I am really excited about starting the Daniel Plan with you. I am excited to talk about how we can reach a more optimal place of health in our lives?together. Some of you might be wondering why I think this important and others are just along for the ride. Some of us might not think we can do anything about improving our health-we are dealt this deck and it is what we have to live with. So I thought I would share why I think this is important and something the church should be talking about. This means I need to share part of my story with you. Welcome to story time with Pastor Devon!

About 10.5 years ago, Emma was starting to explore with finger food. As I asked the pediatrician about different foods for her to eat, we talked about the basics. But one of the things she said that day was ?if Emma never eats ground beef, she will be better for it.? So, I started doing some research about how food was processed, how workers were treated, what was put into meat, how vegetables were raised/farmed. Which lead to lots of reading! During that year, I decided that Emma and I would be vegetarian?meaning, we wouldn?t eat meat, but would consume organic eggs, milk, and cheese that doesn?t have added hormones. We started to eat more organic fruits and vegetables, and preparing more meals at home. It has been 10 years that we have been vegetarian and I tell Emma that she has been my little science fair experiment. After all the material I read, I was very concerned about the hormones put into conventional meat and the impact that was having on the physical development of our children. But that?s a longer conversation!

Then about 3 years ago, I got pretty sick. No energy, lethargic, stressed, felt like my brain wasn?t working as well as normal, battled a bit of depression, and couldn?t find even the energy to exercise. I ended up doing a huge blood workup and it looked like my body wasn?t absorbing any nutrients. As the registered dietician said, ?you have the bloodwork of an anorexic, but I know you eat well!? So she said my bloodwork showed I needed to eat fish for Omega-3s. She started me on a strong multivitamin and probiotics. We figured out that the antibiotics I had taken for a major cold I had, had cleaned out all the good bacteria in my gut and caused the bad bacteria to wreaked havoc on my body. The fish, multivitamin, and probiotics helped me feel better within 2 weeks and I haven?t felt that bad since.

And lastly, over the past 6 years, I have watched many people I love battle cancer, Alzheimer?s, dementia, heart attacks, Parkinson?s, diabetes, depression, bi-polar, ADD/ADHD, Crohn?s and Celiac?s disease?just to name a few. It overwhelms me to think about how many people are impacted by all this health stuff?and I began to wonder if there was a different way. And if there was, what was it? And if there was a different way, did God want me to explore that with our congregation and community? Then I found the Daniel Plan in the discount book section at Books a Million. I sat in a comfy chair and read the intro, then bought the book, read the book, prayed through reading the book, and then purchased the material for it to be a series for us and our community. What was it about The Daniel Plan that made me say ?yes?? It was because it was centered in faith, God?s power, and making lasting changes that focus on obtaining optimal health through spiritual health. It was a plan to get healthier in 40 days that looked at the total health of a person, not just diet and exercise. Faith is what makes the Daniel Plan work.

Now let?s turn to Daniel?s story. In book of Daniel from the Old Testament, the Persian Empire had taken over the world.? The king was a guy named Nebuchadnezzar.? Nebuchadnezzar took over the nation of Israel when Jehoiakim was king.? He took the entire Jewish race and moved them to Babylon, into what is called exile and they were in captivity for seventy years. The Jewish people had experienced this before about 400 years earlier in Egypt. While the Jewish nation is held captive in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar only wanted what was best for his nation. So he asked his right hand guys to go cheery pick the best top young men from the captives of the Jewish nation and bring them to him. Nebuchadnezzar wanted to put these top guys through a mentoring/intern program, so one day they could become his advisors and royal advisors in the future.? The kings men go and pick 4 guys. One of them was named Daniel.? The others were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The palace master gave them Babylonian names: Daniel was called Belteshazzar, Hananiah was called Shadrach, Mishael was called Meshach, and Azariah was called Abednego. They said these 4 guys were going to go through this plan.? One of the perks of being in the king?s mentoring program was you got to eat at the king?s table.? You got to eat all of his fine delicacies and all his rich food and all his wine and things like that.

