Leave The Extra Baggage Behind!

Leave The Extra Baggage Behind!
“Confidence consumes cowardice when you are convinced of victory.”

“God has not given us a spirit of fear,
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
- 2 Timothy1:17

Courage is only needed if you aren’t sure of yourself.  If you doubt you can resist tempting food when you begin the fight for your health, your battle will be unnecessarily difficult.  Doubt is heavy baggage to carry into war, so you may need to be convinced that self-control wins immeasurable rewards.

Once you understand that what you eat will either help or hinder your success in winning freedom to enjoy the best life, you won’t need to depend on willpower to resist the foods that aren’t healthy for you.  Conviction will keep you on the winning side of the battleground.

David was convinced God would support his acts of faith.

David was convinced of the truth when he confronted Goliath.

David was convinced that his slingshot was sufficient, because he had conquered other foes with this simple weapon of defense.

David was convinced that smooth stones washed in water were better than dirty ragged rocks.

Likewise, we know that knowledge washed with the water of God’s word (the Truth) is better than facts dug up from worldly experience.  David was convinced that by acting on what he knew to be true, he would be set free from the threat of the enemy.  And the same is true for us.  Our part is to believe – God’s part is to do.

Conviction Is the Third Stone

You must have a conviction that this time you take on the “Fat Master,” you are going to succeed.  The enemy will try to weaken your constitution by reminding you of past failures.  The Lord knows the devil is a master at bringing up your past!  But you must have a conviction that this is not like those other times.

Why?  Because this time you are going to fight with the weapons the Lord gave you.  This is not a battle that is to be fought through some secular-devised program that people who do not believe in the power of prayer run toward.  This is not a battle to be won through pills and drugs.

This is a battle that is going to be won by faith in God’s Word while maintaining a conviction that His principles for your life work.  I know your weapons might seem meager, but just because they look meager doesn’t mean they are not mighty!

What we believe in and are convicted of has power of us, whether it is the truth or a lie.  Some may argue, “But doesn’t truth rule over us whether we believe it or not?  Doesn’t truth always win?”  Let me tell you a parable that illustrates the power of believing the truth or a lie.

There was a man who lived on an island hat had only one grocer who imported food for everyone who lived there.  The man had no way to leave the island to purchase additional food and was totally dependent on the provision of the store in order to survive.

Then one day an evil, rumor-bearing neighbor told him the shelves of the grocer were bare, and because of famine on the mainland, there would be no more shipments of food.  Instead of walking the few miles to the store himself, the man believed the report and simply laid down on his bed and waited for death to come.

The man was weak and near to death when a kind islander passed his hut on the way to the island’s grocer.  Glancing through the open door, he saw the very think man lying his bed in the middle of a bright and beautiful day.

Seeing the man’s condition, he called to him, “Why are you lying there?  Why are you starving here alone?”

The man explained that because there was no food on the island, he had decided to die quickly in the comfort of his own hut.

“But there’s plenty of food to eat.  There’s no famine, and the ship comes every week as it has always done,” the good neighbor explained.  “There is plenty of nourishing food for you.  Look at me and you will see that I am strong, well-fed, and nourished by the abundance of food I have received from the store.  Your food is within an hour’s walk from here.”

But the man had been blinded by his starvation and could not see the truth.  In his last breath he scorned the kind neighbor and demanded that he be left alone, “You only torment me with the hope of food that is not there.  Leave me now and let me die.”

Why did the man starve to death?

Was it because of the lie, or was it his conviction about an untruth?

Why didn’t the truth have the power to save him?

To be continued…

Tomorrow, Are You Convinced of the Truth?

Until tomorrow, be blessed!

Remember to DREAM!