We Must Eat Right… to Be Right - Cathy Morris

How do we come to find healthy spiritual food? Jesus tells us in John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

We can see the connection between our physical condition and what we consume through out mouths and into our stomachs. ‘We are what we eat’ so the saying goes… healthy, strong, alert, energetic, in shape; or sickly, weak, dull, lethargic and either obese or emaciated. Junk in – junk out, pretty much holds true.

In exactly the same way, we can see (or more to the point, others can see) the state of our spiritual health reflected in all that we say and do; in how we treat others. Our LIFE speaks volumes, revealing our true heart condition to all we encounter whether we are aware of it or not. The way of the world is to achieve the recognition of peers, accept their praise, climb the ladder of success, and accumulate material possessions and power over others.

Jesus said in John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have LIFE, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Jesus came to Israel with a message that was foreign to their ears. They prided themselves on being the ‘chosen people,’ the ‘beloved of God.’ They held the scriptural prophecies of the Messiah that ‘was to come.’ Yet they were locked into their traditions and limited by their carnal understanding. The ways of the world are the ways of the thief. While that which God requires of all who would come to Him, is that we deny the world and all of its allurements, that we crucify our flesh and allow His Spirit to direct our steps. The vast majority of the nation of Israel to which our Lord came rejected Him outright, starting with the religious leaders. His ‘message of the Kingdom’ was not what they wanted to hear; “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” His message of self-denial held no allurement for the established leaders of that time, any more than it holds any appeal to those who have been lifted up over the people in our generation.

Our Lord tells us where we will find true spiritual sustenance… Matthew 6:25. “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” John 6:51. “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” John 6:53. Let us not deceive our own selves, but know that our life reveals what we are feeding on. This is the deciding factor…. to the degree that His LIFE is manifest in us… being led by the Spirit of God. Many call themselves ‘born-again,’ ‘heirs of salvation,’ ‘righteous remnant,’ even while they are doing those things that seem right in their own eyes. Consider… “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness” Proverbs 30:12. “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” Isaiah 5:21.

Jesus said “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man” Matthew 15:18. “There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man” Mark 7:15. What comes out of us… but our words and our actions? The only standard of measurement of our spiritual condition is Jesus Christ himself… “because as he is, so are we in this world.” The entire text reads…. “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world” 1 John 4:17. Our flesh loves to focus emphasis on the outward things, passing judgment on others for wherever we disagree with them, while totally failing to comprehend that even in our perceived ‘righteous indignation’ at errors others may hold, we ourselves are equally guilty of missing the mark. We cannot set ourselves up as judges, and walk in love at the same time. We find ourselves frustrated when we turn aside from the substance and embrace the forms. Christ is the ‘Tree of LIFE,’ in the midst of the Paradise of God. The substance is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We will never be satisfied, or changed, or find eternal life as long as we continue to feed from the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’

Down through history the ‘Christian world’ have continued to embrace the ‘love of God’ for man, while rejecting the ‘way of the cross,’ the ‘denial of flesh,’ and the LIFE Jesus came to give us. To follow Christ… is to walk as He walked. To walk as Christ walked, is to walk in the Spirit…. “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” John 5:19.

We are far too quick to try and bring about spiritual realities and manifestations, in the power of our own flesh. The Son did nothing from his own fleshly abilities. He did only what he saw the Father do. He was directly connected to the Father by the Spirit. This is the restored life-line that Jesus brought to us. This is exactly how we are called to live in this world. The only thing that prevents us from following Christ, in the same humility and obedience he walked in, is our fleshly pride and lusts for the things of this world. We have all heard the saying that someone is ‘so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good.’ Hmmm… I wonder where that idea originated??? It holds something of the hisssssss of the father of all lies, in that it mocks the very notion that being heavenly minded could be of any benefit to the world. It casts scorn upon the concept of living for any purpose other than pleasing the world. It may be a catchy phrase that’s been around for a long time, but it is evidence of a carnal mind. “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” Romans 8:6. We have a choice to make friends. Will we be carnally minded, full of man’s wisdom, or will we choose to be spiritually minded, having the mind of Christ? The majority of believers the world over are convinced that they are being spiritually minded, even while feeding on the hollow husks of all the great theologies devised by man over the many centuries. Religious rituals and lip-service are what the Pharisees and Sadducees had to offer, and our Lord called them ‘whited sepluchers full of dead men’s bones.’ Why would we even begin to imagine that His requirements or judgments of this generation would be any different?

“Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence” John 18:36.

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” 1 John 2:16.

The writer of Proverbs twice stated: “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” Proverbs 16:25. We have a choice….“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” Romans 8:14. How will we live our life? Who will we follow? The Apostle John showed us what we must do if we would prepare the way and restore the breach, “He must increase, but I must decrease” John 3:30.

Jesus came that we ‘might have LIFE, and that we might have it more abundantly!’ He told us how to obtain this life…
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” Matthew 11:29. He left no doubt as to whose voice we should listen to… “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life;” and why… “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” John 14:6.

We must eat to live. Let us examine our hearts before God, and take a good look at both the table we are sitting at, as well as the fruit our lives are producing.

The 23rd Psalm …

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:
for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

The table we are eating at makes all the difference. There was a reason why the manna in the wilderness didn’t keep overnight, but had to be gathered fresh every day. In the same way, we cannot feed on the stale remnants of past moves of God. If we would be the ‘new creature’ in Christ that He is calling us to be, then we must keep our eye focused on HIM alone, and be sensitive to the slightest move of the Holy Spirit in our inner man. Paul described for us in 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” May we partake of the life-quickening spirit, feasting at the table prepared for us from before the foundations of the world! Knowing that we do bear the image of the table we are eating from.

Amen & Amen