Fears...

In her "Believing God" book, Beth Moore writes:

"I was a victim, all right -- a victim to my own erroneous belief system. Satan quickly detected my fears and preyed on them, doing everything he could to confirm what I believed... a huge reason why we must believe we ARE who God says we are, and we can do all things through Christ!"

So, what are my fears? If I can get them out in the open, and pray against them -- laying them at Jesus' feet because "perfect Love (God) casts out fear" -- then I can overcome them! I can rid myself of that which Satan would love to use against me!

I'm afraid...

- of gaining back whatever weight I release
- of falling away from this closeness with God
- of diabetes and heart troubles
- of developing some sort of food intolerance/allergy that
would cause me to have to restrict my food choices
- of never fitting back into the clothes I bought when I
released all the weight the first time
- of not succeeding with this... or not as much as I'd like to
- of being prideful, and trying to steal the credit away from God
- of getting too *much* attention
- of the emotional things God might bring up for me to work on
- of not being able to keep practicing what I learn (of getting
lazy and returning to my old ways... again)
- of being hypocritical
- of my husband's jealousy
- of others spewing "diet speak" at me, and causing me to stumble

I'm sure there's more... but this list was getting kinda long. ;-P

I need to learn to "let go and let God"... just release all this to Him, and let Him show me that these don't have to be my *reality*. I'm a "Spirit critter" in a human body, not a human in a "Spirit body". ;o) "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!"

I also need to learn to believe God! (which I'm working on!) I need to believe that...

* God is who He says He is
* God can do what He says He can do
* I am who God says I am
* I can do all things through Christ
* God's Word is alive and active in me!

[from Beth Moore's "Believing God"]

This morning, in the TW_Support group, a friend said something powerful... She said that we need to stop saying that we're going to lose weight, and "stop talking about the latest & greatest methods for eating, and just get quiet and listen and do."

She also said that we need to start seeking God's answers to our questions FIRST, instead of always running to our group friends... much as they could give us a quicker answer, it may not always be the answer God would've given us, had we turned to Him in the first place.

I really thought this was well-spoken, and I've written it down so that I'll remember it. I want to remember to turn to God first. That's what He's been trying to teach me this year: "Put ME first, before everything else!" (see Matthew 6:33)

Starting out with TW, I didn't do that. But, this time I'm making a point to make God my first priority... my "protos" (Greek for "priority").

Knowledge Overflow!

God is just washing me in Truth, lately! I'm so blown away!

This past week, in my "Breaking Free" (Beth Moore) Bible study homework, I learned all about God's unfailing love. And, it hit me as a breath of fresh air! I am starting to begin to really believe that God does love me! :o) The real "kicker" was when Beth said that refusing to believe God loves us is a "slap in the face" to Him... because we're taking His Word and basically saying, "Yeah right... that's not true." :-O

She also said something that I'm treasuring:
"Belief is NOT a feeling; it's a CHOICE."

Whoa. That just got me.

So often I complain to God saying, "But I just don't *feel* it... I don't *feel* like I love You, though I desperately WANT to!" Here He's saying, "You don't have to feel it... just CHOOSE to believe it!"

The same thing works for issues of trust, I'm sure. We may not FEEL like we can trust God, but if we just CHOOSE to trust Him, overriding our feelings, we will be walking in obedience, and we'll be blessed for it! Whoohoo!

Today I started rereading the Thin Within book. God showed me that He wants me to go back through it, only this time He wants me to take notes as I read. I'm to jot down what stands out for me, and my feelings about those particular passages. So, I've done the Introduction and Chapter One already. And, God's already revealed some things to me!

For instance, on page xiv of the book it says, "You will learn to make food choices based not only on what tastes good, but on what is excellent in the eyes of God." In my first go-'round with TW, I chose to really focus on the "everything is permissible" part of 1 Corinthians 6:12. I also completely ignored the "but not everything is beneficial" part.

Also, sort of related to the previous "revelation", there was one related to Key #5: "Eat and drink the food & beverages my body enjoys". In the beginning of following TW, I would choose the food and beverages that my MIND enjoyed, but ignored how those foods made my body feel afterward. I dabbled in being conscious of how foods made me feel briefly, about 7 months ago. But, I let that go, as I did with almost all of the rest of the principles.

And the last example would be where the TW book warns not to let what they say become a set of "rules" for us to follow, by which we judge ourselves 'good' or 'bad'. Well, I did just that! I turned TW into another "diet", rigidly adhering to the principles, and scorning anyone's "advice" to the contrary. As a result, I maybe ate too little at times, and I wasn't really being "intuitive". I wasn't listening to my body -- I was listening to "rules".

So, a fresh start today! I've observed... now I need to "correct". Or, better yet, how about we let GOD "correct". ;o)