by Deanna Lewis | Dec 18, 2015 | Blog, Inspiration, Renew Mind
STOP.
Take a M O M E N T.
~~~~breathe~~~~
Christmas is next week and I’m sure most of us are trying to finish up all the last minute preparations, cooking, gift purchases and wrapping. Some may be preparing for guests to arrive. Some may be packing to go visit family.
I don’t know about you, but I tend to feel overwhelmed this time of year. With all the music programs to prepare, gifts to buy, parties to attend…..etc….You get the idea. And I tend to feel a bit self conscious, too, especially if I have to be around extended family. Thoughts of insecurity roll around in my head at this time of year….
“What will Aunt Clare think of me? I know she will notice I haven’t lost much weight this year.”
“Do I look good enough in this dress?”
“I feel like the whole family is judging me!”
“Ugh! Here comes ‘super-successful’ and fit ‘Barbie-doll-likeness’ cousin Julie!
What will she say when I tell her about hunger/fullness? She’s gonna think I’m crazy!”
No matter where we are or what we are doing, one thing is true. Ready or not, Christmas Day will come. And it will go. The question remains….what will we do with it?
What will *I * do with it? Will I allow myself to focus on “me” and my insecurities? Ultimately, when I get into this type of thinking, it doesn’t end well. That is when I have noticed I will break my boundaries.
So, how do I remember to keep focused on the right things when all the stuff going on around me screams of stress and insecurity within?
I STOP.
I have to be still.
I take a moment and
~~~breathe~~~
When I do this I remember that I really need to renew my mind with God’s truth.
So….
- I pray.
- I think.
- I listen.
- I read God’s word.
I think about a few things from that night long ago….when the angels came to announce Jesus was born.
And God reminds m
e about who the angels came to. Did they come to the so called “important” people? Did they come to kings? The rich? The beautiful people of the world? No.
They came to shepherds. They came to these outcasts of that day’s society. They were dirty, stinky and lowly.
They would be like today’s homeless people or garbage men (no offence to all our wonderful sanitation workers, for where would we be without them????)
Shepherds weren’t considered well liked, good looking or ‘well to do’ by worldly standards and yet God specifically picked them. He picked these outcasts of society to be the first ones to see Jesus. They were the first group of people to worship Him!
Jesus reminds me that He comes to me…..even though I may not feel beautiful at times or not “successful” by the world’s standards.
And HE COMES TO ALL OF US. Those who feel outcast, not good enough, not THIN enough, not pretty enough, not enough self control to follow that diet -yes- He came as a baby for US.
Angels came to those shepherds with a message of hope.
Luke 2:8-12
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Listen.
Listen now.
Listen to the whispers from the Savior to your heart today. Oh yes – to us who may be feeling an outcast or defeated-
“FEAR NOT! Do not be afraid that you are not enough for this world. For I love You with an everlasting love and you are mine. Yes, I bring you good news of great JOY! I came as a baby so you can be free- and for you to follow me. Let me release these chains that bind- the lies that try to keep you bound. Come- come to the manger, my daughters- come and experience my peace and my hope- and yes- The JOY of my true Love.”
Oh sisters….let’s live this out next week and RIGHT NOW!
O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him,
Christ the LORD!
“I pray that God, the source of hope will fill you completely with Joy and Peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” -Romans 15:13
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
by Becky Young | Dec 15, 2015 | Accountability, Inspiration
We just got hit with a massive snowstorm here in Colorado! I awoke to 10 inches of snow on the ground and another 2 inches have fallen in the last 3 hours alone. It didn’t look like it was going to let up anytime soon, so I headed out to shovel our driveway and sidewalk. After 45 minutes of shoveling a foot of heavy snow, giant snow banks had formed on either side of my driveway. I had to lift my arms higher and higher to dump a new shovelful of snow.
After a while, I noticed a phenomenon happening. Each time I brought a shovelful of snow and dumped it on top of the ever-growing snowbanks, a little ball of snow would fall from the top of the mound. It would roll and roll, growing bigger and bigger, until it got all the way back to my driveway. Before I knew it, my driveway was full of these snowballs and I had to work even harder to shovel them out of the way. It was so exhausting and discouraging!
It got me thinking about how we often have snowballs in our Thin Within journey as well. Unchecked sin, guilt, or disobedient actions that grow and grow until we are so discouraged we can barely move. I affectionately call this the “Snowball Effect.”
Can you relate to the scenario below?
You begin the day with the best of intentions. You read your Thin Within material, pray, renew your mind in God’s Word in the morning and set out to eat from 0-5 all day. At lunch, you have a few bites too many. “Uh-oh….dang it! Why’d I do that?! I wasn’t even thinking or paying attention to my meal!” The next thing you know it’s 2pm and those chocolate truffles on the counter are calling your name. “Well, I’m not at a 0, but I guess a few truffles can’t hurt…” By the time dinner happens, a seed of frustration has begun blossoming in your thoughts and emotions. “Why did I eat those truffles? Now I’m not even hungry for dinner but my whole family is ready to eat. I’ve already blown it today, I guess I’ll just eat dinner even though I’m not hungry. Heck, maybe I’ll even have a second helping.” After dinner, the frustration, guilt, shame and condemnation ramp up even more. “I can’t believe I messed up today so badly! What is my problem? Why can’t I do this thing? I’ll never be able to lose weight. Today has been such a disaster. I guess I’ll finish off those truffles.“
Do you see how a few bites too many at lunch suddenly lead to eating an entire box of truffles + dinner + a second helpings outside of 0-5 boundaries? How the heck did that even happen?
Guilt and shame are powerful. If left in our hearts and minds too long, they fester. They distort our thinking and make us do things we never intended to do. I often think of King David in this cycle. A lustful glance at Bathsheba suddenly turned into a giant snowball of sin that lead to adultery and murder. I’m sure David, a man after God’s own heart, never would have guessed he was capable of such things.
We too allow unchecked guilt, shame and condemnation dictate our future actions. In the scenario above, a few extra bites of food at lunch produced a healthy response of “uh-oh!” However, allowing that “uh-oh!” to slowly morph into major guilt and shame which then dictated the rest of the day’s eating is not what we’re after. This type of pattern can snowball into an entire day, week or month of eating beyond what we know our bodies are truly calling for. It’s a discouraging cycle to be in. But it need not last for long! There is hope! There is a different response we can choose.
There are two very powerful ways to melt the snowball:
1) Confess & Repent
2) Observe & Correct
Confession and Repentance are powerful. After we are sinful or disobedient, we have the freedom to go straight to the throne of God and get it off our chest before our guilt pushes into further disobedience. In the scenario above, if we had immediately gone to God and confessed that we broke our boundaries at lunch, we could have immediately received His loving grace which would have prevented the cycle of guilt and condemnation to push us into further disobedience as the day went on. That snowball of guilt and shame wouldn’t have had the time to build any momentum. Hebrews 10:22 assures us that we are washed clean, ready to begin again with a refreshed perspective, “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
Proverbs 28:13 says “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” There is no need to hang on to your sin or dwell on how you messed up! Bring it to God, allow His grace and forgiveness to wash over you, brush yourself off and keep pressing on! God never demands perfection from us. He knows we will all mess up even with the best of intentions. But confessing those moments and repenting of our sinful actions allow us to continue on in persistence without the shame or guilt nipping at our heels.
I personally LOVE how the Observation and Correction tool in Thin Within complements Confession and Repentance so well. After we have gone to God and received His loving grace, we have the opportunity to Observe and Correct. Simply take a look at your behavior, thoughts or emotions that contributed to your initial “mess-up” and observe what was going on. Refuse to beat yourself up over it. Refuse to rehash it over and over and over. Refuse to condemn yourself. Simply observe what happened objectively. Make note of what was going on in your circumstances or what emotions were at play.
After we Observe, it’s important to apply a Correction. Proverbs 24:2 says “I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw.” Exactly! It is vital to apply a lesson from what we observe. It is not enough to just observe. If we just observe and observe and observe, the only thing that will happen is a heightened awareness of our flaws which can potentially lead to further guilt or shame. Observing “I was greedy at lunch and wanted a second helping” or “I felt obligated to eat the piece of pie Aunt Kay offered” is great! Then it is crucial to follow it up with an appropriate Correction like “next time I can thank Aunt Kay and ask her if I can take the pie home with me”. Often I will ask myself this question: “If I was in the exact same scenario tomorrow, what can I do differently to alter the outcome?” It’s so important to give ourself this opportunity to think through how we might change our thoughts or actions so that we can be better prepared next time!
Let’s not forget that there is transformative power to be found in God’s grace. We have access to it anytime we need. Guilt and shame need not fester and snowball out of control! His mercy can melt a snowball of sin, guilt or condemnation in 2 seconds flat. A heart that Confesses, Repents, Observes and Corrects is a heart that is primed for victory!
