Gas prices are up, food prices are up, and it doesn’t appear to be changing for the better any time soon. (What a way to start a blog, am I right?) I heard that natural gas prices are projected to rise in the next few months, going from $4.00 to over $5.50 by Christmas. With all this bad news about cost of living, I’ve been thinking about what God says about giving to those in need because in times like these, giving is hard and people’s needs increase. Now, before you decide to quit reading this, I want to make sure you realize I am not talking about tithing to your church. That is between you and God, and I promise you I am not writing this to challenge you to tithe more. I’m talking about giving to people in need. Proverbs 19:7- Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. Proverbs 21:13- Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. Clearly, we are supposed to be a people that aren’t like everyone else. As Christians, I believe we have a responsibility to look, act, and love differently than those who don’t believe as we do; and as such, we ought to be a people that ask ourselves questions like, “How do most people do (such and such)?” and follow that by doing the opposite. So when it comes to giving to someone in need, we ought to be different than most people. More specifically, we need to be different in that we realize that God sees our giving to the needy as giving to Him. Jesus said in Matthew 25:40- And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Isaiah wrote: Isaiah 58:10- If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. – There are so many scriptures that tell us to give to those in need, and I have simply shared 4 of them. Equally important to God is how to give: 2 Corinthians 9:7- Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. – We are to give cheerfully, with joy in our heart. God cares about your heart: He judges the hearts of men, not the actions. There are a lot of people who give out of reluctance, peer pressure, or fear, but God wants us to change the motives of our hearts. In Ezekiel 11, God promised to give us a new heart, to take out our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. He is after a transformation within each and every one of us. He is trying to get us to change our perspectives. He is trying to set us free from the things that ensnare us, such as pride and fear. When I watch the news and see projection reports of our economy, I instantly want to hold on to every penny I have, and I can certainly justify that with scripture by saying “God wants me to steward what He has given me. I need to make what I have grow,” because there are multiple teachings of Jesus that taught about multiplying what God gives. But that is also how the world thinks. So then what do we do? Luke 12:33- Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. It seems to me that Jesus was trying to teach us that when we give to those in need, God multiplies the gift in Heaven. This is something very important for us to learn. We know Jesus wants us to multiply what we are given by God, but multiply it how? We know we are to steward what God gives us, but how? By blessing others, by making sacrifices that cost us, and by loving on people who are in need, we are doing the work of God. So am I telling everyone to give away everything they have? No. Not at all, but give what you can when you can. 1 John 3:7- If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Deuteronomy 15:7-8- Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. – God loves everyone and He wants everyone to come to Him because He can make them whole. Love does that. He meets every need. He feeds the hungry, He sets the captives free, and he provides for the poor. How does He do that? He uses us. We are His tools. He loves us and wants to partner with us to meet the needs of everyone. Today, as I thought about our current economic environment, I realized that money is tight and is going to get tighter. My first reaction was to think of ways to save money and multiply money. But then, in my secret place, I felt God pull me close and say, “If you’re scared, what do you think others are feeling? Now is the time to bless them and give.”
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My mission field for the last 9 years has been as a registered dietitian. I have educated kids, adults and seniors in every stage of life on nutrition and how foods can prevent and treat many health diagnoses. More importantly, as a believer in Jesus, I have observed and learned the role food can play in our life. Reading through scriptures on food, witnessing personal experiences, and having my own struggles, I truly believe our diet is not just physical, but spiritual. Surely there is a physical sensation to food, from its tastes, smells and textures- even emitting emotional ties, what we know as comfort foods, or family recipes that can transport us back in time to when we were little kids enjoying our grandmother’s cooking. In addition, food decisions can be very wired to how we were treated as kids; whether we had enough food to eat or were solely served fast food as a cheap alternative to real nutrition, or if we were punished with eating vegetables, or rewarded with desserts. Identity is tied into everything we do, and what we choose to believe from our past to mold us into the present person; food is very much a part of identity building. Young people who struggle with body image, believing the lie they are not skinny enough or not attractive enough could potentially and harmfully reduce or even stop their eating until they get to a certain weight; and even at that “goal weight” still feel ugly and fat, because the issue wasn’t on the outside anyway, the issue that needs healing is spiritual, it’s knowing who they are, created as masterpieces by the Creator and Author of life. In agreeing with the enemy’s schemes of the senses, and agreeing with the wrong identity, we could be led astray in any area of our life, our health as one of them. Believing you are an orphan, and that there is not enough, can lead to overeating, over-indulging, which can lead to becoming overweight, which can lead to having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes from the stress on the body – but the issue at the core is spiritual: believing an orphan spirit and identity rather than believing you’re a child of God, have more than enough, and will be provided for. If we believe God to be the best Provider for our life, should we ever go hungry? Should we ever need anything if He is the Good Shephard? The Israelites, when they were wandering in the desert, how much manna did God allow them to collect? What was needed for the day. What happened when some of the family members collected more? It rotted. He wanted to teach His people how to trust Him daily with their daily sustenance. The Israelites, having the miracle of food raining down on them every day except on the Sabbath, still cried out for variety, for their cravings and what they wanted; when quail was given to them it did not fair well. They missed the lesson of God as their Provider, given food with healing properties, that supplied everything they needed. It was a spiritual issue that manifest physical in the want for more than what was already freely given. We live in a culture of convenience; we can easily order food through an app, online, delivery, of course drive thru, although sometimes the thought of even having to get in our own cars to get our food has us rely more on other to do it for us. There is no lack of cheap, unhealthy food around us, however, as Christians if we should not look like the world in any means, the way they speak, act, what they wear, what they spend their money on, why should we eat like the world? Needing to have a craving met, rather than following guidance of Holy Spirit on what we should eat to nourish our bodies, can leave us feeling sluggish and sick. It is hard to witness how physically sick the Body of Christ right now. Out of the top 10 chronic (long-term) diseases, 7 of them are diet related, which means they are preventable. All diseases, illnesses, sicknesses are from the devil (John 10:10). God designed our bodies to be healthy and diseases, illnesses, and sicknesses are from the curse and they should have no place in the believer’s life; they have been nailed to the cross. You most definitely should not agree with any diagnosis or label that is not what God says and speaks over you; however, God has given us practical answers in the way we should live and the choices we make (read the book of Leviticus). We have a responsibility and are called to steward our bodies 1 Corinthians 6:9 “Do you now know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God, your are not your own, you were bought with a price.” What benefit is it to the believer that when praying to God to take away diabetes and normalize their blood sugar, that they continue to drink sweet tea or coke all day long, eat bags of chips? Is that person truly healed? Genesis 1:29 “God said, “I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” God’s practical solution from the beginning? Eating more of the foods He has grown for us. Science has proven the healthy properties and the reversal of diseases when eating plant- based foods. They are meant to bring life, and the variety God provides in our food shows His creative side. In summary, sickness is never from God, however, we have a responsibility and even if everything is permissible not everything is beneficial (1 Corinthians 6:9); Healthy eating frees us to do so much more, to feel good, give us energy for the assignments God has given us. I don’t want us to agree with any diagnosis, what I want is for us to seek God and to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to best take care of our temples since He has to live in there. |
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