Anthony Evans

I love this. I think as Christian’s we don’t “necessarily” have the mentality that we will feast on the world, and don’t often desire to feast on the world. However, we “snack” or just take part in little parts. Most of the time we don’t even realize we are doing it or that it really will affect us. However, like you said we go to eat and we are full i.e. We go to hear the voice of the Lord, to study His word and be changed by him, but there isn’t any room for him, because we have “snacked” too much on the worldly things.

Thanks for the great analogy!

WOW!!! That is deep. Sounds like I need to go on a World Diet. That has really made me think. Thanks Anthony

Great analogy. I like to snack too but have never given much thought to snacking outside of food I pick up as I move along. Yet, in this perspective – getting a little bit here and there, so much so that we are full when the main course comes, I think you are correct. I can now see the manifestation with my time. I give a little bit to this good cause or purpose here, and give a little bit more there, then when God wants to spend time with me, I am too tired to receive all that He desires to give me. I’m too tired to sit at His feet and wait to hear what He has to say to me. It turns into a quick prayer and a quick meditation because I’m too tired for much else. Good vlog, and convicting!

Hey.. that was a good thought… Ever thought about leading a youth group?? I bet you would be good at it… Thanks for the insight! ~Christy~

Thanks for the food for thought…just goin’ along with the cheese ball theme…I think I’m hungry…can’t recall what I was gonna say

This is powerful, Anthony.
I KNOW that my “snacking” has filled me so much that sometimes it’s hard even to let go of the world and totally allow God to take hold of my life. Because we deceive ourselves to believing that if we partially participate in the things of the world, we will not be affected by it. BUT it only takes a “snack” to take you off course.

Hi Anthony,

I love how God can speak to us through the daily “stuff” just like snacking and give such profound “food for thought” Thanks for sharing this.

I just recently (well going on three months now) started a workout regime where they ask you to “graze” throughout the day. You make an important point about being to full for quality food when we snack rather than graze on healthy “food”.

I used to snack all day at work and then found I wasn’t hungry when lunch or dinner came around which just led to more snacking and usually on things that were not healthy. Now every couple of hours I graze on food that is good for me and my body. I think that is what we need to do with God and His word…graze on it throughout the day so that what we are taking into our minds, hearts and spirits are things that are good for us and our growth.

Put the word on CD in your car stereo or praise CD’s. Pray while doing your errands, sing in the shower (I have found when worshipping in the car it is best to keep your eyes open and your hands on the wheel LOL). I even go to bed listen to God’s word on CD (makes for peaceful sleep and sometimes revelation through my dreams). Graze on God and His word and have a healthy spiritual life and temple. It’s a workout regime that works for me.

Blessings, Kathleen

Snacking…. Makes sense literally and in a biblical sense. Sometimes I feel like I’m in a busy world with lots of stuff going on, work and/or school, friends, engagements to attend and by the end of the day/week, I have “snacked” my way to fullness. Brain and body exhaustion and no space to really have quiet time with God. The really important question is, what are we “snacking on?” Just like with food..some snacks are unhealthy and have their bad effects on our bodies.. In the real world..we have so many distractions that can be unhealthy for us and we feed so much into them that we are already full when God wants to use us…deep stuff. Thanks for the insight.

Wow, that is so deep and so very true. If we are to be honest with ourselves we’ll see clearly why we don’t have power as the early christians in Acts. It’s no wonder when you add up all the junk we take in on just a daily basis. Thanks Anthony, I’ll be chewing on this as a constant reminder for when you know better you do better.

God bless
Debbie R.

