We all should know the answer to that but are we listening?
Fast food is great when you are in a hurry and you haven’t got the time to prepare a meal! Unfortunately there is a big down side. Most fast food is high in sugar and saturated fats and lack a lot in nutritional value. The end result is what the Government is trying to reverse right now obesity in children leading to cardiovascular disease in early adulthood. In fact diabetes in children is becoming more and more common.
Most people are NOT GOOD AT waiting.
We live in an "instant society" of
fast food,
information on demand,
pay-at-the-pump petrol,
and the "buy now pay later" philosophy which has been the downfall of many families.
It is not just our physical health that is suffering,
It is eroding the very fabric of our society, FAMILIES.
The fast food mentality is destroying our churches as well.
Many people would rather sit at home in the comfort of their arm chair and flick on one of the many good television ministries that they have pre recorded than to come to a church were they might have to mix with someone they might not like.
Like fast food that is not good for you! We are created in the image of God and as such are created to have fellowship one with another. Sure we will have our differences but as I pointed out last week we need to rub up and down against each other to knock of the ruff edges that are on all of us.
Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Besides God’s Word tells us that we need to be in fellowship
Hebrews 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
My friends we are living in the last days and that Day is rapidly approaching!
Look at what Jesus says about us being gathered together.
Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
We miss out on the very presence of God Himself when we forsake the assembling of ourselves together. He promises to be right in our midst when we come together.
Some might say well it’s me and Jesus that all I need, look at what 1 John 1:6-7 says
1 John 1:6-7 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Psalm 92:13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
I don’t know about you but I want to flourish in the courts of our God.
Sure it can be inconvenient and it sure is cold these mornings!
And yes we may find someone at church that rubs us up the wrong way.
What do they say?
BUILD A BRIDGE, GET OVER IT!
I trust you can see that instant church like instant food and instant credit is not good for us! Even the term buy now pay latter should send warning bells to us.
Many people sadly get in over their head and do pay latter when they find out that just as they did not have enough money to pay now they have not got enough to pay latter either.
Fast food is no different eat fast now pay with your health latter
Church is the same
Sure we can learn a lot and their are some good teaching on the Christian TV shows but they can never take the place of good old fashion fellowship that comes with coming to church.
The very name church or ekklesia, in the Greek means a calling out, i.e. (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both) :- assembly, church.
Our denominational name Assembly of God comes from that same Greek word, ekklesia
There is nothing like a good home cooked meal, I think it is worth the effort and well worth the wait.
Waiting until we can afford something before we buy it to me is well worth the wait, and is a lot less stressful than finding your self locked into the high interest rates that come with buy now pay latter.
Church is the same it is well worth the effort to come out and have fellowship with fellow believers and spend time waiting on the Lord.
You see the Bible has a lot to say about WAITING
Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
IS WAITING ON GOD AS HARD FOR YOU AS IT IS FOR ME?
I’M SURE MANY WOULD SAY "YES".
We eat fast food because we don’t want to wait
We get instant credit because we don’t want to wait
Yet one of the Great Spiritual Virtues in the Bible has to do with WAITING.
So, let us examine this subject of WAITING UPON GOD
I. FIRST SOME BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF WAITING UPON THE LORD:
ABRAHAM AND SARAH (WAITING FOR ISAAC)
One way we often cope with a long wait (or even a short one) is to begin helping God get his plan into action. Sarah tried this approach. She was too old to expect to have a child of her own, so she thought God must have something else in mind. From Sarah’s limited point of view this could only be to give Abraham a son through another woman—a common practice in her day. The plan seemed harmless enough. Abraham would sleep with Sarah’s maidservant, who would then give birth to a child. Sarah would take the child as her own. The plan worked beautifully—at first. But as you read about the events that followed, you will be struck by how often Sarah must have regretted the day she decided to push God’s timetable ahead.
Another way we cope with a long wait is to gradually conclude that what we’re waiting for is never going to happen. Sarah waited 90 years for a baby! When God told her she would finally have one of her own, she laughed, not so much from a lack of faith in what God could do, but from doubt about what he could do through her. When confronted about her laughter, she lied—as she had seen her husband do from time to time. She probably didn’t want her true feelings to be known.
What parts of your life seem to be on hold right now? Do you understand that this may be part of God’s plan for you?
. We have NOAH (Waiting FOR THE FLOOD AND SUBSIDING WATERS)
An interval of one hundred and twenty years elapsed while the ark was being built and forty days and forty nights for the flood
The ark floated on the waters for one hundred and fifty days, and then rested on the mountains of Ararat but it was a full year before Noah was given permission to leave the ark.
