Tag Archives: vegetarian

Friday Feature: Will for Food

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“Jesus saith unto them, ‘My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.’”—John 4:34

I’m so glad this is my life verse. If it weren’t I might have had a fit on Christmas. Time didn’t allow me to cook the Christmas meal I told you about. So when I came home after going to my uncle’s for dinner (where the green vegetable and the dressing were prepared with meat and the other sides were starches) I made me a tuna nacho and a fresh juice. Yes, I skipped a traditional Christmas meal and instead had a fancy snack and a vegetable juice, something I have regularly. My meal itself wasn’t special but what was special was that I was truly okay eating it on Christmas. I was truly okay with my family not understanding that a person who doesn’t eat meat doesn’t want to eat things cooked with meat, that I don’t want a meal of potato salad, macaroni and cheese, candied yams and cornbread and that vegetarian means eating a host of vegetables prepared different ways.

I don’t expect anyone to fully understand my choice to be a semi-vegetarian. They aren’t the ones feeding me. I knew that going to my uncle’s house and I know that wherever I go. “Don’t worry about them; they aren’t putting any food on your table,” my mother would say if I was bothered by someone at school or work. And I know the same is true when people misunderstand my vegetarianism, when they wonder why my hair is locked and why we home school and the same is true for you. People may not understand where you choose to work, whom you choose to befriend, where you choose to live or the way you choose to raise your kids, but if your choices are God’s will for you, doing them—not following or giving weight to the opinion of others—is what nourishes you.

My transition to a more holistically healthy lifestyle is something God made clear I had to do. His charge to me is my food and I continue down this path, past the naysayers and those who suggest other ways to me, so that I can complete the work He put me on earth to do. As you seek a holistically healthy lifestyle I hope you will anchor that in God’s will for your life so you can complete the work that He sent you to do.

Friday Feature: Cut the Meat

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When God tells you something you better listen or there will be dire consequences. This I know and I know you know. Though God is gracious, longsuffering and a divine power of peace He commands and expects us to obey Him:

“If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15)

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For years I suffered in my body and was telling God I didn’t love Him when I ignored His nudges to get me to eat a more plant-based diet. Every time I ate this way, I had great physical, mental, emotional and spiritual results, but I always resorted to what was my norm: a helping of meat, and vegetables, legumes and grains as side dishes. God was telling me that my body needed a helping of plant-based foods and a side of meat. But I got stuck in my comfort zone and in poor health with skin and digestive problems, mental fogginess, internal emotional struggles and great lulls in my spiritual consistency. So on June 2, 2011 when I heard in my prayer time “Cut the meat,” I knew 18 years of God’s gracious nudges had ceased and He was shouting His calling for me, at least in this season. I am now a semi-vegetarian, more specifically a pescetarian, eating mostly plant-based foods and occasionally eating fish or other seafood. Almost immediately my spiritual antenna grew, my body felt lighter, my skin got clearer and my internal anxiety disappeared. People ask me is it hard not eating meat or poultry, but I had already scaled down my meat consumption, often only eating vegetarian meals. Already being used to eating less meat made my transition easy. I’m also loving a better body and rich spiritual life and don’t want to miss another two decades of such an abundant life. I want to redeem the time and we don’t know how much of it we have here on earth. Without a doubt, obedience to God is our key. With obedience we can open many doors that only God could imagine and He wants us to walk through. Don’t miss YOUR new body, mind and spiritual walk. Do whatever He has told YOU to do.

Friday Feature: Roundup Five

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This was a tough post to pull together. My goal for the Fourth Friday Roundup is to provide you with information from around the web to support you as you seek to grow in the areas of the month’s posts. But when gathering information about organic and raw foods you are likely to get spiritual information that is not Christian. This was indeed the case. I found dozens of sites that offered what I thought was great nutritional information but spouted anti-biblical teachings. For this reason, I encourage you to read the previous posts and click the links I included in those. They only detailed nutritional information:

Friday Feature: Eat Organic

Friday Feature: Ways to Buy and Save on Organic

Friday Feature: The Benefits of Eating Raw

As you conduct your own searches for information on organic and raw foods, remember that no dietary standards should dogmatically go beyond what the Bible teaches. While God in Genesis 1:29 gave plants, seeds and fruit for meat, He told man in Genesis 9:3 that “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” And we know that Jesus ate fish and lamb (a part of the Passover feast). So while as of June 2, 2011 I am a vegetarian, I don’t advocate vegetarianism as a must because the Bible gives us liberty to eat plants and meat. As Christians, we must follow what the Bible teaches. Make sure that whatever you choose that you are being led by the Holy Spirit to do what is best for your body.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith