I wanted to preface this day of TLT with yesterday’s post because I know that many of us have been through TLT or TW a million times and struggle with physical “results”…and some of us may even understand that this is not about food, eating or my body, but about something deeper and still not see “results” in our behavior, values, heart, walks with Christ.
I do NOT want anything in my blog or that I say anywhere to bring about condemnation. So, if you have gone through TLT before and are reminded “Victory is Here at Last!” was day 3’s title, you might end up feeling a spirit of condemnation.
Reject it, dear One!!! (Sorry, the “Dear One” just slipped out :-)…I know it is a Beth Moore-ism, but it does actually come from my heart…you *are* dear to me, you out there in blog land!)
Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. So please shake it off. Further, it says in Romans 5:8 that God demonstrated his own love for you in this…that WHILE you were yet sinning, Jesus died for you. Not once you had your act together…but WHILE you were yet sinning.
So, please don’t allow the enemy to take you captive with a spirit of condemnation.
How well I know the temptation to do that. Yesterday, for example, I had the wonderful privilege of sharing with a Thin Within group. I am so thankful (and baffled) to get to be used of God in any way…but somehow, the rest of the day was a mindless blur of “am I hungry? I think I am hungry? Am I hungry now? Should I eat? I will eat so I can get rid of the wondering…” and eating in response to all of that. I don’t really understand it. But I know that I struggled with feelings of condemnation… “How could I possibly have shared with a group by morning about things that have changed my life so deeply, yet by 2pm act like one unchanged? What kind of hypocrite am I?”
Join me in rejecting such thoughts. Condemnation isn’t from the Lord to us. God’s Word says in John 3 that God sent his son into the world NOT to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him. God’s Word reminds me that it is God’s kindness that leads me to genuine repentance…not condemnation.
It doesn’t mean I shouldn’t confess, but 1 John 1:9 says that if I confess my sin He is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse me of ALL unrighteousness!
So that said, I will share some thoughts on Day 3 of TLT–again, I recommend this for personal study from the printed workbook. 🙂
On page 8 of the workbook, the question was asked, “Is there a way to be satisfied in Christ and know that we will never return to the old ways of using food in an attempt to satisfy the heart?”
I have to say…this was the key question that has been plaguing me lately. Although I have been at this weight now for just over a year–I know that the passions of my heart were more committed to honoring God at other parts of this journey. That concerns me. I mean, I actually see the same heart that caused me to turn to food for just about everything…well, it doesn’t seem as changed as it should be by now…I want to turn to Christ for satisfaction in everything. No matter what happens. Even when I share emotionally with others and feel pain again…even when my husband travels and worry begins to assault me that this time he may not return safely…even when my daughter surprises me with a self-centered response to a mild request for help…even when my horse acts like none of the years of working together to form a solid, safe partnership have happened (and all the work that has entailed) and it all seems to amount to NOTHING…even when I visit with my mother…I want CHRIST ALONE TO BE MY SATISFACTION. I want HIM to be my ROCK. I want to turn to HIM for peace, for comfort…to be my all.
I have so much yet to learn. Truly…THAT is what this is all about.
So what if I have been at my “naturally thin size” for a year?
Someday, I hope to be able to say, “For a year, I have had a heart that turns to God for satisfaction…” That is what I want for the rest of my life. I want to pant for the Lord like the deer does for streams of water…I want to know what the psalmist meant…KNOW it because I live it…when he said, “NOTHING on earth has anything that cuts it for me, God!”
When I read in Day 3 these words I felt exposed again! Here they are…although refering to a “fad diet” and weight lost on it, I really do think it applies to me:
“…we often think that we have solved the problem. But in reality we may have just hidden it. We can now think ‘No one knows because I am thin.’ The truth is that we need to be fat on Jesus.” (page 9 The Lord’s Table)
I SO don’t want to be a fraud. I SO don’t want to show up to speak or encourage a Thin Within group, for instance, and have them look at my outward appearance and assume that I am not in the trenches. I SO want to be real…and I so want my REAL to be wholly devoted to the Lord.
I thought I wanted THIN so badly. Now that I have been THIN for a year, I see I want HOLY so much more. I want these lusts of my flesh GONE. I want to yearn for the LORD. I want to turn to HIM in my need.
Jeremiah 15:16 says “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.”
I want to delight in the truth of God and His Word. I want to genuinely feel that His Word and time in His presence, focusing on HIM, is so much more enjoyable and satisfying than anything else could be…including eating the most wonderful food (even 0 to 5 for that matter!).
Anyhow, my summary of Day 3s teaching is this: God WILL satisfy. Cultivate a habit of going to him ALL the time through prayer and His Word. As I make this apart of my life throughout the day, I will know permanent change and victory!
Application: What will I do today to assure that I turn to the Lord when I need satisfaction?
