Don’t Put Your Faith In Diets And Exercise

Don’t Put Your Faith In Diets And Exercise

Psalm 118:8                       
It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

A lot of people think that the way to get health is to watch what they eat. For example, many people say that the Mediterranean diet is a very healthy one. I agree, generally. But do you know that the people Jesus healed were on a Mediterranean diet? They did not eat pork and prawns, for example, because they were Jews and these things are not kosher for them.

I know that you want to walk in divine health. But God does not want your focus to be on food — what to eat, what not to eat — or even exercise — how to exercise, when to exercise. All these are natural means which people of the world trust in. It is better to trust in the Lord and His finished work, than to put your confidence in the latest man-made diet plans and exercise regimes.

At the cross, Jesus took your sicknesses and carried your pains, and by His stripes you were healed. (Isaiah 53:4–5) The Bible even tells us how to escape sickness and premature death — by discerning the Lord’s body when we partake of the Lord’s Supper. (1 Corinthians 11:29–30) But instead of focusing on these truths, many of us prefer to focus on dieting and exercising!

Now, I am not against eating well or exercising. I myself exercise and I do watch what I eat. For example, I don’t like to eat oily stuff because it makes me feel uncomfortable. And when I have to preach, I do my best not to eat foods that make me burp! 

But I eat generally healthy stuff not because I trust dieting to make me healthy. I exercise not because I trust exercising to make me healthy. No, I trust the finished work of Christ to make me healthy. I eat well because I like to feel good and I exercise because I enjoy the rush, the sweat!

God wants you to be free when it comes to eating and exercising. Don’t make laws for eating and exercising, and then trust these laws to give you “divine” health. 

Trust in the finished work of Christ. Discern His body when you partake of the Holy Communion. And just enjoy your food and workout!

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Confess God’s Word

Psalm 103:20
²⁰Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word.

Notice that the verse says that angels are “heeding the voice of His word”. Now, who gives voice to God’s Word? Each time you and I quote God’s Word aloud, we give voice to His Word. And when angels hear God’s Word given voice, they respond!

The Bible says that at the end of Daniel’s three weeks of fasting and praying for an answer from God, Angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel and said to him, “I have come because of your words.” (Daniel 10:12)

So when angels hear you saying, “Thank you, Father, no evil shall befall me nor shall any plague come near my dwelling” (Psalm 91:10), they will come to your aid because you are giving voice to God’s Word.

And even if you do not quote a verse perfectly, they can still come to your rescue. This was what happened to a lady in America. While walking home after an evening church service, she was attacked from behind by a man and dragged towards a dark corner in an alley. In that frantic state, she remembered only one word from that evening’s sermon. So she shouted, “Feathers! Feathers!” The man released her and fled. 

Feathers? What did she mean? She was actually referring to Psalm 91:4 — “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge”. In that state of panic, she remembered only one word — “feathers”, and it was enough to cause her attacker to flee. You see, it is not the ability to quote a whole verse accurately that has power, but faith in God, which is released by quoting just one word.

If you know God’s Word by heart, but do not open your mouth to proclaim His promises, the power of His Word cannot be released. The Bible does not say that angels heed His Word. It says, “… His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word.” So give voice to God’s Word and see His angels respond. Angels are activated when you speak His Word!

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Christ, The Power And Wisdom Of God

Christ, The Power And Wisdom Of God

1 Corinthians 1:24
²⁴... to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

People today run after two things: miraculous signs and wonders, and knowledge. It was no different in Bible times. The apostle Paul acknowledged that “Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom”. (1 Corinthians 1:22) So when Paul preached Christ crucified as God’s solution to them, the message was "to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness”. (1 Corinthians 1:23) They didn’t understand how getting a revelation of Jesus and His death could give them the miracles they needed or the wisdom they wanted.

Beloved, we don’t have to run after miracles or wisdom today. We just need to run after Jesus because He is “the power of God and the wisdom of God”. The more we know Christ and Christ crucified, the more we will have the power and wisdom of God. 

Several church members have shared how they have seen the power of God blast financial debts out of their lives. Not knowing what to do about their debts, they looked to the Lord to deliver them. And the Lord was able to do so mightily because He is indeed the power of God. 

So if you are facing a financial debt, Christ has the power to remove the debt. And because He is also the wisdom of God, He will show you where you went wrong and teach you how to stay out of debt forever!

Let me give you another illustration. Let’s say a man, whose wife has left him, looks to Jesus to bring his wife back. Christ, the power of God, brings about a miraculous restoration of their marriage. But it is Christ, the wisdom of God, who will teach the husband how to keep his wife by showing him what he had done wrong and what to do to strengthen the marriage. If the husband does not have this wisdom, it will only be a matter of time before the same problems surface and the wife leaves him again. 

