Working With God
To 'Keep Your Healing'

I had an interesting experience recently with my vision. When I was young, my vision was 20-20. Over time, it has begun to deteriorate. It got so bad that I had to get a large print bible. I could not read a regular print bible (which has smaller print than most books) and I definitely could not read the small print in the references and study notes. I also noticed that my vision was much worse at night than during the day. I could read some labels if I were under a bright light, but could not read them under a dim light. I was resisting getting glasses and asking God to heal my vision. I went to a conference where the leaders of a healing room in Santa Maria were speaking/teaching on how to set up and run healing rooms.

In the process of the meetings, a group from my church ended up chatting with the person who heads the healing room. Everyone in the group had vision problems and he prayed for all of us. I noticed an immediate improvement.. I could read the red print in my bible (the words of Christ) where I could not read them before prayer. But the smaller print for cross-references and footnotes was definitely unreadable. I struggled for a season to read the regular bible and finally gave up and went to a large-print bible.

About 2 months later, I was at a sporting event and they had this booth that gave free eye tests. I had my eyes tested and to my surprise my vision was 20-30, which is very good for someone in their 40s. So I pulled out my old regular print study bible and found that I could once again read the footnotes and cross references! God had done a significant healing in my vision.

But I found that I still saw much better in bright light than in dim light. I began seeking God to heal my night vision. He told me that I did not need a healing in my night vision, that something else was going on. I did not believe Him and I kept bugging Him to heal my night vision. He just seemed to ignore me for a season. Then, as I was doing research on the internet to write this section on vitamins, a fact about vitamin A jumped out at me. One of the things vitamin A does is "retinal function in dim light only." And I looked at the list of foods that are rich in vitamin A and realized they were pretty much all missing from my diet. The night blindness was not a problem that needed physical healing, it was a vitamin A deficiency. Then I looked at the other things that vitamin A does and I realized that I was weaker in those areas as well. All this time I was seeking God for a physical healing when I was not "sick." What God wanted me to do was to change my diet to correct the vitamin A deficiency.

Since the Lord just showed this to me as I was preparing this lesson, I can not give you a progress report on this yet.. it will take some time to correct the vitamin deficiency. But I am pretty confident that my night vision will improve as I change my eating habits.

Sometimes we seek God for supernatural healing of conditions that are caused by vitamin deficiencies. We don't need healing, we need to change our eating behaviors to correct the problem. So let's look at the various vitamins, what they do for our bodies and what types of foods provide them.

Vitamins And Why We Need Them

The body needs vitamins and minerals to perform it's various functions, but it only needs them in small quantities. Many nutritionalists feel that a healthy balanced diet will provide a person with their daily vitamin needs. If you overdose on the water soluble vitamins by taking vitamin supplements, they simply pass out of your system. However, you need to be careful not to overdose on the fat-soluble vitamins because your body has a harder time eliminating these. You must be careful not to overdose on the fat-soluble vitamin by taking supplements in too large of a quantity, because these build up in the body and can become hazardous to your health.

FAT-SOLUBLE VITAMINS

Fat-soluble vitamins include A, D, E and K. The body needs each of these or different reasons. It needs vitamin A for night vision and healthy skin. Vitamin D helps to maintain our bone density because it allows us to absorb the calcium we need for healthy bones. Vitamin E is important in having healthy skin and it is helpful in preventing scars, as well as keeping our red blood cells healthy. Vitamin K helps our blood to clot properly. In addition to their other roles, vitamins E and beta-carotene (used to synthesize vitamin A), are "antioxidants." There is a lot of controversy about taking antioxidants as supplements. Some nutritionalists feel they have positive benefits and others feel they can be hurtful. But one thing the nutritionalists pretty much agree on is that taking vitamins E and carotene in their natural form (fresh fruits and vegetables) provides the body with antioxidants and helps protect against cancer and heart disease.

Let's look at each one of the four fat-soluble vitamins a little more detail.

