Walking in God's Blessing: A Diet Update

What does it mean to walk in God's blessing? God's Word says,

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. James 1:25

When Jesus is truly our Lord, and orders our steps, I believe we will be blessed. We are speaking of the eternal values of Christ, and not temporal pleasure. One of the great false teachings of today is that God will make you wealthy in money and material goods. He does not promise this, and next month we will look at the Bible's teachings about riches—and respect of persons.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:7

The closer we walk with our Lord Jesus, the more like Him we will become.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Galatians 5:24

The diet update will come, but there is more to walking in blessing than that alone. God wants the best for us, and we need to trust Him even when we don't understand.

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matthew 7:11

About six weeks ago I had a dental appointment. I have gone to the dentist twice a year for about five years. Each time I had cavities; and more than one at every checkup but this one! Expensive, uncomfortable, frustrating. This time, however, I challenged the normal outcome through prayer earlier in the day. The dentist found no decay! I wanted to scream hallelujah I was so overjoyed! Then I thought about it as a blessing brought by obedience…

As I have shared in the dieting advice section of our website, maintaining a healthy weight with proper diet and exercise is a necessary part of a believer's life. Our bodies become the temple of the Holy Ghost; so Jesus must be our Lord in this area as well. My own urgent sense of the need for weight loss was motivated by this. Did healthier eating lead to a good dental check-up? My consumption of sodas, ice cream, cakes, cookies, candies, is probably about 5% of what it once was. Were these things decaying my teeth? That answer is yes! So when I obeyed the Lord to submit in weight loss and eating habits, I became blessed in another area of my life I hadn't considered. What a wonderful Father we have!

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Ephesians 3:20

Think of the dietary laws that God made for Israel from which we now have kosher (allowable) foods. Eating pork was not allowed—could it be because improperly cooked pork is poison to our systems? Before we knew the science, God was protecting His people.

Shellfish were also forbidden to be eaten. Shellfish dwell on the sea floor, where all manner of decay, feces, and garbage exist; it gets on them, and they ingest it. This could also cause health problems for those consuming them—our Heavenly Father was watching out for us!

In the New Testament, God repeals most of the dietary laws. Possibly because our spiritual condition is more important, and also that some areas of the world are limited in food availability. Now God says,

Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. I Timothy 4:3-5

We do still observe some dietary limitations in God's Word today; listed in Acts 15:20 and 15:29:

That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. Acts 15:29

Things strangled would be synonymous with Leviticus 22:8, meaning dead animals that you find. If one hunts or fishes, he often consumes his quarry. But if you find something that has been dead for days, you don't touch it! You could not know why it died, or what organisms (many invisible to the naked eye) may have infected it since then. Some think God's laws prohibitive, but He really does want the best for us! (see Hebrews 12:11)

Now back to the blessing aspects! Joseph (son of Jacob/Israel) walked in the Lord's blessing.

And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison Genesis 29:2-4

And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper. Genesis 29:21-23

Joseph's circumstances were troubling, to be sure! But God still blessed him greatly. Thirteen years Joseph was in captivity. That was, however, exactly where God wanted him to be—the very center of God's will! Joseph was obedient to God in interpreting dreams, and this eventually brought him before Pharaoh—who gave Joseph full charge of the great Egyptian nation! Joseph lived the truth of James 4:9,10 over a thousand years before God made it written.

Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. James 4:9,10

As you may recall from past newsletters, my wife and I felt we had to return to work (of some kind) back in November. Debts and bills were mounting, and we could see no other alternative. Strange as it may seem (we are a peculiar people: Titus 2:14), the more circumstances were showing us that we must return to the regular workforce, the more certain we are that God wants us to be set aside for His service.

We worked through an employment agency, as "temp-to-hire" employees. That is, we start as temporary help and then may be offered regular employment directly from the company after a month. I wound up at an enormous warehouse with over 1,000 employees, a place I never thought I would work (because of negative accounts).

My weight loss effort had to adjust for the cooler weather, and my type of work load. I was on my feet a good bit, but not strenuously. My body adjusted rather quickly to my work load—and weight losses slowed down.

There is a sensible reason for all that happens in regard to losing weight, and I believe God wants to teach us that so we can take better care of ourselves. I believed after losing a good bit of weight, my body had adjusted to my routines. I would have to dig really deep to "shake up" my metabolism over the winter months—or bear through with much slower losses until the weather changed. I opted to wait it out and be patient. What I discovered however, was that apart from "natural" causes we (believers) need God's blessing to succeed. And that depends not as much on how we eat, but upon how we obey.

My employment with the agency officially lasted six weeks, then (after another application) I received full time work directly through the warehouse company.

As the time of my potentially deeper employment approached I did not fully submit it to the Lord. My prayers did not openly yield to whether or not God wanted me there. We really need to trust our all-knowing Father! Instead, I prayed that if we still needed to work that God would let me stay there.

This company's application (computerized) has a long series of "character" evaluation questions at the end. I had to re-apply due to "red flags" raised by my initial answers. When I questioned this, I was told to look at the questions as they pertained to work at the warehouse. The way many questions were phrased really required a lie to submit a desirable answer. Doing it this way, I was hired. I did also repent before God—I thought this application issue might be some company oversight. I told my wife I intended to bring this matter up in the suggestion box after a few weeks.

