Well, I am just guessing, but…are you beating yourself up about something? Anything?
Here is a fact: No matter how horrible YOU may think it is, it isn’t horrible enough for the Lord God to endorse whatever self-flagellation you may be engaging in. So…stop it! 🙂
I have been studying my way slowly through the Bible. Right now, I have gotten to know Abraham a bit better than I knew him before and I am floored at really…he was kind of…well…not a man of great moral standing, humanly speaking. Yet God esteemed him. Abraham was considered righteous—why? Because of his faith (Genesis 15:6and Romans 4:3). Not because of all the great things he did. That is a relief. I figure if God can call Abraham righteous and obedient even though he did a bunch of stuff that raised the eyebrows even of King Abimelech at the time, then wow…God probably isn’t condemning me either. I am in Christ and Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation for those in Christ! In fact, I know he doesn’t condemn me. And he doesn’t condemn you either.
See, this is why we want to get to know God’s TRUE character. If we think that he is like our earthly fathers (who aren’t perfect) or like some tyrannical dictator king person, we won’t want to surrender our lives to him. He isn’t like that. We have to know him as he is. When we do, we find our resistance diminishes. Our hearts are tendered. We want to give him whatever he may ask of us (including our extra food). And we don’t waste a bunch of time and energy beating ourselves up claiming we have “let God down” !!(He isn’t “held up” by any of us so he can’t be “let down!”)
So, let’s stop it. Let’s stop saying by our actions that his grace isn’t sufficient. Let’s stop saying that we need to be perfect to be acceptable, ok? (And while it is true that the same grace that brings salvation teaches us to say no to ungodliness [Titus 2:11, 12], this also is not an excuse to whip ourselves. Let’s get to know our God as He is, give ourselves to him, say no to sin, and love him with our choices, one babystep at a time!)
How does this affect our eating?
Well, you tell me. Ok?
Seriously…I would love to know if there is a connection
there for you like there is for me. 🙂
Don’t forget…when you comment on blog posts between now and the 10th of May, you get entered into the free drawing for Ethel Herr’s book, Lord, Show Me Your Glory!
Sometimes I can’t believe myself! Even as I diligently write sample chapters for my book proposal, and here at the blog about how awareness of God’s true attributes and praising him changes things–and it does!–I nevertheless so easily shift into the flesh. I suppose it makes sense that, after 40+ years of thinking one way, it won’t necessarily be a flip of a switch to make a change. But God has been working with me on this for a long while. Good grief!
So here is where I am. I feel like Paul in Romans 7–like there are two of me fighting. The result is I AM CRAZY! I am SO thankful that HE IS SUFFICIENT for even my insanity.
One of me focuses desperately on the Lord, blogs about him, his character and choosing to praise him. That is the person who rejoices in thanking him repeatedly throughout the day and when tempted to keep eating (and not hungry) says, “I have the Lord! I don’t need more food! I love HIM, He is trustworthy and loving! I don’t need food to satisfy me! I trust him!” (Yes, all said with exclamation points, exuberant hyperbole and superlatives!!!) As I do this, He changes me. He makes me new (again), He makes my choices new, my thoughts new. Focusing on HIM transforms ME. YAY! I was made for THIS! So were we all!
Then, suddenly, POOF! The other me is there and the “godly me” is gone. I may not notice this until I have spiraled into a different place–a darker place. It is the place of “Ugh! I never knew menopause would change me so much. How can I be so forgetful? What are those bulges on the sides of my hips and why am I carrying less weight worsethan ever? And nuts…even my hunger signals are different. My hair is different! I look like a poodle! I hate this!” BAAAAAAH!!!!
Do you see what the focus of the shift is? ME! MY food, MY weight, MY “stage of life,” MY forgetfulness, MY hunger signals, MY [[gulp]] hair!
