​The Bible says, "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him" (Proverbs 22:15).  Children behave foolishly because they are immature physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  Consequently, they must be disciplined or taught to act, think, feel, and live in a way that pleases God, keeps them at peace with others, and conforms to the laws of society in order for them to live abundant lives through Christ.
 
However, there is a major problem in the life of an adult who continues to behave like a foolish child.  It's sad and very difficult to watch adults who lack self-control, who are easily angered, who overindulge in harmful substances or activities, or who never deny themselves pleasurable activities or material things in order to pay their bills, provide for their families, or even take care of themselves.  They make the same mistake over and over again but never seem to learn from it.
 
Unfortunately, that's what's happening to you in regard to food, beverages, and eating disorders.  The hard truth is you're being a hard-headed, selfish, disobedient child who is determined to have it your way regardless of the consequences even though you know you're on the path that leads to destruction!  You've not only been told repeatedly by loved ones, physicians, and public service announcements that your unhealthy lifestyle will lead to cancer, heart attacks, strokes or diabetes, but you have also seen the truth of this repeatedly with your own eyes as your family members, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and even church members succumb to the various obesity-related diseases and complications resulting from eating disorders.
 
Nevertheless, like a child, you continue to play with fire and throw a violent, internal temper tantrum at the mere mention of starting a health and fitness plan.  Notwithstanding, God the Father loves you and, like the good parent He is, He is patiently correcting you today by saying, "That's enough!"  You must obey the voice of the Lord and accept His positive discipline, or you will reap the harvest of His negative discipline.
 
On the positive side, obedience results in the healthy and fit version of you and a longer lifespan.  Conversely, disobedience results in the negative consequences that lead to death which you may already be experiencing, namely, hypertension, high cholesterol, insulin shots, acid reflux, sleep apnea to name a few, or complications resulting from eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or orthorexia.  Either way, God is faithful to perform His Word, for "the Lord disciplines those He loves as a Father the son he delights in" (Proverbs 3:12). I encourage you today to GROW UP!  Be an adult who realizes and accepts that you just have to pull up your big girl underwear and get it done!
 
If you're ready to obey the Voice of the Lord in develop mature eating and drinking habits, purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com.  In the books, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Follow us daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

​I don't know what you're going through in your life.  Maybe you've been out of work for six months, your home is in foreclosure, a loved one died, or your business is failing.  I do know that those types of issues often result in "stress eating" which results in people seeking comfort from food instead of from God the Comforter!  It can also be a trigger for those who suffer from anorexia and bulimia nervosa.
 
I speak from experience.  When I was a child, I was sexually abused by two different people and severely bullied.  As a result, I suffered from clinical depression by fifth grade.  As I matured, I developed an unhealthy relationship with food.  When things bothered me, I ate.  For example, I ate when I was angry as well as when I was sad.  I also ate whenever the thoughts of childhood trauma tried to overwhelm me.  This started a cycle which led me to eat even more and resulted in significant weight gain.
 
As I discovered, when the enemy has you add the problems you face to the amount of weight you must lose or the eating disorder you must overcome, his evil calculations equate to failure.  Therefore, you figure there's no need to try.  Jesus said the devil is a liar, the father of lies, and a murderer (John 8:44).  Satan's lies are calculated to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10).  He steals your peace by orchestrating circumstances which will cause you stress, hoping to tempt you to return to your old, dysfunctional eating habits.  If he successfully destroys your resolve to continue to eat healthy and exercise, then he's put you back on the path that will ultimately lead to your death.
 
You've allowed Satan to defeat you in this same way countless times before.  It's time to break the cycle!  I encourage you to trust in the Lord and the power of His might and believe that He has equipped you to stand strong on His promises in the midst of the storms you face.  Don't be discouraged!  The problems will still be there regardless of whether or not you give up, so you may as well press forward and remember, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13)!
 
