Years ago when I first started to live on my own and did my own cooking, I looked for the easiest way to prepare meals. I had so many cans in my cabinets until it was just ridiculous. There were cans of creamed corn, whole corn, white corn, and yellow corn. I had string beans, canned fruit, ravioli, spaghetti O’s, and always canned mushrooms for gravy. The list of canned goods just went on and on. I even remember actually opening a can of asparagus once. Yuck! Just the thought of this today makes my stomach churn.
Looking back to my earliest cooking days, two things come to my mind. Food items in a can were quick and easy to prepare. No thought was required. Just find that can opener, open that can and pop the ingredients into a pot and warm it up. Done! It was easy! But to be honest, unless you knew how to doctor it up it didn’t taste like much. That food was bland, unappealing, and soggy. It was dull in color and saturated with salt and oils. Later, I discovered that canned foods are known to have higher levels of sugar added to maintain their color and taste. Little did I know! Can you imagine thinking foods processed in cans, and sitting on a shelf before being consumed for months, and, oh…. perhaps years could be nutritious for you? I had very little understanding. I was only thinking of what was quick and easy.
After the canned food era, I advanced to eating frozen foods. I remember thinking that it was better and a step up. Wrong! I discovered that frozen foods are loaded with additives such as emulsifiers, and binders to add in appearance, color, and taste. How can a steady diet of this be good for you? Yes, some things might have value taste good once in a while, but most things, ‘No’.
Why am I talking about all of this? Well, once I started eating fresh foods, I seldom opened a can of processed anything. Many years ago after recommitting my heart back to the Lord as an adult, I remembered walking into the grocery store. As I walked through the produce section, it was as if a veil had been removed from my eyes! I could actually see that the produce was bright and alive with color. The reds were a clear, and true red. The green foods were vivid in color. I remember walking around and thinking how bright and beautiful everything looked. It was so noticeable that even many years later, I still rejoice at the goodness of God for removing these scales from my eyes and allowing me to see the true color unhindered by a filter and the veil that was sin. Thank God for redemption!
As I matured in life and also in my walk with the Lord, I started to learn how to prepare fresh foods and eventually let processed foods alone. I seldom open a can or reach for something out of the frozen food section. As I reflect back, the thought of a can of asparagus makes me sick! And now, give me fresh asparagus cooked with the right amount of spices, and a little butter….Yummy!
Let’s take the time to compare canned and frozen food to studying the Word of God. Let’s understand the importance of learning to have a Biblical study life for yourself compared to eating something that was processed by faceless others. Now, when I was first saved there were and there are those whose ministry books, tapes, and teaching materials I did eat from and still receive nourishment even to this day. However, as I have grown in my spiritual walk and have a firm foundation in God, I find that I do not reach back and blindly consume those products in bulk like I once did. The fact is, that I have learned how to study the word of God and feed myself, the Fresh Food which God has given me for the day. God wants to give us Fresh Food. He wants to give us fresh Baked Bread.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.” -Joh 6:47-50 KJV
He wants to feed us with fresh manna from heaven the same as he fed the children in the wilderness. Our God is a personal savior who wants to speak to us and lead us daily.
“Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.” – Exodus 16:4
We are called to be part of the Body of Christ and to submit to a church authority. Our local church is where we are supposed to come together to be taught, trained, nurtured and matured. Being in the ‘right place’ that God has ordained for us assures us that we will be fed the True Word of God. We will be fed the Fresh Food that He intends for us to eat. The work of the five-fold ministry within the local assembly is to aide us in our spiritual growth and prepare us to become true ministers of reconciliation.
“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation)” – 2 Cor. 5:18,
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: “ -Eph 4:11-13 KJV
We need to relish every morsel of food that has been prepared for us coming from the “House” of God where we are ordained to be. However, as we begin to grow up in the things of God, we learn to eat from the Word of God for ourselves. We enjoy dining at the Table of the Ordained House that He has prepared for us but we also must learn to cook for ourselves. We grow and are no longer the babies that have to be spoon-fed every dot and tittle. It is part of growing up into the full measure God has called us to walk in. God wants us to dig into his Word for ourselves. He wants to lead and guide us into all Truth so that we may receive spiritual revelations of His Goodness, His Mercy and of His Plans for us.
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come”. – John 16:13
Just as when we go out to eat at a restaurant, we are mindful about the quality of food that they serve. Aside from our local assembly, we need to be equally mindful about where and what we eat. If you stop and eat at some questionable place, you just don’t know what you are getting. They may have simply opened a can of processed food or heat up a frozen dinner in the back and slap it on your plate.
If you have not taken the time to study and learn the Word of God for yourself, you are likely to consume anything fed to you simply because you are hungry. You may end up eating a mixture of additives, emulsifiers, binders consisting of traditions of men, false doctrines, prejudices, word curses and who knows what else they may slap on your plate.
Spiritual things must be spiritually discerned. As we mature in God, we will be able to sort out what is God and what is not. We will know the difference between a steak and hamburger filler. We must know that the Lord will protect His babes that are young in the Faith. Sometimes, He allows them to drink the milk of the Word for a season that is prepared by others on a daily basis. Just like parents feeding their baby, the food is purred, whipped and liquefied to make food easy to be eaten. Interestingly enough, even the food that you used to eat when you a child can still be your favorite food. When you are grown and have matured in the things of God, you can always go back and eat, glean and shore up your spiritual foundations and get refreshed from those old favorites.
When you begin to eat from the Hand of God consistently, His fresh food and His Fresh Bread, you will not want to open a can or go to the frozen food section anymore. Your spiritual palette simply will not allow it. You will naturally begin to shun and limit your spiritual intake from the “strange voices” with their unanointed, canned and frozen messages and teachings. Furthermore, you will begin to notice the bad taste left in your mouth from the unhealthy toxic mixture that is often loosely referred to as food. Your spirit man will sound the alarm and warn you. Your reaction will become as strong as the instinctive knee-jerk reaction stemming from the smell of something rotten, rank and putrid.
Sure, canned and frozen food will feed your body ‘something’, but why consume all of the processed fillers, junk, and unnecessary additives? Remember, ‘Fresh Is Best’!
As for me, I am am ditching my can opener!
May God’s Grace Abundantly Reign In Your Life!
Prophetess Kathy Steele
Consider Adding These Discernment Resources To Your Library!
Doors & Chambers Book and Training Manuals
An Apostolic and Prophetic View of God’s Process for Personal Growth and Ministry
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
According to the Scripture, Romans 8:28 says- “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” The questions is, how do all these things work out to our benefit? God is a “God that declares “The End” from “The Beginning”. However, we must understand that He is also a God of process. There is a process that takes from the beginning unto the end.
By Dr. Ric Steele
For more information, go to www.DoorsAndChambers.com
Get your copy of Doors & Chambers, the book by Apostle Ric Steele today! Get yours now! Go to Get My Copy Now!
Be sure to check out our other blogs!
- Ric Steele Ministries Blog
- LITES – (Leaders In Training of an Excellent Spirit) A Blog for the Youth!
If you haven’t already, download The Due Season App!
- Get it at Apple, Google Play, Windows & Amazon stores
The Prophetic Voice 