GREAT CONTROVERSY BEGINS IN WOMB!!!!!

GREAT CONTROVERSY BEGINS IN WOMB!!!!!

Prenatal care is the health care you get while you are pregnant. Prenatal care can help keep you and your baby healthy.

Why prenatal is it important ?

For many it might be a surprise to find out that the “great controversy” between God and Satan to influence the mind of individuals begins already in the womb.

 According to Ellen White, Satan is very active in the months of child pre-natal formation.

According to White, character begins to be formed through the influence of parents while the child is still in the womb. In fact, she claimed that this is one of the most overlooked (fail to notice) topics in the church:

The effect of prenatal influences is by many parents looked upon as a matter of little moment. But heaven does not so regard it…If before the birth of her child she [the mother] is self-indulgent, if she is selfish, impatient, and exacting, these traits will be reflected in the disposition of the child. Thus many children have received as a birth right almost unconquerable tendencies to evil. But if the mother unswervingly adheres to right principles, if she is temperate and self-denying, if she is kind, gentle, and unselfish, she may give her child these same precious traits of character.” Ministry of Healing. 372,373.

 Ellen White was very concerned with the pre-natal influence of Adventist mothers upon their offspring. She repeatedly warned against indulgences for this will shape the character of infants in the womb.

Ellen White was shown that, unlike many Christians, the Devil is not ignorant of the laws of pre-natal character development. She affirmed, “The enemy of souls understands this matter much better than do many parents.”

 Satan, she argued, “will bring temptation upon the mother, knowing that if she does not resist him, he can through her affect her child. “A Lesson for Mothers” in The Signs of the Times, (February 26, 1902), par. 14

Although Ellen White emphasized the role of mothers in this process, the fathers are not exempt (free) of obligation to live surrendered to God during this period.

“If a father's nervous system has been marred and broken by habits which are at war with nature's law, the children following him will be more or less unhappily affected. Both parents have a heavy responsibility on them, touching the moral character given to their children before birth.

If parents are accustomed to undue (excessive) indulgence in any of the natural propensities (inclination) in eating or drinking, or any other animal appetite their children may inherit appetites of the same kind, possessing a similar degree of undue activity and moral tendency. Ministry of Healing, 372

 Parents.... by indulgence have strengthened their animal passions. And as these have strengthened, the moral and intellectual faculties have become weak. The spiritual has been overborne by the brutish.

Children are born with the animal propensities (inclination) largely developed, the parents’ own stamp of character having been given to them… The brain force is weakened, and memory becomes deficient.... The sins of the parents will be visited upon their children because the parents have given them the stamp of their own lustful propensities. Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 2. 391

  According to this statement, “traits* and tendencies” (*determine by our genes, is a message written on DNA that define individual characteristics) of the character of the child begin their formation already during the period of pregnancy. Through the wrong spiritual influences upon the baby during the months of child bearing, children receive, as a part of their inheritance, characters imbued (inspire) with “almost unconquerable tendencies to evil”.

Good news is that these tendencies are preventable. If mothers abide in the grace of God, children instead receive “precious traits of character.

The world is full of snares for the feet of the young. Multitudes are attracted by a life of selfish and sensual pleasure. They cannot discern the hidden dangers or the fearful ending of the path that seems to them the way of happiness. Through the indulgence of appetite and passion, their energies are wasted, and millions are ruined for this world and for the world to come. Parents should remember that their children must encounter these temptations. Even before the birth of the child, the preparation should begin that will enable it to fight successfully the battle against evil. AH 255.4

If before the birth of her child she is self-indulgent, if she is selfish, impatient, and exacting, these traits will be reflected in the disposition of the child. Thus many children have received as a birthright almost unconquerable tendencies to evil. AH 255.1

But if the mother unswervingly adheres to right principles, if she is temperate and self-denying, if she is kind, gentle, and unselfish, she may give her child these same precious traits of character. AH 255.2t

Essentials of Prenatal Care—It is an error generally committed to make no difference in the life of a woman previous to the birth of her children. At this important period the labor of the mother should be lightened. Great changes are going on in her system. It requires a greater amount of blood, and therefore an increase of food of the most nourishing quality to convert into blood. Unless she has an abundant supply of nutritious food, she cannot retain her physical strength, and her offspring is robbed of vitality. [Note: See Counsels On Diet And Foods, section, “Diet During Pregnancy,” for further instruction on this point.] Her clothing also demands attention. Care should be taken to protect the body from a sense of chilliness. She should not call vitality unnecessarily to the surface to supply the want of sufficient clothing. If the mother is deprived of an abundance of wholesome, nutritious food, she will lack in the quantity and quality of blood. Her circulation will be poor, and her child will lack in the very same things. There will be an inability in the offspring to appropriate food which it can convert into good blood to nourish the system. The prosperity of mother and child depends much upon good, warm clothing and a supply of nourishing food. AH 256.3

