AUDREY DICKEY MINISTRIES
Glory International Center
"A Center for God's Presence"
TO STRENGTHEN FOR SPIRITUAL WARFARE AND LIFE
Dr. Audrey L. Dickey, Los Angeles, CA
Proper rest for your temple (body) and eating properly will strengthen you for spiritual warfare and life in general.
First of all what did God intend for your body which is the house for your spirit man and your soul? He said in 3 John 2, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.” He further said, “You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body” (I Corinthians 6:20). Therefore, “food [is intended] for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will finally end [the functions of] both and bring them to nothing. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but [is intended] for the Lord, and the Lord [is intended] for the body [to save, sanctify, and raise it again]. And God both raised the Lord to life and will also raise us up by His power” (I Corinthians 6:13-14).
We are to respect the Temple of God and give it proper rest. When we are properly rested we think more clearly and function better. We will have the strength to obey and follow through. God will supernaturally strengthen us for certain projects or tasks but over all we are to remain in a place where we are not weary physically, emotionally or spiritually so that we are ready to move forward at a moments notice. He never tells us to do anything He has not equipped, made provision for or anointed us to do. Even if He tells you to step out in faith at the appointed time with nothing you must believe that as you step forward He will take the next step. Living by faith takes strength and determination.
However, if we do become weary in well doing the Lord said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest” (Matthew 11:28). Another way to rest is to sleep at night especially between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. which allows the Holy Spirit to rejuvenate your body. According to Dr. Don Colbert in his book, The Seven Pillars of Health, what he says about sleep is very enlightening, “During those precious hours your body shuts down and repairs itself. Your immune system recharges. Your major organs are restored. Old cells are being replaced with new ones. Your mind relaxes and orders its thoughts, creating a healthy mental state.”
Sleep is so vital for a number of reasons, in addition to the reasons listed above with at least six (6) hours, seven (7) being a better number of hours a night for sleeping according to sleep experts you will avoid sleep debt. Before television people slept about nine hours a night. And in our society today there are a number of businesses and activities going on twenty-four (24) hours a day and because of this people are losing sight of night and day as God designed it. Proper sleep will help you wake up rested and stay alert during the day. You will also have fewer accidents; you will be healthier and have less stress and overall better function of your mind and body. Without proper sleep there may be an increase in errors, accidents, irritability, difficulty in handling stress, day time sleeping, fatigue, aging, weight gain, high blood pressure and/or insomnia may develop as well as other diseases because the lack of sleep will take its toll on your health. Psalm 127:2 says that, “…He gives [blessings] to His beloved in sleep.” The term get your “beauty sleep” probably refers to this passage.
Dr. Colbert gives key points on the importance of sleep, natural supplements to help with sleep for those who may need this in order to change old or bad habits with their sleep pattern. He also gives suggestions or tips on how to prepare your room for a good night’s sleep. For more information go to www.drcolbert.com.
We must guard and protect our bodies with the proper rest staying in balance and using discipline to do so. Dr. Don Colbert further says in his book, The Seven Pillars of Health that, “Busyness comes at a high price. Many people have lost their health, marriages, and relationships as they strive to achieve more. But by abandoning rest we violate one of God’s most basic principles: the Sabbath of rest…He said to rest one day out of every week. No exceptions…God knew what our bodies and minds are capable of and what they need to function properly. A Sabbath rest does what sleep does: it lets the body and mind relax, unwind, and recuperate. It helps to maintain our strength, energy, and youthfulness. It even humbles us by reminding us that, after all is said and done, God is the source of our strength.”
Under our New Covenant the Sabbath of Rest is in Christ and at anytime on any given day we can rest in Him. Furthermore, the Lord will honor it if we take one day a week and use it as a rest day to preserve our bodies as well as honor Him by doing other things besides work. For many Christians our worship day is different from a day of rest; although we can rest on the day that we worship. The Lord once told me to choose a day and rest on that day. After experiencing that I found that it will literally refresh you for the entire week.
To do what God has called and anointed each Believer to do we must be rested and in good health. To have the strength to pray, praise, and worship the Lord, fight in the spirit through prayer, praise and interceding, to raise our families, to help others, run our businesses, to put in a honest days work, to travel and to be fruitful accomplishing meaningful tasks and our purpose in life, we need to be healthy, strong, alert, full of wisdom and might. Some key reminders on keeping ourselves healthy are to: Rest properly as mentioned above, drink plenty of water, get fresh air, get sunlight, exercise, take the proper supplements (because the soil which the food is raised in is no longer able to give us the nutrients we need), eat properly and avoid foods that are harmful for our bodies. Spending time in the presence of the Lord will keep us consistent, with wisdom, faith, strength and fresh ideas.
