 They say that there are two different kinds of people in the world – those who eat to live and those who live to eat. I confess I am of the latter persuasion!
I love food. I love to think about food, to cook food and to plan special occasions around food. I don’t eat emotionally or to salve a deep dark problem in my life. I eat, plain and simple; because it gives me great pleasure – at least for a little while and then it’s time to eat again. What I’ve noticed is that the more I eat the less I’m satisfied and that in order to be satisfied I have to eat more and more.
I’ve known this to be a problem for most of my life. And to be perfectly honest it’s an area that I have not wanted to relinquish. I mean seriously, I have given over to God so many things in my life – submission to my husband, my children, my possessions, etc. that I have wanted to hang on to this one area in my life. My rationalization went like this – this is a physical issue, not a spiritual one so I’ll just handle it on my own, I don’t need to bring God into this, He’s got so many more significant issues to deal with, I’m sure He doesn’t have time for this petty little problem.
So on my own, I have tried all kinds of methods to control this issue in my life. I’ve tried dieting (from cabbage soup diet to Weight Watchers), reading books, prayer (I’ve even resorted to begging God to “heal” me). But each one has fallen short. Some of them worked for a while – I even lost 30 pounds with one of the diets but eventually all the weight came back and more and I was worse off than before.
Every time I would diet, there was a sense that I was not getting at the root of my issue. It was such a battle to deny myself. I felt hungry all the time and then eventually I would get worn down and give up in defeat.
Just recently I started doing a Bible study on Overeating and for the first time I’m allowing God to get at the heart of this issue and let me tell you it has been humbling and freeing!
I have come to acknowledge that I have a substitute god in my life. (It pains me to say it but it’s true.) God has created each one of us with this inner desire to be filled by Him but we often choose to allow other things to fill that hole in our life and that was exactly what I was doing. I was allowing food to fill me rather than God and that’s why I have been so dissatisfied and have needed more and more to keep me happy.
You see substitute gods TAKE, TAKE, TAKE. They take your time, your energy, your thoughts, your money, your focus, your purpose . . . If they give it’s only temporary and then it leaves you needing and wanting more and more and more. That’s what this god was doing in my life. I was bowing down to the god of pleasure, worshiping and accepting it as lord in my life.
Through the study of God’s Word, He has shown me that I need His sorrow for my sin and His repentance. I now know that this area of my life is sin. Before I called this problem in my life everything but sin and by not confessing and relinquishing this area in my life I have experienced frustration, anger and defeat.
Joel 2.12-13 says; That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.“ Return to the Lord your God, for He is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish.
Repentance is good but hard! And praise God that He loves us in spite of our failures, in spite of choosing a substitute god over Him! And each day I’m experiencing His amazing grace as I continue to give this issue in my life back to Him and accept His forgiveness.
I cannot end this article without asking you . . . Do you have a substitute god in your life? Are you bowing down to the god of Pride? Pleasure? Self-righteousness? Is there an area in your life that you have been unwilling to relinquish and submit to God?
I’m here to tell you, it’s not worth it! Sin only brings shame, sorrow, frustration and guilt but God is ready and waiting to release you from the bonds of your sin and to set you free! There is so much joy and freedom and He is patiently waiting.
Romans 2.4 says, Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from sin?
So trade in that substitute god for the REAL ONE – it’ll be the best decision you’ve ever made!
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Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Real Joy
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”Romans 15:13
As a third-century man was anticipating death,
he penned these last words to a friend which remain true today:
he penned these last words to a friend which remain true today:
“It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world.
But I have discovered in the midst of it, a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret.
They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life.
They are despised and persecuted, but they care not.
They have overcome the world. These people are Christians — and I am one of them.”
But I have discovered in the midst of it, a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret.
They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life.
They are despised and persecuted, but they care not.
They have overcome the world. These people are Christians — and I am one of them.”
Dear one, happiness is like the moon. It shines brightly and then clouds over.
But Joy is like the sun – always shining even when night falls or clouds cover it.
Happiness comes from humans - joy is from God. It’s one of His attributes!
But Joy is like the sun – always shining even when night falls or clouds cover it.
Happiness comes from humans - joy is from God. It’s one of His attributes!
Friend, when you invite Jesus into your heart, God’s joy is just a prayer away.
