by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 28, 2008 | Blog
The text for today’s lesson is Psalm 107:10-16. I suggest prayerfully studying this passage. The study basically had me doing the following (this isn’t quite how he did it…I am modifying it…I suggest getting the workbook to really experience the depth of this study!):
1. What is the condition of the people in this passage?
2. Can you identify with any of this description, relative to your own battle with overeating/gluttony and your heart’s attachment to food? How so?
3. WHY were these people in this condition? (see vs. 11)
4. What happened to them before they cried out to God for help? (see vs. 12)
5. Has your over-eating caused you to experienced “bitter labor?” How so? Have you stumbled? In what way? Have you come to a point of realizing (accepting) that no human or human-devised program can help?
6. What did the people in this passage do? (vs. 13a)
7. List all the things that God did for them in response to their cry.
These people had rebelled against the LORD. Can you identify with this? I know I sure can! For years, I knew God’s answer to my problem, my sin. In fact, I had written about it when I collaborated with the Hallidays on the Thin Within book! I took half-hearted stabs at living the way I knew I should, but it was more mechanics…I refused to surrender my heart. I continued in darkness. I rebelled against God and spurned His counsel. He allowed me to experience my slavery…”bitter labor.” He humbled me and I knew no one could help me except the Lord. I literally came to the end of myslef, fearing that I would wake up dead.
I see now that there has to be a humbling, a breaking, a total submissive turning. God works this in us. When I called out to him for help but continued in my rebellion, He didn’t free me. I still clung to my idol. I couldn’t grasp the life rope when I held tightly, in pride, to food–to having what I want when I want it.
When I stopped clinging to food and to having MY way and called to Him, His salvation came. My hands and heart were free to grab a hold of His offer for deliverance. It was a process, but this was the beginning of the process. He has done so much for me and he continues to as well.
These verses tell us that when God saves someone He destroys the work of the devil in their lives. He frees from the grip of the devil, removes oppression (though not temptation), rescues from slavery to sin and sets us free. We must ever pray for ongoing help and be on guard against backsliding, but the work of salvation is thorough and ongoing deliverance from sin. (TLT, p. 62)
Hallelujah! What a great Savior!
by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 27, 2008 | Blog
What a perfect day for this lesson! We have SO much to be Thank-FULL for! Praise you, Lord!
This lesson dovetails beautifully with Barb Raveling’s Freedom from Emotional Eating.
The key is TRUTH. If we can just embrace TRUTH instead of lies, our healing is at HAND! 🙂
If we do NOT know the truth, we will NOT be set free. So…how does one know the truth?
The primary passage for this lesson is John 8:31-36. See what this passage speaks to you about truth…prayerfully read it and ask God to show you! 🙂
I come away with the fact that I must not just KNOW the bible. Oh, for years I have taken pride in how grounded I am in God’s Word. :-/ (Bleah…). The key is what do I DO with Jesus’ teachings. (Including the ones about greed!) Knowledge of the truth is a key to freedom (vs. 32 in John 8). So how do I know the truth? Verse 31 of John 8 says…by obeying Jesus. Not just reading the bible. Not just studying it. Not just teaching it. Not just memorizing it. Not just showing off that I am so well-versed in the bible. (Again…yuck!)
But DOING it!!!!!
If you are like me and have some negative associations with the word obedience from prior programs that warped the truth, then well…truthfully…we have to get past it. God came up with the idea of obedience long before someone chose to manipulate others by using this word inappropriately. Let us go beyond the error of others and respond to what GOD says in His Word to us!
So knowing the truth doesn’t JUST come by knowing the bible, but by obeying what Jesus tells us to do. He is the living Word and the bible is the written Word so we know what is there is what He wants us to do. Let us obey it.
