This lesson provided an outstanding reiteration of the fact that the Lord alone can provide that which is satisfying. We have been duped by the lure of food and overeating. Overeating has gotten us to a place of difficulty and, often, despair. Mike Cleveland uses the story of the prodigal son to illustrate this.
If we are children of God then whenever we seek satisfaction in anything other than God Himself, He sovereignly brings us into difficulty for the purpose of bringing us to our senses. (TLT, p. 108)
This lesson illustrates the following principles:
1.) Sin’s promises are empty 2.) Pursuing sin’s allurements leads to difficulty in your life 3.) In order to escape we must come to our senses and begin thinking correctly about ourselves and our situation
When asked “Please record your own experience with these principles. How have you experienced these truths in your own life?” My “short” 🙂 answer was:
1.) Sin’s promises are empty – Food did (and does) not make me happier (except temporarily…and it is always offset by the guilt afterwards). Giving up trying to restrain myself and doing what I pleased didn’t bring the relief that it promised. It brought excrutiating emptiness and fear.
2.) Pursuing sin’s allurements leads to difficulty in your life – I gained so much weight that I feared I would die suddenly. Because of oveating, I had willingly walked into the possibility of a premature death. I no longer did the things I loved in life–ride my horses, play tennis, travel with my family, play in the snow with them–all because I couldn’t enjoy these things physically any more. I was too heavy. All because of an ungodly love for and overindulgence in food. My blood pressure had sky-rocketed. While some of that was due to hereditary factors, it was excessively high due, in part, to my physical condition. I feared a stroke or a heart attack. Understandably so. The shame was overwhelming as well. I wanted to isolate. 3.) In order to escape we must come to our senses and begin thinking correctly about ourselves and our situation – I will never forget laying in bed one night with my heart racing in my chest for the umpteenth night in a row. (This caused me fear, too.) I realized that I was destroying my family just as an unfaithful man does the same for the thrill of his affair. If I died, my family would need to continue without a mother. Who would homeschool my children? What about the care of all the animals who had become so precious to my family? Who would stand in as Mom? My husband works so hard already. Surely I couldn’t expect him to do that–and why? All because I loved food so much that I wouldn’t deny myself excessive quantities of it? I saw just how ridiculous and stupid this was…not to mention sinful. This was the beginning of my return to the Lord and the surrendering of my eating to Him.
The Lord offers so many blessings. It was impossible for me to truly enjoy them when I rejected His will in the way I would greedily indulge in whatever I wanted to eat all the time. I had erected a wall between the Lord and me. The true feast is found in Him.
While we were all excited about food, which led to our overeating, we were failing to see where the real feast for the soul is. The feast is with the Father. (TLT, p. 109)
Thin Within doesn’t teach this. I believe it is out of respect for those of us who have come out of a background of diet and exercise obsession. I know that I needed the freedom *not* to exercise in order to experience freedom in Christ.
The Lord’s Table teaches that…well, “exercise is a must.”
To lose weight via the principles of hunger and satisfaction, I don’t believe it is generally. Here is what I found. This is important!!! I hope it encourages you.
If we hearken to our God-given signals of hunger and satisfaction, then on the days when our bodies need more fuel, they will be hungry more frequently. I have found in the past when I was more active, that I often was hungry more frequently during that day. When I was sick or less active, I was not nearly so hungry through the day. It does require honesty.
I live a pretty active life with the horses and all that caring for them and the place here entails. I want to go on record as saying vehemently that for those who have physical difficulties of some kind or a current aversion to exercise, to think that they will never be God’s ideal weight without exercise is to burden them with a yoke of slavery.
On the other hand, I do believe that exercise is very good for us and this temple that God has entrusted to us. I know that the author of The Lord’s Table is concerned that we not feed laziness. Many of us (including me) can make excuses til the cows come home for why we can or should be exempt from routine exercise. It is possible that someone who isn’t open to exercise may need to evaluate this prayerfully. Maybe God would have you begin to consider doing a little something. There is *spiritual* value in this IF GOD IS LEADING YOU TO DO IT.
Each person must take this to the Lord prayerfully.
So here are my personal responses to this assertion about “Exercise is a Must.” I *am* concerned that if I add an exercise routine to my daily life some things will happen:
1.) I will begin to obsess again.
