Satan has used food as temptation through ages, beginning with Eve.
http://www.flowersoverthewall.com
This is a FREE Thirteen week study, about how our thought process can be transformed. You will be thin and be set free from the addiction to food and dieting.
Food and dieting will become a non-issue!
Introduction: Excerpt from Flowers Over the Wall Bible Study
Isaiah 49:23b (NIV) Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed.
It had been a rough week for me. It was somewhere around 1992, I hadn’t been saved long and I hated myself. I thought the reason I hated myself was because I was fat. All my self worth was in my looks, I still had an old friends words ringing in my head. He had introduced me to a buddy of his, and his comment to his friend was “She used to be real good-looking until she had a kid and packed on forty pounds. Apparently he didn’t think that should hurt a fat girl.
My husband and I met when we both worked in a disco, and in that environment, around closing time the compliments come in fast and furious. The only positive reinforcement I got was from guys about my looks, and when they faded, as they always do, I was completely worthless in my own eyes. The sexual abuse I had endured as a child only reinforced this idea.
My highest level of education was seventh grade, so I knew I didn’t have a leg to stand on there. I had a relationship with the bully I talk about in the fist week of the studies, and she was constantly pointing out what she thought were my many faults. I was absolutely desperate to be thin again.
I had decided I was going to pray and have faith God would do a miracle and make me skinny –down to a certain weight in exactly one month . I was used to getting on the scale every day, sometimes three or four times in a day, but I decided for that month I would stay off them. I had a hard time waiting, so by the time the day came I was excited, I just knew God would do a miracle. I stepped up on the scale and… it hadn’t moved one millimetre. I was bitterly disappointed and furious with God. I was crying and praying, I opened the Bible and read
Isaiah 49:23b (NIV) Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed."
I remember being enraged. I basically called God a liar. I was so mad.
I was disappointed, I felt He had let me down. I remember saying to Him, "I did hope in you, This is your Word, you promise we won’t be disappointed, You let me down"!
I was still mad at God when I went to church that Sunday, I couldn’t even get into the worship: usually the part I love the most. The Pastor started reading the text for the sermon that day, I was surprised because it was the same text I had been reading when I got so mad at God,
Isaiah 49:23b (NIV) Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed."
I was shocked when, in that church with over five-hundred people listening, the pastor said something along the lines of “somebody sitting here today, read that scripture this last week and was mad at God. It is not acceptable to talk to God like that, you need to respect Him, , but still, He wants you to know, He will answer your prayer and you will not be disappointed, but, He will fulfill the promise in His time. Then he went on with his sermon, It was about trials and the blessings that come out of the trials.
The pastor related a incident in his life. He said he used to love to sit at his kitchen table and watch the fields out his back window. He enjoyed watching wind make the stalks sway, he said he could watch it for hours, so he was particularly disappointed when a contractor started building a subdivision right behind his house. Where lovely swaying grass once grew, was now being torn up, the ground full of pockmarks where foundations for new houses were being dug.
He tried to give it to God, but the more he thought about it the angrier he became.
He knew it was silly to be so upset about an earthly thing, but he just couldn’t help it. He had enjoyed his view so much. He finally started becoming used to the idea, when his new neighbor moved in, he thought maybe they could become friends.
Imagine his disappointment when the neighbor started building an ugly, gray, ten foot, cinderblock wall. He built his wall so tall, my pastor could barley see the roof of this neighbors house. The pastor was ashamed to admit it, but he felt bitter against his neighbor every time he looked at the wall.
But something started to happen over time, little flowers started peeking up over the wall, and then more flowers of different types and colors started to spill over. Slowly but surely the ugly wall became a mass of beautiful flowers. He said the effect was breathtaking and priceless. It was the focal point of his whole yard, and was so much better then the wheat grass he had been so enamored with. He felt grateful to his neighbor for this wonderful gift.
He said sometimes God works like that, He may not take the problems away immediately, but Like flowers over an ugly wall our problems can bloom and grow and fill us with joy. At that time even though I knew God was talking to me, that sermon didn’t hit home. I thought Okay now I will be healed of my eating addiction because God spoke directly to me… but no I was still as addicted as ever.
Many years later when God did heal me, I recalled the sermon and gratitude overwhelmed me for the trial of being overweight. The flowers I had enjoyed thorough the years of searching for an answer to my problem have filled my life with beauty, I am so grateful that God gave me the gift of being overweight. My weight problem brought me unimaginable joy, it brought me to my knees, It made me seek God, It made me see the beauty is my soul, the eternal part of me. That is why outer beauty is so important to the world because Satan makes the least of us the most important part. You can and will be thin, but you need to find the reasons why you eat more than your body needs, before that can happen. You may be able to lose weight, but you will still struggle with counting calories, weighing, dieting... Food and dieting has to become a non-issue for you to really be set free. I can show you how through God's Word.
So here it is, I offer it to you, just as it is, seventh grade grammar problems and all. I would have been way to embarrassed a few years ago to present such a deformed offering, but now I know God will use it, because in my weakness He is strong.
II Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.†Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
http://www.flowersoverthewall.com
This is a FREE Thirteen week study, about how our thought process can be transformed. You will be thin and be set free from the addiction to food and dieting.
Food and dieting will become a non-issue!
Introduction: Excerpt from Flowers Over the Wall Bible Study
Isaiah 49:23b (NIV) Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed.
It had been a rough week for me. It was somewhere around 1992, I hadn’t been saved long and I hated myself. I thought the reason I hated myself was because I was fat. All my self worth was in my looks, I still had an old friends words ringing in my head. He had introduced me to a buddy of his, and his comment to his friend was “She used to be real good-looking until she had a kid and packed on forty pounds. Apparently he didn’t think that should hurt a fat girl.
My husband and I met when we both worked in a disco, and in that environment, around closing time the compliments come in fast and furious. The only positive reinforcement I got was from guys about my looks, and when they faded, as they always do, I was completely worthless in my own eyes. The sexual abuse I had endured as a child only reinforced this idea.
My highest level of education was seventh grade, so I knew I didn’t have a leg to stand on there. I had a relationship with the bully I talk about in the fist week of the studies, and she was constantly pointing out what she thought were my many faults. I was absolutely desperate to be thin again.
I had decided I was going to pray and have faith God would do a miracle and make me skinny –down to a certain weight in exactly one month . I was used to getting on the scale every day, sometimes three or four times in a day, but I decided for that month I would stay off them. I had a hard time waiting, so by the time the day came I was excited, I just knew God would do a miracle. I stepped up on the scale and… it hadn’t moved one millimetre. I was bitterly disappointed and furious with God. I was crying and praying, I opened the Bible and read
Isaiah 49:23b (NIV) Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed."
I remember being enraged. I basically called God a liar. I was so mad.
I was disappointed, I felt He had let me down. I remember saying to Him, "I did hope in you, This is your Word, you promise we won’t be disappointed, You let me down"!
I was still mad at God when I went to church that Sunday, I couldn’t even get into the worship: usually the part I love the most. The Pastor started reading the text for the sermon that day, I was surprised because it was the same text I had been reading when I got so mad at God,
Isaiah 49:23b (NIV) Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed."
I was shocked when, in that church with over five-hundred people listening, the pastor said something along the lines of “somebody sitting here today, read that scripture this last week and was mad at God. It is not acceptable to talk to God like that, you need to respect Him, , but still, He wants you to know, He will answer your prayer and you will not be disappointed, but, He will fulfill the promise in His time. Then he went on with his sermon, It was about trials and the blessings that come out of the trials.
The pastor related a incident in his life. He said he used to love to sit at his kitchen table and watch the fields out his back window. He enjoyed watching wind make the stalks sway, he said he could watch it for hours, so he was particularly disappointed when a contractor started building a subdivision right behind his house. Where lovely swaying grass once grew, was now being torn up, the ground full of pockmarks where foundations for new houses were being dug.
He tried to give it to God, but the more he thought about it the angrier he became.
He knew it was silly to be so upset about an earthly thing, but he just couldn’t help it. He had enjoyed his view so much. He finally started becoming used to the idea, when his new neighbor moved in, he thought maybe they could become friends.
Imagine his disappointment when the neighbor started building an ugly, gray, ten foot, cinderblock wall. He built his wall so tall, my pastor could barley see the roof of this neighbors house. The pastor was ashamed to admit it, but he felt bitter against his neighbor every time he looked at the wall.
But something started to happen over time, little flowers started peeking up over the wall, and then more flowers of different types and colors started to spill over. Slowly but surely the ugly wall became a mass of beautiful flowers. He said the effect was breathtaking and priceless. It was the focal point of his whole yard, and was so much better then the wheat grass he had been so enamored with. He felt grateful to his neighbor for this wonderful gift.
He said sometimes God works like that, He may not take the problems away immediately, but Like flowers over an ugly wall our problems can bloom and grow and fill us with joy. At that time even though I knew God was talking to me, that sermon didn’t hit home. I thought Okay now I will be healed of my eating addiction because God spoke directly to me… but no I was still as addicted as ever.
Many years later when God did heal me, I recalled the sermon and gratitude overwhelmed me for the trial of being overweight. The flowers I had enjoyed thorough the years of searching for an answer to my problem have filled my life with beauty, I am so grateful that God gave me the gift of being overweight. My weight problem brought me unimaginable joy, it brought me to my knees, It made me seek God, It made me see the beauty is my soul, the eternal part of me. That is why outer beauty is so important to the world because Satan makes the least of us the most important part. You can and will be thin, but you need to find the reasons why you eat more than your body needs, before that can happen. You may be able to lose weight, but you will still struggle with counting calories, weighing, dieting... Food and dieting has to become a non-issue for you to really be set free. I can show you how through God's Word.
So here it is, I offer it to you, just as it is, seventh grade grammar problems and all. I would have been way to embarrassed a few years ago to present such a deformed offering, but now I know God will use it, because in my weakness He is strong.
II Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.†Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.