WEIGH DOWN AND THE DESERT OF TESTING: THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE

It is time that we wake up and see that being our own god has gotten us nowhere and that bowing down to the world has robbed us blind. Second-rate gods are worthless. We ought to be thankful that God is crazy about us and willing to have us. It is called grace.

And God spoke all these words:

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.     

"You shall have no other gods before me.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations those who love me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:1-6)

This is a cry from God’s heart of "I have made you and I have taken care of you, and I have delivered you. Be in love with and devoted to me only."

It is better to be emptied out in the desert and be with our Great God than to be indulged in the world without God. Plus, those who hang in there through the desert will get to the Promised Land. I cannot wait to tell you about that!

The heart is a tricky thing. You cannot look at the outside or the environment of people to see what is in their hearts. You could have two people eating rich chocolate cake, and one could be sinning and the other not. How is that? One’s heart could be committing adultery, and the other’s heart be wholeheartedly in love with God— enjoying His bounty, but with a heart detached from it.

King David worshipped all the time; his heart loved everything about God. "Oh, how I love your law [your ideas, etc.]! I meditate on it all day long" (Psalm 119:97). Jesus was in love with God, and He said,"’… but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me …’ " (John 14:31).

So, the Desert of Testing has been worthwhile to see if there is love in our hearts for God.

Jesus’ life defined love. The Apostle Paul loved Jesus and God the Father. It was his very life. Paul teaches us what love means in 1 Corinthians 13:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. This passage tells me we could give all our possessions and money, give our body to be burned, and be the greatest orator or singer of the century for God; but if we are not in love with God, we are nothing and we gain nothing! When you fall in love with God, you will no longer need all these tutors and professors (tongues and prophecies), because you will have graduated and found the end, love of God. Having faith in God is great; having hope in God is good; but the greatest of these is being in love with God. And that is the heart of the matter.

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Cause

Influenza is caused by the influenza virus.

Clinical features

The features of the flu in children are usually very similar to those seen in an upper respiratory tract infection. The onset may be more rapid, and often there are more systemic symptoms (that is, more generalised symptoms such as fever, headache, aches in the rest of the body, feeling very hot or very cold, shivering and so on).

Investigations

No investigations are usually necessary.

Treatment is for symptoms only, and consists of paracetamol, fluids and the other measures described for the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections. Antibiotics are not helpful, and there is no treatment that can shorten the course or severity of the flu.

When to see your doctor

See as for upper respiratory tract infections (colds).

Prevention

There is no effective way to prevent the flu. Some parents will want their child immunised against the influenza virus, but this can never be 100% effective and is not recommended for the normal healthy child.

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If you suffer from recurrent genital herpes, we urge you to tell your doctor. Swabs will be taken before the onset of labour to ensure that you do not have a current infection that can harm the baby. The baby can become infected with the herpes virus (Herpes hominis type II) during passage down the birth canal. If you have active herpes around the time of delivery, your doctor is likely to advise a Caesarian section (preferably before the membranes are ruptured) to avoid infecting the baby. Babies infected with herpes can become extremely ill.

Poor intrauterine growth

It is possible during pregnancy for a baby not to receive sufficient nutrition via the placenta. This can interfere with his normal growth rate and development inside the womb. Sometimes the problem lies with the baby himself, but most often it is due to a maternal condition such as hypertension. This situation requires careful monitoring using ultrasound and specific blood tests. The baby may be fully formed at the time of birth, but exceptionally small due to undernourishment. If known in advance, this problem can be anticipated and special care taken around the time of delivery and immediately afterwards.

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ANSWER: Many women do not have orgasm in intercourse. Most men seem to. Not having orgasm in intercourse is not a malfunction. Having pelvic contractions in response to the penis in the vagina is not always easy, because your most sensitive areas, the Ñ and G areas, may not receive enough stimulation for the reflex to occur. Your husband may be having easier pelvic contractive reflexes in response to coitus because his F area and even R area and receiving intense stimulation. Of course, you could have psychasms, because that depends on consciousness-altering with óîöã partner, not just pelvic reflex. It may be that women have more trouble having orgasms in coitus, but more often have psychasms, and that for men the reverse may be true. Talk it over with yîur spouse. The posture of the future helps both of you receive an equal amount of genital stimulation, and that should help with your concern, too.

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The same principles apply for other tissues. For each one, it is known how much radiation can be given on average, without causing damage that cannot be satisfactorily repaired. What is ‘satisfactory’ is different for different tissues, partly because the loss of specialised structures is more serious for some tissues than others. For example, it is much less serious to have an area of skin which is hairless and can’t sweat than to have a kidney which doesn’t work.

To summarise this section, then, there are two facts which tend to make cancer by its very nature more vulnerable to radiation than normal tissues. One is that the part of the cell that is most easily damaged by radiation is the part to do with reproduction. The other is that cancer cells cannot repair damage while normal tissues can.

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Those who show sudden changes in personality from kind and considerate to aggressive and demanding, in order to manipulate those around them, are more likely to be of an hysterical personality.

Those cases of multiple personality, where the person appears to be two, three or even more different persons are usually cases of hysteria.

The more medical examinations and attention is focussed on people with hysterical symptoms, the more entrenched they become, and the closer they become to symptoms of organic illness.

One feature which stands out in most hysterics is the composure and seeming indifference shown by the person in the presence of what appear to be severe and distressing symptoms.

Thus a person who says he can no longer walk, or who has just become blind, presents a calm co-operative manner and does not seem distressed or depressed, as we would expect.

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Diagnosis is a difficult art even for the orthodox practitioner who has spent at least seven and, perhaps, 12 years acquiring his skill. How much more difficult it must be for the fringe practitioner who does not even accept the basic scientific concepts on which Western medicine is based.

Sure, if you are sick, you are out of harmony with yourself. But alternative medicine is not going to make the cancer regress and disappear. Neither is it likely to influence your lung to rid you of pneumonia or settle down your acutely inflamed appendix.

Whether you like it or not, orthodox Western medicine beats the alternatives when real serious illness is present. Who do you trust to tell the difference?

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“I went to another doctor. He was cold and unsympathetic, and he tested me for chlamydia, a venereal disease. That test came out negative, too. He seemed to be annoyed with me and prescribed a series of creams and vaginal suppositories, which were useless. I began feeling worse, this time with rectal pain.

“I found a third gynecologist and this one said I was suffering from a ‘virus in the cells,’ Don’t ask me what this means because, with all his medical double-calk, I couldn’t get a clear answer from him. This doctor played around with pills and oral medication for a ‘fungus infection’ chat be next decided I bad. I was in horrible pain—in addition to having menstrual cramps—and so he did a sonogram. It showed nothing.

“Five months had now passed and the pain began to shift, this time clearly to my urinary tract. I went to a urologist who said I had stenosis [a narrowing] of the urethra. He dilated my urethra, a procedure which was a nightmare and caused tremendous pain. He also gave me a cream, which didn’t help. Worse, now—along with everything else—intercourse was painful!

“Contused, I actually went back to the second doctor I’d seen, who told me my uterus was suddenly tipping backward. He put me on Danocrine, which is a drug to suppress the disease, and after a few months on it. I’m beginning to feel better.

“In all, f saw four doctors. I felt they never cook my pain seriously until a year had passed and a laparoscopy proved that something was actually there. I reel such frustration over this since I know I’d have been in much better shape if the first doctor had taken me seriously and had known about endometriosis.”

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