This is a short video, just over three minutes long. I hope it will encourage you, as it has me.
What weakness is God calling you to turn over to him? What is as a “staff” in your life, instead of a “scepter?”
Have you ever been startled, as if from sleep, to “awaken” at the bottom of a carton of ice cream or an empty cookie bag? You didn’t even see it coming, but somehow you binged your way through most of a half gallon of “Tin Roof Sundae” ice cream. What now?
Or, perhaps, out for Mexican food, you were physically hungry and planned to eat within godly parameters. After enjoying chips and queso, however, by the time your meal arrived you weren’t hungry any more and you ate half your meal anyhow. Each bite threw an accusation your way. What next?
What we choose to do with the moments that follow is vital!
So often, when faced with these or similar scenarios, we pull out what Thin Within calls “the club of condemnation” and beat ourselves up. The very things we need–comfort and forgiveness–are the very things we deny ourselves. When we refuse to rest in the grace that Jesus purchased for us with his life, his heart is grieved every bit as much or more than the thing we did that caused our shame in the first place. He created us for so much more than the shame we embrace when we find ourselves in a place of sin. In fact, when he died on the cross, he took on all the sin and shame. He doesn’t intend for us to wallow in shame now.
Last year, I studied the book Search for Significance by Robert S. McGee. He speaks about the affects of shame:
Shame usually results in guilt and self-deprecation, but it can also lead us to search for God and his answers. Our inner, undeniable need for personal significance was created to make us search for Him. He alone can fulfill our deep need. In Him, we find peace, acceptance, and love. The Search for Significance, p. 101 (emphasis mine)
When I trespass God’s boundaries for me, those “what then” moments can be spent the way he desires–redeeming what came before! He intends to use the very sin and “gunk” that I think makes me so awful in his sight to draw me even closer to his heart. When I overeat (again) or head to food when I am not hungry and fail to stop it before “damage” is done, in the “what now?” moment, I can choose to turn to him and experience his peace, acceptance and love.
I wonder…why don’t I? Why do I insist on living as if he counts all my sin against me? Why do I act as if the cross never happened and Jesus didn’t pay for my sin and shame? Why do I wallow in shame?
We often behave in a manner that is consistent with our perception of ourselves…seeing ourselves through the eyes of shame usually results in a pessimistic outlook on life and a lifestyle of destructive behavior. The Search for Significance, p. 102 (Emphasis mine.)
“Destructive behavior”…like repeatedly engaging in poor choices followed by self-condemnation!
When I allow shame to go unchallenged in my life, it has a way of seeping in to all the cracks and crevices, pervading every aspect of who I am, almost defining me if I let it. When I first realize that I have allowed myself to go down a path away from God’s best for me–when I ask, “What now?”–I want the answer to be to stop, confess, and repent or, to use a Thin Within term, observe (dispassionately) and correct (more about this after we start our study of the book on June 14). I don’t want shame to define moments that follow! When I feel shame, I tend to make more shameful choices. Shame doesn’t belong in the child of God!
Instead, I want to break free from this cycle completely, exercising the freedom purchased for me by Christ. Instead, I will live free from shame controlling me or my decisions. I will reject shame, which looks backward, and I will reject all of the things it represents in my life. I will embrace grace which embraces Christ in the now and looks forward to that for which Christ Jesus lay hold of me.
I choose to keep short accounts today. If I do find myself having eaten more than I should have (or snapping at the kids a bit more harshly, or having missed an opportunity to speak the truth to a pre-Christian neighbor), the “What next?” question will be answered with “observe and correct,” confess and repent. I will reject allowing my indiscretion in the past hour, day, month, or decade to define me.
How about you? Have you allowed shame to have a say in your life? What can you do to expose it and reject it? God calls us to press on and move forward!
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NOTE: Don’t forget, we continue to have a random drawing for a free copy of Thin Within! Comment to be entered in the drawing. The next winner will be selected late Sunday evening.
I have a treat for you all today. I am just sure you will love it–a special guest blogger!
Ron Edmondson is the pastor of Grace Community Church and founder of Mustard Seed Ministry. Ron blogs regularly on leadership, family and church life at http://www.ronedmondson.com.