Many of us have trouble sticking to any project, whether or not it is directed by God. It is interesting that the length of Noah’s obedience was greater than the lifespan of people today. The only comparable long-term project is our very lives. But perhaps this is one great challenge Noah’s life gives us—to live, in acceptance of God’s grace, an entire lifetime of obedience and gratitude.
. JOSEPH (WAITING FOR HIS "TIME" IN POWER)
Perhaps you can identify with one or more of these hardships Joseph experienced: he was betrayed and deserted by his family, exposed to sexual temptation, and punished for doing the right thing; he endured a long imprisonment and was forgotten by those he helped. As you read his story, note what Joseph did in each case. His positive response transformed each setback into a step forward. He didn’t spend much time asking Why?” His approach was What shall I do now?”
JESUS (FOR THE "TIME TO BE FULFILLED")
MARY AND MARTHA (FOR JESUS TO ARRIVE WHEN LAZRUS DIED.
THE DISCIPLES (FOR THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT)
Acts 1:4-5 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; [5] for John truly baptised with water, but you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
ALL BELIEVERS (ARE WAITING FOR JESUS’ RETURN)
IN EACH CASE THEY
1. KNEW GOD’S PROMISES
2. RESTED IN GOD’S CHARACTER
3. RELIED UPON HIS LOVE
IN EACH CASE, IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT!!
OKAY, THAT’S GOOD FOR THE "SPIRITUAL GIANTS" BUT WHAT ABOUT ME??
II. HOW CAN I WAIT ON THE LORD?
* WAITING ON GOD IS NOT "SITTING STILL AND DOING NOTHING LIKE BABY BIRDS IN A NEST"
WAITING UPON GOD REQUIRES
1. KEEPING TUNED TO HIS FREQUENCY (COMMUNICATION)
2. TURNING TO HIM WITH EVERY CARE/CONCERN/DECISION
3. TRUSTING HIM TO HEAR OUR REQUESTS
4. TAKING STEPS AS HE DIRECTS, ONE DAY AT A TIME.
5. TURNING THE OUTCOME(S) OVER TO HIM
* WHATEVER HIS ANSWER, IT WILL BE BETTER THAN WE COULD HAVE MANUFACTURED!
"IF I EXPEND THE ENERGY AND PUT FORTH THE EFFORT TO WAIT UPON GOD, WHAT CAN I EXPECT??"
Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
A. RENEWED STRENGTH (spiritually, emotionally and sometimes physically)
B. MOUNT UP WITH WINGS LIKE EAGLES
* EAGLES "USE" THE WINDS OF STORMS TO ALLOW THEM TO SOAR HIGHER, THEY DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO DRAG THEM LOWER*
C. RUN (THE RACE OF LIFE) AND NOT GET WEARY
(FACING LIFE’S RACE IN GOD’S STRENGTH NOT OUR OWN)
D. WALK AND NOT FAINT
(there have been times in my life when the greatest spiritual blessing I received that day was simply "strength not to faint" (physically emotionally and spiritually) due to the heaviness of the burdens upon me at that time).
But if we wait upon the Lord, we will be lifted higher DURING THE STORMS OF LIFE, AND HAVE THE STRENGTH TO ENDURE ANY AND ALL SATAN’S DARTS.
...AND WHEN WE WAIT UPON HIM, HE WILL LIFT US UP
CONCLUDING STORY:
A man was taking a hike with his 6 year old grandson. The child was running ahead, and came to a creek...afraid that he was going to fall in, the grandfather said WAIT FOR ME AND I’LL GET YOU ACROSS...SURPRISINGLY, THE CHILD OBEYED, AND WHEN THE GRANDFATHER GOT THERE, HE LIFTED THE CHILD UPON HIS SHOULDERS, AND WADED ACROSS THE CREEK. the grandchild said, "If I hadn’t waited on you, I would never have made it across!"
As we come together as brothers and sisters in the Lord we are able to encourage and help each other get through many of life’s obstacles.
But better still as we WAIT ON GOD..HE’LL GET US ACROSS ANY OBSTACLE LIFE PUTS IN OUR WAY.
IN CONCLUSION
Just to tie up my thoughts on Fast Food is it Good for You
Every thing seems to be tied up with GI
We are told that to live a healthy life we must eat LOW GI FOOD
That is food that is Low On The Glycemic Index
Fast food is full of HIGH GI
Well I would agree we must take in much less GI
That is much less GLOBAL INFLUENCE
But to live a healthy SPIRITUAL LIFE we must eat far more GI
That is food that is high in GI
John 4:32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."
Jesus ate food that was GOD INSPIRED,
He was GOD INFLUENCED
John 6:27 Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."
So what can we conclude
We must eat much less GLOBAL INFLUENCE but much more GOD INSPIRED, GOD INFLUENCED food and that is a diet that is not so much balanced but tilted in favour of God.