Anthony,

This is some great insight!! You are so right! I understand where you are coming from when you asked yourself, ” What is stopping me from receiving God’s best? ” Maybe it is because we, as God chosen people, are not of the world but slowly doing the years, we started to pick up on some of the world’s snacks. As time passes us by, we slowly stop eating the Word of God and started to enjoy the snacks of the world. At that point in time, we need to stop and redirect our hungry and desire back to God. We sometimes get so consume by the cares of this world that we do not stop and do a God check up. What you are talking about can go into so many levels and examples in life. This will be a good sermon or lesson for our youth group at our church. God has an awesome gift for you, Anthony. Everything that God showed you in the spiritual will develop in the natural. Believe and Receive!! Let God have His way with you and all the desires of your heart will be brought to life. God bless. Keep preaching!! =)

Funny… I was just thinking about how as Christians we buy into what the World defines as the norm. I am a single God fearing woman who needs Jesus like I need air to breathe. Although I am grounding myself in the word and renewing my mind, I still hear the world’s mentality saying “Hey, you need a man or girl when you getting married.” Although I don’t mean to entertain these ideas because God has made a profound promise to me, I buy into or “snack” on what the world says. And every time I snack or entertain these limitations of the world, I am distracted from fulfilling God’s purpose for me. I believe that the devil’s greatest weapon against Christians is distracting us from our purpose with what the World perceives as lack- attempting to fill us up with small servings while the Lord has promised us a Seat at his banquet table. I agree with you. We should seek God while we are still and seated in order to be feed by His Word. Resist being distracted by the availability of wordly snacks and tv dinners. Renewing your mind with the Word is harder to do… just like planning dinner can be when you’re on the go. So, I pray that who ever reads this is Reminded of the Father you serve and to whom you truly belong. Allow your father to feed you so that you can perform his mighty works and recognize that you lack nothing. So, put down the Snickers and sit at the table with your Heavenly Father

This is soo right on!! Today literally, a family member had a great meal.. well balanced and everything LOL. When it came time to eat, I wanted no parts of it (something to do with the chips and salsa that were crushed a bit earlier) Spiritually, we can be so full of things that are not of God we just have no room. We go through the day and before we know it, the best of us has been exhausted on work, friends, family etc… we have not spent proper time in his presence, For to me this is a classic cycle I find myself in. Physically and spiritually, I’m cutting back on snacking and I can’t wait for the results!! Thanks for making it so plain!! I have been blessed!!
~Sabrina

I really needed to hear that and yet I am still sitting on that thought. I know for me, I have come to the realization that as much as I want God to be enough and know that he is, I still find myself in that whole “pursuit of happiness” state. Idolizing the things of this world that I believe will at some point or another will bring me closer to happiness. I say all of that because I feel like I have been snacking on things here and there, those things no matter how small, seem to only be little minute things when in the long run I have wasted my time, specifically that time with God, my feast!

I was convicted of this when reading Joshua 7:11 “Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me.” I believe that God personally convicted me of stealing his time, room for him to come in. I snacked when I needed to have an empty belly to receive more of what he had in store, more of him, enough of him. Thanks for the eye opener, I love simply illustrations! God Bless you in all you do Anthony!

-your sister in Christ

…and yet though the snacking fills you, it’s never really satisfying…thanks, AE. I appreciate your level of introspection. I have what I call “check yo’self” moments; sometimes I pass, but this time…I’ve been checked…so thanks for sharing.

wow… I appreciate that perspective. It’s amazing how we do go on with our lives not realizing that we are snacking on the world.

Myself?–Guilty. I still receive the word and have a very intimate relationship with the Lord. But there are days when I can’t understand why I start my daily reading and can’t focus or am easily distracted. I know I am still growing in Christ and not perfect so this really helps me be more aware of my actions because these snacking incidents may not seem so bad in small doses but they can accumulate to cause me to be comfortable with myself (full with the world) and may even hinder my growth.

I was just talking about a similar subject in Bible study tonight. We were talking about 2 Samuel 6 when Uzzah was struck dead because David got “relaxed” and was rejoicing but not obedient to the law about how to transport the Arc and we were saying that God is present where he is honored and how easy it is to get lax in our homes and let things in that do not honor him..it can be suttle so we need to be aware of His holiness and be at awe of him and tremble. The presence of the Lord brings much blessing to the household where the Lord is honored. Thanks for sharing! Your sister in the Lord.

