Today I just want to highlight quotes from the lesson in The Lord’s Table workbook.
Those who are focused on Jesus live victoriously over habitual sin. Our focus determines the direction of our life. (TLT, p. 171)
We need to look outside ourselves, look beyond the food, to the Person of Jesus Christ and “point our nose” at Him. This will keep us flying “straight and level.” (TLT, p. 171)
Dear friends, now we are children of God,
and what we will be has not yet been made known.
But we know that when he appears,
we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself,
just as he is pure.
Everyone who sins breaks the law;
in fact, sin is lawlessness.
But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.
And in him is no sin.
No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.
No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
-1 John 3:2-6
When he appears, we will be like Him. Oh how this should encourage our hearts, for so often while we are in this world we see that we are not like Him, and it hurts us to see these areas in which we are weak. It seems that each day we discover there is something else that must be extracted from our lives in order to reveal His image in us. A day is coming when we will indeed be like Jesus, completely. (TLT, p. 171)
Given the things that I have done recently, I receive a great deal of encouragement from these words. It has broken my heart, indeed, to see anew just how many ways in which I fall short of being Christ-like. I don’t mean in the sense of bashing myself over the head…just in the sense of being absolutely clueless…blind.
Yes, it *does* seem like each day there is something else that “must be extracted” from my life “in order to reveal His image” in me. It was the diet soda, then it was sweets, it was the scale…it feels like there are so many things to which I cling…the internet…you, my internet friends…God asks me lovingly, “Am I enough…really enough?” If all else were stripped away and all that was left, would I find Him satisfying? Truly ENOUGH for me?
I appreciate that this lesson points out that in 1 John 3:2 there is an important word there…translated “because” in some translations. Translated “for” in the NIV.
“But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
I WILL be like Him…and why? Because I shall see Him! The key is seeing Jesus…As I gaze on Him now, I will be transformed now.
Oh the power behind this one little verse. It teaches us that seeing Jesus changes us into His image. Though while on this earth we will always have some part of us that needs to change, if we focus on Christ we will slowly be changed into His image even now. (TLT, p. 171)
We must remain committed to seeing Him or else we will become distracted with pride that we’re doing so well, or with our appearance and comments from others, or any number of other things. Focusing on Jesus Christ is the answer to all of these distractions that can come our way. (TLT, p. 172)
I know for a fact that this is true. It is very easy to be distracted.
But whenever anyone turns to the Lord,
the veil is taken away.
Now the Lord is the Spirit,
and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom.
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory,
are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:16-18
My favorite quote in today’s lesson is this one from page 174:
When we see Jesus we are granted liberty! Do you see it? The answer to our weight problem is to turn to the Lord; that is, to stop attempting to gain God’s favor by what we do, to stop trying to work our way into a right standing with God, and simply turn to the Lord! When we thus stop working for righteousness but rather turn to the Lord in repentance, we will catch a glimpse of Him and His beauty that will stun us! We will see in Him all that is needed to deal with our entire sin problem; the guilt, the shame, and the power of it. And as we gaze at Him we are slowly changed into His image.
Rather than give a detailed summary of what is in the TLT workbook today, I am going to flesh it out.
Three things in this lesson: 1.) Take captive every thought and let Christ be the judge of whether or not the thought should be allowed entrance into the mind and heart. If Christ says no, reject the thought…but this must be done to see if CHRIST wants the thought in there. I can either take the thought captive or be taken captive by the thought. The passage is 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.
2.) It isn’t enough to just reject negative thoughts. We must also embrace thoughts that are godly. This principle is found in Philippians 4:8. Do my thoughts (or what I am reading, watching, etc…) pass the “Philippians 4:8 Test?” The idea being I will only dwell on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable and praiseworthy. When it comes to rejecting negative thoughts, we have to also have something positive to think about…God’s Word provides that.
3.) Philippians 4:9 takes it a step further. Whatever we know to do, we are to DO it. This connects with the previous lessons.
This three step process will enable us to not be taken captive by lustful or greedy thoughts about food when we aren’t hungry. Or to allow ourselves be beaten up by the enemy when he accuses us.
And this is what I want to hash out here today…
This is very hard for me. Only a week ago (it feels like forever…) I obeyed what I felt the Lord wanted me to do and put the scale away “forever.” But this came at the tail end of a fasting of sweets which was in response to my reaction to having given up diet soda drinking (which I drank verrrry excessively).
