Wholly Holy: Total Health From the Inside Out--Body, Mind and Spirit

By Angela Asbill

With thousands of health and diet books hitting the shelves each year, why are people--especially believers--still overweight, unhealthy and sick? It’s rather simple, really: we keep treating symptoms and never deal with the root of the problem. The only way to obtain true victory over any destructive habit is to first deal with the real issue, the heart.



Wholly Holy cuts to the heart of the matter, addressing the real issues behind the current health epidemic running rampant among God’s people. In addition to providing information about nutrition and exercise, certified personal trainer Angela Asbill goes beyond the physical aspects of health, reaching deeper into the spirit man to bring freedom from the bondage of food addiction and unhealthy living.



Get off the couch, grab your Bible, and get ready to experience a total life transformation from the inside out. This handbook of healthy living, with instructions taken straight from the Word of God, will equip you to enjoy a healthy, Wholly Holy life.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Creation House
• Release date: Jul 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781616388850

Book preview

WHOLLY

HOLY

ANGELA ASBILL

WHOLLY HOLY by Angela Asbill

Published by Creation House

A Charisma Media Company

600 Rinehart Road

Lake Mary, Florida 32746

www.charismamedia.com

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., publishers. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked CJB are taken from the Complete Jewish Bible, copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. www.messianicjewish.net/jntp. Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources Int’l. www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois, 60188. All rights reserved.

Design Director: Bill Johnson

Cover design by Nathan Morgan

Cover Shot by Shelly Wright Photography

Inside Fitness Photos by Rachelle Mullins

Copyright © 2012 by Angela Asbill

All rights reserved

Visit the author’s website: www.angelaasbill.com

Whole Grain Stamps™ and What Is Whole Grains courtesy Oldways and the Whole Grain Council, www.wholegrainscouncil.org.

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data: 2011944544

International Standard Book Number: 978-1-61638-884-3

E-book International Standard Book Number: 978-1-61638-885-0

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication.

This book is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice and treatment from your personal physician. Readers are advised to consult their own doctors or other qualified health professionals regarding the treatment of their medical problems. Neither the publisher nor the author takes any responsibility for any possible consequences from following the information in this book.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

WHOLLY HOLY WOULD never have been possible without the help and support of many incredible people. First of all, I must thank my husband, Roman, who not only believes in me but also sees things upside down. Dane and Sally Noyce, Larry and Leigh Ann Latham, as well as Jeff and Saundra Edmund: thank you for all of the wisdom and help you gave throughout this project. Last but most certainly not least, I want to thank my clients; you challenge me as much as I challenge you! Your love and support means more than any of you will ever know.

ISRAEL SUPPORT

ROMAN AND ANGELA Asbill hold the support of Israel as a number-one priority.

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

—GENESIS 12:2

Seventy-five percent or more of the author’s profits will go to supporting the Land of Israel and the Jewish people.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

1

What Is Wholly Holy?

2

Free Indeed

3

Living Water

4

Walk by Faith

5

The Workout

6

Bread of Life

7

What Is Food? Part One

8

What Is Food? Part Two

9

Creating a Fire

10

More Than Conquerors

11

Transforming Your Cookbook

12

Filling the Gap

13

Sabbath Rest

Ending Thoughts

Notes

About the Author

Contact the Author

INTRODUCTION

SO, WHO IS the new health kid on the block, and why in the world is she writing a book? Have you ever felt you had something worthwhile to share but no way to give it voice? This is my attempt to give voice to what I know. So let’s get to know each other a little better. This is my personal journey to better health for me and my family.

My journey begins at Thanksgiving 1994. I was at my grandparents’ house for the traditional overeating and being thankful for a bigger belt loop. My grandfather gave me a hug and squeezed the flesh on my sides (affectionately known as love handles) and said, My, aren’t you getting pleasantly plump? That night I went to bed and had a good cry, the kind that clogs your nose and snots up your pillow.

I spent the next six years trying every plan out there to lose weight. I did the grapefruit diet, cabbage diet, Atkins diet, and snow cone diet (don’t ask!), but I was never satisfied. After a full day of cabbage soup, I was starving. So I would raid the peanut butter jar or have a large scoop of cookie dough. My ten-year-old sister (also a gymnast who could have won a Little Miss Buns of Steel contest) made cookies all the time. I could resist the cookies, but nothing could stand between me and the cookie dough. Food seemed like an enemy that was out to make my derrière bigger and my waist rounder.

Looking at me, you wouldn’t have labeled me as fat. I was 5’5 tall and about 140 pounds—what you might call fat-skinny." No muscle; all fat. I was a girlie girl, not an athlete. Never set foot in a gym.

So, what changed?