2.) I will like the physical changes so much that I will freak if I can’t exercise each day (I guess this is related to #1 above)
3.) Get overly busy
4.) It will be one more thing that my family has to adjust their lives around for me.
Ok, in the spirit of “truth journaling,” let me pick this apart a bit.
1.) I will begin to obsess again. I may begin to obsess, true. However, maybe it is time to leave the “freedom phase” as we say in Thin Within and move on to the “discernment phase.” It works with food, so maybe with exercise, too. I am pretty active, true, but could walking 20-30 minutes a day really be so bad? I think if I keep my focus and ambitions pretty moderate (no more marathons!), I don’t need to be so concerned about obsession. Maybe God has grown me up in this as he has with the dieting stuff of my past. Maybe it is time. Maybe God has done a work in me in this.
2.) I will like the physical changes so much that I will freak if I can’t exercise each day This, too, might be true. But if I do only a moderate exercise program, perhaps the changes externally won’t be that big of a deal. I would get the benefits to my cardiovascular system but not end up looking “ripped.” No…no strength training this time. LOL! So, again, maybe it is time to *grow up*.
3.) Get overly busy. Right now, my life seems to be in a manageable place. Now is, perhaps, an acceptable time to add something modest into my schedule. I like to make up excuses about why I can’t add this or that. Truth is, I have time. I think I *am* lazy, though. I must really make this more a matter of prayer (but not to avoid acting!). There are a lot of things I avoid and I avoid them by trying to appear (or be) busy about *something*. It is time to “come clean” and to bring integrity into this aspect of my life.
4.) It will be one more thing that my family has to adjust their lives around for me. This is definitely a lie. My kids and I all need to do something to get in shape. They may mutiny if I have them walk with me when it is raining…but maybe we can just get some nice big umbrellas and make it workable. My kids need the little bit of activity, too.
So, this all said, I will bring this honestly to God and see what he says about this for me now.
However, I feel it is important for people just beginning Thin Within, certainly, to know that I do NOT agree that “exercise is a must.”
Additionally, I know some people are worried when they work out rigorously that they need to have a big meal an hour before hand, hunger or not. I do not agree. I have trained for marathons and been very involved in body building (yes, you read right! LOL!). I learned even then that this wasn’t the case.
In recent years when I have exercised (I have done a lot with Dance Praise or a pretty rigorous step workout), I typically am just fine through my workout. I try to plan it so that it comes soon after my breakfast. Then, if I DO get hungry during my workout, I can take a quick break and have some almonds and water. It does the trick.
What I eat for breakfast is also important. I make sure that it is a whole-body pleaser (according to the suggestions taught in Thin Within). This sustains me well.
Anyhow, I will be committing this entire issue to God in prayer again.
For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
Clinging to Jesus for all I am worth, I will experience victory over sinful eating habits, a greedy heart that wants more, and seeking joy in any counterfeit.
John 15:4-11 is the focus passage for this lesson.
At the heart of this lesson is:
Truly stopping habits of overeating requires ongoing intimacy with God. Stated another way, enjoying true intimacy with Jesus Christ breaks the attraction that sin offers. Enjoying Jesus Christ Himself must replace the habit of overeating. (TLT, p. 101)
Since I began the “60-60 Experiment” in Soul Revolution by John Burke I have found this to be true more than ever. In fact being reminded to reconnect with God every 60 minutes isn’t frequent enough for me. My mind wanders so easily. For two days I set my watch to beep every 30 minutes. That wasn’t enough either (oh, how I wander!). Today, it is set for every 20 minutes.
Basically, this reminder serves to remind me to reconnect, to re-commit and ABIDE in Christ as this passage in John 15 teaches. It is causing me to get to the heart of where I have been wanting so desperately to be and why I chose to focus on this material in The Lord’s Table. I know that satisfaction and joy are only found in abiding in Christ, but practically speaking, I had been left with how to truly do that in an ongoing way. I have daily quiet times, pray when I have a mind to (there is the tricky thing…my mind wanders so easily…guess I said that already!), memorize scripture (though not as earnestly as in the past), listen to Christian music and so on…and yet, believe it or not, this hasn’t been enough. This has missed it. You know why? Because when push comes to shove, these things are “stuff.” Even an unregenerate person can do them…but to welcome a continual, regular reminder of God’s presence in my life and to choose to reorient myself no matter what I am doing and praise or thank him, or ask Him for what HE wants in THIS moment…well, that isn’t something I would have any interest in doing apart from the Lord being at work in my life.
