Healthy Living
Are you looking for that 'secret way' to lose weight? Have you found that, no matter what you do, it doesn't seem to be enough? Do you feel like you are on the 'weight-loss merry-go-round'? Then you are the person I want to talk to.
For years, I lost and gained weight again because I was trying to do it by sheer determination. That DOES work, to a point. Whoever those people were that said that 'fat' people can't lose weight or that they don't have 'will-power', don't know what they are talking about. The determination was there. Weight dropping off was sometimes even easy that way. However, there comes a point when those calories start to come back because there was just this one little cookie or that one little potato chip BAG and it won't hurt since it's only this once, right? I didn't really blow it, I just sort of fudged a little. Speaking of fudge, let's not go there!
When I started a (shudders) diet, I would often say something like, 'Every time I think of a diet, the WORD makes me blow it'. How about this gem....'All I have to do is look at something with calories and I gain 5 lbs.'. It was't long before more weight was gained because I had spoken it into existence. Has this occurred to you? Of course, someone would then tell me that I am able to predict the future. What happened was that I, by my own words, decided what was going to occur.
Words are powerful. It was a hard lesson to learn. For instance, how do you feel if someone says something hurtful to you or about you? Those words really hurt, didn't they? It follows, then, that if I spoke something about myself, those words were probably powerful and hurting too. That was an eye opener! When I started to watch my mouth, things got easier. Instead of thinking how fat I looked, it was 'I AM losing this weight', speaking it. Pounds came off! But wait, it wasn't just that. I realized that I couldn't do this alone or the roller coaster ride would begin again.
Coming to the point where GOD had to be part of it or it wasn't going to happen, I asked the Father what to do. This should have been the first thing I did, but it was the last. At our house, we call that another 'duh moment'! God's plan was to read several verses out loud, each day. In doing that, changes in the way I thought about losing weight occurred. I suddenly discovered that weight loss wasn't the problem. WHAT? It's a food problem, and it can't be a quick fix by just not eating or reading a scripture, here and there. Stay with me here.
When God works on you, it takes a little while. He makes changes in how you think. Saying a series of scriptures out loud, that God put in my heart, planted new seeds of faith in my spirit. It's so easy to get the evil stuff in and so hard to get the good things in, or so it seems. That's because it doesn't take a decision to have evil come in, it just gets in. It does take a decision to put the right things in. ( See Romans 8:58, Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:22-24, Revelation 3:14-22, Romans 7:14-20 for references concerning the renewing of your mind, warnings against allowing the world in and letting yourself be conformed to the world. Paul was constantly warning us not to be OF this world. That tells me that it's possible to allow the world into your life by not doing anything to keep it out.) Those words became part of my life and new insights about God showed me how He thinks and what He says. Amazingly, scripture got much clearer.
I Peter 5:5b-7: "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
When the scripture says to humble yourself, there is an idea that God means for us to, in some way, become something we are not. I am very bold, can't see myself being some type of weakling, giving in to others on everything. No, He is saying 'I resist the proud person so if you will give ALL of your life to Me, I promise to take care of you.' Being proud means to try and run your life without Him. That hit me hard in the face!
Looking further, the verse states 'cast ALL your care on Him'. It follows that those things belong together. Humble and cast care. NOW that means something it didn't before. IF you humble yourself, THEN you can cast all your cares on Him. Why? Because He cares for you.
James 4:6-11, "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."
Again it says 'God resists the proud'. Why does God say this so much? He HATES pride. So, if I'm proud, then God is resisting what I am trying to work out in my life. He does give grace to the humble. It's a free gift! (Ephesians 2:8) I found out that He loves us so much that He is willing to give us forgiveness and time, with His help, to learn how to get in line with His plan for us.
That's not all. Submit yourself therefore to God. (You) Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw NEAR to God, He draws NEAR to you. And right after this, He mentions being 'double minded'. Wierd words. Meaning? First we give it to God, then take it back. Give and then take. The solution to the problem is to submit yourself fully. Give it ALL to God, then resist the devil who will try to remind you of your failures. Put it out of your thought life (II Corinthians 10:5). Make the scripture personal. It has to belong to YOU!
How about a few steps to put this into focus:
1)Humble yourself because God resists pride. Result: God gives GRACE (free gift) to the humble. Not a bad deal.
2)Submit to God (give it ALL to Him). Result: (taking the verses together you can see this) He will exalt you in due time.
3)Resist the devil. Result: he flees. Hallelujah!
4)Draw near to God. Result: He draws near to you.
5)Cast your care on Him. Result: Because He cares for you, He takes on all the problems so you don't have to. You can't ignore the problem. But when you give it to Him, He is responsible for it and you have the assurance that as long as you have given it fully to Him, He will work it out in His time, His way.
Translating that into weight loss, I give it to God to help me resist appetite, temptations to eat things I don't need or shouldn't. Do I fail? Yes, but I get back on track. No guilt! The famous 'will-power' comes into effect. Be a bulldog. Go to God and He will tell you what plan to use. I have learned the more variety in my plan, it's likely I will get off track. Working with a basic menu, I usually stick to the plan. Family involvement is great, but more important is God working with you. Find out God's plan for you. It's guarenteed to work, no matter what, if you co-operate.
Final analysis: Give it all to God. Resist the devil. he wants you to fail. Don't give him the satisfaction. We are given authority to resist. If it were not possible, God would be a liar. He is not a man that He should lie. But the responsibility to resist belongs to us, not God. That is our part. God takes care of the rest. Once the pressure is off, it gets easier and easier, as long as you don't fall back into bad habits. We have a gift that is pretty unique. The body learns a habit and won't let go of it. If it's a good one, it works great. Just teach the body a new habit, eating right. Does it work? Try it.
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Just like what I would
hear on my own...but
glad it came thru you.
tks for reminding me of the first priority...God
first in everything...even losing weight. Casting
all my care on Him (weight too) because He does care for me...make that you too.