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FEVERS!--The "Poisonous Plum" & Tonsillitis!       DFO 878       11 July 1979
--Dad's Talk to Sara & Alfred on Little David's Illness.

       1. IT'S A LITTLE HARD ON THE BODY IF YOU HAVE A FEVER, because it's the body's war against the disease! Here's where the naturopaths & naturists disagree with the popular medical doctors that fever is caused by germs & is a part of the Enemy. The naturists believe that fever fights the infection.

       2. NATUROPATHS BELIEVE THAT THE FEVER IS PART OF THE BODY'S DEFENSE MECHANISM AGAINST THE DISEASE, the infection & the germs; to try to make it so hot for them that they can't survive the fever, the fever kills them! If you can survive the fever, if it doesn't kill you first, it kills them & burns up the poisons which are in the system caused by either the infection or the germs. Some naturists even go so far as to say the fever is caused by your own poor health or your diet or something that caused these poisons to exist, so therefore the body is trying to burn them up.

       3. SOME NATUROPATHS DON'T EVEN AGREE WITH THE GERM THEORY, that germs necessarily cause disease, believe it or not! Some even go to the extreme of saying that the germs are there trying to destroy the disease & the poisons that are in the body, that the germs are there trying to devour them, & that's why certain germs are there in such quantities when certain diseases are present! Well, I don't know which school of thought is right, but it's quite obvious that:

       4. FEVER IS A NATURAL BODILY DEFENSE MECHANISM TO TRY TO BURN UP THE DISEASE, whatever causes it or whatever it is--whether it's poisons, germs, infection or what not! And if you can take a high fever--if you're strong enough to stand it, so that you survive it but the germs don't--or the poison or infection doesn't--then you come out on top, & the fever has destroyed the germs, infection &/or a poison, & not you!

       5. DR. KOGER, OUR OLD FAMILY DOCTOR, WAS PRETTY FIRMLY CONVINCED OF THIS. Though originally an M.D., he didn't have much faith in medicine nor M.D.'s after his conversion, so he became mostly a naturopath, with more faith in God's own natural methods of healing.--That's why he didn't like to try to lower a fever unless it got too high. He didn't believe in trying to reduce fever unless it got dangerously high for the body. (Maria: Oh?--Our local lady doctor wanted David to be bathed in bath water two degrees C. below the temperature of his fever as often as necessary!) She wanted to keep down the fever, see?

       6. SOME CRAZY DOCTORS EVEN USED TO RECOMMEND ICE-PACKS TO TRY TO KEEP THE FEVER DOWN! Whereas, I'm more inclined to believe Dr. Koger, who said the fever in a way is good for you--it's burning up the disease, & it's the body's natural reaction to it, trying to kill the disease, germs or poisons, see?

       7. THEREFORE, IT'S BETTER TO LET IT RUN ITS COURSE, unless it gets so hot that it's apt to burn you up! Don't let it get too high or last too long or too often. This is why Dr. Koger himself, when my fever once finally reached 104 degrees F. (40 degrees C.), he figured it was getting pretty high, so he gave me a couple of analgesic pills, like aspirin, & shortly afterward the fever broke, & I broke out in a wringing-wet sweat, weak but better, as my temperature went down to normal.

       8. AN ANALGESIC OR PAIN-KILLER LIKE ASPIRIN HELPS REDUCE A FEVER. It hastens the circulation of the blood by opening up the blood vessels more, steps up the heartbeat, increases the pulse rate & blood pressure, causing a more rapid flow of blood, thereby lowering the body temperature. That also helps relieve any congestion & helps to clean & flush out the body poisons, germs or whatever.

       9. ANALGESICS LIKE ASPIRIN HELP STIMULATE THE CIRCULATION. That's why aspirins are good for headaches, aches & pains, which are often caused by congestion or clogged blood vessels or tissue. The analgesic or aspirin stimulates the blood circulation, peps up the heart & causes the body to flush out the poisons, congestions, etc., that are causing the aches or pains. (--Just don't use very often!)

       10. THE TIME I HAD A TEMPERATURE OF 104 DEGREES F. (40 degrees C.) Dr. Koger just gave me a couple of those pills & said, "I'd better give you a couple of these analgesic pills to help break the fever."--And just within a few minutes--I'm sure it was no more than half-an-hour to an hour after I took the pills--the fever broke!--Of course, we were all praying too!

