March 19, 2025 • 23 mins
Description:
In this episode, David Sandstrom discusses the importance of embracing a natural health lifestyle from a biblical perspective. He emphasizes the significance of aligning health practices with timeless truths found in scripture, which can lead to improved health outcomes and a longer health span. David explores the concept of holistic health, addressing the interconnectedness of spirit, mind, and body, and the necessity of creating health margin to handle life's challenges. He also introduces the Christian Healthy Lifestyle Community as a support system for those seeking to pursue natural health together.
Chapters:
00:00 Embracing a Natural Health Lifestyle
02:46 The Foundation of Biblical Truths
06:10 Health Outcomes and God's Teachings
08:53 Building Health vs. Treating Symptoms
12:10 Holistic Health: Spirit, Mind, and Body
15:06 Creating Health Margin for Resilience
17:59 The Christian Healthy Lifestyle Community
Links:
Register for the CHL Community Waitlist
More episodes: Podcast Hompage
For a Copy of David’s Book: The Christian’s Guide to Holistic Health
Ask David a question to be answered on an upcoming episode: Ask Me Anything
Would you like to be on the Show? Schedule a Lifestyle Audit
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
When we embrace a natural health lifestyle the way God intended, we not only add years toour life, but life to our years.
We not only live longer, but we live better and we extend our health span.
Health span is the amount of years we spend free from chronic disease and disability.
(00:25):
Welcome to the Christian Healthy Lifestyle Podcast where I help Christians opt out of themedical matrix, cut through the noise, and embrace a natural health lifestyle the way God
intended.
I'm your host, David Sandstrom, and this is episode number 176.
You know, natural health from a biblical perspective is hard to find.
(00:46):
It's fairly easy to find a group of Christians, and it's fairly easy to find a group ofnatural health enthusiasts, but it's hard to find them together.
That's why I'm starting my new membership club, Christian Healthy Lifestyle Community.
We're going to have a group of like-minded believers that love God and want to pursuenatural and holistic health from a biblical perspective, without the noise of New Age
(01:09):
thinking or Easter mysticism creeping in.
If that sounds attractive to you, I encourage you to get on the waitlist for the communityright now.
Getting on the waitlist won't cost you anything.
There's no commitment to join.
but I'll keep you in the loop as the launch date approaches.
Now the first event we're gonna have is a Google Meet on Thursday, May 1st at 8 p.m.
(01:31):
Eastern.
I wanna hear from you.
I wanna know what you're interested in.
I wanna know how I can serve you better.
And the only way to do that is to talk with you.
So I've set up this Google Meet.
I'd love to see you there.
This will be your chance to help shape what the membership club turns into.
Now there's been a little confusion as to how to get signed up on the waitlist.
(01:54):
The easiest way is to use the link that I've included in the podcast player show notes.
Or you can go to my website chlpodcast.com forward slash membership and register there byfilling out the form in that page.
I've also put a sign up form on the homepage at chlpodcast.com.
Now if you're on the homepage, don't use the email sign up at the bottom of the page.
(02:17):
use the one next to the artwork for Christian Healthy Lifestyle Community.
They're two different sign-up forms.
If you appreciate the content that's on this show, you're going to love the community.
In this episode, I'm going to continue defining the new tagline or the new intro I'm usingon the show, which is, help Christians opt out of the medical matrix, cut through the
(02:39):
noise, and embrace a natural health lifestyle the way God intended.
Now, in the last episode, we talked about the medical matrix.
In this episode, I want to talk about natural health the way God intended.
And in the next episode, we'll be covering cutting through the noise.
By the way, if you're watching this on video and you're wondering what this cut is on myforehead, I was practicing softball with my daughter, 16 years old, who plays softball.
(03:05):
And we were doing front toss and I was behind a net and I got a little too close to thenet and she hit one into the net and the ball smacked me on the forehead.
So that's where that cut came from.
So I know if I was watching, I'd be wondering what happened to him.
Anyway, I'm okay.
God protected me.
I'll be fine.
So what is natural health the way God intended?
(03:26):
What does it look like?
As I just mentioned, in the natural health arena, there's a tendency to see new agethought and Eastern mysticism creeping in.
Well, my approach is neither one of those.
My approach to health is based on timeless truths found in God's word.
And those truths don't shift with the wind.
(03:48):
I'm always reminded of the nature of truth when I see trucks for the shipping company, R&L carriers.
They have a sign on the back of their 18 wheelers that says, we ship anything, anywhere,anytime.
