AMEN!
Today is an AMEN day! For the last seven months I’ve heard those words from my nutritionist coach. She used the word as an acronym and explained it’s meaning multiple times. I was just slow to catch on to how important having an AMEN day could be.
Because I couldn’t remember her acronym meaning, I made up my own. Many a morning I’d lie in bed and say something like this,
I Acknowledge Yahweh as the Creator of the universe, Sovereign over all.
May He Make His name great today and use me to His glory.
I Expect Him to work in my world today.
I Never need to worry because Yahweh holds me in His hands.
Talking to the Lord before my day starts and thinking through the AMEN day idea encourages me and helps me start my day. But last week, something was said in one of our coaching calls that gave a sudden twist to how I see God’s kingdom and my days on this earth.
Backstory
June, 2023, I met Annette Reeder at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference. I was exhausted, coming off several years of family health crises and multiple losses of family and friends. I was in no way ready to attend a writers conference as a writer. But I figured I could sure use a retreat.
Choosing which sessions to attend at a conference is always a challenge. My fatigue and weariness only made it worse. I knew I wasn’t ready to take on new challenges. So what sessions could I attend that wouldn’t wear me out but would keep me awake?
Annette Reeder*, known as the Biblical Nutritionist, uses YouTube, among other mediums, to get her message out to the world. Since many writers these days are also speakers, Annette was at the conference to teach writers and speakers how to use YouTube to make their message available to many. I had no plans of using YouTube, but weary as I was, I chose to attend Annette’s classes because I hoped I might pick up some health tips. I love how our Father uses even the craziest reasons for our good.
The conference ended. I went home to six more losses (two cousins, four friends) before the year ended. And in November I began receiving emails from the Biblical Nutritionist. Sure, I’d put my email address on the list to receive notes and information from her sessions at the conference. But nothing else came from her until the end of the year. At a time God knew I would be ready to hear more.
Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First
You’ve all heard it. The steward on a plane telling adults traveling with a child, in case of emergency the adult needs to put on their own oxygen mask before helping the child. Or maybe you took swim lessons and were taught to put on a life vest before trying to save a drowning victim. The idea is the same. If we don’t take care of ourselves, we can’t help others.
January of this year I knew I needed to step back and take care of myself. Years of caregiving and grieving had taken a toll. Stress of life had worn me down. And eating whatever was available began to show in my health.
The emails and information I read from Annette eventually led me to join her Inner Circle coaching. Weekly Zoom meetings with the coaches are part of the package. And that’s where I first heard about an AMEN day.
I had no idea a physical health journey would begin with a mental and spiritual wellness check. Do I really trust God to be God? Do I truly believe what He says in His word? How much of my life is based on tradition or what I’ve learned from others over time and how much is based on truths the God of the Bible chooses to make available for us to read and know?
God’s Principles
While there’s much more to the Biblical Nutritional journey, it started for me with Annette’s three principles.
- Eat what God made as food for us.
- Eat it as close to the way He made it as possible.
- Don’t make any food your god.
That stopped me right there. Fast food, out to eat, take home food, and processed easy-to-warm-up foods were my staple.
With two other parameters added in, the weight I put on over multiple stressful years fell off one pound at a time.
- Leave at least four hours between meals.
- Leave at least twelve hours overnight of not eating.
I signed up initially for a year with the Inner Circle. I knew my health took years to get where it was. There was no way I would get “well” in less than a year. After seven months, I’ve learned there’s so much to know about food and our body and how God made us and what He means for food to do for us versus how we choose to use food, I can spend the rest of my life learning how to care for myself God’s way. Thank God for the opportunity to learn!
Be Prepared
Part of my reason for deciding to take care better care of myself was a desire to be ready for whatever God has in store for me. Whether it’s on mission with Him or helping myself and others through another crisis, the healthier I am, the more ready I’ll be to walk with Him through the days He has for me here.
Each week I learn something new. Or I put something I already “learned” into practice. Baby steps. But last week, Annette said something that grabbed my heart. Not just my mind.
As Annette once again spoke about an AMEN day, she followed with a statement she makes to the Lord. “I heartily agree with whatever You bring into my life today.”
I’ve lived long enough to know there are times God allows hard things. Am I willing to trust Him enough to tell Him up front I’m willing to accept whatever He brings? How often do I wake up hoping today is an easy day? Knowing I don’t want to go through another loss right now. Or face another emotional situation that causes my heart to break. Am I willing to tell the Lord I heartily agree with whatever He brings into my life today?
Trust God
Yesterday I listened to friends speaking from their home in Israel. One phrase stuck in my mind. “There are only two kingdoms, the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness.” There is no in-between. I am in one kingdom or the other. Because I choose Jesus and His kingdom, He allows me to belong to Him now and forever.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).
This “forever” started the moment I believed in Him. I’m presently walking in this “eternal life,” knowing God the Father and Jesus Christ. I’m in His kingdom now.
If God is Sovereign over His kingdom, and He is, and if He orders our steps, and He does, and if He is good and loving, and He is, then why do I fear anything my Father has in store for me on any given day? Can I waken in anticipation of joining Him in what He has for me today? Can I say it’s an AMEN day, and then tell my Abba, “I heartily agree with whatever You bring into my life today?”
Amen, according to dictionary.com*, “is derived from the Hebrew āmēn, which means ‘certainty,’ ‘truth,’ and ‘verily.'” Amen “is spoken to express solemn ratification or agreement.” Or as I used to hear it said, Amen is equivalent to so be it!
Annette’s added words of agreement with the Father to accept whatever He brings into our lives each day is simply another way of saying it’s an AMEN day. Whether I use the word Amen as an acronym for sentences between me and my God or whether I take it as agreement with Him for His will to be done in my life, the word reminds me I am His now and forever. I get a choice between His kingdom of light and the enemy’s kingdom of darkness. I have chosen life and light. Now let me act like I chose well. Let me make each day an AMEN day, acknowledging Jesus as my King and trusting that what God allows in my life today comes through fingers of love and will be used for good and for the glory of my King.
My earthly father used to say, “Every day’s a good day.” I think he might like this new wording. Every day should be an AMEN day. A day to agree with the King and our loving Heavenly Father that we heartily agree with what He has in store for us today.
Bless us all as we walk with Him. Amen. And AMEN!
*NOTE: You can find Annette Reeder, the Biblical Nutritionist, at her website here, or on YouTube here. The dictionary.com definition for amen can be found here.
(Scriptures: NKJV; Photos: Taken by Carolyn Thigpen, Grayson, GA, July, 2024, and Tribble Mill Park, GA, January, 2021)
