Tag: Cancer

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Can jealousy cause cancer?

Reading Time: 2 minutes

A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.‭‭ Proverbs‬ ‭14‬:‭30‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Sure, the New Living Translation takes some liberty by using a shocking word like cancer. Cancer, of course, is a mysteriously, radical rebellion that starts within a cell of our own body! The Hebrew word isn’t cancer it’s, “raqab,” rottenness or decay. Which is morbidly more creepy.

Bone rot? Proverbs gives us a stark reality – envy or jealousy in our heart does real damage to our physical body! This overly passionate want, this zeal for more, or for what others have, is doing far more harm than just be a soul-sucking experience, it will cripple us!

The comparison to what the Hebrews considered to be a “marpe,” sound or healthy heart – which Bible translations choose to use the word, peaceful or tranquil heart GIVES health, GIVES life itself. A jealous heart gives this rottenness and decay to our body’s infrastructure. It’s a clear warning to not let envy drive the conscious moments of our thoughts lest we release death throughout our bodies!

Dismiss jealousy. Kick envy. Do not let these toxic emotions sit and fester in our heart. Seek God’s perspective. Seek wisdom. Seek contentment with what you have, not what you want or think you need. Stop looking for more – especially when comparing to what others have! God’s word has given us warning labels to help us avoid self-inflicted diseases!

I believe that cancer is the personification of sin within our own cells. I believe the bigger problem is when these rogue cells enlist other healthy cells to their rebellious cause and form an evil unity of cells we call tumors. But what if Proverbs is physically accurate to one of the causal effects of jealousy or anger, bitterness or hate. Could those secret, harbored thoughts and emotions trigger a single cell to turn and become a traitor within our body? I’m not a medical doctor nor a cytologist, but I wonder if it’s true. The point is, keep your heart sound. Nurture your thoughts towards Godly peace and stay clear of bone rot.

Prayer

​Dad,
Proverbs is filled with principles of wisdom and truly life-giving advice. And, it’s also filled with warnings and consequences that I absolutely believe are true. In all our human learning and understanding, there are still a myriad of mysteries about so many things. We know cancer kills, but no one knows how it begins. Maybe your word sheds some light on what really rots us from within? David, a chief sinner, when he repented asked for a pure heart. I ask for the same. Amen.

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Unity in Diversity.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 1 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In our recent sermon series we’ve been going through the image of God in us and through us. Our identity is reflective of God because He made us in His image. The Apostle Paul calls this out often within his 13 letters to the New Testament churches.

Here in Corinthians, Paul makes the case that even our body, made up of thousands of individual parts, make up one body. No part tries to outdo or take precedence over another. All our parts operate in total unity. Paul does not mention this, but the fact is Cancer is so dangerous and deadly precisely because it organizes rogue cells to commandeer control of the body. One cell becomes rebellious, seeking to destroy healthy cells by converting them to join their revolt.

Paul makes the unity object lesson, to point out the kind of unity believers should have in Christ. He uses two ethnic and two societal examples. Some are Jews, some Gentiles – both have been baptized into one body, one Spirit. Similarly, some are slaves, some are free – yet still we come into sharing the same Spirit. The Church is the one place where true diversity should exist!

The Bible doesn’t exalt or eliminate one ethos over another. All are created in the image of God, therefore ethnic groups should be celebrated. When culture aims to divide, bringing conflict and violence to obtain power of one over the other, the Bible aims to have unity within diversity because we are all one, all equal, all image-bearers of God.

Prayer

​Dad,
You know I absolutely love the beauty and wildly extravagant differences, not just in our humanness, but also in Your Church. Really, no two churches are alike! Yet we share the most important aspect of our existence – Christ! I do believe, going forward, it will increasingly critical for us to in unity on the basics of belief instead thrashing our differences in public spaces. And for those who are out of sync with the truth of the Word, I trust that you will separate them out in the end. Thank you for Your Church. Thank you that it is unstoppable in reaching across the thresholds of hell and snatching people from the gripping lies of the enemy.