Those signs always remind me of the nature of truth.
Truth applies in all circumstances to all people at all times.
(04:10):
Truth is not relative.
It doesn't change with the weather.
It stands fixed in space and time.
Have you ever seen a picture of a lighthouse in a fierce storm and a 40 foot wave crashingaround it?
The lighthouse can weather the storm because it's built on the rock.
Biblical truths are built on the rock of God's word and the Bible has stood the test oftime.
(04:36):
Now Proverbs chapter eight is a beautiful description of truth.
In the book of Proverbs, wisdom is presented
as a woman speaking truth, and chapter 8 speaks to truth's eternal nature.
Starting in verse 6, from my lips will come what is right, for my mouth will utter truth.
(04:57):
Then in verse 19, my fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, in my yield than choicesilver.
Verse 23, ages ago I was set up at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
and skipping down to verse 27.
When he established the heavens, I was there.
(05:17):
When he assigned to the sea its limit, so that waters might not transgress his command,when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him like a master
workman.
And then verses 34 and 35.
Blessed is the one who listens to me, for whoever finds me finds life and obtains favorfrom the Lord.
(05:40):
Truth.
pre-existed creation.
It was established by God before he made the world and of course before the Bible waswritten.
Now the Bible makes a lot of moral declarations.
We all know that.
But the Bible doesn't dictate what morality is.
It simply declares truths that were in place before the creation of the world.
(06:01):
You see, stealing is wrong.
But it's not wrong because the Bible says it's wrong.
The Bible says stealing is wrong
Because it is wrong.
That's the nature of truth.
It's fixed in time and space.
We don't invent truth.
We discover it.
And we do well to apply it to our lives.
(06:23):
So let's drill down a little bit more on this topic as it pertains to our health andwell-being.
Proverbs chapter three speaks to the idea that when we apply God's teaching to our lives,we enjoy better health outcomes.
Now someone might be saying,
come on, Dave.
The Bible never promises that we'll enjoy good health.
In fact, it pretty much guarantees the exact opposite.
(06:46):
Haven't you ever read John 16, 33?
In this world, you will have trouble.
Yes, that's true.
But let me draw your attention to Proverbs chapter 3.
Here we find a clear teaching on doing things God's way and that leading to improvedhealth outcomes.
Here's what we find, starting in verse 1, my son, do not forget my teaching, but let yourheart keep my commandments for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to
(07:17):
you.
Length of days and years of life is referring to long life and keeping our vitality goingstrong well into our later years.
No one lives a long life without some measure of health and vitality.
That's what I've been saying for quite some time.
When we embrace a natural health lifestyle the way God intended, we not only add years toour life, but life to our years.
(07:44):
We not only live longer, but we live better and we extend our health span.
Health span is the amount of years we spend free from chronic disease and disability.
You see, we've been led to believe that our health span behaves like a flashlight.
When the batteries are fresh, the flashlight is bright, but slowly and steadily over time,the batteries get weaker and weaker and our light gets dimmer and dimmer.
(08:13):
And toward the end of the battery's lifespan, the light is very weak and not bright enoughto do anything useful except wait for the end and one day it finally goes dead.
I would suggest that our health span should be more like a candle.
When the candle is lit, the light burns brightly and it continues to burn brightly for themajority of its life until when the candle is very small, the flame flickers a couple of
(08:41):
times and goes out quickly.
That's what our health span and lifespan should look like.
Where we remain vibrant and healthy with our mental and physical faculties intact,
well into our later years until we're ready to leave this earth.
Now I'm here to tell you, it is possible.
I'm in a Bible study with a group of men and a couple of weeks ago one of the older sagesin the group was having breakfast with us and sharing wisdom with the younger men who were
(09:10):
enjoying his company.
We were even thinking about having him lead the next 12-week Bible study.
And then his health took a turn for the worse and in two weeks time he went to be with hisSavior in Lord.
That's the best way to go, living the abundant life to its fullest until the very end ofour time here on earth.
That's what Proverbs chapter 3, 1 and 2 is teaching when it says, length of days and yearsof life and peace they will add to you.
(09:39):
Now let's move on to verse 3.
And then verses 5 and 6, so many people have this passage memorized.
I quoted this passage in my wedding ceremony 25 years ago.
(10:11):
What's our own understanding?
Disregarding God's admonitions and imitating Frank Sinatra and doing things my way, I didit my way.
That's good thing I don't make my living singing.
But anyway, you you get the point.
And then it says, He'll make our path straight.