Hey man…so true. Its funny (sad) how our attention span is so limited at times. As you were talking about this I thought of how snacking is bad for your digestive system, which spiritually can represent our thought processes. As we ‘snack’ on the world (watching too much TV, listening to ungodly conversations), our thought processes becomes inconsistent and as a result that at times, we have a hard time understanding God’s will for our lives. Great word man…gotta check myself before I wreck myself (oops…just got worldly! lol) Blessings man! Stay in touch!

Your analogy with us snacking on the world is definitely preventing us from getting filled with our food of substance which is the Word of God..our bread of life. This reminds me of my favorite scripture Romans 12:2-”And do not be transformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” This is a daily battle that everyone has to fight every day!

Not cheesy at all–thought provoking! I just sat down with my snack. Snacking on the wrong thing is definitely not beneficial– we put a lot of harmful things in our bodies when we snack.

Yes, amen!! Truth! After enjoying that food snack, I usually think how unhealthy it was for me & wish I hadn’t indulged. The same with substituting “food” of the world for the real food of the Word!

Wow!!! Tears right now from this awesome word. My pastor just preached a few weeks ago about how the Word tells us to flee from evil. He said that we are often quick to stand for the truth, but we are not as quick to flee from evil. I know that’s a little different take, but I’m looking at it in the same way. Like you said that you don’t feel bad when you snack cause you aren’t making yourself at home. We don’t feel bad about listening to a group of people gossiping in the breakroom because we aren’t involved in the conversation. We don’t realize that we can become guilty by association. Not to get off track, but that was a good word. I was talking to a friend the other day. I asked him if God is who the bible says He is & He lives in us then why aren’t we turning the world upside down. I think it is because we are too busy “snacking” on the world & we don’t have room to “eat of His body & drink of His blood”. We aren’t hungry so we don’t feast on His Word. Thanks for the reminder!

The one part that keeps ringing in my heart….is how much of the world have we been snacking on, to the place we have no room for the things that God really wants to do in and through us? When you can’t amen…. say “ouch”! This really makes me take a inward look at my “eating habits”! The biggest question I now ask myself; is do I now take the stand to do something about it? Also, will I bypass the snack and wait for what God has or will I just to make excuses? So,just like I have to take care of natural health(work in progress) my spiritual health takes the same diligence! Thanks Anthony!

p.s I know you said you don’t often read books ,so, i know writing one ” ) may not be a option but something on that line! Kinda like what you did today but in a journal format with room for the reader to write out their thoughts and how they feel the Lord is provoking them to take action. You know and then end it with a prayer…Juuuuust and Idea

-kesha

This is a Lightbulbish moment! I didn’t connect my eating habits to my spiritual habits in this way (aside from fasting). I’m not a snacker, so I do have space for the big meals but I can be an extremist – hardly eating because I’m distracted with other “priorities” or eating too much because I didn’t make time at the right time, taking on more than I can handle. I can also have the same meal over and over until I get tired of it – in the spiritual sense I can also be resistant to change once I’ve become comfortable. That was not exactly your topic but that’s my feedback.

On topic, I’m now listening to Lecrae’s “God is Enough…(I don’t need these worldly things)” which ties in to my 11/1 devotion about our treasures. In a sense “snacking” is the building of treasures here on earth instead of in heaven. We’re settling for an imitation of what’s coming up.
You could go so deep and take so many angles with this analogy.

Anthony, what a profound thought…..makes me ask myself WHY do I snack so much. Sometimes, I snack to chase away a bad day or to lift my sagging spirits. But, of course, the relief is only temporary, both from food and the tidbits the world offers. So, when God tries to make me smile or make my bad day better, I can’t fully appreciate His grace because there’s stuff in the way….lesson learned.

Thanks for sharing.

This is a great thought. It makes me think of how Jesus got up often times very early to seek the face of the Father. When you experience the presence of God and fill up on Him first in your day you are far less likely to hunger for the things of this world. Thanks for sharing and God bless you.