The Bible tells us what foods are the better foods that will agree with the system (body) that God created. Some of them are vegetables and fruits; oats and grains, nuts and beans, and other foods with fiber, protein, and good fats. In addition to telling us what foods are compatible with our body it also says which meats are clean and unclean (Gen.1:20-25; Genesis 7:2-3; Genesis 1:29-30; Deut. 14:3-21; Lev. 11:9-47 and I Cor. 8:8-13). Certain animals and fish were created to be eaten and others were created to keep the environment clean. Because the covenant changed from old to new it did not change the purpose for the animals or fish, what was considered unclean then is still unclean and not good for the human body today. Not to mention that certain companies use all kinds of chemicals in their meat to fatten it up, for color and so forth for presentation. When you eat this fattened meat the same chemicals used to fatten the meat will cause you to gain weight and eventually start to put your health at risk. Purchasing organic foods and meats does make a difference. I like to say pay now for the better foods or pay the doctors later, either way you will pay. Once again the choice is ours.
As far as what is considered clean and unclean the following are examples: clean red meat would be: beef, lamb, mutton, veal and an unclean red meat would be: pork, dog, cat, horse and mule. Clean poultry would be: capon, chicken, turkey, Cornish hen, etc. and unclean poultry would be: eagle, falcon, goose and osprey. Clean fish or sea food would be: salmon, halibut, haddock, bass, red snapper, kipper, tilapia, other cold water fish and so forth whereas unclean fish or sea food would be: shrimp, catfish, oysters, scallops, swordfish, crab, lobster, mackerel, eel, dolphin, and blue marlin. I’ve listed a few of each to give an idea of what is considered clean and unclean meat or fish according to the Word of God.
Unhealthy fast foods such as french fries, certain chips and donuts prepared in oils that release free radicals into your body. These same foods prepared in the proper oils at home would be healthier. Pizza with white bread and pepperoni, cold cuts (lunch meat), hamburgers, hot dogs, white sugar, white flour, sodas and other fast foods some have been bleached, in others chemicals have been added that cause addiction to the food so people will return and spend their money. Also avoid pork, shellfish, aspartame, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, caffeine, and alcohol which reduce the body’s ability to burn fat by about one third and increases high risk of cancer of the liver and pancreas. These and similar foods are not healthy and contribute to many diseases including high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, obesity, asthma, allergies not to mention the destruction to the body organs, cells and immune system. The results of poor eating can be seen in all ages in today’s society.
To add one note, even if we did all the right things in the natural to improve our health it will only go so far if we are harboring deadly emotions. Deadly emotions as they are called by Dr. Colbert are located in your soul and if they are active you are out of balance and will be hindered in all other efforts to maintain excellent health. The objective of these emotions is to destroy you and rob you of your future with your family, your purpose, destiny and to make your life miserable in your attempts to achieve and succeed. Not to mention you will not be able to enjoy the Kingdom of God and all of its benefits right now.
Some of these deadly emotions are: strife, unforgiveness, contention, offense, bitterness, complaining, having a critical judgmental spirit towards others, faultfinding, lying, anger that is not righteous indignation, and anything that is done that robs you of your peace. We are to be aware of his devices and not receive but resist them at all times. (2 Cor. 2:11; John 10:10; Ephesians 4:31-32; Hebrews 12:15; Mark 4:16-17; Prov. 6:16-19; I Cor. 10:10; 2 Tim. 2:23-24; 2 Peter 2:20-21; Luke 22:31).
For example: when we are offended it is actually a trap that is designed to bring us out of the will of God into a state of anger, unforgiveness or bitterness which like the others will block the flow of the anointing on our lives and prevent us from obtaining all the benefits of sleeping properly, eating the right foods, exercising, and so forth.
Healing is one of the things that God died for us to have. All we need to do is receive it. But when we are full of condemnation, sin, unforgiveness, unrighteousness, revenge, envy and strife it makes it harder to use our faith which will produce the results that we need and is already available for us to have. It also makes it difficult to receive the goodness of God and what He has prepared for us because we are so preoccupied with the “junk” that the adversary has used to ensnare some of us. We are to be aware of his devices and not receive but resist them at all times.
Christian Love Fellowship Church, Inc.
June 2012