Don't Waste Food or the Fruits of God

 Good day sister saints around the world!

Love and blessings to you all, even if I never get meet you!  I hope to be a small encouragement to you, brighten you day, share an experience, maybe teach you something you didn't already know, convict you in an area you were unaware of and lift your spirits if you're down.

Brother Jim gave me this post idea because of an incident that happened just recently.  We were working online and a man, living in his car behind us, walked over and said he had half of a sandwich left that he couldn't eat and did we want it.  Brother Jim thanked him and said we were very good, thanked him again and offered a gospel card.  He just walked off saying 'no I'm good'.

The next morning after he left, brother Jim saw the bag laying the the parking lot next to where his car was so he went over to throw the bag out and found that it had that half of sandwich in it.  The man just wasted it instead of saving it for the next days meal.  

The food had come from this place across the street and we know it's not very cheap.  We see this waste from many beggars and those who live in cars, not only tossing their litter on the ground but also wasting food that people give them.  We see all sorts of things out here, but the point isn't just to aim at them, it's to bring up a subject about waste.

People waste all kinds of things in their life and I'll point out some of them here and maybe we can all examine ourselves and see if we are doing the same, without even knowing it.  All things we have on this earth do not belong to us whether we can see it (like money) or not (like time or gifts of the spirit).  We must be diligent to use such gifts from the Lord, wisely. 

For the sake of time (that I don't have a lot of) we will just hit on a few key topics that would relate to us sisters.  Let's start with what we have to deal with in the physical realm of living on this earth. Many people waste such things as the obvious.

* Food  (Tossing out left perfectly good left overs.)

* Money (Not thinking before you spend.)

* Clothes (Buying clothes that you don't need and replacing them often.)

* Housewares (Buying the latest gadgets that you don't need or use.)

* Children (Not raising them in the truth of God's word.)

* Time (Being idle like on the internet or social media.)

* Gas (Not planning shopping routes well.)

* Electricity (Taking it for granted and not using it wisely.) 

* Water (Letting it run while washing and rinsing dishes, long showers etc.)

And here are some that are not so obvious:

* Talents (Instead of using the talents for God's glory, some use it for their own vain glory.)

* Relationships (Having more unbiblical relationships than biblical and not starting or ending them when we should.)

* Hospitality (Not sharing the love of God with others who we don't necessarily favor.) 

* Thoughts (Women often let their minds wander into things that they shouldn't. )

* Words (Oftentimes women waste a lot of words on what doesn't need to be said.) 

* Actions (Such as spending much more time cleaning than necessary, for perfection, when it's going to get dirty again.) 

And there are many more of course.  

Now let's look at the inner fruits God gives His people and how they can be wasted: 

 * Faith (Becoming luke-warm.)

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16)

* Courage (Fearing the opposition of family, persecution, tribulation in the world.) 

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

* Love (Not being obedient to the Lord.)

If ye love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15 )

* Peace (Stressing out over things we sisters can't change.)

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)

* Joy (Some sisters base their joy off their circumstances, not the foundation of Christ.)

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; (James 1:2)

* Wisdom (Women get swept away by false teachers.)

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)

* Grace  (Some women sin without repentance, thinking that God's grace covers it all.)

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. (Romans 6:15)

* Strength (Many sisters do not fully draw strength from the Lord but instead rely on their own flesh.)

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:13)

* Steadfastness (Often when times get tough or even when life becomes easy, some will become lax in their spiritual life.) 

But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

* Salvation (Some take it for granted, thinking they don't have to endure and will lose it to rebellion and sin.) 

He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. (Revelation 3:5)

* Mercy and forgiveness (Many women allow themselves to become bitter and not fully forgive others.)

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: [15] But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15)

* Truth (Not sharing the gospel or not correcting a sister when she's in sin.)

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)

* Fear (Fearing man instead of God.)

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

* Fellowship (Knowing people in Christ not looking after them.)

With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:2-3)

* Scriptures (Some don't study or meditate on His precious words.)

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

* Discernment (Not all women use discernment and get swept away from the truth.)

For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:6-7)

Of course we could be here all day long finding so many more to add but this should give us a good basis of things to examine in our life to see that we are using all that the Lord has given us, in a right manner.  

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12)

That means we should never think we wouldn't fall back on something that we've overcome because as long as we are in the flesh, the battle will always be there.  I can't count the times we've seen people sliding back and no matter how much we warned them, they wouldn't look to see as their pride rose up and blinded them, even after they thought they mastered it.  Yes, it can happen to all of us. How?  By us allowing even the smallest things (like wasting food), it can begin chipping away at our diligence to do all things for the Lord in thankfulness. (Which is another one people waste...thankfulness.)   It starts with one little thing, then another and next thing you know we're growing soft in many areas, growing weak yet had we been continuously examining ourselves, it would have been caught and corrected before it compounded into something big.

Let us be thankful and not waste the precious gifts of the Lord.

I leave you with something just as awesome (to me) as flowers.

What a precious miracle that the Father does in growing food from one tiny seed.  Let us not waste that, nor any of the others He gives us.

Love to you all,

Sister Deb

The most precious gift we should never waste is the GOSPEL!