(10:31):
Straight to where?
Where's our path leading?
Well, in context, the path this passage is referring to is vibrant health.
Let's continue reading verses seven and eight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes.
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your body.
and refreshment to your bones.
(10:55):
Being not wise in our own eyes, fearing the Lord and turning away from evil, is justanother way of saying, lean not on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge
him.
It's a restatement of the same admonition.
When we heed this admonition, it brings healing to our body and refreshment to our bones.
(11:17):
I'll bet you haven't heard a sermon preached on that before.
I certainly haven't.
But that's God's plan for us.
Listen to Him, trust Him, do what He says, and that produces good fruit in our lives.
One of those fruits is better health and vitality.
In contrast to that teaching, we see what it looks like if we ignore God and do things ourway.
(11:40):
Proverbs 16 25 tells us, there's a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the wayof death.
There's a similar teaching on our obedience leading to good outcomes in Joshua chapter oneverse eight.
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it dayand night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, for
(12:04):
then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success.
Or how about Proverbs chapter 4 verses 20 and 22?
There's a similar tone going on here.
Do you see a pattern developing here?
(12:34):
Oh yeah, God wants us to enjoy vibrant health and vitality.
That's His preference.
Why does God prefer that we enjoy vibrant health?
Because He has work for us to do.
Ephesians 2, 10, for we are His workmanship created for good works that God createdbeforehand so that we would walk in them.
(12:55):
And then we see in 2 Timothy 3, 17, may the servant of God be thoroughly equipped forevery good work.
That thorough equipping means that God will supply all the spiritual strength, mental,emotional fortitude,
and physical vitality we need to get our God-given assignments done.
Now, sometimes God will use suffering to get our attention and use a physical trial tohelp us experience some spiritual growth.
(13:24):
But I believe His preference is that we learn life's lessons without the trial.
The book of Proverbs is all about humbling ourselves and trusting that God has our bestinterests in mind.
When we submit to His way of doing things,
we won't be sorry.
We'll never regret doing things God's way.
(13:44):
In fact, you could sum up the entire Bible with two words, trust me.
Proverbs 16-20 says, he who gives attention to the word will find good and blessed is hewho trusts in the Lord.
That's what Proverbs 3, 7, and 8 is talking about when it says, do not be wise in your owneyes, fear the Lord, turn away from evil,
(14:07):
It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
That's why I often say in the podcast, we maximize our health potential by aligning ourlives more fully with God's natural design for spirit, mind and body.
When God tells us to do something or he gives us an admonition, it's for our benefit.
(14:27):
And if he tells us to avoid something or gives us a prohibition, it's for our protection.
There's never a time when those two truths don't apply to our lives.
When we approach scripture this way, the Bible becomes a plethora of useful informationfor our health and well-being.
That's the foundation to my approach to health and wellness.
(14:49):
So you might be saying, well, that's a lot of great theology, Dave, but practicallyspeaking, what does that look like in our everyday lives?
Well, I'm glad you asked.
Essentially, my approach to health is all about building health and not
treating symptoms.
Building health is a bit like going on a vacation and getting on a jet airliner.
(15:12):
Your departure airport is your present state of health, which is less than ideal, safe tosay.
Think Newark, New Jersey on a cold, overcast winter day, gray and dreary.
Your destination is vibrant health and vitality.
Think a warm Caribbean island with turquoise water, palm trees, and sandy beaches.
(15:34):
Since we're anxious to get to our destination, we're hoping for some tailwinds, some windat our backs that'll get us there a little more quickly.
The trouble is, half the time there's headwinds, winds in our face slowing down ourprogress.
In order to build health effectively, we've got to turn up the speed on our tailwind fansand turn down the speed on our headwind fans, and maybe even pull a few of those plugs
(16:00):
right out of the wall.
When it comes to building health, the tailwind fans are health enhancing factors likeorganic food, good sleep, exercise, appropriate amounts of sunlight, fresh air, loving
relationships.
I'm sure you can add to the list.
We want to add in as many of those to our lifestyles as we can.
(16:23):
The headwind fans are health blocking factors.
Things like processed food, sedentary lifestyle, toxic emotions like
anger, resentment and bitterness, EMFs or electromagnetic frequencies from cell phones andWi-Fi transmitters, EDCs, endocrine disrupting chemicals like BPA in plastic bottles and
(16:44):
on registry seats, pesticides found in food and parabens found in cosmetics.
Things like that are everywhere.