Whew! What a post! I think the whole snacking on the world could be akin to the compromising that we as Christians sometimes do. We compromise and say that some things are okay in this day and age, when really they aren’t. We get so full of “snacking on the world” that we have closed our hearts to what God has to say on the matter. That still small voices gets smaller and smaller the more we snack.

Good thought provoking post, Anthony!

One of the most loved contemporary choruses is “Revelation Song.” It is a song that speaks of Heaven – a subject that we don’t sing about, talk about or think about much. Why? We are getting our spiritual bellies full here on earth. We don’t have a hunger for what God has prepared for us. I miss going to church and worshipping God because of what He has done and hearing a Pastor speak of the glories of Heaven. Heaven is a subject that brings us joy. It inspires us to take our minds off ourselves, reach up to God and out to others.

A snack is a temporary fix for the hunger in our soul but with God he can fill us up so much that theres still more left over. These snacks can’t satisfy us we can only get truly satified in God by spending time with him sitting at his feet. Set your affection and hunger on things above!

Anthony,

what a word. I got here from your sister’s site, so I’m glad she posted this. I have found lately that I’ve been snacking on TV. Generally I may watch an hour a day and that is either cooking or Christian programming. Well, for the last month, I’ve been scrolling through the channels and there is nothing but pure worldly mess on TV. Today as I was in the library, I wanted to pick up this fiction book (more snacking) and the Lord said “NO!” I wanted to get the book but I knew it was just snacking, so I left it there. I’m just grateful to the Lord for showing me things that steal my time away from Him.
Be blessed.

I’m glad that someone in your position can admit that at times as you say we can snack on the things in this world. I know personally that i’m kinda going through that now i want God to be able to use me so that my gifts He has put inside me can operate at it’s full potential. Right now i’m focusing on living a more consecrated life and asking Him to keep me reminded I’m in this world but not of it and focus on giving Him 100% and i’m going to pray the same for you and that He takes your gifts to higher levels as you chill on the snacking be blessed!

Thanks for this Anthony… your music, minsitry and this blog are truly insprational and life-influencing for me.
On the topic of Snacking, I have to admit that snacking is a regular habit of mine, both as it relates to food and the world (not proud to admit) and when I snack I make myself ‘comfortable’ – so comfortable that I skip meals often. And the thing is i’m always ‘hungry’ – and i’m very specific about what it is I crave, with both what I snack on and my meals.
The key here is Discipline; because we will have our meals and we will snack, but we always have the choice of what we eat for our meals and what we snack on. We, as God’s sons (Rom. 8:14), have to make deliberate choices as to what we will eat for our meals and what we will snack on. The Father has prepared a banquet of His gloriuos treasures before us and we can have have meals and we can have snacks all from His banquet. So what will we choose? Let’s choose Life, rather than death (Deut. 30:19-20). Let’s choose to always eat from the baquet table of the Lord, rather than the banquet table of the world.

I love discussion and you provoked my thoughts and now I’m watching how I eat. So I have one last comment. Snacking is really not the problem. I agree that it’s an issue of what and how much. My worldly snacking included certain music and relationship ideologies that were blocking me from the contentment God had for me. I drastically changed my media diet for a very long time and my new “snacks” helped me prepare for and enjoy the “meals”. Now and then I’ll dip into the cookie jar but it doesn’t have the hold it used to.

Every time I snack on the world I waste a lot of time which I wld use to read my Bible or pray.

That’s real Anthony. I found myself “snacking” to long. I’ve allowed myself to get full on the wrong stuff. When God was ready to pour into me I was already full. The good news is we serve a God of a second chance. When we realize that this world has nothing to ofter and God is more than enough we start to snack on the word of God.

Blessing,
Synthia

so right on Anthony!!!…snakin on the world causes me to not b prepared for what might happen next in my life….kind of like when u r in the middle of an earthquake…that’s not the time to try to get a plan together…so prepare in advance by fillin urself with God (strength, peace, anointin, joy..ect) snakin on God is what prepares u for those “earthquakes” in ur life…..