Fast forward to November 2000. I was working for an apartment complex in Plano, Texas. Enter Prince Charming—actually, Prince Roman. I met my future husband, and by the second date we were engaged. With a wedding being planned for June, I realized I had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Abs of Flab and Tons of Buns are easy to hide under a big T-shirt and jeans, but not so easy to hide on a honeymoon in Mexico. So I grabbed a DVD and hit the treadmill at the apartment gym. I began with thirty minutes of walking three days a week and gradually moved to one hour five days a week. It was easier if I could use the movie as a distraction.

Within four months, I had dropped twenty-five pounds. What was my diet secret, you ask? Basically, I ate the office food, which consisted of coffee, Otis Spunkmeyer cookies, and extremely buttery pop-corn. Very nutritious! At the time, I still had no concept that food was a friend, used to nourish my body and help establish a healthy metabolism.

Six months after Roman and I got married, we found out we were expecting our first child, Josiah Samuel. I continued to walk, but my diet stayed poor—and I mean poor. We had no money, so I ate mostly Ramen noodles and Tuna Helper (hold the tuna). I only gained twenty pounds during the pregnancy, so it easily came back off.

In the exercise/weight category, I was doing fairly well, but something happened to tweak my diet and whole outlook on health. Josiah suffered a recurring cough the first two years of his life. It was finally diagnosed as a severe allergy/asthma condition. When Josiah was two and a half, we had our second son, Judah David. At three months old, he too began to have respiratory problems. Both of our boys were now on multiple breathing treatments, oral steroids, and allergy medicines daily. I began to think, There must be a better way!

Enter my study on health. I began to read, read, and read some more, learning everything I could on health and wellness. (I listed some of my favorite books and authors at the end of the book for you to enjoy and glean from as well.) In the following chapters, I will take you down the path I discovered to achieve better health for myself and my family. Many authors and resources will be referenced. This will be a process of gradual change. Most books about health only talk about the physical. This book will connect the physical and the spiritual. Oftentimes I can look at a person’s physical health and get a good picture of what is happening inside of his or her spirit man. In the next chapter, I will explain that statement in depth, but for now here is the short of it: The majority of our nation’s health problems are triggered by lifestyle choice. In other words, the problems could have been avoided.

An obvious example would be a smoker who develops lung cancer. The smoker didn’t plan or hope for cancer to invade his or her body, but the choice to daily put nicotine in his/her lungs created cause and effect. If you’re a non-smoker, you may have snubbed your nose as you passed the smoking section and thought, Don’t they know those cigarettes will kill them? I think every smoker out there knows the risks, yet due to an addiction, they feel powerless to stop the process. Most addictions come in because we need something fixed on the inside, but instead of going to the Healer to find the cure, we find a crutch (addiction) to aid us through life.

I am not picking on smokers. We will look at addictive habits and their roots as we go along. This is not a quick-fix book. You will have to choose to not only examine your physical lifestyle, but your spiritual lifestyle as well. We often ignore our actions in the physical world, thinking they do not affect our walk with the Lord, but they do! He gave us a physical body to be stewards of here on earth. He came in a physical body to show us how to live out the instructions He gave us in this life.

My prayer is that you will allow the Spirit of the Lord to convict and lead you as you change your ways to line up with His ways. My first point of reference will be the Word of God, His instructions on how to care for your physical body, which He refers to as His temple.

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

—1 CORINTHIANS 3:16–17, NIV

I give you fair warning that this book will hit some hard topics. I am both convinced and convicted that these are issues the Lord would have us all deal with. You will not only learn what changes need to be made to better your health, but you also may need to be ready to deal with the root of what caused your poor health to begin with. Remember that the Lord is faithful and His word is true!

By the way, as our third son, Jacob Ephraim, came into the picture in 2007, my older two were completely off all medicine, and Jacob never suffered the same illnesses! Their asthma and allergies both came under control by changing our ways to His ways.

In 2008, I studied to gain my NSCA certification in personal training and developed Take Initiative Wellness Programs. I have taught these classes for women, for pastors and church leaders, and for company wellness programs.

Note: We are a Judeo-Christian family, so we often use Jesus’ Hebrew name, Yeshua, in our home. Yeshua means The Lord is salvation.h You will see this Hebrew name for Jesus used on occasion throughout the book.

Chapter 1

WHAT IS WHOLLY HOLY?

But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in your entire way of life.

—1 PETER 1:15, CJB

AS BELIEVERS, WE need to be the healthiest people around and an example to the world of how to live life abundantly by His Word. Unfortunately, most Christians suffer the same addictions to food as their non-believing friends. Obesity and the diseases related to it run rampant in the church. It’s time we look at what the Scripture asks of us and then repent and turn to the lifestyle He created. Walking out biblical principles is what changed my family from constant sickness to abundant health.

Over the years, the Lord has shown me over and over how the physical and the spiritual realms connect. Throughout this book, you will see many examples of the truth of this statement. This book may differ from other diet books, in that I will not only talk about the practical steps you need to take to achieve better health, but also look into the