This is where we pick up the story in Daniel 1verse 8.

It says this ?⁸But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the royal rations of food and wine; so he asked the palace master to allow him not to defile himself.?⁹Now God allowed Daniel to receive favor and compassion from the palace master.?¹⁰The palace master said to Daniel, ?I am afraid of my lord the king; he has appointed your food and your drink. If he should see you in poorer condition than the other young men of your own age, you would endanger my head with the king.??¹¹Then Daniel asked the guard whom the palace master had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:?(Meaning, Daniel had come up with a plan.) ¹²?Please test your servants for ten days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink.?¹³You can then compare our appearance with the appearance of the young men who eat the royal rations, and deal with your servants according to what you observe.??¹⁴So he agreed to this proposal and tested them for ten days.¹⁵At the end of ten days it was observed that they appeared better and fatter than all the young men who had been eating the royal rations.?¹⁶So the guard continued to withdraw their royal rations and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.?

Now, I?m not going to tell you that being vegetarian is what the Daniel Plan is about! There is a Daniel Fast, that truly is vegetables and water. The Daniel Plan is different. Daniel was able to make a plan of action that glorified God because of his faith, friends, food, fitness, and focus. Daniel?s faith in God is what led to lasting change and total health for his life. Our physical health is important and God has a prescription for our physical health.

The truth is you already know what to do.? This is not rocket science.? It?s not brain surgery.? To get healthy you?ve got to eat healthy and you?ve got to eat less.? You?ve got to get moving (You?ve got to move it, move it!) You?ve got to get proper sleep and you?ve got to lower the stress and get more rest in your life.? This is not rocket science.? You know this.? There?s nothing I can teach you on that today.

But what I want to do today is to focus on the motivation.? The why.? Why do you not stick, and why do I not stick with get-in-shape programs, get-healthy programs, diets, exercise and whatever.? How many times have you set a resolution to get in shape and a month later it?s out the window?? The reason why is, if you don?t have the right motivation, you will not stick with it.? You?ve got to have the reason.? When you figure out the why in your life, God will always show you how.

I want us to look at what God says about the importance of your body.

Then I want to share with you a couple of areas for health that you may have never thought of and you won?t find in a nutrition book and some things like that.

First, let?s look at what God says about the importance of your physical health.

The Bible says this in 1 Corinthians 6?a classic passage on the body.

¹²?All things are lawful for me,? but not all things are beneficial. ?All things are lawful for me,? but I will not be dominated by anything.

What is God saying here?? He?s saying some things in life are not necessarily wrong, they?re just not necessary.? Does that make sense?? You?re free to do whatever you want.? But not everything is beneficial.? And I?m not going to be controlled by anything ? I?m not going to let stuff and things dominate me.? I?m not going to be addicted to anything.

13?Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,? and God will destroy both one and the other.

In other words, they?re not going to last forever.? That?s, FOOD, not the real reason you?re here.

The body is meant not for fornication (meaning, not for sexual immorality) but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.?14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.

He?s going to physically raise up your body.

¹⁵Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute (meaning, being part of someone who is sleeping around? Never!

¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?²⁰For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

This passage teaches us six radical counter cultural things about your body.? This is the exact opposite of what culture teaches you today, what the media teaches you today about your body.

1. The first thing is God expects me to manage my body.
   1. How are you taking care of your body? Are you managing it well for God? Or are you treating your body poorly? One of the things he?s going to say is what did you do with the body I gave you? And God is watching to see what you do.? I?m the caretaker of my body.? God expects me to manage it.

2. The second thing the Bible teaches is my body is God?s property.
   1. Not only are you to manage your body, but this body is on loan to your from God. God created you. Everything that you see was created by God and the Creator owns it all. You don?t own anything, it?s on loan. My body is God?s property. Take care of it. Protect it. Honor it. That?s a radical concept. God owns it and expects you to manage it well.

