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/

Jesus Takes a Stand Even When Society Turns a Blind Eye

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6

This verse and others related in the Bible show me that Jesus takes a stand when it comes to people abusing children, even if some of society turns a blind eye to it. Right now, I’m mindful of those who are overweight, masking the pain of having been abused or neglected by others.

Those who have suffered abuse or neglect can internalize these events, especially when the abuse was by someone who was supposed to be a role model in their life. They can feel unwanted and unlovable.  This can, sometimes, lead to avoiding relationships with others by the layers of weight that buffer their inner pain. It can also lead to relationships with people who don’t respect them and perpetuate their feelings of inadequacy.

I wish I had the answer for this, but I know that Jesus does. He loves the abused, the lonely, the fearful, the person who protects themselves from pain by layers of weight, etc. He loves and comforts those who turn to Him. He loves them were they are, just the way they are and will heal that pain from their past if they turn it over to His very capable hands. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6

The Hungry Soul

For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Psalm 107:9

I don’t know about you, but there have been so many times in my life where I felt I needed to eat something. For me, it’s usually something crunchy. When I’m being prayerful about my actions, I realize that these times seem to be when I’m stressed or worried about the well-being of someone I care about.

When I’m a Hungry Soul Christian, filling my body with food during these times, the hunger exists even after having a full meal and more than ample amounts of additional foods. That’s because it’s not my stomach that’s hungry, it’s my soul. My stress or worry about others I care about is totally out of my hands and no amount of food or worry will change those conditions, but Christ can.

I have to turn these stressful situations and the desire to overeat into God’s very capable hands and trust His ability to take care of these people. Will I get a call that day saying that these issues are resolved? That’s highly unlikely. I do know that God gets us through the good times and the bad, and will get those people through them, as well. God’s timing is impeccable and He knows the right timing and way to resolve these issues. I have no doubt about that! For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Psalm 107:9 

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verse.



Who Do You Follow?

Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew 15:14

This passage comes at the tail end of a very significant time for me, as a blogger. About 6+ months ago, it weighed on my heart that my blog, as well as those by other bloggers, were asking people to Follow them. Around that same time, it was also on my heart that Christian bloggers should be leading others to Follow Christ, not them.

Well, after being prayerful about all these things on my heart, I changed all four of my blogs to tell readers that they shouldn’t follow me, they should Follow Jesus. I explain that that they can subscribe to my posts if they feel that the posts help them have a closer walk with God.

With that said, be mindful of who you are following. There are Christian leaders, often in the public eye, like on TV, the internet, etc. who draw so much attention to themselves and sending money to them that they may actually be leading others astray. This always reminds me of Jim Jones. See the following link to a blog post I’ve previously written on this matter. Misled By Others Who Profess to Be Followers of God We don’t want to be Blind Christians letting others lead us astray. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew 15:14


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verse.



Christ Takes Me Back, Once Again

Go and proclaim these Words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed My Voice, saith the LORD.  Jeremiah 3:12-13

At holiday meals when I overeat, I worry that I’m backsliding into old eating patterns. Patterns that God had cured me of some 30+ years ago. When I’m prayerful about what I had been doing and turn my food, eating, and stress over to God’s very capable hands, He heals me and takes me back, once again.

Do I do the same with my faith? There are times where I fill my life with worldly things like TV’s, computers, texts, etc. and spend less time focusing on Jesus, my Lord and Savior. When I’m backsliding into worldly ways, what should I do?  

I have found that if I turn to Christ and talk to Him, just like I would a friend, telling Him that I’m sorry that I’ve not paid the attention to Him that He so justly deserves, He forgives me and takes me back, once againGo and proclaim these Words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause Mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed My Voice, saith the LORD.  Jeremiah 3:12-13

Temptations that Seem Benign

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

I told you in the last post that I had some homemade from scratch pumpkin bread that sunk in the middle, leaving me with about seven loaves that were not presentable to give away. Additionally, I shared that although it doesn’t bother me to see others eating sweets and desserts, because God has taken that craving away, I do have a difficult time with foods that are going to waste. For some reason, I feel like it is my duty to eat it all, so that it’s not a waste after all.

Earlier in the day, I felt like I was going to cry when having a conversation with a family member who didn’t exactly agree with me.  I found myself overwhelmed from this minor event and tried to be prayerful about why I was responding so dramatically to something relatively insignificant. During my prayer, God allowed me to remember the three slices out of the middle of the pumpkin bread that I had sampled the day before. It was the sugar in that bread that was bringing me down and making me feel so touchy, like I could cry at the drop of a hat. I hadn’t felt that way in a long time, but God helped me remember the effects that sugar has on my blood sugar levels and moods.

Determined, I was going to need to get rid of this pumpkin bread so that I didn’t ended up eating any more, I sliced the ends off either side of a smaller loaf of pumpkin bread to serve to another family member. That left me with the soft, doughy middle that really tasted good when I sampled more than I should have. I held it in my hands and remembered what God had shown me earlier about the influence sugar still had on me.

