I have a running arguement with my husband. This arguement debates how brownies, pop, pizza, etc. is healthy for you (his words) and I of couse tell him that is not true. Having ingredients of eggs, milk, tomatoes, water does NOT diminish the fact that most of the foods he is trying to defend contain refined sugar, flour, and a multitude of artificial flavorings, coloring, and preservatives God never put in food. Steve has harrassed me with conversations like this for years, but the truth of the matter is that we have taken the wonderful foods God has made for us and changed them so much that we can't even recognize these awesome foods. We have taken sugar cane, refined and bleached it. We have done this to our flour, which started as simply ground wheat. This is of course just a start, I could go on and on.
Gen. 1:29-30 "And God said, 'See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food; and it was so."
God is Jehovah Jireh the God who provides. He provided for Adam and Eve and in turn for us before we knew we needed provision. He made sure that the Israelites had manna to eat. He also provided quail. (We should note that He did NOT provide little brownie bits.) This may be humerous but seriously He very well could have. It is important to know that God didn't tell the Israelites to feast everyday or every week. There was special times of feasting. God does talk of providing for His children. He also made it very clear that to Adam and Eve that all food (fruit in this case) was to be eaten. If we take a cue from this perhaps there are things we too should leave out of our diet.
Psalm 37:25 "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread."
This verse is very clear God provides for the righteous. Ask God to give you a new love for the foods that He actually gave to us.
Our bodies are amazing machines, way better than man made ones like cars. What happens when you put too much gas in you car? It spews out. So that would be quite embarrassing if we were at lunch with our friends and didn't realize our "tank" was full and spewed food all over the table. How AWEFUL!! Instead God has made us to store the extra food we intake in the way of fat. Now way back when and in some areas of the world today, food could/can become scarce in some areas when there was/is cold or drought so our bodies are made to store energy(fat) when food was/is plentiful but burn it when food was/is scarce. You see with modern farming and the ability to transport food all over the world this rarely happens anymore. We don't burn the storage and we eat things that actually use less calories. To burn 1 ATP of energy you use 9 calories but if the item has fructose in it then it cuts in the middle of the cycle and only burns 2 calories.
Prov 31: 10-31 speaks of a woman who is a hard worker, who cooks meals for her family, who is decerning in her purchases, whose children call you blessed. If you eat or worse feed your children unhealthy meals perhaps you or your children won't be able too say those words of blessing. I am not saying we should burn the candle at both ends but we need to use our time better and make better health decisions not just for us but also for our families.
Rom 14:10-12 "But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, 'As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.'"
2 Corin. 5:10 "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that eachone may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."
Dr J. Vernon McGee talks about this referring to "How we have lived in these bodies?" So what if our health is so poor that we can't use our bodies to bring others to Christ or due to a bad self-image we are kept from confidently proclaiming God's Name.
So how do we apply this:
Sheri Rose Shepherd in her book Fit For My King she has some great applications.
1. Fast off WHITE SUGAR
2. Fast off ALL ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS
3. Fast off FAKE FOOD
Ps. 23:1-3 "When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive."
(This includes everything the food industry has labeled fat free, sugar free, and artificial flavor.)
4. Fast off WHITE FLOUR
5. Fast off WHITE POTATOES, WHITE RICE, AND CORN
6. Fast off BUYING FOODS YOU CAN'T EAT (Hit they are bad for your body they are probably bad for your family)
7. FAST AFTER 7:00PM !!!
The only way to change your eating habits is to be prepared. Sheri goes into depth on how this works if you would like to read this you may purchase her book or let me know if you want to read my copy.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
My Body - His Workmanship
Read Psalms 139
We often use this passage for the arguement of sanctity of life but we can also look at the way God has made us. When was the last time you stood naked in front of a mirror and said, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Because you are and so am I. (There may be a layer of fat over the wonderful workmanship of God but we need to start seeing ourselves as God sees us; his workmanship.)
When we say we don't like something about our bodies, we are telling God that He messed up and that girlfriend is not a rode we want to take. This has nothing to do with the junk we have put in our bodies, it does have to do with your fingers that are too short, your legs that are too short, or your neck that is too long. (You get my drift.)
Read Eccl 11:5
As an anxious new Mom I remember wondering what my new baby would look like; but even then God knew. He also knew our body types, tall or short, muscular or thin, even if we would struggle with food or not. So if God loves us then we need to learn to love ourselves where we are but work to become a healthier version of me.
So, how do I fix this:
We need to call on Jehovah-Raphe the God who heals. Why do we need healing? Because, our poor body image and self-loathing has broken us. We need to allow God to heal our hurts before we can fix His temple.
Exodus 20: 2-3; 15: 25-26
This is a conditional covenant so we need to see what the conditions are for God to rain down His healing and it is 4 things:
1. Listen
2. Do the right thing
3. Obey His commands
4. Keep all His decrees
Doing these things would keep the Israelites from experiencing the diseases God brought upon the Egyptians. We need to ask God what sin we are holding on to that keeps us from experiencing His healing. DO NOT misunderstand me I am not saying that everyone who is sick; is sick due to sin in their lives. I AM saying that illness due to an unhealthy lifestyle or one controlled by addiction must first bring us to conviction before God can bring healing.
