Category Archives: Life

One essential to come to God

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PresentThere is only one essential thing required when we approach God.

This is a difficult concept to fully grasp. We have a propensity to make things complicated. We love lists of rules. We have rules for ourselves – to guide and direct our own behavior. We might not think of them as ‘rules’, but we all operate with a set of principles that we feel are good and right.

We often apply our set of ‘rules’ to other people and when they treat us differently we feel offended. Wars are the result of nations feeling other nations are violating the accepted ‘rules.’

As parents we know there are certain ways of behaving that we need to ingrain into our children and we do our best to teach them. We find it exasperating when they don’t cooperate and we can spend a lot of time agonizing over how to guide or control the behavior of our children.

Society has a lot of rules for us and there are many authorities committed to seeing that we follow them. Recent advertisements on billboards remind me that if I don’t obey laws on the road, they will be delighted to catch me. Every year I am reminded that I need to present a financial account to my government or face penalties.

Many people think the Bible is full of rules and might cite the Ten Commandments as an example of the things you must do to please God. The Bible is a collection of ancient literature written over thousands of years by dozens of different authors with one unified intention: to reveal God to us and inform us of how we can have a relationship with Him.

Jesus came to earth to physically demonstrate God, to teach and gather followers and to die – much to His followers surprise and dismay. They didn’t realize that it was all a part of God’s plan for Jesus to die, but once they experienced the resurrected Jesus, everything He did came into perspective.

From that point on they put all their energy into conveying the message of God to everyone they could. Jesus was an integral part of that message.

So what did Jesus say was the ONE THING required to approach God?

Need. We must first recognize that we need Him. We need to know that we have a problem. I have to understand and recognize that I have a problem and I have no ability to fix myself.

We might have an obvious problem, a secret problem, or a problem concerning someone we love for whom we desperately need God’s help.

Matthew was someone who realized he had a big problem and responded to Jesus’ invitation to join him. He writes about it in a book about Jesus’ life and ministry that has been included in the collection of ancient literature we call the Bible. In chapter 9 he describes Jesus’ invitation to himself, as well as Jesus’ interaction with many other people and how they realized their need and received Jesus’ invitation and power.

That is all. That is the first step.

Jesus said “I have come to call those who know they are sinners.”

“Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Everywhere Jesus went He taught and He healed. Many times our physical problems can drive us to God. The people who were healed by Jesus had to first acknowledge their need – often publically – and they had to have faith that Jesus could help. Jesus had power over the cruel circumstances they found themselves in. He brought hope and healing in the midst of their desperation.

I believe Jesus has the same power and the same compassion on people today. He can bring hope and healing in the midst of desperation, when we acknowledge we have a problem and we come to Him.

What prevents you from coming just a bit closer to Jesus today? Will you read Matthew chapter 9 and discover the variety of ways Jesus was able to help and heal?

Day 11 Encouraging people to Seek Jesus: 30 ways in 30 days

If you have been helped in any way through my musings, please give glory to God. If you find anything disappointing or offensive – please let me know so I can improve.

 

How does faith begin?

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ladderI am in the midst of an attempt to describe and encourage faith in Jesus Christ:                 30 different ways in 30 days.

I am afraid I am doing a very imperfect job. I’d really love any feedback you might have to offer. I’m serious! Please use the comments at the bottom!

There are many descriptions of faith given to us from the ancient writings grouped together to form the Bible.

“Faith comes by hearing.” Another version puts it like this:

So faith proceeds from hearing, as we listen to the message about God’s Anointed.

When we are faced with a choice or a new possibility or path – like seeing the ladder in the picture, we want to know that the choice is able to bear my weight. If I decide to climb that rope ladder, am I sure it is stable enough to hold me?

Is it possible for you to take a leap of faith to consider that God might actually desire a relationship with you? That, in accepting His offer of a relationship, it might lead to a lot of good results in your life. Not necessarily the results we might order if it were possible to choose them, like on a menu. But results that we could look back on, after a period of time, and reflect that choosing a life of faith has yielded more good things than we could possibly have imagined.

So, even if you might not feel ready to begin a life of faith, maybe you could begin by simply reading more about the message God has preserved for us. All of the ancient writings point to His Son and keep telling us the story from many different angles.

We had a problem. We need to realize it and acknowledge it and turn to God. As we turn to Him in faith, He will open up insight and life to us through Jesus Christ. Everything begins and ends with Jesus. His invitation is to everyone no matter what nationality or religious background. He is not offering us a religion, but a relationship. There are no cultural barriers.