While all of this is true, certainly…that my body HAS changed and I know much of it is a result of hormonal shifts, what is UP with allowing it to draw my focus so intensely? When I do that, it doesn’t produce godly change at ALL. In fact, it makes me like the lady with the colander on her head. 🙂
When I CHOOSE to know God more and CHOOSE to praise him, I know that I choose something that changes me. It may not seem permanent, but it is an eternal investment!
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
This is the reason why I am having the “Praise Changes Things” contest for three copies of Ethel Herr’s book, Lord, Show Me Your Glory. Be sure to check this link for details! It is free! Enter today! YAY! You might win an incredible book to enjoy during your quiet time, but more…I know that this book will propel you further along the road of being a praising woman! I am sure of it! Praising women ARE free! 🙂
I may drive myself nuts, but I know that apart from this quest to know God more and to praise him, I would be menopausal AND miserable! 😉 Not just schizophrenic!
NOTE: Anyone who comments on blog posts from now until May 10th will automatically be entered in the drawing. Comment and you are entered! Or, if you would rather not, no worries. If you win, you can “pass,” but you won’t want to do that! LOL!
I want to try to share with you a bit about why this book has me so excited. God has been reminding me of some invaluable truths that he has poured into my life over the past ten years and, more specifically, since November of 2006 when I began this blog.
I have been reminded of a question I have been asked a lot over the past few years which is what flipped the switch for me in releasing weight. After all, that is what typically brings us to Thin Within in the first place–a desire to lose weight. People who know my story know that I struggled a lot and gave up for a long while before things changed in 2006. I will say, even now, good days, weeks, and months happen when I apply one transformational truth. It is this simple:
Praising God changes things.
It is true.It really does make a difference.
You see, when I praise God, I esteem him as Lord and assume my rightful place as his subject. He is King! He is the Potter and I am the clay. He is the Sovereign and I am the one asked to submit to and obey his directives. This is a place of humility. It is literally impossible to praise God and remain prideful. Or I sure don’t know how to do it that way!
When I am in a place of humility, esteeming God more highly than myself, I tend to grab at my food, my rights, my way a lot less often. (This translates into overeating a LOT less!) Impetuous, childish compulsions they don’t own me as they did previously.
But it is very hard to praise God if I don’t know him as he is. If I am not getting to know him the way he reveals himself in scripture and in the world around me, I end up with my God being much too small. As I draw near to him through his Word and begin to believe what he says about me and about himself, I find much to praise him for! It is all connected!
That is where this book and our contest comes in to the picture. Ethel Herr’s book, Lord, Show Me Your Glory, puts the reader face to face with the Lord Almighty and his character traits, enabling us to see our amazing God as he is. When you read this book, you will have not only a wonderful quiet time, but I believe God will use it to change your life! You will want to praise this God that you get to know more intimately! As you praise him, you will be transformed! Praise changes us!
Starting right now today, this is how you enter:
Make a relevant comment here following any post from this one onward. Any time you do, I will write your name down on a slip of paper and put it into a “hat.” On May 10th, I will draw three names from the hat. I will post the results of the drawing on the blog on May 11th. Assuming I hear from you within 48 hours after making the announcement at the blog, Ethel Herr will autograph your copy of the book and it will be sent to you! Three people will win a copy.
It is that simple.
I believe in this book so much that I want you to have a chance to experience it. I use it during my quiet times each day. I really think you will love it. 🙂
In fact, I am willing to put my money where my mouth is! 🙂 And if you *don’t* win a copy, you will want to buy the book anyway! 🙂 (No, I don’t get any referral fee or commission or anything like that. :-))
NOTE: To make a comment, if you are on the primary blog page, find the link “COMMENTS” at the top right side of the post that you are reading. Click on that and follow the prompts. If you are on a single post page, POST A COMMENT will be at the bottom left beneath the blog post. Hope you are able to post! 🙂 If not, shoot me a message at cool horse woman at gmail dot com (all one word with @ instead of “at” and . instead of “dot”).