So, for me…this is the heart of what it means to feast on Christ.
One participant quoted in TLT workbook says: If we remain in Jesus, our souls are nourished, we are fed, we grow and have life.” (TLT, p. 101)
Abide in the love of Jesus and your joy will be complete. And if your joy in Jesus is complete, you will not have to look for it anywhere else. Your slavery to sin is broken when your love and joy are complete. (TLT, p. 101)
With the reminder to reconnect with the Lord in regular time increments throughout the day, I can’t “follow at a distance” as Peter did in Luke 22:54-62. Following at a distance was the precursor to denying Christ. I won’t have that.
As crazy as it may be for now…I will keep my timer beeping constantly at me throughout the day. I trust that the Lord will use this to build in me a habit of *keeping* connected with Him. That is my hope and prayer and then maybe I can graduate to only needing an hourly reminder. I hope so.
I see this as a powerful tool in helping me to live for the Lord. Not just in my eating, but in every way. In my speaking, in my driving, in my thinking, in my living…period. This is teaching me practically what it means to abide in Christ.
Jesus commanded me to abide in Him. When I do, HIS joy will be in me and my joy will be made full. Eating freshly baked brownies or peppermint ice cream can’t compare to that. It sounds ridiculous to even imagine that I ever could look to food for joy!
This lesson reviews some vital aspects of The Lord’s Table program. I won’t rehash the way the lesson is written here, but will share the three fundamental principles that TLT says are needed to experience freedom from overeating. If you have read my entries on TLT, this will be clear already. Reviewing serves to clarify, however. I wholeheartedly agree with these principles:
1.) Delight your Soul.
So often I have turned to food to be my delight. I am praying and actively seeking the Lord as my soul’s greatest delight. Honestly, participating in the Soul Revolution’s 60-60 experiment is dovetailing beautifully with this. I have set the timer on my watch for every 30 minutes. When it goes off, I reconnect with God, affirm His Lordship, stop sinning (if I am mid-stride into something that might dishonor him), pray for His will in the moment and in the moments to come…Practically, it helps me to really delight in the Lord. Feasting on the Word daily, memorizing it so that it comes to mind readily, journaling what He is teaching me…these are all ways that I can delight my soul in Him so that I am not so tempted to fixate on counterfeits (like food).
2.) Discipline Your Body
The hard truth is, I have to say NO to some things that my flesh wants. If I want a beautiful chair and can rationalize that it would be a great “quiet time chair” for me to snuggle up with my bible in the early mornings, I can’t just pull my truck up to the store and walk out with it. I have to say no to my flesh. If I am in a hurry and signal light after signal light has turned red, I can’t just go speeding on through. I have to say no to my flesh. Likewise, when my mind turns to food or I start to grab for something when I am not hungry, I have to say no to my flesh. Simply, there is no way to break free without saying no! This is a hard truth. I can honestly say, though, that the more I practice denying my flesh, the easier it gets. Each moment offers opportunity to make a choice. I can say NO to my flesh in this moment…capture it for the Lord and His will and His ways. When I do that, this one moment of denying myself is followed by dozens of moments rejoicing that He enabled me to be obedient and disciplined!
3.) Develop Daily Accountability
This is vital, I believe. I wrote about how to select an accountability partner just about a year ago. No matter where you are on this journey, I think this is vital. Two *are* stronger than one. There is just no way around it. Accountability is a biblical principle for all aspects of our lives. With an accountability partner, not only do we report in and receive loving encouragement, rebuke or praise, but we also are *prayed* for. We need this! If you want to break free from overeating or any habitual sin, you will want DAILY accountability!
A person could probably go through the appearances of having these three things in place in their life, but if the heart change is missing, it will all be for nothing.
Mike Cleveland says: The first step to victory is to seek the Lord for a heart change. We need to pray, “Lord, please remove my love for food, and replace it with a love for You. Help me to use food for it’s designed purpose, as that which sustains and nourishes the body. Please give me a new heart, according to Your promise in Ezekiel 36:26.” (TLT, p. 98)
This lesson touches on one of the few things that I feel has TRANSFORMED (and continues to transform) my journey down this road. That of contentment or lack thereof.