If you’re finally ready to break the cycle of circling the Wilderness of Obesity and Eating Disorders, then purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com.  In the books, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Follow us daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

​In the Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries Health and Fitness Course, we spend three (3) weeks discussing the opposition you must face from the enemy when you start to rebuild the temple of the Holy Spirit and fortify the walls of your mind with God's Word.  Although the Bible clearly identifies Satan's tricks, it never fails that an EAW Ministries class participant is spiritually attacked in one of the ways mentioned in the Word.  For example, the enemy often attacks a class participant’s family.  Sometimes it is sickness.  Other times, class participants experience marital problems or family strife.  Satan also attacks finances and sends fatigue, to name a few other weapons in his arsenal.
 
Nevertheless, you must remember God promised in His Word that no weapon formed against you shall prosper (Isaiah 54:17).  Life's journey is filled with distractions even when you are not trying to lose weight, get help for anorexia or bulimia, or otherwise live a healthy lifestyle.  Your past should be a good indicator that you cannot eat or starve your way out of the stress of life.  The food does not change anything except you.  In the case of the glutton, it makes you fatter, sicker, and closer to death's door with each unhealthy meal you eat.  In the case of the anorexic, it makes you skinnier, sicker, and closer to death’s door with each meal you forgo.
 
Consequently, you must learn to recognize that stressful situations are the enemy's strategy to get you to take your eyes off Jesus and sink in the sea of debt, marital problems, sickness, relational strife, and health and fitness struggles you are experiencing.  But if you stay focused on the Lord, you will rise above the turbulent waters to take your place at the Master's side.  He will command the storms in your life to cease and give you peace within as you continue to trust Him and eat and drink for His glory.
 
Therefore, I encourage you to ignore the howling winds and the torrential rain of problems the enemy hurls at you and stay focused on the spiritual task at hand! You have quit under pressure too many times before, and it has never solved anything.  It only added to the mountain of guilt and shame for giving in to the temptation to give up.  Again, you felt the sting of another defeat on top of your list of other sorrows.  Instead, let's pray to "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil 3:14) and trust God’s promise that you will finally attain it!
 
If you’re finally ready to leave the Wilderness of Obesity and Eating Disorders and truly focus on claiming the Promised Land of Healthy and Fit for Life, then purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com.  In the books, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Follow us daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

​Philippians 3:18b-19 (NIV) says, "Many LIVE as enemies of the Cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.  Their mind is set on earthly things."  Is it possible to accept Jesus as your Savior but still live as if you are His enemy?  Yes!  Unfortunately, it happens every day.  For example, you probably know Christians who are not married but live together like a husband and wife contrary to God's Word.  You sit on the same pew with the Christian who smoked marijuana at a club on Saturday night.  You listened as a deaconess gossiped about a person who came to the church for prayer.  And you, yourself, have made a "god of your stomach" and failed to obey the Lord's commands to "honor God with your body" by keeping the temple of the Holy Spirit in excellent condition.
 
In the event you haven't noticed, the devil doesn't bother you while you are comfortable with your sinful existence.  After all, you are fighting on his side by actively rebelling against Christ.  It's when you resolve to change, or even consider changing, that Satan comes against you.  At that point, you are a threat instead of a pawn on the battlefield because you are trying to become free from bondage that you aren't even aware you are captive to.
 
In terms of health and fitness, that means the cravings intensify.  People suddenly want to take you out to lunch, and you don't even have to pay.  There's no free time to cook your own meals or go to the gym, and those are just the warning shots.  The warfare intensifies until your feeble resolve crumbles, and you return to your sin, in this case, your old eating habits, like a dog to its vomit (Proverbs 26:11).
 
The cure for this is to denounce the idol you have made of your stomach and serve the One True God in every aspect of your life, including how you eat.  In other words, follow Romans 12:1, which says, "I beseech ye, therefore brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."  Then the battle is no longer yours. It's the Lord's!  He'll fight for you when you stop warring against Him!  
 
