PLAGUE FORMULA

Several years ago, I became aware of a “Plague Formula” recipe.  From what I understand, something similar to this potent formula may have been used during the Middle Ages in Europe to strengthen one’s immune system and help resist dying from The Bubonic Plague.

This particular formula, developed by Dr. Richard Schulze, is as follows:

1 large white onion

2 large bulb garlic
            1 large ginger root as long as your hand

6-8 inch horseradish root

2 large handfuls habenero peppers or hottest available

1-2 large containers of raw apple cider vinegar       

1. Put all vegetables in blender.   

2. Cover vegetables with vinegar.  Blend 1-2 minutes until mashed. 

3. Pour mash into glass jars ¾ full. Cover to top of jar with vinegar.  Apply lid. 

4. Leave on counter and shake 3 times a day for 2 weeks or longer. 

5. Strain though cheese cloth and store in dark glass bottles in a cool place.

6. Dosage: 1 T. in a glass of water or juice, several times a day.

As you probably know, the Plague was caused by bacteria which spread to humans by bites from the fleas of infected rats.  My husband said that with all those ingredients just the smell of it is enough to keep anything away! 

However, it isn’t the smell that creates its effectiveness.  It actually works within the body to boost the immune system. 

According to Dr. Schulze, fresh garlic and onions have anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-parasitic properties.  The other ingredients also have properties that contribute to its effectiveness.  But it has to be ingested into the body for it to work.  It “comes alongside” the body’s own bacteria-fighting capabilities to overcome the ill effects of the bacteria.  (Dr. Schulze's Plague Formula)

My friend, Andrea, recently shared with me an insight she had while reading about a plague in the Bible: a plague of a different nature—the plague of sin.  She expressed it this way, “Sin has a plague-like, and death-producing, effect.” 

I pondered that thought.

How true this is! When we are constantly exposed to situations in life that are contrary to what God teaches in the Bible, we begin to lose our sensitivity to them.  The continual exposure to the lifestyle of those who don’t honor God begins to dilute our sense of right and wrong.  We can, without awareness of it, be drawn into embracing a lifestyle that is dishonoring to God.  Such is the condition—not only of our own society, but of the world.

The infectious ‘bacteria’ of self-gratification, self-exaltation, and power has replaced the healthy lifestyle of submission and service to God.  We’ve been infected by the worldview of our society.  Self has replaced God.  We’ve become captivated by this allure of ‘self-actualization’ and have been drawn into its web. 

And so, by virtue of constant exposure, we’ve caught the disease.  We’ve become victims of the plague.  We need a Plague Formula!

            One heart full of desire to know God intimately and accurately

            One soul yielded to the cleansing power of Jesus Christ

One mind full of willingness to follow God’s instructions and commands

Two eyes searching for wisdom as for hidden treasure

Two ears full of attentiveness to that wisdom

One soul willing to yield to the beauty of serving the Living God

Instructions:

1. Carefully incorporate these ingredients into your life so as to walk in integrity

    by the power of God.

2. Practice the above ingredients daily. 

3. Mix them gently with constant prayer.

4. Resist, through the power of this formula, the pull of the world to exalt and

    gratify the desires of Self.

Complete application of this formula will strengthen the spiritual immune system and enable the user to escape the threat of spiritual death brought on by the Plague of Self.

The Bible: Proverbs 2:1-12

FORECASTS

When I heard the weather forecast a couple days ago, I decided it was time to set out my rain gauge.  With a forecast of up to 4” of rain, I was curious to see the exact amount we would receive, knowing that with thunderstorms the rainfall over an extended area can vary significantly. 

It was early in the morning and the sky was overcast, but the rain had not yet started.  “This is good,” I thought.  I haven’t missed anything. 

It wasn’t long before the rain began—intermittent through the early part of the day, but by late afternoon and throughout the night, wave after wave of heavy thunderstorms moved through the area.  I didn’t sleep well, often being awakened by lightening and thunder—and the sound of pounding rain. 

But, I was up early, curious to see just how much rain we had received.  As I stepped out into the backyard, the grassy lawn squished under my feet.  I hurried toward my rain gauge, hoping I wouldn’t get caught by another downpour.  

As I looked at the gauge, I couldn’t see the waterline.  Much to my surprise, the gauge was almost overflowing—5 inches of rain.  I quickly dumped it out, reset it, and ran back into the house just as a bolt of lightening lit the sky. 