The discontented heart is always craving; it is never satisfied. (TLT, p. 95)
Discontentment breeds craving. Discontentment breeds addiction and bondage. (TLT, p. 96)
God led me some time ago to begin a gratitude blog specifically to combat a spirit of discontentment and pride. I don’t keep it updated, but I do feel that gratitude is becoming more and more a habit of my life.
This lesson in TLT focuses on verses from Numbers 11. Mike Cleveland exposes the fact that a spirit of discontentment can result in craving that which the Lord has not provided. If we give in to this, it will lead potentially to death as it did with the Israelites.
I can definitely identify with this. When I want something outside of godly boundaries, I have a choice. I can think about what I want and what I don’t get to have or shouldn’t have or all the sacrifices I have to make (can you hear the whine in my voice?), or I can choose to foster a spirit of contentment and gratitude. When I intentionally choose to combat a spirit of discontent with a spirit of gratitude, I render pride inoperative. It is a death blow to Satan in that moment. He can’t have his way with me. I am humbled as I praise God for His provision and care. I esteem HIM as Lord instead of insisting “not THY will, but MINE be done.”
For years I allowed discontentment to live unhindered. It resulted in greed and cravings that I indulged. My health deteriorated. Death was imminent.
But then God intervened…
The teaching about contentment and gratitude is HUGE in making our way down this path and being rid of ungodly eating habits and, ultimately, the physical weight as well. Not only that, but it permeates every aspect of my life. When I am intentional about fostering gratitude, I am transformed!
What a great time of year to practice this! We have opportunities for a crash course in gratitude and contentment right now! Christmas will be different for our family this year…and with awareness of that, we have all felt frustrated and grumbled a lot. NO MORE. I will choose to be thankful for healthy family members. No one is in the hospital! No one is ill. My kids are a delight to me. My husband comes home to ME and is faithful. He has a job (so many people are out of work right now). I have a wonderful home and more than I ever could have dreamed. My walk with God is vibrant. The King of the Universe is constantly aware of me! I have His Word and a bible-teaching church to attend. I have the pleasure and privilege of participating on the worship team and leading a bible study for women in my home. So many blessings!
I will choose to be content with God’s portion in my life. This applies to material things *and* to food. He is my portion.
Therefore, let us set out not so much to overcome our cravings but rather to learn how to be content with God and His provision for us. (TLT, p. 96)
1 John 2:12-14 is the focus of this lesson. It points out that there are different levels of maturity or growth in our Christian lives.
Some of us are children in our faith. We may be children for a long season. And children are characterized by stumbling and falling a lot…but they keep getting up if they are in Christ, they prevail themselves upon the grace and forgiveness of God.
Many of us seem to live a long time in this place relative to our disordered eating. I know I did–and still sometimes revert to this place as well. But God’s grace is present and applicable. I can be forgiven each time I stumble.
However, His grace also is a provision to move me forward…to grow me up.
Last night, my kids and I watched the movie, The Water Horse. I was reminded of a couple of scenes of this movie during the lesson today. The story was about a baby Loch Ness “monster” that grew exponentially from being the size of a puppy to a huge brontosaurus-type (and size) creature in short order.
The Lord’s grace can grow us spiritually every bit as much as the food this creature ingested grew him. More so, in fact. This is GOD! 🙂 I need to feast on HIM and HIS Word as The Lord’s Table workbook has been saying. When I do, I will grow up in my faith.
1 Corinthians 13:11 makes reference that it may be time to put childish things behind. When I have a temper tantrum about wanting food even when I am not hungry, I get so childish and act like a baby! Can you relate? “But I WANT that!” I whine! Goodness. Maybe it is time to put this childish attitude behind and press on to know Him more. To allow Him to give me the grace to have victories more consistently…to grow up in the faith.
Mr. Cleveland does a masterful job in drawing out the parallels in the creation passage that apply to our lives as new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
If you look at the creation passage, you can see the condition of the earth before the Lord spoke over it. It was formless, void, in darkness, and submerged underneath the water. The lesson has us analyze our former habits of overindulging in food. As I did this, this is what I came up with:
My life was chaotic. I knew what I was supposed to do, but didn’t do it, so I lived in constant tension…the “formless,” aimless, confused reference in the Genesis account applies. I was empty and looked to food to fill the “void,” but the emptiness remained or even grew. I was in darkness as my willingness to continue in sin knowingly was a very great darkness keeping my eyes from seeing the light of the glory of God so very often. I felt like I was drowning, submerged beneath my sin, shame, and hopelessness. Can you relate? As you look at the Genesis passage, in what ways is your life of overeating (either formerly or now if it is applies) like the description of the earth before the Lord spoke over it?