This came home to me powerfully a couple of nights ago. At the end of my meal, I included a graham cracker with cream cheese frosting on it. When I finished, I was at a comfortable 5. I cleaned up and headed back to the bedroom to shower. Only, minutes later, I found myself in the kitchen again, grabbing the graham crackers and pulling the frosting out of the fridge. Huh? Having just posted to the blog about temptation, I knew precisely that this was a temptation of the first degree. What would I DO with it? Would I be a slave to sin? (I wasn’t hungry…) Or would I obey what I knew to be true—obey Jesus’ teachings and do what I knew was right and put the food away?
I actually decided to do what was right! I obeyed what Jesus said rather than obeying the frosting, or obeying my taste buds…it is obeying Jesus in those moments that sets me free. It is obeying his teaching. Had I eaten that second cracker and frosting, I would have been believing a lie…that somehow eating it would be better than obeying the Lord.
If we are slaves to sin we are deceived. We believe a lie. The lie may be that overeating will satisfy us, or will relieve the stress (when we all know the stress will be back later, and to give in only makes it easier to give in the next time) or that giving in to lust for food will make us happier. (TLT, p. 57)
Another lie I have believed in the past is “It’s only one cracker more than I need. That’s not so bad. It isn’t like its the whole can of frosting and a package of graham crackers…This is so much better than in the past…I am not so bad…”
LIES!
It is NOT about the food! The sooner we realize that, the sooner we will experience true freedom! 🙂 HONEST! I know this is true!
It is NOT about the food.
It IS about embracing Jesus…HIS way. Rejecting self-indulgence in favor of indulging more in what HE offers…endless enjoyment of his river of delights. He has given me *pleasant* boundaries. I can enjoy whatever I desire within the 0 to 5 (hunger and satisfaction) parameters! I can delight in the tastes and textures of any food (unless the Lord leads me to abstain from a certain food which he does on occasion). It IS about my heart being softened and responsive to HIS leading and guidance. It IS about giving in to the LORD rather than to the flesh or the Enemy.
The cracker isn’t the point.
What the “calories” to do my body isn’t the point!
It is what is going on in my heart when I choose to do my own thing. Do I really want to go there?
John 14:6 says Jesus is THE way, THE truth, THE life.
As I know HIM and obey HIM and what He says in His Word, I AM SET FREE. This is why he came! This is why he suffered and died! This is why he exploded up out of the grave! He is victorious over death! That same power is available to me to rise above the pull of any food! To resist the independence that the Enemy wants me to exert!
I choose, this day to speak truth, to embrace truth, to forsake lies. I choose to refuse to live in ANY form of deception. I will NOT overeat today and justify it as “Well, it is Thanksgiving!” The best way I can celebrate all God has done and is doing is to honor him with my eating and drinking today, to glorify God with His temple…my body. His Spirit resides in me! Today, I will be sure that this temple is NOT defiled with more than I need to sustain my life. I will eat what He apportions to me with joy and a thankful heart.
He came to release us from captivity to our sins and to bring freedom from bondage and slavery. His freedom is real. He breaks the power of sin and releases us from the prison of sin. (TLT, p. 59)
Take heart that freedom from being dominated by the flesh is indeed possible. Freedom from satisfying every craving that comes along is possible. Freedom from over-eating is possible. (TLT, p. 59)
If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36).
Today, let’s live as the free children of God we are!
by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 26, 2008 | Blog
To be truly done with habitual sin, I must be broken by God. I believe this. I’ve seen that I could “pull it together” and release weight, but unless I invite, allow, and WELCOME brokenness over sin, I will have a tendency to minimize it–then there will always be the potential to turn back to it again. This is the very thing I have been battling.
This lesson had a lot of great quotes from great theologians on the blessing of brokenness. I am earnestly asking God to break me–to see Christ and his wounds, his blood spilled–because of MY sin. Because of MY greed for food, MY over-indulgence, MY lust, MY pride, and MY insistence to do my own thing–to “declare my independence” from God.
In fact, apart from really coming face to face with the cross–the horror of it–how can I really even begin to fathom God’s amazing grace? If I don’t really have a sense of that from which *I* have been saved, how can I thrill to the salvation? The gift?
