I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
– Psalm 139:14
How would it transform your life if you were to believe God…I didn’t say “Believe IN God.” I really did mean: “How would it transform your life if you were to believe God?” What if you were to believe what he says about you in His Word? What if you were to believe that you are
fearfully and wonderfully
made?
Take a moment right now to imagine that.
Close your eyes and stop reading for a moment. And imagine…
I AM fearfully and wonderfully made. It is TRUE.
Are your eyes open again? š That’s ok. Now close them again and imagine knowing to the depths of your heart …
…I AM aĀ demonstration of God’s creative and amazing power and love.
Can you rest in these thoughts for a moment? Can you allow the truth–what HE says is true–saturate your body, soul, and mind? Sit for a moment in this truth.
How would believing God that you are fearfully and wonderfully made affect other thoughts you have? How would it affect your actions? How would it affect the way you relate to your own body? To the food you eat? To the “failures” in your life?
What if what God says…really is…absolutely…
TRUE?
I believe that a lot of the difficulty we have with our eating, our obsessing about our weight, and other similar struggles is due in large part to what we believe about ourselves. If we really believed what God says about us, thoughts like these would evaporate:
– I am a failure and never will beat this.
– I will always be overweight and miserable.
– I deserve to be miserable.
– I am too undisciplined to ever lose weight.
– Even if I do manage to lose all the weight, I will never keep it all off
– etc…add your own.
If we believed what God says is true about us in His Word, this is what we might think, instead:
– I struggle with saying no to myself about eating when I am not hungry, but God says I am more than a conqueror. I know if HE says it, I can do it.
– I have everything I need for life and godliness, so somewhere here I must be able to beat my tendency to overeat.
– God promises that he has given me a spirit of love, power and self-discipline.
– God says that he has called things that are not as though they are.
– What is impossible with man is possible with God.
– I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
– etc…add your own.
What is the difference between these two lists? The focus of the first is ME and my performance.
The focus of the second is GOD and HIS “performance.”
When we focus on The Lord…HIS provision, HIS power, HIS character, HIS promises, HIS performance, HIS declaration of what is true, then we know that we are in good hands. It may seem like we have to do this all on our own and that we are the failure or success, but the honest truth is GOD wants to do it in me.
In fact he says His grace is sufficient and that we can boast all the more gladly in our weaknesses, because when we are weak his power–HIS strength–rests all the more on us. Perhaps the reason we struggle so much with our eating is so that we can learn that we are NOT enough, but HE is.
How can I go from the mindset where it is about me and what *I* can do and turn it around, believe what God says…that this is about HIM and what HE can do in and through me?
Renewing my mind. Barb Raveling has taught us a lot about that through her study (see the “Weight Loss Bible Study” page link in the menu bar above the blog posts). It really is as simple as that. LikeĀ Romans 12:2 says:
Be not conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Journaling activity:
- Write down what you believe and ask God to show you what is TRUE and what is LIE.
- Whatever is a LIE, scratch out–put a line through it. Scrawl the word, “LIE” over it!
- Then write next to each the TRUTH that you KNOW is from the LORD.
- Finish the activity by asking God to help you reject lies–even familiar ones–and to replace with HIS truth–even if the truth is, at times, uncomfortable.
- Practice saying the truth daily! Again, I suggest using thisĀ Who I Am in ChristĀ file. This stuff is all in God’s Word and is an excellent way to bathe your mind (“brain wash”) with truth.
How will believing God and what He says about you–that you are fearfully and wonderfully made (and all the other great truths he says about you in his word)–affect you relative to eating, food, and body image?
Thank you once again for an excellent Bible study. You are so right to ask if we believe God when He says we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Our response to that question will define our trust in Hiim My first reaction is to say, “OH, REALLY!” But as I meditated and prayed through today’s study, I realize that God’s view of us is very different than our view of ourselves. We see mostly the negative and He focuses on the positive. He sees possibility but we see failure. He sees victory but we see hard work. He sees beauty but we see fat and ugly. I think it is time to see through God’s eyes! I will believe that I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE. His awesome love for me (for us) sees the good, the effort, the potential, the beauty and the victory. PTL. I do believe that His good is working in me. Thanks again for this study! I am praying for all of us here.
