Archive for the ‘Fasting’ Category

The Belly God

November 15, 2014

Stomach growling

In Romans 14:17, we read, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

Oh , how many of us who profess Christ serve another king day after day! This revelation just recently came to me, that we eat without wanting food, we program ourselves to eat because it is “breakfast, lunch, or dinner” time!

What we really are doing is sitting before a “god” of sorts, the god of food and drink. We think we  must eat because it is time to eat, our pre-set program says so. But is this really God’s will? Let us look at how food plays a much larger role in our Christian walk than many realize.

Apostle Paul explains, “For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.(Phil. 3:18-19)

This is so prevalent today. People worshiping (even unbeknownst to themselves) the “god” of their belly.  I, myself have recently realized that I was eating without really wanting food. It was time to eat therefore–I ate. But being a long time digestion challenged person, I assumed I needed food on a regular schedule until– the Lord rang the bell in my mind about what I was doing.

You see, our bodies are a fantastic machine capable of working all minute details of our system , including calling us for the signal to –eat.

We remember when the Lord began His ministry here on earth, that His first step was to go with out food. He showed us that in our walk we must FIRST serve God and then eat.

Another great habit to get involved in is, do not eat between meals. This is simple yet very effective in learning self control of our appetite. We can set in motion a firm desire to show we are not going to have any “belly god”.

It is interesting to note the experience of Daniel the prophet. We know that he was “greatly beloved” of God. But do you notice that in the very beginning of his prophetic writings he began a vegetable fast? That’s right.

Daniel 1:12 reads, ” Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.”

I believe this was divinely placed in the first part of his ministry to show us that our bodies are to be clean and mean, a finely tuned machine as it were, and ready to be in tune with the Lord.

Overeating and eating of the worldly processed junk, many call “food” today, certainly befogs the mind and can only serve to numb our experience with the Lord. Our “antenna”  should be clean and dialed in to listen to His voice.

Here is what I found recently that I believe was given to me by the Lord. As mentioned I have been a long time digestion challenged person. This most likely is due to my many years of eating poorly and doing my share of drinking. I had weakened my digestion. So as I have converted my life several years ago,  from worldliness to devotion to God, I have eaten what I thought was the best I could. Yet trouble seemed to linger at many turns.

Then the Lord spoke, “Robert, why don’t you let Me guide you in eating and drinking?” Wow! Now why didn’t I think of that :-). So as we “supped” He said that my stomach will “growl” when it needs food. I don’t have to force myself to eat just because it’s time. So that was the answer. Let my system tell me , not the other way around! I was going to call this the “growl diet” but figured it would be a little bewildering to some.

We are counselled by Inspiration by our church founder’s very important inspired pledge for us as faithful people of God–

“I SOLEMNLY PROMISE, BEFORE GOD, TO ABSTAIN FROM TOBACCO, SPIRITOUS LIQUORS, SNUFF, TEA, COFFEE, FLESH-MEATS, BUTTER, SPICES, RICH CAKE, MINCE PIES, A LARGE AMOUNT OF SALT, AND ANIMAL FAT OF ALL KINDS, BAKING POWDER, SODA OR SALERATUS IN ANY FORM, AND CHEESE, AND FROM ALL EXCITING ARTICLES OF FOOD, AND TO ABSTAIN FROM EATING BETWEEN MEALS, AND TO DO ALL I CAN TO INDUCE OTHERS TO DO LIKEWISE.”

MY PERSONAL PLEDGE, BEFORE GOD,

SIGNED_____________________________

 (Letter to the General Conference, March 29, 1908)

“Satan sees that he cannot have so great power over minds when the appetite is kept under control as when it is indulged, and he is constantly working to  lead men to indulgence.” (Christian Education, p.180)

These Inspired counsels will surely help us to walk closer to the Lord. May the Lord keep us mindful of our bodies, knowing that fasting and timely eating will bring blessings. We can then show the Lord we have nothing to do with any “belly god”. May we all heed this divine counsel!

Posted in Christian walk, Fasting, Healing and health | 3 Comments »

Fasting As Jesus Said

January 14, 2012

We as Christians are well familiar with one of the very first things our Lord did in the beginning of His ministry here on earth.  He walked  into the wilderness and ate nothing for 40 days. He fasted. Let us look into this much overlooked yet very important aspect of our Lord’s example.