What Makes Heaven Heavenly
by Max Lucado
“And there will be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.” (Revelation 22:3)
You will be you at your best forever. Even now you have your good moments. Occasional glimpses of your heavenly self. When you change your baby’s diaper, forgive your boss’s temper, tolerate your spouse’s moodiness, you display traces of saintliness. It’s the other moments that sour life. Tongue, sharp as a razor. Moods as unpredictable as Mount Saint Helen’s. This part wearies you.
Just think what Satan has taken from you, even in the last few hours. You worried about a decision and envied someone’s success, dreaded a conversation and resented an interruption. He’s been prowling your environs all day, pick pocketing peace, joy, belly laughs, and honest love. Rotten freebooter.
But his days are numbered. Unlike he did in the Garden of Eden, Satan will not lurk in heaven’s gardens. “There shall be no more curse” (Revelation 22:3 NKJV). He will not tempt; hence, you will not stumble. You will be you at your best forever!
Christ will have completed his redemptive work. All gossip excised and jealousy extracted. He will suction the last drop of orneriness from the most remote corners of our souls. You’ll love the result. No one will doubt your word, question your motives, or speak evil behind your back. God’s sin purging discontinues all strife.
No sin means no thieves, divorce, heartbreak, and no boredom. You won’t be bored in heaven, because you won’t be the same you in heaven. Boredom emerges from soils that heaven disallows. The soil of weariness: our eyes tire. Mental limitations: information overload dulls us. Self-centeredness: we grow disinterested when the spotlight shifts to others. Tedium: meaningless activity siphons vigor.
But Satan will take these weedy soils to hell with him, leaving you with a keen mind, endless focus, and God-honoring assignments.
We might serve in the capacity we serve now. Couldn’t earthly assignments hint at heavenly ones? Architects of Moscow might draw blueprints in the new Liverpool. We will feast in heaven; you may be a cook on Saturn. God filled his first garden with plants and animals. He’ll surely do the same in heaven. If so, he may entrust you with the care and feeding of an Africa or two.
One thing is for sure: you’ll love it! Never weary, selfish, or defeated. Clear mind, tireless, muscles, unhindered joy. Heaven is a perfect place of perfected people with our perfect Lord.
God is Not Finished with Us
by Rick Warren
“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6 NIV)
We humans are great starters but often bad finishers. We leave unfinished symphonies, unfinished buildings, unfinished books, unfinished projects. We may not always finish what we start, but God always finishes what he starts.
God doesn’t create a bird and give him half a wing. He didn’t create an unfinished flower or an unfinished star. He puts the finishing touches on everything he does, and then he says, “It is good.”
The Bible says when Jesus Christ starts working in your life, he will complete what he started, in spite of the hang-ups, faults, bad decisions, sins, and circumstances that we face. One day, when we get to Heaven, we’re going to become just like Jesus, because we will see him as he is. And that’s the goal.
In the meantime, if we want to enjoy the people in our lives, we need to be patient with their progress. We must allow for their growth and development. Paul could say, “I’m not the man I used to be, thank God. But also, thank God, I’m not the man I’m going to be. I’m growing and changing.”
If you want to enjoy your marriage, you’ve got to learn to enjoy your husband or your wife right now while allowing for growth and development. Otherwise, by the time they meet your conditions, you will have still another condition for them to meet.
Parents, if you’re going to learn to enjoy your kids, you’ve got to learn to enjoy them in the process while they’re growing, because there is no such thing as a perfect kid.
And there’s no such thing as a perfect adult. If you demand perfection of the people in your life in order to enjoy them, you’re going to be miserable for the rest of your life. Nobody’s perfect.
Talk About It
- To whom do you need to show grace today, understanding that God is still working in his or her life, in his own time and his own way?
- Knowing Christ will finish what he started in you, what role do you think he wants you to play in your progress? What steps do you need to take toward spiritual growth?
Slave Thinking
by Marilyn Ehle
“In freedom Christ has made us free and completely liberated us; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery”. Galatians 5:2 (Amplified Bible)
Frederick Douglass, leader of the abolitionist movement, discusses at great length the difference between the mindsets of slavery and freedom. In one book,* Douglass reveals how his demeanor changed when he began thinking—or visualized—what it would be like to be free. Conversely, he began to understand what it was like when he stopped dreaming about freedom. Adam Abraham writes that Douglass “gained spiritual sustenance and physical strength only when he had an active connection with his soul’s longings.”
