Have you ever found yourself excited about something new – a new idea, a new way of doing something, a new hobby, a new person in your life, a new truth? This last one almost seems like an oxymoron – a truth should be infinite, never changing, otherwise it is not truth, but merely a philosophy, trend, opinion, feeling, or even a lie. But the foundation of all Truth, is the Bible. John 17:17 says “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.” I love the second half of this scripture “…your word, which is truth.” God’s “word” is the Bible. Therefore, I think it important that you, my reader, know that the Bible is my base for truth for everything. (To study deeper on the word truth I suggest this article.). But one thing the author, Terry McLaughlin, states in this article: “Truth must correspond to reality and nature.” Another is this: “Why is it important to embrace the concept of absolute truth? Because life has consequences for being wrong.”
And this is where my heart and passion come from for you, and the desire to share the truth about health and wellness with others.
Just like most people, and where their passion for something comes from, so is mine – when injustice is being done. Life has dire consequences when we pursue a deceptive path regarding our health, thinking we are on the right path, when in fact we keep moving further and further away from health. And worse than not being on the path of health, but we find ourselves, unknowingly headed down the path of disease, because we have been deceived. So, what is the truth about what a healthy self is? First, let’s define health.
Definition of Wholistic Health – Spirit, Soul & Body
Just as God’s desire for each and every one of us is communion with Him, and with others – this is known as connection – so our health should be representative of the same. Our health should be viewed from the perspective as connected and “whole” – spirit, soul and body. Or I like to break it down to “mental, emotional, physical and spiritual.” And even further yet, includes the social aspect of our health. You can define it in multiple ways, but the basis is that it is all-encompassing and connected – whole. To break it down a little further for greater clarity – especially as it contrasts and differs from an allopathic viewpoint – all the parts of our physical body work together as a whole. One part of our body never works independently from the rest of the body – scientifically this is not true. And neither is it true spiritually. (I love this blog post from Curt Landry Ministries regarding what God says about our health — I encourage you to read this.)
But our American medical care system does not reflect this. Just think about all the different “specialty groups” – urologist, cardiologist, oncologist, gynecologist, proctologist, endocrinologist – sheesh, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of all the specialists. This implies, that we only need to pay attention to the organ or system of the body that is giving us symptoms, and that the rest of the body is healthy. I have heard more times than I can count people who have cancer say “other than the cancer, I am healthy!” No, no this is not true! Your whole body is unhealthy and out of balance. We can’t eat a bunch of carrots and tell the Vitamin A in them to go to our eyeballs and make us see better! We know that is a ridiculous statement, but that is in essence how our health, or better stated, our disease has been treated for 100+ years now – independent of the rest of our body. And certainly, independent of the other components of our health – the spiritual, mental, and emotional/social aspects.
In a nutshell – the definition of wholistic health is having our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health all in a healthy balance. Each of these parts are connected and inter-related. The objective to good health wholistically is to get to the root cause of the problem and restore the body back to good health and balance using natural approaches.
Truth is Imperative for a Healthy Self
You would probably agree that it has become harder than ever to discern the truth about anything. With things like the internet, google searches that reveal what they want you to find, social media posts – the same thing, and now with the latest technology, Artificial Intelligence, better known as “AI.” How do we really know what is true? Who can we trust? While I do believe it is more important than ever to closely assess your sources, and use extreme discretion in whom you put your trust. The only true, consistent, and reliable source is God Himself and His Word.
In chiropractic school, when we were first being taught how to analyze x-rays, we first needed to be taught what “normal” was. What a healthy spine looked like. That was our measuring stick – what every other x-ray of the spine was to be compared against and to look for anything abnormal.
Using God’s Word, the Bible as the “normal” or a better expression of this is what “truth” is, we can much better discern what the truth about wholistic health and wellness is. Granted, the Bible isn’t always specific about details – for example, if I were to search the Bible as to whether I should eat Twinkies or Arugula, those specific words aren’t there. But His will for our health, and our life is. So is His desire to impart knowledge and wisdom (just read the book of Proverbs, wisdom is throughout this book!). Here are 2 tools to be able to discern God’s Words for the answers and direction, and truth that we need for our health and our life.
Two Tools to Discern God’s Will
1.The Spirit of God Within You
The only way to truly discern God’s will and God’s truth for our health and our lives is to invite the Spirit of Jesus Christ into our lives and into our hearts. We must first be willing to handover the steering wheel, to release control of our lives over to Him. If we don’t, then we are simply operating our lives in our own fleshly will and desires. And too much of the time this is based on “feelings” as opposed to truth. If we want God’s Word to be our measuring stick, we need to submit to hearing it and understanding it, and invite Jesus to be the head of our lives – wholistically – spirit, soul and body.
