CHILDREN BIBLE STUDY OUTLINE BY PASTOR (MRS.) OLANIKE BANSO
TOPIC: CONTROLLING YOUR APPETITE
TEXT: Daniel 1:1-20
MEMORY VERSE: “But Daniel decided not to eat the king’s food or drink his wine because that would make him unclean” (Daniel 1:8 New Century Version).
 INTRODUCTION: God created food for man to eat (Genesis 1:29-30). He made plants and animals which are used as food for man. We eat for different reasons, but the major reasons are to stay alive, to be strong, to satisfy hunger, etc. We have to exercise self-control when it comes to eating and drinking.
Daniel and some other young children were captured in Israel and brought as slaves to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. The king made food and drinks available to them so that they could be well fed and trained to serve before him in his kingdom.
Many of the young people ate the king’s food and drank his drinks, probably consuming excess. But Daniel and his three friends restrained themselves and refused to be defiled or made unclean by the king’s food and drinks, which were not what God permitted the Israelites to eat. The story is in Daniel 1.
 PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE WHO DIDN’T CONTROL OR TAME THEIR APPETITE
1.Esau: Genesis 25:29-34. Esau despised and lost his birth right as the first born because of a plate of food. Just because he could not endure hunger, he lost his blessing and became a servant of his brother (Hebrews 12:16-17). He did not value his destiny because of food and he regretted his action.
2. The Israelites: Numbers 11:4-5, 20, 33-35. The Israelites were miraculously fed with manna from heaven, but they craved for meat and grumbled against God. God gave them meat and they ate until it came out of their nostrils. They were later destroyed for their desperate craving.
3. Adam and Eve: Genesis 2:16-17, 3:1-19. They ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden against the instruction of God. They lost fellowship with God and lost the beautiful garden.
  PEOPLE IN THE BIBLE WHO CONTROLLED THEIR APPETITE
1.Jesus: After Jesus had fasted for forty days, He became very hungry, but refused to turn stone to bread as the devil had told him (Matthew 4:1-4).
2. The widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-16): During a serious famine, this woman had small food left for her and her son to eat, but when Prophet Elijah asked her to give him out of the food first, she obeyed. God provided for her and her son throughout the famine.
3. The Rechabites (Jeremiah 35:1-11): The Rechabites were instructed by their father never to drink any strong drink. His descendants continued to obey his instructions long after he had died even when Prophet Jeremiah asked them to drink the forbidden wine just to test them.
 DANGERS OF UNCONTROLLED APPETITE
“A person without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls” (Proverbs 25:28 NLT).
1.You can lose the Kingdom of God (Romans 14:17). It can make one’s belly one’s God.
2. Love of food can enslave one e.g. The Israelites in Egypt (Numbers 11:5). They complained against God that they had good food in Egypt, the house of bondage.
3. Untamed appetite can make one a glutton, and gluttony can make one poor (Proverbs 23:21).
4. Untamed appetite can make one disobey God like Adam and Eve (Genesis 3: l-7).
5. The devil can attack one through food. For instance, someone can be poisoned or a spiritual problem can be introduced into his life. People have had negative experiences with food, which have landed some people into afflictions of sicknesses and even death.
 HOW TO TAME OR CONTROL YOUR APPETITE
1. Desire spiritual food which is the word of God (1 Peter 2:2; Matthew 4:4).
2. Avoid craving or desperate desire for food and drinks (Proverbs 23:2).
3. Pray over food before eating (Matthew 14:19).
4. Pray to God for your daily bread or food (Luke 11:3).
5. Don’t be anxious about what to eat or drink (Matthew 6:33).
6. Learn to endure hunger (Philippians 4:12).
7. Don’t accept food from strangers; obey your parents on what and where to eat (Ephesians 6:1).
8. Be contented with what you have or what your parents give you (Philippians 4:11) .
9. Learn to fast. Discipline yourself to fast from time to time (Matthew 4:2, 6:17).
 CONCLUSION: Having learnt ways to control or tame your appetite, you should act upon the Word. Food is not everything. “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17 NKJV). STAY BLESSED.
Pastor (Mrs) Olanike Banso is a servant of God in Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria. She has a ministry to children.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
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