My friend, Christ is both the power and wisdom of God to us. As the power of God, He removes obstacles in our paths. As the wisdom of God, He continually directs our paths!

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Behold The Glory of Jesus In You

Behold The Glory of Jesus In You

2 Corinthians 3:18
¹⁸But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

When you look in a mirror, what do you see? Of course, you see yourself.

Beloved, God does not want you to see yourself in the natural — small, troubled, weak, sick, broke and a loser. God wants you to see yourself the way He sees you — healed, strong, rich, whole and complete, because Christ is in you. (Colossians 1:27) 

God wants you to behold as in a mirror the glory of His Son who is in you by His Spirit. As you behold the glory of the Lord who is in you, God’s Word says that you are being transformed from poor to rich, sick to healed, loser to winner — from glory to glory!

The world may say to you, “It can’t be that easy. You can’t be transformed just by beholding the glory of Jesus. No way! You must do something about you. If you don’t put in effort, nothing will happen. If you don’t do anything, nothing will change.” 

But the world will never understand that as you are beholding the glory of the Lord who is the successful one in you, you are being transformed from a failure to a success. And this is not accomplished by any effort of yours, or by your working hard to get ahead of others, but by the Spirit of the Lord!

As you behold the glory of the Lord who is the healthy one in your sick body, you are transformed from sickness to health. And this is not accomplished by any effort of yours to keep fit and eat well, but by the Spirit of the Lord! 

My friend, what can be easier than beholding the beauty of the Son? So stop focusing on self and self-effort. Look away from these things and begin to behold the glory of Jesus who is in you right now, and you will begin to behold the miracles that you need!

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Believe First And You Will See

Believe First And You Will See

Matthew 8:13                       
¹³… as you have believed, so let it be done for you…

Some people say, “How can I believe it when I don’t see it? But if I can see or feel something, I may just believe that something is happening!”  

The woman with the issue of blood who came to Jesus could have felt the same way. For 12 long years, she had gone from one doctor to another, trying to find every conceivable cure they could offer. She not only grew worse, but ended up losing all her money to those doctors and their “cures”.

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Happy Mother Day: God Can Qualify The Disqualified

God Can Qualify The Disqualified

Psalm 103:4
… ⁴who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies…

Four women are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. (Matthew 1:1–16) Interestingly, they are not Sarah, Rebekah, Leah or Rachel, wives of the patriarchs of the Old Testament. Instead, they are Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bethsheba, women who were Gentiles or had morally questionable backgrounds.

Tamar resorted to deception and prostitution to produce children through her father-in-law. Yet, it was from her line, the tribe of Judah, that the Messiah came. (Genesis 38)

Rahab was a Gentile and a prostitute in Jericho, who became a believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Joshua 2:1–21) She also became the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth. (Ruth 4:13) 

Ruth was a morally upright woman. But as a Moabitess, she was a Gentile and therefore considered unclean. Yet, this Gentile woman became the grandmother of David (Ruth 4:13–17), whom the Jews regard as their greatest king. 

Bathsheba committed adultery with David. (2 Samuel 11:4) Later, she gave birth to King Solomon (2 Samuel 12:24), from whose royal line Jesus is descended.

So what is God saying to us here? 

God is saying that He is greater than our sins — where sin abounds, His grace abounds much more. Grace is greater than our sins, so that even when the world disqualifies us, God can qualify us to receive His blessings!

God is also saying that He is a God of many chances. These women’s stories show us that even when our troubles are the result of our own making, they are neither final nor fatal. For when we turn to Him, He can turn our situations around until we see His glory upon us!

Finally, God is saying that He is a God of supernatural positioning. Even when all our earthly connections are gone, the moment we turn to Him, He will find ways to turn our captivity into blessings. As shown in Ruth’s life, He can put us at the right place at the right time for that door of blessings to be opened to us!

My friend, don’t look at your natural background or circumstances and be discouraged. Trust the One “who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies”!

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THESE DIFFICULT DAYS

Being a godly father in this difficult world is no easy task. Ours is a time of uncertainty and danger, a time when even the most courageous dads have legitimate cause for concern. But as believers we can live courageously, knowing that we have been saved by a loving Father and His only begotten Son.

Are you anxious? Take those anxieties to God. Are you troubled? Take your troubles to Him. Does the world seem to be trembling beneath your feet? Seek protection from the One who cannot be moved. The same God who created the universe will protect you if you ask Him…so ask Him. And then live courageously, knowing that even in these troubled times, God is always as near as your next breath.

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