We don’t even need to believe to start. We can just start.

Faith comes through hearing. Are you willing to hear? If you’re not yet ready, are you ready to examine whether the ladder of faith is Jesus is secure enough to hold you?

But a right relationship based on faith sounds like this: “Do not say to yourselves, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’” (that is, to bring down the Anointed One), “or, ‘Who will go down into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring the Anointed One up from the dead).  But what does it actually say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the good news we have been called to preach to you). So if you believe deep in your heart that God raised Jesus from the pit of death and if you voice your allegiance by confessing the truth that “Jesus is Lord,” then you will be saved! Belief begins in the heart and leads to a life that’s right with God; confession departs from our lips and brings eternal salvation. Romans 10:7-11

 

Day 10 Encouraging people to Seek Jesus: 30 ways in 30 days

 

Flu Shots in Pregnancy?

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pregnantMany parents are experiencing a lot of confusion and stress in trying to make wise choices for their babies. There is an unbelievable amount of push for pregnant moms to get vaccines during pregnancy. This was UNHEARD until the last few years. As a breastfeeding advocate and health proponent I have tried to imagine how, when, and why there was such a big switch in policy that now ENCOURAGES all pregnant women to accept vaccines.

After tragic widespread birth defects resulting from drug use in pregnancy (one example being thalidomide), doctors became extremely cautious about recommending any drug for pregnant women.

So why did the recommendations change? Did someone study the flu shot when used by pregnant women? If you read the vaccine package insert you will find most of them state that the flu shot has never been studied for safety in pregnancy.

If you dig deeper into the statistics available you will find that there is a huge increase in miscarriage after receiving the flu shot.

Someone somewhere must have thought it was a good idea to give pregnant women “protection” from the flu. But I can’t help but wonder if this was a disinformation campaign to try and sell more flu shots, reduce the birth rate (by purposely promoting miscarriage), hide the correlation between infant vaccines and injury by injecting the moms with the toxic chemical cocktail before the baby is even born.

I guess I’ve been researching into vaccine science and vaccine safety too long and I have become cynical. Maybe there are good reasons, but for me, I’d far rather take my chances with my God given immune system, natural vitamin D, supplements of vitamin D3, and the actual flu virus, than any concoction man has put together to try and circumvent it. Vaccines are known to be unavoidably unsafe. Humans have survived for thousands of years without them. We can’t protect ourselves from every calamity in life, but I am certain I want to protect myself from the calamities caused by vaccines.

There is so much to read on the efficacy of the flu vaccine, the ingredients (including aborted human fetal cell tissue and other foreign proteins), I urge you to explore it extensively before complying with a flu shot. Ask your doctor to list the ingredients or the contra-indications, or even if they have read the package insert. Ask them who will be responsible if you have a reaction or a miscarriage.

I’ve written a brief blog with links to four great videos here. Take some time to investigate the facts and the science before you make up your mind.

September 2014 blog by the Thinking Moms Revolution – boy do I admire everything those brave warrior moms do!

Your baby is much too precious to risk to disinformation.

Thanksgiving 2015

Author: Becky Hastings, wife of 35 years, mother to five plus two, grandmother to four so far, passionate about truth, health, and healthy babies. I’ve been a breastfeeding counselor for 23+ years. I love helping moms succeed in mothering through breastfeeding. I can’t keep quiet and watch moms struggle because of the pressure they face to throw themselves and their babies ‘under the pharmaceutical bus’ and hope for the best. Moms need to know the truth.

Vaccines in Pregnancy? Really??

This blog post is the 11th in a series of blogs I wrote in 2014 called, 30 ways in 30 Days, Exploring Vaccines. 

 

Current State of the World

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News headlinesI read the Bible regularly and am continually amazed at how relevant this ancient literature is for today.

It seems like Solomon might have had a sneak preview on the state of our country:

I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt! I said to myself, “in due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds.”

 

Don’t be surprised if you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and if justice is being miscarried throughout the land. For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice get lost in red tape and bureaucracy. Even the king milks the land for his own profit! Ecclesiastes 5

That last phrase is particularly interesting because Solomon was the king! He was talking about himself having the propensity to milk the land for his own profit.

Solomon recognized and warned us that power and position lend themselves to greed and corruption!

I think the founding fathers of the USA knew a bit about this, which is why they deliberated so long and hard to figure out a way of protecting people from their leaders. Unfortunately, over the  years it seems that corporate interests have managed to infiltrate our judicial and political systems to turn the balance of power in their favor. So the truth of these words is just as apparent in the democracy of the United States as it was in the monarchy of Solomon’s time.

