Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how the Lord God has positively influenced my overeating, this doesn't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse. Debbie

COE Support Note:

If you REALLY want to read how Christ helped me throughout this weight loss and even when I was tempted, you should read some of the 100's of previous posts on https://christianovereaterssupport.blogspot.com/

Sneaky Eating So Others Wouldn't Know

1 John 1: 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I had a plastic storage container party. I wanted to earn a special crock pot they offered as a hostess gift, but mainly I wanted to have a reason to have my friends over to show off. I was excited about all the planning, one of my big vices next to turning to food instead of to God. I made a list of all the fancy delicacies I was going to make for everyone.

A dear friend led the party, showing us how to make pies using the plastic containers. Afterwards, I offered my friends eclairs drizzled with chocolate and all types of other goodies I had prepared for them. Someone noticed that I wasn't eating and asked if I was going to join them. Of course, I told her, "No, I'm not hungry." I couldn't admit to secretly wanting to try the eclairs all afternoon. I couldn't let them see me eating these goodies, because then they would know why I as overweight. I was trying to hide my overeating, like I could really keep it a secret from everyone else. Who was I fooling...just myself.

When my friends left, I ate some of all the goodies I had prepared for the guests, especially the eclairs I had longed for. Afterwards, I felt disgusted with myself and ashamed. All the things I had eaten secretly amounted to much more than I would have eaten with everyone else. There's something about being sneaky virtually saying, "we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Once I started turning my overeating and my control over to God, He could control my urge for sneaky eating so others wouldn't know why I was overweight. Debbie

Thankful for Being Overweight...

Romans 5: 3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 and patience, experience; and experience, hope:

I wondered if readers were confused by my healthy tip comment on the November 29, 2012, titled: Ashamed of My Body After Losing the Weight... Under the comments section, I put that I was thankful for being overweight. This came from lots of thoughts that God allowed to drift through my head around Thanksgiving. I say that I am thankful, but am I really thankful for everything?

The thing that came to mind was my on-going issue with being overweight. Sure, God allowed me to lose over 80 pounds and has kept the vast majority of it off for over 30 years. Now that I was dealing with gaining back a third of the weight, was I still thankful? I thought about it from lots of different angles. I thought that I am blessed in comparison to some, because being overweight means that I have food to eat and enough to spare. In some countries, they feel fortunate to have rice and water.

Then, God had this reflective thought go even deeper. He led me to realize that some of the magnificent changes in my relationship with Him, with myself, and others came about because of my overeating. I had been a Christian for years before God allowed me to lose all the weight. It wasn't until I turned my control of my food, body, eating, and life over to God, before He allowed this significant miracle in my life.

I thought the weight loss would be very freeing and in some ways it was. I, also, found that the weight loss drew other issues to the forefront and led me to realize I had been hiding behind food and my excess weight all those years. Without God's making me aware of these, I wouldn't have had the same depth of relationship with God that I have now. 

I feel truly blessed, not just because of the weight loss, but more for the realization that if I hadn't had overeating as my vice (my tribulations), I might not have ever come to know God on this same level. The thing that is even more significant is that through daily Bible reading, God allows this relationship to continue to grow even deeper-something that gets me through even the most difficult of life events. Debbie


Since I have used this Bible passage as an example of how God has positively influenced my overeating, this does not necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the verse.
Bible Passages That Can Influence Your Life

Bible Study: Relating the Bible to YOUR Life!

Types of Christians

A Christian Caregiver

I Got Caught Up in the Vanity Mode Again...

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.

I haven't had to deal with this frustration for a number of years, mostly because I eluded myself into thinking that my gradual weight gain was only a normal process of life. Now, I have been trying to be more focused on eating the way that God has intended me to eat, "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,"  because food is one of my bigger vices. I have secretly thought that I'm doing pretty well, although I haven't weighed lately. It sure didn't take me long to slip back into the "Vanity Mode".

Boy, was I in for a rude awakening! My husband suggested we go use the exercise equipment. I walked a mile on the treadmill, but my feet were getting tired and my husband wanted to walk further. So, I decided to get on the exercise bicycle. The electronic display on the exercise bicycle said a weight that was almost as much as when I started trying to refocus my eating.

 I just knew it had to be wrong! I tried to figure out what it could be. I thought about the cell phone mini purse I had slung across my shoulders. I took it off and put it on the handle bars and started the program again, so it could correctly calculate my weight. Lo and behold, it said the exact same weight. That couldn't be right. I've spent the last month or so trying to focus on turning my feelings and concerns over to God and watching portion size. Well, that is except for last night when I had snack crackers as one of my three breads or the night before when I had potato chips as one of my three breads.

I even had my husband hold the cell phone mini purse, but the bicycle still registered the same weight. I was so frustrated that I suggested that we go out to lunch on the way home. When my husband hesitated, I told him that we could go home and I could make a sandwich on our light bread, instead. That way, if he said we should go out to eat, it would be all his fault for saying he wanted to go there. I had to support what my husband wanted to do. Right???

