Medicine Cabinet

 I am amazed by my feelings about this COVID-19 pandemic. Some of those feelings are very negative,  so I take the time to reflect and express them.


Just like culture, religion is dynamic, allowing it to encounter and intermingle with another, and in turn, it may even produce certain hybridity. My biggest negative feelings (my feelings - not the criticism) are centered around how churches around the world are responding; at least some of the versions I've seen in it so far...

How do we effectively transition? How do we respond 

I was at a prayer conference and almost the whole session was dominated by thoughts of COVID-19. The prayers were good, Christ-centred, but the meeting left me thinking, 

“The media is dominated by this virus, why should our prayer conference be dominated by it as well. Aren’t there many other things the Holy Spirit is leading us to pray about too?”

Confronted with fear, uncertainty, and open questions, we would do well to reflect on what makes a healthy Christian response to this threat. Nations across the world are taking drastic action: mass quarantines; school closures; sweeping travel bans; sports season suspensions; Broadway shows not going on. Yet many may find these measures mystifying.

1- Know Your Enemy 

If you want to win in your battle against the powers of darkness, you need to know your enemy. so you can better protect yourself.

Understanding the virus and the science of epidemics goes a long way toward explaining the decisions that are being made by public health officials. There are three main concerns for medical and public health professionals: the uncertainty, the severity, and the rapidity of the virus.

Health Experts report that COVID19 will keep spreading until about 70 percent of the population has been infected, at which point “herd immunity” begins protecting the other 30 percent. The more people have been infected and become immune, the harder it is for the virus to spread further because viruses need to find susceptible hosts to reproduce.

2. Invention

Two thousand years ago, God gave specific instructions to his people for when they encountered disease: “And when he that has an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean” (Leviticus 15:13)

The word of God is relevant to each situation and phases of life. Isaiah 1:16, So wash your hands. Make yourselves clean...
wash your hands, self-isolate if you’re sick, practice social distancing, avoid unnecessary travel, and so on.

                   

             

3. Recovery 

Christians are under a divine obligation to fill the gap.

Christians were no strangers to epidemics, Jesus healed so many disease-stricken individuals, we can liken this to the plagues in Egypt. our loving God surely works for our good even in the places we do not expect, including amid the evil of deadly epidemics

This is a temptation that tests and proves our faith and love: “our faith in that we may see and experience how we should act toward God; our love in that we may recognize how we should act toward our neighbor.”

Find solace in the promises of God

For healthcare professionals in the Church: Virtually training and monitor church members and your community on proper prevention methods and safety precautions.

For those of us who do not have special training: we are called to responsibly play our part in society: in our jobs that help keep our economy going; in our families as parents, children or siblings; in the way we communicate, listen and respond to news; in the way, we care for our neighbors, cities, and communities.

Above all, we are called to pray and stay truthful. Every Christian has the responsibility to find and rely on accurate sources of information, having nothing to do with either sensationalized or scoffers.

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Many of us take vitamins or other forms of supplements daily, weekly, or periodically as we deem fit for us. However, I wonder how many of us really get much out of the supplements. Yet, we spend countless amounts of money to purchase these supplements. Records show that in 2015, Americans spent $21 Billion on vitamin supplements. However, even our best scientists are not sure that these supplements provide us with any value, and sometimes these supplements can even be the cause of a health problem.

The Bible shows us a better way:

Proverbs 4: 20-22 

My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.

One of the least relied upon powers in life is “The Power in the Word of God.” Reading the Bible daily will do more wonders for your Spirit, Soul, and Body than any vitamin supplement. I strongly encourage you to spend more time reading and confessing the word of God.



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2020




I have heard many Christians say that if a sick person has enough faith, God will always heal him and that if one does not get healed, it is because he didn’t have enough faith. Others I’ve talked to aren’t sure but seem to think that healing is not available today. And some say that God is the one who sends sickness to make us humble.
Does God really want me to be healthy? Why do I have all this sickness and diseases? Are health principles really a part of true Bible religion?

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” 3 John 1:2.

The Bible rates health right near the top of the list in importance. A person’s mind, spiritual nature, and body are all interrelated and interdependent. What affects one affects the others. If the body is misused, the mind and the spiritual nature cannot become what God planned they should be—and you won’t be able to live an abundant life.

In the plan of creation, God was precise on what, why, when, where. Everything God made was “very good” (Gen. 1:31), and neither sickness nor death (which is total sickness) was ever meant to be a part of the picture. It came only when Adam sinned. Not only did mankind suffer as a result of Adam’s sin, but also the entire world has since been held in “bondage to decay” (Rom. 8:21). Even plants and animals get sick and die prematurely.

The Bible also says, “God is love” (1 John 4:16). Think about that. We are all loving at times, but God is love, which means that by His very nature and unchanging character, it is impossible for Him to think, say, or do anything that is not totally loving. Making people sick to humble them is not loving.

God created the human body with an amazing, even miraculous, ability to heal itself. Why would He do that if He were also the author of sickness and death? Why would He want to make people sick if their bodies would keep healing themselves? He would be working against Himself. There are some difficult verses in the Old Testament that seem to say that God sent diseases, plagues, etc., but we believe that this can be understood as people bringing upon themselves the consequences of their own sin and unbelief. 

In conclusion, Jesus always did the will of God, and he never made anyone sick. In fact, he healed “…all that were oppressed of the devil…” (Acts 10:38-KJV). Therefore, God’s will must also be to heal people. Colossians 1:15 says that Jesus is the “…image of the invisible God…,” meaning that Jesus always said and did what his Father wanted him to, and he became the reflection of his Father’s glory. Thus he could say: “…Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father…” (John 14:9), meaning that he flawlessly represented God to the world in a tangible, touchable way.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
-John 10: 10

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