Our bodies can handle a few of those insults, but add them all up and they contribute toour total body load.
and they prevent our systems from thriving.
You see, God designed our bodies to heal themselves.
(17:08):
And our default setting is health.
When our bodies are dealing with too many health blocking factors, our systems getcompromised, weakened.
We saw this lived out with the COVID pandemic.
More than 90 % of the people who died from COVID had multiple comorbidities.
That is to say, they had multiple chronic diseases like
(17:31):
CPOD or chronic pulmonary obstructive disorder, emphysema, renal failure, various forms ofautoimmune disorders.
All that stuff was adding up to the total load that their bodies had to deal with.
Add a COVID infection on top of all that, that already high total body load, and it wasjust too much for them to handle.
(17:53):
You see, those people didn't die from COVID, they died with it.
People that weren't burdened with that kind of high total body load were able to handle aCOVID infection without too much difficulty.
We've just got to get the obstacles out of the way and give our bodies a chance to do whatthey already know how to do, and that is to heal and to thrive.
(18:17):
So that's why I'm saying we've got to opt out of the medical matrix.
The medical matrix predisposes us to chronic diseases, and as we get older, multiplechronic diseases.
But my approach to health is also holistic.
Human beings are spirit.
We have a mind and we live in a body.
(18:37):
God exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we're chips off the oldblock.
We're three part beings as well.
Genesis 1.27, God created man in his own image.
I think the clearest teaching on this concept is Genesis chapter 2 verse 7.
And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrilsthe breath of life, and man became a living soul." Now the word for ground is afar, which
(19:08):
means dirt or soil, which is primarily made up of carbon and hydrogen.
That's what our bodies, the atoms and molecules inside our body, are primarily carbon andhydrogen.
The word for breath is neshama, which means spirit.
And the word for soul is
nephesh, which means mind.
(19:29):
We should be pursuing growth in each area of who and what we are.
You see, each part of us is interconnected and interdependent, which means what affectsone part of our being will by necessity alter the others for good or bad.
When we focus on all three parts in unison, we experience a synergy.
(19:50):
In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
When I my practice and I did health coaching in an office, I called myself holistic, but Iactually didn't know what the term meant.
I was making the same mistake a lot of practitioners make, and that is I was focusedalmost entirely on the physical, and I all but ignored the other two parts to a human
(20:12):
being, the spirit and the mind.
You can make some progress that way, but it's not nearly as effective or efficient as itcould be.
Pursuing holistic health
is a bit like a three-person rowing team.
To maximize the efficiency of the boat, all three rowers have to get their oars in thewater at the same time.
(20:33):
Imagine if one or two of the rowers stopped rowing.
Or worse yet, what if one of the rowers started rowing in the wrong direction?
That team would obviously not be standing on the podium at the end of the event.
The same is true with our health.
If we want to maximize our health potential,
We've got to get all of our proverbial oars in the water at the same time and address allthree parts of who and what we are simultaneously.
(20:58):
When we pursue whole person health, we can expect more spiritual strength, bettermental-emotional fortitude, and improved physical vitality.
We should also be pursuing more health margin.
Health margin acts like a shock absorber in our cars.
The shock absorbers in our cars
give the wheels some space to absorb the bumps in the road.
(21:22):
Without the shock absorbers, our car rides would be a lot more uncomfortable.
The same principle applies to our health.
Having health margin is having more vigor, more energy and vitality than the minimumrequired to get us through the day.
That way, when the unexpected comes up, when life throws us a curve ball in the form of aninjury or an illness, we have the health margin available
(21:47):
to handle those stresses more effectively.
The best time to build health margin is when we're feeling well.
We don't build health by managing our symptoms after we get sick.
We build health by strengthening our systems from the inside out and creating anenvironment inside our bodies that's hostile to things like undesirable microscopic
(22:10):
organisms.
That way our bodies can effectively defend themselves
and we avoid sickness and chronic disease and will age more gracefully.
Now, there's much more to say in this topic, but that's about all I can fit into thissingle episode.
That's why I'm starting the membership club.
We can get into more specifics on implementing the Christian Healthy Lifestyle togetherwith the support of a group of like-minded believers.
(22:38):
Don't forget to sign up for the wait list.
If you do, I'll send you a link to attend the Google Meet where we're going to have onThursday, May 1st at 8 p.m.
As I said earlier, there's been some confusion on how to get signed up and that's myfault.
I own that one.
If you go to the show notes on your podcast player, I'm going to put a link in there thatthat's probably the easiest way to go.
