God Rules With Strength and Gentleness. Want to Live to 100? Eat More Beans!

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God Rules With Strength and Gentleness

Isaiah 40:10-11

Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.

“These two verses condense a tremendous amount of information about how God will rule when Jesus Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth.

The book of Revelation explains that as Jesus Christ is coming down to this earth, the armies of the nations of this world will attack Him as if He were an alien invader (Revelation 19:19). Christ’s response to these unprovoked attacks will be with “a strong hand,” as He forcefully puts down the rebellion and makes it clear who is in charge (Revelation 19:20-21).

But that is just one aspect of Jesus Christ’s rule. Isaiah mentions that He will bring a “reward” with Him for His faithful followers who will then assist Him in “His work” of teaching His way of life to the survivors of the end-time troubles.

Isaiah 40:11 is a beautiful picture of our all-powerful God gently gathering people like little lambs and feeding and caring for them.

God is both strong and gentle at the right times. He wants us to learn to follow His lead in this area of life as well.”          Listen to the "Verse by Verse" episode covering this scripture at:  https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/god-rules-with-strength-and-gentleness/?

For more about Isaiah 40, see “God’s Perspective on Prophecy.” For more about how God will rule in the Kingdom of God, see the articles in our “Kingdom of God” section. 

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Want to Live to 100? Eat More Beans!

“Want to know how to live to 100? Eat plenty of beans, says plenty of research studies on the longest-living populations in the world.

Campodimele, Italy, a hilltop village south of Rome, has so many centenarians that it’s known in Europe as the “Village of Longevity.” Daily, its citizens enjoy a diet full of beans like lentils, chickpeas, and white beans.

How to live to 100

A few years ago, scientists identified five groups of long-lived elderly people (aged 70 and older) – Japanese in Japan, Swedes in Sweden, Anglo-Celtic people in Australia, and Greeks in both Greece and Australia – and observed them for the next seven years, tracking their health status and food choices among nine different categories: vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, cereals, dairy products, meat, fish, and monounsaturated fats. A total of 785 elderly people were followed.

Nowadays, there are many tasty varieties of beans on the market, not only staples like garbanzos but also choices like cranberry, cannellini, and fava beans. Eat beans and live longer, maybe even live to 100.

The researchers found that legumes were the most important dietary predictor of survival among the elderly, “regardless of their ethnicity,” they wrote.* For every 20-gram increase in daily legume intake (20 grams is about three-quarters of an ounce), “there is a 7 to 8% reduction in mortality hazard ratio.”

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more perfect food than beans. They are an excellent source of protein, vitamins, minerals, and complex carbohydrates. They’re very low in fat and virtually sodium-free. Plus, they’re filling.

And fiber? Even the lowest-fiber bean puts most other foods to shame. A cup of high-fiber beans, like pinto or black beans, tallies up 16 grams of fiber.You’d have to eat about eight slices of whole-wheat bread to get the same amount of fiber. And it’s primarily cholesterol-reducing soluble fiber, which makes beans an excellent heart-healthy alternative to meat.

Bean prep these days has gotten so much easier, thanks to the ready availability of cans of already-cooked beans, and you can find many “no salt added” varieties, which is really wonderful for keeping blood pressure under control. If all you can find is salted varieties, get rid of some of the salt by rinsing the beans through a colander.

Here are some simple tips for how to get more beans into your life (and how to live to 100):

• Toss a handful of beans into your salads (try the rich, buttery flavor of cannellini  beans)
• Stir beans into your pasta sauces or soups. Make an easy, sensational bean soup by combining canned white beans, any vegetables you already have, low-sodium chicken stock, and chopped fresh Italian parsley. Season with no-salt-added Italian blend seasonings and 1 tablespoon of low-sodium soy sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes.
• Fold beans, like black and pinto beans, into corn tortillas with salsa, shredded nonfat jalapeno cheese, and shredded lettuce.
• Puree beans for dips. For a zesty Mexican-style dip, combine pinto beans, chopped red onion, fresh cilantro leaves, and lime juice in a food processor and blend. Whip up your own delicious and inexpensive hummus dip in a processor with just five ingredients: two garlics, one can of no-salt-added garbanzo beans, three-quarter teaspoon sesame oil, two tablespoons plain nonfat yogurt, and two tablespoons fresh lemon juice.

Source:   https://www.pritikin.com/your-health/healthy-living/eating-right/539-want-to-live-to-be-100-eat-more-beans.html

* Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004; 13 (S): S126.

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