Changing The Way We Eat

Our family has changed the way we eat.  For the past month and a half we have been doing a candida free cleanse.  This wasn’t my idea, nor was I even all that excited about it when we first started discussing it.  It was my wife’s idea, and she asked me if I would do it with her so that it would be easier for the meal planning as well as helping to eliminate most temptations for her to eat something that isn’t “on the list.”  I wasn’t against doing it, I just wasn’t thrilled about it.  My approach was, “if you’ll prepare the food, I’ll eat it.  There has to be stuff in the fridge for me to grab whenever I get the munchies and need something to hold me over until the next meal.”

So, I agreed.  I agreed for one simple reason.  I love my wife.

Now, I will admit to you, on the very first day we started this, I freaked out.  I was at work and lunch time was closing in as I began to realize my wife was at work and we didn’t really have anything that was “on the list” at home for me to eat.  So I began texting her and our friend, Eric, about what I could possible do for lunch.  We are sharing our home with Eric and Andrea for a time, but that’s a whole other story.

So, back to freaking out.

I wasn’t getting enough of a response from either of them to satisfy my panic until Eric finally chimed in with, “I can go to the store to pick up a few items and throw a salad together for you, then we can figure other things out for the days you’ll be at work and won’t have time to come home and make something.”  This was enough to calm my panic for the day.  Everyone survived and I didn’t starve like I thought I would.  In the coming days, several trips were made to several grocery stores as we began to explore the many options of what we could and could not eat during this time.

Now, one thing you need to understand is that I am not much of a cook.  To word it that way is even giving me more credit than I deserve when it comes to cooking.  I typically don’t cook.  Especially stuff that doesn’t have a recipe for me to follow.  Suffice it to say that over the past month and a half, I have not cooked one single meal.  To be as honest as possible, we have done this whole candida thing with very little effort on my part.  But, would you like to know what’s been so crazy about it all?  I have lost 20 lbs.  TWENTY POUNDS!

That’s right, 20 lbs. lost without doing anything.  I haven’t cooked, I haven’t exercised, I haven’t jogged.  The truth is, I have been simply eating, and eating very well!  Most days I get a second helping of whatever we’re having because the food that has been prepared is simply that amazing.  So picture me stuffing my face with a second helping of dinner and waking up the next day only to find out that I have lost another pound.  This is brilliant.  BRILLIANT, I tell you!

I share all of that with you in order to share Christ with you.  Jesus revealing Himself to us in our everyday lives and in some of the simplest ways is one overflow of His life we have been sharing with the saints in the Gainesville church.  Here is how Christ revealed Himself to me through this candida free cleanse.

Christ invites us to join in His life, not for our own purpose or desires, but for His purpose and His desire, much like my wife invited me to join her in this candida free cleanse.  She has a purpose in doing this and it has nothing to do with my purposes or desires.  It’s about her and what she hopes to accomplish.  With Christ, since He is all, it is about Him, His glory, His purpose, what He desires to bring about.

And so, we agree to join Him in His life, often times simply because we love Him.  We love Him for no other reason than that He loves us first.  His love and His life are abundant and we simply respond to His life and love by joining Him.

As we join Him, He has been and is at work, preparing and executing His desire to accomplish His purpose in everything.  And really, this requires no effort on our part.  We have joined Him in what He is doing and His life is now living in and through us, accomplishing His desire and purpose.  Because we are no longer living for ourselves, in fact, we have been crucified with Christ and the life we now live is Christ’s life in us and through us, our desires, agendas and purposes are no longer being driven or pushed forward.  In fact, they die off and His desire and purpose is where we find our true desire and purpose.  In His life is where we find our true life.  Just as I have done nothing to bring about this candida cleanse or cook the food, but have simply sat down to feast every day, we do nothing to bring about Christ’s desire or purpose.  He does it all.  It is His life living in and through us, all He asks us to do is to partake of it, to sit at His table and feast every day upon Him.

The beauty that comes out of us joining His life, I’m sure, is more evident to Him than it is to us, but still we experience it.  I didn’t set out to lose weight, I didn’t have some big exercise routine in mind, nor have I started one, yet.  In this candida free cleanse, I am experiencing the joy of losing twenty pounds, with no effort of my own, except sitting down to eat.

In Christ, we are experiencing His life, love and joy as His Body, Bride and Family as we are being built together in the community of believers.  In His life and love, we learn that what we become a part of in Him is ultimately for our good as well.  What He does, He does perfectly and it overflows into the life of every believer that has been called according to His purpose.  That is how abundant His life is.  We lose our lives, our agendas, our desires, our plans and we gain His life, His purpose, His desire and it is so enjoyable, so wonderful that we can do nothing, but consider it all joy.  I am confident at this point in our journey, we have only scratched the surface of all He is.  Here’s to twenty pounds (and counting)!