I see how I could change the superficial–the eating habits–and lose weight…change on the outside (and yes, there have been many changes that are internal, I realize)…but apart from THIS, the heart change will be superficial at best.
By his WOUNDS I am healed. His wounds…
He was pierced for MY transgressions, he was crushed for MY sin. The punishment that brought ME peace and reconciliation was poured out..the wrath of God fully unleashed…on HIM…that I might be free from ever having to experience that or separation from God…
Thank you, Lord…
by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 26, 2008 | Blog
As we walk this path, it is important to recognize temptation…what it looks like, when it is likely to come and what to do about it.
The text for today’s lesson is Luke 4:1-13. It happens to be what my pastor preached on this past Sunday. So my notes and thoughts about this lesson are mingled with thoughts about the message from Sunday. I get the impression that God wants me to GET THIS! 🙂
From the passage, we can pull out (especially if we really dig or stretch things) that we are most likely to be tempted:
1.) …when undertaking serious kingdom work – I would add to this any time we want to surrender to the Lord in some way…especially when there has been a stronghold (this is not what the Luke passage is about, but it applies).
2.) …when alone
3.) …when physically depleted (v. 3, 4)
4.) …when materially depleted (5 – 8)…this is one that the pastor spoke about and I won’t elaborate here, but I think when we are feeling in some way like we haven’t gotten what we are “due” in some way or feeling “ripped off” or like we have “less than” someone else…the enemy is likely to hone in on us when we lack gratitude and contentment…
5.) …when spiritually depleted.
When we have had a pretty terrific spiritual experience or “high” …we may also be vulnerable. Mike Cleveland (the author of The Lord’s Table) references this in the parallel passage in Matthew 4 which indicates that Jesus had just received audible affirmation that he was aproved of by the Father at his baptism.
Satan’s design is for us to give in and disobey rather than to resist and offer our bodies a livign sacrifice; to indulge our flesh rather than crucify it. (TLT, p. 52)
More notes from the lesson on the passage:
He [Satan] wants us to doubt our relationship with God and to become independent of Him in meeting our own needs. (TLT, p. 52)
The devil hates anything requiring humility and dependence upon God and loves to tell us of our own self-sufficiency. (TLT, p. 52)
To apply this teaching, you and I have a desire for fellowship and satisfaction and God promises to supply our every need. Will you believe Him and find your fullness in Him? Or will you believe the lie of the devil that says stuffing yourself full of ofod will meet your desire for fullness? (TLT, p. 52)
How to resist temptation and overcome–from Pastor Mike Earnst’s message…Follow Jesus’ example:
1.) Be dependent on the Holy Spirit
2.) Be saturated with Scripture
3.) Be sustained by prayer and fasting
I can spout off scripture til the cows come home, but is God’s Word really at home in my heart and life? Am I saturated in it? When you “squeeze” me, is that what comes out?
Scripture takes up residence in the heart only through obedience – Psalm 111:10. (TLT, p. 52)
Satan is after our worship!
Notice how Jesus warded off this assault and conquered the enemy:
1.) WIth abhorrence and detestation (see also Matt 4:10). If we are ever going to win this battle against overeating we must ask God to give us a holy detestation of it, as we cannot bear the thought of it. How can we defile His temple, our bodies, in such a way?
2.) With scripture…when dealing with fierce and intense temptatinos, answer from scripture and answer in brief. (TLT p. 53)
A couple more quotes from this lesson…this is another one that makes having the workbook so worth while!!!
Satan used scripture to try to get Jesus to sin. He does the same with us.