But rather than throwing other “must dos” at myself in response to removing aspartame from my life, I should have *processed* what was going on in me when I removed the diet coke. That would have been a grace-filled thing to do.
While the caffeine withdrawals likely took only a few short days to weather through, the psychological and spiritual withdrawals from diet soda were much more severe and intense. I found myself gravitating toward sweet foods again.
So I fasted sweet foods. While I fasted sweets for about 10 days, I was at such peace…but when I allowed them in my life again, I found that a “dieting mentality” had crept back into my mind and heart. Subtly, my thinking had shifted from “all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial…I will not be mastered by anything…” to THESE ARE NOT permissible! THIS IS NAUGHTY! I am BAD! Followed by desperately rebelling against that rigidity…
At the same time, I knew there was one more stronghold in my life…that of depending on the bathroom scale. So I decided to remove it from my life. Do you see the desperation? I was throwing band-aids everywhere. Likely what I needed to do was *process* the removal of a significant thing from my life…diet soda. I missed that.
All of this was taking on a lot emotionally at one time. (This sounds so whiny and ridiculous to me…) I am not sure all of this at the same time was from the Lord. Certainly, I think he would have wanted me to process what was going on in my reaction as I came off of nutrasweet. I deflected really doing that. Instead I treated symptoms…fasted sugar. Adding more angst and emotional baggage, perhaps, to things that needed to be brought before the throne of God.
Ok, so where does that leave me today?
Today I pulled out the scale. (The voice says “Another failure…”) It reflected what I knew to be true. My eating is off kilter. I didn’t need the scale to tell me that, but I began to feel like NOT having a man-made number to attach to it at this stage of my journey was to be in denial.
I share this with such struggle…the accusations of the enemy have come to fruition. He laughs with glee. The scale actually says SIX POUNDS up. I need to confess this here…by way of keeping a lid on pride and by way of accountability. Given my accountability reports to my accountability partner, there must also have been a LOT of deception going on too!
This is where today’s lesson really comes home, though.
My response to this man-made arbitrary number (and the rest that goes with it) is deep sadness. Truthfully, it isn’t the number alone that makes me sad. It is the truth that my greed and DECEPTION has put me in the place that it shows up so quickly on the scale.
The thoughts that are now bombarding me for entrance into my life are all the same voices that the enemy has thrown at me for a couple of years now… “See? You ARE a fraud!” “You may think you have everyone fooled, but WE know the truth! The scale is finally proving it!” “You *are* a glutton! You ARE forever going to be a fat person trying to pretend she is someone else!” “Admit it! Give it up! You are a fake!”
These are the thoughts that are demanding entrance this morning.
The bottom line is this…the TRUTHS in my life are: 1.) I have been eating more than my body needs to be sustained 2.) Most of my eating outside of my godly boundaries has been sweet foods 3.) My physical body is beginning to carry the excess energy (By the way…before I got on the scale I knew this from the way my jeans were fitting…just a bit more snug…I didn’t really need the number to tell me anything!)
These are the TRUTHS.
In addition the following are truths as well:
4.) God is still God. 5.) I am still the Lord’s 6.) He is STILL doing a NEW thing in me right now! 7.) That which He has begun he WILL complete — His Word promises!
Going back to the steps outlined in today’s lesson in The Lord’s Table, then, step one is to surrender my thoughts to obedience to Christ. In this case, I must recognize that all the things that the enemy is whispering in my ear…they are LIES. So I will take captive each thought and bring it to God. He says “No…REJECT IT.” I will reject the enemy’s lies.
Step 2 then is to submit my thoughts to the Philippians 4:8 test. What is TRUE is vital here…so the list above is what I will rehearse in my mind today. Especially items 4-7 and related thoughts.
However, the truth is also that I have work to do relative to this whole nutrasweet dependency. Just because it is out of my life doesn’t mean I don’t have issues to deal with. It reminds me of addiction…often when you take the substance that is being abused out of a person’s life, they maintain the same behaviors, but with a different substance. Thus, the true issues aren’t dealt with.
God wants to deal with the underlying issues that motivate me to grab a hold of whatever it may be. He wants me to grab a hold of him no matter what! The only “substance” that I am to lean on is HIM.