Ron and his wife, Cheryl, have a heart for Kingdom-building, including in their own home. They have two sons, Jeremy, 21 and Nathaniel, 19 who have both experienced a call to full-time ministry.
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Pick Up Your Mat And Walk
Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” John 5:8 NIV
In order to appreciate the value of Jesus’ command, you need to consider the culture of the day. Today, although some may feel we don’t do enough, there are limited opportunities for the physically handicapped to work and lead productive lives. In Christ’s time on earth, the handicapped were outcast. They lived off handouts they could obtain from begging.
In the above instance, the man had been crippled for a long time. Probably the only possessions he had were the clothes on his back and the mat on which he lay. The mat was almost a symbol of the only hope in his life. His existence was one to be pitied. There was no known cure for what ailed him (except Jesus), and even if there had been, he certainly couldn’t have afforded it.
Jesus had sympathy for the man, and with the spoken word, the man was healed. Jesus told him to “Get up!” take his mat and walk. Obviously, this was a gift greater than anything money could have bought.
Whenever I read this verse, this question comes to mind:
What mat am I holding on to today? What mat are you?
This man was holding on to his mat. It had surely become a treasured possession to him. He slept on it, rested on it, and watched the world pass by on it. He couldn’t have imagined facing the day without it. Jesus tells him to pick it up and walk. When Jesus was finished with the man, he didn’t need the mat anymore. It would take faith to trust Jesus and attempt to walk, but the victory was worth it all. Instead of a mat of hope, this man had the hope of Christ!
What would Jesus have you and I pick up today? What are you holding on too tightly as your hope?
Are you drowning in your sorrow, because you refuse to completely trust God? Are you moping about the setbacks of your life, because you have failed to accept His grace? Are you suffering from the sin that has wrecked everything around you, because you won’t submit yourself to accountability? Do you hold back from committing to God because you are afraid He won’t accept you?
Whatever you are holding on to tighter than your faith, I believe Jesus would say, “Pick up your mat and walk!” Trust Him with that in which you currently trust the most. Permit Him to see you through the difficult days of life. Allow Him to carry your burdens, strengthen your walk and brighten your hope for the future.
Jesus wants to help you. Listen for His command to pick up your mat and walk!
What is that one thing you’ve never been able to let go of, but know you need to do so?
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied,“tell me to come to you on the water.”~ Matthew 14:28
Earlier today, my almost-16-year-old daughter, plopped down on the bed next to me where I was working on my laptop:
“Is this the longest you have ever kept your weight off?,” she asked.
Though I was taken aback by what *seemed* to be a question out of the blue, I retorted quickly enough: “But I *haven’t* kept it off!”
“Mom, you have had little ups and downs, but you aren’t anywhere close to where you were before!”
Her praise surprised me. I was about to wax eloquent, minimizing the “success” and maximizing my “failure.”
Then, I thought about Peter. He is often remembered for many things, including sinking after Jesus made it possible for him to walk on the water. We remember so much about that story…but the thing that stands out seems to be that Peter sank when he took his eyes off of Jesus.
Peter walked on the water!!! He got out of the boat!
How quick we are to forget just how amazing that is.
Was Peter changed from the experience of walking to Jesus on the water? Was he in awe of what is possible when he fixed his eyes on Jesus? Did he allow that thought to envelop him? Or did he brood:
How easy it is to focus on apparent failure, but think of those other eleven guys who were all in the boat. None of them failed. None of them sank. But none of them ever got out of the boat!
I have done similarly with my transformation. There have been big internal changes in addition to the outward physical ones. Today, I choose to delight in the fact I got out of the boat. I am changed inside and out because of the things God has shown me–about him, about me, about what is possible. If I am honest, I know that, at my smallest, my mindset wasn’t healthy. I am following this path imperfectly, but in my weakness, God Almighty is made evident and strong!
I am not where I was. I got out of the boat!
Why do I minimize my victories and maximize my defeats?
How about you? Can you celebrate that you have gotten out of the boat? Delight in all that is possible when you do put your eyes on Jesus. It changes you inside *and* out. You are never the same.