Please get this principle. The devil will throw all kinds of Scripture our way to get us to sin against God by giving in to our flesh: I will forgive your sins and remember your wickedness no more (Jer. 31:34), All manner of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven among men (Matt. 12:31), Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35), The evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing (Romans 7:15), If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9)…and so on. How do we know it is the devil using Scripture and not our own minds? If that scripture is being used to lure us into sin, it is coming from the evil one. (TLT, p. 53)
This is an IMPORTANT point! Of course, these scriptures are true and we get reassurance from them when we *have* been disobedient, but they should NEVER be used to justify a sinful choice! We want to grieve over our sin and turn to the Lord and His Word in our repentance, prevailing on the truth of these scriptures through tears and heartbreak. NOT when we are thinking it through and pondering walking headlong into sin with those scriptures helping us along…NO!
How can we win against temptations? As Jesus did: by humble dependence upon God to meet our desire for fullness, by resisting the onslaughts of temptation, and by feeding upon every word of God and obeying what we read. (TLT p. 53)
Summary: We are prone to temptations after a spiritually exhilarating experience or victory, when we are alone, when we are feeling depleted. Be aware and know when YOU are more prone to temptation! We can fight it with the power of God and with scripture. We WILL win as we follow the example of Christ in his humble dependence on the Lord and his weilding of the Sword of the Spirit.
by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 24, 2008 | Blog
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 is the primary text for this lesson.
The author shows that this passage teaches that two working together can produce spiritual fruit (v. 9), that it can provide spiritual restoration (v. 10), prompt spiritual zeal (v. 11), and provide spiritual protection (v. 12).
He provides compelling arguments that if we are serious about releasing weight and the behaviors and attitudes that have gotten us into trouble we have to have to have to be willing to have an up front, in your face, speaking the truth in love, accountability partner.
Some time back, I posted to my blog about this very thing. You can read that entry here.
Mike Cleveland in The Lord’s Table workbook, points out that when in accountability:
“You agree to openness and honesty. Bondage to overeating brings deception with it; some of us have been deceptive for years. If we want to lose the slavery to sin it starts with honesty, even if it is humbling.” (TLT p. 49)
I have found this to be so true and YES, I DO have an accountability partner. Every winter, I know for a fact I need one, but this time, she landed in my lap as a gift from Heaven to me from God. It is the most amazing story and I would NOT be surviving this time of literal emotional, spiritual, and previously physical withdrawal from my dependence on diet soda (I know that sounds dramatic, but what I have experienced is nothing short of an addict’s withdrawal symptoms!) without this amazing lady.
In September, I heard about a Thin Within group that was at a church not far from where my 83 year old mother lives. I emailed the contact person and said I would be more than eager to offer to support or help the group, sharing my experience and a bit about my testimony including my blog. The amazing thing is…the leader of the group lives in my SMALL TOWN community…and leads that group at that church even though it is about 45 minutes or so away from both of us! We met for breakfast in September and she boldly asked if I would be her accountability partner.
At that time, I was overwhelmed with life and wasn’t sure my husband would feel it wise for me to do that…I had NO idea just how much I WOULD NEED HER! I am grateful that my husband said he thought it would be fine since she was a real life contact and not just an email contact — there is something about seeing one another every so often that makes it more real or something.
This lady has been the real deal. Her honest seeking the Lord and his healing has so touched my heart. I have been blown away by how BADLY she wants this healing and how much she is willing to endure to get it. She is definitely living all the things Beth Moore taught about in the Breaking Free taping…even though she has never seen this material. This lady is willing to go after this and I know she IS breaking free. She WILL live in total freedom.
But in the past few weeks, as I have been trying to get through some emotional hurdles and do it without depending on diet soda, I have been SO blessed by her loving encouragement and her compassionate observations. Gosh, the lady is a therapist…the Lord knew I needed one!!!!
I know that I WILL make it through this difficult time with her support, prayers and counsel. She may have thought this was about HER, but God has used HER so much in my life already…and continues to. What a blessing.
I want that for everyone who wants to be free. I see why Mike Cleveland in this lesson is so adamant that we MUST be in accountability. Without it, we sort of are hedging our bets…we have an out…we can do something in secret…
I asked my husband last night to keep me accountable as well. I need to up the ante right now while I am struggling so much.
