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Many of us have reduced or even eliminated sugar from our diets in a conscious choice towards better health. We are aiming for a more densely nutritious intake from good quality foods such as eggs, cheese, clean meats of chicken, lamb, beef, fish, fruit, as well as plenty of salads and vegetables. This type of dietary consumption is referred to as whole foods and what we were used to when growing up in order to build and maintain health. Obtaining sugar or fructose from fruits is tricky for diabetics but the recommendation is for small or average sized serves from apples or berries and personal experimentation has proved successful with blood glucose readings remaining stable rather than spiking high. Fruit juice is a big "no no" despite the huge market out there pushing the convenience with clever packaging. Whole fruit with fibre and the natural juice together in a balanced formula is how God intended for things to be...yet humans constantly think they know better than their Creator and we wonder why there are so many problems in the world. God's packaging is simply amazing -- just consider the banana for example. All things in moderation sounds right and is fine when healthy, but for diabetics and those with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease must proceed with caution and with the benefit of wise moderation -- no more than one small to medium sized apple per day. One can spend quite some time researching a healthy diet that works for their body chemistry in combination with gastrointestinal health and symptoms of disease. Processed and packaged things to eat are our enemy as the nutritional value is questionable because they are loaded with many nasties hidden by numbers such as the food colour 120 (carmine usually used for pink colouring from insects that are considered unclean by God). While the internet can provide instant information, that smorgasbord of knowledge can seem like a never ending minefield which definitely needs carefully considered wisdom and skillful dodging of lies, half-truths, and misinformation that can lead you down an ever enticingly dangerous path of destruction physically, emotionally, financially, and psychologically, rather than of any long term benefits.
This brings me to another path that is extremely dangerous to walk on. Your navigation skills will be interfered with big time by the number one enemy to humankind. The Adversary is none other than the devil, believe it or not, for he is working behind the scenes to get us to fall for all sorts of lies that sound nice such as soothing words we want to hear. You may have heard things like "You only need to believe in God and that is enough" or "Just come as you are, no need to even change yourself in any way at all for God loves you", and "You are the master of your own destiny -- you can do it your way". Traditional Christianity has sugar coated God's message and we know the vast majority of it is false but the bulk of the people in this world have no idea, are confused, or do not want to know as it is way too hard to find out exactly what is the truth. They would rather believe the lies as these are quite comforting for their chosen lifestyles and it is too hard to change anyway. Life is busy and the devil keeps on distracting people with fun pursuits such as video games and all the TV shows and channels you can buy until you have got what you want. Entertainment that fills your time and has cumulative potential to prevent you from gaining therapeutic sleep which is a significant factor in helping bolster the immune system. It may seem subtle but that is how our sight unseen enemy likes it...any methods to make us sick with depleted and poorly functioning immune systems so we cannot fight viruses and diseases effectively.
Yet here we are in this life wondering what it is all about, why are we here, and why do bad things happen to good people? These were my questions to God once upon a time not that long ago. Subconsciously, on some way-down deepest level inside my heart and mind cluttered by the cares of this life, there was a sprig or speck of something germinating that equated with learning from life lessons and building character. The right type of character which is known to me now as righteous character, is what Jesus Christ displayed to others while he lived on earth about 2,000 years ago. If you want a condensed version of how Christ treated people then the easiest place to start is in the shortest gospel of Mark. Many of these accounts are repeated for comparison with the benefit of more information while looking through another disciple's eyes in the books of Matthew, Luke and John, therefore some enjoy reading the "Harmony of the Gospels" for this very reason.
It is not easy developing good character -- we naturally want to default to carnal human nature. Thinking back to childhood days of long ago when the three of us (younger sister and brother) were learning "the hard way", if there was an issue at home requiring disciplinary action by our parents there were times when tongues were poked out sight unseen after being sent to our bedroom to think about what we did. Silly immature stuff that seemed harmless at the time. We did not have the skill-set to go to our parents to reason together and communicate with wisdom rather than with human logic which is faulty at best as it is selfish. Fast forward many years later to now understand how we should proceed with help from God in prayerful humility making a case for the basis of our current dilemma upon scripture found in Isaiah 1:18. Poor examples from others growing up should not be our frame of reference when dealing with life's struggles. My memories of the "one finger salute" paired with "colourful" language to put it mildly towards others on the road when matters became tense are just that; a memory of a very bad example. Leaving these things behind and swapping them out with how Jesus Christ lived His life while experiencing adversity and challenging situations is most interesting and the best teaching we can ever have. Transforming our behaviour to incorporate His example into our lives is how we strive to live and emulate righteous principles with self control, which is just one fruit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 via the Holy Spirit. We are human and cannot do these things without our Helper given to us at baptism once converted as adults. We will always need God's help in this lifetime yet we have our part to be accountable for in practising righteous behaviour. This is so important to resist and overcome our natural tendencies which always used to get me into big trouble during my formative years.
As we greet each day God gives us in grateful thanks and make the most of our limited time here on earth we realise things are becoming more confused, chaotic, with talk of war, famine approaching, disastrous events, news of acts of terror foiled or carried out, and monstrous evil causing mayhem under the wicked guise or pretense of helping people, we realise the nations need rescuing from the devil, from their human nature, and from what will be unleashed upon those alive in the end times. Indeed all is not how it seems and make no mistake about it for we are living in these end times before Christ returns. God alerts us to 2 Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables". Quite ironic when many say the Bible is full of fables or fairy stories. Those who say this will be in for a big surprise. Meanwhile, God's firstfruits have a great work to do and we live to do His will helping those we come into contact with, always ready with an answer when asked about the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15). Continue to hold fast with no deviation from the path that we are on, for even though it is narrow, with many hills to climb and valleys to traverse, it will bring us to the best destination of all -- God's soon coming Kingdom (Matthew 7:13-14). So let us be ever vigilant and watchful, because this world is full of deception and sugar coated "goodies" that look good, seem good, but are full of rotten decay under the colourful wrappers of false teachings designed specifically to dazzle us and appeal to our weaknesses. This is one way the devil threatens our spiritual health through compromise. God must know what choices we will make, especially when we are challenged. What will you choose? As for me and my house we will serve the LORD forever (Joshua 24:14-15, 1 Kings 18:21, Micah 4:5, and Daniel 3:18).