God has seeded His church with vessels for honor—the wheat—while Satan has sprinkled in his own vessels for dishonor—the tares (see II Timothy 2:20-21). Jesus does not use the imagery of wheat and tares haphazardly to relate this important lesson. Instead, the physical properties of these two different plants reveal a depth to the parable's symbolism that emphasizes how different in quality the wheat is from the tare, and how hard it is to tell them apart.

Wheat, which Christ uses to symbolize His true children, has always been a vital, life-giving substance, possessing both nutrition and healing properties. During most of human history, it has most commonly been used for bread, and it has long been called "the staff of life." Herbert W. Armstrong even proclaimed, "The grain of wheat God causes to grow out of the ground is a perfect food." The matchless quality of wheat serves as a symbol revealing how highly God regards His children.

In contrast, Christ uses the tare to symbolize counterfeits within His church. Tares are weeds diametrically opposite to wheat in all their properties other than appearance. Even the botanical name of the weed, darnel, conveys its detrimental quality. Darnel comes from the French language, meaning "drunkenness," having earned this name as a result of its intoxicating effect when consumed.

When darnel is ground into flour, baked in bread, and consumed while hot, the eater may experience symptoms similar to drunkenness, including trembling, followed by an inability to walk, hindered speech, and vomiting. In addition, darnel is commonly infected by the ergot fungus, which can cause hallucinations when consumed in small doses, but in large doses can do heavy damage to the central nervous system. The Greeks and Romans supposed the darnel and the fungus to cause blindness. The Romans even crafted an insult from darnel, lolio victitare, "to live on darnel," a phrase applied to a dim-sighted or shortsighted person.

The high value and health properties of wheat are opposite to the common and harmful properties of darnel, yet in Christ's parable the owner of the field allows both to grow together. One reason is because wheat and darnel are exact in their appearances during growth. Both plants are lush green and can be distinguished only when they mature and produce fruit: Wheat berries are large and golden, while darnel berries are small and gray. Thus, if the farmer attempted to uproot the tares before maturity, he would wreak havoc on his wheat. Today, modern harvesting equipment easily sifts between the two because of their different sizes.

Spiritual wheat and tares grow alike within God's church, identical in appearance, and to attempt to uproot the tares would result in uprooting some of the wheat as well. Just as the qualitative difference between the mature fruit of wheat and darnel is different, only by the fruit may the brethren be known (Matthew 7:15-20). Even after maturity, God Himself—and no one else—will have the tares removed and will destroy them in the furnace (Matthew 13:30)."  From: https://www.theberean.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Home.showBerean/BereanID/8075/bblver/NKJV/Matthew-13-24-30.htm

_______

DAIRY IS SCARY! The industry explained in 5 minutes

YouTube: https://youtu.be/UcN7SGGoCNI

Dairy is scary. Please share this video with anyone and everyone who still thinks dairy is just fine!

★ Patreon http://patreon.com/erinjanus ★ Facebook http://facebook.com/erinjanus ★ Instagram http://instagram.com/erinjanus_ ★ Twitter http://twitter.com/erinjanus Take The Dairy Free Challenge http://dairyfreechallenge.com

________