Today, I had a little time to do some catch-up reading on my Made To Crave book. (I had gotten a wee bit behind.) Guess what. I realized what has been wrong with me this past week or so. I haven't been reading and studying the Bible. I haven't been praying. I guess I was having a little passive-aggressive disagreement with God. Because I am NOT happy about waiting. I am doing it, but I don't like it. And oh boy, did God open my eyes and step on my toes today! They are ALL bruised up!
Now, I have had the hardest time ever figuring out how to "study" the Bible, and this book. Seriously. (Yeah, I know - Master's degree and doesn't know how to "study the Bible.") Well, I finally decided that for me it would work best to study it like I would anything else. Reading, and taking notes on what I read. So, I found this fun little on-line journal (penzu.com). There's even an app for it. And I have been reading and journaling, especially throughout the Made to Crave book study. So, tonight I am going to share a few things I found VERY important in my reading. Lysa Terkeurst really has some awesome insights into this whole eating thing!
Chapter 13: Overindulgence
Now, let me preface this by saying if you are a Baptist (or any other Southern denomination), you may get your toes stepped on here. She talked about gluttony in the church. What, you say? Gluttony in the church? Yep. The pot-luck meal where we stuff ourselves. You know, the one that is best on Sunday after church. That one. But she also talks about overindulgence in anything (food, alcohol, etc.) is gluttony. Proverbs 23:20 -21 says, "Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge on themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags." Well, FYI - This was me. I gorged. And guess what. Not because I was hungry, but because I was looking for something to fill myself up because I was spiritually empty.
So, with that said, what do we do? Food is not alcohol or nicotine. I can't quit cold-turkey. It is a requirement. With that said, Lysa reminded me of the Isrealites. Remember them? We studied about them in Truth Trackers earlier this year. The Isrealites, who complained of slavery, so God set them free. Then, they complained because they were hungry, and God provided them with the manna from heaven? Well, if you go back and read in Exodus 16, you will see that God commanded the Isrealites to only gather enough manna for one day. The only day they could gather more was the day before the Sabbath, then they could gather two days worth of manna. Well, these complainers started gathering as much as they could, even though it was provided fresh for them every day. (Can you imagine - no grocery stores? Just walking outside and picking up what you needed to eat? Not a horrible situation!) But I digress. Anyway, so they are gathering up all of this manna, and you know what happened? It rotted. Moldy, nasty manna. When there was all they could eat provided fresh for them each day. Now, why did this happen? Well, today's reading really opened my eyes. God wanted them to learn to depend on Him DAILY. God will provide DAILY what we need. Not go to church on Sunday, gather what we can, and spread it out through the week. God wants us to need Him, Want him, and desire Him DAILY. In Lamentations 3:22 it says, "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for HIS compassions NEVER fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness, I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; there I will wait for him."
Hmmm....The Lord is my portion. My portion of love. My portion of food. My portion of everything I need. I need portion control, and God is there to provide it for me. All I have to do is ask and trust. I saw this on Pinterest today, and I really thought it summed this up:
He is my portion! He will provide the self control!
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