Then thirdly, if I follow the lesson in TLT, I will DO what I know is best and right. For me, this has to include some ways of fighting negative thoughts today. So here is my battle plan: 1.) Gratitude blog today…I will write in it later today, but practice gratitude throughout the day 2.) I will get out my spiral cards and keep them with me today…bible verses are on them. I will work on memorizing a new one and review old ones I have memorized. I will pray the scriptures on them 3.) I will continue to pray every 60 minutes to reconnect with God (Soul Revolution the 60-60 experiment) 4.) I will keep praise music playing 5.) I will spend some time prayer journaling today…
I do plan on attacking the deeper issues as soon as TLT study is completed. My accountability partner and I will be going through the Hallidays’ Get Thin Stay Thin book together. (This book used to be called Thin Again and before that it was called Silent Hunger. It is a challenging book that looks at the underlying causes of our overeating (and other things)…it is what I need right now, even though I went through it some years ago…).
If I have a thought of “You weigh _____! You are a FRAUD!” I will combat that with, “I am more than a conqueror in Christ. God IS doing a new thing in me! I perceive it! I will fix my eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of my faith…” and so on.
So…how about you? Do you have a battle of the mind going on today too? What can you do to apply these three things: 1.) Take captive thoughts to obedience to Christ? 2.) Submit your thinking, your doing, reading, watching to the Philippians 4:8 test? 3.) DO something that will be a response to what you KNOW? (Phil 4:9)?
I am one that typically doesn’t like to beat around the bush. It just never seems to serve any purpose but to massage away truth, so why do it?
Today’s lesson in The Lord’s Table workbook hits the nail on the head.
For the years that I carried 100 pounds of extra weight, I don’t think I would have been terribly receptive to the message shared in the lesson in TLT today. In fact, in spite of my being somewhat direct usually, I hesitate sharing it on the blog here. I know that many who come along to this blog will see this entry as their first exposure possibly to Thin Within…
Rather than having anything I post here be used to heap condemnation on the soft-hearted sojourner, I want to remain sensitive to the tender one who is earnestly seeking the Lord (possibly through tears…) about how to break free from habitual struggles with overeating and lethargy.
Someone reading this feels emprisoned in their body…she wants so desperately to break out. The last thing I want is for anything posted here to be used of the enemy to add yet more shackles of shame or guilt to the prison…The Lord has blown the door of the prision cell!
In a nutshell, a summary of today’s lesson in TLT workbook…
Those of us struggling with our weight often are dealing with…well, very specifically…with gluttony and laziness.
Ouch.
Gluttony and laziness are sins for which Jesus was crucified, and from which we can become completely free, by His grace. (TLT, p. 164)
I hope you hear the above message! YES, these are sins like many others (gossip, slander, stealing, drunkenness, etc)…but we can ALL be free! Jesus died for ALL sins and the shame of the sin as well. We can become completely, 100% FREE! Do you believe this? Do I?
In our society we don’t often hear this message that struggling with weight is *often* (not always) a result of gluttony and laziness. Instead, we consider the habits that lead us to being miserable in our bodies a “nuisance” or as if we are “victims” instead of sinful people all in need of a Savior.
But that is the point! We don’t need to feel beat up about this! Instead of being hammered into the ground as worthless and rotten (a lie from the pit of hell), we are esteemed so highly by the GOD of the UNIVERSE that He gave His Son so that we might experience victory over EVERYthing that plagues us and rise above all our earthly struggles!
This is GREAT news! Denying our state does nothing to help us. Calling it something else…an “addiction,” a “condition,” whatever…it doesn’t change us. Acknowledging that we are beggars in need of bread makes all the difference in the world. In humility, I can come to the Lord and receive the FEAST for my SOUL that He has provided through Jesus’ offering on the cross for me.
He died for me to be free from ALL sin! Oh, let him not die in vain!
Have you ever looked in the mirror–maybe first thing in the morning or, perhaps, on your way out from using the restroom–and seen some unsightly blemish or smudge or…well, whatever it may be…right there in the middle of your face?
I tend not to be one of those who uses make-up. It isn’t by way of a “godliness” thing for me, frankly. It is because I am quite lazy and quite active. It never seems to be worth it to primp to look good, only to go out and sweat myself back into my “natural” unkempt state! But I know that I am a bit unusual for a woman my age.
It seems like everywhere I go, from Sam’s Club to a fancy orchestra performance, women are looking in the mirror and stopping to “fix” whatever it is they see.
