The Half Way Point of a Cleanse

Well I'm at the halfway point of a cleansing fast, and gaining ground on the discipline needed to continue this quest for freedom. Today is day 5 of what I decided upon. 10 days is a great cleansing fast, and it gives you a jump start to starting fresh & new on any program. (See the links on fasting). Fasting cleanses the body of many toxins that lead to sickness. It also helps you gain that control you need to be a stronger captain of your own ship. Fasting helps discipline your body to be submissive to your spirit. If we want to walk in the spirit & not the flesh, it is critical to keep them in line. Fighting the enemy is constant, and you never want to take your eyes off of him, lest you fall into one of his traps. I almost fell last night. I was in my room getting ready to lay down & there was a small amount of oyster crackers in a bag where my son had left them. I actually said to myself, "Oh go ahead, there is not much in there. Just eat them quick. It can't hurt, and it'll satisfy your craving." I then proceeded to open the bag. As I was opening the bag I thought, "disobedience! You are blatantly disobeying God. You asked him to help you get through this, and when you hear the Holy Spirit's voice within you telling you not to eat it, you decide to ignore it and just do what you want anyway! The enemy is laughing right now and you are giving in to his trap." At that point I was brought back to reality. I took a deep smell of the crackers (which smelled stale, by the way) and rolled the bag back up. I then thanked God for rescuing me. That little fall "off the wagon" could've cost me a major set back. After 4 days of cleansing and discipline, I could throw it all away for a quick fix of stale oyster crackers!
The tempter is slick. He whispers thoughts in your head & you begin to believe them. Most times he gets you to believe that God doesn't care, and that eating that wonderful food will bring you such pleasure. He worked on Eve and she gave in. We get mad at Eve for her sin, but are we any different? How many times have we given into a temptation & later had to pay enormous consequences? The devil made that fruit sound like the greatest pleasure Eve could ever have. Today, there are far too many foods for me to mention that would be as enticing to me as that was to her. Giving in to the temptation consistently has brought me to the place I am today. It has always been easier to give in than to fight. Unfortunately those constant defeats have given way to a much larger defeat and my body is now paying the ultimate price.

At the end of this fast I have to decide how I want to proceed regarding eating. I so often wrestle with what the "perfect" way to eat is. I do believe that eating raw foods is the best thing for your body, and it was the diet designed for us in the garden. But I also recognize that we no longer live in the garden & God has since given us permission to eat many other things, including certain meats and fish. There are some great information sites regarding biblical eating included in the links on this page. I'm not sure which way I will choose to go, but I do know that it is better to choose "living" foods than "dead" foods and a whole foods approach is definitely the way to go. I also believe that eating something as a "treat" once in a while is not sinful, however, if that is going to set you back on an eating spree, then stay away from it for sure.

1 Cor 6:12 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are expedient. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be brought under the power of anything. "
That verse is good to refer to when dealing with eating something you consider a treat. It is not a sin to eat anything, as we are no longer under the law, but under the Grace of Christ. The problem for food addicts such as myself, is that it is easy to be brought under the power of the desire those foods. If we fear that this will happen, it is better to protect ourselves and not eat it.

1 Cor 10:23 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are profitable. "All things are lawful for me," but not all things build up."
Though we are permitted to eat what we want, it may not be good for us. It is wise to keep our minds clearly focused when making decisions regarding eating. It is also wise to remember
1 Cor 10:31 "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." If we keep that our goal, it will be that much easier to make the right choices.

Off I go to face this day. I'm more tired this morning than usual, so resting a bit may be on the agenda!

Be blessed!!