       11. AND WHEN YOUR FEVER BREAKS, YOU USUALLY BREAK OUT INTO A HUGE SWEAT! Your tendency, then, because you're so hot, is that you want to throw off the covers & everything. But he insisted I keep wrapped up in blankets, real warm, because he said, "You're now in danger of having a chill when you're so sweaty, now that the fever is broken & the body temperature goes down. Now you're apt to have a chill, which is also bad for your body, to get too cold right after the fever, now when your body is still weak, in which case you can catch cold, flu or even pneumonia!"

       12. BUT USUALLY HE DID NOT BELIEVE IN MEDICAL ATTEMPTS TO TRY TO BRING DOWN A FEVER, unless they got too high or perhaps lasted too long. (Maria: So the baths that the doctor is prescribing for David while he has his fever...) I don't believe in that at all! It could defeat the very purpose of the fever by cooling the body too much.

       13. HOWEVER, IF THE FEVER GOT DANGEROUSLY HIGH & PROTRACTED, in that case a bath might help to keep the fever from getting too high. But in the process you might also get chilled & catch pneumonia!--Or it might just prolong the process!--The body keeps trying to muster up enough fuel & fire to burn up the disease, while you keep trying to cool it off! It's like throwing water on the fire!

       14. SO I DON'T AGREE WITH BATHS TO COOL A FEVER AT ALL! Good gracious!--All my life I was taught that a bath was very dangerous for anybody with fever! I mean, baths were absolutely forbidden as being extremely dangerous for anyone with a fever! We were taught that you should not get cooled off too quickly or rapidly at all! You were to stay in a warm room out of draughts, & above all not take a bath!

       15. SO THAT WAS DR. KOGER'S NATUROPATHIC POSITION, & I'm strongly inclined to agree with it. I followed that prescription all my life with both myself & my own children--& of course with a lot of prayer too--& we're still here to tell the story!--TTL!--So I believe it works, I believe it's good. I think perhaps if the fever gets too high--102 degrees F. or even 103 F. (38.9 or 39.4 degrees C.) is not so very terrible--it's about I'd say at the top of the normal range of a normal average fever.

       16. BUT IF IT STARTS GETTING UP TO ABOUT 104 DEGREES F. (40 degrees C.), IT'S GETTING PRETTY HIGH & it should be checked with a couple aspirin or other analgesics if possible. It should not be allowed to remain up at that high level too long, for fear it would be too hard on the body. Because the fever, of course, is a strain on the body too, fighting all those germs or poisons or the disease, infection or whatever it is.

       17. IT'S A FIGHT BETWEEN YOU & AN INVASION IN YOUR BODY, so it fires up its defenses to try to defeat it. Now that's the naturopathic position I'm convinced of. Whereas, the medical doctors will usually tell you, "Well, all fever is bad & is caused by infections & germs. So fever is therefore bad, & therefore you should try to keep any fever down & cool it off!"

       18. BUT I NEVER HEARD OF ANY DOCTOR RECOMMENDING BATHS FOR A FEVER!--Baths were always taboo with a fever! Didn't you hear that?--Weren't you always taught that it was dangerous to take a bath when you have a fever or you're seriously sick?--Weren't you taught that baths are dangerous for fevers?--Goodness gracious, yes! But now let's most of all pray!:

       19. WE'RE GOING TO LET YOU MANIFEST YOUR POWER, LORD! We're trusting Thee, looking to Thee & asking Thee for help most of all! At this time, Lord, with so many other things in the works, we ask Thee to defeat this attack of the Enemy, we ask You to resist the Enemy, Lord, in Jesus' name! Drive away this thing, defeat it & deliver David! Help him to look to Thee, Lord, in faith & desperation to cry out to Thee for help! (& he did!)

       20. WE ASK THEE TO SAVE HIM, LORD! Help him to learn this lesson of faith through this trial, to look to Thee & trust Thee & ask Thee for salvation, & succour him & heal him, Lord! You promised that You will "heal all our diseases & forgive all our iniquities," for You're "the Lord that healeth us," & that "nothing's impossible" for You, Lord. Thank You, Lord! We've "prayed for" him, "laid hands" on him, "anointed him" & all things that You specified, & we've talked to him & had special prayer, Lord, & he was better. (Ps.103:3; Ex.15:26; Lk.1:37; Jam.5:14,15; Mark 16:18.)