How about you? Can you relate to a mounting cycle of shame/sin/guilt/condemnation? Do you have a growing snowball in your Thin Within journey that needs a little melting? Do you regularly confess, repent, observe and correct when you have broken a boundary? Don’t let these “common” practices grow dull in your walk with Christ or your Thin Within journey!
by Deanna Burris | Nov 25, 2015 | Blog
At church this morning, the teaching was on Love and Galatians 5:22-26, and because of the way that God is working in my own heart and mind, I took some time to meditate on these scriptures as they relate to my journey in Hunger Within. I gave myself an assignment: How do I live out the Fruit of the Spirit? The assignment wasn’t easy, but here is what I came up with.
The first Fruit of the Spirit is Love. In and of myself, I am very lacking in the fruit of love. In my flesh, I tend more towards frustration and criticism. I don’t like this about myself and it hurts to even admit this, but this is me when I am not renewing my mind and immersing myself in God’s Word. Can you relate? These feelings can draw me into destructive eating. But, because of the Holy Spirit leading me to let go of my self-absorbed focus concerning my body, my weight, my food issues, I am choosing to love more. It is easier to ask God to love others through me because I am not looking down at myself, but up to the LORD and around at others. I am seeing this fruit being manifested in my life.
The second Fruit of the Spirit is Joy. Most people who know me say that I am outgoing and fun to be around. That is the façade that I show to the outside world. But have I been joy-filled? Not always. I have leaned more towards joy in my life because I have always loved the scripture that says, “The joy of the LORD is my strength.” Unfortunately, this is me when I am by myself! That kind of joy could be better defined as happiness. When you add my family, my friends, my church family, my co-workers, my acquaintances, joy is not usually what I feel in my heart. Why? Because, in my flesh, I get aggravated and frustrated. It isn’t the true joy that comes from walking closely with the Lord that isn’t dependent on what is going on around me. It is only when I allow the Holy Spirit to work in every area of my life that I can truly feel and experience joy in all circumstances.
The third Fruit of the Spirit is Peace. I love peace. I used to love singing, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” Sadly, I can show a peaceable exterior, but underneath it all, there is often chaos. It is so easy to get caught up in the drama of life; especially with my family! How can I exhibit peace in my life when so much chaos is always going on around me? Only by pausing and asking God to grant me peace in the storm of life. Could I ever stop and pray if I am caught up in the drama of others around me and also living with the internal drama of body and food focus? No, I couldn’t. Working through the issues that have caused me to be discontented in the first place and by going to God with thanksgiving and prayer, I can experience the peace of God that surpasses every thought and will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
The fourth Fruit of the Spirit is Patience. This is a hard one for me! I am fond of saying that patience is not a muscle I was born with and have also been known for blaming my mother for teaching me impatience by her modeling of this behavior. It isn’t her fault though. Have you heard people say, “Don’t pray for patience or you will be put in situations where you have to learn patience?” I used to say that too. I’ve decided I want to pray for patience, for through trials, God’s Word promises that when I count it all joy when I fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of my faith produces patience, and then I let patience have its perfect work, that I may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. I want that in my life.
The fifth Fruit of the Spirit is Kindness. Let me come clean about how I have been kind in the past. I am always kind to a person’s face, but in my past, I have often turned around and talked badly about that person if there was anything about them that rubbed me the wrong way. God has changed my heart towards others through my almost constant prayer to let me see others through His eyes. He has answered this prayer and has given me a spirit of discernment to see what others are going through. Kindness is being friendly, generous and considerate. Teaching in Hunger Within has grown my kindness muscle as God works through my life to help others.
The sixth Fruit of the Spirit is faith. We know from God’s Word that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I personally met the Lord Jesus Christ at church camp when I was 9 years old and my faith has been growing ever since. There have been trials and struggles that I never would have made it through without Him. He has proven to me that His hand has been on my life even when I was backsliding. His presence never left me. I not only hoped for a Savior, I had faith that I met the unseen Savior in person. Dear reader, if you have not personally met Jesus, please let me share my faith with you!
The seventh Fruit of the Spirit is Gentleness. I didn’t quite understand this word till I realized that one of its opposites is pride. God is diligently working in my life to break my pride. He has shown me how I want to do things in my own strength, and to be gentle in spirit, I need to place my strength under the control of God. I am finding that in order for me to be gentle with others, I have to give up my right to be right which drives others away from me. I want to allow the Jesus in me to draw others, so I pray to be gentle and let my Shepherd lead me.
Finally, the eighth Fruit of the Spirit is Self-Control. This is interesting, because in myself, I really don’t have any self-control. I find self-control by turning my whole life and heart over to God and allow Him to move in me. He gives me the desire to follow His leading in my 0 to 5 eating boundaries. He gives me the desire to follow as He leads me into having boundaries around relationships. He gives me self-control when I feel myself getting frustrated and critical. It is His strength that keeps me from acting out those feelings by either hurting another with unkind words or myself by eating outside of my boundaries.