When we go back to the very beginnings, God had made our food pure, no toxins existed in anything we ate or drink. Eden was a true beautiful paradise, flowing with such beauty. But today we are very degenerated from those days. Our bodies and minds have been bombarded with toxins. Could it be that fasting has more to offer than we suppose, for mind, body and soul?

In (Luke 4:1) we read “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wildernesss, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.” Then in verse 14, just after Jesus had come out of the wilderness it says ” Then  Jesus returned in the POWER OF THE SPIRIT to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. Could His prayer and fasting the 40 days, contributed to His being in “the power of the Spirit”? Certainly.

 Look at this list of notable men who  fasted.  Moses fasted 40 days because of the sin of Israel (Deu. 9:15-18) Daniel fasted (Dan 9:3-5) David fasted while his son was ill (2 Sam. 12:16) Ezra led a fast to seek God’s favor (Ez.8:21) .There are many more examples of fasting. But from the above we can see fasting was done for –forgiveness of sins, asking for help in health restoration of a loved one, and protection from danger (Ezra).

So in studying this subject, it brought me to the thought –why aren’t we practicing this much? Can it be we’ve neglected a most helpful practice in becoming more in tune with our Lord and even more “in power”? In (Luke 5:35) Pointing down in time, Jesus definitely makes it clear we shall fast . “But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and THEN shall they fast in those days.”

Being  studied in the nutrition field, I’ve had the opportunity to study the effects of food and drink upon our body and mind. Let me just breifly state that the attitude, energy, mindset, even mood, can be directly affected by what you eat and drink. Let me give two  examples of this.

There are well known allergy tests known as the sublingual testing. The person fasts for 24 hours, then goes into the office to be tested. A clear concentrated solution is given of certain substances under the tongue, one at a time, to observe the reaction. A person may be given wheat for example , and then within minutes he feels shaky or even confused(gluten allergy). Then maybe milk is given and the person feels as if he is leaving his body, kind of  a floating dizziness. Maybe a friut , such as banana, then he feels a joyful uplifted mood.  The point I’m making is that all our allergens have, over time “built up” in us, making the body woefully polluted, then our thinking and mindset is seriously lowered. The body needs and demands– a rest and clean out, that’s called a fast.

This next example is truly a great one because of the unexpected final result. The story goes that a man (don’t remember where he was from) was just destroyed, heart broke. His fiance had found another man and left him. He was crushed, so he said “What’s to live for? I’m going to the mountains to die.” So he went up into the cold lonely mountains to die, no food just some water for a few days. So there he was , still crying, and suffering so much. Day one went by, day two and so forth, eating nothing except drinking water.

But something strange began to happen about day 7 or 8. He awoke and started to think  “What if I can live without her? Maybe I can find someone even better, some one who will REALLY love me?”  His mind was becoming clearer, more rational.  His toxins were leaving. Unbeknowest to him , he was experiencing one of our Lord’s beautiful laws–the joy of purifying through fasting.

 On day 12, he had seen the light, he was very foolish to die over some  girl, who didn’t love him ever anyway. His mind was indeed clear. He went home a changed man!

 Admittingly, fasting commonly isn’t something that can be rushed into. Many find that juice fasting is a good prepartion for water fasting. Many times it’s better to do a one or two week vegetable and juice fast to become familiar with fasting. Certain reactions many times do happen that are known as “healing reactions”. These pass, and are  usually of a short duration ( usually 1 to 5 days at the beginning).

 We are told that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And as such, the purer we keep ourselves, the more we can be in tune with our Maker. Let us have the courage, through prayer, to fast as our Lord instructed. If we find our walk just never seems to be right, one of the most overlooked areas is –fasting. We continue day after day to toxicate ourselves without even realizing it!

If our bodies are “home” to God’s Holy Spirit, and in fact a ‘temple”, then it stands to reason we should clean and sanitize  it occasionally. In so doing we will find a clearer and more satisfying walk with our Maker.

 So let us continue to look to our Lord for all strength, including the ability fast as he said. Our Maker knows our every inch, and has declared “fasting” as a good and honorable thing to do.

In Christ, Rob

Posted in Fasting | 2 Comments »