BETTER HEALTH — MADE SIMPLE !

Thirty-four Steps to Happier Living – A Complete Online Health Course!

Published by TRAIL GUIDES - Altamont, TN 37301 USA

Road maps for pilgrims traveling home

LESSONS 5-6

LESSON FIVE - CARING FOR YOUR BRAIN

1- Just what makes you the very special person that you are? There is no one in the world just like you. We can look at a fingerprint. Even though there are billions of people in this world, there is not another person with a fingerprint exactly alike.

2- But it is not just your fingerprint, nor the appearance of your face, nor your eyes, your voice, the way you walk that makes you the person you are. There are many, many things you do, and ways you think, which make you a person different from any one else in the world. And, yet basically we are all the same. To keep our bodies in health we all need air, sunlight, food, water, exercise, rest and faith in God. Also, all functions of life should be in good balance.

3- What really makes you the person you are is the way your brain functions. A machine known as the Electroencephalograph can measure the electrical pattern of the brain’s activity. It comes out as a tracing on a tape. Your pattern of brain activity is different from that of anyone else. It is as distinctive as your fingerprints.

4- Everything depends upon the health and life of your brain. It is the control center of your body. The nervous system with the brain as its center is connected by millions of nerve "wires" which are constantly sending messages.

5- We think that a telephone system is a marvelous thing, and it is. You can place a call to anywhere in the world. The message is sent by wireless and by undersea cables clear across oceans. It goes through various switchboards, through thousands of miles of telephone wires, and at last to the place where you are calling and you hear the voice of the other person.

6- We feel it is almost a miracle to talk such long distances through a complicated telephone system. But within your body there is a communication system more wonderful than all the telephone connections in the world.

7- The brain must handle many different messages coming from different parts of the body. If, for example, you are playing with a ball, the nerves from your eyes send the message that a ball is coming. It is all explained within the memory how big the ball is, when it will reach you, and that you must put your hand out to catch it. As soon as it touches your fingers, the message is sent to close your fingers now and catch the ball.

8- But that is not all that your brain is doing at the time. It is the control center that connects with the spinal cord and continually keeps the thousands of functions in the body going in proper balance. The complicated structure of the brain is beyond our imagination, and is one of God's most wonderful evidences that man was designed by a Creator of infinite wisdom. What you smell, see, hear, taste, feel, and how you keep your balance is all interpreted in your brain, through your nerves. This seems wonderful, but other nerves control all your organs and their complicated activities, whether you are asleep or awake, without your ever thinking about them.

9- But animals can also smell, hear, taste, feel, and all the rest. They also have organs that are controlled by a nervous system. HOWEVER-the marvelous Brain of YOURS is able to do what no animal, nor magic computer can ever do. It can love and it can worship God through the power of the will. This is what makes YOU different from all other of God's creatures.

10- In the front part of the brain, just behind your fore­head is the part where the highest powers of man exist—reason, judgment, self control. It is because man has this frontal lobe, that God can say to him, "Come now, let us reason together."

11- Everything depends on your keeping your brain in good health. This is one reason you are encouraged to breathe deeply. 25% of all the oxygen taken into the body is used by the brain.

12- Even though your brain weighs only 3 pounds (about 1 ½ kilograms) and is composed of about 70% water, one fifth of all the blood the heart pumps out goes to your brain. That is why you must be sure to drink plenty of good; pure water, eat the right food, and to exercise so that your heart and blood will be in good health.

13- You should drink 6 to 8 glasses of water every day. Start with two when you get up in the morning. You should then go next to the open window and take four or five deep breaths, and it would be excellent to go out and take at least 5 or 10 minutes of brisk exercise. This will help keep your body in excellent condition.

14- Because your brain is so important. God designed your skull in a very special way to protect it. Architects have discovered that this dome-shaped box is one of the strongest designs that can be used in construction. Now notice an egg shell. It is almost as thin as paper. But look how strong is it. You can squeeze it hard in your hand without breaking it! The same type of design helps protect your delicate brain from injury.

15- We often do not realize how important our physical habits are, as related to the operation and efficiency of our brain. An experiment carried on at Loma Linda University demonstrated how the drug caffeine which is in coffee and cola drinks affects the nervous system of spiders.