       21. WE DON'T KNOW WHY YOU ALLOWED THIS THING TO RECUR, unless David's spirit was not right, & You therefore allowed this thing to come back on him. You said to one, "Go therefore & sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee!" (Jn.5:14.) Perhaps You've allowed this to come back because he was naughty in spirit in some way, & not repentant, so You allowed it to come back.--We don't know.

       22. BUT WHATEVER IT IS, LORD, HELP HIM TO GET THE VICTORY & lean on You & look to You for help, for deliverance, Lord, for Thy glory & Thy Name's sake & Thy Word's sake, Lord--for Thy little child's sake, Lord! Thy will be done, in Jesus' name we ask.

       23. WE'VE PUT HIM IN THY HANDS NOW, LORD.--We've done all we could do--even taken him to the doctor & tried to get some advice. So we ask it in Jesus' name: Rebuke the Enemy & deliver by Thy power, Lord! We trust You, & we know You've never failed! Thank You, Lord!--In Jesus' name, amen. Thank You, Lord!--PYL!

       24. IT REMINDS ME OF THE TIME WHEN I WAS AWAY & JONATHAN (HO) WAS VERY ILL--at just about his same age. I had gone to the mountains to preach at a little Indian church that Sunday, & I was to show pictures there that Sunday evening. It was a long rough mountain ride over gravel roads in my old Ford, but I made it! After the Sunday A.M. service, I ate Sunday Mexican dinner with this precious little Indian family & their lovely daughter.

       25. BUT JUST BEFORE THE EVENING CHURCH SERVICE I PHONED HOME--I always kept in touch with home & with the children when away.--So I had called home to tell Mom I had arrived safely up there, when she said that Jonathan had suddenly come down with a very high fever. ...

       26. SHE SAID THAT SOME PEOPLE FROM OUR CHURCH THERE WANTED TO RUSH HIM TO THE HOSPITAL QUICKLY, that maybe he was dying, maybe he had polio, maybe this, that or the other!--You know how some people panic!--So Mom wanted to know, "Do you think maybe you ought to come home?"

       27. BUT I SAID, "HONEY, I'M HERE ON THE LORD'S WORK--& about to have an evening service. I don't think it's the Lord's will for me to have forsake this work. I'm on the wall like Nehemiah, & I don't think it is God's will for me to come down! (Ne.6:3.) I think it's an attack of the Enemy to try to defeat God's work!--So I'm going to pray right now for him over the phone. You lay hands on him & I'll pray for him, & we'll just trust the Lord & believe, no matter what happens, that the Lord wants me to go ahead & take care of His work, & God will take care of him!"--And so we prayed desperately together over the phone & just put him in God's hands & hung up, as I had to hurry on to church.--What a test of faith! (1Pe.1:7.)

       28. IT WAS A VERY IMPORTANT PREACHING ENGAGEMENT AT THIS INDIAN CHURCH, because the Indians were neglected there & the white people didn't care much about them, & if I had suddenly run out on them, they might have felt that I thought our little boy's sickness was more important than preaching the Gospel to all those Indians--a whole tribe! So I just prayed & committed him to the Lord, & trusted the Lord that He was going to touch him.

       29. "I'M GOING TO PUT THE LORD & HIS WORK FIRST," I'd said, "& the Lord is going to have to take care of Jonathan!" So I went ahead with the meeting, I told them my little boy was very sick, & to please pray for him, but that I thought I should stay here & do the Lord's work. I think they were quite touched by the fact that I was really sacrificing to stay, so it was a real testimony!--And a number were saved that night! PTL!

       30. SO RIGHT AWAY AFTER THE MEETING I PHONED MOM BACK AGAIN, & she said that between the two phone calls his fever had broken & he was sitting up smiling & happy & looking better & feeling better!--The Lord had really touched him! So it was really a testimony to the little Indian village family too, that the Lord had really touched him!

       31. BECAUSE I HAD A LONG, LONG RIDE BACK HOME--ABOUT 40 MILES--they offered me a little refreshment before I left. So afterward I phoned Mom again to see how he was, & she said that it looked like the Lord had healed him, the fever was completely broken & he was feeling better, sitting up smiling & just like he was before he got so sick! So I had my little snack & prayer with the Indians & drove home. I got home somewhere around midnight, & he was sleeping peacefully & the fever was completely gone!

