Psalms 78:24-27
He rained down manna upon them to eat
And gave them food from heaven.
Man did eat the bread of angels;
He sent them food in abundance.
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens
And by His power He directed the south wind.
When He rained meat upon them like the dust,
Even winged fowl like the sand of the seas,

Exodus 16:35
The sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

Have you ever wondered about the manna the nation of Israel ate for forty years as their main food source? It says that it is what angels eat. I buy a supplement package that consists of vitamins, minerals, protein, and some other goodies that are supposed to make me healthy. I wonder what was in the manna. Too bad we don’t know that. It seems reasonable to assume that the food that God designed for angels to eat would be a superfood.

I am working hard now to eat healthily. I try not to eat any gluten, no refined sugar, nothing with too many additives, and as natural and as fresh as I can find it, or instead, Patty can find it because she does all the shopping. I am working at making my diet simple, so I can know and control most of what I eat. The Israelites ate manna and quail for forty years; that is about as simple as possible. They fussed about it, and the ones who did God killed; that is a pretty severe consequence for fussing!

I am doing this to control some of the results of Parkinson’s, such as muscle spasms, loss of balance, constant exhaustion and fatigue, muscle rigidity, and muscle pain. I am beginning to notice some improvement in those areas, but I have noticed a significant improvement in my skin. I have had, over the years, lots of little growths, some on my arms and hands, but most on my forehead and the top of my head. I have had the bigger ones frozen off over the years so they don’t become skin cancer. Since my diet discipline began, all of the growths that I have had, which were several dozen, have all disappeared. I have also had patches of eczema over the later years of my life, and that has also all gone away.

I did a similar thing with my eating several years ago and noticed a marked improvement in all of my Parkinson’s ailments, but then I slowly drifted back to my former way of eating. The temptation of ice cream, cake, bread, pizza, etc was more than I could resist, and there I was, back to square number one. Seems kind of stupid looking back on it, and it was.

People go through my leadership class and learn about the basic disciplines of the Christian life of goal setting, Bible reading, Bible memory, meditation, prayer, private, with their church family, with their spouse, they start to read good Christian books, listen to podcasts, and make plans to get involved in some ministry. Most are on a roll at the end of the class, but many drift back to the level they were at when they started the class. It seems stupid, but we all are stupid. The cure is to be part of an accountability group, but that takes time, and most think they can run the race of life on their own so they don’t join with others to receive and to give encouragement and to give and receive grace. It seems stupid; it is, and sad.

The benefits and blessings of eating right are good health and energy. The benefits and blessings of faithfully practicing the basic disciplines of the Christian life are spiritual growth, victory over sin, much fruit as God uses us, and marvelous rewards that last for all eternity at the judgment seat of Christ.