Can you imagine if one of them had a big smudge of dirt or something across their foreheads, they looked, saw it and just shrugged and headed off? Most women wouldn’t dream of doing that. Why would they bother to look in the mirror in the first place?
For years, I basically did this in a more extreme way. I tried to *avoid* looking in the mirror or in reflective glass so I would NOT see myself. Whenever I *did* get a look, I was shocked at the size of my body. I would quickly try–intentionally–to forget what I looked like. If I could do that, then, I defectively reasoned, I wouldn’t have to deal with the facts and all the implications.
This was no way to become healthy. This was denial in its purest, most dangerous form physically.
It is probably easy to read that admission of mine and to consider it rather stupid. After all, denying that it is true doesn’t mean it *isn’t* true. Pretty easy to see, right?
Yet, how often do I do that with the Word of God? James 1:21-25 says that if I read what is in the Word and don’t do what it says, I am exactlylike the person who looks in the mirror and then goes off forgetting what he has seen. I am just like I was when I would try to deny the truth of what was reflected back to me when I was so large…or if I go into the bathroom after working out in the forest, moving gravel, cutting up felled trees with my husband and fail to deal with the smudge of green gunk across my forehead.
How ridiculous is it to take time to be in the Word of God and yet not DO what it says? God’s Word is there to show me what I need to allow God’s grace at work in me to change. If I read the Word, then close the cover and head off to do my life, I am not only missing it, but I am likely feeding spiritual pride in a BIG way.
In fact, I have often taken great pride in all of my bible study experience. I have shelves and shelves of completed workbooks, Community Bible Study notebooks and have *even* written bible studies (are you impressed yet?). For years, I have loved to read God’s Word, to study it and memorize it. I will quote it copiously in my prayers and when speaking to Christian friends and when called to speak to women’s groups. (Ok, so NOW you simply MUST be impressed…right?)
Yet how often do I let it get through to where I live? I mean, how many bible studies do I NEED? How many more bible study blanks do I need to fill out on the subject of honoring God with my body before I DO IT?
It is a ruse, see? It is a way of being in denial. Of deflecting what is needed. If I can point to my “godly” knowledge of scripture, then maybe I don’t have to deal with the facts. It is the same thing as what I did when I pretended that I didn’t SEE the reflection that proved I was carrying 100 pounds of extra weight. Only it is much worse…
Jesus described it this way in Luke 6:47-49:
I will show you what he is like
who comes to me and hears my words
and puts them into practice.
He is like a man building a house,
who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock.
When a flood came,
the torrent struck that house but could not shake it,
because it was well built.
But the one who hears my words
and does not put them into practice
is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.
The moment the torrent struck that house,
it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
This challenges me to my very soul. I want to be one who isn’t shaken during the floods and storms of life. I want to be one who doesn’t collapse when a torrent hits.
It requires humility to receive the Word. A test of humility is seen in if I will obey what I have been shown already. Will I DO what the Lord has shown me? If I don’t DO what the Lord has shown me, then adding yet more “study” of God’s Word to my life is not feeding my soul at all…but merely feeding my pride.
Yesterday’s study was on feeding the soul by spending time in God’s Word, but today’s lesson connects with that one by pointing out so well that my soul is only fed…truly fed…if I not only take in God’s Word, but DO it. I mean, even JESUS said that his food was to do the will of the Father!
James 1:22 says if I only listen to the word and don’t DO it, I DELUDE myself. This journey I am on with the Lord is one about welcoming the infusion of TRUTH into my life. I try my best to expose the Deceiver and his wiles when they appear. I know one of his tactics is to try to delude me. Why would I want to cooperate with his schemes by deluding myself?
Lord, help me to quit pursuing more “feel good” things from your Word at the expense of all that you want to do in my life to make me more like Jesus. I think sometimes I go to your Word looking for it to massage my sin rather than to expose and eradicate my sin. I misapply “grace” and use it as a “cuddle blanket” or something to make me feel better about myself when you have chosen that your Word will teach, rebuke, correct and train me in righteousness. You have said that this same grace that brings salvation teaches me to say NO to ungodliness and to change the way I live. Lord, I want to not merely be a hearer of your Word, but a doer as well. Work in me the humility of heart, Lord. Keep me from denying what is in my life…help me to welcome your work. Hebrews 4 says that the Word of God For the word of God is living and active. It is sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. That can be pretty painful at times, Lord. Help me to welcome this penetrating look straight into the mirror of your Word, Lord. You have promised that if I look intently into the perfect law–your Word that gives freedom–and that if I continue to do this, not forgetting what I have heard, but do it—I will be blessed in what I do. Lord, that is what I desire…to be shaped and formed by your Word. Transform me. Renwe me. Remake me. Let me not leave my time quiet with you in the morning without a commitment to do what you have laid on my heart to do. I look forward to the freedom that comes from this and the blessing you promise. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
The lesson today brought to the forefront that we should make it our priority each morning to come to God’s Word first and foremost to obtain happiness in the Lord…not to let go of His Word until we experience His deep nourishment in our souls.
