Labels: faith, Jesus, roots

I've spent a lot of years struggling with the fact that "I am what I eat."

I've always had a weakness for sweets, a love for breads, and a desire for diet pop.

About five weeks ago, I gave up pop all together.

It hasn't been the easiest transition, but I'm finally learning to love water..........

About two weeks into my "no-pop life,"

mom introduced me to a blender called The Magic Bullet.

You literally fill it with your favorite fruits and vegetables and within seconds have a delicious drink.

 

At this stage of the process, it doesn't look  very promising........

And it doesn't look much more promising when the lid is screwed on tight.

But the final product truly is a delicious drink that has become mine and Olivia's new morning ritual before school.

If you want to know the exact ingredients we place in our smoothie, email me at tammynischan@yahoo.com.

The reason I share this, though, is not because I trying to transforming my blog into a health blog even though that might be a great idea.

I really shared all of this to make a comparison to our physical life and our spiritual one.

The saying, "you are what you eat," runs much deeper than the food we consume.

Jesus calls Himself the Bread of Life in John 6:35,

"Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

In Hebrews 5, we are warned that as we grow in our Christian life we have to live on more than "milk" so that we can learn to distinguish good from evil.

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

 

Paul wants to teach the Corinth church more than he can, but he explains why he can't in the beginning of chapter 3 of I Corinthians,

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly......

Today, I challenge to look at both your physical and spiritual lives.

Where would you put yourself on a scale of 1 to 10.

I have a long ways to go in both areas, but I am feeling challenged lately to move up the scale in both.

I want to be balanced.

I want to physically and spiritually fit.

I want to grow closer to God from the inside out.

I want to be able to handle the hard teachings.

In order to do this, I have to give up some things..........

maybe it's time with some people who seem to pull me away from the person you want to be,

maybe it's things I think about when my mind is idle.

I want God to make very clear the areas of my life where He wants to step in and push other things out.

I'm ready to go up another level.

I hope you are too!

I love you all!

Have a wonderful Monday!

 

Labels: Bible, faith, health, Jesus, spiritual

This morning as I worked the yard sale for our mission team from Grayson (we were raising money to help them travel to Mexico in a couple of weeks), I was struck by the reality that no matter how much something is worth when it is new you will more than likely not get anything near that price at a yard sale. I especially noticed this when someone brought over an adorable Ty Beanie baby that probably sold for around $15 when it was new! Many people had come and gone from the yard sale, but NOONE seemed interested in this little guy even at the hot price of $.50!

As I thought about this, it occurred to me that as humans we value something that is new! Many times the worth of something is measured by the price we pay for it and unfortunately whether or not it has been used and/or enjoyed by someone else.

Isn't it amazing that God knew this quality about us long ago when He said that He would take our dirty, sin-filled lives and through the blood of His Son Jesus be able to promise this in II Corinthians 5, "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."

Wow! God knew that in this life the devil would allow us to become "worthless and used" in a spiritual sense through our selfishness and sinful nature. He knew that this feeling of unworthiness would cause us to struggle to feel valued in His eyes. So, He didn't just promise Heaven and the forgiveness of our sins. He promised that we would literally become a NEW CREATION! That's powerful!

Do you feel unworthy? Do you feel inadequate? Do you feel like a worn-out Ty Beanie Baby beaten down by your choices and life's struggles?

There's good news for you in II Corinthians 5. Christ came and not only paid the price for your sin, He gave you the opportunity to actually be restored to a state of "NEWNESS!" Can you imagine being a Ty beanie baby sitting on the shelf in a department store, sparkling new, being offered at the top-dollar price? Well, that's what God wants to help you become!

If you are not sure how to do this, please read the book of Acts and see how person after person became a new creation in Christ! If you are still struggling, email me at tammynischan@gmail.com and I will help you find a church in your area that can lead you to life that is 100% BRAND NEW!

I love you all!

Labels: creations, God, Jesus, treasures, yard sales