Lisa…your words were … perfect. Thank you.
Praise God for another day to live for him…I awaken with a spirit of prayer and gratitude in the LORD. His word for me today was; ” I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me” ” Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit sayeth the LORD”
Thank you Heidi for a great study for today. I will be focusing upward to Jesus and not on my self today…My thought, and words and actions do matter to God and it will affect my spiritual atmosphere. Today I will be focusing on My heavenly Fathers Strength in me to do His will with my eating and how I think of my self in His EYE’S.
I have a praise report! I have let go of being on Spark People all the Time…It took God 2 weeks of working with me to let go and trust him…Take a leap of faith…The reward is FREEDOM in CHRIST! š I Can Truly trust in His strength and not in mans strength and the worlds way of doing things,counting calories, weighing every bite I put in my mouth or weighing daily on the scale…I CAN TRULY TRUST MY FATHER GOD. ” I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST JESUS WHO STRENGTHENS ME” AMEN.
I’m praying for us all to abound more and more in God’s grace….Praying for his grace on us all today and always. ” My grace is sufficient for thee and my strength is made perfect in thy weakness” Amen. God blessings to you all. I am so thankful and blessed to be here with you all. š
Praise The Lord for your freedom! I have also been experiencing freedom from the diet mentality and it is delicious :). And the peace that comes with it is wonderful. That is my first “truth” that I read every day. That trusting in The Lord in 0-5 eating is the way to freedom and peace. He is certainly doing a new thing here!
AMEN AND AMEN!!!
Thank you CMK…MY HUSBAND says I’m way more relaxed about this whole new way of eating and trusting God for true hunger and fullness. =) God bless you.
Wow, Jamie. If you are anything like I was when I was trying to break free from measuring, graphing, charting, counting…this is a HUGE step of faith…and a tremendous victory. I celebrate with you!
Thank you Heidi. š God bless you.
Freedom and Peace!!!! How wonderful CMK. I am starting to sense this as well. PTL!
WOOT!!!
I love this. I’ve found that when I have a hard time trusting Him, it’s because I’ve forgotten who He is. It all comes down to really truly believing that He is good.
Yes, Tiffany. Isn’t that the truth! Thanks for stopping by and for commenting. š
As I did the journal activity today, I was shown what is possibly my whole problem with being able to stick to this hunger/fullness way of eating for any length of time. The lie….. I am a binge eater and will never stop being a binge eater. The Truth- I am a child of God and can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I have got to go print out that scripture and paste it somewhere in my kitchen so I can be reminded of this truth every day! The lie has GOT to go!
WOW. WOW WOW WOW!!!! Linda…this is an amazing break-through! You know what I would do if I were you? I would literally every day first thing and maybe at the time of day when you have typically struggled with the binge say out loud the truth…a list of them:
I am a child of God.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
I am not a victim of the binge.
I am a victor OVER the temptation to binge through Christ.
I am more than a conqueror in Christ.
This may not be possible with man, but it IS possible with God!
and so on…if you read that out loud each day 2 or 3 times a day I wonder what would come of the binge? š
HUGS!
Heidi, I am writing this prayer down on a post-it. I love it. Thank you!
Thanks, Heidi! This is a GREAT idea!
Hi everyone, so today I found myself thinking on the list of lies and one was for me today that I think I can have the item at work while working and it is not going to effect my losing weight. I know it does not make sense but it seems my mind goes into denial and says it is ok to eat when I am not hungry. I have been working in this mindset for awhile now. I felt insecure today over an issue work related and bored at one point. I prayed and asked God to fill the insecurity with something from his word. I know of so much of His word and yet in those moments I talk myself into believing that I am going to lose the weight while eating the candy or whatever when I get home in the evenings. I usually do well at work food wise. Take some canned pineapple, yes atkins bars, yogurt, but then feel I have not had a meal and rationalize that I need a good meal when I get home only to feel tired and not want to fix meals. These are my truths…I rationalize, I am in denial at times, I have been insecure, I have been tired, I have avoided at times doing the “work”. Now the new beginning. I need a suggestion Of something small I can do as there are so many resources to go over. That is small tomarrow while I am at work 1 verse maybe at my desk to keep my mind stayed on the project at hand the life change and honor I want to give GOd in changing.