God spoke over the earth and brought light through His Word.
So, we were indeed confused, empty, in darkness, and buried in sin. But the Holy Spirit was “hovering” over us and God said, “let there be light.” And the Word brought light into our hearts. (TLT, p. 90)
The earth was brought up out of the water and became fruitful, all because the presence of the Lord and His spoken Word! This is us, too, if we are in Christ. The Lord breathes His Word over us and we come up out of the darkness, up out of the submerged place we were in. He brings order to our chaos and floods us full so that our emptiness is filled with His presence. He makes us fruitful in Him as well!
God has made us new creations in Christ. Often we don’t live according to this truth. For me, that is one meaning of these words of Jesus’:
If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:23b)
I KNEW the truth and I knew the way to be out of my bondage, out of the darkness, out of the chaos…but I refused to live according to that light. So the light within me was darkness…therefore the darkness was SO great!
I praise the Lord that I have burst up out of that place by HIS power…a resurrection of sorts! There IS hope for you, Dear One! Just as there is for me! If you feel like the earth before God spoke His Word over it…formless, void, darkened, and submerged…allow the Word to have it’s transformational affect. His grace speaks it over us each time we need it!
Take these words to heart from Soul Revolution by John Burke: “God could care less about how messed up you are, how far you’ve fallen, or how ‘good’ you’ve been. What he wants to know is, ‘How willing are you right now–in this moment?'” (p. 13)
This lesson focused on Galatians 5:16: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
The desires of the flesh include gratifying our desire for food whenever we want without regard for godly boundaries. If we do not want to continue to live as those who gratify our flesh repeatedly through overeating (or whatever the struggle may be), then we must walk by the Spirit.
The question becomes, what does it mean to walk in, with, or by the Spirit, then? If that is the way to be free from indulging my flesh, then I want to do it! I need to know what it means!
The author provides a quote from Matthew Henry (a biblical commentator) to help with this as well as a deeper look at the context of Galatians 5:16.
To me, walking in the Spirit means that I am focusing more on what my soul needs as a constant theme in my life than I am on what the flesh demands. I am prayerful and practicing gratitude. I welcome the presence of God’s Word in my life and allow it to guide me through this life. That means I have to spend time reading, studying, and meditating on it prayerfully. Then, as I go through life, each moment I can choose to capture for the Lord or for the flesh. I don’t minimize my choices, but know that each one will add to the likelihood of my feeding my flesh or heeding the Spirit. I will indulge my flesh or I will feed my soul. I will build a closer connection to the Lord, or I will build a wall. I choose to capture the moment for hte Lord, I choose to heed the Spirit, I choose to feed my soul. I choose to build a closer connection to the Lord.
As I continue to reject Satan’s accusations when I DO blow it, as I continue to believe that the previous moment has passed and can’t be recaptured and quit condemning myself for past mistakes, as I grab a hold of THIS moment and ask “Lord, what will you have me be, do, say, think, feel (even, eat) in this moment?” I will have a direction and I can follow it. There will come peace. Joy…all the fruit of the Spirit listed there in Galatians 5. It will be in my life as it is the life of the Spirit that emmerges in and through me.
But it is a step by step heeding of His voice. One babystep at a time. One moment at a time. One thought at a time.
What can I do today to be sure that I am more likely to walk in the Spirit? If I walk in the Spirit I will notcarry out the desires of the flesh.
Mike Cleveland shows that an eating “accident” (outside of our God-given boundaries) happens when a series of mini-events, one upon another, results in the “wreck.” He shares about how his job as an airplane pilot causes him to read and analyze airplane wrecks in the past. His eye is on how to avoid the same pitfalls that resulted in the accidents. This has caused him to see that most airplane wrecks happen following a chain of events.
He asks the participant to then evaluate what are the links in the chain that lead to an eating “wreck” in their life. This is mine:
1. Usually there is an emotional trigger, disappointment, frustration of some kind. 2. Usually I am doing something without a focus–my mind is free to wander. This may be watching a movie with the family, or surfing the internet. 3. I begin to think about the food, what it would taste like, how good it will be, that “I deserve it,” and entertain thoughts of justifying why this wouldn’t really be outside of my boundaries. 4. Hardening of my heart to God by resisting thoughts of him. 5. Getting up and going into the kitchen. 6. Eating it.
