SPEAKING THE TRUTH TO YOURSELF

Is what I eat important? Does it matter?

Early in our marriage Eric impressed on me a vital character strength. The importance of “speaking the truth” to yourself. A lie to yourself is deceiving yourself, moving mentally away from reality, from what is.

What every individual eats and how much, makes a major difference in their health, strength, mental capability, length of life and usefulness. Those who, sadly, have not cared for themselves are often sickly and die before their time. Of course, only God knows how long every person will live, but Scripture points to healthy food as part of His blessing on us.

"Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 

Who forgives all thine iniquities, who heals all thy diseases. 

Who redeems thy life from destruction, who crowns thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies. 

Who satisfies thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." Psalm 103:1-5

The frequency of food highlighted in Scripture is surprising. Why the food so often? Which food? Is it just mentioned as a side-light or could it be more? The food God chose to use is worth living with.

And Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Luke 4:4) This Word is telling you something to live by.

Happiness does not arrive by satisfying our food cravings. But it can come from a confident plan for your life; like food that is the right nutrition for your body. Whether we think of comfort as a fast-food burger and fries, satisfying a sugar addiction, alcohol abuse or a drug habit it does not last. Consider that knowing the right way to live is first knowing Jesus, peace in your heart, then living well, eating what is good and caring for your spirit, soul, and body, this is a hope filled adventure. And “every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” is our hope.

Why is faith important when you think of the food you eat? There is a curious constancy in the way God uses important food in the Bible as a powerful blessing for his people. But only rarely does the Holy Spirit tell us why “I have brought you to a land flowing with milk and honey” is important. But you will see this phrase repeated throughout Scripture. What is there about milk? Or honey? Study these two foods and you might be surprised at their benefits. 

DO IT FOR YOU

 Now that I think about it, the seriousness of developing good health came early. My father was health-oriented way back. He was born in 1902. An athlete in Wheaton College, he told us he ate at “the training table.” Later he was the initiator for health as our family travelled the Country in Evangelistic work, singing and quoting Scripture. Our mother cooperated, though the Biblical recommendations for food (like real butter) cost more. The years since have powerfully strengthened my faith in this bottom line: the Bible is the ultimate authority for a healthy diet. Go to Scripture first when you have a question about a health regimen.

In the Old Testament God listed “clean” and “unclean” food in His Law given to Moses, (though in the New Testament food allowances changed). Early in the history of the world, Dietary Laws in the Bible were written  for whoever would listen. Later, God instructed Noah to take into the ark seven of every “kind” of clean animal and two of unclean: the “do not eat” animals.

As a teenager, I wondered about the “unclean animals” that were not good, or healthy to eat. Of course, the wild, vicious predators and bottom feeders were on the "unclean" list. We all know now that pigs eat anything and have one digestive system. Shellfish are bottom feeders. Lions and tigers are not on your common dinner table.

We have only one life. Your own spirit, soul and body are a worthy subject to experiment on as you learn how to live successfully. It can be your personal science study! But originated from the Holy Spirit; "...holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:21) 

FOOD IS NOT A GOD

Let not food be a god.

If it is a powerful comfort? You have a Comforter, The Holy Spirit. Jesus said to you and me, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever..." John 14:16.

Is food an escape from stress? Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matthew 11:29.

Is addiction to sugar, or fast food more important than learning how to care for your spirit, soul, and body. The Apostle Paul, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" I Corinthians 6:19.

It is exciting and motivating to obey and see! Understand by experience what Scripture means.

My challenge is coffee. Do I love it too much? I have prayed about it. When I awake in the night with a headache, after fasting coffee for a day, what is the reason? Sure, in this modern day, coffee has had positive press. If I fast it to pray and then I get a headache, am I addicted?

These challenges go to the core of who we are. My love for coffee with “Grass-fed” half and half added is an important part of my day. My husband and I have coffee together on the front porch every morning. Now that he is retired, so am I. Though I did not have a career that I retired from, my work was caring for our home, our children, my volunteer work at their school, my love for instructing aerobics at a gym, and more recently part time work in a women’s clothing establishment. Of course, writing. So, when Eric retired from thirty-five years as a Logistics Manager for the Government, I “retired” too. I enjoy the freedom his freedom brings to both of us.

Coffee time in our marriage brings us together: to connect, talk over, remember, plan, discuss Theology. So, when I realize that I feel better after having coffee, is coffee too important to me?

YOUR STORY

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 

Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases. Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.” (Psalm 103:2-5).

This renewing physically comes from vitamins, minerals, proteins; the food created to renew us.

It makes sense that God would plan for the intricacies in our lives, including health. “So, God created mankind in His own image…” (Genesis 1:27). You will never find a mistake in the plan of the Bible. As you do your own research, by trial and error you will be on an adventure worth taking. Just as in nature intricate math in the heavens and the earth, the number of petals on flowers, herbs, trees, and leaves, all “declare the glory of God.” Likewise, the process of learning about the food your body thrives upon will be a science. The variety is astounding, nourishment is in all of it.

YOUR INDIVIDUAL UNIQUENESS

Your body is amazing. You are the only one like you: facial features, body structure, inherited strengths, and struggles, as you know. This is only referring to your body. Beyond this, your gifts, and abilities.

Scientists today understand the human body more than in the past. For instance, bloodletting is no longer a practice to “save lives.” Because of the complexity of our bodies, Physicians often become specialists of only one part of the body.

The body’s DNA is a map of sorts of your personhood.

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and all other organisms. Every cell in a person's body has the same DNA. Most DNA is in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA ormtDNA).

https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/basics/dna - Genetics

Faith and discernment apply here. You are different from every person who ever lived, so what you eat and drink either agrees with you or you might develop a reaction.