After we confess then we need to forgive ourselves.
*Buck up and move on STOP WALLOWING!*
Psalm 32:5
"When we refuse to forgive ourselves we are saying by our actions that the cross was not enough." (Sheri Rose Shepard)
We have an obligation to our children because kids who see parents with a poor body image will themselves be more apt to have a poor body image.
We often use this passage for the arguement of sanctity of life but we can also look at the way God has made us. When was the last time you stood naked in front of a mirror and said, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Because you are and so am I. (There may be a layer of fat over the wonderful workmanship of God but we need to start seeing ourselves as God sees us; his workmanship.)
When we say we don't like something about our bodies, we are telling God that He messed up and that girlfriend is not a rode we want to take. This has nothing to do with the junk we have put in our bodies, it does have to do with your fingers that are too short, your legs that are too short, or your neck that is too long. (You get my drift.)
Read Eccl 11:5
As an anxious new Mom I remember wondering what my new baby would look like; but even then God knew. He also knew our body types, tall or short, muscular or thin, even if we would struggle with food or not. So if God loves us then we need to learn to love ourselves where we are but work to become a healthier version of me.
So, how do I fix this:
We need to call on Jehovah-Raphe the God who heals. Why do we need healing? Because, our poor body image and self-loathing has broken us. We need to allow God to heal our hurts before we can fix His temple.
Exodus 20: 2-3; 15: 25-26
This is a conditional covenant so we need to see what the conditions are for God to rain down His healing and it is 4 things:
1. Listen
2. Do the right thing
3. Obey His commands
4. Keep all His decrees
Doing these things would keep the Israelites from experiencing the diseases God brought upon the Egyptians. We need to ask God what sin we are holding on to that keeps us from experiencing His healing. DO NOT misunderstand me I am not saying that everyone who is sick; is sick due to sin in their lives. I AM saying that illness due to an unhealthy lifestyle or one controlled by addiction must first bring us to conviction before God can bring healing.
After we confess then we need to forgive ourselves.
*Buck up and move on STOP WALLOWING!*
Psalm 32:5
"When we refuse to forgive ourselves we are saying by our actions that the cross was not enough." (Sheri Rose Shepard)
We have an obligation to our children because kids who see parents with a poor body image will themselves be more apt to have a poor body image.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
1st Bible Study session - "How Much Do I Love My Jesus"
I didn't come up with all this on my own here are the resources I used:
Look Great Feel Great by Joyce Meyer; Fit For My King by Sheri Rose Shepherd; Prayfit by Jimmy Pena; Spiritual Secrets To Weight Loss; and Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst. I will use these on all following studies.
I GIVE HIM ALL OF ME
I. Our Body Image Fight
I Corin 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. NKJV
It i imposible to like ourselves when we are controlled by our cravings. In order to beat these we need to set our minds on our Royal calling; to "focus on our desre to honor our King not about denying ourselves certain foods.
II. God's Temple
I Corin. 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
The word picture in these verses are of the temple that the Israelites treasured above all else. It was sacred and holy; it was where God dwelt. This is what he thinks of our bodies because as a child of God we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. God expects us to take care of our bodies. This is often used for an arguement against alcohol, smoking, and ect., however this biggest abuse that happens within the church is that of food. So much of the food we eat and feed our families have no nutritional value or the nutrition has been added back in, which is not the same quality. Remember, the temple is where they sacrificed, perhaps it is time we make a "sacrifice".
III. Willpower Friend or Foe
Willpower will help when we want it to but will run just as soon as we can reason it away. So instead we need to be Spirit-powered in order to stay the course for the long haul and to not get distracted or off course.
Zechariah 4:6-7 - So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you have become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!" ' "
This may seem off subject however this vision is to encourage Zerubbabel to stay the course, that God would give the strength to fix the Temple. So if our bodies our the Temple of God this is His encouragement to us to FIX THE TEMPLE!! WOW! God is so good because if you read on to verse 7 (which we didn't do Monday); He is encouraging us that the outcome is guaranteed because God is powerful enough to make a mountain a flat plain. So give it to Him, claim the victory and eat the foods God created for us to eat. I understand that this is talking about the completion of God's final Kingdom but we can apply it to our lives now.
John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Without God we are failures! It is He who is the fuel that can re-ignite our willpower and discipline. (He is the slow steady burn that never burns out.) Remember God never quits on us. Praise God for this and thank Him daily for his mercy that is never failing.
In Joyce Meyers' book Look Great Feel Great she gives 7 reasons we don't take care of ourselves:
"1. We don't know how to take care of our physical bodies.