This isn’t to be done so that we can share with others or have an idea of what to say to them or to get input about ministry. This is done merely to feed our souls.
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. – Psalm 63:1-8
When I gave up aspartame–the artificial flavoring that makes diet sodas taste so good–it was as if I had taken the lid off of Pandora’s Box…out came reality! I discovered that I had never dealt with an “issue” of mine…even through the year of steady weight release and the subsequent year of maintaining my new weight. I had a “thing” –a BIG THING– for sweets!
By the time I finally obeyed the Lord in this, I could guzzle down a 12-pack of diet cherry Pepsi easily in a day. And come up for air only to look around for more!
So, when I finally responded to God asking me to release this to him, I found myself rebounding back toward sweet foods…and realized that I had to do something…and fast!…or I would gain weight in a hurry! Not only that, but I could see that this was an area of BIG bondage for me! I was in captivity!
This, in a nutshell is where the idea to fast sweets for a short season came from.
In retrospect,this had a good affect…but also there has been a detriment. I am trying to figure it out now. While I was fasting sweets for about 10 days, I was at peace. I didn’t feel deprived or ripped off. It was wonderful. Of course, I knew the fast would end and I would then, I assumed, be “normal.” HA!
After the fast ended, I went bonkers. Nuts. Insane. Inhaling sweet foods like there was no tomorrow.
Ok…I have to get a hold of myself again. Lord? What do you want? Moderation in all things, right?
Yet this struggle has continued. A little stress entered my life yesterday and I found myself going nuclear in the kitchen finding all manner of holiday treats to toss in my mouth (not to mention that Michaela has been baking up a storm! EEEK! Someone SAVE ME!).
I know that nothing is wrong with sweet foods. I know that all things are permissible, but for me, there is a problem.
Thing is, yesterday, I found myself back into a dieting mentality mode that I hadn’t experienced in a LONG time. I was thinking of sweet foods as “bad” again…and given how I am prone to be a rebel…that was all I needed to want them all the more.
I know this isn’t what God wants. As my accountability partner said, I seemed to be at peace so much during the 10 days I didn’t have any sweet foods. I would like to be at peace with moderation of all things in my life. I would like to not have to make things “taboo” in order to manage them.
I have been debating about whether to fast sweet foods again or not…and to extend that fast longer…or not…and I must admit…after what I have seen as a shift in my thinking over the past few days, I fear doing that! I know the Lord will lead me…but this is ridiculous! When I first began walking this path faithfully in November of 2006, I didn’t feel this way about sweet foods. I could handle them in moderation. It was not a big deal. So what has happened? Well, eliminating diet sodas has! And presto! I am in kindergarten again!
The lesson in The Lord’s Table workbook this morning reminded me that food and drink are designed by God to point to Christ. Colossians 2:13-17 is the text used.
When I think about this…it is profound. My fixation, my desire, my longing for sweet foods…if I consider the sweet foods as only a shadow and Christ the reality, then all that I look to cookies, candy, ice cream (gosh, this is embarassing…you would think I could grow up!) to do for me…Christ is the reality. Those foods are merely shadows.
So when the stress hit me yesterday, I was feasting on shadows…trying somehow to quell the tide of fear and anxiety. Yet the fear and anxiety and stress remained…well, of course! I was feasting on the shadow. Scriptures SAY that JESUS is the reality. Had I turned to HIM with such eagerness, HE would have whispered “Peace be still” to the storm and totally satisfied my heart which was in an uproar.
If I longed for CHRIST as I long for sweet foods, if I ran to HIM as I have been running to sweet foods…I would experience the reality satisfying my yearning, rather than the shadow only making my longing so much greater.
If food and drink are shadows of Christ, why be consumed with the shadow? Why not enjoy the reality that they respresent? (TLT, p. 154)