16- You have all seen a beautiful spider's web before. It is really marvelous what these little creatures can do. At the university, a spider—which had made a web, was given a tiny amount of caffeine. For the size of the spider, it was the same as the amount in two cups of coffee would be for a man. The nervous system of the spider became confused, and the web he made was imperfect and almost useless. Because caffeine is bad for your nerves, you should avoid drinks which contain this drug. Avoid coffee, tea, and cola drinks.

17- Man has created some remarkable storage systems for knowledge, but nothing can compare with your brain. Would you believe that on a film only 2 inches square, the entire Holy Bible has been printed. We cannot imagine such small print—almost 1,000,000 words. But your mind can take those words and can make them a living power to help you enjoy More Abundant Life.

18- Yes, God can write these words of Truth in your mind as you make choices as led by His Spirit. The brain with its amazing power is strengthened through study of the Bible, the "Miracle Book" of the world. While some have previously doubted the accuracy of Bible History, it is now further proven through discoveries of ancient writings that the inspired scriptures are true.

19- The word, "BIBLE" simply means little books. It is a compilation of 66 small books. There are two main sections. One is the OLD TESTAMENT, a group of 39 books. Originally most of them were written in Hebrew. The NEW TESTAMENT is a group of 27 books, which were mostly written in Aramaic or Greek. The Old Testament books were written before the time of Christ. The New Testament books were written after the time of Christ.

20- The first book of the Bible was written about 1500 years before the time of Christ. The last book was written about 100 years after Christ had been born. This means that there is about 1600 years of time between the writing of the first book and the last book of the Bible. All of these books were written by hand on scrolls. Copies had to be made by hand. Now we are able to get Bibles easily in printed form.

21- The different books of the Bible were written by about 45 men. Some of these men were shepherds, some were fishermen, some were Kings, and some were prophets. They were all men of God.

22- The Bible itself tells us how it came to be written. "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Spirit of God." 2 Peter 1:21. The purpose of the Bible is to reveal to man who Jesus is; to tell man why Jesus came to this world and the results of His coming to this world.

23- The Bible is compared to a lamp and a light. In Psalm 119:105, we read, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." The study of the Bible protects us against sin. "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee," said King David who lived long ago. By keeping the words of the Bible in our hearts and by living according to them, we too are kept from sin.

24- Since the Bible is God's word, the principles stated in it are as eternal as God Himself. "The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand for­ever," said the prophet Isaiah who lived and wrote about 650 years before Christ was born. Isaiah 40:7.

25- The Bible, or portions of it have been printed and sold in more than 1400 languages out of the 2,708 languages of the world. No other book has such a wide circulation, nor so much publicity. Many critics have tried to tear down the Bible with their criticisms, but the Bible still stands. Many Governments have tried by decree to stop people from reading the Bible, and have even tried to destroy the Bible by gathering up all the copies and burning them, but the Bible is more read today than ever before.

26- The Bible is powerful to change human hearts and lives. Through its power, cannibals and head-hunters have been changed to peace-loving citizens who do good to others. Thieves and murderers have stopped their evil ways and have become godly people. Men and women of all kinds have changed evil ways and have come to live good, pure, clean, helpful lives of service to others.

27- Archeology, the study of ancient civilizations, has over and over again proved the accuracy and truthfulness of the Bible. As scientists dig up ruins of old civilizations, they continually find evidences that show the Bible to be true.

28- The Bible was written that we might learn from it the way of salvation from sin, and the way to future happiness and eternal life of joy. We read in Romans 15:4, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we, through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."

29- This hope is centered in Jesus Christ, who is revealed in the Bible as God, Creator, Saviour, Lord and King.

If through studying, believing, and obeying the Bible our hopes are placed in Christ, we will find in this life happiness and joy. ABUNDANT LIFE here and now, as well as hope of ABUNDANT LIFE for eternity to come.

Here is additional information about the Holy Scriptures:

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."-2 Timothy 3:16-17.

"Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth." -John 17:17.

"To the Law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them." -Isaiah 8:20.

"Search the Scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me."-John 5:39.

"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." -Acts 17.11.

"Neither have I gone back from the commandments of His lips; I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."-Job 23:12.

