I have been eating well since October 2009 and detoxing since the beginning of January. The purpose for my detox was to give glory to God while giving my pancreas and liver a break so that I could flush out the build up of preservatives, caffeine, lactose, etc. in my system. I skeptically began by cutting out all coffee, soda, dairy and processed foods for a month... maybe more (maybe forever). Then I sought to eat only fresh, wholesome, nourishing foods that would best honor my body as a temple for the Holy Spirit to reside.
You see, early last year I was convicted by the Holy Spirit to submit over my physical stronghold of weight to God. Sure, up until then I knew what I was eating was not in keeping with my desire to worship and honor His Name in all I said and did. It was obvious by how out of control my health had become. Instead, I can honestly assess my previous eating habits as selfish choices saturated in gluttony. It was sin, pure and simple.
So, in obedience, I decided to hand over my heavy frame, and even heavier appetite, to my Shepherd to manage His way. Thankfully, He has proven faithful and has introduced me to all sorts of information about health, nutrition, exercise, etc. As the new year kicked into full swing, I was a little nervous because a full-on detox seemed the appropriate course - but I had never detoxed before. I had never done anything healthy or nutritionally sound before. But God kept prodding me, and I obeyed. Now, I'm so grateful for His grace! Because He gave me the strength to change, I was willing to let go of what has weighed me down for years... literally! He is changing me! For as hard as it was for me to turn away from the sinful, familiar food "crutches" that promised a false sense of comfort and fulfillment to my belly, the lesson to make Jesus my only focus... my only portion... has changed me spiritually while also blessing my body with a smaller waistline. Praise His Name!
Now, I am even more sensitive to listen for God's healthy prodding. And He has not held back. He has brought up many more questions, many more convictions to consider as I allow Him to separate out the sin I have selfishly grown accustom to keeping around. Isn't that just like Jesus? He loves us too much to only focus on one or two key areas of our lives. No, He wants ALL that we are so that we may become new creatures - holy like He is. And why waste time? Daily He calls us... encourages us to dive deeper into His redeeming grace.
So, in obedience, I decided to hand over my heavy frame, and even heavier appetite, to my Shepherd to manage His way. Thankfully, He has proven faithful and has introduced me to all sorts of information about health, nutrition, exercise, etc. As the new year kicked into full swing, I was a little nervous because a full-on detox seemed the appropriate course - but I had never detoxed before. I had never done anything healthy or nutritionally sound before. But God kept prodding me, and I obeyed. Now, I'm so grateful for His grace! Because He gave me the strength to change, I was willing to let go of what has weighed me down for years... literally! He is changing me! For as hard as it was for me to turn away from the sinful, familiar food "crutches" that promised a false sense of comfort and fulfillment to my belly, the lesson to make Jesus my only focus... my only portion... has changed me spiritually while also blessing my body with a smaller waistline. Praise His Name!
Now, I am even more sensitive to listen for God's healthy prodding. And He has not held back. He has brought up many more questions, many more convictions to consider as I allow Him to separate out the sin I have selfishly grown accustom to keeping around. Isn't that just like Jesus? He loves us too much to only focus on one or two key areas of our lives. No, He wants ALL that we are so that we may become new creatures - holy like He is. And why waste time? Daily He calls us... encourages us to dive deeper into His redeeming grace.
For me, today was no exception to this truth. Today I called in sick. I was laying in bed trying to recover from a small flu I had caught from a co-worker. I had stopped life so that my body could gain the sleep it needed to attack the yucky bug. Yet, even in my worn down state... as I slept, God showed up. I awoke with these questions in my mind...
"Victoria, what has this detox taught you so far? Do you still desire the familiar taste of sin? Has not My way, though difficult to swallow at times, proven better... purer... healthier... eternal? What else haven't you surrendered to Me? What else has distracted you away from My love? What habits... what sin are you still comfortable savoring that is leading you away from our relationship?... Do you really want to become closer and more intimate with Me, your Savior? I love you. I came to redeem you. I want more than anything to save you not only from death, but from the sin of this world. What sin are you still hanging onto, Victoria? How deep are you willing to take your detox? This is no longer about food... in fact, it was never about food. This is about your laying down your whole life and giving it to Me so that I can give you MORE! A new life... a new creation is what I promised to you. When will you completely surrender everything from this old, dying world and follow me to the abundant life I have especially planned for you?"
