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!