I am not living the Fruit of the Spirit perfectly, for I won’t be perfect till I meet the Lord Jesus face to face. What I am enjoying is the working of the Holy Spirit in my heart as I do see more and more evidences of the Fruit in my life.
What about you? Are you willing to do this assignment along with me? I would love to hear how you are “Living in the Fruit of the Spirit!”
by Deanna Burris | Sep 30, 2015 | Blog
I have been thinking a lot lately about my grave clothes: the ones the LORD has already removed and the ones that remain. These are the grave clothes that are removed layer by layer after Jesus called me forth, just as He did Lazarus, from the tomb of bondage and disordered eating into the bright light of His healing grace. There are other analogies about this removing process. Most of us have heard about peeling the onion. Both pictures are wonderful for giving us a visual of what happens as we surrender our pasts, our presents and our futures to the LORD for His healing. Each layer is removed to reveal another. Each layer removed takes us into deeper and deeper relationship with our Sovereign and Loving Father. I don’t know if anyone else has thought about what removing grave clothes or peeling onions have in common along with leading us into freedom? I have. They both stink. They smell. They can even lead to tears. This isn’t a bad thing. It is a needed thing for healing from our damaged emotions and our disordered eating patterns. But what I want to share today doesn’t stink. In fact it smells pretty good!
In Sunday school this week I was given a new picture about what we are doing in Hunger Within concerning the same surrender that leads to grave clothes being removed. We were asked to read a short paragraph from “Restoring Broken Things” by Scotty Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman. This paragraph talked about God’s perfect creation that became affected with the illness of sin after the fall of man in Genesis. Then it pointed to healing for those who are redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ. So in looking at the story of our lives, we were asked to picture a spectacular rose bud. I love roses so this wasn’t a difficult thing to do. The next step was the difficult one. We were to decide if we see ourselves as a diseased rose bud that is now being healed or one where the petals have been torn off and thrown onto the ground. I couldn’t help at this point to think of what God has been doing in my life through Hunger Within.
At one point of my life, I was like the rose bud that was diseased and the petals were being removed, and I was the one removing them! This is great picture of my life when I was filled with discontent and striving and struggling to make things happen on my own. This was back when I thought I could control things and the more out of control my life became, the more I ran to my false comforts of food and other mind numbing substances and activities. God wanted to heal me, but instead, I was tearing myself apart like the diseased rose bud with its petals being torn off and thrown to the ground.
Now in my heart that is surrendered to the Lord, I can see myself as the once diseased rose bud that is being healed. I can picture my dried out bud being renewed and refreshed 
with daily living water through Jesus and the Word of God. I can picture the Holy Spirit breathing life giving oxygen to my healing rose bud. I can feel the life that was once discontented and un-surrendered being given new and abundant life through the healing work being done by my Loving Father.
Here is the exciting part! This healing process isn’t just about what we are letting go, but also about what we are gaining. Just as each grave cloth removed represents letting go of a part of my damaged emotions, feelings and behaviors, I can see what is represented by picturing that rose bud that is healing and is blooming into new life. Many of us know what our grave clothes are, and if you don’t, I suggest reading and working through the book Hunger Within. But, what about the rose bud and its petals? I see each petal opening as a gift that God is giving me as my grave clothes are being removed. These gifts are evidence of a heart that is changed. What do these petals represent in my life? I have the peace that passes all understanding. I have joy that is unspeakable. I experience contentment and abundant life no matter what the circumstances or trials I face. I believe without a doubt in the healing power of the Holy Spirit working in my life. I am no longer self-focused, but God focused. I no longer obsess about my weight, what I eat or don’t eat, or if I should go on or off of a diet. When I feel frustrations come up (after all we won’t be perfect till we go home to be with the Lord!) I write them out in my Truth Journal, work through them in the Word, and then release them to God in prayer.