What will it take today to get you to stop focusing on the “sinking” and start celebrating the fact that you have gotten out of the boat and walked on the water at all? How might doing so change you today and change your approach to food, difficult situations, people, yourself, and God?
Thank you everyone for all your relevant comments. I have sure enjoyed our dialog this past week. I had hubby draw a name from all of those who have commented this week. If you commented, I put your name in the baggie. If you commented twice, you had two chances to win. If you commented 5 times, you had 5 chances! The single name that hubby pulled out of the baggie was:
praizer4ever
I think she has visited this blog once! LOL! I hope she comes back to see she has won!
Please contact me by Friday at harleysheidi at gmail dot com letting me know the name and address that you want the book sent to.
Starting fresh with week 3 comments…two more books left to win. One more a week from today and then the last one will be the night before the official beginning of our study!
Comment to be entered! 🙂
Thanks!
I have had you, a reader of my blog, on my heart a lot lately. I wish I could claim it was some noble, godly reason. I suppose, if I really try, I could claim that this is so. But truthfully…I have been ruing the fact that I shot off my mouth and ever claimed “Ok, so I love my thighs.”
It was much easier to claim when the weather was unseasonably overcast and cold. Jeans for normal wear and warm-up pants for tennis or racquetball kept everything hidden.
But yesterday…yesterday…it was 80 degrees and sunny for the first time in a while and we had a date to play tennis with another family.
I tried figuring out how I could justify hiding my legs beneath my warm-up pants. But in 80 degrees, black “warm-up” pants seemed ludicrous. Then, I thought of you. I remembered posting here about loving my thighs. I really hate it when I catch myself not living up to something I have said to you.
So, thinking of you and my desire to be authentic, real, faithful, I donned shorts. Yikes. I have never felt this way about my legs. Oops…that’s right, I still have to keep up the facade…I have to claim I love them, right? Well, nuts…I can’t say that. With an act of my will, maybe, but it sure isn’t easy! I am praying that I will quit being so visual about this and appreciate the service of my legs to the rest of my body. 🙂 Yes, when I focus on the service of my legs, I can be thankful. So I guess that is where I will have to land for now.
Anyhow, I guess in some strange way, I want to thank you for being here–a part of my virtual world. There is some manner of accountability for my words. Which is a good thing. You are a blessing to me in that respect, even in spite of myself.
There is no doubt about it. I am definitely in process. 🙂 Thank you for being with me on this journey.
I don’t mean “God doesn’t matter,” because of course He does!
What I do mean is, He doesn’t count sins.
Do you believe that?
Or do you think: “I have stuffed my face again. I know this time God has had it with me. It is only a matter of time before he says ‘That’s it. No more. I am through with you!’ “
If you are convinced that you can out-sin God’s love and kindness (which leads us to repentance), then ask Him to help you believe Psalm 32:2 a which says:
You see? God doesn’t count.
He can out-love, out-forgive, out-kindness anything you can possibly throw at him.
He doesn’t stand up in heaven with a tablet, making a list and checking it twice to see if you have been naughty or nice and, suddenly, do a second take…
….Oh no!! Horrors of horrors!
“No! That sin, right there…that one sin…is one too many! No more forgiveness. No more pardon! No more kindness. No more long suffering! I count one too many sins for ________ .” (Insert your own name there…)
That just won’t happen, thankfully.
Further on in Psalm 32, we read:
King David knew what it was like to struggle with starting a day with good intentions–to begin again, and again, and again–only to cave in to temptation. Instead of hiding from God, though, he typically acknowledged his sin, confessing his wrong to the Lord.
And, God forgave.
David moved on.
Jesus paid an exorbitant price so that forgiveness could be constantly, freely extended to you and to me–no matter how many sins. If we believe that God “has had it” with us, then we suck the life right out of the cross of Christ, saying the death Jesus died has its limits. That it isn’t sufficient.
Do we really want to say that?
Let’s believe! God doesn’t count. When we begin again, we really do begin again–fresh start, clean slate.
First John says God is love and 1 Corinthians 13 says that love keeps no record of wrongs done. So, I have to figure, then, God doesn’t keep a record of wrongs.
No, God doesn’t count.