Recently, someone asked on the Thin Within forums about how to know when to stop eating and how to stop when you know you should. These are some thoughts about that:
For me, considering the boundaries that are a part of my life helps me.
1.) Dog has a fence. Keeps her safe from deer hooves which flail when a deer is attacked. Seriously. And the cougar that was prowling the neighborhood. One view of the “kitty” apart from the fence, Daisy (my golden retriever) would be off like a shot to play with the “kitty.” The boundary keeps her safe.
2.) The yellow line down the middle of the road is a boundary. Oncoming traffic has to stay on one side of the yellow line and I have to stay on mine. I am thankful for that boundary, keeping us all safe.
3.) I have taught my kids that they can’t help themselves to whatever they see that they want at the mall. If they want something, boundary number one is easy enough–“Do you have the money for it?” They *can’t* take something they can’t pay for. It is a boundary.
4.) I need only so much food to sustain my energy and bodily functions. Eating according to this boundary keeps me healthy and safe.
When I think of stopping my eating at “satisfied” as a boundary that is like other boundaries in my life, it doesn’t seem so negotiable or offensive. It really is helpful, loving, and respectful.
If I want to drive on the other side of the road, that is not only disrespectful to other drivers, but it is also “disrespectful” to me…not to mention stupid. The same is true of eating. I know the risks involved with overeating. The physical ones are bad enough.
But for me, even *more* devastating is the attitude “just one more bite won’t hurt.” I play the guitar. When I have gone a few weeks without playing for some reason, I have no calluses left on my fingers. Playing HURTS until I get the calluses again. When I think about my attitude of “just one more bite won’t hurt” when the sweet voice of the Spirit has whispered, “Enough, child…” and I blow through it…when I think about what that does to my heart, in effect making it calloused so I don’t feel the pain of sin quite so readily (just like my calloused fingers keep me from feeling the guitar strings and the pain they cause to my non-calloused fingers), it isn’t worth it. It is like throwing open the gate when I see Daisy wants to chase the deer or cougar and letting whatever happens happen, acting like it doesn’t matter. It *does* matter.
We focus so much on our physical weight. Ignoring the voice of the Spirit may not cause me to gain a ton of weight physically, but the “weight” of the callouses that grow on my heart is too high a price to pay. (Boy, am I mixing my metaphors or what?).
None of this is meant in a condemning way. If it comes across that way, please reject that. Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation for those of us in Christ. I find freedom in admitting what is going on in my life…the lack of boundaries and the need to adhere to them. His forgiveness is amazing.
How about for you? What is a boundary that you have established for yourself? What are ways you can support yourself and show respect for yourself relative to this boundary?
My daughter was in a play that had it’s last performance a week or so ago.
One of the lines in the play was “Everyone is searching.”
Do you know what you are searching for?
We search the internet for all kinds of things. Maybe this blog was one of the things that came up as a result of search parameters you typed in to Google. What brought you to this blog? What are you hoping to experience, receive, learn by coming here?
I would really like to know. I hope you will post in the comments. And I hope you won’t mind if I respond. Be sure if you comment that you select the option to be notified when your comment gets a response.
When I was 10 years old, I ran into a car with my eyelid. 😮 The car wasn’t even moving. It was a car with a “fin” off of both sides at the back, sort of like the Ford Futura. I looked over my shoulder as I rode my bicycle away from my friends and, when I turned back to look where I was going, the sharp fin of the car found my eyelid. Talk about stopping suddenly!
I got sliced pretty well and, I guess, was fortunate my eyeball didn’t suffer for it! That was my second trip to the emergency room in my young life.
Amazingly enough, all these years, the scar hasn’t been very visible unless you knew to look for it. It is about two inches long, on my left eyelid.