I know a lot of people have already commented on this and it’s kind of old but I must say this is really truth. It’s not just an analogy but it brings light and wisdom. Snacking on the things of this world can vary in range but watching t.v., engaging in meaningless conversations, etc. fills us up so much so that we don’t have a taste for God’s things. There are so many things set up to steal our attention, our mind and our devotion. We have to remember to think differently. This is a reminder that God wants so much more for us. I could say so much more… But thanks for bringing that out. I needed that. God bless.

Thanks! My response:…snacking here, snacking there…I guess everyone snacks…to an extent. The question is what are we going to do about that snacking. Are we going to totally get rid of it (if we’re honest..no) or are we going to reduce it? Stopping on the road to snack is not bad but just don’t do it a lot and lose track of your health. Watching TV, a soap opera, or just engaging in meaningless talk with a good friend is not sinful. Again, the question is what’s the content? How long are you doing it for?! Are these things coming before or after God? When we examine our conscience and are honest, then the results will be worth it. Remember, we are in this world but not of the world. The danger is to be careful and not act “holier-than-thou”. If we’re talking about snacking on “explicit” magazines then that’s not soul edifying so cut it off. TV ad the few things mentioned are not sinful but should be moderated. This is just my two cents

I think the answer to this for me is spending time with God, in His Word, at the beginning of each day, as a way to curb my worldly snacking on a daily basis. What I learn from Him in the mornings stays with me and, in the short term, as those lessons run through my head as the day goes on, I’m less likely to reach for something from the world because I’m already functioning at a full-level off of Christ.

Unfortunately, this is not how many of my mornings start. They should and I know this based on experience but it is still a struggle to get up and choose God as the first thing in my day versus sleeping until the last minute and rushing off to work. Kinda like how it’s harder to choose an apple over that Snickers bar

I’ve been full of “world” snacks for a while….. what I found is that like most “real” snacks…I was just getting EMPTY calories and I was never satisfied….

For the last few weeks I have given up a lot of those snacks and become obedient and am putting the Lord first and as a result the last few weeks have been some of the most amazing in my life…… and strangely enough…my cravings for those empty calorie snacks of the world…. are gone…. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me today….and tomorrow…

I really feel what you’re saying. I know with me I get so lost in the day with my kids, house work, stuff…snacking then when it’s time to get in the word or pray I’m about done. I open up the word and I’m tired now or go to pray and I’m falling asleep. I know with me I just pray and ask God to increase my hunger for Him. We need to prioritize Him #1 if we claim Him to be #1 in our life.

Thought provoking allegory! The saddest thing is that all the junk food is so readily available, that we’re too lazy to cook, sit down and eat the good stuff. It’s as if we need a quick fix to just get us through hour but won’t take the time to eat a meal that can keep us through the day. Sometimes I got to ask, I’m I really feeding my spirit with God’s nutritious Word, or stuffing it with momentary, thoughtless, feel-good junk food of the world? The answer is yes. I totally feel the same and that really needs to change

The main thing that hit me was when you said you “pass by” and just get something when you were talking about the green room and how you dont stay. sometimes when we dabble in worldy things it’s only for a while or we like to “get our feet wet” b/c we know the truth and know what we are really suppose to be doing. We like the fun stuff of the world but dont really want to stay or live like the world. Want to be saved but do worldly things as well.

Ok…so you got me with this one. I can relate. Just look at my facebook page which I recently updated by the way with all my “snacks.” At one time in my life I did not have any “snacks” but now I find myself trying to be distracted. I have come very close to walking away from the Lord which is utterly insane in light of all the things I have seen him do in my life and in others. Not only that, but I am aquainted with His Presence. Recently I have heard God whispering my name to get my attention and I have been taking heed more often. But coming into His presence is not always comfortable, but when I do I feel so much better.

