I heard this earlier this week, and love it:
"My past explains me, but it doesn't define me."
What does that mean to you today?
"My past explains me, but it doesn't define me."
What does that mean to you today?
I heard this earlier this week, and love it:
"My past explains me, but it doesn't define me." What does that mean to you today?
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I've been thinking a lot lately about Jesus' question to His disciples in Matthew 16. He first asks them "who do people say that I am?" People say a lot of things about Jesus. He didn't really exist. He did, but He's not what some people say He is. He was a good teacher, a prophet, a pillar of moral virtue and an example for all, and also my homeboy. People say a lot of things. After the disciples give Jesus the word on the street on who He is, He then says "but who do you say that I am?" Forget what everyone else says. What about YOU? I think that question sums up what the Christian faith is all about, at its core. Who do you say that Jesus is? The answer to that question is the basis of whether or not you have an authentic Christian faith at all, and how high you elevate Christ in your heart and life makes a profound difference in how you live your life. And the thing is, it's all about who you say that Jesus is. Not your pastor. Not your parents. Not your friend, your youth minister, your Bible Study leader. YOU. Who is He to YOU? God cares more about what you think of Him than what you can tell Him of what others think. I just keep coming back to this passage lately, and praying that those that I teach and lead would really have a faith of their own, and not just hear my words and think that it's enough. What about you? How do you answer the question that I believe Jesus is still asking today: "Who do you say that I am?" I thought I'd do a follow-up post to last week's. We finished our "whole foods cleanse/fast" last night, and what a week it was! For seven days, all we ate was fresh, unprocessed/unpackaged foods. Vegetables, fruits, nuts, eggs, and meat were all we were allowed to eat, and I can say after having done it that it was quite the challenge! Switching from what I lovingly refer to as the "stupid-diet" to a whole-foods-based diet was tough, but I'm proud to say we did it, and neither Trisha or I cheated once. Here are some things I learned:
- I need to be MUCH more thoughtful about what I eat. Before last week I would just eat whatever, whenever, without really checking labels or thinking about it. Eating needs to be something I reflect on more instead of just going with my gut. Pun! - Bye-bye caffeine! The hardest part of the fast for me was the caffeine withdrawals the first couple of days. After having gone through that, I simply don't want to be dependent on a chemical to keep me going, especially one that I feel like junk without. So, I'm going to try really hard to eliminate the soda and cut way back on the coffee. - It's not a question of discipline. It's not, because we stuck with our goal, even though we could have "cheated" many times. I've got the discipline, I just need to DO what I need to do! I'm super happy with how last week went, and hoping to carry some of the new habits I've started forward with me. Oh, and I lost 9 pounds. Bonus! :) "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world." - C.S. Lewis
This has been one of my favorite quotes for years, and I love the simple yet profound implication that Clive Staples is making here: that we, in the moments of our deepest unsatisfied longings, come face to face with the reality that the broken world in which we live is simply not home. Tonight I'm using this quote and the thoughts that flow from it to lead into a message from John 6 in which Jesus claimed that He is "the bread of life" and that our deepest hungers are satisfied only in Him. Awesome! As I wrote about in the post below, next week Trisha and I are doing a "whole foods fast" during which we'll eat only fresh fruit and vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs and nuts. For some that have asked, here's our menu for the week! MONDAY: Breakfast - 1 egg (scrambled), 1 banana, handful of berries Snack - Carrot sticks Lunch - Eating out (local fresh juice/smoothie bar) Snack - Cucumber slices Dinner - 1 chicken breast, steamed broccoli TUESDAY: Breakfast - Fruit salad, handful of mixed nuts Snack - 1 apple Lunch - Spinach salad (spinach, walnuts, berries, hardboiled egg, and a light dressing we made with olive oil, red wine vinegar, and spices) Snack - 1 banana, mixed nuts Dinner - Chicken fajita lettuce wraps (chicken, onion, peppers, seasoning, wrapped in iceberg lettuce) WEDNESDAY: Breakfast - Veggie omelet (1 egg, peppers, onion, spices) Snack - 1 orange Lunch - Fruit salad, mixed nuts Snack - Sweet pepper slices Dinner - Black bean and corn salad (no-salt-added black beans, corn, onions, peppers, spices, olive oil) THURSDAY: Breakfast - 1 egg (scrambled), 1 banana, handful of berries Snack - Carrots Lunch - Spinach salad Snack - 1 banana, nuts Dinner - 1 pork chop, roasted multi-colored potatoes, zucchini, squash FRIDAY: Breakfast - Fruit salad, nuts Snack - 1 apple Lunch - Left-over black bean and corn salad Snack - Cucumber Dinner - 1 salmon fillet, steamed green beans, left-over roasted potatoes SATURDAY: Breakfast - Veggie omelet Snack - 1 orange Lunch - Fruit OR spinach salad Snack - Banana OR carrots Dinner - Veggie soup (homemade, recipe coming later!) SUNDAY: Breakfast - 1 egg (scrambled), 1 banana, handful of berries Snack - Whatever's left Lunch - Left-over soup OR spinach salad Snack - Whatever's left Dinner - Left-over soup OR spinach salad (whichever we didn't have for lunch!) That's it! Let me know if you have any questions on this, and wish us luck! Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 "You (God) satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise You with songs of joy." - Psalm 63:5 (NLT) Well, I hate to be cliche', but for Trisha and I the new year brings with it a renewed focus and hope to eat better, exercise more, feel better, and become healthier. It's not really about weight loss for us (although we welcome it!), but more about trying to change some of the habits we've built over our entire lives. The catalyst for our current thinking/focus comes from a movie that Trisha's brother Travis and his girlfriend had us watch over the holidays. It's called Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, and it's the story of an Australian man who was all those things and changed his life through simply adjusting his diet (and ultimately his lifestyle). We were a mix of appalled and inspired by the movie - appalled by the cultural eating habits which we ourselves partake in, inspired by the change brought about in the lives of several people in the video - and we've had many conversations since watching. A juice fast/cleanse, which was the main focus of the movie, is something Trisha and I have talked about doing for a while, and I think we're going to partner with several family members and friends in the Spring to do one (we've been advised not to try it in the middle of winter, as the cold weather can complicate the fast).