I also have decided to start using the hunger graphs again and to keep them on the dining table where the entire family can see them. This is SO humbling to me…I have tried NOT to do that in the past…and been mortified when someone in the family has scrutinized my hunger graph and said something to me about it. I am asking for that accountability now, though. I know I need it. My tendency to deceive has resurfaced (or maybe it was always there…).
I want TRUTH in the inward parts. I want my MIND to be renewed. I don’t want to long for food even inwardly. I want to LONG for God, to pant for HIM, to say with the psalmist with heart-felt genuine honesty:
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:25-26
by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 24, 2008 | Blog
Beth Moore asks a question…”Am I a hypocrite if I really WANT to be the person I am pretending to be?”
Not sure what her answer is.
I am asking this question tonight.
By morning, I spout off here at the blog.
By night, I am shoveling food down my gullet with the “best” of them. What is wrong with me? Good grief.
In the midst of my chaotic eating and failures, however, there was one glimmer of “success” today. I actually DID take time to truth journal about some things…that was a good first step. So I am thankful for that…but nuts…I sure didn’t let it affect the ultimate outcome.
“Oh wretched [wo]man that I am. Who will rescue me from this body of death! But praise be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”
(My paraphrase of the last verses of Romans 7 and Romans 8:1)
by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 23, 2008 | Blog
Sin must not only be eradicated, it must be replaced.” (TLT, p. 45)
Ephesians 4:21-24 teaches the putting off and putting on principle.
When is a thief not a thief? It takes more than him not stealing any more. He has to provide for his own way in life and build a living as well as share with others. It isn’t just stopping the sin, but replacing the sinful behavior with new godly behaviors.
I can so relate to this. For just over 2 years, I have felt like I have been holding it together…at times barely. Sure, I released 100 pounds and have kept it off for a year. That is great…but I feel like a glutton who just doesn’t behave like a glutton (usually). I don’t feel changed inside.
Sure, stopping eating in a gluttonous manner is important. Giving up the extra food is great, but I have to put off the old behavior AND PUT ON A NEW BEHAVIOR. A new godly behavior. This is where there is a disconnect for me.
Until I humble myself and am willing to feast on the Lord, pray, take time to write in my gratitude blog, truth journal…I believe I will be stuck being a glutton on the inside…I know God wants to do this deeper internal work in me. I must cooperate with him. Then I won’t feel like I am always on the edge of losing it all…of reverting back to old habits. I must have something replace the old ways. Something satisfying, something lasting, something…so obvious…a total enjoyment of his presence, feasting on HIM. Why do I shut him out? Why do I know that truth journaling, praying, reading the Word would help and NOT do it? (PRIDE…)
The author suggests writing a list of all the things that have become bad behaviors during the day relating to food. He then suggests writing a list of godly behaviors to practice instead. These are good exercises, as they bring this lesson home at a practical level.
Luke 11:24-26 illustrates that we may be worse off if we “clean house” of all our sinful eating behaviors–if we do the “putting off”–and fail to replace these behaviors with something godly–the “putting on.” I know this from experience. Years ago, I lost 100 pounds with Weight Watchers. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I only shifted the way my obsession with food was manifest…I went from eating anything and everything and thinking about food all the time to eat it all, to focusing on the content of food, planning and preparing the “right amount,” and obsessing every bit as much. I had no idea just how much MORE attached to food my heart had become through that year at Weight Watchers. Even though I lost all that weight, it wasn’t a huge leap for the old behaviors to return and the weight to come pouring back on (which it did).
This time has to be different. I will work this thing through. I will learn to give myself to God. To invite him more fully into all the moments of my life. I know that He IS satisfying. I am praying that he will show me just how satisfying. I am praying that I will allow him to knock down all the walls I have built in my life…so that I can “put on” the new man through and through and all the godly behaviors that go along with that. I want to replace all the sinful, negative, destructive behaviors in my life with positive godly behaviors.