       32. SO IT WAS REALLY A TEST! ... Previously we had had quite a testimony of healing & prayer for the sick, but it looked for awhile like we were almost giving up & going to send him to the hospital. But I just told Mom,

       33. "YOU JUST HOLD ON A LITTLE LONGER until I finish here, & I'll get home. If the Lord doesn't answer by then, well, we'll see." I wasn't totally forsaking taking him to the hospital. But the minute I made that decision to stay, the Lord answered!--And I had a good meeting with good results & fellowship, & got home safely & Jonathan was already healed! PTL!

       34. SO BECAUSE WE STOOD THE TEST & WITHSTOOD THE TEMPTATION, THE LORD ANSWERED & TOUCHED HIM! I had told Mom on the phone that I thought it was a real test: "I think it's a test," I said. "It's just a test. The Enemy brought it, but the Lord's allowing it for a test to see what we're going to put first--the Lord's work or the child."

       35. IN A WAY, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW IN DAVID'S CASE. Rather than risk our own health & the Lord's work, we're waiting for God to answer. Our health would be as nothing, except for the Lord's work's sake. If we'd get sick & not be able to do the Lord's work, that would be serious. If it wasn't for taking care of our health for God's work's sake, I'd be there in a flash!--I would have been there to help David already.

       36. BUT I JUST DON'T BELIEVE WE CAN AFFORD TO ENDANGER OUR HEALTH or the baby's health, in case it's something contagious, just in order to physically visit him, when we've already had lots of prayer on both ends & we're trusting the Lord. So we're committing him to the Lord. Sara has a lot of faith, a real gift of healing, so I know we've done all we can do.

       37. ALSO, I BELIEVE THAT SHE'S RIGHT ABOUT HIS ATTITUDE: It's because of his rebellious disobedient spirit. (He'd eaten an insect-sprayed unwashed plum in the yard, though told not to!) The Lord's spanking him, chastising him for being naughty & having the wrong attitude & wrong spirit, so the Lord's trying to get him to humble himself & really pray & repent & ask the Lord to forgive him so He can heal him. (Maria: I think that's it, because if he had been a good boy, I think the Lord could have left it at that & healed him yesterday.)

       38. BUT HE WAS NAUGHTY & DISOBEYED & ate the plum, endangered his health, made himself sick & weak again ... ! So that weakened his body again & his resistance, therefore the fever flared up again. ...

       39. CHASTENINGS GET US IN LINE! The Lord was surely spanking him to make him really yield, to humble him & make him more obedient & more contrite & more yielded to the Lord's will & to his elders. He's not too young to understand those things, so I believe the Lord is dealing with him.

       40. WE USED TO TALK TO OUR LITTLE CHILDREN LIKE THAT WHEN MY FIRST FAMILY WAS VERY YOUNG, & they understood about the Lord spanking them for being naughty, or because they wouldn't repent or wouldn't yield & were in an obviously rebellious spirit. (Maria: Yes, & the Lord spanks him before we do or Sara or Alfred! The Lord really chastens him!)

       41. IT KIND OF REMINDS ME OF MYSELF: The Lord would never let me get away with anything! I always got a sharp spank from the Lord, I'd suddenly get sick or something if I got the least bit out of line! The Lord was always keeping me pretty close in check. He really, really chastised me if I'd step out of line the least bit! You really have to stay close to the Lord & in His will to stay in health. So PTL!

       42. LORD BLESS HIM & HELP HIM, IN JESUS' NAME, TO BE OBEDIENT, to be repentant, to be sorry he was naughty, to ask Sara & them to forgive him, & to promise not to do it anymore, to try to be more obedient, more yielded. Help him, Lord, in Jesus' name, to be a good boy. He has been such a good boy, Lord. Perhaps we have praised him too much, & didn't give You enough credit!

       43. BECAUSE WE KNOW IT'S ONLY YOU THAT CAN MAKE US GOOD, so we ask You to help him, Lord, & deliver him in Thy mercy. We pray that You will finish the lesson, Lord, & then by healing, deliver him. Cause him to be sorry, repentant, yielded, humble & victorious, Lord--& obedient--then deliver him, Lord, in Jesus' name. Thank You, Lord!--In Jesus' name, Amen.--Watch out you don't get out of God's Will & get a spanking!--Amen? GBAKY!

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