Just this morning, though, I noticed as I looked at my rather tired, aging face in the mirror–the scar stands out now. Or at least it does today. How is it that, with *age* and the typical work that gravity does on various and sundry parts of the body, has come the emergence of this scar from almost forty years ago? It acts like an accusation of my having done something rather, well, stupid! 🙂
With *age* has come a reminder of something foolish I did when I was a kid! (See to the left, the arrow pointing to the scar on the eyelid and another arrow pointing to another scar near my nose where a stereo speaker mounted above my bed fell down and nailed me!)
I think there must be a lesson here for me to learn.
Another perspective on that “accident” I had a long time ago might be to consider what a blessing it was that I didn’t get hurt worse. And what a blessing that the neighbor would rush out of her house and scoop me up in her arms and carry me home, gushing blood from my eye and all! I wonder if Cathy Felix is out there somewhere today? I never said thank you. I sure would like to do that now.
There wounds I’ve incurred in the past and scars remain today, but they may not be so readily apparent. *I* see them. But no one else does. Until they *do*. And once it is evident…it is evident. I have a choice. Will I let my scars accuse me?
Maybe scars are reminders of experiences we have had for a reason–to remind us of what we have endured, of what the Lord has faithfully brought us through and that he doesn’t waste anything. Sure, if we allow it to happen, the scars can be used by the enemy to accuse us. But God has other plans for the scars.
This song by Point of Grace offers one thought about that:
Do you have scars? Which will your scars be–a reminder of God’s faithfulness or an accusation the enemy uses to harass you?
Lord, please help any who read this to offer their scars to you in praise for what you have brought them through. Thank you that while you sometimes do leave scars, you *have* healed the wounds. May we remember this fact, Lord, and praise your name. Help us to see what you intend in our scarring and reject the accusations of the enemy in our lives. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
The more I try to *fix* myself–to not have food, body, eating issues–the more ME-focused I have been. In the past few years, God has shown me that I need to know and focus on HIM, trading self-consciousness for God-consciousness. It is a slow process, but he is faithful!
Right now, God is using a book I have “stumbled upon” to propel me right into his throne room daily, where I bask in his presence in a vibrant way. This is a book I wish EVERYONE could get into their hands–and hearts! Because I really believe God will use this book to transform our lives, I am going to purchase three copies from the author, Ethel Herr, to give away to you, the visitors to this blog. I will tell you more about it in the days ahead. (I guess you can call it a contest!) So check back again in the next week ahead!
It is called Lord, Show Me Your Glory (but please don’t search for it on Amazon. I think the best way to get it is from Ethel herself!).
I have been using this book in my quiet times since the early part of March. If I could have written any book on the planet, this is the book I wish I had written, but I am SO glad that Ethel has! I could never write it so beautifully. It includes 52 chapters–one for each week of the year (though I must confess that I use several chapters each week, it is just so inspiring!). Each chapter includes profoundly written prose about two or more attributes of God, Ethel’s majestic poetry, and quotes that help to understand the relevance of the attribute considered. Scripture is found throughout as well, of course!
Each chapter concludes with “To Ponder” and lines on which to respond and “Pray” with lines for writing out a prayer to God, focusing on the very attributes learned about in the chapter. God-focused devotional material that is interactive. PERFECT! 🙂 Can you tell I am excited about this book? 🙂
Many people come to the internet looking for something. In fact, many come to this blog looking for something. Often, that “something” is a real, living, vital encounter with God. Ethel Herr’s book is a passport for each of us to the very thing we long for most. If our hearts are hungry (and we know they are), it is for the presence of God and Lord, Show Me Your Glory provides a veritable feast. When we sit down with this volume and taste and see that he is good, we will no longer grab for counterfeits. Our healing rests within the Scriptures as they disclose our God to us. Ethel’s book is a help to us, giving us glasses with which to see.
Ethel may post a guest blog post at least once (more, I hope!). You will have a chance to get to know her a bit, too! Such fun!
It is my prayer that this will bless your socks off as plunging the depths of her book, Lord, Show Me Your Glory, has blessed me! (And so it continues!)