(22:59):
Or you can sign up on my website chlpodcast.com forward slash membership.
Or you can use the homepage at chlpodcast.com.
Make sure you don't use the sign up form for the newsletter at the bottom of the page.
Use the form next to the Christian healthy lifestyle community artwork.
It looks a lot like the podcast artwork, but it says community.
(23:19):
Be sure to tune in next week where I'll be finishing our talk on the new tagline and I'llbe explaining what cutting through the noise looks like.
That's it for now.
Thank you for listening.
I appreciate you.
Go out there and live abundantly.
I'll talk with you next week.
Be blessed.
When we embrace a natural health lifestyle the way God intended, we not only add years toour life, but life to our years.
We not only live longer, but we live better and we extend our health span.
Health span is the amount of years we spend free from chronic disease and disability.
(00:25):
Welcome to the Christian Healthy Lifestyle Podcast where I help Christians opt out of themedical matrix, cut through the noise, and embrace a natural health lifestyle the way God
intended.
I'm your host, David Sandstrom, and this is episode number 176.
You know, natural health from a biblical perspective is hard to find.
(00:46):
It's fairly easy to find a group of Christians, and it's fairly easy to find a group ofnatural health enthusiasts, but it's hard to find them together.
That's why I'm starting my new membership club, Christian Healthy Lifestyle Community.
We're going to have a group of like-minded believers that love God and want to pursuenatural and holistic health from a biblical perspective, without the noise of New Age
(01:09):
thinking or Easter mysticism creeping in.
If that sounds attractive to you, I encourage you to get on the waitlist for the communityright now.
Getting on the waitlist won't cost you anything.
There's no commitment to join.
but I'll keep you in the loop as the launch date approaches.
Now the first event we're gonna have is a Google Meet on Thursday, May 1st at 8 p.m.
(01:31):
Eastern.
I wanna hear from you.
I wanna know what you're interested in.
I wanna know how I can serve you better.
And the only way to do that is to talk with you.
So I've set up this Google Meet.
I'd love to see you there.
This will be your chance to help shape what the membership club turns into.
Now there's been a little confusion as to how to get signed up on the waitlist.
(01:54):
The easiest way is to use the link that I've included in the podcast player show notes.
Or you can go to my website chlpodcast.com forward slash membership and register there byfilling out the form in that page.
I've also put a sign up form on the homepage at chlpodcast.com.
Now if you're on the homepage, don't use the email sign up at the bottom of the page.
(02:17):
use the one next to the artwork for Christian Healthy Lifestyle Community.
They're two different sign-up forms.
If you appreciate the content that's on this show, you're going to love the community.
In this episode, I'm going to continue defining the new tagline or the new intro I'm usingon the show, which is, help Christians opt out of the medical matrix, cut through the
(02:39):
noise, and embrace a natural health lifestyle the way God intended.
Now, in the last episode, we talked about the medical matrix.
In this episode, I want to talk about natural health the way God intended.
And in the next episode, we'll be covering cutting through the noise.
By the way, if you're watching this on video and you're wondering what this cut is on myforehead, I was practicing softball with my daughter, 16 years old, who plays softball.
(03:05):
And we were doing front toss and I was behind a net and I got a little too close to thenet and she hit one into the net and the ball smacked me on the forehead.
So that's where that cut came from.
So I know if I was watching, I'd be wondering what happened to him.
Anyway, I'm okay.
God protected me.
I'll be fine.
So what is natural health the way God intended?
(03:26):
What does it look like?
As I just mentioned, in the natural health arena, there's a tendency to see new agethought and Eastern mysticism creeping in.
Well, my approach is neither one of those.
My approach to health is based on timeless truths found in God's word.
And those truths don't shift with the wind.
(03:48):
I'm always reminded of the nature of truth when I see trucks for the shipping company, R&L carriers.
They have a sign on the back of their 18 wheelers that says, we ship anything, anywhere,anytime.
Those signs always remind me of the nature of truth.
Truth applies in all circumstances to all people at all times.
(04:10):
Truth is not relative.
It doesn't change with the weather.
It stands fixed in space and time.
Have you ever seen a picture of a lighthouse in a fierce storm and a 40 foot wave crashingaround it?
The lighthouse can weather the storm because it's built on the rock.
Biblical truths are built on the rock of God's word and the Bible has stood the test oftime.
(04:36):
Now Proverbs chapter eight is a beautiful description of truth.
In the book of Proverbs, wisdom is presented
as a woman speaking truth, and chapter 8 speaks to truth's eternal nature.
