"...honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows' milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, The people have become hungry and tired and thirsty in the desert." 2 Samuel 17:29
If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what dothit profit?
The context of this verse is certainly to alert us to charity and good works and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Yet, we cannot help but to note that food indeed is needful and that as dieters we must face either being in subjection to it, or being in control over it. Food became an addiction to us, and although it is not the most difficult of all addictions to overcome, unlike those in bondage to alcohol or drugs, it is not something we can put down, walk away from, and never have to face our temptation again if we so choose. So we have a dilemma, and God is the only one that can show us the route of escape.
Therefore we need to study the Scriptures if we are sincere in seeking weight loss. And we need not meditate far when we recall Paul saying, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." God does not require abstinence; He requires contentment. God does not require we become super human; He provides His strength. God does not hide the solution; He reveals the secret. God does not demand all or nothing; He teaches us in either plenty or want.
Those are keys to the Kingdom of heaven. We have lived in plenty and overabundance with food. Now, as dieters, we might tip toe through want, but as we see the blessing of weight loss occur, we learn to be content. We learn obedience is far more satisfying than plenty. We learn to ask forgiveness when we took advantage of plenty and we learn to thank God for just enough fuel in our bodies to keep us efficient. Thank You, Lord for awakening us to the true riches of the Kingdom of heaven---contentment without remorse.
And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?
And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?
Honey But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened." 1 Samuel 14:27
Indeed you are blessed, because you have trusted that the promise Adonai has made to you will be fulfilled. (CJB)
So little is said when we are blessed with weight loss compared to the complaints we vocalized through the years we either gained or could not lose weight. Today we focus on how we are blessed indeed the moment we began to trust God that He could indeed deliver us from the bondage of obesity.
Somewhere deep within us the Holy Spirit dropped a thought within us that with God all things were possible. We clearly understood on our own we just could not be successful at weight loss. We lacked the drive, the will power, and perhaps even the praise to put wings upon our prayers for our victory in this area. We wrestled with doubt, unwise choices, and stomachs that we carefully spoiled to grumble every few hours.
Now we have carefully crossed over to evidence realized and seen that not one of our prayers for help fell to the ground. One day we began to trust God that He was indeed going to perform His word to us and bless us in this area. The waiting time gave us patience as well as knowledge as how we could do good for our body as God gave us the strength to stick to our Plan each day.
God's promise to us has been fulfilled. He is able to do what He has said He would do. He has given us the desire of our heart to wrestle this flesh under control and to return to the land of normalcy. Let us praise and worship Adonai for all He has done and all that He yet will do!
Gen 42:7 And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spoke roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.
Herbs "A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, It is finished. With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." John 19:29-30
We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic.
On the surface this verse sure appears to be a healthy diet and we could dismiss it as a job well done. But the gist of the verse for dieters is, "We remember...we did eat freely." Even as we escape bondage we have the familiar and comforting memories of the days we ate to our excessive heart's content. To complicate it even more so, many of these excessive meals were done under the guise of freely, when we gathered at family or friends homes for a social event and was supplied, for free, an over-abundance of foods. We can not escape our memories, but we can escape the longing to eat freely---no holds barred.
We must now place restraints on our appetites. We must now moderate our portions. Every high calorie food we do consume will show up on the scale. We might reserve a day or two for feasting, but we have to budget our intake the days that follow, or even more wisely, the days that precede an occasion so that the scale does not penalize us. We are on a journey out of Egypt and into the Promise Land and we must have stronger memories to guide us on how good skinny feels, when compared to obesity.
We take the time to thank the Lord for showing us His Plan. We are grateful that restraint is now present in our life. We are doing what it takes to put the past behind us. We forget those foods that led to robbing us of normalcy in body weight. Gone is the fired chicken. The potato chips is no longer purchased. The banana splits is no longer a Sunday ritual in the family. This trek out of Egypt is well worth it as God delights to feed us our daily bread and we receive it with gratitude.
Lord God, weight loss is a great reward for our obedience. Help us to always remember that You are pleased with obedience. Thank You for setting us free. Amen
1.) I believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, without error as originally given; it is the final and infallible authority in matters of faith and practice.
2.) I believe in the Trinity, one God is Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
3.) I believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and rose bodily and literally on the third day.
4.) I believe man is by nature lost and in need of a Savior. By repenting of sin and accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior (by faith alone), we become right with God: our sins are forgiven, heaven is our home, and we will live with our Lord and other believers for ever. Good works may evidence our salvation, but we are saved by God's grace apart from our works.
5.) I believe that those who have not received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will be separated from God and experience His judgment forever.
6.) Jesus will one day return to to establish His Kingdom. He will judge the living and the dead.
