Today is the perfect day for health!
It is amazing how God works and how He is here today speaking the same truths to me as He did three years ago when I sat down to write my book.
A few months ago at our Bible study, Scott was teaching Hebrews 3. This happens to be my very favorite chapter, inside my very favorite book of the Bible. Those who have been following along my blog for a while will see a common thread - God wants our full attention TODAY! Today is the acceptable day of salvation. Today, if you will hear God’s voice. Today, if you will NOT harden your hearts and turn away from your sins. Today, if you will hearken yourself to His calling. Today, if you will set yourself apart, sacrifice all of your wants for His will - He will continue to do a work in you that began at the moment of salvation! Today, if you will hear His truths - healing truths that give life to the bones. Today, if you will turn from your ways and accept His that are holy, pure and perfect, He will lead you to the way of everlasting.
I believe the issue for most of us is that we view obtaining health or getting healthy as an inconvenience. Getting and staying healthy, just like everything in life, is a choice and takes effort. We must choose self or God in everything we say and do. God’s word is health to the bones and gives life to those who trust in it and allow it to work in them and through them. We either choose to eat snickers all day long or to say "no" to them. We can choose to pick up a healthier choice which often tastes just as good and will help heal the body one good choice at a time. Health is not immediate. Nor is our spiritual growth. They both require faith and patience to endure the race and keep our eyes on the goal. Faith, not in ourselves, but in the power of His Spirit, living in us to will and do His good works.
One thing I have learned is I can’t expect the changes I desire in my life, unless I truly make them first. David first trusted God. He didn’t buy into what everyone around him was saying or how Goliath laughed because of David’s size, age, etc. No, he put all of his trust and faith in God, then God gave him the stone and the power to knock Goliath down for good. God calls us and then we have the choice to answer with obedience or walk away no better than we were before He spoke.
God asked Abraham to deliver Isaac to Him. In faith, Abraham walked miles from his home with his son, trusting God would somehow fulfill His promise - "count the stars and so shall your descendants be." As promised, God provided a ram as the sacrifice. He wanted to see that Abraham loved Him more than his son. God wants the same faith from us - that we love Him and His way more than our own. That includes the unhealthy things we do, from reading books that don’t draw us closer to Him, watching shows that may cause us to stumble or worse yet, allowing our children to listen to music that is of the world and not bringing us closer to Him. We can also find ourselves allowing food to be an idol in our lives. Anything we do that does NOT draw us closer to Him, He wants us to get rid ofand sacrifice completely for Him.
Yet, so many fight against "Today" with promises of "I will do it tomorrow. I will do it later." Or we say that we don’t have time for that now. I can’t give up x,y, and z. It is too hard to change. I don’t like trying new things. I don’t want to drink water. I don’t even like water. I...I...I....blah! That is what begins to run through my mind just saying this. Blah, blah, blah!
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We are so busy with worrying about how we will do this life that we don’t stop and just focus on today, living moment by moment in faith, supported and carried in His grace! When we finally stop focusing on what we can’t change or control, we are set free to allow the good that God wants to provide into our hearts and lives. Health first must come from cleaning up our relationship with God. 1 John 1:9 Then we must recognize our need to clean up our relationship with others, our finances, our eating habits, our drinking habits, our exercise habits, our sleeping habits and the list goes on. Getting healthy might mean you slow down, making time for your relationship with God a priority, then your spouse and children. Maybe it means taking a good hard look at how you handle your finances. Maybe it means taking a look at what you are filling your mind with and putting before your eyes. Maybe it means being content with where you live and the things you already have. Maybe it means taking a look at what you are filling your grocery cart with. Maybe it means going to bed an hour earlier instead of watching more TV to ensure you get a good night’s sleep. Maybe it means simply putting down your beliefs of what healthy looks like and feels like and asking God to lead the way in your life for the kind of healing He wants first to take place in your heart and home.
Either we allow Him to be the Master of His house, or we won’t. As the Master, our answers will be: "Come In. Stay. Show me what to clean up and out! Yes, I will do whatever You ask. It will be my pleasure to serve and honor You. I want to bring You glory. This house You built is for You to do whatever You see fit. Anything You desire, at any cost to me is Yours." That means all of our time, energy, heart, mind, body and soul are His. He gave and continues to give His all for us. He does NOTHING half way. God will outgive us, out love us, and do exceedingly great things on our behalf!
The least we can do is Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
This is not my challenge to you. It is God’s to all of us. We are to be listening to His voice, not the world’s. The media has become the voice of this world. Every magazine you pick up has ads about the latest and greatest diet. How this star lost her baby weight in 6 weeks. How eating this way will guarantee you to lose this much weight in a certain amount of time. Join our plan and if you don’t lose x amount of pounds in x amount of weeks, you get your money back. That is crazy and sheer madness. The headlines report that eating carbs is making us fat. Eating this kind of oil is bad for you. Drinking this sports drink will help your endurance. There is so much hype out there that the truth gets lost and is very seldom talked about in any profound way that can affect change.
In the 1950’s, we began eating frozen TV dinners. The quick and easy way for the busy mom to prepare a well-balanced meal - no mess, no fuss, and dessert is a bonus! (Let me remind you, moms in the 1950’s stayed at home. They were not running from one sport’s team to another and didn’t busy themselves with hundreds of outside activities.) Were they really so busy that they needed TV dinners? No, but the brilliant marketing companies that bought air time for TV commercials sure convinced them they were. And that was the beginning of the end of family well-balanced homemade meals by mom as the norm.
Sure, they contained more than enough salt and fats so you wouldn’t realize how bad they were and you were filled up. YUCK! I remember eating these growing up in the 70’s, and they were disgusting. Someone forgot to tell these people that they had zero taste and zero nutrition. Ahhh, then came the famous golden arches and fast food dining. Moms across America rejoiced. We could feed our family without cooking or cleaning anything which made Dad’s life easier too, because Mom was happy, the children were happy, and it didn’t cost much to feed the family! As most of you know, this has grown to seeing those arches at nearly every 3 mile street crossing throughout America. But, instead of just the arches, we have Wendy’s, Burger King, Roy Rogers, and many other fast food places popping up in small towns that never had them before. Our fast food demand has taken over the world. People complain if they go somewhere outside of the U.S. and can’t find the golden arches or fast food that reminds them of home. Hmmmm....I won’t go there today. Another time!
Health doesn’t come in a box, a jar, a bottle or a drive-thru. It comes from filling our mind, bodies and spirit with…"whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about (eat or do) such things." (Philippians 4:8)
This has become my daily meditation as I began 2009: what am I doing that does NOT draw me and my family closer to Him? I pray to see these things clearly each day, so I can seek God’s forgiveness and ask for His grace and power to get rid of them for good. God told Abraham, "I am your shield, your exceedingly Great Reward." (Genesis 15:1) He is that and so much more. To receive all that He has already given us, we must step out in faith and let go of our own ideas and plans for this life. It is not our own. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us "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."
Someone once said to me, "Take one step towards God, and He’ll take a thousand towards you." Take one step a day towards true health, and God will bless your obedience abundantly!
"You don’t have to be healthy to start…you have to start to be healthy." Anonymous ~
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By Jill Samter
Jill Samter has been helping people regain optimal health for over 5 years. Currently she is a blessed stay at home Mom of 8.
Email Jill: inhisgrace7@gmail.com
Visit their family blog: www.forevernevernalways1.blogspot.com
