This morning Bob brought a good message from the parables series he is in on Sunday mornings. It was from Matthew 13:33. He talked about leaven and how it radically changes whatever it touches.
Bob used baking of bread as an illustration to show how leaven (yeast) works. I thought it was such a good illustration. Being somewhat handy in the kitchen, I could picture the things he was saying and it really made the sermon come to life for me.
He talked about how when the yeast is put in, it doesn't just work on part of the dough. It effects the whole thing. Picture it....you don't have only one end of the bread loaf rise and bake. The whole thing rises. This goes along with the verse that says "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump". It is a great picture of what happens when a person gets saved. The Holy Spirit moves in and they become a new creature. When true salvation comes, the person is different. They act, walk, talk, dress differently. Now, it may not be 100% of the time because they still fight against the old sin nature but there is a new desire to be different than before.
Another thing Bob talked about was that it's not only radical change that comes but gradual. It is gradual and progressive! You don't become super Christian overnight. There is growing to do. This comes through hearing preaching, reading the Bible and studying it and prayer. Some Christians grow slower than others in certain areas but the fact remains that the Bible says there WILL BE growth if they have the Holy Spirit in them. It is progressive growth...or should be. We should never stop trying to move toward more holiness, a better walk with the Lord, or better understanding of our knowledge of God's Word. We should never feel we have arrived or attained enough. We should keep striving to grow toward more righteousness. Back to bread baking...when making bread from scratch, you must give the dough time to rise before baking it. It gradually grows from the yeast that was put in until it is ready to be put in the oven. It also is a gradual process but is very progressive! Once started it continues until time to bake. Pretty cool idea huh!?
Thirdly, it's permanent! You can't undo yeast or leaven in dough. Once it's there, it's there. The process has begun and continues. You can't unbake a loaf of bread. Once you are saved, you remain saved until Jesus calls you home. The Bible is clear about this.
That's this morning's message in a nutshell. I thought it was such a neat way to illustrate how leaven works. By the way, I disagree with the teaching that every time leaven is mentioned in the Bible it refers to sin or something bad. For instance, the verse mentioned in Matthew 13:33 says that the kingdom of God is like leaven. So, for some who believe it is always bad when mentioned...heaven is bad? Noooo!
Just some illustrations to help you think about your Christian life.
August 28, 2016
August 18, 2016
Faith Like Moses
Finally getting a chance to blog. I have been having such a good time in my devotional time lately. I love when new light bulbs come on where the Holy Spirit makes something clearer to me. I was in Hebrews last week and reading "the walk of faith" chapter in Hebrews 11. It gives this list of people who did things by faith that God told them to do, often without knowing or seeing where they might be lead. So many are referred to as dying in faith not having received the promises but seeing them afar off. Almost all of them lived by faith expecting to see the promises in their lifetime. However, I want to talk about Moses. He lived by faith even knowing that he would not get to receive the promise. God told him he would not get to enter the Promised Land and he still lived by God's commands and what God wanted. To me, he may be the greatest of all those mentioned in the walk of faith because of this.
When he came of years he refused to be called the son of pharaoh's daughter but chose to suffer affliction with his own people. He esteemed the reproach of Christ higher than the treasures of Egypt. He knew that the pleasures of sin for a short time were not worth being outside of God's Will. ---Too bad more Christians do not have that attitude!
To many, the here and now and what feels good this moment is much more important than living God's way and waiting for future blessings for obedience or for future reward in heaven. Yet this chapter 11 walk of faith is given as an example of how to live our lives...and leads right into chapter 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Now, I can't tell you how many times I've heard preachers use verse 1 to say that the cloud of witnesses is our saved loved ones in heaven and that it is proof we will see them again. Weeelll, I disagree. The cloud of witnesses is those mentioned in the walk of faith in the previous chapter. Hence the word "wherefore". (Because of)
The point of the above verses is to say that the previous chapter folks are our example and that because of that we should get rid of weights and sins that keep us from running the kind of race God wants us to run.
I want to have faith like Moses and live not just for the moment but what will come in the future.
When he came of years he refused to be called the son of pharaoh's daughter but chose to suffer affliction with his own people. He esteemed the reproach of Christ higher than the treasures of Egypt. He knew that the pleasures of sin for a short time were not worth being outside of God's Will. ---Too bad more Christians do not have that attitude!
To many, the here and now and what feels good this moment is much more important than living God's way and waiting for future blessings for obedience or for future reward in heaven. Yet this chapter 11 walk of faith is given as an example of how to live our lives...and leads right into chapter 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Now, I can't tell you how many times I've heard preachers use verse 1 to say that the cloud of witnesses is our saved loved ones in heaven and that it is proof we will see them again. Weeelll, I disagree. The cloud of witnesses is those mentioned in the walk of faith in the previous chapter. Hence the word "wherefore". (Because of)
The point of the above verses is to say that the previous chapter folks are our example and that because of that we should get rid of weights and sins that keep us from running the kind of race God wants us to run.
I want to have faith like Moses and live not just for the moment but what will come in the future.
August 10, 2016
More on My Health Journey
I'm almost through my candida overgrowth detox that I started through my FDN practitioner. It has been an interesting journey. I think everyone who can should go through some of their labs and supplemental programs to get the body organs functioning correctly. The Gut, especially, is truly the second brain of the body! The labs that are done go in depth to help to figure out hormonal, fungal and parasite problems and if you want can check for food allergies and in tolerances.