God is so good Amen to this message i feel like you were watching how i live my life but these days i’m praying alot asking God to put my life in order and that’s what he did and still doing it hurts sometimes cause he takes things that you so use to …God bless you alot and i’m done snacking

Some snacks are healthy, but the ones we usually go for aren’t and those happen to taste the best. And, even though we know they aren’t good for us, we say, “I’ll just have one…one is ok”. Remember the Lay’s Potato Chip commercial, nobody can eat just one? It’s like saying, “God I hear you, but I just need to do this one thing and I’ll back to you, just one thing ok?” Then before you know it, that one thing turned in to many things. You go back and find a note from God saying, “I got tired of waiting, give me a call when you finish that One Thing you had to do!

This is my first time watching one of your video blogs and I must admit, at first I was thinking like what is this dude talking about? BUT your question about “snacking on the world” is actually very deep and very relevant. I consider myself souled-out for the Lord but I even find myself snacking so much on school and work that sometimes I experience that “full” feeling when it’s time for me to get in the Word in my own time, just me and God. Then I find myself praying and reading as apart of a routine instead of really focusing during my study/devotion/prayer time…. this really got me thinking. #Thanks! #GoodStuff

(now to share this vid on twitter!

Anthony….Thank You for coming to First Baptist Church here in Blue Springs today!! You are amazing singer and an amazing person. I truely hope you come back and share your love of Christ with us!!! I love you and God Bless you in your walk with Christ! Much Love, Bridget Wyant

WHEN I HEARD YOUR BLOG ABOUT SNACKING ON THE WORLD. I REMEMBERED A EXAMPLE I HEARED USED BY A MINISTER ONCE. SHE SAID IF YOU ARE HANGING OUT WITH A WOMAN OR MAN AND THEY ARE NOT THE ONE FOR YOU IT IS LIKE BEING A PITCHER FULL OF WATER. THERE IS NO ROOM FOR THE APPLE JUICE GOD HAS FOR YOU. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH WTATER BUT IT IS NOT APPLE JUICE.

WOW!! I never thought of it like that but you are right! That is exactly what I have been doing so, I accept your challenge to stop snacking on the world so much and leave room for God. I have to look at it like I do in the natural…. I like to eat healthy meals with healthy snacks from time to time but always knowing that my nutrition is coming from my meals and my snacks are only to tide me over until meal time.

That was good. Snacking, we do snacking on God with with we want to do. Being selfish.Never thought about that way.

I have just gotten hip to the “Anthony Evans” Movement but uh.. I can so relate to the whole snacking philosophy. I hardly ever eat a home cooked meal. My family is very busy all the time, and we hardly have time to eat with one another. With that said, I buy on the streets alot. Meaning alot of fast foods. So, I am constantly snacking, and safe to say, I am filled with alot of junk, period! And whenever I do get the chance to eat a hearty meal, I can never eat the whole meal because I dont have an appetite for it. At large, I guess for me, I would have to sacrifice the small fast foods for a larger, heartier, and more filling meal, which is the Word that God gives to me.

Have you ever notice how snacking puts weight on you? It is like the extra pounds sneak up on you and you dont realize it until you cant buckle your jeans or close your jacket. The funny thing is that in your mind it’s like “how can i be gaining wait when i am not really eating?” I have been there in both the spirtitual and the natural. Have not been able to identify where the extra weight and heaviness is coming from. So, just like you said Anthony, it doesnt matter if you are sitting down or just passing by…it all adds up.

PREACH IT AE!!!!! That is profound!

This is really interesting!!!!!! I think God is peaking profoundly through these blogs. I aiways have to make an extra effort to keep my mind stayed on Him. Its easy to get occupied with everything worldy. Thats our nature, but I have over the last 21 days been fasting from everything that I absolutely love to do, eat, etc to fill my spirit with pray and with the word… and Anthony, guess what. I’m seeing results!

Hi Anthony! Wow….this really struck home with me. Thanks so much for your obedience to hear God and then follow through and share with us what He’s been telling you. Thank you!