LESSON SIX - YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

1- The wonder of the human body is seen in the beauty of the construction of the different parts and the way they all work together. Each system is built of millions of specialized cells working together. Each system works with all the other systems to keep the body in balanced health.

2- There is a very interesting story in the Bible of a young man who understood this important balance. He may not have understood the physiology as we do today, but he understood the important inter-workings of all the body systems.

3- At the time of their creation, God had told Adam and Eve what things were good for them to eat. God had said, "I have given you every herb and every tree in which is the fruit, to you it shall be for meat." Genesis 1:29. Man's diet before he sinned, was to be fruit, grains, and nuts. This was the very best food to keep all the body systems in good balance.

4- Because Daniel understood the relationship between health of body and health of mind and health of spiritual attitudes, he refused to eat the unhealthful foods of the king of Babylon's table. He chose to live on a simple vegetarian diet.

5- Intelligent decisions are very important when it comes to eating. Too many people eat according to custom and habit instead of according to scientific knowledge. The tongue sends a message to the brain, saying, "I like the taste of this. I am used to eating it, give me more of it." Then the part of the brain (the front part) which is supposed to make intelligent decisions is told to keep quiet. Powers of judgment, or self-control and the rule of the mind are turned off and the appetite rules the body. Do you think the control should be in the tongue, or in the brain?

6- Adam and Eve lost their beautiful home, because of listening to appetite. They were conquered by Satan because of yielding to appetite. It was on this very same point of appetite that Satan tried to get Jesus to sin. But Jesus refused to listen to Satan's suggestions. His brain and His will-power were under the control of God.

7- Each of the hundreds of millions of cells in the body must get its own food. Cells are mostly liquid. Their food must also be in liquid form.

8- The work of the digestion is to change bulky food into tiny pieces and then into liquids so the cells can use them. A group, or system of organs, has been especially designed for this work-the mouth. Digestion starts in the mouth where the teeth grind and tear the food into small pieces. Also, in the mouth the food is moistened and digestion is started by action of the saliva.

9- Some people boast of how fast they can eat. They forget that the stomach has no teeth and so it cannot grind and break up the food as the mouth can. Sometimes pieces of food, such as a peanut which is not chewed, go right through the digestive tract and out into the waste without being of any use to the body at all. Fast eating also means that the food is not mixed with saliva well, so digestion does not start properly in the mouth. This makes the work of the stomach difficult. Therefore, it is important that you chew every mouthful of food very well.

10- Your food takes a long and complicated route from your mouth through the digestive tract. The food goes down to the stomach through the esophagus. The food does not just drop into the stomach each time you swallow. It gathers here in a sort of a ball, then the valve into the stomach opens and the food goes into the stomach, where it is mixed with the other digestive juices and acids by the strong muscles of the stomach.

11- When the stomach has done its work for two or three hours, the food will have become semi-solid, then it goes to the small intestine. Here, bile from the liver breaks down fats into very small drops. Digestive juices from the pancreas break food down more, making it ready for the cells to use. The starches are changed into sugar. The protein foods are changed into amino acids.

12- The small intestine in man is about 23 feet long. For creatures with a small intestine of this length, vegetable foods are much better than meat.

13- The food has become mostly liquid by the time it moves along through the rest of the intestine. The walls of the small intestine are covered by small hair-like projections called villi. Inside each of these there is a network of tiny blood vessels. These blood vessels absorb the food that is needed and the blood cells pick it up here to carry to the rest of the body.

14- The large intestine absorbs most of the water and the body gets rid of the remaining waste in the form of feces. The process of digestion takes three to four hours. The digestive tract should ALWAYS have time to rest between meals. One should never, never eat anything between meals. If we obey this rule, we shall have less stomach trouble and our bodies will be healthier.

15- Every cell in your body depends upon what you put into your stomach for its food. Your stomach cannot make good nourishing food out of bad, poor quality or poisonous food. Every organ in your body shows the result of what you have put into your stomach. Your brain reflects the way you treat your stomach almost the same as a mirror reflects your face.

16- Because Daniel and his three friends understood these principles of the relation between the stomach and the mind, and were careful to eat only those things that were good for the whole body, they were better looking, stronger, healthier and ten times wiser than their fellow students who ate according to taste and customs. Because Daniel's mind was clear, due to his habits of proper eating, God was able to use Daniel in a very wonderful way.