If you’re ready to stop living as enemies of the Cross of Christ, then purchase your copies of the Eating as an Act of Worship Workbook and the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online today at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com.  In the books, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God.  Read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Follow us daily on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Tune in to our syndicated radio show on the DFW Den Radio Station, the StudioW Buzz Radio Station, and Victory KVDW 100.9 FM, 95.3 FM, and 1530 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas for interviews and health and fitness trends.  Lastly, make your tax-deductible donation to Eating as an Act of Worship Ministries at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

In Haggai 1:8, God commands the Israelites to "go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build My house (which means 'temple') so that I may take PLEASURE in it AND be HONORED." The commandment given to the Israelites in terms of the Old Testament temple, which was a building where God manifested His presence among His people, is the same for us regarding the New Testament temple of the Holy Spirit, which is your body.  In other words, we are commanded to eat for God's glory, exercise for His glory, and otherwise take care of His holy temple in order to PLEASE and HONOR God not to attract a spouse or look good in a bikini.
 
The Holy Spirit dwells in, meaning He lives inside of you, when you accept Christ as your Savior.  You become His home!  "Or do you not know that YOUR BODY is the TEMPLE of the Holy Spirit WHO IS IN YOU, whom you have received from God?  For you were bought at a price (the blood of the Lamb); therefore, HONOR (or glorify) GOD WITH YOUR BODY and in your spirit which are God's."   Furthermore, Jesus said he who loves Me obeys My commands (John 14:21).  In 1 Corinthians 6:20, we are specifically commanded to honor God with our bodies.  Likewise, we're further commanded in 1 Corinthians 10:31 to eat and drink for the glory of God.
 
This command was actually first given in the Garden of Eden when God told Adam and Eve to abstain from eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil but to partake from every other tree in the Garden.  He made no exceptions when they disobeyed His command.  On the contrary, He cast them out of the Garden of Eden, and as promised, they experienced death. The same held true for the Israelites when they broke their covenant with God which included eating for His glory. As promised, God punished them with enslavement and death as a result of the Babylonian attack on Jerusalem.
 
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). God didn't accept excuses for disobedience then, and He won't accept them now!  As Adam and Eve and the Jews learned the hard way, you must also learn that God "disciplines those He loves like a father the son he delights in" (Proverbs 3:12).  Since your body is God's house, it doesn't belong to you.  That means you don't make the rules concerning it just as a child in the natural has to abide by his parents' rules while he lives in their home.  Consequently, you don't set the limits on rebuilding and repairing the damage you've done to the temple of the Holy Spirit. God does!
 
Unless He says, "That's enough!  I'm pleased and satisfied," you resist the temptation of cravings, you ignore the whining voice of fatigue, and you push through every plateau until the temple is a place that glorifies and honors God! You'll know when you reach that point because His presence will be manifested in you like never before just as it filled the physical temple in 2 Chronicles 5:14 when God was pleased because King Solomon and the Israelites completed construction of the Old Testament temple.
 
You can choose to obey His commands to honor Him with your body by eating and drinking for His glory, or you can continue to be lazy, procrastinate, or otherwise make excuses for your disobedience and suffer the consequences of obesity, eating disorders, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, cancer, stroke, and ultimately, premature death. Tomorrow is not promised to you, and even if you do live to see it, it could be too late as heart attacks and strokes often occur with little or no warning.
 
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose this day whom you will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15).  If you’re ready to serve the Lord by eating and drinking for His glory, PURCHASE YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition ​ONLINE at Barnes and Noble.com!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God! You can also follow us daily on Facebook and Twitter for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Lastly, don’t forget to read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Just visit our website at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

The Bible teaches us to "put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires" (Ephesians 4:22).  Instead, you are to "be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self-created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:23-24). This isn't a one-time occurrence. This must be done daily because temptation comes every day.  The fight for possession of the Promised Land of Healthy and Fit for Life is "not against flesh and blood, but against the powers, against principalities, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, and against spiritual wickedness in the high places" (Ephesians 6:11-12). Therefore, we are commanded to "put on the whole armor of God" daily (Ephesians 6:13).
 