Wow. More great insights. Jen, I want to be honest…are you eating the canned pineapple, Atkins bars and yogurt because you *enjoy* them? For me, those exact foods were the diet foods of yesteryear. I occasionally enjoy any one of those, but all of those foods in any one week, let alone a day, mean I am on a diet and back to thinking of some foods as “good” and others as “bad.” Is it possible that is part of what is going on here? Maybe you need to select a small portion of food that you really enjoy to have at work? Maybe that will help you not have this dichotomy set up of “dieting at work” vs “go for it at home” or something. Maybe I missed what you were saying. I think if you aren’t enjoying those foods at work, then it isn’t really doing “well” at work food wise…but setting yourself up for a recoil or something in the evenings. All things are permissible. No, not all things are beneficial, but I wonder if those foods in succession during the day are *not* beneficial for you because of the mentality that goes with it? So, my suggestion for a verse would be 1 Corinthians 6:12 which says: āAll things are lawful for meāābut not everything is beneficial. āAll things are lawful for meāābut I will not be controlled by anything. … For me, that means the dieting mentality, too. I really recommend focusing first thing in babysteps on Barb’s bible study. Just one tiny bit at a time. I think it will rock you in the best possible way! I really hope something here is helpful, but I fear I have missed it! š
Heidi, that’s so true! I think we should only eat what we truly enjoy! Otherwise we will eat all of the things we *think* we should enjoy and THEN the item(s) we DO enjoy. So it’s best to cut right to the chase!
Thank you so much for this word! Is this HEAL study recommend for people with bulimic behaviour too? What does the book says about the scale and how often you should weigh your self! So amazed by God’s love and grace and that We are wonderfully and fearfully made! Wish you all a blessed day!!!
I identify with all of the comments in some way. I see a part of myself in all of them even down to giving up Spark People! I especially identified with Linda’s comment regarding the lie that I am a binge eater and will never stop being a binge eater. I quickly make that statement into my identity instead of recognizing it as a defeating behavior. Thanks Heidi for the truths to say out loud to remind myself of my true identitiy.
My problem right now is that I am so stressed out that I can’t focus on my food and what and how much I am eating. I am the director of vacation bible school this year and it is overwhelming me. My meeting last night left me drained and exhausted. I cam home and ate a homemade drumstick my husband picked up at our favorite ice cream place. I allow myself ice cream once a week and that was the time we picked. Was at 0? I have no idea! i just ate it and enjoyed every bite! I am addressing all of this in my daily prayer journal and prayer time. I am in a group learning to do contemplative prayer and listening to God and it is not an easy thing to set my time for 10 min. and try to listen to and be with God, but I am learning. I truly think for me it is more an issue of reining in the fact that I am and always have been an overly emotional person which can lead to anger and stress but also can lead me to deeply care about others. God is working with me in this area and revealing some hard things to me. I guess for me right now the food is not the main issue, but coming to terms with my weaknesses and allowing God to guide me and actually listening to his will for my life- that is what is most important for me right now.
Thank you Heidi, no I don’t think you missed it you have given so much of your time and attention I appreciate it. I have been told no don’t have the stuff in the house and then my mind says I can have it then I don’t wait for hunger….step 1 andyes your insight has helped I am thinking dieting foods….I watch others in the office go out and get what they want a burger ect. also there is a lot going on the antibiotic gave me the feeling when I took it last night like I got punched in the stomach a reaction but this morning another and then I ate yogurt had other foods and it is bearable this afternoon. Other things going on too. My mind want to stop thinking and I hear you sue and others. to be free to not have to plan not have to do anything but eat would be great there definitely is other things driving the emotion we all know. I will go back again Heidi and look at the study
Even though this is an older post it is what I needed to hear today! Thank you for Gods words of truth message through this post! Well said.