Phil. 4:4, 6-8 – “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!…6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus…8 whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
You have heard it said, ‘you are what you eat.’ Our bodies respond to what we feed them. If we eat junk food, it initially makes us feel good, but if we overdo it, we end up lethargic and regretful. I have a friend who just posted on social media, ‘No sugar or grains or dairy or alcohol or peanuts for 51 days…I’ve dropped 17 pounds and I don’t battle cravings and I don’t miss ice cream or pizza or even Lime Tortilla Chips…I’m learning to grill more meat and veggies and homemade potato chips. Almond milk now tastes like regular milk. My body just feels healthier and younger.’
In the same way that the food we fuel our bodies with ultimately affects what we crave and how we feel, what we feed our minds with will affect what we crave and how we feel spiritually and emotionally.
The Apostle Paul, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, teaches us that we need to learn how to continually rejoice in the Lord regardless of our circumstances. This is a choice of faith in Jesus. When we pray about everything and make our requests known to Him, He will help us and guard us and go to work for good. We must guard our hearts by guarding what we think about. We have a choice as to what we are going to focus and meditate on and put into our minds.
I want to testify today, I have gotten away from a steady diet of news and politics and social media and transitioned to a steady diet of devotions, prayer, fellowship with my family and believers and I feel healthier and full of joy and peace. There’s a lot of junk food for the soul tempting us to lose our peace on a daily basis; you don’t have to give in, Jesus will help.