Well, he said that he'd prefer to have the sandwich at home on the light bread. There went my opportunity to drown my sorrows by eating at my favorite restaurant. Then it all came back to me. I used to feel this way, at times, when I first started losing weight.  I have to remember that just like then, I need to turn my frustration, pain, and disappointment over to God, who can heal all these, so I'm less apt to eat over them. Debbie

I Don't Want to Slip Through God's Fingers...

Matthew 4: 2 And when He [Jesus] had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungered [hungry]. 3 And when the tempter [Satan] came to Him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

I wondered when I was reading this passage, what would I have said to Satan. Since I've been an overeater a large portion of my life, would I have said, "Sure, I'll make these stones into bread, as long as I can have real butter on it and maybe a little jelly."

Jesus goes on to say in verse 4: But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. That stops me in my tracks! I might have let my hunger and focus on food, work a wedge in my relationship with God. It may have been the guiding force instead of doing what God would want.

Since Jesus has shown me the negative influence that the focus on food has had in my life, I find it vitally refreshing, much more than any food could ever be, to start each and every day by reading the Bible, followed by prayer. Sure, in the beginning, when I first started doing this, my stomach would growl at the normal time I ate breakfast. That paled in comparison to the calm feeling that surrounds me each and every day I start my day out with God. I value it so much, that I set the alarm so that I wake up earlier than everyone else, so I can have my special time with God with few distractions. I can always tell the difference when I get too busy and let this special time with God slip through my fingers. I don't want to ever go back to my worldly ways and slip through God's fingers.

What Do Money and Candy Have to Do With It?

2 Corinthians 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver:

It seems that food and money have been a priority in my life as far back as I can remember. I used to save all my nickels and dimes up to go to the candy store. I was oblivious to the fact that they sold groceries there. I had saved up a significant amount of money and planned to buy lots and lots of candy with it. Having all that candy wasn't enough for me. I wanted everyone else to be in awe of me, so I invited my siblings and the neighbor kids with me to the store.

I had almost a full lunch sack's worth of candy and I was flaunting it BIG TIME to my "following". I gloated as I handed each of them a measly penny candy and kept the rest to eat in front of them. For my first piece of candy, I took out one of the extra long candy bars. As I drew attention to what I had and they didn't, I took a bite. Well, God saw what I was doing and wanted to re-direct me. Was I ever shocked and disappointed that with my first bite, my tooth came out and hurt so much that I couldn't eat any more of the candy bar.

When I took the candy bar with my tooth sticking in it to show my parents, they told me that I couldn't have any more candy and needed to divide that candy with my "following". I was so upset!!! I had saved up for that big bag of candy, not them, and that wasn't fair!!! The candy and the money I had lost had become too important to me. I wasn't being a very good example of how God works in my life as I walked down the street gloating to my "following".

When I write this, it makes me think of how, as and adult, money and food still become too important too me. I have goals to save toward my retirement account, but do I really share as much as I should with the needy? As a Christian, God wants me to be open to sharing my resources with others, so they can buy food for their families. I should give willingly and not grudgingly like I did when I had to share my candy. "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver:"

Looking for Comfort in All the Wrong Places...

Haggai 1: 5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; 6 Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. 7 Thus saith the Lord of host; Consider your ways.

I thought that if I earned more money, I would be happy. If only I had all the things I wanted and thought I needed, I would be happy. If had more of this and more of that, I'd be happy, but it's never enough. No matter how much I have, it never seems to be enough to comfort me.

No matter how much food I eat to fill that empty whole inside of me, brought about by stress or feelings I haven't identified yet, I never feel comforted. I'm looking for comfort in worldly things, but God, alone can comfort me. He can give me that Peace Which Passes All Understanding, to get through all the stressful events in life. Fortunately, God reminds me to turn around my focus.
Haggai 1:7 Thus saith the Lord of host; Consider your ways.

Is it OK for Christians to Make Mistakes-Duplicate-in Draft Explanation

Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: Acts 18:9

Isn't it funny how some mistakes we make work to the glory of God. I'm counting on this being one of those situations. I started a blog post, but came back to it later and finished it. Earlier, I found a draft with the same title on my blog dashboard and was writing a note to myself to just leave it, but it posted. If I just leave it blank, people will wonder what happened to the blog post. I feel it's better to be honest with my readers and let you know I made a mistake.

Is it OK for Christians to make mistakes? I like the bumper sticker that I used to see that said, "Christians aren't perfect, Just Forgiven!" I think that sums it up in a nutshell. Does that apply to overeating, as well? It does, because God knows all of our weaknesses, our faults, our sins, our shortcoming, our mistakes, our strengths, our future and all we have to offer, great or small...and He loves us regardless.