Instead, starting next Monday, we're going to do a whole foods fast/cleanse. The goal of a whole foods fast is to eat only raw or whole foods, no processed food at all. That means nothing out of a box or a bag, nothing with any added chemicals, etc. So, for an entire week we're going to eat only fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, meat we cook at home ourselves, and drink only water. We've never done anything like this before, and I'm excited for the challenge and to see the results. Frankly, if I'm being totally transparent... I'm ashamed to consider something like this a challenge and a change to my lifestyle. What kind of junk have I been shoveling in my mouth all my life??? Yeesh! In addition to the movie, I've listed some other recent motivations for making adjustments in our diet/lifestyle below. Each contained motivation for me personally in the areas of spirituality, family, and just plain common-sense. I believe that we are not compartmentalized beings - we can't separate one aspect of ourselves from another, i.e. I cannot divorce my spirituality from my physicality from my emotions, etc. - and that means that each of these influences came together to really motivate me for the new year. It's also worth saying/confessing, that I've had several health issues over the last couple years that someone my age simply should not have! (Shingles, back injuries, etc.) Every time I'm down and out because of sickness or injury, all I can think about is how being unhealthy damages my ability to care for my family and do my job/ministry. I want to make sure I take care of myself so that others don't have to! Lastly, and most importantly, I simply do not want food to rule over me. I once heard someone say that we should eat to live, not live to eat. So true. Then I was reading the Bible and stumbled on Psalm 63:5, above, which reminded me that nothing should satisfy me more than God, especially food, which is a created thing, not the Creator, Who is much more worth to be praised (see Romans 1). So, all that being said, here's hoping that 2013 is a big year for health and wellness in the Blake household. I know this was a long post, and if you read it all the way here to the end, thanks! Let me know via comments, e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter what your hopes are for diet, health, exercise, etc. in the coming year! Check these out! "A New You Resolution" "Food Rules" "A Theology of Food" "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us... For this reason the gravest question before the church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like." - A.W. Tozer
I've always loved this quote from Tozer. Tomorrow night at IMPACT (our youth ministry) I'm kicking off a new series called "Jesus Is _____", and this quote has a lot to do with the heart of what we'll be going through for the next couple months. Jesus asked his followers two questions in Matthew 16 - who do others say that I am, and who do you say that I am. Your faith is not defined by what your pastor, parent, friend, or the guy on TV thinks about God, but by who you say He is! "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
I was reading this the other day and the thought struck me that it would be a wonderful new year's resolution for anyone. Here are three things you can do in 2013 that will benefit you greatly: 1. Be joyful. Did you know that joy and happiness are not the same things? Happiness is fickle and fleeting, but joy is deeper. Joy has for its roots faith, peace, contentment, hope, and assurance. Joy comes from a place of knowing that - no matter what's happening in this chapter - our stories have happy endings in Christ (one day we will be with Him!). 2. Be prayerful. Praying without ceasing sounds dangerous at first - should I really keep my head bowed and eyes closed while doing 65 on the interstate??? - but the truth is that we need to reimagine prayer as a continous, ongoing acknowledgement and awareness of God's presence in our lives. If God were literally sitting next to you right now, wouldn't it be strange if you only spoke to Him by bowing your head, closing your eyes, and making a speech to Him? Of course! Praying without ceasing is training yourself to be aware that God is ever-present, ever-listening, and ever-communicative with us. 3. Be thankful. Oh, and by the way, in all circumstances, if you didn't catch that. Becoming a person that is thankful for what you have in the midst of any situation changes you from the inside out. Take heart that no matter what 2013 brings, there will be so much for you to be thankful for - your life, your health, your family, and if nothing else, your faith and life in Jesus. Joyful, prayerful, and thankful. Sounds like a good goal in 2013 to me! It's the last day of 2012, and one of my resolutions for 2013 is to take my writing to another level. I have found through social media that posting short, encouraging posts seems to get a good response, so I'm hoping that this new blog will be both a catalyst and an outlet for me to do just that to people I'm connected with online.
I'll also be writing about things that are going on in my life - what I'm learning, how I'm growing, what's happening in family, life, and ministry, etc. As always, I'm excited about a new project, especially a writing project, and I'd love to hear from YOU as I move along. Happy new year! |