Here in the United States, obesity has become somewhat of an epidemic. We have many all you can eat buffets and regular meals are getting bigger and bigger all the time. We have become obsessed with food in our country. There are many diets out there today and with the power of the internet behind many companies, it is possible to do business all over the world in almost every single country. What is so bad about dieting if you are overweight?
Well, we have many doctors coming out now that support the way that Jesus Christ said we should eat back in His day and recorded into the Bible. At that time many foods, (meats), were not supposed to be eaten, by the Jewish people, such as pork. Many people in our country are now changing to diets that call for you to disregard many meats and not eat them. However, God tells us in His word, the Bible, in I Timothy Chapter 4 that anything He created, especially meats, are good. The Bible states that if God made it for our consumption it is good and should not be disregarded.
I Timothy Chapter 4 states into our foods making us sick, because we do not have faith and trust in God, our heavenly Father, to do what He has said He would do. God made the food for us to eat, including all meat. God placed these animals and things on this earth for our consumption. However, we are to give God thanks for our food prior to consumption. Before we eat, we are to thank God for the food we are eating. After all, God has provided the food for us to eat and has blessed us with work to enable us to purchase it. All life comes from God. Without God allowing cattle and other animals to reproduce successfully, all animals would become extinct and there would no longer be any meat to be eaten. Without God’s providing of us to work and earn money, we would be unable to purchase these foods for us and our families. God deserves and requires our thanks for the food He provides to us. Without giving Him the thanks He so rightly deserves for the food provided to us by Him, He can not and will not sanctify our food and our food will not nourish our bodies.
From my reading of the Bible and my studying of I Timothy Chapter 4, it is my firm belief that our food poisons our bodies because we fail and refuse to thank God for the food we eat and receive. All we have to do is to shed our stubbornness and thank God and our food will nourish us and God will be able to take care of us. It all comes down to one or two very small but very significant things, TRUST and FAITH in God.
We must completely trust and faith in God to do what it says in His word, the Bible, that He will do. He has a perfect plan and perfect place for us even if it is not what we would consider ourselves to be perfect. God has a use for each of us. If He is responsible for all life, then it is no accident that any of us were born. I know that when I view my life under these terms, I realize that God has a plan for me. He has a plan to use me. As an example, I have been writing all my life. I have never published one book that I have written. I have won a place here and there for poems I have written, but I have never had anything that I have written published in my own book.
Not very long ago, I met Rev. Ben through the internet. I came to The Cornerstone Brotherhood Ministry web site and did some reading. I love what Rev. Ben and all the other staff are doing through this ministry. Rev. Ben then approached me about writing for the ministry website. I was thrilled. Here I am. Assisting this wonderful ministry through my writing, a talent given to me by God. God has chosen to us me in this way at this time. I am only here to serve Him. By serving God, I am able to serve my family and others around me. As I am awaiting the next thing in life that God directs me to do, I will continue writing for this ministry.
God has given us all talents. When we come to know His son, Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Savior, we come into the family of God. We can then rely on God totally for all things. All things are given to us by God. Opportunities that we receive for work, play, and everything all come from God. It is up to us to use these opportunities in order to spread His love and truth to others.
In I Timothy Chapter 4, it is also said that in the latter times there will be those who teach against marriage and to abstain from eating meats. We have discussed a bit about the diet trends above, now let us look at marriage for a moment. Marriage has been given to us (man), as a gift from God. It is to keep us from the sin of fornication. Marriage is a wonderful thing. I believe that in the United States we have another epidemic called divorce. I have had the pleasure of working for my mother who is a lawyer. I see hundreds of divorces every year in our state. I can multiply just the number of divorces in our one county for our state and multiply it by 50 which is how many states we have and the number of divorces in this country is staggering to say the least. All states have several counties within them and so divorce is looked at by me, as an epidemic.
God gave us marriage. Once we marry someone it is to be for life. There are actually people all over the world who are against marriage. Many people live together and never get married. They have children together, bills, homes, automobiles, etc. However, they never see fit to get married. Many of them say that it is better to stay unmarried. I have heard it said that they are happy the way they are and if they got married then it would just lead to divorce. I disagree and I believe that most other Christians would disagree.
Plain and simple, if God teaches against something through His word, the Bible, then we as His creations and as His children, should listen to Him. There are many false teachings in this world that we live in today. There are many people attacking Christian beliefs all over the world. I feel sorry and sad for these people. When the day comes for Christ’s return, those who have not come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be miserable for eternity. I feel even worse for the false teachers out there in this world. They are leading people into the darkness. Jesus Christ is the light. I believe that even this concept has missed some us who call ourselves Christians. We say we believe and then do plenty of work against God through politics and just succumbing to secular society.
In I Timothy Chapter 4 it directly states that those who teach against marriage and to abstain from eating meats are false prophets. It also states that these people are being lead by seducing spirits. We can not follow these teachings or we are in danger. We may be saved truly, but by not reading the Bible for ourselves and just following along, we place ourselves in jeopardy of becoming tricked by Satan and by those who follow him which are his demons.
This particular chapter in the Bible also discusses exercise and working out as we call it today. I have heard arguments between Christians in regard to this subject. I have heard that it is wrong to exercise because if you exercise then you are worried about your body and you should not be. I do not believe this to be true either. This passage states simply that exercise only helps the body. Exercise can not strengthen your soul or spirit. The Bible through this chapter also states that NOTHING should be placed before God. In other words, exercise and eating among other things are all fine, but that none of these things, NOTHING, should be placed before Him. Our goals every day should be in order of priority which was also set out by God for us. Those priorities are God first, family second, work and others third and ourselves last. This order of priority keeps us the way God intended. By placing God first, we never forget to make time for Him at the beginning of our day. We are also able to keep Him first throughout the day. Our family is second because they are gifts from God to us and are very important, and placing work and others before ourselves keeps us from becoming selfish. It keeps the human tendency of selfishness at a minimum. By going through each day as God intends us to do, life is easier; we are happier and will be more prosperous. God can not do for us if we can not follow guidance and instruction. This also makes the Bible, God’s word, the most important book in the world that we could ever read. God tries to make our lives simple; it is we who make it complicated.
If nothing else comes through this message loud and clear, what I want most to receive from reading this is as follows:
God created this world. He created all the plants and animals in this world, including us. God has given the world an abundance of food. He has given us His word through the Bible for us to live by. He gave us a choice. The only true choice that is ours to make in this world is whether we will be in the family of God, our heavenly Father, or if we will choose to reject Him. I know that I could not allow my sons (I have two.) to die in order to save a bunch of non-believing, unforgiving, and unthankful people. God gave His ONLY son, for us to live. That is love. He loved us that much. We must thank Him daily for the things He has given us. We must look on the bright side. We must be thankful for all that God has given to us. We must trust Him and have faith in Him, completely. We must be available for God to use us for His glory. If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today, I ask that you do so. There is no way that you can deny the truth of God and His word. There is no way that you can not feel a tugging at your heart right now. Pray now and ask God to save you and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and ask Jesus Christ to come and live in your heart and in your life.
We never know how much time on this earth we will have to live. Anyone who made that decision today to know where they will be for eternity can write, email or even call The Cornerstone Brotherhood Ministry. Pray for the ministry and thank God for the work He is doing through all of those here.
Love in Christ,
Sandy
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