The rain continued.  I got my binoculars out to check the water level in my neighbors’ backyards across the street.  The creek behind their houses was completely out of its banks and nearly up to their foundations.  Roads were closed from flooding, and many people had water in their basements. 

Finally the rain subsided late morning.  I checked the rain gage again—a little over an inch, for a total of over 6 inches of rain. 

The forecasters do their best to let us know what to expect, but they can never be certain.  They have no control over the final outcome.

No control.  Think about that for a moment.  Weather forecasters base their predictions on observation, computer programs, and their interpretative judgment, but they can never be absolutely certain of the outcome.

However, there is someone who does have control.  The One who created all has control over all.

When a storm arose on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus “rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm.” (Luke 8:24)  And because he is God in human flesh—the creator of everything—he has the power to control his creation.  When we realize he has this power, we can believe what he says is true. 

Like the weatherman, Jesus is also a forecaster.  He has forecast the future.  However, his forecast isn’t based on observation, or computer programs, or his interpretative judgment.  It’s based on the fact that he, as God, is in control of the circumstances in his forecast.

While he was on earth, he ‘forecast’ to his disciples many things about what to expect in the future, and then challenged them to open their eyes: “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’  Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?”  (Matthew 16:2-3)

One specific “forecast” he gave them had to do with the beginning of the end times: “And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.  But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”  (Matthew 24:6-8)  Hmmm…it sounds like our world today.

Forecasts.  We want them.  We want to know what is going to happen in the future.  We depend on the weatherman to tell us what the weather will be, even though we know it may not be totally accurate.  

However, as to the future of our lives—and of the world—fortunately, there is an accurate and reliable source we can turn to:  God’s revelation to us in the Bible.  It doesn’t tell us everything we want to know, but it does tell us everything we need to know. 

We can fully rely on its forecast to prepare for our eternal future.  

WAITING FOR FRUIT

I have a Kansas Apricot tree in my yard.  It’s not really suited to the cold climate in the Chicago area, but it's special to me because it’s a seedling from my grandmother’s tree in Kansas.  Although it blooms beautifully every year, it has only produced apricots twice in the twenty-five years I’ve had it! 

The second time it produced, I saved some of the apricot pits, and from them started some seedlings.  I planted one in the front yard where it has grown into a beautiful tree; but unfortunately, it’s so eager to bloom that it produces its blossoms with the first warm weather each year, only to meet the same fate as the mother tree.

Last year we had an unusually early spring.  By March, everything had blossomed, and by early April, both apricot trees were full of little apricots.  I was thrilled, thinking that I might finally get a crop.  But, alas, it was not to be.  In mid-April we had three consecutive nights of below freezing temperatures, and all the little apricots turned black and fell off. 

But this year is different.  Spring is delayed.  It’s mid-April and the trees are still dormant.  Easter has come and gone without any flowers in bloom.  The forecast is for more chilly weather for the next fifteen days. 

Perhaps—just perhaps—my apricot tree won’t bloom until the danger of freezing weather is past.  Perhaps this year it will produce fruit.  But I must always remember that my special Kansas apricot tree is a victim of its environment.

I think about this tree a lot since it’s in my line of vision from my living room picture window.  It makes me think about my own life—whether or not I’m “bearing fruit.”  Am I like this tree?  Am I too eager to “make things happen?”  Is it possible that in my zeal to produce “fruit” I miss God’s timing?  Does the “freezing weather” of life interfere with my plan to produce fruit?

The Bible uses the imagery of bearing fruit metaphorically—the consequences of an action are frequently described as its fruit.  One of the ways Jesus uses it is to speak of himself as the vine and those who believe in him as the branches. 

“Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5)

The reality is that in order to produce meaningful fruit for the Kingdom of God, one must be plugged into Jesus.  When he is in control and working through us, the timing will be right and the fruit good.

How comforting it is to be a fruiting branch grafted into a vine through which empowering juices flow, enabling one to produce fruit according to his will and in his “season.”  He is the one who determines the right timing for the fruit to be produced; my part is to make sure I am “abiding” in him and have my will lined up with his will.

“Waiting for fruit” then involves being yielded to Jesus, committed to his will, and waiting for his timing.  The words of the Psalmist state the results so clearly:

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers.”   (Psalm 1:3)

I’m still hoping and waiting for fruit from the apricot tree in my yard, but an even greater desire is that my life would exhibit his fruit in his timing.