II. Methods To Refine Our Judgment
There are three strengths that influence our decisions in life:
1. Strength of body
2. Strength of mind
3. Strength of character
If each of these areas
are properly educated and disciplined, many foolish decisions can be avoided: decisions that lead to the emotional pain of
regret. The first step is to establish and fortify our sense of right
and wrong, for to go against our conscience on our moral convictions produces a tormenting effect on the mind.
And by repeatedly denying the convictions of conscience this weakens both our ability to make wise decisions and the
willpower to persevere in holding to our decisions to live a virtuous life.
This Bible study will address how to fortify these three areas, that the decisions we make will produce our best service
for Jesus.
1. What is the foundation for our success in life?
Matthew 7:24,25 Therefore whosoever __________ these sayings of mine, and _______
_______, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded on the rock.
Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, 0 man, what is good; and what doth
the LORD require of thee, but _____ _____ ___________, and _____ _________ ____________, and _____
________ _____________ with thy God?
Success is guaranteed by believing the above admonitions.
And by prayerfully honoring the Bible’s every admonition the fruits of civility and wisdom
will be seen in the life. Everyone who stands on GOD’S Word will experience the benefits that are
promised, even to receive the supreme reward of everlasting life with Jesus Christ.
2. Is pride a threat to my spiritual growth as I read the
Bible?
Matthew
18:3,4 …And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ____ ____ ___________,
and become ____ _________ ____________, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful,
and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of souls and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is ___ _____________ ____ _____ _____________
_____ _________ ____ _____ _________.
To maintain
a humble spirit always pray before any Bible study.
3. What is the best way to reverse the damage done to our
minds and bodies?
Genesis
1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of the earth, and every
tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; _____ ______ _____ ________ _____ ______
_________.
The original diet established in the beginning was a plant-based diet. Studies have shown that greater strength, endurance,
longer life, and far less susceptibility to disease are achieved by a vegetarian diet. Even the tooth decaying plaque
on teeth is virtually nonexistent in those who abstain from dairy products. This is due to the superior
nutrition that is gained from combinations of fruits, nuts, vegetables, and grains. Science agrees that the shapes of
human teeth are not suited for a carnivorous diet but a vegetarian diet. Although many populated areas are unable to
maintain a vegetarian diet (those northern and arid regions where the supplement of meat is necessary to sustain life), the
best available diet should always be chosen. All would agree that if hamburgers are your only diet
your strength of body, intellect and willpower would be weakened.
Scripture teaches, “the blood is the life” (Deut. 12:23). Therefore
the quality or purity of the blood determines the quality of life. Impure blood will impair the quality of the life.
This is why physical addictions are so damaging, from cigarettes to pharmaceutical drugs, because accumulating any toxin in
our system creates adverse effects on our wellbeing, and ultimately will affect our reasoning powers and decision making process
(the means by which GOD speaks to our minds and hearts). The wise decisions that are
made today will greatly influence the rewards of tomorrow.
Daniel
1:8,12,15,17,20 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's
meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.…[v.12]
Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse [a vegetarian diet of nuts, fruits, vegetables and
grains] to eat, and water to drink...[v.15] And at the end of ten days _______ ________________ ____________
__________ _____ __________ ___ ________ than all the children which did
eat the portion of the king's meat....[v.17] As for these four children, God gave them _______________ _____
_______ ____ _____ ______________ ______ ___________: and Daniel had understanding in all visions
and dreams....[v.20] And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them _____
________ __________ than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.
Today's philosophy and lifestyle are hostile to the
laws of health. This is because the animal-based diet has become dominant over plant-based foods. The literal rampage
of disease that exists today did not exist in the 19th Century. This increase in the rates of disease came when society abandoned the primarily plant-based
diet and turned to a primarily animal-based diet through industrialization. Every nation of earth can trace its exponential
rise in disease to its increase of meat consumption. And common sense dictates that whatever antibiotics, growth hormones
and diseases are found in the blood and meat of these animals they are absorbed into our blood and tissues, thereby putting
a strain on our immune system and vital organs. It is estimated that over 80% of our immune system is in the intestine.
Therefore, the quality of food entering this vital organ determines the overall health of the body. The end result of
our meat based diet overtaxing the immune system is a variety of mental and physical illnesses, which dominate our society
today, affecting everything from one's physical strength to one's sense of morality. There are many ways to provoke
harmful results in both the body’s physiology and the mind’s moral inclinations through the avenue of diet alone.
The Bible provides common sense ways to build our body-strength and emotional
stability, which in turn will bless our intellect and willpower to achieve our best legacy. These benefits are through
diet, rest, exercise, water, sunlight, and fresh air. To not develop the use of these benefits will hinder both our
health and our judgment.
4.
Why have men resorted to poisonous chemical fertilizers
and pesticides, thus reducing our food’s nutrition and
threatening the fragile balance of nature?
I Timothy 6:10 ______ ______ ________ _____ ___________ _____
______ ________ _____ ______ ________: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith,
and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Leviticus 25:3-5 Six years thou shalt sow thy field,
and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof, [v.4] But _____ ______ ____________
________ _______ _____ ____ ___________ _____ _________ ______ ______
_______, ____ ___________ ______ ______ ________: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune
thy vineyard. [v.5] That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of
thy vine undressed: for it is ____ ________ _____ ________ _______ ______ ________.
