Testimony – Eat your Beans Joseph

This surely was one of those weird coinciding events. I love looking up definitions of words such as weird –

Some quick background information on this. As evident from the lack of posts over the past few weeks, things have been pretty dry for me spiritually. I haven’t been drawing near to God. I know full well what happens when I do this as the pattern has played out 100s of times. Also, it is written –

James 4:8-10 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Over the past week or so, I have been drawing near and this dry season has come to a close. It baffles the mind sometimes in how I know in my heart to draw near but I don’t. I go through these battles, barely praying, hardly reading, and then there is nothing. No guidance, no direction, no confirmations, nothing.. just blah. Then the Word comes alive when I humble myself and draw near – ‘He shall lift you up.’

It all started last week as I began to pray, read, seek, and knock. Then all of a sudden, doors open. *sigh* How many times am I going to go through this pattern? How many times before the lesson is learned? Man, how many times have I blogged about this pattern? Lord, I pray you write this lesson on my heart and help me to remember.

At any rate.. God is just amazing. As I draw near, He starts to reveal, speak, and show me things. Then I share them! –

Psalms 66:16 Come and hear, all you that fear God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul!!!

Last night, I’m thinking about how I need to eat healthier and stop eating out. Then I think that I need to go shopping. Then I think that there is already plenty of food around here that I’m just not eating/cooking. Finally, the last thought that went through my head was a can of baked beans. Weird, I know..

This morning, I’m drinking coffee and browsing Facebook. A Christian radio station that I follow posted a recipe link for baked beans. That’s not necessarily odd, but it is worthy to note that I have never seen them post something that was off topic from their broadcasting. They may ask questions to get Christians thinking, but a link to a recipe was a bit off from the norm. But anyways, I had a huge craving for baked beans now. So for breakfast, I opened up a can of Bush’s Best baked beans. :)

This evening, as I am visiting with a Pastor, a friend shows up that I haven’t seen in a while. We fellowship for a bit and as we are departing, the friend asks if he can get a ride home. Sure, no problem.

As we are walking to the car, I think about how hungry I am. I have a passing thought about stopping some where and grabbing something to eat. Then, I remember that I have plenty of food that needs to be cooked. Finally, I recall that I have some Bush’s Best beans opened that I need to eat.

While driving, we drive by a restaurant and I say something like, “Man, I love the smell of meat grillin’.” He says, “Ya, it’s Burger King.” I say, “I’d like to stop but I need to stop eating out and eat food that I already have.” He then says, “Do you have any Bush’s Best baked beans? Those are really good.” Amazing.. amazing.

Psalms 73:28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.

What I got out of this is that God put it in my heart to start eating better. Then He confirms in the manner that He always does with me, through Godly sources. It’s always through Godly sources.. always. Either through His sinless Creation like animals, wind, sun, etc., or through men/women of Christ (or directly from His Word). All that are sinless directly or justified by the blood of the Lamb. That’s not to say that God will not use wickedness to fulfill His purposes, He has revealed such in the Bible many times. But that’s for another topic..

Oh, and another pattern? Every single time as I come out of the dryness, guess what happens? Every single time! – An attack on His Peace. As I’m drawing near, I get bad news today that starts to suck it away. Immediately the neck stiffens up, a headache, tight chest, shortness of breath.. Stress. You wicked thing you! Stand down, in the name of Jesus. This happens every single time. I have had many people report this. I have said to those newly seeking God, “Be watchful.. You’re a blip on Satan’s radar now.” and I get phone calls.. sometimes the very next morning – “Whoa, thanks for that heads up. The attacks showed up.” <– This has happened multiple times. Enough to say that it is true, true, true..

Onward Christian soldier..

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