What do we do? Is there any hope?

There are many other Scriptures that provide encouragement, wisdom and guidance. Here are some:

O Lord, I give my life to you.

I trust in you, my God!

Do not let me be disgraced

or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.

No one who trusts in You will ever be disgraced,

but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.

Show me the right path, O Lord;

point out the road for me to follow.

Lead me by Your truth and teach me,

for You are the God who saves me.

All day long I put my hope in You. Psalm 25

 

The Lord’s light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive. Proverbs 20:27

 

In these challenging, uncertain times where evidence of injustice, greed, and misery can be seen in so many aspects of life, we can continue to have hope and offer hope. God’s Good News, promised long before, was delivered through Jesus. He desires the whole world to receive the news that He loves each one of us and invites us to a relationship with Him.

Ears to hear and eyes to see,

both are gifts from the Lord. Proverbs 20:12

 

If you currently don’t understand God’s plan, ask Him for ears to hear and eyes to see. He is faithful to respond to a willing heart.

Day 8 Encouraging people to Seek Jesus: 30 ways in 30 days

What does Jesus want from me?

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Light image croppedAll of us think about God at some point in our lives. Our view of God can be influenced by a lot of things in our life.

We all spend time thinking about what God expects or desires from us. We often think He wants us to be good. He wants us to be kind – kinder than we currently manage to be. He wants us to be patient and understanding. He wants us to treat others well. He wants us to use our resources wisely.

Since we think of all these things God wants us to do or be we can end up thinking that God is not actually very pleased with us. We know we can do better, and we know God knows we can do better, so we think He isn’t pleased with us and we feel guilty for not doing and being better.

Sometimes we can get buried with a load of guilt and expectations. We can get so discouraged that we feel there is no hope for us at all. We will never measure up so we might as well give up even trying.

I’ve learned that even my best efforts will never be enough to please God. But that doesn’t discourage me, that releases me! Since nothing I can do will ever measure up I need to release myself from the pressure of trying to be good enough or better than I am. You see, before God I have nothing to offer, but through what Jesus has already DONE FOR ME, I can stand before God fully and completely accepted.

I have sinned. I don’t deserve to have a relationship with God. There is nothing I can do to ‘fix’ my past sins and nothing I can do to make myself do better in all the areas I fall short. But Jesus has done it. He willingly did what I wasn’t able to do and that has made all the difference.

Because Jesus took my sin, died, but didn’t stay dead, He invited me to a relationship with Him and He has covered all the costs! I must simply accept what He has already done.

Paul travelled all around the known world of his time seeking to let everyone know this simple, yet profound message. His message wasn’t very complicated:

You should turn from worthless things and turn to the Living God, who made heaven and earth and everything in them.  He left you with a lot of evidence of Himself and His goodness. For instance, He sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts. Acts 14

I think the same message still holds for us today. All God wants from us is for us to turn from the worthless things we spend our lives pursuing. He wants us to turn to Him and seek to know and understand Him and surrender our lives to His direction.

It’s simple. Not easy, but simple.

Often surrender involves progressive steps. We can’t wait till we are ‘perfect’ till we approach God – because we will NEVER be perfect. We just have to start where we are and turn and approach Him, ready to learn what He has already done for us and what He desires for us.

Day 7 Encouraging people to Seek Jesus: 30 ways in 30 days

Number of Vaccines

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syringeIf you have ever read the CDC recommended vaccine schedule you will notice that they recommend A LOT of shots. The schedule now available on their web-site recommends a baby to get 23 doses (mostly injections) of 46 different antigens before they reach 2 years of age.

If you follow the schedule for your baby/child you will be giving approximately 3 times the number of vaccines you might have received if you were fully vaccinated according to the accepted schedule when you were a child, or 9 times as many as your baby’s grandparents were exposed to. How did this happen? Has anyone tested what the combined impact of ALL THESE VACCINES might be?

In 1986 the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was set up by the U.S. Government due to pharmaceutical pressure. Basically, the pharmaceutical companies told the government (CDC) that due to all the lawsuits and claims being made against them for vaccine injury and all the money they were having to pay out to claimants, they could no longer afford to manufacture the recommend childhood vaccines.

Government officials were quite distraught at the thought of just scrapping the whole vaccine program just because some children were getting significantly injured, so a plan was hatched. They might also have worried about their jobs, their reputations and the safety of vaccines, but that is pure speculation on my part. Their number one goal was to SAVE THE VACCINE PROGRAM. Amazingly, they didn’t seem to ask relevant questions like, if all these injuries are occurring, should we perhaps rather discover why and how to protect kids from whatever we are doing?