Do you feel like you have “let God down?” Are you worried that God will “give up” on you? Can you choose to believe him–that he says he doesn’t count your sins against you? What can you do right now to walk in that truth?
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Don’t forget we are having a drawing for a Thin Within book by Arthur and Judy Halliday. Each Monday morning until June 14th, I will announce one winner. Your name is entered when you post a relevant comment here at the blog. I draw one name randomly from those that commented the previous week. It’s that simple and you can enter multiple times!
Note: If you have come here from Twitter or Facebook, please click on this link to be taken to the BEAUTIFUL post.
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Goodness, girls! I am too verbose for words! I tried to post this looooong comment in response to comments made on yesterday’s blog post about an Antidote to Steamrollered Intentions. But it was too many characters. So, I will learn from this and do differently in the future. LOL!
So, I hope you don’t mind that I post my comments in response to *your* comments here as a new blog post! 🙂
Hi, Sandy, God is really working with me on boundaries right now. It is amazing in how many ways, in fact. When I know I am agitated, I can’t allow myself to eat as I know I am far from honest. It is like the boundary I had for myself with my kids when they made disobedient choices. I had to wait until I wasn’t emotional before chastising them…this was a boundary for me to keep me from becoming an abuser. In a very real way, i need to have these boundaries in tact for me not to be “an abuser” of my body by putting into it food it doesn’t need. Same sort of principle.
One thing I have found about pain of my past, sometimes God walks me back through it *now* so that he can be with me through it and experience what he intends for the pain in the first place. It means revisiting those earlier days walking with him through the valley of the shadow, but with *him*, there is redemption of those times and formation of my character instead of coping mechanisms and denial–which is what I have used in the past. So his “do overs” include opportunities like this…even though they are soooo very hard, they are for healing.
It *is* a lot of “work” to change what we do when we are in pain. I think this is why many people “quit” Thin Within. It is much easier for us to focus on food…counting grams, calories, points, whatever, then it is to really look at why we turn to food and to begin to learn new ways of coping. As we learn new ways of coping we are a bit raw. Not a fun place to be.
Yes, Father, I join Sandy in her prayer and ask that you would help all of us to have boundaries. Bless the ladies who will join in this study on June 14th, Lord.
Thank you for your prayers Sandy!
Hi, Kim. Isn’t that the truth? There is a lot of character building we may have missed because we learned to cope without the benefit of the guidance that would have helped our challenges to become opportunities for growth.
So true, Kim. As adults we *are* slow learners so often! LOL! I am with you. I, too, want to allow God to develop His character in me.
LeeAnne, I am so glad that God knows what we need when we need it. He always amazes me that way!
Hey, here is a thought! When we DO “blow it,” let’s celebrate the moments that came before and the one we have now and that will yet be ahead that we can capture for God. I think sometimes we allow our “defeats” to multiply because we mull them over in our minds and beat ourselves up for them…we don’t move forward.
Here is the thing we sometimes miss…or *I* do… we *are* free in Christ! We have to learn to *walk* in that freedom. I have a chinchilla. he is pretty old. He has spent all his life in a cage. When I have let him out of his cage, he has become fearful, uncomfortable. All the freedom offered to him and he prefers the familiarity of his cage. I think I am like little Dusty sometimes. God has given me freedom, but I don’t walk in it.
I am so glad you like the 5 minute idea. I have found it a VERY helpful “boundary” for me.
Hi, Believerkjk – Oh yes! We put such a burden on ourselves that God never asks that we carry. Yet we do and then we feel we have “let God down.” Oh my! We were never holding him up! 🙂 You are so right. It isn’t my job to make everything happy for everyone. I think in the book Search For Significance the author points out that my attempts to constantly make everyone happy is really my attempt to control them…it sounds so nice on the one hand…trying to make others happy. LOL! But you (and the author of that book) are right. It is my attempt to exert control on others! Yikes!
I hope you are finding much joy and comfort in crawling up into Abba’s lap. That picture I put on the blog of my husband with our baby girl (almost 16 years ago) is precious. She always rested so content with him. He is such a tender, nurturing father. I see in him so many characteristics of my heavenly Father. If I could just relate to GOD this way…the way my babies have related to his tenderness. WOW! That would transform everything! AND PRAISE GOD FOR THE VICTORY you experienced!!! YAY for another marble in the jar!