Before Jesus embarked on His spiritual mission to redeem mankind, He spent time alone with the Father, fasting in the wilderness. Sensing a moment of weakness, Satan tempted our Lord to stop abstaining from food in humble submission to the Father and urged Jesus to break His fast.  Jesus responded with the Word of God and said, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Similarly, when the disciples thought Jesus was hungry, He told them He had already eaten.  This confused them because they had not seen Him eat, but Jesus explained, "My food is to do the will of the One who sent Me and to finish His work" (John 4:34).
 
As in every other aspect of life, Jesus exemplified in these Scriptures how to eat for the glory of God.  No, you don't have to abstain from food and beverages for forty (40) days and nights, but you MUST commit to "honor God with your body" by maintaining the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is your body.  This isn't a choice. It's a command. Therefore, when you are tempted to disobey the command, you follow Jesus' example and fight back with the "sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" (Ephesians 6:17) by continuing to follow your health and fitness plan or treatment plan for an eating disorder out of loving obedience to God, which is a form of worship.
 
What you'll discover is the phenomenal truth of Jesus' statement to His disciples, that is, obeying God's will to eat and drink for His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31) is sustenance not just to your spirit, but also to your physical body.  In other words, the Holy Spirit gives you what you lack, self-control, and fulfills His promise that if you "resist the devil, he will flee from you" (James 4:7).
 
The battle for the healthy and fit version of you is spiritual warfare, and you must prepare your heart, mind, spirit and body for the onslaught from the enemy so you can stand against the evil today!  If you’re ready to put your war clothes on and learn to fight with the FULL ARMOR OF God, PURCHASE YOUR COPY of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY!   ​In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God! You can also follow us daily on Facebook and Twitter for recipes, and diet and exercise tips.  Lastly, don’t forget to read our weekly blog for motivation to stay healthy and fit through Christ.  Just visit our website at www.eatingasanactofworshipministries.org!

​Romans 12:2 says, “Be ye changed by the renewing of your mind," and then you will know the perfect will of God.  In other words, change always starts within us.  That means we have to first choose to do something different, but humans often change their minds again and revert to their old habits.  This is probably the way it has been for you in terms of weight loss and eating disorders up to this point.  You make up your mind, or rather resolve, to start a new diet and exercise regimen, but your resolution falters shortly after you begin, if you ever truly get started at all.
 
God's Word says, "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8).  If you're honest with yourself, you can admit this is true in terms of your weight loss efforts and entanglement with eating disorders.  Not only do you constantly change your mind about starting a new diet or going to inpatient treatment for an eating disorder, but you also vacillate between sticking with the plan, following the advice of your therapist, giving in to your cravings to eat unhealthy foods, and making excuses not to exercise.  The instability is further evident by the excess weight you carry, changes in how you view yourself, how you relate to others, and how your health is, or eventually will be, affected.  Nevertheless, God can and will provide the stability you need in this area of your life when you change your mind and adopt His perspective of your issue with weight and eating disorders.
 
The choice is yours as to whether or not you trust God and obey His Will.  Jesus said, "He who loves Me obeys My commands" (John 14:21).  When you read and obey His Word as it pertains to the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body, you discover His good and pleasing will for your life in regard to food and beverages.  Then you have the right to ask for the Holy Spirit's empowerment to succeed where you previously and repeatedly failed in the past.  That is a request God can honor because seeking Him and His righteousness first (Matthew 6:33) in all things proves you now have the correct motivation for losing weight and being free of eating disorders.  In other words, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).
 
If you’re ready to finally win the weight loss and eating disorder war through Christ, then order your copy of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition TODAY!  In the book, you will learn the biblical principles regarding the body, dieting, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body for the glory of God!  As you apply the principles to your life, the Holy Spirit will empower you to do what you have been unable to do for yourself and succeed where so many others have failed!  Order your copy of the Eating as an Act of Worship Teacher’s Edition online NOW at Amazon.com.