IS FAITH - NOT VITAMIN C WHAT'S MISSING FROM YOUR NUTRITIONAL PLAN?
Being a nutritionist in private practice for 12 years, I'm not suggesting to neglect the thirteen vitamins and seventeen minerals essential to the human body. I have made a career training over ten thousand patients the techniques of proper nutrition to manage their weight and health. The secret to managing your weight lies in three changes in eating behavior. To control your hormonal response to food, you must eat the right food, in the proper portion and at least four times a day. This will control your blood sugar levels and your insulin response to what you eat. The challenge for some is not learning what to eat and why, but being able to do what they have learned. The question is why? The answer, the condition of our faith.
The bible's definition of faith is found in Hebrews 11:1 . "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see". I always take my clients through both parts of this. Are you sure that you want to be at your ideal weight? Are you certain that you will reach your goal? I don't have many clients who hope for something bad. I meet many though, who lack the faith to make it happen. Hope then is a weak sister to faith. Most of my ministering is not spent on hope, it's spent on building faith.
To build faith, I direct my patients to the truth found in Mark 11:22, when Jesus commanded us to "have faith in God." This lays the foundation that our faith is not based on our abilities, but in God's. The rest of this scripture instructs us in what faith can do, where we store it, how we activate it and to assure faith's outcome.
To start with Jesus said in Mark 11:23 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, go throw yourself into the sea and does not doubt with his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him." So what can faith do? It can move mountains. So many patients I meet make managing their weight the mountain in their life and can't move it. This scripture teaches the only thing that can keep faith from working is unbelief or doubt. Doubt is an enemy that steals what the Lord intends for us to receive.
So where is faith stored? In are hearts, not in our minds. Faith in what we see or how we feel is head faith, which operates in our abilities. It operates on natural principles, which are constantly changing. Faith that comes from what you see has no real power. Heart faith operates in the spirit, when you take hold of God's word in your spirit and believe you will bring it to pass in the natural. Faith that operates in the heart or spirit takes the unseen realm and causes it to happen in the natural. God's word teaches in 2 Corinthians 4:18 "so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen". A common problem in managing weight is continually weighing your self to see if your nutritional plan is working. This is building faith in what you see, instead of what you believe. In the middle of a seminar I was conducting, a woman said, "the results I have will keep me faithful to my eating habits. A woman in the back of the audience then said, "oh that will never work". The whole audience turned around dumbfounded with her response. She expounded by saying "I know many who received great results and did not stay faithful". Faithfulness is a fruit of the spirit, it manifests with a change in heart, not in size.
So how do we activate faith? When we speak it with our mouth's. Our spoken words are what set our faith in motion. Our words have a prophetic power. We speak things into existence. It is governed by a spiritual law that is just as real as the natural law of gravity. That is the law of sowing and reaping. Galatians 6:7 says, "do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." I teach my clients to take control over their words. One time when I was counseling a woman, The Lord stopped me and said "it's not what's going into her mouth that causes her problem, it's what's coming out of her mouth". Our word's are seeds that when planted grow into something good or something bad.
So what is faith's assurance? It will allow us to receive, whatever we are willing to believe for. The only condition to unlocking all the promises in God's word is that we must believe. If I'm willing to trust God and believe all, He has promised in His Word, I can enjoy good health. Isaiah 55:11 promises, "so is My Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it". Though heaven and earth may pass away, the word from our Heavenly Father will never pass away.
Now that we know our faith is in God and what faith can do, where do we get it? Romans 10:19 tell us "faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ". Joshua 1:8 instructs us, "do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do every thing written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." So for faith to increase it must get exercised. As a former Mr. Connecticut bodybuilding champion, my clients are surprised in my response, when they ask me what exercise must they use to lose weight and keep the weight off? I point to a sign in my office that says, "I exercise my FAITH, I walk with the Lord." Faith must get exercised. James 1:22 says, "do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourself. Do what it says". Anytime a client says they are going to try to lose weight, I know they are setting themselves up for failure. As with faith, managing your weight is not something you try, it's someone you become.
The Lord has blessed me with many prophetic words, that have changed the course of my life. To understand my heart in what is shared next I will reveal two. The first prophecy, the Lord woke me in the middle of the night and said "prepare my people, so that I don't need to repair my people". The Lord is saying teach My people.
Obesity is reaching epidemic levels in America and is now the second leading cause of preventable deaths. The medical community used to see obesity as simply the product of poor nutrition, or a lack of will power. Now they are beginning to define obesity as a disease that poses a dire threat to our public health. This has not escaped the Christian community. As a child of God we are instructed in Romans 12:2 "do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind". As Christians we must rise up and break off the deception of the enemy, that this is acceptable to Our Lord. The Lord's heart for us is well expressed by Apostle Paul, when he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write in 1 Corinthians 6:19 - 20 "do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price, therefore honor God with your body".
In the second prophecy the Lord said. "My children, now is a time of preparation, soon you will enter into a land I have promised you. I am burning up in you all those things that are not of Me. Do not return to places I have set you free from. As I draw you near to Me the Path of righteousness narrows. Remember these times I have set you free".
In closing, I encourage all that are struggling with obesity or weight related health issues that true change is only found in the presence of God through faith. As we trust Our Savior, He will bring purity to our hearts, clarity to our minds and obedience in our flesh. As we welcome His discipline, He will produce in us the righteousness and peace our hearts desire. As we surrender our weaknesses, God fills us with, His strength and a brave and courageous spirit that knows no retreat or defeat. Copyright 2004 by Charles Remington
God bless,
Charles Remington
Nutritionist
Healing Minister
charlie@thefatlosscoach.com
www.thefatlosscoach.com
* All scriptures from New International Version of Bible
Charlie is the author of a nutritional software program that has sold more than 100,000 units since 1995. He starred in a nationally broadcast television infomercial that in 1997 was recognized by the Jordan Whitney report as one of the twenty five-popular infomerical's in the U.S.A. Mr. Remington's expertise and passion have been well demonstrated on several National Television talk shows, as well as regional news broadcasts. He has been the featured guest delivering his message that foods not the problem, it's the solution over national and regional radio talk shows. Known to his clients as THE FAT LOSS COACH, he has been recognized in publications, radio and television as an expert in nutrition. Charlie has conducted more than 200 seminars in the corporate, municipal and educational arena's. He has been the key note speaker at numerous trade shows and men and women's league functions.