2.Hearing God’s Voice
In order to hear God’s Voice, you must first have His Spirit within you. Once you do, here are 4 simple steps to hearing His voice:
- Quiet yourself down
- Picture yourself with Jesus or Papa God
- Be open to spontaneous thought and vision
- And write what you saw and/or heard down
These steps are to help you fill in the specifics that uniquely apply to your life and your health. As you practice this, asking Him simple things like “do I chose the Twinkie or the Arugula” you will easily be able to discern His desires for you! But, if it is a greater decision you need an answer from Him on, I would encourage you to seek out spiritual counsel, and take your need for decision to two or three others who can also hear from God. You are not seeking their godly opinion (oh, they will be ready to give it to you if you let them!), but ask them to take your request to God on your behalf and see what He says to them for you. Will it confirm what you believe you have heard?
A word of strong caution with seeking God’s Voice: Be absolute certain you are picturing yourself with Jesus or Papa God in step 2, and not the person or thing you are desiring. This would be praying through an idol. You never want that.
The more you practice this time with God, and spend time in His Word getting to know Who He is, the more natural all of this will feel to you. You will become more familiar with knowing and discerning what is from Him, what His truth is, and where the deception is trying to come in.
Every time a decision needs to be made, ask yourself:
-
- Does this make sense?
- Does it correspond with reality and nature?
- Does it line up with God’s Word?
We now know where and how to find Truth, what the “normal” is. Now let’s take a look at what we are up against and where the deception and manipulation can come in.
The Information War – A Battle for Your Soul and Your Health
Any good military leader will know not only how to play offense, but also how to play defense. Same goes for any sports coach. If you know the right things to do and the truth in regards to taking care of your health (the offensive), but don’t know where the deception comes in, where is the misinformation, and sometimes down right lies (the deception), you could still be in a world of trouble. Because remember, “life has consequences for being wrong.”
Know Who Your Foes Are
I was having a conversation not too long ago with someone. They were sharing with me that they had been on ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) meds since childhood. Initially he stated that he wanted to come off the meds. As the conversation continued it was apparent that he was addicted to this drug (which can be a serious side effect of these drugs), because his statement soon changed to “I just want to take a little bit of it.” At first I was encouraging him to seek out a functional medicine practitioner (see my blog “Natural Wellness: It’s More Than What You Might Think” to learn more about this discipline) to walk alongside of him to ween him off the drugs and utilize a more natural approach while simultaneously working to uncover the root of why he needed the medication to begin with. His statement was that he wanted to do both, and see both kinds of practitioners – conventional and functional. Unfortunately, it simply does not work that way. The main reason it doesn’t is the objective of each of these practitioners are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Allopathic Medicine is working with you to manage your disease for the rest of your life (which is what my friend had been doing, hence the prescription since he was a child), and Functional Medicine is looking to discover the root cause, and help you restore your body back to good health using natural approaches. Assuming your objective is to pursue natural health,
Here are 4 Foes You Need to be Aware of…
and use that discernment to sift through the deception and get to the truth that is imperative for a healthy self:
Click “Here” to get your free copy of “LEARN ABOUT THE 7 WELLNESS MYTHS KEEPING US FROM ACHIEVING TRUE HEALTH”
1. Big Pharma
While the pharmaceutical industry started off with good intentions, especially for acute illnesses, with herbal medicines quite often being the foundation of their products; it was never initially intended for chronic illnesses that increasingly grew with the advent of the industrialized revolution, and manufactured foods in particular.
The pharmaceutical industry is a trillion+ dollar industry. The scarier part is, the majority of the raw materials for pharmaceuticals made in the U.S. come from China.
A question I have had for a long time is this: If we are such an intelligent country, and I believe we are, wouldn’t we have found the “cure for cancer” by now? They have been looking for this for 50+ years now, but the cancer rate has increased not decreased. Unfortunately, the primary objective of pharmaceutical companies is to make a profit for their shareholders, not save lives. I would encourage you to visit Hillsdale College’s website and watch a recent summit they had on Big Pharma.
But the primary reason Big Pharma is a “Foe” to the functional medicine world and the truth about holistic health is because the objective of functional medicine is not to manage disease with drugs, but to restore the body back to good health using natural approaches, beginning with real food.
2. Insurance Companies
Big Pharma dictates to the Insurance companies, and the insurance companies dictate to the medical community, and the government is in cahoots with the pharmaceutical industry – somehow, they all win, and we the taxpayers and consumers lose – every single time.
