Let's Talk Interactive Online Ministries - Online Counseling/High Price1

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The High Price we Pay Part I

(for our broke, worried, unfulfilled, depressed, lonely, etc. mentalities)

We have all heard the adage “You are what you eat” and we have come to accept the fact that what we feed our “inside” typically

reflects how we look and feel on the outside…I’d like to take this frame of thought and apply it to the Word of God regarding our entire lives.

You can apply what we are about to discuss to: Your finances, your marriage, your experience with being single, your personal relationships (parents, children, friends, co-workers, etc.) - you can apply this across the board to every aspect of your life.

This is a two part series Part 1 we will change our mental, spiritual, and physical diets and in Part 2 we will stand on God’s Word and walk in expectancy of His promise (Let’s Talk About It)

Why is it so much easier to see the devastations to an unhealthy physical lifestyle than it is to see the dangers in an unhealthy spiritual walk?

An unhealthy spirit is just as toxic as any unhealthy habit- there is a reason why we bathe, exercise, eat properly and avoid drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous habits…if we didn’t, we would stink, have rotten teeth, be out shape, diseased and unhealthy in our bodies and ultimately die!

Scripture-

Passage 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,

for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Passage Ecclesiastes 11:10(NLT)
So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy… But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.

(KJV- Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.)

Passage Proverbs 17:22 (NLT)

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

So if what we speak over our lives and how we feed our spirits is so important why do we either starve our spirits with our lack of faith or feed our souls diets of junk like impatience, anger, fear, worry and anxiety?

I believe it boils down to this basic, but correctable truth- We say we faith and that we believe in God but we have a difficult time believing God. So in turn we feed our bodies and our souls the evidence of our eyes… [Let’s take a minute to just digest what I’ve said]

We react to what we see:

Difficulty believing God is not the same as not believing in God but unfortunately it’s just as crippling to our relationship with God.

Loving God is not the same as having faith in God and the distinction is reflective in what our lives look like (which is a direct reflection of our

belief and faith system)

Faith is required to feed our spirits the necessary nourishment to have a healthy relationship with God. Like most people who cheat in their diets, we often make substitutes for what is easier to digest: I’m not a huge fan of vegetables so I’ll convince myself that a potato (although either French Fried or smothered in butter, sour cream, bacon bits and chives) is better than no vegetables at all! We do this in a broader scheme with our relationship with Christ…

We think:

If we believe in Him we’re better than atheist or agnostics
If we love Him we’re better than those who commit crimes
If we go to church, we’re better than those who stay home and watch Oral Roberts
If we say we’re a Christian, we can compare ourselves to other “lesser” Christians and not to God’s standard!

Can you see the danger in this? Let’s utilize the scripture to change our spiritual diets by increasing our faith and changing our behaviors-

Scriptures

Passage Hebrew 11:1-2

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.

Passage Hebrews 11:3

By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s

command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

Passage Hebrews 11:6
And it is impossible to please God without faith.

Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Passage Matthew 9:28-29:

They went right into the house where he was staying, and Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can make you see?” “Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.”

Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.”

Passage Matthew 5:34

And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague

Ephesians 5:2, 10, 15-17

Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.

So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.

Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

Passage Ecclesiastes 11:10 (NLT)
So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless. (KJV- Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.)

Passage Proverbs 12:25

Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. (KJV- Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.)

Passage Proverbs 17:22 (KJV)

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

High Price Notes and Scripture Reference Sheet

How does your physical diet reflect on your present outward appearance?

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What are some of the realities you are presently feeding your spirit?

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Explain how you understand the difference between “Believing in God” and “Believing God”.

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List the things that you will give to God in faith for His Will.

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“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen."

Hebrews 11:1-2 (KJV)