Wow, God. I'm speechless.
"Victoria, what has this detox taught you so far? Do you still desire the familiar taste of sin? Has not My way, though difficult to swallow at times, proven better... purer... healthier... eternal? What else haven't you surrendered to Me? What else has distracted you away from My love? What habits... what sin are you still comfortable savoring that is leading you away from our relationship?... Do you really want to become closer and more intimate with Me, your Savior? I love you. I came to redeem you. I want more than anything to save you not only from death, but from the sin of this world. What sin are you still hanging onto, Victoria? How deep are you willing to take your detox? This is no longer about food... in fact, it was never about food. This is about your laying down your whole life and giving it to Me so that I can give you MORE! A new life... a new creation is what I promised to you. When will you completely surrender everything from this old, dying world and follow me to the abundant life I have especially planned for you?"
Wow, God. I'm speechless.
While I laid in my bed contemplating these questions today, I knew there was still so much sinful poison to rid out of my life. So many fleshly addictions and earthly dependencies that I desperately needed Jesus to chisel away. So much junk to cut out. So many emotions to change in my heart - all so that I could freely, openly, honor my Lord. Oh God, there have been so many bad choices. So many foolish decisions. So many selfish paths that I still struggle with and/or follow. So many after effects and unhealthy outcomes that were caused by my own will to rule. But you must rule in order for me to be healthy. I know this. I know that you will give me MORE!
With You guiding my way, I can detox my whole life and replace this sin with holiness. I can detox my entertainment (television, movies, Internet) with You, Jesus! I can detox my finances for You, Master! I can detox how I relate with those in my life and filter my emotions and words through You, Father! With You, I can accept every circumstance, every test, every trial and detox my wishes, my insecurities, my need to control things my way - all so that You are the only One remaining... the only One evident... the only One seen in my life! When my name is called... when my heart is exposed... when my life is dissected, will others see me... or You, Jesus? Oh, how I want my time to clearly glorify You, my perfect Creator. How I look forward to welcoming Your eternal kingdom each and every day! Detox me, Jesus! Detox my taste for sin and give me an appetite for You alone!
Ladies, have you thought about the sin in your life that you still choose to savor? The attractive fleshly desires that you have grown accustom to? Do you not know that they are worthless and will one day pass away as rubble? Please know that Jesus will not change our lives if we do not submit completely to His rule. He will not detox out what is unholy in us if we continue to feed our fleshly desires with the familiar taste of sin. That's not how He works. We must choose in His Name to avoid all evil. We must give up the desires of this world. We must turn and walk away from all that fails to redeem and glorify His Worthy Name.
I challenge you to consider and pray over what sin you are still hanging onto. What needs to be given over to God and left on His altar? What continues to distract you away from His perfect grace? I know - there is so much, isn't there? And it is a daily struggle. A daily choice to lay down our lives so that He is the only One evident. If we are to know Him deeply, intimately, fully... we must stop clinging to our sin. We must be willing to surrender it all. He is the only Way, the only Truth, and (let me emphasize this strongly)... THE ONLY LIFE we should ever seek after. The rest of it... the old... will indeed pass away one day soon. So, give it up. Give up everything else... every idol, every fleshly desire, every selfish thought, every corrupt path. Give up your love of this world and it's fake promises to fulfill. Give it all to Jesus. He will make you full. He is the only portion you'll ever need. He will give you MORE!
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean." (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone - an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:16-31)
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:37-39)
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. Immediately after the distress of those days 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." (Matthew 24:4-35)
Please think about WHO you are really living for, ladies. Think about what choices and activities you allow to fill and consume your days. Is it to appease your flesh for a period of time... or to glorify God forever? Are you ready for His return? Are you whole heartedly giving it ALL to Him? If not, it is time to detox in Jesus Holy Name!
All to thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all! Thank you, sweet Jesus, for leading me closer and closer to your Throne. Amen... I surrender ALL!
Blessings!
Blog Post Written By Victoria Anderson