Starting in verse 6, from my lips will come what is right, for my mouth will utter truth.
(04:57):
Then in verse 19, my fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, in my yield than choicesilver.
Verse 23, ages ago I was set up at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
and skipping down to verse 27.
When he established the heavens, I was there.
(05:17):
When he assigned to the sea its limit, so that waters might not transgress his command,when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him like a master
workman.
And then verses 34 and 35.
Blessed is the one who listens to me, for whoever finds me finds life and obtains favorfrom the Lord.
(05:40):
Truth.
pre-existed creation.
It was established by God before he made the world and of course before the Bible waswritten.
Now the Bible makes a lot of moral declarations.
We all know that.
But the Bible doesn't dictate what morality is.
It simply declares truths that were in place before the creation of the world.
(06:01):
You see, stealing is wrong.
But it's not wrong because the Bible says it's wrong.
The Bible says stealing is wrong
Because it is wrong.
That's the nature of truth.
It's fixed in time and space.
We don't invent truth.
We discover it.
And we do well to apply it to our lives.
(06:23):
So let's drill down a little bit more on this topic as it pertains to our health andwell-being.
Proverbs chapter three speaks to the idea that when we apply God's teaching to our lives,we enjoy better health outcomes.
Now someone might be saying,
come on, Dave.
The Bible never promises that we'll enjoy good health.
In fact, it pretty much guarantees the exact opposite.
(06:46):
Haven't you ever read John 16, 33?
In this world, you will have trouble.
Yes, that's true.
But let me draw your attention to Proverbs chapter 3.
Here we find a clear teaching on doing things God's way and that leading to improvedhealth outcomes.
Here's what we find, starting in verse 1, my son, do not forget my teaching, but let yourheart keep my commandments for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to
(07:17):
you.
Length of days and years of life is referring to long life and keeping our vitality goingstrong well into our later years.
No one lives a long life without some measure of health and vitality.
That's what I've been saying for quite some time.
When we embrace a natural health lifestyle the way God intended, we not only add years toour life, but life to our years.
(07:44):
We not only live longer, but we live better and we extend our health span.
Health span is the amount of years we spend free from chronic disease and disability.
You see, we've been led to believe that our health span behaves like a flashlight.
When the batteries are fresh, the flashlight is bright, but slowly and steadily over time,the batteries get weaker and weaker and our light gets dimmer and dimmer.
(08:13):
And toward the end of the battery's lifespan, the light is very weak and not bright enoughto do anything useful except wait for the end and one day it finally goes dead.
I would suggest that our health span should be more like a candle.
When the candle is lit, the light burns brightly and it continues to burn brightly for themajority of its life until when the candle is very small, the flame flickers a couple of
(08:41):
times and goes out quickly.
That's what our health span and lifespan should look like.
Where we remain vibrant and healthy with our mental and physical faculties intact,
well into our later years until we're ready to leave this earth.
Now I'm here to tell you, it is possible.
I'm in a Bible study with a group of men and a couple of weeks ago one of the older sagesin the group was having breakfast with us and sharing wisdom with the younger men who were
(09:10):
enjoying his company.
We were even thinking about having him lead the next 12-week Bible study.
And then his health took a turn for the worse and in two weeks time he went to be with hisSavior in Lord.
That's the best way to go, living the abundant life to its fullest until the very end ofour time here on earth.
That's what Proverbs chapter 3, 1 and 2 is teaching when it says, length of days and yearsof life and peace they will add to you.
(09:39):
Now let's move on to verse 3.
And then verses 5 and 6, so many people have this passage memorized.
I quoted this passage in my wedding ceremony 25 years ago.
(10:11):
What's our own understanding?
Disregarding God's admonitions and imitating Frank Sinatra and doing things my way, I didit my way.
That's good thing I don't make my living singing.
But anyway, you you get the point.
And then it says, He'll make our path straight.
(10:31):
Straight to where?
Where's our path leading?
Well, in context, the path this passage is referring to is vibrant health.
Let's continue reading verses seven and eight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes.
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your body.
and refreshment to your bones.
(10:55):
Being not wise in our own eyes, fearing the Lord and turning away from evil, is justanother way of saying, lean not on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge
him.
It's a restatement of the same admonition.
When we heed this admonition, it brings healing to our body and refreshment to our bones.
(11:17):
I'll bet you haven't heard a sermon preached on that before.
I certainly haven't.
But that's God's plan for us.
