Food & Faith

What does food have to do with faith? Apparently a lot. Paul told Timothy that in the last days, people would depart from the faith and listen to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. What would those doctrines be?  

1. Forbidding to marry

2. Abstaining from certain foods

Paul then goes on to say that every created thing is good and nothing should be refused. He said it’s sanctified (separated from profane things and dedicated to God) by prayer and thanksgiving. THIS is why we pray and bless our food. I mean…really pray and bless.  Not a perfunctory prayer at the table.   

So where do our doctrines about food come from?  Either the Word of God…or demons. We should examine what we believe.  

Tragedies

We’ve faced some tragedies recently, haven’t we?  Covid changed our world! We experienced being quarantined, illness, loneliness, changing friendships, churches changing, food shortages, and skyrocketing gas prices—all while our 401K shrunk.  

Our world changed overnight. We changed. People began experiencing anxiety and depression. Counselors’ schedules were full. We began trying to make sense of all that was happening…because we were shaken. 

I believe Jesus is coming back very soon and will take all of those who have accepted him as their savior—and committed their lives to following him—to heaven. Those who haven’t chosen to follow him will be left behind.  

Here’s what I know. If you were shaken these past two years because of Covid and its effects, you will definitely be overwhelmed after millions of people are missing. One tragedy after another will take place. The establishment of the Antichrist, lawlessness, people killing one another, worldwide earthquakes, 1/4 of the people on earth killed by famines and plagues. Things will keep coming. You won’t have time to recover from one tragedy before another hits! If you never choose to follow Jesus, you will spend an eternity in hell with perpetual trauma and isolation. 

There is a solution: give your life to Jesus now. Admit your sin and ask his forgiveness. Follow him! Give up control and give him control of your life. Make him the boss of your life. And get in the Word—the Bible!!  You won’t grow or change unless you do. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. He will. 

Your life doesn’t have to be controlled by tragedy.  Trust Jesus—and let him have complete control of your life. His ways are higher (and better) than our ways!

Who is Your Giant?

Who is your giant? Is it a person, fear, anger, lust, the future, hopelessness, a job, expectations, control, or something else? David killed his giant…how do we kill ours?

David had already been anointed king but hadn’t come into that position yet. Instead, he was a shepherd boy (probably 15-years-old) keeping his father’s sheep. At that same time, the Spirit of God came on him (the Spirit didn’t indwell people in the Old Testament). He had plenty of time to practice using his sing shot and had successfully killed a lion and bear—and probably lots of other wild animals. His father sent him to check on his three older brothers who’d gone to battle against the Philistines. 

When David got to the battle site, Goliath was doing what he’d done for the past 40 days—day and night: he was taunting and challenging the Israelites—daring them to fight him. The reason he could do that is because he was around 9 feet tall! He was a giant with at least two giant brothers. The Israelites were trembling in fear—including King Saul. They’d had forty days of the same message of death and destruction…and did nothing. David heard that message one time and stepped up to the challenge of fighting Goliath. David knew Goliath wasn’t defying the Israelites…he was defying God. David went into battle (when other, older men were too fearful) and killed Goliath that day. (Read the full, exciting story in I Samuel 16-18)

What does this story have to do with us? The same tactics are used today by our enemy. Satan and his demons speak to our minds daily—in fact, many times a day. They want to destroy us. So they use fear, control, hopelessness, and all those other things to try to bring us to our knees. The truth is, they’re defying our God. They hate him so much, they don’t want one Christian left standing. So they assault our minds day after day. 

We need to do what David did. Take a stand. Take that thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ the first time you hear it! David didn’t mess around like the rest of Israel who listened twice a day for forty days. Don’t you see that if you listen that long, you become brainwashed and it leaves you cowering in fear?! That’s Satan’s intent. He wants to bind you in fear and destroy you. 

We are to take those thoughts captive by obeying Jesus. And as a believer, you have authority over Satan and his demons. Tell them to leave!! We are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb (salvation) and the word of our testimony (speaking truth). (Revelation 12:11)  Don’t tolerate the lies that come into your mind. Quote scripture to your enemy—he hates it! Be like David and destroy the enemy the FIRST time you hear his lies.

Kill those giants!

Go Back to the Basics

It’s so easy to get overwhelmed with life, with disappointments, with sin, with discouragements—and all the rest. What do we do? Where do we go? To whom do we turn?

Go back to the basics.  

