Most of you know my testimony, how in 2009, I had a stroke, blacked out at the wheel in my pick up on the highway, and miraculously ended up in the grassy median, unhurt. The journey back to health, where I had to meticulously watch my diet, lose 45 pounds, monitor the high blood pressure meds I was on, and begin a regimented weekly exercise program. As I studied, and drank my water, and took myriads of supplements, vitamins, and health foods, I went the opposite extreme, where I was eating almost entirely supplements and stuff! Ugh!
Then I read these verses:
forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
And I began life as a full-time missionary, which meant that beans and rice were sometimes all we had, for weeks at a time, and it was brutal!
Idols die hard!
Yes, we need to eat healthy, but sometimes, simply having something to eat at all is a great blessing. I have learned that fasting will produce health, that while food is a great blessing from the Lord, as I have travelled, I have eaten some things that I would not have considered before (whale, seal, raw caribou, octopus, crickets, alligator, bear) to name a few things (all totally organic of course! LOL!)
In Isaiah 58, God’s chosen fast (https://chrisaomministries.wordpress.com/2015/01/02/when-you-fast/)
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen?
to loose the bands of wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens,
and to let the oppressed go free,
and that ye break every yoke?
…
v8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning,
and thine health shall spring forth speedily:
and thy righteousness shall go before thee;
the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.
Clearly there are health benefits from fasting, in faith, as we take time to pray and seek the Lord.
I am learning to not post long, in-depth teaching here, as few of your take the time to read them, but let me sum up today, with this thought:
Philippians 4:5
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s
Eat healthy, fast sometimes, yet refuse to enter into bondage over food. Have an ice cream with the kids, enjoy some chocolate sometimes, take a good multivitamin, drink water, stay away from soft drinks and energy drinks in general, but don’t lose your sanity if you have a coke with your friends. In fact, we were on a missions trip recently, where a group of natives served some ice cold coke with a meal on a tough work day, that tasted like heaven!
The challenge is to be free from appetites and lusts of the flesh, and to get in touch with our true hunger, the hunger for the things of God, deep in our hearts, that only Jesus and His Word can legitimately meet.
I have seen ministers who are overweight, because they pour out life to the people they serve, and then feel spiritually hungry, and tired. Instead of taking time away from the responsibilities of the ministry, and deliberately feeding their spirit, they eat, and eat, food that will never touch their true hunger. Seen the same thing with malnutrition, people that load up on empty calories, that do not feed their bodies, and so they still feel hunger pains, and so they eat more sugar, processed foods, eat, and their body naturally turns this into fat.
Solutions:
1. Find ways to receive the Word of God and ministry, that require absolutely no effort. I simply listen to the audio Bible, and God meets me in His Word, in the deep places of my soul.
2. Eat more protein, a good multivitamin, and drink water instead of sugary drinks, (You might feel like a drug addict in withdrawal for a month or so, as your body regulates itself)
Balance, common sense, exercise, humility, prayer, and spirit led living produce LIFE, Joy, love, and health in every area of your life.
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to
enjoy;
Let’s Pray:
‘Father, I know you love me, and have given me richly all things that I might enjoy life. Lord Jesus, free me from every bondage to food, and help me to eat to live, not live to eat. I trust You Holy Spirit for the gift of self-control in this, that I might truly glorify You in my body, today, and every day for the rest of my life.
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