Years ago I thought I wanted this healing, but for whatever reasons or excuses, I never really surrendered. I still wanted to sing as Frank Sinatra did, “I did it my way!!” Dear friends, doing it our way never works. Doing it our way equates to what is said in Colossians 2:8: “Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ.” Surrendering on the other hand is lived out in Colossians 2:6-7 which states, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
What about you? What type of rose bud do you see as yourself? Will you surrender to being rooted in Him and will you join with me in praying Ephesians 3:16-19 for us all? “I pray that He may grant us, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His 
Spirit in the inner man, and that the Messiah may dwell in our hearts through faith. I pray that we, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so we may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
by Deanna Burris | May 22, 2015 | Blog
I have been up and down the same 60 pounds for years. I can’t say that I ever believed that I would find a way to eat the foods I like without gaining weight, and I have never really believed that I would find a way to lose weight and keep it off for any period of time. This lack of belief comes from my history. I have belonged to the “popular” weight loss club more times than I can count. I have done high protein low carb, low fat high carb, 5 day juice fasts, and 5 day miracle plans. I have been an exercise bulimic and have followed a Biblical plan that just led me to more legalism and condemnation.
I woke up one day and found myself back at the weight I had set as my “I will not go above this weight” weight. Once I hit this high mark, and of course because I felt so uncomfortable at this weight, I always stopped myself from gaining more weight by going on yet another diet. Dieting always worked to take off the weight, but I lost weight in the past to get small enough to go back to eating the way I always had. Sadly, because I didn’t have a change of heart, the weight would come back on and the vicious cycle would start all over again. But, this time, I couldn’t stand the thought of another diet. My heart could not take it again! I had been dieting on and off since I was 9 years old!! I said, “No more!! God surely has something else for me.” I did a search on Pinterest for Biblical Weight Loss. I have tried programs like this in the past, but didn’t have any lasting weight loss. But, I was desperate for something new that I hadn’t done before. That search led me to a Facebook group doing a study of Taste for Truth by Barb Raveling. I had high hopes!! I journaled, learned to renew my mind and scripture prayed, but I didn’t have any luck setting boundaries around my food that gave me any freedom and I did not let go of any weight. Because of all the dieting had done, I still wanted rules. I couldn’t get any boundaries set that weren’t legalistic.
As our time through this study was coming to an end, a gal in that group shared that she had joined a Hunger Within Facebook group. She helped me to get into the group by sharing who I needed to friend. The group had just started, and I was in.
I was introduced to the boundaries of 0 to 5 and my life has changed forever!! I was introduced to other gals that were experiencing victory and so I prayed that I would never go back to the way I was before!! My eyes were opened to a way of eating that allowed me the freedom of choice I was looking for. There are no longer any good or bad foods for me. I can eat what I am craving, within my boundaries, and with thanksgiving. I eat within 0 to 5 most of the time. When I eat beyond 5, or when I eat when I am not at 0, I no longer condemn myself. I have found the freedom to not beat myself up as I did in the past while dieting and then cheating. I repent, and then wait till the next time to eat. God heard my cry for help and saw that I was finally ready to surrender my food, my weight and all of my life to Him. I believe He led me to Hunger Within and He is leading me in every step of this journey. He helped me find boundaries around food that I can follow for the rest of my life. He has filled my heart with so much gratitude!! He has healed me from being constantly obsessed about my weight and food. I don’t think about what I should weigh, how much I should or shouldn’t eat, what types of food I should eat and what types I should never eat. I eat what I want within 0 to 5 with God’s grace and strength. I look at what He has done in my life as a miracle.
I have released enough pounds of pain to be down one size. Don’t ask me how much weight I have released in pounds, because God has also given me the peace to not need to know what I weigh, but to grasp my progress by how my clothes fit.
Other blessings of being a part of this Facebook class are that I have been given the opportunity to write blog posts about my struggles and victories and have had the fabulous joy of being on the class webinars. God gave me a heart a long time ago that wants to teach women what joy and peace is found in Christ Jesus and that no matter the circumstances, we as daughters of the King, can have abundant life through surrendering to His leading and direction. I am so grateful for being a part of this class and the ability to share my heart and my journey.
Along with the miracle of being down a size and heading down another, God has also worked in my heart and mind to release most of the frustration and anger I have been carrying around for the past several years. When I quit stuffing these feelings down with food, I was finally open to hearing His voice. He and I worked to get at the bottom of the reasons of those negative feelings, and He led me to healing in these areas of my heart and life. He even gave me the strength to apologize to my family members for the anger I felt and for being critical. God helped me see my part of our issues using the tools I have learned in Hunger Within. If I was still overeating and binging, this miracle would never have happened. If I was still obsessing about what I weigh, how to lose weight, what to eat, if I should eat, my heart would never have been open to God’s voice and I would not be living the life of victory that I am right now. With God’s leading and strength, I am committed to the Hunger Within boundaries of 0 to 5. I have finally found how to drop weight and keep it off without ever having to diet again!!
How about you? What is the one big thing that is keeping you from joining me on this journey of miracles and freedom? Are you ready to surrender and believe that God can and will change your heart?
