Be Filled with the Spirit

Be Filled with the Spirit

I’m starting diet #4,127. I found a new program that is more spiritually based and I’m going to give it a try. Why? When so many other times I’ve failed? I mean, I’ve counted calories. Avoided carbs. Avoided sugars. Avoided this and that. And exercise? I’ve walked. I’ve run. I’ve gone to the gym. Thought about denying myself food all day long. Aren’t these diets all the same? And there were times when I did lose some weight. Ta-da! Or so I thought. Until the weight started sneaking back on. Plus a few pounds more! I ended up worse off – weighing more than I had before dieting. Unbelievable, right? But has the same happened to you?

Then I read Luke 11:24-26:

²⁴ “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ ²⁵ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”

Is that what happened? Was I so focused on the diet and the exercise and weighing less, emptying myself of bad “spirits”, that I forgot to fill that space up with good “spirits” – God’s presence. I left myself open to be invaded once again.

Watching your diet and exercise is a good thing, but your core reason for doing so must be a godly one. Not just so your “container” looks nice. But to be healthy, strong, vibrant and alive, alert and clear-minded – to do God’s will for your life. You were created with purpose and calling (yes, you were!). God desires you to be well for these reasons. And His call is full of beauty and blessings. Be healthy enough to enjoy them!