Listen to Him, trust Him, do what He says, and that produces good fruit in our lives.
One of those fruits is better health and vitality.
In contrast to that teaching, we see what it looks like if we ignore God and do things ourway.
(11:40):
Proverbs 16 25 tells us, there's a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the wayof death.
There's a similar teaching on our obedience leading to good outcomes in Joshua chapter oneverse eight.
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it dayand night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it, for
(12:04):
then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success.
Or how about Proverbs chapter 4 verses 20 and 22?
There's a similar tone going on here.
Do you see a pattern developing here?
(12:34):
Oh yeah, God wants us to enjoy vibrant health and vitality.
That's His preference.
Why does God prefer that we enjoy vibrant health?
Because He has work for us to do.
Ephesians 2, 10, for we are His workmanship created for good works that God createdbeforehand so that we would walk in them.
(12:55):
And then we see in 2 Timothy 3, 17, may the servant of God be thoroughly equipped forevery good work.
That thorough equipping means that God will supply all the spiritual strength, mental,emotional fortitude,
and physical vitality we need to get our God-given assignments done.
Now, sometimes God will use suffering to get our attention and use a physical trial tohelp us experience some spiritual growth.
(13:24):
But I believe His preference is that we learn life's lessons without the trial.
The book of Proverbs is all about humbling ourselves and trusting that God has our bestinterests in mind.
When we submit to His way of doing things,
we won't be sorry.
We'll never regret doing things God's way.
(13:44):
In fact, you could sum up the entire Bible with two words, trust me.
Proverbs 16-20 says, he who gives attention to the word will find good and blessed is hewho trusts in the Lord.
That's what Proverbs 3, 7, and 8 is talking about when it says, do not be wise in your owneyes, fear the Lord, turn away from evil,
(14:07):
It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
That's why I often say in the podcast, we maximize our health potential by aligning ourlives more fully with God's natural design for spirit, mind and body.
When God tells us to do something or he gives us an admonition, it's for our benefit.
(14:27):
And if he tells us to avoid something or gives us a prohibition, it's for our protection.
There's never a time when those two truths don't apply to our lives.
When we approach scripture this way, the Bible becomes a plethora of useful informationfor our health and well-being.
That's the foundation to my approach to health and wellness.
(14:49):
So you might be saying, well, that's a lot of great theology, Dave, but practicallyspeaking, what does that look like in our everyday lives?
Well, I'm glad you asked.
Essentially, my approach to health is all about building health and not
treating symptoms.
Building health is a bit like going on a vacation and getting on a jet airliner.
(15:12):
Your departure airport is your present state of health, which is less than ideal, safe tosay.
Think Newark, New Jersey on a cold, overcast winter day, gray and dreary.
Your destination is vibrant health and vitality.
Think a warm Caribbean island with turquoise water, palm trees, and sandy beaches.
(15:34):
Since we're anxious to get to our destination, we're hoping for some tailwinds, some windat our backs that'll get us there a little more quickly.
The trouble is, half the time there's headwinds, winds in our face slowing down ourprogress.
In order to build health effectively, we've got to turn up the speed on our tailwind fansand turn down the speed on our headwind fans, and maybe even pull a few of those plugs
(16:00):
right out of the wall.
When it comes to building health, the tailwind fans are health enhancing factors likeorganic food, good sleep, exercise, appropriate amounts of sunlight, fresh air, loving
relationships.
I'm sure you can add to the list.
We want to add in as many of those to our lifestyles as we can.
(16:23):
The headwind fans are health blocking factors.
Things like processed food, sedentary lifestyle, toxic emotions like
anger, resentment and bitterness, EMFs or electromagnetic frequencies from cell phones andWi-Fi transmitters, EDCs, endocrine disrupting chemicals like BPA in plastic bottles and
(16:44):
on registry seats, pesticides found in food and parabens found in cosmetics.
Things like that are everywhere.
Our bodies can handle a few of those insults, but add them all up and they contribute toour total body load.
and they prevent our systems from thriving.
You see, God designed our bodies to heal themselves.
(17:08):
And our default setting is health.
When our bodies are dealing with too many health blocking factors, our systems getcompromised, weakened.
We saw this lived out with the COVID pandemic.
More than 90 % of the people who died from COVID had multiple comorbidities.
That is to say, they had multiple chronic diseases like
(17:31):
CPOD or chronic pulmonary obstructive disorder, emphysema, renal failure, various forms ofautoimmune disorders.
All that stuff was adding up to the total load that their bodies had to deal with.
