Bible & Made to Crave...first day

Ok gonna post my Bible study notes first, then I will move on to my updates for the day!   I will be labeling the study part of my blog with "Bible Study" or "Made to Crave study" so that people who do not want to read my study notes can skip them or people who want to can find them easily.  My personal journal will be labeled "just me and my journey" for the same reason.  I am not a blogger, this is more a way for me to keep track of my journey than to be a perfect blogger.

My Bible reading this morning (I just open it and read) was I Kings 14 (NKJV)
Verse 3 jumped out at me, esp with my food journey.  The set up is that Jeroboam is the king but he has went against the will of God.  His son becomes very sick and he wants his wife to go, incognito, to a prophet named Ahijah and find out if the boy is going to be ok.  He tells her what to do (about disguising herself) then almost as an "oh yeah, try this too" he says, "Also take with you 10 loaves, some cakes & a jar of honey & go to him (Ahijah), he will tell you what will become of the child."  That's right, butter him up with carbs.
Verse 25-27  When we do not line ourselves up with the will of God, we trade our gold shields for bronze...I kinda like gold better than bronze.

Ok now my Made to Crave study for the day...
Chapter 1 What's Really Going on Here?
     *Thing that stuck with me...We crave what we eat. It is true, if I eat healthy stuff for a week or two, I seem to crave more healthy stuff.  I need to remind myself of this over the next few days.*

Throughout the chapter it gave questions or Bible verses that I took notes about.  This is how I am taking my journey, not saying it is what is right for you, but hopefully we can lift each other up throughout our individual ones so it doesn't feel so lonely!

How would I describe "craving":
     For me, craving is a deep inner YEARNING for something.  Feeling like I have to have it...it is almost all consuming at the time.
     Dictionary.com definition: craving- something you long for, want greatly, desire eagerly & BEG FOR (ooooo I like that).

The Bible says in Psalm 84:1-2...
     "How lovely is Your tabernacle, Oh Lord of hosts!
My soul longs (yearns), yes even faints for the courts of the Lord; My heart and flesh cry out for the living God." 
(Emphasis is mine, not the Bible's...words in parentheses are from the NIV while the rest is from the NKJV).  We were actually created to CRAVE God & His will for our lives.  The enemy wants to replace that with anything and everything other than God.

I John 2:15-16... Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, & the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world."
Another translation says, "...- the cravings of sinful nature, the lust of his eyes & the boasting of what he has & does - ..."  
The enemy (yes his name is Satan, I just hate even giving a capital letter at the beginning of his name), uses those 3 ways to try to draw us away from God and all He has for us.

3 Ways the enemy tries to draw us away...
     1. The cravings/lusts of the flesh- trying to get our physical desires/needs met outside the will of God (sex, food, ect.)
     2. The cravings/lusts of the eyes - trying to get our material desires/needs met outside the will of God. (home, things, clothes, vehicles, ect)
     3. Boasting or the pride of life - trying to get our need for significance met outside the will of God. (wanting recognition, notoriety, ect.)

In Genesis (chapter 3 verse 6), the enemy used all 3 very deliberately on Eve.
     1. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh).
     2. & pleasing to the eye. (lust of the eye)
     3. & also desirable for gaining wisdom (boasting, recognition, superiority)

In Matthew (chapter 4 verses 1-11) Jesus was tempted with those same 3 issues...
     1. Tell these stones to become bread...
     2. All of this I will give to you...
     3. Surely He will send His angels to catch you...(manipulating God for one's own benefit).

In every instance Jesus quoted Scripture.  He was prepared and had been fasting (taking the time to think about how to handle things).  Eve on the other hand probably never even looked away from that gorgeous, delectable fruit & just reacted.  Jesus was covered in the Word, Eve was absorbed in the object of her craving (which wasn't God).

I love that she (Lysa Terkeurst, author of Made to Crave) uses the following verse.  I have used it in other instances, just not for food before... 1 Cor. 10:23 (NIV) "'Everything is permissable' but not everything is beneficial."  It is more about what is RIGHT about it and not as much about what is wrong with it...


At the end of each chapter there are a few questions to answer and ponder (Personal Reflections).  I am trying to answer these as real as I can so bear with me...

1. If I could personify my craving for food, foo-foo items &/or recognition, it would look like the dark characters of Kingdom Hearts (the heartless).  Always slinking & jumping on me from the shadows.
If I could sit down with it (& sometimes it feels like I have) it would say in a sultry, hypnotic hiss that this is a lost cause before it starts. That my health is too far gone and out of control  & my weight & love of food (man how I love everything about food from the taste to the texture to the euphoria of eating) are too great to overcome & "besides, what does it all matter anyway?"
My question for it would be how/why did we ever get involved, to which it would reply "because you let us..."

2. I believe God DID make us to crave Him & His will for our lives.  When Mike and I were separate & living outside the will of God, He gave me a desire for my husband and our marriage that wasn't there before (if He can do that, He can definitely change my heart/flesh concerning my health).  A desire that I don't think I had really had before.  Even before the craving for our marriage, God gave me a sincere craving for HIM & His truth.  That craving overcame all obstacles & all odds. Fleshly cravings are limited & fleeting. Godly cravings are amazing and lasting (eternal).

3. If it is true that we are made to crave (& I am sure it is), it makes me realize that cravings, just like so many other things, are beneficial when satisfied in the proper time & context.

4. In the last 24 hours to past few days, how have I been tempted by the enemy?
     -cravings: food food food, for the taste, not for fueling my body.
     - lust of the eyes: wanting things for my chicken coop, house & yard/garden that I really do not NEED.
     - boasting/lust of life: not sure...maybe worried that people don't really like me or that I get on people's nerves and they just don't tell me.
     For me the hardest to resist, by far, is cravings for food/drink!  The easiest to resist is the lust of the eye because the Lord already dealt with me on that and freed me from it several years ago when IT was my biggest temptation.

5. Just as Jesus showed, Scripture can defeat any of the enemy's plans for us.  If we know what the Bible says, we can stand firm in it.  I have stood firm on Scripture & seen miracles happen.  Best example for me was Rom. 5:1-6, that was the first passage that God ever gave directly to me as a result of my prayer and supplication for an answer to give a pastor who was not in line with what God teaches about marriage and hope.  The Lord healed me & our marriage and I used that passage more times than I can count when the enemy would try to make me feel hopeless.  I am sure God can do the same thing in this area of my life.  God's word can help break this bondage I have succumbed to if I will let Him and if I stay vigilant and covered in Scripture (see also Eph. 6:10).

Ok, so there it was (actually it is all handwritten in my notebook too so I have it regardless of if I have internet access).  Thoughts? Bible verses you stand on?