I quickly prayed and took that middle section and threw it in the garbage, which is a pretty big thing for me, since I have a difficult time with food wasting. God let me know that was the right thing to do. Additionally, it I realized I have to find ways to give the rest of the pumpkin bread away. I gave a small loaf to the air conditioning repairman. We will slice the firmer parts and take to a friend who recently had surgery. The midsections need to all go in the garbage. Fortunately for me, He guides me even when I am feeling lured elsewhere and straightens my focus. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my overeating, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verse.


God Doesn’t Want Me to Be a Garbage Can

Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. Mark 14:38

Well, it was my annual domestic event. Each year, I have the young ones draw on my pumpkins instead of cutting them, so that I can bake them to make homemade from scratch pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. As some of you know, I write the posts as I feel led to and schedule them to come out at a later date.

I had an abundance of cooked pumpkin, so I decided to make pumpkin bread one day and pies the next. I made four big loaves, three medium loaves, and about a dozen pumpkin bread muffins. Unfortunately, I took all the loaves of pumpkin bread out a tad too early and the middles sank down.

I had originally planned to share these loaves of pumpkin bread with friends and relatives, but knew they weren't presentable, as is. In trying to test the sunken loaves out, I ate the middle of one of the loaves to see if they tasted alright. Although the middle was soft and somewhat gooey, it had a wonderful taste. My slice ended up two and then three.

At first, I thought that I would just give them to my husband. Then, I realized that my husband recently attended an informative class about diabetes and was really working at being healthy. What was I thinking when I thought I would give the pumpkin bread to him to save me from being tempted?

I realized that I had to be prayerful about what God wanted me to do with this bread that didn’t look presentable, but tasted yummy. I’ve found that over the years, that I don’t mind people eating all types of desserts in front of me that I used to crave. God’s taken the urge for desserts away from me. I find myself being tempted with the food that isn't going to get eaten and is going to waste, but God doesn’t want me to be a garbage can. I sliced the bread on the ends to make a couple of gift plates and I threw all the soft middles into the garbage, so that I didn't eat it, thanks to God! Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. Mark 14:38

What Kind of Friends Are They?

Should thy lies make men hold their peace? And when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? Job 11:3

Job had been through all these trials. He had lost his children, his cattle, his standing in the community, and his health. His supposed friends were there to comfort him. What kind of friends were they, anyway? All they did was to Job down. They said the passage above to him: Should thy lies make men hold their peace? And when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? Job 11:3

They told him in many different ways that the terrible things that had befallen Job were because he was a bad person, must have sinned and must have offended God in some way. Each and every one of his supposed friends tried to make him feel terrible about himself, but Job stood strong in his faith in God throughout the time his friends ran him down.

Well, this makes me think of us. I know that in my life, I didn’t always pick friends that were the most supportive. Some of them were quick to point out my faults. Ann Landers, in an old article, said that friends do that to make themselves feel better about themselves.

Some of my supposed friends made me feel terrible about my weight, like I deserved it, which is very similar to the comments from Job’s supposed friends. This made me feel terrible about myself. There were times in my life where I was involved in unhealthy relationships, because I felt unworthy of more.

Fortunately for me, God showed me that it was better to have no friends than to have ones that continually put me down and make me feel terrible about myself. God showed me that it was worth waiting for healthy friendships and relationships where my feelings and needs are respected. God also showed me that He loves me just the way I am, whatever my weight is…and He loves you too! Should thy lies make men hold their peace? And when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? Job 11:3

Food Cravings That Won’t Let Go

They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit. Job 15:35
I have no idea what this means. All I can address is what it made me think of. I mentioned a few posts ago about the caramel apples that kept calling my name. The first time, I gave into temptation. The second time, I prayed and God took those urges away from me. This is about the third time. I write these posts as they happen and schedule them to come out at a future date.

Anyway, I had done well not eating any more caramel apples, thanks to God.  It was Halloween and I had handed out candy all evening and hadn’t tried a single piece. Actually, it’s God who took that desire away. I don’t have the urge to eat candy any more, but used to help my children eat all the candy they had collected trick-or-treating. Somehow, I decided that I deserved another of the caramel apples, since I had done well resisting temptation. I think that’s where this passage comes in: They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit. Job 15:35

Well, I wanted God’s blessings on my eating the caramel apple, so I prayed first asking Him if it was O.K. I didn’t get any strong feelings against eating it, so I opened up the caramel apple out of its hard plastic container from the store. I took one bite and thought that the apple burned my mouth, somewhat. That didn’t stop me. I took another bite and realized it really did burn. That’s a sign that the fruit had gone bad.

Did that stop me? No! I just decided to take another bite of caramel apple further away from the core, so that I could enjoy the nutty caramel exterior, but it still burned my mouth. I realized, thanks to God’s insight, that I was just playing games with this and had to give it up. Fortunately for me, God takes care of me even when I’m trying to fool myself into thinking things are good for me that aren’t. They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit. Job 15:35

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