3. The third thing this passage teaches is that my body will be resurrected after I die.
   1. My body will be resurrected after I die. God never wastes anything. God recycles.? God says, you think that body I gave you, you think that?s just it?? No, we?re going to recycle it. Right now you?re living in version 1.0 ? in heaven you?re going to get version 2.0.? But you will have a body.
   2. The Bible says this in 1 Corinthians 6:14 ?And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.?
   3. See how important your body is? God says I?m not through with this.? I?m going to resurrect your body.? You say, isn?t it going to get all decayed in the ground?? Well yeah, or you might be cremated.? But God says I?m still going to resurrect it.? I?m going to put it together in version 2.0.? And God can do anything if God created the universe. What?s my resurrected body going to be like?? We don?t really know. You?re just going to be you, version 2.0, with no blemishes.? Perfect in every form.? You?re going to be you in perfect format.
   4. I want you to circle in this verse the phrase, ?by God?s power.? ?By his power God raised the Lord from the dead??? This is one of the three reasons why we don?t stick with diets, one of the three reasons why we don?t stick with our get-healthy programs.

• The first reason is we use willpower instead of God power.
  • You need more than willpower, you need God power. Because willpower alone is exhausting. You get tired- we are tired enough. Whatever your weakness is, you?re going to probably struggle with it the rest of your life. So you?re going to need more than simply your own energy.? You?ve got to plug into God?s power.? That?s the first reason we don?t stick with it.

• The second reason we don?t stick with it is the wrong motivation.
  • When the goal is simply all about me, that?s not enough to keep most people going. When the goal is all about me?how I look, how I feel, how I want to be?which are good goals, but it is missing the point. What we?re talking about today is far deeper than my personal objectives and goals.? There?s far more spiritual significance to being in shape than simply looking good and feeling good.? There are other reasons for it.? We?re looking at those six reasons right now. So when I?ve got the wrong motivation, when I?m just using willpower instead of God?s power?

• The third reason why we don?t stick with it, is when I try to change on my own.
  • It isn?t going to happen. You were made for community.? You were created for community.? You?ve got to have group support.? You?ve got to have a partner or a coach or a support.? You?ve got to have accountability. If you could, you would; but you can?t, so you won?t.? You need help.? We?re better together. Always. God says I created your body, I expect you to manage your body, one day I?m going to resurrect your body in version 2.0.

4. The Bible teaches my body is connected to the body of Christ.
   1. You probably never heard this before. I hadn?t remembered reading this before. But the Bible says my body is connected to the body of Christ.? Verse 15, ?Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!?
   2. That?s why it?s in a special class-for a completely different time and place. But the quick piece is this: you?re actually sinning against yourself, not just God. Wow.

5. The fifth reason is the Holy Spirit lives in my body.
   1. God puts his Spirit in my body. Verse 19 ?Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?
   2. That means God takes up residence inside you.? God puts God?s Spirit in your spirit.? So, you are the temple of God today.? God puts the Spirit in you.
   3. You study history and God, on earth, as always had a dwelling place. First, he dwelt in the tabernacle that was designed according to the specifications he gave to Moses.? The tabernacle was the dwelling place of God.? Then later God gave to David the specifications for the temple in Jerusalem.? God dwelt in the temple, that building.? Today he dwells in you.? You are the temple.
   4. If you were out walking down the street one day and you saw a gang vandalizing a house of worship and they were breaking the windows of a synagogue or a church and they were writing graffiti on a temple, or a house of worship, you would say that?s not right. You should not be vandalizing a temple.? You would either try to stop them or you would call the police.
   5. But we vandalize our temples all the time ? you, your body, by what you put in it, by your sleep schedule, by not taking care of your body. You are vandalizing the temple of God when you don?t take care of your body.? The Holy Spirit lives in it.