The majority of people think they are “winning” and they are being taken care of because they have insurance. But insurance only covers those things that keep you sick and diseased, another words – allopathic medicine. And the old adage “nothing is free” still stands true, more than ever, especially with medical insurance. If you are in a group plan, and the majority of consumers are – either through their employer or the government i.e. Medicare or Medicaid – then you are paying every time someone else gets sick. That’s just how insurance works. When a claim is filed, there is an output by the insurance companies. In order for the insurance company to maintain paying for all of these claims, and their lofty salaries I might add, they have to raise the rates of insurance premiums. Nothing is free.
But what insurance companies never cover are for the highly invaluable services that functional medicine practitioners provide – you know, the services that will assist you and your body in being restored back to good health – never needing drugs and surgeries. These invaluable services are never covered by insurance. Another Foe.
3. Corporate Medical Facilities
It has been a long, long time that I had to utilize any kind of services rendered by the conventional medicine world – until two years ago when covid became the straw that broke “my camel’s back.” It was when I had to utilize the services of an oncologist that my eyes were opened to how the medical world has evolved since I last walked through their doors.
This practitioner’s office was located almost directly across the street from what I simply viewed as “the local hospital” only to find out later that the practitioner was “in theory” working out of the hospital, and what I viewed as a “local hospital” was actually owned by a large corporate medical conglomerate. And everybody’s hand was held out for payment.
The way I learned this was when I was viewing my medical portal online and I kept seeing these charges every time I walked through their doors. Initially I thought it was for lab services that they were mistakenly charging me for (that’s another story for another day!), only to find out it was for what is known as a “site of service fee.” $150 because I was a cash patient, but if I had insurance $250 would have been billed. This fee, as I was told, was for the doctor utilizing the hospital and any services he might need from them to perform his duties. They explained it was as if I was being seen at the hospital – even though I wasn’t! To put it simply, that site of service fee that every patient is charged every time they simply walk through the doors was paying that doctors rent to the hospital. This was a fee that was charged before I ever even sat in their rented waiting room. Do you look at your health portal and the fees you are being charged? If not, you need to.
The days of the small-town doctor are almost non-existent. You may or may not even be aware that they have been bought up by the big corporate medical facilities and their hands are tied in regards to how they can render care to you – because it’s all about making a profit. For a greater understanding of how the corporate hospitals have evolved read this article on the Health Professionals and Allied Employees website. The fact of the matter is, these things that are hidden become revealed – another truth about another Foe.
4. Processed Foods Industry
I was in a continuing education seminar several years back and the instructor, a functional medicine practitioner shared with us that to his surprise, he had actually been invited to speak at the American Diabetes Association convention for one of their breakout sessions. He shared with us that while he was there, he observed (and took pictures and showed us) that the Sugar Association was one of the Corporate Sponsors of the American Diabetes Association. As were other processed food manufacturers. I’m not sure it is still that way today, but it is an example of the collaboration of those with a like-mind – to mutually benefit monetarily from the sickness of others – that is not wellness.
The marketing messages that are on the packages of the so-called foods in the grocery store should be proof enough of their manipulative ploys too. These products really are not even food – they are “food-like” substances, that don’t even carry any nutritional value as real food does, and in a lot of cases they are actually toxic to the body. For a more in-depth understanding of the ploys of the food industry, please see my book “Are You Being Deceived About True Wellness.” Suffice it to say that the food manufacturing companies are definitely a “Foe” when it comes to the truth about wholistic health.
In Summary
Truth is absolutely vital to your healthy self. I hope this article at least lights a fire under you to not take everything that is labeled as “health” as truth.
All truth should be measured against the One Who is “the Way, the Truth and the Light” – Jesus Christ and His Word, the Bible. Invite His Spirit into your life, and give Him first place in it. When you do this, the Holy Spirit is there as well. And it is through the Holy Spirit that all truth can be discerned. However, without Him, you are simply left to your own devices.
Understand that there truly is an “information war” for your soul. The enemy desires nothing more than to destroy you and hinder you from fulfilling your God-given purpose here on this earth.
And there are some major foes out there who do not have your best interest or your health in mind: Big Pharma, Insurance Companies, Corporate Medical Facilities, and the Processed Foods Industry. Be wise, follow the money and know who your adversary is.
Next week we will delve into “Word Semantics” that can also send us unknowingly down the wrong path – away from wholistic health and wellness. We will explore “What Wellness Is Not” and “What Wellness Is.” These seemingly little nuances could literally save your life.
To book Dr. Jackie for speaking engagements go to: https://jackiemckool.com/schedule-jackie/
Did you miss some of these earlier blogs? These could give you some great insight — especially over the holidays:
“Anatomy of a Soda”
“How Much Is On Your Plate?”
“Health, It’s Not About How You Feel”
“Are You A Why Person?”