Summary: Grinning and bearing it isn’t enough. We must replace ungodly eating habits and thoughts with new godly habits and thoughts. I have not been doing this!
by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 22, 2008 | Blog
I find The Lord’s Table can be wonderfully compatible with Thin Within. That is why I have dedicated so much of this blog to sharing about it.
This lesson builds on previous lessons that have been shared.
Repentance brings with it a “godly sorrow” and this godly sorrow is crucial to victory over sin. (TLT p. 41)
2 Corinthians 7:8-13 is the focus passage for this lesson.
We need to pray for sorrow in our hearts as we repent from over-eating. (TLT, p. 41)
The author explains that the teaching that overeating is sin is difficult to swallow and most diets, programs and “experts” will minimize this or avoid or deny it all together. They will often, instead, indicate that changing the food is the answer or exercising more.
But the fact is, the thought that overeating is a sin is TRUTH.
Freedom comes through embracing truth and truth often times wounds us. (TLT, p. 42)
Right now, the truth is hard for me…and that is, my having turned my back on diet soda all together has shown me just how connected I am to sweet-tasting foods. As I have stopped drinking diet soda at all, my lust for sweet foods has escalated as has my indulgence in them. Isaiah 57:14-15 challenges me to remove the obstacles that may keep me from a straight path. I am praying now, asking the Lord to show me if I need a season of giving up any sweet foods (sugar is in everything, so I can’t claim that I would ever be led to stop eating “sugar” as that means peanut butter, barbeque sauce and other unlikely sources for sugar).
Regardless, I know it is time for some sort of boundary.
True repentance:
It is turning completely away from sin, doing an about face, and then pursuing God with a reckless abandon. And it is also sorrowing over sin to such an extent that the heart begins to hate the sin and turns from it. This is repentance, and if either of these elements are missing the freedom from sin will not be lasting. If one merely feels sorrow over the sin but does not turn from it then he is not free. Or if one merely turns from the sin but does not develop a heart-sorrow over it he is not free either. Both must be present in the life. (TLT, p. 43)
I would highlight that in a way there is a third element…he mentions it as part of the first, but to me 1.) turning away from sin 2.) turning to God 3.) hating the sin that I have turned away from.
For me, it isn’t just sinful eating I want to be free from. I can do that and have…for over 2 years now. I want to be free from sinful thinking about food. That is why I returned to The Lord’s Table workbook and picked up the Freedom from Emotional Eating workbook. I want to change the way I think about food or about eating…or about NOT eating!!!
Summary: True repentance is characterized by true change. There is an earnestness to be done with sin, a longing for holiness, a zeal for living differently, for praising and worshiping God, a humility of heart. Worldly sorrow doesn’t cut it…being sorry for the consequences just isn’t repentance.
by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 21, 2008 | Blog
If you are like me and had some time in Weigh Down Workshop (WD or WDW), then you may feel this little bit of chafing when you think of the word “repentance.”
Without going into the details about why, you know it if you are like me in this respect.
I want to ask God (again) to help me to recapture HIS meaning for this word, this concept. HE is the one who created it. No matter how it is misused or abused by HUMANS, it is HIS fullest intention that I experience the blessings of repentance and know that it is His kindness that leads me to repentance.
That aside, I will continue to share about the lessons in The Lord’s Table (the workbook). Today’s lesson is so powerful and encouraging…it is hard to pull tidbits out without telling the entire thing! You will have to trust me on this one! This lesson is one of those that could make the workbook worth getting all by itself! 🙂 It is *that* good.
This is what I wrote this morning in my journal…
Right now today I know I have only turned part of the way. (In reference to Day 11 speaking of turning FROM sin and turning TO God being the two parts to repentance.) I end up turning away (or DO I?) from the sin. But in my stubbornness and pride I don’t turn TO God.
This lesson was based on a comparison between two verses:
Ecclesiastes 6:7 All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied.
and
Joel 2:26 You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied and praise the name of the LORD your God who has dealt wondrously with you; then my people will never be put to shame.