6. Jesus bought my body on the cross.
   1. That?s one of the things he came to do. Verse 20 ?For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body..? ?Jesus bought your real estate, your house, your temple. You.
   2. Do you know how much you?re worth? If you want to know how much you?re worth, look at the cross.? With arms outstretched and nail-pierced hands Jesus said, this is how much I love the world.? ? I don?t care if you?re Buddhist, Baptist, Jewish, Mormon, Muslim, atheist, whatever.? He said, this is how much I love you.? I love you this much.? I love you so much it hurts.? I love you so much I?d rather die than live without you.? I came all the way from heaven to do this for you.? That?s how valuable you are.? Your body, YOU, are priceless.
   3. Question: If you owned a million-dollar race horse would you feed that race horse junk food? You?d be crazy to do it.? But you put that stuff in you all the time, and you are priceless.? You are worth more than a million-dollar race horse.? You are the temple of God.
   4. Romans 12 says, ?Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God ? this is your spiritual act of worship.? Did you know that taking care of your health is an act of worship?? That taking care of your body is an act of worship.

Let me summarize this.? I want to get my body in better health.? And as your pastor who loves you, I want to get your bodies in better health.? Not just so you can look good-I mean, you look good already! ?Not just so you can feel good. ?Not just so you can live longer.? Yeah, I?m glad for all that.? Those are legitimate motives.? But because of these six things: God created my body, Jesus died for my body, God?s Spirit lives in my body, I?m connected to Christ?s body, one day God?s going to resurrect my body, I?m expected to take care of my body and one day I?ll give an account for it.? Those are the spiritual reasons.

Based on these six facts, can you see how caring for your body is more than just, I?d like to look better.? It is a spiritual discipline.

The healthier you are the more God can bless you, the more God can use you.? As I said, you already know about nutrition, exercise, sleep, rest.? This is not rocket science.? I?m going to leave you with this passage and few points. I?ll be emailing the details of this on Monday. It will also be posted to our Facebook page. Let me point out to you maybe some unknown health factors that you?re not going to read in any nutritional book.

Proverbs 3 gives us a few important health factors. Listen to these words: ?Keep my commands in your heart, [says God] for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity? [Then he gives some of those commands?] Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, [What?s he saying there?? He?s saying trust in me instead of worrying.? Don?t get stressed out.? Live a tranquil life. ?Don?t try to figure it all out.] ?and he will make your paths straight. ?[That?s integrity ? living a straight life of integrity.]? Do not be wise in your own eyes; [That?s humility.]? Fear the Lord and shun evil.? This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.? [Why the bones?? Why is that important?? Because the marrow is created in the bones.]? Honor the Lord with the first part of your wealth, [That?s generosity] the firstfruits of all the crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing.? ?Notice in this passage he mentions tranquility ? trust in God; integrity ? paths straight; humility ? don?t be wise in your own eyes; and generosity ? give the first part of your wealth away.

Friends, as I look at this passage the words for life that come to me are: tranquility, integrity, humility and generosity. And these four things that can lead to better health. ?There is a direct connection between your spiritual health and your physical health. So let me just wrap this up.? I could give you a hundred of these from the Word of God.? Let me just give you four things that you need to do that will help you be healthier.

1. Trusting God is good for your health.?
2. Confessing my sin. ?
3. Giving generously is good for your health.?
4. Having fun is good for your health.

In John 5 Jesus is walking down the street and he sees this guy sitting on the side of the road who?s been sick for thirty-eight years.? He?s a paraplegic.? Jesus walks up to him and he asks one of the most important questions and I want to ask of you this morning.? He says, ?Do you want to get well??? That is a profound question.? This guy?s been sick thirty-eight years.? You think, of course he wants to get well.? But Jesus says, Do you really want to get well?

That?s my question to you.? Where do you want to be a year from now health-wise? ?Do you want to have the most energy, the sharpest mind, the brightest smile, the strongest body that you?ve ever had?? Do you really want to get well?

Prayer:

Good and gracious God, you created our bodies and our bodies are yours.? You sent Jesus to walk with us and teach us how to use our bodies for you.? Then you sent your Spirit to live in our bodies.? Help us to never forget that our bodies belong to you, not us.? And that they?re connected to the body of Christ.? And one day they will be resurrected in version 2.0.? Forgive us for all the times we?ve misused our bodies and abused our health.? We commit together to join in a journey of health, to follow God?s health plan for your glory.? In Jesus? name.? Amen.