We have a vivid biblical picture of this same kind of thinking in the story of the Israelites after they left Egypt. They were finally within stepping-into distance of the land promised by God, but when they heard the discouraging “majority report” of realities within that Promised Land, they balked in fear. They returned to slave thinking. David Stubbs writes, “Israel rejects God not because they want to be more, but rather because they are willing to settle for less.”
We who walk with Christ often experience this tendency toward slave thinking. We grow discouraged in the tough battle of addictions or grief or abuse or self-doubt. We quake with discouragement because it is easier to believe that nothing can ever change than it is to believe that “Christ has made us free.” Instead of “standing fast,” we let our weak legs wander off the path of discipleship. We are “hampered” by voices that shout true freedom is an impossibility. We succumb to the false teaching that freedom is only for the favored few.
God has built soul longings into us. The psalmist likens his own yearnings after God to a thirsty deer panting after water. When Frederick Douglass envisioned freedom and began to live like a freed man, he set out on the road to change society. What even greater miracles can God do when His children stand fast, are not hampered or ensnared and truly live as free people?
*Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave,
What Do You Want Jesus to Do for You?
“What do you want me to do for you?” Matthew 20: 32
Jesus was on the way to Jericho and as usual there was a crowd following Him. Two blind men were sitting beside the road and when they heard Jesus was passing, they called out to Him, “Lord have mercy on us.” Jesus heard them and stopped and asked them, “What do you want me to do for you?” “We want to see,” they answered. And Jesus, in pity, touched their eyes and their eyes were opened and they could see.
When I read that story last week, it seemed that the question Jesus asked them, “What do you want me to do for you?” became a question He was asking me. “What do you want me to do for you?”
Last week, when I was facing a problem I couldn’t fix or met a challenge too big for me – Jesus would ask me, “What do you want me to do for you?” I would stop what I was doing and tell Him what I wanted Him to do. And He would provide a solution.
Dorothy emailed me one morning and said they were leaving for Bolivia with a ministry team the next day, but the ticket for one member of the team had gone missing. Jesus’ question came to my mind and in a reply to her I wrote a prayer. “Jesus, we want you to find the ticket.” Thirty minutes later, Dorothy emailed and said the ticket was found.
Today and every day, Jesus is saying to you, “What do you want me to do for you?” What will your answer be?
Jesus, thank you for caring about our needs and wants. Thank you, for asking us what you can do for us. Thank you for solving our problems. Amen.
Grace…The Example of Zacchaeus
“Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.” (Luke 19:6-7, NLT)
God’s love and grace have no limits. He sees our hearts. Praise God He does not see what others see! Praise God that our hearts are drawn towards Him so we may find the salvation He gives us in Christ Jesus and be in His presence. Today I want to share one of my favorite scriptures on grace. On how He loves us, even when we don’t deserve it!
Take out your Bible and read the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:2-10.
Zacchaeus is no different than any of you reading this. He is a sinner, just like me. He was a sinner who knew there was something special about Jesus. He knew in his heart that he did not like who he was and wanted to be right with God. God pulled on Zacchaeus’ heart and he responded. Now Zacchaeus was a thief, a liar, and a cheat. Nobody liked him, and we see this in verse seven. The crowd could not understand how someone like Jesus would want to be around a cheat like Zacchaeus.
Let me ask you something. Have you ever told a lie in your life? Have you ever taken something that did not belong to you at any point in your life? Have you ever bent the rules just a bit to allow something to go your way ever in your life? If you answer honestly you will most likely hit 2 out of 3 on these questions. So what is the difference between Zacchaeus and us?
There is no difference, except that the whole town knew what Zacchaeus had done. Yet, Jesus Christ wants to be a guest in his home. This is grace. This is the love God showers on us. We don’t deserve it. It is grace that called out to Zacchaeus to come down from that tree, and it is grace that saved Zacchaeus’s soul that night as Jesus stayed as a guest in his house. It is grace that touched the heart of Zacchaeus that led him to give back what he had wrongfully taken. It is grace that saves the lost, and that saves sinners like you and me. Praise Jesus!
Father I pray today that we would see ourselves for the sinners we are. I pray that we are humble enough to realize that in no way do we deserve Your love or Your blessings. It is only by the gift You have given us in Jesus Christ that we are able to come into Your presence. Let us praise you and thank you for the grace You shower on us. You don’t keep track of our wrongs and our sins. On how You love us even when we are Your enemy! You gave us Jesus to save us. Thank you Jesus, Hallelujah, we praise Your name Lord! Amen.
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