by Becky Young | Jul 24, 2015 | Inspiration
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…” Acts 1:8
In 2012 my husband did something really crazy. He went on a 7 day bike tour all across Colorado called “Ride the Rockies.” It sounds like a lovely cruise through beautiful forests and rolling hills, doesn’t it? It was very beautiful, but was also a grueling event with 3500+ feet of elevation gain each day and often over 100 miles from one location to the next. The tour rode over mountain passes, above timberline where there is no oxygen and along long stretches of dirt road where every breath meant inhaling dirt and dust from the riders in front of you. It was hard just watching the riders do it, and I was simply there as a cheerleader!
As the tour progressed, a rumor started about a man who was “cheating.” You see, he built his own bicycle. And on it, he included a quiet little motor that helped propel him up hills. I saw him a handful of times. While other riders struggled for momentum while chugging up a 20 mile mountain pass, this man just breezed on by. His bike was still a bike. It required that he pedal and shift gears like any other bicycle, but he always had a little extra “help” along the way.
I’ve always thought that man’s invention was a beautiful metaphor for doing Thin Within while relying on the power of God.
I spent a solid 9 years of my Thin Within journey just trying to do Thin Within in my own effort, my own striving. Of course I prayed and wanted to honor God, but I was truly only relying on my own efforts. I became “Abigail the Achiever” (pg. 121, Thin Within). I thought if I just tried hard enough, stay focused enough, did “good” enough…I’d finally get this thing down. Ironically, the more I tried, the more I fell flat on my face! Sure, I could get a solid week or two of 0-5 eating under my belt. But eventually, the effort became too much. I would become weary. I would start to give in to breaking my boundaries little by little. And before I knew it, I was completely off the course.
A few years ago, I learned a beautiful truth. We don’t have to be self-propelled through this journey like a cyclist pedaling his way up a mountain pass under his own power. When we submit to God’s power and invite the Holy Spirit to work through us and help us, suddenly we become more like the rider on the motorized bike! Sure, we need to pedal some and put a little effort into it, but ultimately God is propelling us with a quiet little motor called the Holy Spirit. He takes us out of our self-sufficient striving and into a place of power and victory!
God’s power is a powerful force to be reckoned with. And so much of that power is made available to us if we’ll just confess our weakness, surrender our striving and invite His power to work through us! “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms“-Ephesians 1:18-20.
Did you catch that? He has called us into His power. The same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the heavenly realms. And that power is made available to me? To us? Well sign me up, I’m in! I don’t know about you, much I would much rather lean on a greater power than what I can offer myself through self-sufficiency.
So you might be wondering, what exactly does it look like to rely on God’s power through my Thin Within journey? I’m glad you asked! 🙂 For me, it looks like coming before God each and every day and praying. I often confess my weakness (2Cor 12:9) and inability to maintain my boundaries in my own attempts. It involves praying before every meal, during each time I am tempted, every time I feel lead into indulgence or rebellion. It sometimes looks something like this:
“Father, I surrender my own efforts in favor of your perfect power. Carry me through the difficult moments of temptation today. Give me victory in the face of indulgence and gluttony. Help me to be mindful of my boundaries and give me the ability to stick to them. I know I can’t do this in my own effort. I surrender my striving and I ask that your Holy Spirit would overcome my desire to take control. Lead me through this day with the same power that raised Christ from the dead!”
And wouldn’t you know it…when I’m mindful of relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to get me through, I feel like that cyclist on a motorized bike just breezing through with ease. 0-5 comes easily, temptation isn’t as strong, disobedience and rebellion are a distant memory and I am more fully convinced that God has equipped me for victory through the propulsion of His power, not mine.
How about you? Do you ever feel like you’re in a rut of just trying trying trying? Have you noticed that more often than not, you’re relying on your own efforts to maintain 0-5 boundaries? Give it a rest! Lay down your striving and rely on God to propel you forward!
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?
by Deanna Burris | May 6, 2015 | Blog
Have you ever heard God’s voice? I don’t mean audibly, but have you heard His Spirit speak to your spirit? I did. When I was a member (for the umpteenth time) of the last commercial weight loss program I went to, I was struggling. You see, whenever I joined up, once again (for the umpteenth time, because this time was going to be different, yes, ma’am!!) I rejoiced in my ability to follow the program righteously. Yes, sir’ee, I was LEGAL!! I weighed and measured my food. I wrote down every bite and sip. I listened with such attentiveness at the meetings. I contributed to the discussions with my wit and humor (and of course all the extensive knowledge I had learned and retained throughout the many, many years I was on that journey). And then, life happened. Life caught up with me. Life grabbed my shirt tail and pulled me back into my failure. I fell off the “perfect” bandwagon. I cheated. I was back to being a failure. I couldn’t do it anymore if I couldn’t be righteous. If I ate my 30 points at the breakfast buffet, then I was done for the day. Who can live that way?? (I just wanted to go back to eating the way I had always eaten. After all, I had lost a bunch of weight already. Wasn’t I cured??) So off into my own self-will run rampant I went. Oh boy, the abandon!! But the next week I would have to face that horrible scale!! Of course, the scale was my BFF when I was legal and righteous!! I could get tendinitis from all the times I patted myself on my back!!
