Day 250 Woe to those...!

 

9/7/2025 

"I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus

that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who

considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean."

Romans 14:14

  

Every time I turn on my computer, open an email, turn on a video or teaching on YouTube, or a number of other venues, I am assaulted with advertisements from either a celebrated surgeon or other health professional warning against a food that we should not be eating, because it is hazardous to our health or leads to dementia, and a line of other possible outcomes. I am all for eating healthy, nutritious foods, but how can we possibly eat healthy, if everything is bad for us?! The use of pesticides can make healthy foods toxic as do genetically altered foods. Stable foods such as flour have been refined to death, literally. Also, because we have overeaten, or eaten wrongly, or due to health-related factors or simple gluttony, a celebrity who has suddenly lost excess weight in a short amount of time comes up with a new weight loss hack. Each day there is something new, a new celebrity who has found health and wellness, all for a price, and quite honestly, I am tired of hearing it. "Click here for a short message, that is free, using three ingredients found in your kitchen." Wrong as the three simple ingredients end up being complex variations of it or an all in one pill that costs lots of money. They also say to "click here now" as this ad will be taken down soon. I am not so sure if any of it is even factual, because AI is everybody's friend, and it seems to be everyone's source of information, relevant or not. And if people really are interested in helping each other, and they are already extremely wealthy, why promote the advice as "free" when your supplements are costly. Oh, you can get a discount if you do it now, and you get  more bang for your buck if you buy more than one bottle. But hurry...blah...blah...blah! 

I know that I sound terribly cynical, and perhaps I am, but all these ads are everywhere and in everything. They are also using pharmacy drugs that are for medical conditions, diabetes being the most prominent, but because the person does not have this diagnosis, they are manipulating the system to buy the product in a fraudulent way, so it seems. I was employed by medical insurance companies, so I was in the system for many years, so these things are suspect, plus they may help now, but the after effects are probably a longer list than the one given to the real patient for their medical diagnosis. "Before taking this medication, check with your medical professional. Or if you are experiencing any of these side effects, see your medical professional at once." There is so much wrong with this picture.

The other day Elon Musk was talking about something of interest, and although I don't have time to listen to these things, I was in a weak moment and the subject interested me. I started to listen, and immediately, I realized that this was AI pretending to be Elon Musk, because I know how he speaks and his voice inflections, and the way he hesitates when he speaks. AI needs to be more intuitive. This is really sad as AI is dangerous, more so than just stealing the jobs from real people. Our kids are being supported in committing suicide by AI Companions. I have reported on this recently. There is so much wrong with this picture.

In the scripture I quoted above, Paul the Apostle, appointed by Jesus to serve the Gentiles - how about that given His upbringing as a Pharisee of Pharisees - and the church in Rome has interlopers telling the new believers that they must follow the Jewish food laws as in the law of Moses. Wrong! Paul has already sought advise at the beginning of his ministry about what laws the new Gentile believers are to follow, and food, in this context, is not one of them. He was told in Acts 21:25: “As for the Gentile believers, they should do what we already told them in a letter: They should abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.” But in this statement, Paul is saying that he is convinced that Jesus made all things acceptable. 

God gave Peter a similar message about what is considered clean and unclean when the Lord sent Cornelius to Peter. Remember the vision of the three sheets from heaven coming down from heaven with all kinds of animals and reptiles on it? It is found in Acts 10:1-16:

"There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.  Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter.  He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do.” ⁷ And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually.  So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa."

Peter’s Vision

"The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance  and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth.  In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.  And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”  This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again."

If you continue reading the story you will find out that Peter goes with the men to Joppa, tells him about Jesus, and the entire household was saved. We are not God, and Jesus says in Matthew 15:11: "What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” Actually, this story of Cornelius is not really about food, it is about racism of Gentiles, as Jews did not associate with Gentiles. Well, if you follow Jesus, and if you know His journey, Jesus hung out with every person and loved them. This speaks more of hatred than food. And remember, Jesus IS a Jew, not was, as He is alive and well, seated at the right hand of the Father.

Of course, in the initial passage found in Romans, Paul also states that we need to be courteous with others who may not, for instance, eat pork. We don't offer them pork chops or bacon when we hang out with them and invite them to supper. The online fellowship I attend on Shabbat eats only the kosher foods and follows the Old Testament food laws, and they follow the Lord's feast days. I find nothing wrong with that, but personally I don't get hung up on food, just respect for God and what He says to me. I must admit that a piece of bacon tastes good. I was batting my head upside a wall about this, as satan was trying to send me down a guilt rabbit hole over it. But I don't pretend to be anyone other than who God made me, a Gentile, as far as I know. I always wonder if the Messianic believers eat pork, especially if they grew up in America or another country. I think about many things, and I ask Holy Spirit many questions. He's my go to person, as He dwells in me. I search scripture, and there is always an answer. I don't search for an excuse, I seek truth. Others should try that approach. Perhaps then there would be less hatred in the world, and less sick people.

But, I just love it that Paul says,  

"I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus

that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who

considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean."

That's quite a statement to be made by Paul, once Saul a religious fanatic hunting down Christians. But the Lord transformed him in one instant on the road to Damascus, and it is my prayer that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds, as scripture exhorts in Romans 12:1-2. Many people think that the Bible is a book of "dos and don'ts," and it is,  - Do love God and each other, and don't live a sinful life. But when we surrender our lives to Christ, we see things differently, and salvation is total freedom and peace that transcends imagination! God's kind of peace - SHALOM!