• Read your Bible. Even read it out loud.  Your own ears need to HEAR it! The Word of God is our authority, our help, our counsel, our encouragement.  
• Pray. God knows it all, but he wants to hear from you. Tell him your innermost secrets and fears. Call on prayer warriors to pray with you—and over you.  
• Listen.  Listen to God’s voice.  Seek wise counsel. Go to a Christian counselor. 
• Ask God for TRUTH! Knowing the truth sets us free. We often avoid truth—and don’t want to hear it. But asking God for truth should be a daily request—especially in the day in which we live!!
• Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. This is so important. Satan speaks to us in first person singular—“I.”  He doesn’t say, “Becky, you’re stupid!”  He’s the great deceiver.  He says, “I am stupid”—so you think it’s your own thoughts!!  Examine every thought. Pull it out of your mind and look at it.  Is it negative, derogatory, an accusation, a temptation, willful, stubborn, ugly?  That’s the enemy!  Toss that thought to the pit of hell where it belongs! Fill your mind with scripture, spiritual songs, and TRUTH!! Don’t let the enemy have free reign in your mind. He only wants to take your mind on a spiral towards destruction.  

Going back to these basics can set you free. Your circumstances may not change overnight, but your frame of mind can change day-by-day. How do I know?  God has done it in my own life. Any time I’ve hit bottom emotionally and spiritually, I go back to the basics. They are life-giving.  

And God wants to give you life abundantly.  

Waiting

What does God teach us in the waiting?

1. To be patient
2. To quiet your heart
3. Gentleness
4. To hear God
5. To not get ahead of God
6. To learn how to strategize 
7. To grow your faith
8. To learn how to help others as you wait
9. To occupy
10. To believe God and trust His heart
11. Submission
12. To be more concerned for others
13. To grow in love
14. Obedience
15. Peace
16. A different view or viewpoint
17. Joy
18. Self-control and dying to self
19. Fruitfulness
20. Growth
21. To keep in step with the Spirit of God

I’ve been in many waiting rooms. It’s not particularly fun. It has certainly stretched me! Today, I read about Saul not waiting for Samuel to come make a sacrifice—he unlawfully made the sacrifice himself. His act of impatience cost him the kingdom. 

What has my impatience cost me? Mostly, growth in obedience. A lot of times, peace—because my heart stays all stirred up. Sometimes, a place of usefulness in the kingdom of God because I refuse to submit. 

What have I learned in the waiting?  That God’s way is best—and worth waiting for. 

What have you learned in the waiting?

Asking for a King

Israel wanted a king. The trouble with that is that they already had a King—God! 

How many times have I done that? I may not desire a literal king to reign over me. Oh no! I want to be my own king!! God recently revealed my own heart to me: I don’t like to be told what to do. Wow. 

It’s kind of the American way—or maybe the way of the world now. We want to do whatever makes us happy. We don’t want to serve others. We don’t even want to serve God. We bristle when anyone tries to instruct us—or we just tune them out. Or is that just me??

After the people repented, Samuel told them, “You’ve done wickedly, but don’t turn away from following God. Instead, serve him with all of your heart.” That’s what we’re prone to do, isn’t it? When confronted with sin, we shrug our shoulders and give up. We think, “I can’t do this perfectly—I might as well give up.”

Don’t give up! Like I had to do, repent of your pride and insolence. Give God your heart!! Submit to him and follow him with everything you have. 

Submit to your one true King—God. 

Have You Been Told You’re Not Enough?

Gideon’s & Saul’s stories are so similar.  The Angel of the Lord found Gideon hiding in the winepress sifting wheat for fear of his enemies.  When the Lord found him there, he said, “Hail, Mighty Warrior!”  He didn’t seem very mighty, did he?

Saul had been told by Samuel he would be king. But as  each tribe was brought before Samuel for God to show Israel who would be king, Saul couldn’t be found.  He was hiding with the luggage! It doesn’t sound very kingly, does it?

Why did both men appear so insecure?  Here’s their answer. Gideon said, “Oh my Lord, how can I save Israel?  My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my father’s house.”  Saul said, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe?”

Gideon came from the smallest tribe—by the number of men.  Saul came from the youngest brother of the tribes of Israel. But somehow, from all of that, they believed they were nobodies!  Satan’s tactics haven’t changed, have they?

Who did God say they were?  God said Gideon was a mighty warrior!!  And Saul?  God said he was a king!!

Who does God say YOU are?  Come in agreement with Him!  You are more than enough with God.