Eating for Health and Strength

[00:00:00] At that time, and I know that the Lord has blessed in the Paul Now that things have been able to, the word has gone forth and people have really been blessed through the distribution of the word. [00:00:38] Yep, we got part of it but not all of it. Okay, well we'll go on without it and then, oh, there we go, we're getting there. Just got the wrong resolution. Alright, the message this morning I've entitled, Eating for Health and Strength. I'm not going to ask a list of questions to start with, because basically I'm asking questions. [00:01:10] And I wanted to have this be connected with the Word of God. It's not a health food message. It's a message of spiritual health food. In the instruction class, one of the areas that I really like to concentrate on is the whole area of the importance of relating our physical life and our spiritual life. [00:01:41] Our eating, our drinking, our exercise, all of the things that we do in order to function and be healthy physically have a spiritual correlation and since our brother was sharing this morning about the work of the Gideons and the focus on the Bible I decided to use the area of eating of our food and how important that is for us spiritually. We all know that if we are going to have a baby that's going to grow and develop properly [00:02:18] And that's going to grow up to be a functioning human being. They're going to have to have a certain diet. They're going to have to have good food. It's going to have to be part of that life. Without that, a body is not going to grow and develop properly. And that continues on, you know, our moms didn't just let us eat the things that tasted good [00:02:52] They made us eat some things that we didn't like, you know And I don't have a lot of things that I don't like So my mom didn't have to work so hard on me But I know that a lot of us have things that we don't like to eat You know, maybe it's broccoli or spinach or, you know Some of those good things that people haven't learned to eat right yet, you know. But they're something that we know that we need. Something that's good for us, that helps us to grow and develop. [00:03:26] I want us to think about the Bible as our spiritual food. And I just have some questions. I'm not trying to put anybody on a guilt trip this morning. That's not the purpose of this message. I just want us to think a little bit. And I want us to look at the scriptures and see some examples of some people there. Think about the Bible. How often do I read the Bible? If you ate as often as you read the Bible, what would you look like? [00:04:00] Psalm chapter 1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Your body is using your food day and night. [00:04:32] It's continuously using what you've eaten, what you've taken in. And that's important for us. And he says, Then he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also will not wither, and whatsoever he doeth will prosper. And I don't think it's necessarily so important just that we read the Scriptures, but that we meditate on them, that they become part of our lives, that we memorize, that we think on them. [00:05:09] I know from experience, it's easy to read a passage from the Bible and go out the door and get things on our mind and forget all about what we've read all day long. It's easy to do that. but we've got to bring our thoughts into captivity to obedience to Christ like Ephesians says and then, or Corinthians it is, 1 Corinthians chapter 4 we've got to do that, bring those thoughts into captivity to Christ [00:05:41] so that we are nourished by the word of God now the second one I want us to think about is What do I gain from reading the Bible? Would your life be any different than it is if you quit reading the Bible? Would it change anything about you? If you didn't read the Bible today, would your life be any different today than it was yesterday when you read the Bible? [00:06:16] What benefits are there? Is reading the Bible something that's important to us? There in Psalm chapter 1 verse 3 that we just looked at, he said, If this guy meditates on the scripture day and night, he's going to be like a tree planted by rivers of water that flourishes. That's a benefit for our lives. Psalm 119 verse 113. I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love [00:06:51] One of the benefits of reading the scripture is to cleanse our mind and our thoughts Another one is in verse 165 Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them Our attitudes are influenced by reading the word of God And just like we heard of how the Word of God is able to change people's hearts and lives From being a witch doctor to being a child of God [00:07:23] The same Word of God as we take it into our hearts day by day Is able to change us from glory to glory To change us into the likeness of Jesus Christ And so we need to ask ourselves, am I gaining? Anything from reading the Word of God. If we're not, we're not reading properly. We're not eating properly. We're not doing the things that need to be done. We might ask ourselves this question. Do we read the Bible together as a family? [00:08:00] You know, I've had people different times through the years make comment about some of my understanding and knowledge of Scripture. But I always have to go back to our home because every day my Father led us around the Scripture, read the Scripture. Prayed together, sang