Let me tell you a little bit of my history, and maybe you will understand why this group only fed my pre-set view of myself. I was raised by a mother who was very conscious of body image. She was never larger than a size 16 (and many years ago, a size 16 was smaller than it is today). When I was 9 and going through puberty, my mom put me on my first diet. She really just wanted a diet buddy, and I was her youngest so I made the best choice. We dieted and lost weight. I heard for the rest of her life how she lost her weight and never gained it back. I have dieted on and off from that day on. Needless to say, I lost and gained many times over. My mother also taught me how to be bulimic.
So, I was at my favorite weight loss club, and had fallen off my pedestal of righteous eating and was back to playing games in order to get the scale to remain my BFF instead of my own worst enemy, and in a moment of clarity, I cried out to God, my Father, my Great Physician and Lover of my soul. I cried out, “God, I can’t do this anymore!! I am slowly killing myself playing these games with food and food restrictions, and trying to get the scale to obey me. I am so weary of trying to control this area of my life!! God, help me!!” Clear as day, I felt the Holy Spirit speak to my heart. He said, “My daughter, only in America do people pay money to not eat.” This statement of truth crushed my heart. I don’t want to get into how people are starving around the world and even in parts of our country. We all know this is true. I also know that we are blessed in this country in so many ways. My own life has been blessed with always having enough, even though we had long periods of my husband being unemployed. God always saw us through. We always had food on our table. What God was pointing out to me was what was in my heart. Even though I had enough, I wanted more. I was greedy. I was a glutton. I wanted more than my fair share. Even in my hunger within, my spirit wanted to be filled to overflowing with God and His love and true intimacy with Him, but my flesh wanted to be filled with what the world could give me. And sadly, this filled me physically, but left me feeling so empty. Only in America is what I heard, but in my heart of hearts, what He was really saying was, “Only in your heart are you driven to pay others money to keep you from eating what I have given you to eat with thanksgiving, in the way I designed your body to eat when hungry and to stop eating when satisfied. Sweet daughter, when you eat more than that, you are seeking a filling that doesn’t come from ME.”
Hearing His voice speak to my heart with truth about what I was doing, led me to the beautiful program of Hunger Within and Thin Within. I had never experienced before this time any freedom from the compulsion to overeat or not obsess about food. God, in His great mercy, called me forth from the tomb I was in with my food and eating history. He has unwrapped my grave clothes that have kept me bound up for most of my life, and through eating the way He designed me to eat, all foods with thanksgiving, within 0 to 5, I am truly living a life of freedom. My chains are gone. I’ve been set free.
How about you? What is keeping you held back from hearing His voice? What chains around your eating and food obsession are keeping you from totally surrendering to 0 – 5 boundaries? Are you ready to hear Jesus say, “Sweet daughter, Come Forth!!”?
by Cathie Rosemann | Apr 24, 2015 | Blog
As my small group was studying Workbook Three: “Rebuilding God’s Temple” the Lord opened my eyes to a truth I never realized.
The question posed was, “What might be the reason for some of your struggles with eating or in other areas of your life? On whom are you to rely in your weakness? What do you think might be God’s purpose for your struggle?”
Here is how I answered. “Because more often than not I live days, weeks, months, even years ahead of myself. It’s very hard for me to live in the moment. This makes me an excellent planner, able to anticipate things some would never think of. However, it also makes me very restless when I’m in that “in between” place. That’s when I usually eat. The purpose for my struggle, I believe is so God can show me how to rest in Him knowing He’s got whatever is coming next.”
It amazes me how much our childhood experiences can influence our adult behavior. When I was age 6 years old my dad woke me up to tell me he was taking my mom to the hospital and I needed to get up and get myself and my sister ready for school. That hospital visit was the beginning of many over the next 30 years. My mom would live in and out of mental hospitals and institutions while my father was involved in politics and away from home often. So, I became a little parent that day my dad woke me up. And, I’ve never stopped living in a place of preparedness for whatever is coming next.