2. We have a skewed body image planted in our minds by media and advertising.
3. We have lost touch with exercise.
4. We have let ourselves slip into unworkable lives.
5. Some have become pathologically selfless.
6. We have lost our support.
7. We have forgotten our own value.
Finally Joyce gives 5 ways to trust God with your burdens; ask, attend church, attend a support group, begin each day with an affirmation, and finally Pray in moments of doubt.
Gal 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
I want you to read 2 Corin 5 as well.
We need to allow God to take over our hearts for when we do we will love Him deeper and better appreciate the sacrifice He performed so that we could live a life with an eternal hope.
So I ask, "How much do I love my Lord?" Because He loved me enough to die for me, surely I can sacrifice by leaving a few things out of my diet for Him.
Next week we will look at How do I love myself?
Look Great Feel Great by Joyce Meyer; Fit For My King by Sheri Rose Shepherd; Prayfit by Jimmy Pena; Spiritual Secrets To Weight Loss; and Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst. I will use these on all following studies.
I GIVE HIM ALL OF ME
I. Our Body Image Fight
I Corin 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. NKJV
It i imposible to like ourselves when we are controlled by our cravings. In order to beat these we need to set our minds on our Royal calling; to "focus on our desre to honor our King not about denying ourselves certain foods.
II. God's Temple
I Corin. 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
The word picture in these verses are of the temple that the Israelites treasured above all else. It was sacred and holy; it was where God dwelt. This is what he thinks of our bodies because as a child of God we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. God expects us to take care of our bodies. This is often used for an arguement against alcohol, smoking, and ect., however this biggest abuse that happens within the church is that of food. So much of the food we eat and feed our families have no nutritional value or the nutrition has been added back in, which is not the same quality. Remember, the temple is where they sacrificed, perhaps it is time we make a "sacrifice".
III. Willpower Friend or Foe
Willpower will help when we want it to but will run just as soon as we can reason it away. So instead we need to be Spirit-powered in order to stay the course for the long haul and to not get distracted or off course.
Zechariah 4:6-7 - So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you have become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!" ' "
This may seem off subject however this vision is to encourage Zerubbabel to stay the course, that God would give the strength to fix the Temple. So if our bodies our the Temple of God this is His encouragement to us to FIX THE TEMPLE!! WOW! God is so good because if you read on to verse 7 (which we didn't do Monday); He is encouraging us that the outcome is guaranteed because God is powerful enough to make a mountain a flat plain. So give it to Him, claim the victory and eat the foods God created for us to eat. I understand that this is talking about the completion of God's final Kingdom but we can apply it to our lives now.
John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Without God we are failures! It is He who is the fuel that can re-ignite our willpower and discipline. (He is the slow steady burn that never burns out.) Remember God never quits on us. Praise God for this and thank Him daily for his mercy that is never failing.
In Joyce Meyers' book Look Great Feel Great she gives 7 reasons we don't take care of ourselves:
"1. We don't know how to take care of our physical bodies.
2. We have a skewed body image planted in our minds by media and advertising.
3. We have lost touch with exercise.
4. We have let ourselves slip into unworkable lives.
5. Some have become pathologically selfless.
6. We have lost our support.
7. We have forgotten our own value.
Finally Joyce gives 5 ways to trust God with your burdens; ask, attend church, attend a support group, begin each day with an affirmation, and finally Pray in moments of doubt.
Gal 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
I want you to read 2 Corin 5 as well.
We need to allow God to take over our hearts for when we do we will love Him deeper and better appreciate the sacrifice He performed so that we could live a life with an eternal hope.
So I ask, "How much do I love my Lord?" Because He loved me enough to die for me, surely I can sacrifice by leaving a few things out of my diet for Him.
Next week we will look at How do I love myself?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Food is not the enemy!
We now live in a world where foods have more ingredients that are full of multisyllable worlds than simple words that are actually real ingredients. Seriously, think about it milk, flour, butter, sugar, flax seed, apples, pears, oatmeal, etc. this is what things are to be made of; NOT Monosodium L-Glutamate, Guar Gum, Ethyl Hydroxyethyl Cellulose, high fructose corn syrup, etc. We wonder why cancer is more prevelent, why type 2 diabetes is now an epidemic, and there are all kinds of new diseases having to do with inflamation in one way or another. It is all the junk they put in food to make it shelf stable for weeks, months or years at a time. The best place to start is to remove things from your diet that have all these fancy words in them. Make from scratch as many things as you can. If it uses the word "artificial" I would avoid the item all together. Sugar should be used very sparingly and only for special occations, this doesn't include making it through the day without ... although probably a good; thing find a better, healthier reward.
Monday, January 10, 2011
My weightloss goals.
My daughter felt it was important for me to blog so we will give it a whirl. My goal is to loose 15 lbs in the next 3 months. But more than that I would like to allow God to control my heart more completely. I have an awful addiction to Coke-a-cola and chocolate but I have not had either since last Tuesday. I will be leading a Bible study starting next week (we were supposed to start this week) dealing with what God says about wight. So I will post what God lays on my heart. I love that God cares about the temple He indwells and that temple is my physical body. Needless to say it has been a very convicting week.
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