Keep watching for details. And if you want to get to know Ethel a bit, you can do so by visiting her website.
“If I don’t do something, I am going to wake up dead!”
It was a prayer. It was an observation. It was a plea.
One hundred extra pounds on my frame were a liability.
“How did I get this way?”
For the love of food, I was risking leaving my children without their mom and my husband without his wife. I was highly motivated.
Pursuit of “body beautiful,” an old familiar routine, resumed–this time with a vengeance.
What began as a physical pursuit, however, changed radically.
I began to open myself to finding the answers to deeper questions than merely “How many fat grams is in this bagel?” or “Do these pants make my rear look bigger?” and began to look at “Why do I return to food again and again when I know I am not hungry?” The answers took me into deep places…places where the Spirit of God met me, arms open wide. The voice of God was almost audible, his breath nearly palpable. I could, as Zephaniah says, hear him delight over me with singing.
It was a welcome song as many of the haunts to which my mind and heart headed were unexpected places from childhood abuse and trauma—revisited, yet now with the Shepherd of my soul, tenderly wiping my tears, inviting a deep healing that saw beyond the painful years of life on this earth to purposes beyond. God revealed that he had been wooing me for a long time—yet I had not recognized him.
This time was different. This time he peeled away layer upon layer. It was painful at times, but as he did, he showed me there are so many things much deeper than the size and shape of my body. While he has shown me that I honor him by being as healthy as I can be, he has taken the anxious inner workings of a mind and heart in turmoil and used my physical struggle with food and weight to demonstrate his grace—that his grace is sufficient for me.
Yes, I released one hundred pounds between June 2006 and October of 2007, but I released so much more—disappointments, dreams that were never woven in heaven in the first place, desires that directed my mind into superficial pursuits, hopes that kept me from his best.
I wonder now if my life-long battle with food, eating, my body wasn’t about this all along. The metamorphosis that has been evident on the outside is barely a shadow of the transformation of my spirit, heart, and mind.
What began with a desire to pursue something, has resulted in my having been apprehended by a great and marvelous grace.
Is it possible that God may have in mind a transformation for you other than the merely physical one that you may long for? Will you go with him on this journey?
How could a Christian killer become the #1 missionary in the world for the cause of Christ? (The Apostle Paul.)
Or how could a man with 700 wives and 300 concubines pen beautiful words exalting marital fidelity? (Solomon and the book of Song of Solomon.)
What could possibly cause a man who an adulterous affair with one of his faithful soldiers, murder him to “cover up” his sin, end up being remembered as “a man after God’s own heart?” (King David.)
God…gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. – Roman 4:17
We have an amazing God! He does the most unexpected things in the most unexpected ways.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—
and the things that are not—
to nullify the things that are,
so that no one may boast before him.
~ 1 Corinthians 1:27-29
Think about this. He doesn’t require perfection of you before you step out in faith. To what is he calling you right now, so that his glory might be displayed in and through you?
This is a subject so near and dear to my heart as many women I have spoken with desperately want to attend a Thin Within group, but there isn’t one in their town. When encouraged to go ahead and start one, they say “I am NOT qualified!” Or some women, who have taken the leap of faith, then want to disqualify themselves because they feel they have not “succeeded” well enough to be a “good example” to the women in their group. They think they should quit. I am so thankful that Paul didn’t say to the Lord, “No, Lord. I can’t go preach the gospel until I have a good track record and have been faithful for 20 years.” Or that Solomon didn’t wait to get his life together before penning the Song of Solomon. There is such wisdom there. It seems nuts on the one hand that God chose these men as his instruments, but he did! That is just like him! He chooses the foolish things of the world, doesn’t he?
Do you have a choice to make.? Will you take the path that makes the most sense from the perspective of the world and human thinking, or take the path that God is calling you to take? Which will it be?
What have you been holding out doing until you can “measure up?” Has God called you now? 🙂