So, please take this time to realize that you don't have to beat yourself up every time you make a mistake, every time you overeat, every time you are impatient with those you care about...God is there to forgive and strengthen you, making you the person He wants you to be on the lay-away plan...a little now...and a little later. What a perfect and comforting Lord, He is.

Respect for Government Rulers

1 Peter 2: 13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

Although we don't have a king in the United States, this Bible passage is still pertinent. I am typing this blog post a few weeks before the election. I realize that it will come out after the new presidential terms starts, whether the person I voted for wins or the opposing candidate.

I still think it's significant to write to you about, regardless. You may wonder why I would write about the election results in a blog about overeating. Well, the thing is, my overeating is related more to my feelings, than the things I have eaten. As I told you in an earlier blog post, I ate three fried egg sandwiches one time, and I'm not really that fond of fried egg sandwiches.

I remember a time when the person I wanted to be the next president didn't win. I left the room in tears while co-workers were watching the results on the TV after the students had gone home. If it can affect me emotionally that my candidate didn't win, it can affect my food program.

I have since found this passage in the Bible:1 Peter 2: 13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.  It makes me rethink my actions and the effects they have on my emotions.

God isn't saying here, submit yourself to every ordinance of the candidate you wanted, but talk badly about all those who aren't. Trying to be in control of every aspect of my life, this isn't necessarily an easy one for me. When I find myself having political negative feelings whether federal, state, or local, I have to turn those over to God and ask for the willingness for Him to heal me.

The Pudding Thief...

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

My overeating goes way back. I remember being about seven and looking from the front porch into the kitchen and seeing a big bowl of butterscotch pudding sitting on the table to cool. Looking around and seeing no one around, I snuck into the kitchen to see if I could skim some off the top.

I felt so sly, gently grazing the top of the pudding with my pudgy little finger, so no one would be the wiser. Boy, was I wrong! Somehow, someone saw me and pointed out my indiscretion. As is understandable, I had a consequence for my actions. What I didn't understand is that they threw the whole bowl of butterscotch pudding out. All I could think of, with the mind of a young overeaters, was that if I had known they were going to throw the pudding out, I would have eaten lots more of that yummy pudding, which would have made my consequence much more worthwhile.

Food has been one of my major vices since I was very young. I didn't realize then that it worked a subtle wedge in my relationship with God, my family, and my self-esteem. Jesus has since shown me that He can cure me from all of this if I turn all my food, my body, eating, and control over to Him on a daily basis, praying for this each and every time I eat anything.  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 1 John 2:1

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses-Is This a Wake Up Call?

2 Corinthians 9: 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

Why is a 25 pound weight gain acceptable and 27 isn't? That's a good question. It's kind of funny, for years I've been O.K. with the idea that I had gained 25 of the 80 pounds back that God had me lose. Even funnier, in contrast, is the fact that I panicked once I realized I had gained 27 pounds back.

I guess I ran out of ways to rationalize gaining the extra weight back. At first, I told myself that I had gained some weight back because I probably was too thin at 80 pounds less. Then, as time went by, I figured it was normal to gain some weight back as I aged, because of all that I've read over the years. I would get concerned when I saw that I had regained 25 pounds. I would try to refocus on the program that God had given me, and tried not to be so sloppy with my relationship with Him and my food.

Well, this has been going on for a number of years. When I saw that I had gained 27 pounds, it was a wake up call. I couldn't use those old excuses to rationalize things any more. I was unhappy about the weight gain, but more than that, I thought it was indicative of what my relationship with God had become.

Tried as I might, I wasn't able to lose the weight as easily as I had in the past. But the key word in that sentence is "I," which means I had gone back to being to "I" focused. I was asking God to help "Me" instead of turning my vice and my control over to Him. You would think I would have learned after all this time, but obviously I needed a wake up call.

Actually, I am pleased, in a strange sort of way, about gaining the 27 pounds back. It has allowed me to really see how sloppy my relationship with God has become: becoming distracted as I'm reading the Bible and racing through my daily prayers. God wants more from me and deserves it. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

I'm Not a Nobody!!!

Acts 20:32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

I was recently attending a meeting to plan an event. I was thinking about how nice it was that people listened to my ideas and treated me with respect, but it hasn't always been that way. I remember when I was at my heaviest, about 50+ pounds heavier than I am now.

I could be in a meeting planning events or talking with a group of others adults, but invariably they would ignore me and my comments. I came to the conclusion that some people treat heavy people as if they are a nobody-like their ideas have to be rubbish. I remember many a time trying to share my idea or perspective only to be cut short by others who would rather know the opinions or ideas of others in the group. The sad thing is that I came to think I was a nobody, as well.

My self-esteem was so low from being heavy for so many years, I felt those people were justified in treating me rudely. I felt worthless, so why would I expect more from anyone else. I didn't know then what I know now. God has shown me that I am a caring and very capable person whether I'm thin, have gained some weight back, or I'm at my heaviest. He teaches me that I am a somebody special, because I am a child of God!  And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Acts 20:32

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