The question is, how can we go from the Ecclesaistes 6:7 experience to the Joel 2:26 experience?
In the past, I would spend SO much time, energy, thought on food. I would plan for it, yearn for it, go get it, sit down and eat it…manipulate who it would be done with and what we would be doing. Saturday nights were the BIG night for all our favorite shows…Star Trek, Hercules, Xena and the nachos, popcorn, soda, ice cream sundaes…it went on and on. It was a food fest…(This was a LONG time ago!) All my efforts were like Ecclesiastes says…and yet the deep heart hunger that motivated this so much could never be satisfied by food. It wasn’t possible. That old shoving of the square peg (food) into the round hole (God-shaped hole in my heart), once again.
So, how can I experience what Joel 2:26 speaks of…that eating “plenty” and being “satisfied” and PRAISE the LORD.
It is Repentance…yes, once again.
Joel 2:12-13 says: “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, adn with fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and relenting of evil…”
This is compared to another verse which I included yesterday:
Acts 3:19-20 Therefore, repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you.
When I repent and return:
1. My sins are wiped away
2. I experience refreshment!
3. I experience HIS presence.
4. I experience the closeness of Jesus Himself.
Repentance brings spiritual refreshment and heart satisfaction in Christ. (TLT, p. 38)
But my repentance must be to leave sin AND to turn TO God. I turn my back on sin, perhaps, but because I don’t feast on the Lord, don’t pray, journal, read, praise Him…SOMETHING–the emptiness remains and the food (or diet soda) continues to call out and it is more of a battle than it needs to be. God never intended these things to torment me! When I am in that place it is all about self-effort…the old “pick yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality…and not at all about the power and sufficiency of God!…and definitely NOT refreshment!
If I am not experiencing refreshment, then maybe what I have done is NOT true repentance! OOoooh! Powerful truth!
From Joel 2:21-27 there are so many more blessings listed that come from repentance as well.
* rejoicing
* gladness
* praising God–He has done great things!
* lack of fear
* fruitfulness
* abundance
* redeeming of the years the locusts have eaten
* plenty to eat
* satisfaction
* no shame
* His presence experienced!
Again, if I am not experiencing these things, maybe I haven’t truly repented, but just done the “half turn.”
On page 39, Mike Cleveland explains that Christians like to call overeating a weakness, but not a sin. Then he explains why overeating is a sin. He uses scripture and it is compelling. I simply must quote him for what I feel is one of the best quotes in the entire program:
You see, if we fail to call overeating sin, then we miss out on the blessings of repentance. Why not rather call overeating by the biblical term of “gluttony” so that we can see the need to repent? And as we repent we will experience such sweet refreshment from the Lord, such satisfaction from the Lord, such enjoyment in the Lord, that we will wonder why we weren’t ever told this truth before. (TLT p. 40)
Summary: If I don’t experience refreshment and joy, then perhaps what I have done is not true biblical repentance. Maybe I have turned away from sin, but have I truly turned TO the Lord? Am I letting HIM be my satisfaction? Or am I longingly looking back at the sin that I have resisted… There is no joy or repentance in that.
by Heidi Bylsma | Nov 20, 2008 | Blog
1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 found here.
vs. 9 says: …you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God…
Often we grit out teeth and try to turn away from our habits of over eating by sheer will power and determination. Even those of us who are believers in the Lord Jesus, who know we have the Spirit of God living within, may try a “Christianized” version of this “by the bootstraps” exertion…
But do we *hate* our sin? Do we even look at it as sin?
Notice in the verse above that the Thessalonians hadn’t just turned FROM idolatry. They turned TO God to serve him. This is vital. The author of TLT mentions that apart from turning TO God, our turn is only 90 degrees. It isn’t the entire 180 degree turn needed to see lasting change all the way through to our heart.