together, had that time of focus on the scripture. I can't claim it for my own benefit. I wasn't the one that learned those scriptures so well on my own. I was influenced, I was taught by that time of family reading the scripture together. [00:08:54] Over in Deuteronomy chapter 6, he says there, and I want us to really notice this because it's so important. He really brings it out. He says, these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. They've got to be in your heart. If we as fathers don't have them in our heart, we talked about this the other evening in our men's meeting. If we as fathers don't have them in our heart, we're not going to influence our children properly with them. But he goes on to say this, thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children. [00:09:32] Well, if you don't even read them together, you're probably not going to teach them to your children. But he says, teach them diligently to thy children. And talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up. As fathers, we have this responsibility to share the message of the Bible with our families. And one of the cries from around the world for these scriptures is, [00:10:02] people don't have the scriptures, they want to know them, they want to share them, they want to be able to teach them, and they want to be able to read them. And I remember so well hearing stories of how, and reading stories of how people had walked for days, even weeks, from the mountains, through the mountains, because they had heard that they could get a scripture of their very own. and then for them to have that scripture and to weep over it and to bow down and worship God [00:10:39] because they had finally gotten a copy of the word of God for their very own. We have the Bible so freely. Probably most of us have multiple copies of the Bible. You know, over the years, maybe we got one when we were a child and, you know, we kept getting Bibles and we might have a whole stack of them. But I really wonder how much we appreciate the Word of God that we have. [00:11:10] Do you believe the Bible has the answers for all of life's questions? I think that's important. Do we believe that? Do we understand that? Do we know that? Is that something that we live by? The fact that the Bible has all the answers for life's problems. Over in 2 Peter 1, verses 3 and 4, he says that God has given us all that we need for life and godliness. [00:11:44] He's laid that there for us. He's made it available to us. You know, and I've often found that people that really struggle with knowing God's will for their lives are people, we all struggle with that to a certain degree but one of the reasons that we struggle with it is because we fail to go to the source to find the answers. You know, we'll talk to all kinds of people, we'll ask all kinds of questions [00:12:18] But he says he's given to us all that we need for life and godliness. The Word of God is not just for salvation, as important as that is. It's for us to learn and to grow and to come to grips with the reality of the questions that we face in life, the situations that we face. I believe the Word of God has principles for every situation of life if we want them, if we desire to have them, if we seek them out. [00:12:54] It's important for us to go to the Word of God to find the answers to life's questions. And isn't it interesting that people, a man, that's struggling with the question of how will my business survive, struggling to the point of committing suicide, is able to go to the Word of God and find an answer to that question. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. [00:13:26] There's the answer. There's the principle. There's the purpose. The second verse there in Peter's verse 4 says, Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. God's given us these exceeding great and precious promises so that we can find victory, so that we can find deliverance. [00:14:01] Another question that we might ask ourselves is, has the Bible changed my life in any way? One of the things that I noticed and realized as I thought about and as I've learned over the years a number of things about Christianity, one of the interesting things is this. You go into a civilization, you go into a culture that is heathen, [00:14:34] and as the Word of God comes in there, a lot of things change. All of a sudden hospitals are built, schools are built, people are cared for, needs are met, And things begin to change. Things start to happen because the Word of God has come. And the Word of God is something that changes our lives. Psalm 19 talks about that in a lot of different ways. He says, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. [00:15:09] The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. See the changes that are happening? And I remember so well how Bill Gothard shared that simply by meditating on the Word of God and focusing on the Word of God, he was able to go himself from being an average student to being an excellent student. Just by focusing on the Word of God. It makes wise the simple. [00:15:40] A person who is of lower intelligence or learning can be very wise by focusing on the Word of God. He goes on and says, The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. They change our attitudes. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. It opens us to understand and to see. