The world has set the standard when it comes to eating, rather than the Word of God. Here is another area where we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance.  First, we need to make sure that we are receiving proper spiritual food; however, the Lord is also emphasizing to His people that they need to make changes in their physical diets and receive the proper natural foods. Most of God's people have experienced His healing hand in their bodies, but one problem that seems to be prevalent is that after receiving healing, the devil comes to rob them of God's gift of healing. If we exercise our faith and rebuke the enemy in the name of Jesus, he will flee. If, however, you have done this and are still experiencing illness, perhaps the problem is one of maintaining the gift God has given you. By this I mean we must not only obey and keep spiritual laws, but also we must keep physical laws if we expect to walk in God's blessings.

Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and many of our temples are filled with trash and garbage. Yet, we expect the Holy Spirit to abide there, too. Instead of eating according to the present mode, we need to eat according to God's Word. The Bible has much to say about diet and eating. Of course, the extreme we should avoid here is to become so "food-minded" that we allow cooking and diet to absorb too much of our time. The Lord wants us to learn self-discipline and temperance in all things. In and of ourselves, we may not be able to overcome our old eating habits, but through prayer, with the Lord's help we can do it.

With so much emphasis on proper eating and physical exercise here in America, it has caused many to examine their lifestyles. Many people have now become imbalanced by putting too much emphasis on the physical man, while neglecting the spiritual man. The Lord desires this area also to be in balance as our physical condition, if it is not properly cared for, affects our spiritual condition.

The spiritual man should always be given top priority as its influence over the physical man is greater than the physical man's influence over it. "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come"(I Timothy 4:8). We need proper balance between neglecting our bodies and giving them too much attention.

Obesity has become such a problem for so many people in the U.S.A. and one of the greatest sins is gluttony. Food has become the god of millions. Jesus has never been made "Lord of the Fork." The Word of God has much to say about man's eating habits. Many sicknesses that are plaguing mankind stem directly from unhealthy eating habits. How should Christians eat? Are all the so-called health foods the answer to our diet problem? The Word of God has the answer to our questions as to what is healthy for us to eat.

So many have been eating according to the tradition of men, instead of seeing what God's Word says about this subject. If we do not eat by the Word of God, our eating habits will probably be dictated by the patterns of the country in which we were born. Today's study tells us about eating honey, but what about other foods besides honey? A good guideline would be to eat "living foods." The natural, living foods that God created are fresh vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, and dairy products. The "dead foods" are those that are highly refined. They not only are expensive, but also in most instances do little to nourish. Many people are tired, run down and sick because a large part of their diets are made up of dead junk foods. God's guidelines for meats are in Leviticus 11.

 If we seek God on this important subject, He will direct us as to the solution we need to help in correcting our eating problems. Diet can help, but ultimately it will be our faith and obedience to God that will give us victory.  I like the title of a book I read years ago on dieting --"More of Jesus, Less of Me."  God wants us to enjoy the good things he created for us to eat, but not to over-indulge and become ill.