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We hear it every day: “Make your calories count!” I want to challenge you to reevaluate how many “spiritual calories” you are consuming a day! Are you depending on protein, kale, or juicing to make you healthy? Are you like me, always trying to “cut out the carbs”? Well this will be one time that I would encourage you to “carb up” because Jesus is the Bread of Life, and that is one carb that you don’t want to take out of your diet!

Matthew 4:4 (nkjv) — “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'”

Diet books are some of today’s bestsellers. Information on how to lose weight can consume our thoughts, minds, and maybe even the search engines on our computers. Juicing is at an all-time high right now! And I am the first to admit, I love to juice! Have you gone out to buy the latest and greatest Bullet, Vitamix, or Breville juicer? Are you looking to these machines to help you shed your unwanted weight? Well, I pray that the weight you so diligently seek to lose will be the “weight of the world” and the heavy cares and concerns that weigh you down every day!

Matthew 11:28 (nlt) — “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.'”

We need to allow the Holy Spirit to be the Vitamixer in our lives! We need to take a healthy amount of God’s Holy Word, blended together with the sweetness of prayer, put it into our Vitamixers, and then give it a good stir before we drop in the apples and kale!

2 Timothy 1:6–7 (nkjv) — “Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you . . . for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

I share with people all of the time not to use too much fruit when juicing, because there are too many calories from the sugar in most fruits. I always tell them to stick with their greens! Well, today I am going to change my advice and encourage you to make sure that your Vitamixers are filled with the “fruits of the Holy Spirit”! Guaranteed low in sugar, but high in power!

Galatians 5:22-23 (nlt) — “The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

How often do we take the time to measure our food with our little kitchen scale? I challenge you today to start to measure the amount of spiritual food you are consuming. Would your scale come up on the light side? Or would your portions be too small to weigh?

Lamentations 3:24 (nkjv) — “‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!'”

We need to evaluate and calculate what we are feeding our bodies daily to nourish ourselves spiritually. Are we in God’s Word every day? The food that we should be concerned about consuming is that which refreshes our souls and nourishes our hearts, and equips us to be more like Jesus! By meditating on His Word, we will be strengthened to become more like Jesus. Looking at God’s Word each day will also enable us to make healthy choices throughout our day. For we know that the enemy will be ready to use every tool in his arsenal to tempt, trip, or derail us the minute we put our Bibles down. All the things that need to be done will come to mind: the phone call that we think we need to make, the clothes in the dryer, our e-mail, our Instagram, etc. We need to put on the full armor of Christ in the morning before we start our busy day, so that we can win these battles!

Ephesians 6:13 (nlt) – “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.”

If we were to go and see a dietitian to evaluate our eating habits, one of the first things they would ask us to do is to journal what we are eating! They want to know every calorie that we are putting into our mouths to see if we are consuming too many, not enough, or the wrong kind of calories. If our spiritual journal was evaluated at the end of the week or month, would we be shocked to find out that we have been starving ourselves? When our “spiritual caloric intake” is totaled, would we be told that we are spiritually malnourished?

I encourage you to pick up a spiral notebook and keep a journal as well! A journal where you are writing down an accurate and dated log of the prayer requests and petitions that you are laying at the foot of the cross. Remember to jot down the scriptures, songs, and inspirations that the Lord is giving you each day as you are studying His Word. Then take the time to look back through your journal to see the providential power of God at work in your life. Be sure to share your glory stories and praise reports with others.

David took many opportunities to pen his heartaches, prayer requests, and burdens. He cried out to the Lord on many occasions with an open and honest heart! That is what we need to take the time to do! Many times God commanded people to “write it down.” It says in 2 Timothy 3:16 (nlt), “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” So let us put down the diet books and pick up the Holy Book! Let us begin to keep an accurate journal of our spiritual calorie count! I pray that we can take our focus off how we look externally in the mirror, and begin to focus on how we look eternally at our reflection!