Hi, Peggy. One of the things I sometimes do during tougher seasons is try to carve out even 5 minutes mid-afternoon of refocusing on the Lord and act like it is the start of a new day–even at 3:30pm! I commit “this day” afresh to him and that sometimes helps. Sounds silly! LOL! Thank you so much for your kind words. You encourage me so very much. At times, this weary wanderer needs that. 🙂
Oh, Diahn…thank you so much for your encouraging words, too. No, you aren’t alone. You can see from the comments here at the blog that we share so much in common. We really *are* sisters. It is amazing how God connects us, isn’t it? Prayers for you today, dear one. He is near to you. He delights over you with singing. Do you hear his voice in the whisper? 🙂
You all are such a blessing to me. Thank you for your ministry to my heart. God is awesome, isn’t he?
I don’t think I have shared this here before. I wonder how it would affect my view of myself, food, and eating (and a million other things) if I believed the words of this song? I hope it blesses you as it does me. 🙂
How about you? Do you believe the words of this song? How might it affect you to believe what God says about you in his Word?
Have you ever started the morning with quiet time with God, loved his presence, committed your day to him, resolved that you will move forward in your walk with God and make choices in line with godly principles–all day? Then, within five minutes of your final “Amen” of your quiet time, “POOF!” all your good intentions were steamrollered by who-knows-what? The very thing you wanted to do, you didn’t and the very thing you hated was what you did?
I have. A lot lately! It seems.
“Agitation” happens in my home and, when it does, a switch flips in me, taking me back to my challenging childhood. I end up feeling…trapped…. like I am walking on the egg shells I did when I was a kid growing up with a mom who tried to commit suicide a number of times, like the mental health (and possibly physical health) of the people around me, depends on me somehow. Good grief! I think that is taking on a bit more than God intends, don’t you? I end up living in fear, which is never a godly place to be.
In these moments, I feel like a kid, trapped in a dysfunctional, abusive, scary and out of control environment, grasping for some way to be in control and some way to comfort myself. All my positive goals seem blocked by the people I live with and something takes over my mind with the thought: I just want to eat. It is a rebellious feeling like: “I can TOO do what I want. YOU can’t STOP me…I can TOO be ‘in control!’ I can eat!”
Thin Within calls this “flesh machinery.” It is pretty clear why! I act like I am on “automatic.” Recognizing it enables me to stop it in the strength God provides in the moment.
I don’t want to eat when I am not hungry. What I really want is to be able to live in peace with the people I love, to live in peace with God, with myself, and with food. This is a longing for heaven, I realize. It won’t be realized perfectly until I am in heaven with Jesus.
However, something in me from my past looks to food for comfort, protection and control. This tendency is rooted in deception and recognizing that, I can replace lies with God’s truth.
I am learning afresh that boundaries are designed to keep me safe, offer comfort, and godly control. Boundaries keep me safe as yellow lines down the center of the road–each driver stays out of the other side (hopefully). Boundaries keep me from taking what I want off store shelves without paying and getting tossed in jail. So, I must respond to godly boundaries as helpful guardians in my eating as well, instead of viewing them resentfully, as yet another block to my goal during the times of agitation in my home and life.
Obviously, God wants to be comfort, protection and control for me. He is these things. He is protection. He is comfort. This is one reason why studying the attributes of God is so powerful for me.
Knowing this tendency in me, in those moments when the kids are at one another’s throats, godly boundaries serve me well. Simply, if I am agitated, it isn’t time to eat…I must give a loving “no” to that little girl who feels trapped back 35 years ago in a home with two alcoholic, raging parents.
Instead, I will crawl up into my Abba’s lap and allow him to comfort me with his love and delight over me with singing.
The LORD your God is with you,he is mighty to save.He will take great delight in you,he will quiet you with his love,he will rejoice over you with singing.– Zephaniah 3:17
How about you? Are you “triggered” in some way that sends you to food for comfort, protection, or control? What godly boundaries can you have that will offer you what you really need during those times?
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