REMEMBERING WHAT TEAM WE WRESTLE FOR

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12.

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Sometimes it is so easy to get distracted, and turn our focus onto people and events, that we lose sight of who our true enemy is. Anti-Christian sentiment is on the rise in this country, and the beginnings of persecution are on the horizon. Christianity has long been under attack in entertainment, media and educational circles, but the attacks are now more open than ever before. But it is important to remember who the real enemy is and what his agenda is. Otherwise, one can get distracted and pulled away into a specific fight and be isolated from the larger and more important big picture, or one can feel helpless against the increasingly organized and persistent onslaughts and feel that there is nothing that can be done.

If you feel that the Lord is leading you into a specific arena, by all means follow that leading. But keep in mind who the true enemy is and that He that is within us is greater than he that is in the world.

Yesterday, there was news that the Motion Picture Association of America had assigned a PG rating to an upcoming film. The reason? Too much evangelistic Christianity. Kris Fuhr, vice president of marketing for the company producing the film said she was advised that “…the movie was heavily laden with messages from one religion and that this might offend people from other religions. It’s important that they used the world ‘proselytizing’ when they talked about giving this movie a PG…”

It is not unusual that a Christian themed movie backed by a Baptist organization would be evangelistic in nature, but it is surprising that the movie would be assigned a Parental Guidance rating. It seems to me that the Hollywood world view gets preached in most films and not many people seem to be very concerned about that.

HEALTH: Daily Choices

HEALTH: THOSE DAILY CHOICES

I was watching a televised interview with a medical doctor this morning. He has authored several books on health and nutrition. He made the remark that between 90 and 95% of the cells in our bodies are renewed each year, his point being that it is never too late to start an improvement program, and that huge payoffs can be had within a year’s time. The food we eat helps to determine the quality of the renewed cells.

The choices we make on a daily basis do indeed determine our future to a very large degree. Eating bad for one day will not have much effect, but make bad eating the norm and not the exception and problems can result.

The doctor also commented that many people get their emotional comfort from the foods they eat. They use it to make up for feelings of loneliness, depression, anxiety, or to combat stress. But the foods we eat for comfort may in fact be killing us.

As a Christian doctor, he said that he often prays with patients who have come to him with some physical ailment that he sees has been caused by their lifestyle choices. He asks them to pray and repent of the bad choices they have made and determine to move ahead making better choices. He said that many people are surprised by his approach to their problems.

I have had weight problems for most of my adult life. Over the years I have participated in most of the diet crazes and have lost hundreds of pounds in doing so. Yet the basic problem still remains.

Years ago I was addicted to nicotine. Quitting smoking was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I struggled with the addiction constantly. Nothing worked for me except quitting cold turkey. I had heard that the physical addiction was done within a few days and after that, it was just a psychological addiction. But that psychological addiction had a real hold on me. I quit one time for three years but went back to smoking; another time it was eight months.

Finally, one day I had enough and quit for good. It was quite a struggle and I was not a pleasant person to be around for several weeks. One time, on a day when I was being particularly irritating, my wife suggested that I go out and get a pack of cigarettes. But I didn’t. The cravings, which for I while I thought would never go away, became less frequent, and now it has been many years since my last cigarette.

I said all that to say this. Maintaining my weight at a correct level is harder than quitting smoking. The reason for that is that you can quit smoking. It may be difficult, but you can live without smoking. But you have to eat, and therein is the rub.

That brings us back to choices, living in the moment and making better choices on a daily basis. When I struggled with smoking, there was no way that I could quit smoking forever. But I could quit for one day. And then I could not smoke the next day. By taking those days one at a time, not smoking eventually became the habit.

It is the same way with eating. I am an emotional eater. Sometimes when I am emotional it seems that I cannot get filled up, and my sweet tooth is particularly empowered during those times.

I know that within myself I cannot sit here and say that I will not eat badly any more. But I also know that I can make the proper choices today.

If I made the decision, and followed through on it each day, to become the person that I want to be physically, eventually I would be that person. For instance, if I wanted to weigh 160 pounds and be in shape, there is no diet program needed. Just eat like a 160 pound man and exercise regularly, and eventually that is what I would be. It is the little daily choices that do not seem to make much if any visible difference that have a tremendous cumulative effect over the years. Eat 200 extra calories today, and so what? But eat 200 extra calories every day and at the end of a year you have added 20 pounds.