Made to Crave

Mark 8:34~ If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

"With Jesus, if we want to gain we must give up. If we want to be filled we must deny ourselves. If we want to truly get close to God, we'll have to distance ourselves from other things. If we want to conquer our cravings, we'll have to redirect them to God. God made us capable of craving so we'd have an unquenchable desire for more of Him and Him alone. Nothing changes until we make the choice to redirect our misguided cravings to the only one capable of satisfying them."

What amazing stuff right there. I truly want to be close to God. I. want. to. be. filled. Not with crappy food. But with Christ.

The story of the rich man is such a great lesson for us. The rich man goes to Jesus and says...hey, I have followed all the rules. I have done what I should and still felt like he was missing something. His soul was still longing for something. Something that just keeping rules and regulations will never fill. Jesus says that all he has to do is sell his possessions, give his money to the poor and follow him. But the rich man can't do that. "The rich man goes away sad b/c he won't give up the one thing that consumes him. He is so full with his riches he can't see how undernourished his soul is." Imagine Jesus looking through the crowd straight to the rich man's soul and saying.....I want you to give up the one thing that you crave more then me. Then come, follow me.

Piercing thought isn't it?

Suddenly Jesus isn't staring at the rich young man; He's also staring at me-the inside me. The part I can't cover up with excuses and makeup. God sees my heart, He sees what my desires and my cravings are. He sees what I place before him.

Maybe your looking at me and saying....good grief you tub of lard, your making such a big deal over food. Well.....for me it's food. But what is it for you? What is it that comes between you and God in your life? Where do you turn in times of heartache and sadness? Or in times or boredom? Is it shopping? Or alcohol? Or sex? Is it drugs? Is it tv? What is it? Maybe it's none of these. Ask God to open your eyes to what it is and He will show you.

He will say to you.....give up the one thing you crave more then me and then come follow me.

Don't judge me to harshly before you attempt to give something up.

I have not done well this week. Food wise, I guess I'm OK. I have stayed under my calories, but I feel myself compromising this week. I feel myself slipping back into the old ways that I thought.

I don't want to go back. I refuse to go back.

1 day this week, I ate a cheeseburger for lunch. I was making them for the school lunch. And it looked good. It smelled good. I just plain ol' WANTED it. I counted up the calories and realized that it really wasn't that bad of a choice. I had the calories to eat it and so I did. And I enjoyed every single delicious bite of it. ( I might have licked the plate if I were alone!! ;) )

But then that night as I was thinking over my day. I regretted that cheeseburger. I could have made a wiser choice for lunch. I could have chosen something else that would have filled me and not left me with a shameful feeling in the end.

I know that I need something bigger then myself to keep me going. I need a "spiritual want-to empowered by God himself" to push me forward.

Lord, I need you. I need you to fill me with yourself so you and I can deal with these cravings.I want to go deeper with you. I want more and more and more of YOU. Please remind me to eat beneficial food for me and not the food I want at that fleeting moment. Help me to remember that this journey is NOT about counting calories it's about being filled with you. I don't want to be so consumed with calorie counting that I forget to seek you.

"Day by Day, God will give me enough want-to, laced with enough strength to be satisfied be healthy choices."

I have really struggled this week with knowing what food is a hindrance to me and what is beneficial to me. I have a calorie counting app on my phone that helps keep me accountable to what I put in my mouth. I have found it easy to get wrapped up in how many calories I am consuming and have kinda forgotten about the real reason why I am doing this. I have gotten puffed up at the number of weight that I have lost and forgotten to look at the one who has given me the strength to even get through 1 day. In turn I have gotten discouraged b/c the scale did not move this week. It is so easy to get caught up in the numbers of the whole journey and not focus on the changes that are going on in my heart and mind.

I love this verse is Hosea 10:12~Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love and break up your unplowed ground: for it is time to seek the Lord.

That's quite a verse isn't it.

Today Lord, may I deny myself, my you break up my unplowed ground. It is time to seek you.
(words in italics are taken from the book Made to Crave)

What is your next choice?