Add a COVID infection on top of all that, that already high total body load, and it wasjust too much for them to handle.
(17:53):
You see, those people didn't die from COVID, they died with it.
People that weren't burdened with that kind of high total body load were able to handle aCOVID infection without too much difficulty.
We've just got to get the obstacles out of the way and give our bodies a chance to do whatthey already know how to do, and that is to heal and to thrive.
(18:17):
So that's why I'm saying we've got to opt out of the medical matrix.
The medical matrix predisposes us to chronic diseases, and as we get older, multiplechronic diseases.
But my approach to health is also holistic.
Human beings are spirit.
We have a mind and we live in a body.
(18:37):
God exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we're chips off the oldblock.
We're three part beings as well.
Genesis 1.27, God created man in his own image.
I think the clearest teaching on this concept is Genesis chapter 2 verse 7.
And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrilsthe breath of life, and man became a living soul." Now the word for ground is afar, which
(19:08):
means dirt or soil, which is primarily made up of carbon and hydrogen.
That's what our bodies, the atoms and molecules inside our body, are primarily carbon andhydrogen.
The word for breath is neshama, which means spirit.
And the word for soul is
nephesh, which means mind.
(19:29):
We should be pursuing growth in each area of who and what we are.
You see, each part of us is interconnected and interdependent, which means what affectsone part of our being will by necessity alter the others for good or bad.
When we focus on all three parts in unison, we experience a synergy.
(19:50):
In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
When I my practice and I did health coaching in an office, I called myself holistic, but Iactually didn't know what the term meant.
I was making the same mistake a lot of practitioners make, and that is I was focusedalmost entirely on the physical, and I all but ignored the other two parts to a human
(20:12):
being, the spirit and the mind.
You can make some progress that way, but it's not nearly as effective or efficient as itcould be.
Pursuing holistic health
is a bit like a three-person rowing team.
To maximize the efficiency of the boat, all three rowers have to get their oars in thewater at the same time.
(20:33):
Imagine if one or two of the rowers stopped rowing.
Or worse yet, what if one of the rowers started rowing in the wrong direction?
That team would obviously not be standing on the podium at the end of the event.
The same is true with our health.
If we want to maximize our health potential,
We've got to get all of our proverbial oars in the water at the same time and address allthree parts of who and what we are simultaneously.
(20:58):
When we pursue whole person health, we can expect more spiritual strength, bettermental-emotional fortitude, and improved physical vitality.
We should also be pursuing more health margin.
Health margin acts like a shock absorber in our cars.
The shock absorbers in our cars
give the wheels some space to absorb the bumps in the road.
(21:22):
Without the shock absorbers, our car rides would be a lot more uncomfortable.
The same principle applies to our health.
Having health margin is having more vigor, more energy and vitality than the minimumrequired to get us through the day.
That way, when the unexpected comes up, when life throws us a curve ball in the form of aninjury or an illness, we have the health margin available
(21:47):
to handle those stresses more effectively.
The best time to build health margin is when we're feeling well.
We don't build health by managing our symptoms after we get sick.
We build health by strengthening our systems from the inside out and creating anenvironment inside our bodies that's hostile to things like undesirable microscopic
(22:10):
organisms.
That way our bodies can effectively defend themselves
and we avoid sickness and chronic disease and will age more gracefully.
Now, there's much more to say in this topic, but that's about all I can fit into thissingle episode.
That's why I'm starting the membership club.
We can get into more specifics on implementing the Christian Healthy Lifestyle togetherwith the support of a group of like-minded believers.
(22:38):
Don't forget to sign up for the wait list.
If you do, I'll send you a link to attend the Google Meet where we're going to have onThursday, May 1st at 8 p.m.
As I said earlier, there's been some confusion on how to get signed up and that's myfault.
I own that one.
If you go to the show notes on your podcast player, I'm going to put a link in there thatthat's probably the easiest way to go.
(22:59):
Or you can sign up on my website chlpodcast.com forward slash membership.
Or you can use the homepage at chlpodcast.com.
Make sure you don't use the sign up form for the newsletter at the bottom of the page.
Use the form next to the Christian healthy lifestyle community artwork.
It looks a lot like the podcast artwork, but it says community.
(23:19):
Be sure to tune in next week where I'll be finishing our talk on the new tagline and I'llbe explaining what cutting through the noise looks like.
That's it for now.
Thank you for listening.
I appreciate you.
Go out there and live abundantly.
I'll talk with you next week.
Be blessed.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com