Daily Devotional, Year 4 – June 15 (What’s An Aristaphagist!? Part 3: “What Did Jesus Eat?”)

By admin On April 12th, 2021

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Daily Devotional, Year 4 – June 15

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What’s An Aristaphagist!?

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Part 3:

“What Did Jesus Eat?”

To read part 1, go here…What’s An Aristaphagist!?

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There are many people in today’s world who insist that the healthiest diet is a vegetarian diet.

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One of the chief criticisms of Ellen G. White has been regarding her teachings on vegetarianism.

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And she cited Genesis as a proof text, in which Man’s original diet was to be fruit, nuts, seeds and herbs, of which God pronounced to be “very good”.

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But many Christians are quick to point out that the New Testament never commands, nor even suggests, that we are to abstain from meat-eating.

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Fruit Stall in Barcelona Market by Daderot – Wikipedia share-alike license

Ellen G. White – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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BIBLE HAS TEMPERANCE MESSAGE

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The Bible does command us thus…

…”Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child,

and thy princes eat in the morning!

Blessed art thou, O land,

when thy King is the Son of Nobles,

and thy princes eat in due season,

for strength, and not for drunkenness!”

Ecclesiastes 10:16, 17

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Here is a call for temperance in diet.

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One group of princes “feast in the morning”, while another group eat “in due season, for strength”.

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While this above passage has great spiritual implications about our daily Christian lifestyle, nevertheless, the physical earthly interpretation cannot be overlooked.

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**After all, to “eat in due season, for strength and not for drunkenness” is the very essence of a healthy diet!**

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John the Baptist by Harold Copping www.wikigallery.com US public domain

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JESUS, THE WAY, TRUTH & LIFE

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Now, having said all this, it must not be overlooked that God has given us a great role-model for all matters of life: Jesus Christ.

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And Jesus proclaims of Himself…“I am the way, the truth, and the life…” John 14:6

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Yes, we are commanded to follow Jesus.

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**He is “the Way!” we must walk…**

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**…and He is “the Life!” we must live!**

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Jesus calls His disciples – cropped photo & altered – Wikigallery.org

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JESUS: A LIFE OF HEALTH

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And the closer we examine His lifestyle, it is revealed that Jesus was extremely healthy.

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After all, his earlier life as a physical laborer (a carpenter)…

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…plus the countless miles he traveled on foot during His years of earthly ministry…

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…both of these facts indicate that Jesus was a very strong and healthy individual (and don’t forget that He spent his last years living totally outdoors on a 24/7 basis).

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And yet, as we examine the very basic lifestyle of Jesus in the four Gospels, we see that Jesus ate fish.

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So obviously Jesus’ meat-eating didn’t seem to hamper His health in the least little bit!

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Jesus on road to Emmaus – Zünd_Gang – 1877 – Wikipedia – US public domain

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“COME AND FOLLOW ME!”

Matthew 19:21

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And so, while vegetarianism may indeed be one of the key fundamental ingredients to God’s original plan, we need never be afraid of imitating the lifestyle of Jesus…

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…His active lifestyle of fasting, outdoor exercise combined with a simple diet of fish, fruit, whole-grain bread, water, etc., worked well for our divine Role-Model.

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And we would probably do well to also imitate Jesus in this area of our life, which would no doubt result in our greater degree of health.

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Jesus Teaching His Disciples – Luke 4:31-32

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THE ORIGINAL DIET: FRUIT & HERBS

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And yet, Ellen White’s counsels regarding good health practices were very much in harmony with Scripture.

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And as already mentioned, while the New Testament does not command vegetarianism, the Book of Genesis does indeed reveal that vegetarianism was the original and everlasting diet which God gave to Mankind.

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And so, for this reason, Ellen White felt very strongly that vegetarianism was one of the fundamental elements of a healthful lifestyle. (Not to mention, that a meat-free diet will be the everlasting diet throughout eternity for all the redeemed ones!)

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Fruit Cocktail – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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THE MINISTRY OF HEALING: FLESH FOODS

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Nevertheless, by scrolling down this page the Reader can listen to the reasons she advocated vegetarianism from this 10-minute audio reading of her chapter on meat-eating from her book, Ministry of Healing.

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Ellen G. White – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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TO READ PART 4, CLICK HERE…

June 25 (What’s An Aristaphagist? Part 4 “How To Cure Fibromyalgia”)

Fruit Cocktail – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Let me eat for strength both in the physical sense, but also in the spiritual sense. Let me always have Jesus before my eyes as I follow Him by faith, imitating whatever I see Him doing…

Woman Praying – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

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THE END

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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN

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THE WINTER CONSTELLATIONS

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven;

a woman….and upon (or, “over”) her head a crown of twelve stars:

And she being with child cried, travailing in birth,

and pained to be delivered.

And there appeared another wonder in heaven;

and behold a great red dragon…

And there was war in heaven:

Michael and his angels fought against the dragon…

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle,

that she might fly into the wilderness…

And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman,

that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.”

Revelation 21:1-3, 14, 15

**This Woman of Revelation 12 is definitely fleeing to the mountains .**

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As you can see in this sketch , The Dragon of Revelation 12 is spewing out his water of falsehoods: false gospels, false ideologies, various temptations, false brethren who will embrace her with the poisonous wine of the The Great Harlot of Babylon.

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These are what comprise this wave of water coming forth from the Dragon’s mouth. (see “Flood Waters of Satan”)

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TOMORROW:

June 16 (The Devil Made Me Do It! Part 30: “Fanatics in the Church!”)

David Koresh – Wikipedia – Public Domain

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MINISTRY OF HEALING, BY ELLEN G. WHITE

ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) are invited to listen to this sampler of the audio book about the practical aspects of everyday living, such as diet and child rearing…

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Chapter 24 – “Flesh as Food”

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Christ and the blind Pauper – Mironov – Wikipedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

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EXCERPTS FROM THE OPEN FORUM QUESTION/ANSWER RADIO TALK-SHOW…

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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) are invited to listen to this recording #216, a small 30-minute sampling of the late Harold Camping’s 90-minute nightly talk shows.

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This particular program aired in the last few years of his 50-year radio ministry, and includes caller’s questions regarding his teachings on “the end of the church age”…

Signs Of Heaven