Spiritual Snicker Bars

"Taste and See that the LORD is Good"  Psalm 34:7-9

Over the past week I have been reading a book called "Having a Mary heart in a Martha world", byJoanna Weaver.  In one of the chapters she was comparing her snacking on a Snicker bar to what we do with getting our spiritual dose with GOD.

I liked her idea so here is an extract from her book.  Her pastor's wife told the story of how one afternoon when preparing food for a big dinner she didn't eat lunch so felt hungry.  She couldn't eat her beautiful dinner as she was full from the snicker bar she had as a snack.

"The Lord spoke to me at that moment" Terri says."He showed me that we often fill our lives with spiritual Snicker bars - things like friends, books, and shopping.  They may be good things, completely innocent things - but when they take the edge off our hunger for God."

Terri's illustration has stayed with me for years because it applies so aptly to my own life.  I constantly fight the tendency to fill the God-shaped hole he created in me with fluffy stuff. I don't like loneliness, so I fill the space with phone calls and social events and trips to the mall - but loneliness as my friend Jeanne Mayo puts it, "God;s call to fellowship with him."  I don't  like quietness, so I fill it up the silence with sitcoms and talk shows, Christian music and CNN- but it was in the quiet of the night that Samuel heard God's voice.

We were designed to be close to God.  Just as our bodies hunger and thirst for food and drink, our spirits hunger and thirst for his presence.  But just as it's possible to bloat our bodies with empty calories we can find ways to pacify our spiritual cravings with out really getting the nourishment we need.  We can fill up with spiritual Snicker bars while all the time our spirits are withering for want of real food.

If you're having a little trouble feeling close to God - or even wanting to draw close - you might want to consider what activities you are using to fill the empty places of your life.  What's taking the edge off your hunger for him?.

Then again, it could be that you just need to starting "eating" the good things of the Lord to find out how spiritually hungary you really are.  You see, spiritual hunger and thrist don't work the same way as our physical needs.  When our physical body feels hunger we eat and our hunger is satisfied.  But spiritually speaking, it isn't until we "eat" that we realize how famished we are.  As we feast at God's table, something strange happens.  We get hungier. Thirstier.  We want more!  WE have to have more.... For even Snicker Bars taste flat in comparison to the sweetness of the Lord's presence.  When you sampled the best of the best, you'll be willing to skip the junk food this world offers in order to have a real sit-down meal with the Saviour.

(Having a Mary Heart in a Martha world. (2000). Waterbook press. pp.69,70)

Fruits of the Sun

It is coming up to summer time here in the Southern Hemisphere and a time when storms, fires come along with droughts and flooding rains (to quote a very well known poem about Australia) which all influence the farmer yield of produce on the land.  I would like to dedicate this prayer to them this year.

God bless a man who plants a tree

To feed his fellow man;

God bless those who bring to fruit

By toil and laboured plan,

The red and gold globes of the sun,

That others may be fed;

Bless all who make of this green earth

A fruiting fountainhead.

God bless the man who trust the earth

To give him back reward -

Who makes a garden grow, row on row -

Replenish him, O Lord!

And may he bring at market time

Heaped baskets to the town - 

His offerings for tables spread

Where tired folks sit down.

God bless the man who plows a field

And sows the yellow wheat -

Who plants the barley and the corn

Our hungry children eat

'God bless all those who bend beneath 

The weight of daily toil,

Whose fate is linked for good or ill

With sun and wind and soil.

We thank Thee, Lord, that men who strive

In lowly earthly ways

Receive from Thee rich measurings

And laden harvest days.

 Grant them the faith to plant again,

When harvest time is done -

The gold fruits of the open air,

The red fruits of the sun.

(Crowell., G.N., (1934). White fire.  Harper & Row Publishers Inc.)

Sweeten the Health Message

For my devotions this year I decided to read one on Health Topics and every so often I actually read one I want to share.  I've shared one before and now here is another.

Kay Kuzma talks about a person who came home from a Health Seminar and decided there and then that all the processed foods had to go.  She put the family on an exercise program and lectured to them about health reform.  The family revolted and did not take to the new lifestyle.  What went wrong?

At the time It was a great idea and most leaders and leadership teams know, unless everyone has the vision nothing will change.  To many times I've seen people get enthusiastic about health and cooking new ways with food (especially going totally vegetarian too fast).  Then a few months later they are back to their lifestyle again because the family rebelled.

Kay had some very good advice to remember.

1. Live what you believe. You can't expect others to live healthily if you don't.  Your actions will speak louder than words.  Do your children see you putting on your jogging shoes and heading out into the brisk morning air?  Do they see you choosing an apple instead of a piece of pie, or water instead of a soda? Pray that God will give you the will power to act on your belief.
2. Know why you're doing what you're doing. Living healthily should make sense.  Keep it simple.  If something depresses your immune system, clouds your thinking, or puts you at risk for heart disease, stroke or diabetes - it's bad.
3. Be flexible and balanced. Don't be so health - conscious that you make your family miserable.  Don't be so concerned about what you put in to your mouth that you forget to watch what comes out in terms of criticism and faultfinding.  (And if yo feel a sermon coming on, bite your tongue!)
4. Make changes slowly. Your body and especially the intestines can not take 24/7 vegetarian meals and sudden exercise after periods of neglect.  Build it up day by day and week by week.  It takes 21 days to make a new habit and longer to break old ones.  A good idea is to always replace old ones with a new one.
5. Be happy and praise God. A healthy grouch appeals to no one.

Food patterns for our body.

It's been awhile since I've been here and lots and lots of things, readings and experiences have passed into history for me or should I say herstory.

I  have been sent this link before and have enjoyed it.
I hope it brings to mind some reasons why we eat vegetables and fruit more than any other type of food.
It's amazing how our bodies are so wonderfully made.

Food patterns for our body.

I hope you enjoy the clip.