17- Daniel lived in Babylon during the time of a king named Nebuchadnezzar. This was about 603 years before Christ was born. One night while the king was sleeping he had a dream but when he awoke, he could not remember it. The king had great faith in astrologers and magicians sorcerers of all kinds, so he called all these men and asked them to tell him what it was he had dreamed.

18- They asked the king to first tell them the dream and then they would tell the meaning. But the king insisted that if they were so wise as they claimed to be, they should tell not only the meaning, but the dream itself. At this the king became very angry with them all. He threatened to kill them all with their families if they did not tell the dream.

19- Then all these wise men made a great confession. They said, "There is not a man on the earth that can show the king's matter. None other can show it except the gods whose dwelling is not with men." In this statement they confessed that they did not know more than other men and that they had no connection with God. For this Nebuchadnezzar became very angry and gave order to the captain of his guard, whose name was Arioch, to kill all the wise men.

20- When Daniel heard of this, he went in to the king and asked the king to give a little time. He promised to tell the dream and its interpretation.

21- Then Daniel and his friends prayed to God in heaven, the One who created the heaven and the earth, and who knows everything. They asked Him to tell them the dream and its meaning, then they lay down to sleep. During the night God gave to Daniel the same dream that the king had seen in his sleep. God also told Daniel the meaning. In the morning, before Daniel went in to see the king, he and his friends knelt to thank God who had revealed the king's secret to Daniel.

22- When Daniel again stood before the king, the king said, "Daniel, are you able to tell the dream and its interpretation? Daniel replied, "The secret which the king hath dreamed cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the sooth­sayers show unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the King Nebuchad­nezzar what shall be in the latter days." And then Daniel told the King plainly that it was not revealed to him because he had more wisdom than the other men, but because God wished to reveal to the king the true meaning of things which the king had been thinking about.

23- Daniel said, "As for thee, 0 king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass here­after, and He that revealeth secrets maketh known unto thee what shall come to pass. Thou, Oh King, sawest and beheld a great image. This image's head was of gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, and his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, the brass, the silver and the gold was broken to pieces together and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floor: and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them, and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the earth."

24- Then Daniel began to interpret the dream. "Thou Oh, King, art a king of kings, the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. Thou art this head of gold." The king had been wondering what would happen in the world after he had passed on and now God was showing him. "After thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee." (True to the words God sent through Daniel, the kingdom of Babylon was overthrown by the Medes and Persians in 538 B.C. and Media-Persia was a kingdom inferior to Babylon as silver is inferior to gold. But this was not the end of the interpretation. Another third kingdom represented by the brass, "shall bear rule over all the earth." (This was fulfilled when the armies of Greece overthrew the Persian Kingdom in 332 B.C.) Greece was not as glorious as the Medes and Persians had been. The fourth kingdom, Rome, defeated Greece in 168 B.C. Called by noted historians, "The iron kingdom," it ruled the world until 476 A.D. (Rome ruled the world during the time Jesus was born).

25- As God had so clearly foretold through Daniel, a fifth universal kingdom did not arise, but instead the Roman Empire broke up into ten nations. Just as iron is strong and clay is weak and so they cannot stick together, so these ten nations have been some strong and some weak, and have not been able to stick together, although many kings have tried to unite them.

26- "in the days of these kings," God told Daniel, 'Shall the God of heaven set up His kingdom." It would destroy all those kingdoms represented by the gold, silver, brass, iron and clay. They would be blown away as with a mighty wind, and God's kingdom would fill the whole earth.. It would never be destroyed nor pass away:

27- During the past twenty-five hundred years, the message God gave to Nebuchadnezzar through His servant Daniel has been fulfilled, one point after another. Today, we are in the time of those kings in whose days God is going to restore the kingdom Adam and Eve lost to Satan in the Garden of Eden.

28- As their children, and inheritors of the promise made to Adam and Eve at that time, we may have a place in that kingdom, if, as they did, we accept Jesus as our Sinbearer, Saviour, and King.

The great prophecy of Daniel Two is one of the most marvelous in all the Bible. It spans 1500 years from Daniel's time to ours, and reveals that the Second Coming of Christ to this earth is about to take place.

LESSONS 7 - 8

TOC