...but not everything is beneficial.
Fasting
I've been troubled lately and I wasn't sure why. So, I went on a spiritual fast for a few days, to cleanse myself (literally), and to cleanse my mind. What lead me to fast are a few things. I've been going through a Bible study with my small group reading and focusing on the book of Daniel. The first few chapters is more than learning that Daniel obstain from King Neb's choice foods. It was about sticking up for himself, to obey God, to demonstrate that He loved God, and will not bow down to any other gods or people.
To give a little history lesson on that portion of the Bible, King Neb of Babylon took captive of the people of Judah and settled them in the Kingdom of Babylon. Babylon was at its economic and cultural height. People had the clothes, the money, the power, and possible good looking horse drawn carriages. But these people of Babylon also worshipped other gods and engaged in activities that were not okay.
Not to sound to prophetic but the U.S. can also be seen almost like this. The U.S. has tremendous resources (as well as a big debt), and people are indulging themselves in this culture - the fashion, self-image, money, power, worshipping other things, and activities maybe not so good. No horse drawn carriages in this century though.
I don't consider myself really indulging too much into the latest fashion... But I can get self-conscious about how I look and what I eat and how much I exercise. I think lately, I've been going around in circles. Eating what I think is best, then over eating what is not good, then trying to exercise to off-set what I eat and don't eat.
What I learned is that... I really don't need a lot of food. And that I could live on low fat foods. I can also live off soy milk and congee and still be okay. I also learned to fast the correct way for my conditions. I have hypoglycemia (severe cases could lead to diabetes), so I had to stay away from fruit juices and sodas with sugar. In the past, I would try to fast but would almost have a nervous breakdown by lunch time.
I think God is still working in me in other areas of my life...
Hong Kong
I'm going to Hong Kong May 7-16th to visit my mom and dad. :)