During my labs I found out some things I didn't know, reconfirmed some things I'd learned in previous labs and also learned I wasn't quite as bad off as I had thought I'd be. The adrenal exhaustion diagnosis explained many of my symptoms including no energy, sleep problems, etc. My hormone levels were all nearly zilch and my liver function was low. I also had a higher blood sugar level than I should. This could be due to the candida overgrowth and the low liver function.
After going gluten free first, many side symptoms subsided. I recommend everyone try gluten free for 30 days and just see how they feel. Yes, it is difficult because you must be aware of what you are eating. But I think it is worth having reduced headaches, joint pain and stomach and abdominal issues. By the way, if you go gluten free and develop symptoms that seem like flu or feeling run down for a few days (DON'T GIVE UP! THAT'S A GOOD SIGN! IT MEANS YOU PROBABLY HAD AN ISSUE AND YOUR BODY IS READJUSTING). Push through and stay the course. It will get better! I promise! What makes gluten free diets so difficult is that it means you MUST be conscious of what you put in your mouth. You learn to label read and to stop eating quickie foods such as processed foods (canned soup, ravioli, frozen pizza, etc) and you must be very careful at restaurants. Gluten is hidden in many many products and foods. Gluten comes from wheat and barley mostly. So, if the label has wheat flour, or all purpose flour or malt it more than likely has gluten. Malt or barley malt is often used as a sweetener and even a binder in processed foods....pre-made rice Krispie treats! Most soy sauces have wheat in them. These are just examples. Most canned soups, gravies at restaurants and any other food that requires a thickener will have gluten because they are thickened with flour. I use tapioca flour, corn starch or potato starch at my house as a thickener in gravy. Tapioca flour is wonderful!
The Candida detox was actually harder than the gluten free because it required a strict, very strict diet for the first 10 days along with taking many supplements to help aid in the rid of the overgrowth and to also help boost and jump start my organs that were functioning at low capacity. The diet was no sugar, dairy (except lowfat cottage cheese and plain yogurt and butter), gluten, fruit or pork and no starchy vegetables. I lost 8 pounds in that 10 days!!!
What I gained from this detox was completely regulated bowels, removal of joint pain, blood sugars regulated, less headaches and an overall "I feel better".
I highly recommend getting in touch with a FDN practitioner and just doing the first steps and labs. Again, this can all be done via phone and emails and ups!!! Not once did I see my practitioner---we were not even in the same state! I would be glad to put you in touch with him. He is very compassionate about with his patients because he wants to help people get better and feel better. He wants to spare them unnecessary surgeries he went through and find a better way besides prescription drugs that may help relieve symptoms or issues but also often destroys body cells and gives new symptoms. Don't get me wrong, the traditional medicine has its place, but I believe there are often even better ways to take care of an issue.
During my labs I found out some things I didn't know, reconfirmed some things I'd learned in previous labs and also learned I wasn't quite as bad off as I had thought I'd be. The adrenal exhaustion diagnosis explained many of my symptoms including no energy, sleep problems, etc. My hormone levels were all nearly zilch and my liver function was low. I also had a higher blood sugar level than I should. This could be due to the candida overgrowth and the low liver function.
After going gluten free first, many side symptoms subsided. I recommend everyone try gluten free for 30 days and just see how they feel. Yes, it is difficult because you must be aware of what you are eating. But I think it is worth having reduced headaches, joint pain and stomach and abdominal issues. By the way, if you go gluten free and develop symptoms that seem like flu or feeling run down for a few days (DON'T GIVE UP! THAT'S A GOOD SIGN! IT MEANS YOU PROBABLY HAD AN ISSUE AND YOUR BODY IS READJUSTING). Push through and stay the course. It will get better! I promise! What makes gluten free diets so difficult is that it means you MUST be conscious of what you put in your mouth. You learn to label read and to stop eating quickie foods such as processed foods (canned soup, ravioli, frozen pizza, etc) and you must be very careful at restaurants. Gluten is hidden in many many products and foods. Gluten comes from wheat and barley mostly. So, if the label has wheat flour, or all purpose flour or malt it more than likely has gluten. Malt or barley malt is often used as a sweetener and even a binder in processed foods....pre-made rice Krispie treats! Most soy sauces have wheat in them. These are just examples. Most canned soups, gravies at restaurants and any other food that requires a thickener will have gluten because they are thickened with flour. I use tapioca flour, corn starch or potato starch at my house as a thickener in gravy. Tapioca flour is wonderful!
The Candida detox was actually harder than the gluten free because it required a strict, very strict diet for the first 10 days along with taking many supplements to help aid in the rid of the overgrowth and to also help boost and jump start my organs that were functioning at low capacity. The diet was no sugar, dairy (except lowfat cottage cheese and plain yogurt and butter), gluten, fruit or pork and no starchy vegetables. I lost 8 pounds in that 10 days!!!
What I gained from this detox was completely regulated bowels, removal of joint pain, blood sugars regulated, less headaches and an overall "I feel better".
I highly recommend getting in touch with a FDN practitioner and just doing the first steps and labs. Again, this can all be done via phone and emails and ups!!! Not once did I see my practitioner---we were not even in the same state! I would be glad to put you in touch with him. He is very compassionate about with his patients because he wants to help people get better and feel better. He wants to spare them unnecessary surgeries he went through and find a better way besides prescription drugs that may help relieve symptoms or issues but also often destroys body cells and gives new symptoms. Don't get me wrong, the traditional medicine has its place, but I believe there are often even better ways to take care of an issue.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)