Even though that day occurred 47 years ago I still find myself restless and bored when I’m not under a deadline. No surprise, I thrive under pressure. For the past six years God has had me living in a season of rest (we live in a small town where I can ride my bike to work, I’m paid generously to simply “be available” to my boss, I have a good three hours to myself between my husband leaving for work and me going to work). It’s a quiet and beautiful season to be living in. And yet, I’m still restless and bored and trying desperately to prepare for the next thing. I don’t want to be caught off guard. And so I nibble. I never use to be a nighttime eater. Now I find myself nibbling on popcorn or fruit or animal crackers after dinner. But thanks be the God who is showing me how this exemplifies what Romans 8:5 refers to as, “… those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.” Each and every time I choose to eat outside the 0-5 boundaries I am turning my back on the power of the Holy Spirit who can change my wanter and my canner. In fact, depending on the Holy Spirit daily for emotional grace and empowerment is an essential element to heal and keep me healthy.
I’ll admit I have a long way to go in learning how to rest and be still when God places me in that “in-between” place, but I’m encouraged that He helped me recognize where that discontentment/ restlessness came from. The enemy would love for me to focus on the fact that it’s taken me 47 years to see it. BUT GOD wants me to focus on the fact that as I’ve prayed for the eyes of my heart to be open during this bible study, He’s heard my prayer and answered me. And He won’t stop there. Because God wants to use me, and has set me on the path that leads to being used by Him, I find myself encouraged. Rather than preparing for what’s next with a fear-based mentality, I can simply rest in knowing, “He’s got my back and my front.” As Psalm 139:1-5 says, “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know e
verything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.”
What about you? Are you sensing that God has you in that “in-between” place right now? If so, seek to find out what His purpose is for doing so. Is it hard for you to rest or be still? If so, ask Him where that came from and what He wants you to do with it. Remember, the Holy Spirit wants to energize us with God’s strength and power to help us walk in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ!
by Cathie Rosemann | Feb 25, 2015 | Blog
As my new Thin Within class rapidly approaches I find myself struggling once again with the progress, or lack thereof, I’ve made thus far on my journey. I’m referring to my physical progress. I truly wanted the ladies to see the tremendous
us loss of weight that has occurred before they joined me on this Thin Within journey. Unfortunately, they won’t. And that is something I have to accept. The enemy would love nothing more than to use this to discourage me and launch mental assaults that tell me I’m not qualified to lead others.
Isn’t it funny the expectations we set for ourselves when God calls us to do something for his Kingdom. We assume we will have “arrived” by the time he has us stand before others and introduce them to the journey toward freedom we’ve been walking, for example. What’s even more uncanny is the fact that people want to know they are accepted right where they are. For that matter, we want to know we’re accepted right where we are. In fact, some, those who may need this teaching most, might even feel intimated if they were to see that I was skinny. My point is not that God doesn’t want me at my God-given size. My point is that he can use me every step of the way, before, during and/or after. It’s up to him. However, we each have a “before place” in the testimony of our lives that God is writing. And we need others who are at different points on the path to help encourage us to stay the course.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (The Advantages of Companionship) says, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. “ The bottom line is we need each other regardless of where we are currently standing on the path to freedom. And people need to know it’s okay. As long as we are moving in a forward direction, listening to the Lord, and obeying his commands, we cannot help but serve as an encouragement to others and them to us.
Recently, I reconnected with a childhood friend I’ve searched for over the past several years. As I was documenting some of the major things that have happened in my life since we last spoke, I simply had to marvel at all I’ve come through. Compared to many they wouldn’t be considered eventful or even painful necessarily, but for me they tenderized my heart and certainly could have been much worse 
had the Lord not stepped in and redirected my path. The reason I’ve searched for her so fervently these past several years is because I owed her an apology. An apology for blowing off her friendship so many times when she reached out to me. Unfortunately, it was in a season when I was a workaholic and paid little attention to relationships.
It’s funny the multitude of emotions that come at us each day and tempt us to eat outside the boundaries God’s set for us. And I’m no exception. As I’ve begun to reconnect with my friend I’ve begun to revisit that season in my life when I was terribly productive but lacked in deep friendships. It’s just this kind of mental and emotional process that can take us one direction or another … into the arms of Jesus … or into the kitchen. I have to recognize that each moment during this process that I’ve turned to Jesus and not to food I’ve made the kind of progress that matters. And it’s this kind of process that these women who are signed up for my class need to know about.
Once again as I sit to write this blog I’m overwhelmed at the kindness of the Lord. Not a day passes that I don’t rejoice at all he’s done to hold me steady and draw my heart toward his. I shudder to think what battle I might be fighting if it weren’t my weight.
What about you? What are you walking through right now? Is it drawing you to Jesus or the refrigerator? Do you realize the kindness of the Lord in the testimony he’s writing with your life? Be encouraged at where you stand in the journey today. As Joyce Meyer says, “I’m not where I want to be, but thank God I’m not where I use to be.”
