by Belinda Jabore
You are a soldier in a war fighting the enemy on all different levels. You need to be able to move quickly and efficiently. Not needing much to survive – re: food, backpack clothing, etc. To have greater strength and stamina in the spirit and in the natural and to be able to go further than before.
The Lord has been showing me these things as I have been directed to get fit and to change the way I eat. Old habits of the past that I have been looking at and finding out how much we self comfort from food and the wrong habits that we have with food. Also looking at the profound choices that we have when it comes to choosing something to eat. “We have so much food and so many choices.” The way food affects us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
As we all know we need to have food to survive, but the right food is very important. We all know this. Let us take a look at the food that goes into our body and the effects it has on us. After all, it is the Lords body isn’t it? Now I don’t profess to have the full picture, but I found as I did what the Lord asked me to do, the results have been very surprising.
Now I am not a person who can go on a diet or likes to diet, in fact if you just mention the word I put on a few kilos. So you could imagine where the Lord and I went with this. But as I agreed to eat what the Lord was showing me and to help me it all became much clearer.
Within approximately 2 months there was such a change in me, not only was I loosing weight but the back pain was less, I was able to do things with my body I couldn’t do before, I had more energy, less lethargic, my sleep was better, etc. Not only that, when the Lord would wake me in the night I would stay awake to talk and pray. My head was clearer with less clutter in it; I was more alert, and generally began to remember things better. Emotionally, I sense a greater stability and steadfastness. My immune system just seemed stronger as at one stage I felt a flu coming on, but as I prayed and resisted, it just went away. Also, I felt more alert spiritually, with a greater stamina.
I believe the Lord wants us to get in to healthier lifestyles and to really take a good look at what is going into our bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?For you were brought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
You see, soldiers don’t have a choice in what they eat - they get rations of food that do not weigh them down. They still have to fight and survive on the bare minimum, sometimes not having any food to eat for long periods with only water to drink.
Now I do understand that not all of us are in such an intense place, but I really do believe that the Lord wants us to look at ourselves to see how we can improve our eating habits. For instance lots of fruit and vegetables, salads, lean meat, lots of water, etc. Treats or sweets only on special occasions (in other words not very often), and to make sure we are getting enough regular exercise to strengthen our body’s. I believe that as we get over 40 we must do some sort of exercise program to keep our body’s in shape and flexible. Under 40, well they should have a well-balanced lifestyle and a good exercise program in place. This is not necessarily to loose weight (even though that will happen naturally) but to build strength into you. It is certainly true of that statement “use it or loose it” this is also very true in the spiritual. Remember it’s a process.
We never know when the Lord might send us on a secret mission that will require us to be able to handle the challenge. The truth is we are on a mission everyday to glorify Christ, so it makes sense to train and prepare ourselves asking the Holy Spirit for help in these areas.
We are temples of the Holy Spirit, let’s do Him proud.