This first part of this blog is taken from the book called “The Daniel Cure” which is about the Daniel Fast and the types of food that Daniel ate. You can read more about that in Chapters 1 and 10 of the book of Daniel.
Changing deeply entrenched (eating) habits is hard, but it’s far from impossible. It all starts with a decision, or what we call a “quality decision.” A quality decision requires thorough consideration and prayer. It requires thinking about the kind of person you want to become as well as the decisions you need to make. It means you’ve weighed the benefits and the consequences of the decision. You’ve presented the matter to God and asked the Holy Spirit for direction. You’ve studied what the Word teaches and applied its truths to the matter you’re considering.
Once made, your quality decision then fuels your thoughts and your actions. It informs what you do and how you go about doing it. For example, when you make a decision to pursue healthy eating as a lifestyle, you no longer need to go on a series of temporary diets that lead you to say, “I can’t have that candy bar.” Instead, you operate from a different mind-set: “I don’t want that candy bar because it interferes with obtaining my goals and becoming the healthy and fit person I want to be.”
To pursue your goal of developing a healthy lifestyle, you’ll experience the temporary hardship of forgoing foods you may have really liked but now realize are incompatible with your goal. That’s the kind of shifting that’s not only possible but becomes routine when we make a quality decision that enables us to become who we want to be.
This may seem like an obvious point but “the key to eliminating old habits is to replace them with new habits.”
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So, I shared all that with you because I am trying to eat better these days. I am going to be participating in a Daniel Fast sometime this summer, hopefully even as soon as later this month. It is hard though because I am working up at a camp and they prepare all of our meals so I usually just eat whatever they serve.
Have you heard of the Daniel Fast/Cure? Have you done it? Would you consider joining me? If so, please let me know so we can discuss it and help keep each other accountable.
Part of the reason for this is because when I eat crappy food I feel crappy. Another, more important reason, is because I want to be a good steward of my body for the glory of God. We only get one body and I have not treated mine very well and I am not getting any younger. I turn the big 3-0 this year.
Scripture tells us:
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
So readers, I would love to have a conversation about any or all of what I wrote about today if that interests you. Check out the book “The Daniel Cure” by Susan Gregory. I bought the eBook and am still reading through it but look forward to finishing it soon!
Have a blessed week!
Misha