Whatever was foremost in their minds, they came up with a plan where 75 cents of the cost of every shot given would be collected and contributed towards a fund that the government could administer and can decide who to compensate for any supposed vaccine injury. This provided 100% protection from liability for all the vaccine manufacturers.

To date over 2.6 Billion dollars has been paid out, which is actually only a fraction of the claims submitted, but the process has been made complex and difficult resulting if a fraction of claimants receiving compensation.

An interesting thing happened after 1986. Due to the freedom from liability, or maybe because they got very concerned about all the illness they could prevent, suddenly vaccine manufacturers began dreaming up new vaccines that could also be given. So now, instead of just getting the standard shots to ward of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella and polio, a new wave of ‘urgently needed’ vaccines appeared on the market: varicella (because Chicken Pox is and was sooooo dangerous), Hep B for newborns (because you never know when they will start having sex or using drugs and if you miss them as babies, they might miss the protection), Hib, meningitis, Rota virus, PCV 13, Hep A, Flu, HPV…

Really, typing out that last list made me start feeling physically sick. How can people do that to their children? These shots don’t just come with a little bit of the virus or bacteria in a harmless solution. There are significant hectic ingredients. There are protein cells  from the medium the ‘bugs’ were grown in (including human fetal cells), there are adjuvants to ‘make them have a bigger response’, there are antibiotics to kill the wrong bacteria that shouldn’t be growing in the shot, preservatives, aluminum, monosodium glutamate, peanut oil, formaldehyde, polysorbate 80, etc. Many of these ingredients are known neurotoxins and cross the blood brain barrier which is not fully formed until much later in childhood.

The list of ingredients for each shot is available to read, but for clarity and simplicity I decided just to list the different flu vaccines and all the ‘extra’ ingredients they contain at the bottom of this post. These ingredients are known as excipients, or inactive ingredients, but the problem is, many of these ingredients have a much more significant impact on the body than we would like to believe. The ingredient list will make it easier to pick your poison if you decide you and yours want to succumb to the marketing and pressure to get your annual flu shot.

All in all, I suggest you do a lot more research and reading before your subject your precious baby to the recommended vaccine schedule the CDC, and pediatricians who go along with the program, have in mind. Like a lot of science, it might look good on paper to help prevent all these “really terrible diseases” but the reality is that you might be destroying your child’s health long-term just to avoid illness in the short term. The combined toxicity of all those shots is a big gamble.

Grandparents often think shots are important because they gave their children shots, without realizing all the changes in the recommendations that have slipped in quietly over the years. Parents today face an avalanche of information and are often confused, but are told, ‘you got shots and you’re fine, give your kids the shots,’ yet, they too don’t realize the number of shots has risen dramatically.

How many shots can insure health for your baby?

30 ways in 30 Days: Day 8

Some of the ingredients in some of the current vaccines, with animal cells highlighted:

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The Critical Question

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Question marks Orang

Probably THE MOST SIGNIFICANT question we will ever consider is

Who is/was Jesus?

To be fair we also need to think carefully about where we will go to find the answer to this question.

Will we go to our friends, our peer group, people we feel comfortable with, and ask them what they think?

Will we go to books written by smart people? or funny people?

Will we allow the media to shape our answer to this question?

Will we go to our family or just follow in the tradition we’ve received?

If this is the most important question you could ever answer maybe it’s worth a little bit of work and effort. Maybe you need to consider carefully the source of information that impacts your answer.

I’m not providing any answers here. I just want to motivate you to begin an honest search.

Who do you think Jesus was?

Do you know who Jesus claimed to be?

 

Day 6 Encouraging people to Seek Jesus: 30 ways in 30 days

Calling all Christians

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Aging prayerIs it time for Christians who understand the harm caused by vaccines to band together and expose the lies and deception?

Paul had extremely harsh words for a man who was using his influence to deceive and harm ordinary people. The deceiver had a position of power. Paul was not politically correct. He did not debate. He rebuked him.

Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked the sorcerer in the eye. Then he said, “You son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good! Will you never stop perverting the true ways of God? Watch now, for the Lord has laid his hand of punishment upon you, and you will be struck blind. You will not see the sunlight for some time.” Instantly mist and darkness came over the man’s eyes, and he began groping around begging for someone to take his hand and lead him. Acts 13

As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, can we pray together against the evil being perpetuated on our children? Can we pray together that all those guilty of deceit and fraud, all who are the enemy of what is good, may be struck with blindness just as was Elymas, the false prophet and sorcerer who opposed the TRUTH presented by Paul?