True repentance is not only turning from sin, it is turning to God and loving and serving Him. (p. 35, TLT)
I could identify very much (even TODAY) with Mike Cleveland when he shared on page 35, “…I finally discovered that my repentance was not genuine, but rather was simply ‘feeling badly’ about my failure, rather than a complete turn away from it and turning to God.”
I can so relate to this TODAY. Since making a break from diet soda of any kind, I have found what I suspected to be true, IS. My continued attachment to diet soda was intricately connected to the stronghold of food…the sweetness of diet soda has often been used by me to “reward” me, to “celebrate,” and all the very same things that I have used food for in the past. After making it through a very stressful drive through the canyon with my son who is learning to drive, my first thought was “I must have a soda!” To reward myself and to decompress the stress! It was brought home so clearly that I haven’t really dealt with the deeper heart issue of repentance and turning TO God if I yet depend on diet soda. Yes, physically, outwardly, my body remains it’s “God-given size.” But my heart hasn’t yet given up the TASTE. I still want my taste buds to have the RIGHT (eek!) to enjoy the flavor of sweet…and the texture of the bubbles…
Now that I have cut myself away from that, I find myself drawing back to food lustfully. See, the soda masked that the problem in my heart was still there! I had “fixed the food” instead of allowing God to really fix my heart connection to the taste of sweet.
So the past three days especially, I have found myself willing to totally violate my own boundaries with night time eating of cookies…and I think somewhere in my mind I have had this thought, “I gave up soda, Lord, like you asked…you have asked me for years to hand it to you…so I should get SOMETHING in return for that!” Ugh…such arrogance and pride.
Clearly, a heart problem.
We must put our backs to the sin and walk away from it. And we must face Christ and walk towards Him. No half-hearted turning will free us from the power of sin; no partial turning will enable us to escape the temptation to overeat. (p. 35 TLT)
In my case, my partial turning was evident by my insistence on retaining a grip on diet soda. Yes, I have had times where I let go of caffeine and cut back on the soda consumption, but NEVER completely let it go…ALL of it.
This time, I have turned my back on the soda…but I didn’t turn TO God, to let HIM be my sufficiency and strength. TO love and serve the one TRUE GOD. So my repentance was partial and not really repentance at all.
One of the testimonies in TLT on page 36, was shared by “Nancy” who said: The evil is not in the eating [or the drinking]…my food [or drink] consumed my every thought. I arranged my day around it. Instead of calling to God in prayer, I stood at the cupboard or refrigerator seeking not God but food [or soda]. That is the sin. Food [and soda] was my god. That is what is wicked, as I had another idol.
Oh, how clearly I see this now. It isn’t about the food or the drink. It never is. Certainly we have to eat and drink to live. But it is about my HEART.
Read Isaiah 55:6-7 here.
There are four elements of repentance that can be drawn from this passage. I won’t list them here, but can you see them?
The author of TLT summarizes: It is not as if we’re merely turning away from sin only to be left empty and with no excitement or fulfillment in life. You see, as we turn from overeating and turn to God there is a blessed life of satisfaction and joy to be found in Jesus Christ. In reality, we are leaving the lesser and termporary pleasures for the greater and eternal ones. Yes, we are giving up the pleasures of sin, but we are gaining the pleasures of Christ and Psalm 16:11 describes the pleasures of Christ as eternal. (p. 37 TLT)
Romans 2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
Repentance, as it says in this lesson of TLT, is a by-product of God’s grace. His grace! Or like Beth Moore said at last week’s Breaking Free taping, we tend to think of repentance as our punishment…but it is a gift! Our right in Christ! He paid with his blood that we might experience God’s kindness leading us toward repentance.
Summary in Short:
True repentance is turning from sin in deed and thought and turning TO God’s ways. I know that I need not just to repent of my deeds, but of my lustful thoughts of food (or soda) as well. I can’t leave it there, either. I must turn TO God…to His Word, to prayer, to serving Him, to chasing hard after Him to love Him more. I know that it is His kindness that leads me to this place. He *grants* repentance in my heart as a gift.