Our bodies need vitamin A for the overall health of our eyes and it also helps maintain good night vision (e.g., retinal function in dim light only). It is also used by the immune system and in mucus membranes. In addition, it aids in healthy skin (repair of damages and growth of new tissue). We do not find vitamin A in many foods. Fortunately, there are foods that contain a lot of carotene, and our intestines can turn carotene into vitamin A. Carotene rich foods include carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and cantaloupe and other orange, red or yellow fruits and vegetables. We also find carotene in spinach and broccoli.

Our bodies use vitamin D to absorb calcium and phosphorus, which allow us to grow healthy teeth, bones and nails. Our bodies produce vitamin D when our skin is exposed to sunlight. So, believe it or not, sunlight is a good source of vitamin D. We can also get vitamin D from most milk and milk products.

Our bodies use vitamin E (tocopherol) for healthy cells, especially in our skin. It is also used to help prevent scaring from cuts, burns, etc. Some people claim it helps reduce/remove stretch marks when applied topically to them. It also helps keep our red blood cells healthy. We find vitamin E in vegetable oils, margarine, eggs, fish, whole-grain cereals, and dried beans.

Our bodies need vitamin K to help our blood clot, so we don't bleed to death when we are scratched or cut. Also many poisons for rodents work by trying to destroy the proteins our body needs to make the blood clot, so when a child or pet is exposed to a small rodent poison, the treatment is usually mega doses of vitamin K. Our digestive system naturally produce some vitamin K. We also find it in leafy green vegetables and cereals.

WATER-SOLUBLE VITAMINS

Water-soluble vitamins include the B complex vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid, biotin) and vitamin C. Most of these help the body create and regulate enzymes in the body for things like digestion.

The body needs vitamin B1 (Thiamin) for the heart, nerves, muscle tissue and digestive track. It helps us metabolize carbohydrates and produce the energy our body needs to function. You can find vitamin B1 in lean meat, nuts, legumes and also in enriched and fortified cereals and baked goods.

The body uses vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) for the immune system as well as to keep our skin healthy and to produce energy. You can find vitamin B2 in lean meat, eggs, low-fat and fat-free dairy products, green leafy vegetables and in enriched and fortified cereals.

The body needs vitamin B3 (Niacin) the digestive system and for healthy skin. Niacin can be produced from an amino acid named trytopham. In addition you can find vitamin B3 in nuts and legumes, in pork, veal, tuna, halibut, and poultry, and in yeast, baked goods, coffee and tea.

Our bodies need vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) for our immune systems, to create the red blood cells that carry oxygen to the various parts of the body. We also need it for our nervous system and for hormone function. We find B6 in lean beef, tuna, halibut, legumes, and leafy green vegetables. We also find it in some enriched and fortified cereals and baked goods.

Our bodies use vitamin B12 for red blood cell production, utilization of folic acid, nervous system function and to help produce energy. We find it in lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, low-fat dairy products.

Our bodies use folic acid for growth and a lack of it in pregnant mothers can lead to birth defects. It is also needed for the body to make red blood cells and for energy production. We find it in lean meat, fish, legumes, nuts, leafy green vegetables, and in whole grains.

Pantothenic acid is essential for a correctly functioning metabolism. We find it in lean meat, fish, poultry, legumes, and whole-grain cereals.

Biotin allows our bodies to synthesize fatty acids and to correctly digest protein. It helps in converting meats to energy. It is wide spread in the food supply and we find high concentrations of it in egg yokes, liver, mushrooms, peanuts, yeast, milk, meat and in many vegetables.

Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) does more than help prevent colds. It is essential for our growth and bone and teeth formation. It helps us to absorb iron properly. It also helps our bodies to heal it's wounds and it also helps our bodies to resist disease and infection. It is fairly wide spread, but some of the best sources include: citrus fruits, berries, leafy green vegetables, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet peppers and hot peppers.