Eric, my husband of forty-nine years, and I sit on our front porch and have coffee every morning. With Eric’s retirement from the US NAVY, for the first time in our marriage we are free to spot birds, squirrels climbing the shade trees, flying things and our “pet” black stray cat. This morning Sand Cranes stopped by again, (so we named them Jachin and Boaz, pillars in the porch of the temple). They ate the Ezekiel Bread we tossed to them. Coffee time gives us connection as we begin our day. It is interesting that our neighbors who stop and chat sometimes talk about suffering from food related problems. We have had our own challenges.

When Eric had colon cancer in 2007 and I had breast cancer in 2013 we had an unexpected journey. We had done our best until then, eating as carefully as we knew how. Both of us exercised jogging and strength training. Before Eric traveled across town to work, for years we were going to a gym three times a week. Why did both of us have cancer? Intensity in me to become stronger only grew as I helped Eric, then he helped me through surgeries and chemotherapy. After this we continued with more focus and diligence than before; continuing to learn.

CHAPTER 1.FOOD BY FAITH

 

FOOD COMMENTS ARE THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE

 

“If You Don’t buy it, You Won’t Eat It”

 

“FOOD AND FAITH GO TOGETHER”

 

You can have a noticeable change in your health in ten days. It took Daniel, and his three friends that long to prove that “things grown” are effective quickly (in Daniel 1:12).

If food by faith is a new thought for you, think of this: the journey of your life is a one-time opportunity to do the best you can, to search for the most wisdom you can find. You can become physically, spiritually, mentally all God created you to be!

The variety provided by our Creator is vast, from cows and sheep to grains and watermelon, nuts, broccoli, and squash…how about a focus on our health!

If we believe in an all-wise Creator, eating the right food makes sense. He made everything to be for the wellbeing of all humanity: our welfare, health, and our eternal salvation. He poured love into our world through the life, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, “The Way, the Truth and the Life….”

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Thessalonians 5:23). Sanctified means set apart. Let faith be an adventure.

START SOMEWHERE

For the first years of our marriage, and before I could afford to buy what I pleased in the grocery store, our three sons, Joshua, Josiah, and Zachariah were one to five. Eric was earning minimum wage as an Electrician’s Helper. My budget for food was $18.00 a week. I remember praying as I shopped and looked at the fruit and vegetable departments, “Lord, I cannot buy those big red apples. They are there and out of reach. Help me to be able to buy them.” It was up to God to provide, I knew. We were eating healthy low-cost food. The grapes and pears were expensive, too so I looked for fresh fruit on sale. Vegetables, cut and bagged were beautiful just to look at. But I got good at chopping and cutting, and often still do. Buying whole wheat flour from a friend who ground it fresh, and baking our bread was natural because my mother had baked whole wheat bread often for our family of ten. Also, I could afford to bake granola with whole oats, raisins, honey, butter, and olive oil. I bought whole grains and made bread. Meat was for flavor, beef, and chicken. I made whole wheat chocolate cake, oatmeal, and carrot cakes. The frosting, cooked on a double broiler with raw sugar and egg whites, then cream cheese added.

When the three boys went to school with their homemade bread sandwiches, it brought attention to their lunches. I did not slice the bread carefully. Their sandwiches were all huge, each one was unique; They ate mounds of natural peanut butter. I packed cut vegetables and fruit and bought granola bars for them.

One mistake was to make beef bologna sandwiches with mayonnaise. It was cheap. On a field trip our middle son, Josiah, had to put his head out the bus window and vomit. I stopped buying bologna. The chemicals in cold-cut meats had warned me through our son suffering with a sick stomach.

If you take notice, the Bible is a Guide to food. Look closely and you will discover it. Beginning with Adam and Eve God told them, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat..." Genesis 2:16. God later instructed Noah about food in Genesis 9. Later there were guidelines and provision for His people when they escaped slavery in Egypt, their food was specific. Forty years it was manna every morning from heaven in the wilderness. Now we know that the food for the Passover Feast was a figurative “picture” into the future: a lamb slain pictured of Jesus the Lamb of God. His blood shed for us, the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

“Hearken diligently…eat that which is good and let your soul delight itself in fatness.” (Isaiah 55:2). “Thy words were found, and I did eat them…” (Jeremiah 15:16).

Food is traditionally part of connection to God, whether it is the Passover in the Old Testament or Communion with bread and wine in the New Testament. As a Christian our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit: this food is part of our worship of God.

WHEN FOOD IS PART OF THE STORY

In Exodus Twelve it is lamb or goat eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs just before the Israelites were “led by Moses” out of bondage in Egypt. (It sounds good to me!) In the New Testament bread and wine (described in I Corinthians Eleven) is part of our personal worship of God. Jesus began this worship when he took bread,"...and gave thanks, and break it, and gave to them, saying, ‘This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.’" Luke 22:19

How you have decided to live every day is how your life and health will develop and progress. It is from these endless decisions.

If you begin with faith in God and the Bible then you believe that the God Who created the world and everything in it, the One who formed your personhood and very breath of life, has a Plan for you. (From the beginning of Creation God shows Himself to be the Great Planner). He cares about what you eat. Your health matters. The food that is good matters to God.

You have freewill and decision-making power. This makes all the difference in life and health and your future. Look to Scripture for wisdom to integrate into every area of your life. “You will show me the path of life…” Psalm 16:11. It is a promise.

The Creator of the heavens and the earth gives this admonition. Jesus, “It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Luke 4:4.