If you are a Christian and still are drawn to vaccines as a helpful method of protection against illness, I urge you to fast and pray and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit, and confirmation from mature fellow Christians.

Deception is strong. We are warned repeatedly to be aware of deception. The nature of deception is that you don’t know when you are deceived.

I tell you this so that no one may deceive you with fine sounding arguments… See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human traditions and the basic principles of this world rather than on Jesus Christ, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form. Colossians 2

I urge all those who have been participating in this harmful medical practice to repent and seek direction from Jesus on how you can turn. The financial benefits gained through injustice are not worth the lives that are being damaged.

Christians perpetuating vaccines are a stumbling block to many parents who have lost faith in God due to their child’s vaccine injury. We need to repent of this evil scourge and seek to offer them healing and hope by all means possible. We need to support them in their struggle for justice.

My heart aches for the burden of thousands of families due to the infliction of vaccine damage by the authorities who continue to ignore and cover the truth.

I think of the 5000+ families denied justice in the charade of the Omnibus Autism hearings, which was more about protecting the program than discovering the truth and helping the injured.

Let us pray together for the power of God to work and move to bring TRUTH and JUSTICE.

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 2 Chron 7:14

More blogs on vaccines for Christians here: Health, Vaccines, Jesus, Do They Go Together?

Author: Becky Hastings, wife, mother, grandmother, passionate follower of Jesus and truth seeker. As a breastfeeding counselor for over 23 years Becky is devoted to helping parents make wise decisions for the long-term health and wellbeing of their babies. As a member of a Vaccine Safety Education Coalition, Becky writes and speaks on the topic of vaccine safety.

30 Ways in 30 Days To Explore Vaccines: Day 7

Our Microbiome

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Scientists are only beginning to learn all the ways our Microbiome contributes to our health. The gene count of our microbial ‘guests’ outnumber our own genes 100:1! These friendly microbes help us to fight infections, rev up our immune system, and send signals to our cells.

This information was not available to those first studying infectious diseases and the early researchers in virology. Many aspects of health and illness are becoming clearer with our understanding of the HUGE role the human Microbiome plays.

Perhaps vaccines have a negative impact on the gut health leading to illness, allergies, auto-immune diseases, brain damage, etc. If scientists had the freedom to pursue science and not a predetermined political agenda, we would know more sooner. Unfortunately many consider government agencies like the CDC to be “industry hostages” where they are not free to pursue true science. They are told the results that must be obtained to continue their objectives. That is not science.

We need to learn how to boost our Microbiome if we want to experience a strong healthy immune system. Avoiding vaccines is always a good idea. Vaccines mostly enter via an injection into muscle, bypassing our immune system and do not give permeant protection. They also contain many toxic ingredients that can cause havoc to our immune response.

30 ways in 30 Days: Day 5

 

Freedom

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Jumping FreedomAccepting Jesus into your life – no matter what background or religious tradition you were raised with, is wonderfully freeing.

Through Jesus I am released from my attempts to please God or perform.

I don’t have to keep trying to do, or be, or accomplish anything at all.

When I accept Jesus Christ I rely on what He has already done for me.

I don’t have to have confidence in my abilities or my effort to succeed.

That doesn’t mean that I am actively trying to be a loser, but the pressure to do something and achieve sometime FOR God is off. I can’t do anything or achieve anything FOR God. He has already done it for me. No pressure now, just acceptance of what He has done and giving Him praise for the work HE is doing in me.

Until you have found this acceptance, you may never know what this freedom feels like.

Many religious traditions try to load us down with a list of rules or expectations we must live up to in order to earn God’s approval. Nothing could be further from the truth. Until we recognize that it is impossible to earn God’s favor by our own effort, we will always be in bondage to a system of rules.

People often use the Bible to add authority to their list of rules. This is an incorrect use of God’s message to us. God doesn’t need us to follow a list of rules or a set of requirements. He has given us Jesus and we need only rely on what He has already done for us.

This is the type of unconditional acceptance we all yearn for and are drawn to when we find it in people. It is the kind of acceptance every good parent seeks to give to their child (though we never manage perfectly).

Have you ever experienced that freedom? That acceptance?

Would you like to? I’d love to discuss this further with you.

Whatever happens, rejoice in the Lord…We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort.  Paul, Letter to the Philippians 3:1 & 3

 

Day 4 Encouraging people to Seek Jesus: 30 ways in 30 days