What a Christ!

Guest Blogger: Seth Roach, “Why We Struggle – A Fresh Perspective”

I would like to introduce you to Seth Roach, one of the brothers in the church here in Gainesville. In “Why We Struggle – A Fresh Perspective,” Seth captured the reality and essence of Romans 12:2 that drove me to start re:Think. He was gracious enough to let me share it in it’s entirety here. Not only does it embody the essence of re:Think, but I believe it is vital to being a follower of Jesus. I encourage you to read it, or visit Seth’s blog, Straight Plow, and read through the comment thread as well.

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The World’s system lies in the hand of the evil one and all people have been indoctrinated by it from birth. Your identity, your worth, your status, etc., is measured by standards set by this world. By necessity there must be a death to that old life, that old estimation of who you are and a birth of new life springing forth of the true reality of your identity in Christ.

Christ Displaces the Enemies Hold
Struggle both spiritually and mentally are not simply a matter of the enemy bombarding your mind trying to bring you down, discourage you, make you feel like a failure, telling you, look what you have done with your life, you have wasted it or look at these people and their accomplishments comparing yourself with others.

The inward struggle youíre facing is a result of a conflict. Your mind has mindsets already built in that are strongholds of the enemy. These mindsets have been built there as you have grown up and are encouraged by the world system which is under the sway of the evil one. These strongholds support the independent self life that Christ has put to death on the cross.

As Christ comes in and begins to shake all that up, breaking in with the truth of who you are in Him. As He displaces the enemies hold (mindsets) bringing in the truth of Himself you begin being transformed by the renewing of your mind. This is the process of becoming who you already are, waking up to the reality of who you are in Christ. Putting off the old man and putting on the new man, Christ Jesus. See Ephesians 4:22-24, “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (ESV)

A New Perspective
A new perspective that I now see from having learned that when you feel the struggle it may seem like you are really under attack and perhaps you are but in reality Christ is overthrowing the enemyís stronghold in your mind. Christ is bringing victory into reality in your life. This is when the enemy does all he can to maintain his hold. This is not the time to give in or give up it is the time to press in more resolute to your Lord looking to Him, trusting Him being encouraged that He has done it. At this point to trust in your feelings and emotions or rely on the old estimations comparing yourself with others will only be playing into the enemies hand.

The struggle is important to go through. You will know your Lord in a much more intimate and real way as you pass through this struggle. The battle is already won. Christ has already defeated the enemy. You have already been translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Embrace Christ and the reality of who you are in Him and go through the struggle. Shrug the feeling that the enemy is really trying to overtake you but instead realize that your mind was already under the influence of the enemy and the world system but now Christ is setting you free as you are conformed into His image.

The enemy is losing ground in you and is mad trying to get you to let go of the truth of Christ. This struggle is necessary for you to go through and it is a positive thing. You must cling to the truth even if you donít feel like it. Remember your faith is not based on feeling but in who He is. 2 Cor. 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. (ESV)

Be Transformed by the Renewing of Your Mind
Paul states in Romans 12:1-2, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

This appeal from Paul is for us individually and as a corporate body to respond to in faith. It is vital to apply in order that the life of Christ may be lived in and through you within the community of the saints and as you read the rest of Romans 12 and beyond you will see what the fruit of doing so looks like.

A Final Exhortation
When we make a resolute presentation of our lives continually to Christ as a living sacrifice not being conformed to the pattern of this world, that includes the estimation of yourself, success, power, money, material possessions, past mistakes, age and accomplishments and lack thereof, etc., and begin to be transformed by the renewing of our minds according to the realization of Christ, the revelation of Christ in you and in you all as the community of believers we will see the ever growing expression of the glorious Christ in and through us. That is why this is called a walk of faith because we cannot trust ourselves and the Lord is showing us that He is all in all.

The enemy is defeated and the only place he has ground in us is when we either lose sight of the truth and begin relying on the old man again or have an area of our heart that is not submitted to the Lordship of Christ. Either way the Lord is merciful and faithful to work in us both to will and do His good pleasure. Turn to Him now, Call on His name and thank Him that He has placed you inside of Himself and that you can safely rest in His arms trusting in Him fully.

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You can find the full post and comment thread at Seth’s blog, Straight Plow.

How It’s Been Done

So, for those of you who read the previous post and have wondered to yourself (or even out loud), “How do they manage that kind of a household?” Bridget blogged about it briefly the other day and I thought I would share it with you. So, here is the link…Brady Bunch, Babez Style.  Babez is the name we all chose as the nickname for our two families so that everyone we spend time with wouldn’t have to keep saying the Babione/Valdez families or house.  Enjoy!