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward. [00:16:26] Psalm 119, verse 9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. The Word of God changes us as we read it, as we grow. Someone has said that what we eat, we are. And there's a lot of truth to that. You know what? If you eat just carrots and just keep eating carrots, you're going to turn yellow like a carrot, orange like a carrot. [00:16:58] That's going to happen. I guarantee it. What we eat, we are. And so, what we eat, we are. With the Scriptures, spiritually, if we're feeding on that, then it changes us. It does something within us, and it does something that not only happens inside us, but it comes out. Those changes are expressed, they're realized. [00:17:28] Psalm 119, verse 11, Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee. You know what? Before we were Christians, we didn't care if we sinned against God. It didn't matter so much. But when we come to God, it matters to us. And the way that we deal with that, the way that that becomes real and that it changes in our lives is that we focus on the Word of God. How valuable is the Bible to me? [00:18:03] I already talked about those in other countries that have walked for miles and miles and miles and days to receive a copy of the Scriptures and then cried and shed tears of joy and blessing to God for the privilege of having the Scripture. Really, honestly, how valuable is the Bible to me? Is it worth anything? [00:18:39] Is it worth something simply because it's some kind of a family heirloom? This was my great-grandfather's Bible and we have it here on a stand and it's really special. It's really important. Here is what David said, Psalm 119 verse 14, I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches. Is it that valuable to us? If we could have the choice of being a millionaire or having a scripture, which would we choose? [00:19:18] How really valuable is the scripture to us? Then I had to ask myself this question, how long could I go without missing my Bible? If I left my Bible here at church, would I all of a sudden next Sunday morning say, hmm, I wonder where my Bible is? Oh, you know what, I think I left it at church. Job 23 verse 12 says, [00:19:48] Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Job said, not only is the word of God important to me, it's more than my necessary food. Now when we get older, we don't need to eat as much or as often. But, that doesn't apply spiritually [00:20:22] That's the only place where the parallel with the physical breaks down that I can see But you take a young person They can eat, and five minutes later they're hungry again What's that a sign of? It's a sign of health, isn't it? It's a sign of a body that's growing and needing nourishment. [00:20:55] And you know what? If I can read the Bible once a month or once a week, and that's all I care for, I'm full and I've had enough, there's something wrong with us spiritually. There's something happening inside that's not what it should be. Job said, look, I can't live without the Word of God. It's more to me than my necessary food. [00:21:26] He wasn't talking about candy and dessert and all those kind of things. He was talking about what it took to live. It's more than my necessary food. So I think it's important for us to ask ourselves, you know, we do well to be involved in the work of the Gideons Sending Bibles around the world. That's an excellent work. I have no hesitation in saying that. Whenever I go to a motel, one of the first things I do is check and see if there's a Gideon Bible there, and most always there is. [00:22:01] It was in, Henry and I were in one not too long ago and that one had been there a long time. It was stuck. I had to pull it loose. But, you know, and often I use those Bibles to read from. But it isn't enough to send the Word of God around the world The Word of God needs to be of supreme value to me personally It needs to affect my life It needs to be my health and my strength spiritually [00:22:37] Let's stand together for prayer My Father, I pray that you remind us today. We thank you, Lord, for what we've heard of the work of the Gideons and how your word has gone throughout the world and it doesn't return void. It does accomplish that you send it to do. And yet, Lord, in our own lives, oftentimes, it isn't accomplishing what you've sent it to do because we aren't interested. [00:23:13] It doesn't really matter that much to us. And so, God, we pray by your Holy Spirit this morning that you speak to each of our hearts. Lord, that your word become very real, very important, very valuable to us. that it be more important to us than any riches or even than our necessary food. I pray God that you help us as fathers to use the opportunities that we have with our children [00:23:48] to teach them the beauty and the value and the blessing of having your word and the effect, the positive effect that it can have in our lives. I just thank you, Lord, for each one that's here this morning. I pray for our young people, those that are with them, Lord, as they travel home today, that you watch over them and protect them and care for them. I pray that you continue to go before us. We pray your blessing on the work of the Gideons, Lord, that you continue to provide funds for them, provide opportunities, provide those who would work in the work. Lord, that your name could be exalted. We pray it in your precious name. Amen. [00:24:28] Thank you.