Mr. Cleveland’s suggestion is that at any point in this chain, we can break the link…and this will derail the head-on collision with sinful eating.
For instance, in my own example, here are some ideas about how I could change things up:
1. When the emotional trigger hits, I can truth journal. This is something taught in Barb Raveling’s Freedom From Emotional Eatingworkbook. I have blogged about this process previously. Basically, truth journaling includes writing about how I feel about what is going on, what I want to do about it and then prayerfully evaluating what I have written and what of my thoughts are lies and which are truths…then writing out a corresponding truth for each lie to combat the lie and refuse to be duped by it.
2. There are a few ways of changing this one…If I am doing something mindless, I can be prayerful as I sit down to do it. Surely, a movie with my family isn’t something I need to *stop* doing necessarily, but I can do it *differently*–prayerfully aware of my vulnerability and seeking God with a humble heart!
I realized when I looked over a week’s worth of reports to my accountability partner that my violation of my 0 to 5 eating boundary was happening consistently while watching a movie with my family. While not watching movies could be one way of handling it, I don’t prefer to do that as time with my family is important to me. We do incorporate other things to do together into our lives and that is one way of handling this.
Another way of handling this is a recommitment to the boundary of not eating when the screen is on. If I eat, it must be at the table with nothing else happening (one of the keys to conscious eating from the Thin Within book). It isn’t likely that I will announce to the family “Turn off the show for 5 minutes while I eat” unless I am at a 0! 🙂
3. If I find myself beginning to think about food I want and other thoughts that are heading toward a “crash,” I will take what little strength I have and breathe a prayer, “Lord, change my want to!” I can also choose to take captive my thoughts and make them obedient to Christ. Applying what yesterday’s lesson was about, I can choose to take my focus OFF of the food and OFF of indulging my flesh, and put it ON Christ and HIS sacrifice…all HE has done for me to free me from the hold of sin. Of all of these ideas, this one is, perhaps, the toughest, so it is best if I can stop the chain before it gets to this third link. 4. If I can sense that I am hardening my heart to God by resisting thoughts of him, it is time to get on my knees! This is that tough moment…where my choice makes or breaks me. This little moment is where indiscretion or a godly choice are made. Last night, I felt it so clearly. It really was a single solitary moment when I chose to say NO to the temptation…and YES to God. Once the choice was made relief came! I was free from the hold of food (in that moment). My choice *softened* my heart further to the Lord instead of *hardened* my heart further. This is one reason why I believe so strongly that it isn’t about the food. It is about what happens in my heart at the moment I choose to eat or not. I am callusing my heart further to the tender voice of the Spirit OR I am tendering my heart to Him.
5. Going into the kitchen to get the food won’t be as rewarding or as easy to do if I don’t have my kitchen filled with foods that I find hard to resist…I have had to stop having ready-made chocolate chip cookie dough in the fridge, for instance. That is something I have an impossible time resisting (for now). Also, I can have an open bible on the counter…a reminder that God invites me to feast on Him instead of on food that I don’t need and that won’t fill the emptiness in my heart.
6. If I have gotten all the way to the point of eating it, I can still stop the wreck! Mid-bite, I can get up and throw it out! I have done this before…not often, I will admit. If I have allowed the chain of events to get this far, it is TOUGH for me to have the willingness to stop mid-sin. 🙁
I know that praying about all of this at other times of the day when I am not in the middle of it helps empower me when the temptation does come along. Praying that God will change my want to, or like David prayed in Psalm 51 that God would grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
I do believe this…that 2 Chronicles 16:9 says that the eyes of the Lord look throughout the earth for those whose hearts are fully committed to him. Even in the moment, if I call out, “Lord! I want YOUR will!,” if I am “fully committed” in THIS moment, then this same verse says that he will see my heart and he will strengthen me in this moment. THIS MOMENT MATTERS. I don’t want to minimize the moment. Our enemy loves it when we diminish the value of a moment.
So those are my “links” in my chain leading to an eating “wreck.” And the subsequent plan for breaking the chain at any point in time.
How about you? What series of mini-events might lead you to an eating wreck? What can you do to break the chain at any point in the series?