Women who possess principle, and who are well instructed, will not depart from simplicity of diet at this time of all others. They will consider that another life is dependent upon them and will be careful in all their habits and especially in diet. They should not eat that which is innutritious and exciting, simply because it tastes good. There are too many counselors ready to persuade them to do things which reason would tell them they ought not to do. Diseased children are born because of the gratification of appetite by the parents.... AH 257.3

If so much food is taken into the stomach that the digestive organs are compelled to overwork in order to dispose of it and to free the system from irritating substances, the mother does injustice to herself and lays the foundation of disease in her offspring. If she chooses to eat as she pleases and what she may fancy, irrespective of consequences, she will bear the penalty, but not alone. Her innocent child must suffer because of her indiscretion. AH 258.1

Self-control and Temperance Are Necessary—The mother's physical needs should in no case be neglected. Two lives are depending upon her, and her wishes should be tenderly regarded, her needs generously supplied. But at this time above all others she should avoid, in diet and in every other line, whatever would lessen physical or mental strength. By the command of God Himself she is placed under the most solemn obligation to exercise self-control. AH 258.2

The basis of a right character in the future man is made firm by habits of strict temperance in the mother prior to the birth of her child.... This lesson should not be regarded with indifference. AH 258.3

Great care should be exercised to have the surroundings of the mother pleasant and happy. The husband and father is under special responsibility to do all in his power to lighten the burden of the wife and mother. He should bear, as much as possible, the burden of her condition. He should be affable (friendly), courteous, kind, and tender, and specially attentive to all her wants. Not half the care is taken of some women while they are bearing children that is taken of animals in the stable. AH 257.1

Maintain a Peaceful, Trustful Attitude—She who expects to become a mother should keep her soul in the love of God. Her mind should be at peace; she should rest in the love of Jesus, practicing the words of Christ. She should remember that the mother is a laborer together with God. AH 259.1

EXAMPLES FROM THE BIBLE:

BIRTH OF SAMSONS

In the words spoken to the Hebrew mother [the wife of Manoah], God speaks to all mothers in every age. “Let her beware,” the angel said; “all that I commanded her let her observe.” The well-being of the child will be affected by the habits of the mother. Her appetites and passions are to be controlled by principle. There is something for her to shun, something for her to work against, if she fulfills God's purpose for her in giving her a child. AH 255.3

White also often pointed to the story of Samson’s mother who was instructed by the angel to exercise temperance during her pregnancy as a biblical confirmation of the pre-natal care concept.

3. The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “It is true that you are barren and have no children; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. 4. Now please be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5. For behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son. And no razor shall come over his head, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” Judge 13:3-5

BIRTH OF JOHN BAPTISED

13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Elizabeth who carried John the Baptist, filled by the Holy Spirit from the womb, she also mentioned godly mothers such as Jochebed and Hannah who exerted crucial influences upon the moral characters of their sons, Moses and Samuel.

The pre-natal care of God was revealed to prophet Jeremiah: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”(Jeremiah 1:5) 

David exulted concerning the grace, which God can bestow upon unborn children saying: “I was cast upon Thee from the womb, Thou art my God from my mother’s belly. (Psalm 22:9,10)

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When a woman drinks alcohol while she is pregnant, the alcohol goes to the baby through her bloodstream. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), a serious condition that can affect a child throughout life.

Children with FAS have problems with development, learning, behaviour, social skills. difficulty paying attention, learning difficulties, unable to follow simple instructions

WAIT A MINUTE "I DONT DRINK ALCOHOL"....but..

Auto brewery syndrome is also known as gut fermentation syndrome and endogenous ethanol fermentation. It's sometimes called “drunkenness disease.” This rare condition makes you intoxicated — drunk — without drinking alcohol. This happens when your body turns sugary and starchy foods (carbohydrates) into alcohol.

When carbs such as pizza, pasta, bread and soda are consumed, these microbes turn the sugar in that food or drink into ethanol, leading to "extreme blood alcohol levels, "In auto brewery syndrome, your body makes — “brews” — alcohol (ethanol) out of the carbohydrates you eat. This happens inside the gut or intestines. It may be caused by too much yeast in the gut. 

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