After I was seated in the new-hire orientation classroom, my eyes viewed two posters that made my blood run cold. These posters in front of me were also on the other side of the room, in English and Spanish. Here they are;

Attitude

Often it's not so much a matter of who you are, but who you think you are. And the more you start to believe that you are who you want to become, the more others will believe that's who you really are. And that can be a real treat!

Teamwork

Worth thinking about

Take the guy who thinks he's sent from Heaven to grace a particular work place. He does things his own way and sneers at others, conveying to them that they're inferior.

But when he needs something done—oh, boy, suddenly you are his best friend. But once you have finished the task, he goes back to being Perfection Personified, and you're again treated like that little gnat of a nuisance that you normally are.

This is not the way to win friends and influence people.

Hopefully you can see clearly that the one poster encourages lying about who you are. The other flatly puts down those with faith in God, condemning them as self-righteous hypocrites! At the same time, we were being told to treat others with "courtesy, dignity, and respect."

It became clear that the application questions were to yield the type of employee they desired. And if any with faith and morals made it through, they were put down in a way to silence them.

Conviction fell heavily upon me, and I prayed for mercy. Nevertheless, I hoped this terrible corporate manifestation would not be present for my work area. Most of the long term associates didn't even know of the posters. As a new conglomerate had taken over about one year before, this was a part of their hiring format.

Of course, things at the bottom (where I was) turned out to be just as bad. Lies and deceit were used, along with constant schedule changes which destroy personal lives outside the company. These changes kept stealing my time with the Lord and my wife.

Wouldn't it seem a good idea to get another job before leaving this bad one? Nothing was presenting itself, and I truly felt that I was compromising my faith in staying. In Daniel chapter three, some other men faced a dilemma of obedience. Do we comply with the king, or follow our God? Bowing to Nebuchadnezzar's golden image meant nothing to most people. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew that it was a forbidden idolatry (Exodus 20:4,5). They did not know the outcome of their choice, but knew they had to obey God.

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Daniel 3:17,18

So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. Luke 17:10

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29

Perhaps I wasn't facing a furnace, but the choice was similar in other ways. The demand of finances (we all have bills) with no visible income, the stigma of leaving a job after only three months, family opinion, etc. One year before my wife and I were led to close out our full time jobs—but we had some extra money then. Now I was seeing a clear choice again, but this time with debt and no income! Which one takes more faith? Yet we continually ask the Lord to help our faith grow—you can see what happens, so watch out! It is at once scary and wonderful!

So yes; I left my job on a one week notice. The Lord did use me to touch lives, and even more so in leaving. We are indeed "strangers and exiles" on the earth, merely passing through.

Dieting disaster seemed to follow. In the first week after leaving I registered a 3.25 pound weight gain! It was a devastating reading, as I had been struggling with snail-like progress for months. You may remember the goal is to lose one pound weekly? God was about to show me His blessings, which also answered a prayer I had uttered. Leaving that job was an obedience, and my request was for something encouraging to let me know that we were on the right track. My Lord was "weighing in" with a response! He has multiplied my weight losses for several weeks to show His merciful blessing.

Our finances were blessed also—an immediate provision of $700 which enabled us through the end of the month. Now the Lord has provided us each part-time jobs which help, without being so destructive to our spiritual lives. Other small blessings have come as well, and a large scriptural promise for me personally. Watching our God bless has reminded me of the reality we need to live in the following;

Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. Hebrews 10:35,36

At every weigh-in I ask God for His blessing. His will to be done, His way, in His perfect time. Sure, I want to see big losses when I step on the scale. But it is more important that the Lord direct each of my steps (our steps), because His ways are perfect (Psalms 37:23).

So as I started full time work through the employment agency, there were seven weeks until I became an associate of the warehouse itself. I lost 6.5 pounds in those weeks, though only 4.25 pounds in the last six weeks. (My first week was only three days of work). After being hired officially, I lost only 2.5 pounds in seven weeks, gaining the 3.25 pounds the week after I quit. So in eight weeks my net difference was plus .75 pounds! Now that is a stall-out!

Five weeks have gone by since then, and what a difference! Actual dietary changes have been small. By the numbers, the losses should only have amounted to a little over half of what they are. Our God does indeed give us good gifts, those that will truly help and not hurt us. We need to trust Him in faith. In those five weeks my weight total fell 8.25 pounds; compare that with the previous ten week total of 1.75 pounds!

So as of March 31^st, I have been on this weight loss venture for 45 weeks; losing a total of 44.5 pounds.

It is important to run this race with patience. It truly is a marathon and not a sprint. Leaning on Jesus is the believer's advantage. My wife's losses have also resumed, being nearly 25 pounds "less" than her former self!

Continue on then in Christ Jesus. Remember Galatians 5:16; "this I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." This is our key in overcoming!

Please feel free to contact us if we can be of any help in this struggle—we will be glad to listen and make helpful suggestions if you wish.

WARNING: To avoid falling away, return to the pure Word of God; which is the King James Bible. Revised translations are not small word alterations meant to bring clarity! Major doctrinal changes have occurred, which will bring doubt and destroy your faith. To follow these new "versions" of the truth, is to build your spiritual house upon sand, and become as the ones reflected in Matthew 7:21-23. Please use this entire passage, Matthew 7:21-27.

Satan means to deceive you into sincerely following his alternate "truth." You are really being set up to fall, and serve the antichrist.

Pray and seek God diligently in this matter; for time is short. See also our Bible Version section and the section on Eternal Security.