Discussion Board

Thanks for the narration, Jubilee! I am sure it is wonderful! We will make our music here (Psalm 100)!

In regard to achieving your healthy eating goals, here is something to think about:

'12 "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"--but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.' (1 Corinthians 6, NIV)

Let us be mastered only by the Master!

Hi friends,
Thanks so much pink and Jubilee for all the great posts, scriptures and encouragement. You guys are the best!

We just finished a study on Wed. nites at my church on the life of Jacob, and it was so good and so practical. In a nutshell, Jacob spent most of his live fighting against God, but after his little wrestling match, he finally threw in the towel so to speak and surrendered to God.

It has made me think about areas in my life that are not completely surrendered to the Lord, and areas where I may be actually fighting against God and not trusting Him.

I know that trusting God with our financial future is an issue for my husband and I with him retiring this year. And I still find my self struggling in the flesh trying to lose this 10 lbs. instead of doing it in His strength.

Are there any areas in your lives where you feel like you're fighting God?

Thanks for listening - or I should say reading!

Thanks for challenging us to think, Luv!

In regard to Jacob, did you know that the name, "James" is the English equivalent of the ancient "Jacob"? In Chinese both names (Jacob and James) are the same (yage). Two apostles and a brother of Jesus were called James. So when you think about how many babies have been named Jacob or James, you get an idea of how much this man has been admired. God changed his name to Israel, meaning "the prince that prevails with God."

One of my favorite scenes in his life is here:

'1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you just keep looking at each other?" 2 He continued, "I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die."' (Genesis 42, NIV)

This suggests to me that Jacob was a man of action and he was frustrated with his boys' willingness to wait for something to happen when they could take action that would enable them to survive. I am grateful that God can use people who have obvious flaws (people like Jacob, you and me) to accomplish His good purposes and to bless others.

While I do not think I am wrestling with God, I do think I need to, like Jacob, be ready to take initiative to do good things. As someone has said, "Let us pray as if everything depended on God and act as if everything depended on us."

"17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." (James 4, NIV)

hi guys, i am new here. And i'd like to share about my struggle when it comes to my spiritual condition. I am one of the active volunteer worker in our church handling the kids ministry.

My marriage is a failure and perhaps this is one reason why i am having a problem with my spiritual life. I am seek and tired of me being lukewarm with my faith practice, but sometimes, when my mind started thinking about me and my husband situation i am like a candle melting and it will took me more than a months to recover...i don't want to accept that this is a depression....but somehow it looks like it is.

Though this is the real thing, i still hold on to God's love and promises. "that i can do anything through Christ who strengthen me."

Welcome, Danielv! Sorry about your struggles...but grateful for your faith!

I have prayed for you and your husband and trust you will find some of the support and friendship you need here.

When I have struggled with the black dog, I have found help in Psalms. I recall that I read eight psalms/day for a while and that it seemed to help me to have more peace as I faced each day.

If you become severely depressed (immobilized), please seek medical help.

While McDougalling may help you significantly, for some people, it is not enough.

Please see: http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougal ... 040300.htm

Also, please let us know how you do. May your family be blessed at Thanksgiving.

Hi danielv503,

A warm welcome to you! I'm so glad that you had courage to post your struggles, and felt that this was a safe place to do so.

I agree with pinkrose that spending much time in the Psalms will bring encouragement and strength to your heart. David expressed his sorrows, struggles, and sins by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I also have several "Bible Promise" books where you can zero in on specific needs/trials easily.

Can you and your husband seek counselling from your pastor? I know many have been helped by talking things over with a third party who will give Biblical counsel.

I will pray for you today. I know that when we are going through hard things like this we can feel very alone and hopeless. But don't despair. God loves you, He knows what your situation is, and He is your Heavenly Father who will help you and guide you.

Corrie Ten Boom said that there is no pit so deep, that God is not deeper still. I truly believe that.

My church has a lay ministry. So each week members speak. This week the gentleman said, I do not want to offend any one by suggesting health is a persons fault. But I have to share my findings. Seems he had a mild heart attack. Started reading anything he could find.
So there he was speaking from the pulpit begging people to read the China study. To go back to basics and eat simply.
He even gave a hand out so they could also research.
I went up afterward, and spoke up for Dr. Mc.
It was wonderful.
The second speaker urged us to spend the week expressing our thanks to all who have enhanced our lives.
So this is my thanks to all of you.

That's wonderful Merriweather - thank you for sharing that. I'm so glad that gentleman shared what he had learned with others. I'm sure if he follows a plant based diet he will improve his health dramatically!

I too am very grateful for ALL of you that have participated here on the religious forum for the last several months. It has been very uplifting to hear everyone's thoughts on healthy living, eating, and the scriptures. I feel kind of like we are a family here.

If I don't get back here before Thanksgiving - Have a BLESSED Day EVERYONE!!!

