We all know that we need to eat healthy to prevent heart disease and live a long, productive life.
I think we all have good intentions, but we get distracted by life, and there are many places that are just waiting to fill our cravings and stop the growl coming from our stomach. What we don’t realize with this pattern established in our life is that we are becoming addicted to food.
As a Christian, there is another level of this—our lifestyle has now become a tool for Satan to use against us. After indulging, he heaps loads of guilt and condemnation on us. It is a continuous cycle. We promise to do better, to take care of our bodies, but then our stomach growls, sending a signal that demands immediate satisfaction.
When our body controls us by its demands, it is a sign of heart disease—not our physical heart, but the hidden man of the heart. Our lack of care for the physical heart stems from our lack of care of our spiritual heart.
In the physical, when our heart is not healthy, there are symptoms that appear: obesity, lack of sleep, stress in our life that shows us that something is not right. When your spirit—the hidden man of your heart—is not healthy, there are symptoms that appear: anxiety, fear, depression, guilt and condemnation that many times lead us into addictions to food, alcohol, tobacco or overspending. We are always trying to hide the sin with something new.
Job 23:12 tells us, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” We all know about the misery that Job endured. But God was faithful to Job. James 5:11 tells us, “Indeed we count them happy who endure. You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the purpose of the Lord, that the Lord is very gracious and merciful”—the end intended by the Lord!
How did Job endure to the end? He treasured the Word of God! The Word of God was in his mouth.
When we are habitually heart heavy, hanging our head, wandering around in circles trying to figure out life, it is a symptom of an unhealthy heart in the spirit and in the natural.
God is waiting on you to pursue Him. He has promised to give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 states, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
David said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my concerns,” (Ps. 139:23). Proverbs 4:23 tells us, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” If the issues of life flow from the heart, then we must examine our hearts.
We must get honest and ask the Holy Spirit—your Teacher, Helper and Comforter—for help. Ask for revelation knowledge that will bring life to your heart and strength to your body. God has an intended end for your life. Make sure you are on the right course. He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you (Heb. 13:5) and that nothing will separate you from the love of God (Rom. 8:38-39).
The Word of God is alive and powerful and will bring life and order out of chaos. Eating heart healthy will bring peace and joy to your life as you walk the runway of life towards the end intended by the Lord. There is no diet in the world that can bring health to your body and give you the strength to endure each day.
After surrendering my eating habits to the Lord, He gave me a battle plan that worked from the inside out and took 88 pounds from my body!
Joyce Tilney is the Founder of Women of God Ministries, teaching women today from women of yesterday. She is an author and Bible teacher. Visit www.wogministries for more information. Her new book and workbook, Why Diets Don’t Work—Food Is Not the Problem, share her testimony of how the Lord helped her lose 88 pounds. There is nothing impossible with Him. Visit the website: www.whydiets.com for information.