Every harm we see in
life is simply because man’s judgment has continuously overruled GOD’S counsel. But the decisions
of farmers are not the sole contributor to this depletion of our food’s nutrition. Everything from
people's cultivated tastes and government regulations to the recommendations of the scientific community and the profiteering
corporations (who are systematically exterminating the biodiversity that sustains life itself): all of these factors play
a role where we find ourselves today with every harmful result.
The amount of nutrients in today's industrial agriculture
is inferior when compared to organic farming, which does not use artificial fertilizers. This is verified
by the fact that the amount of nutrition found in a given crop is determined by the amount of living organisms contained in
the soil. And the fact remains that artificially fertilizing the soil kills the life in the soil. But
it is the life that provides the superior nutrition, providing the healthiest life for man. One of many examples: a cup of
spinach in the 19th Century
contained 250 milligrams of iron. One cup of spinach today contains less than 5! Today we live in a very malnourished society
and this accounts for the insatiable appetites, creating obesity, disease, and emotional instability. Many are incapable
of living a rational life based on their diet alone. This is how dangerous to the soul a malnourished
diet is!
In every conceivable way man has altered natural
food sources to such extremes that the majority of popular food combinations are harmful to our health. One example:
“enriched” bread. The bread maker refines (or strips away) the most nutritious components from the grain, leaving its nearly nutrition-less
base. The refined grain is then enriched with man's calculated amounts of isolated nutrients. But the human body was designed
at creation to be most efficient in digesting naturally raw food sources with little or no processing. Men of science
are just now learning the vast complexity of nutrition where a simple apple holds an estimated 12,000 micronutrients.
Without these micronutrients to accompany the primary vitamins and minerals our body’s nutrition is inadequate, and
thus, the body suffers a slow starvation. This is why we have seen vitamin companies putting exaggerated amounts of
certain nutrients in their pills, simply due to the fact that the body passes the great majority of it through the liver and
kidneys, thereby needlessly overtaxing them.
Whatever body system is overtaxed, whether it be the stomach, intestine, lungs, liver, or kidneys; even the brain: any assault
on the organs, inhibiting their intended function, will deplete the inborn strength of that organ and will lead to it's
premature failure. This explains the huge number of organ transplants we see every year. The wisdom of the 4th
century B.C. holds true to this day: “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine thy food.”—Hippocrates
(c.460–c.370 BC)
In review, the Bible teaches that the
motor-efficiency of the human body and the strength of its immune system are determined by the quality of the blood. The
quality of the blood is determined by the quality of our air, water, diet, sunlight, exercise and rest. To walk in a path that honors the Creator’s
established laws, both moral and physical, is the noblest work that can be accomplished in this world, for it always fortifies
life; it never deprives it.
5. How important is
it for us to overcome the appetite for a
harmful diet?
Matthew
4:1-4,11 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. [v.2] And
when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward ___ ____________. [v.3] And when the tempter
came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, __________ ______ _______
________ ____ ______ ________. But he answered and said, It
is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God….[v.11] Then
the devil leaveth him, and, behold, _______ _______ _____ __________
______ _____.
We can see the importance of overcoming appetite when we read the passage of Christ’s forty-day
fast in the wilderness and the devil’s temptations when He was “an hungered.” The Saviour
patiently waited for His Father to determine when Jesus had conquered His appetite and give the command to angels to bring
Him food.
This issue of appetite and how Satan uses it to our disadvantage is an age-old stumbling block for the human race that
goes all the way back to our Premier Mother Eve, as it is written: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and
did eat.” Gen.3:6.
Do
you see the correlation of GOD’S appointed diet with Christian fortitude and integrity to conscience? This
was the foundational test for Jesus to begin His ministry. It was also a leading contributor to Daniel’s
success and his Hebrew companions; whether of being cast into a lions’ den (Dan.6:16-23) or thrown into a fiery furnace
(Dan.3:12-27). The Christian needs every tool at his and her disposal to endure the closing scenes of Earth’s
present history: the events that will usher the coming of the LORD Jesus in the Clouds of Glory.
6. What are the two New Testament passages
that churches
have used for centuries to overrule this invaluable lesson
of faith and salvation?
Acts 10:9-16,28 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter
went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made
ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet
knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts,
and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not
so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time,
What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven…
[v.28] And he [Peter] said unto them [Gentiles], Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep
company, or come unto one of another nation; but _____ ______ _______ _____
that ___ ________ _____ ______ _____
______ common or _________.
So, the context of this passage does not contradict the laws of health that GOD established.
I
Timothy 4:1-5 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with
a hot iron; [v.3] Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which _____ ______
________ ____ ____ _________ with thanksgiving of them which
believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
[v.5] For ____ ____ ____________ ____ _____
______ ____ ______ and prayer.
Paul's words stand in the counsel of GOD’S ordained diet concerning clean vs. unclean meats and his explicit
command to never eat the blood with the meat (Gen.9:4). “It is sanctified by the word of God” “which God
hath created to be received with thanksgiving.” Said Jesus: “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may
be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Lu.21:36.
I Corinthians 3:16-18 Know ye not that ye are the temple of GOD, and
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? [v.17] If _____ _____ defile the temple of God, _____
shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Let no man deceive himself.