Hey pinkrose - how will you be celebrating Thanksgiving in China? What will be on the menu?

Welcome Daneilv503! May Christ be your strength and JOY as you learn to rest in His mercy and love. Are you trying to follow the McDougall way of eating? It will certainly help you to have less depression and more physical strength as you go through your spiritual struggles, if you would.

Thanks Luv, for the thoughts on the life of Jacob. I'd have to say yes, there are areas of my life where I am often fighting God. I can totally relate to the fellow in Scripture who said, "Lord I believe. Help Thou mine unbelief." Sometimes I could say, "Lord I truly want to do __(whatever I'm struggling with)__ Your way. Help me to do this Your way because in my own strength, I keep going the wrong way." And yes, Pink, Jacob was a man of action! Kind of a balance there, I think.

Wow, Merriweather. Interesting that someone talked about the China Study in church. Although our Pastor actually has mentioned gluttony versus self-control from time to time in his sermons, (which most pastors won't touch nowadays), I've never heard anyone directly mention how to eat healthy. I guess that in our church it wouldn't be appropriate to talk about what to eat during the worship time, which includes the sermons, but it sure wouldn't hurt during some of the fellowship times. We have so many church activities that center around food, and it's always 75% unhealthy dishes. People mean well in bringing their best, richest recipes to share. At the same time, we also have so many with various diseases that would be helped to know of another way. I hope to someday be an instrument of that message, but I have to first be an example of how it works in my own life, don't I?

Speaking of sermons, lately we've had a series on God's mercy, and yesterday there was a message on Luke 17:11-19, about the 10 lepers who called for mercy, and were healed. Yet, only one returned to give thanks. It's so easy to receive the blessings and go on, without taking the trouble to go back and show our thankfulness.

Well, may you each have a Blessed and healthy Thanksgiving. We do have so abundantly much to be thankful for!!!
Jubilee

While Thursday will be a normal work day for us here in China, we will be thankful! (Yes, I will be eating my regular delicious McDougall meals!)

I am grateful for all of you who participate in this thread. Let us look up!



"The stream of spontaneous acts of Godly kindness carries us to the sea of contentment and peace."
-- Constance Hurst-Howard

"1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." (Psalm 100, NIV)

Pink, maybe it will be easier to focus on the Lord's Bounty in China, than here in good ol USA. The ads are all for the frenzy of shopping the next day. Some stores are even staying open on Thanksgiving, because --well, they are greedy.
My son has to work at a WalMart.
Our local Chinese Restaurant will be closed. It is the only day of the year they do close. Sadly they are busy on Christmas, because most places are closed.
I am just so grateful I could burst.
Two of my sons are still in rather perilous states of life, but I know the Lord is holding them close. Get little whispers of his Love all the time. One is in Iraq, one is married to an alcoholic. But still faith sustains me.
Oh, lady said at church the other day.
Fear knocked at the door.
Faith answered
No one was there.
Love to all

Blessings to alll -

I hope that everyone had a truly wonderful Thanksgiving. We feasted, nuff said.

I took a beautiful walk this morning. The air is crystal clear and there is snow on the tops of the mountains. Lovely. I met up with a neighbor along the way who was walking her dog, so we had a nice little "small talk" kind of talk along the way.

It's hard to believe that November is almost over. It has flown for me. How has everyone done this month over all with eating, your spiritual life, etc.? Please share any thoughts you have!

We did a wonderful study last Wed. nite in church on thankfulness and I am truly thankful for God's salvation, my family, good health, my church, God's wonderful word, the freedom we still have here in America to worship. And I'm very thankful to each of you who comes here and always inspires me!

Oh give thanks unto the Lord for He is good - for His mercy endureth forever!

We had a lovely Thanksgiving day as well, including some guests from our church who joined us for dinner. I feasted, but did not go way off the deep end, and held my weight. I'm satisfied with that.

One of our Thanksgiving traditions is to put a verse of Scripture, on each dinner plate, and then going around the table and sharing our verses. Each one is about showing thankfulness to the Lord. Doesn't matter how many people we have, there are always plenty of verses on THAT subject!

And we do indeed have so abundantly much to be thankful for! Thanks to each of you who encourages and challenges me on this journey.

Blessings,
Jubilee

I will enter His courts with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.

Daniel, I sure hope you're still around. I've struggled with some dark moods this year, and it's rough. The Lord and the prayers of the saints can see you through. Meds are okay, too. A couple of our dear friends from church are on anti-depressants. Please don't give up hope -- there are lots of options and lots of good days ahead.

"8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (Philippians 4, NIV)

"Watch your thoughts; they become words.|Watch your words; they become actions.|Watch your actions; they become habits.|Watch your habits; they become character.|Watch your character; it becomes your destiny." -- Frank Outlaw