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/

There Was A Time I Would Have Eaten Over This, but Just Feel Empty

But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing ye might have life through His name. John 20: 31 

This verse is so very comforting right now. I feel so numb inside. My dad wanted to move in with us a year ago, but has now told us that he would prefer to live in a nursing home. There was a time I would have eaten over this, but just feel empty now!

I don't know if I feel like a failure about not being able to be all my dad needed or to be able to provide all he needed or wanted. I don't know if I feel to blame in some way for not better meeting his needs, although I thought I catered my day around his needs, the best that I could.

I tried to stay informed about best practices for caring for a family member, but no matter how much I tried to make things positive, he still had to deal with having a Parkinsonism, Macular Degeneration, and other debilitating issues. 

I hate to admit that I have been awake more whole nights that I would like to mention, which means that I am not turning this issue over into my Lord's compassionate arms. I need to focus on Christ's ability to take care of my dad in whatever way is best for him and that I don't have to take that all on, because Christ already has. But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing ye might have life through His name. John 20: 31 

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

I Was Too Sick to Eat

Luke 5: 31 And Jesus answering said unto them, they that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. 32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

As I lay there in a heap on my couch too tired, too sick to my stomach to get up and eat, I thought of the irony of all of this. In years past, most times when I was sick to my stomach, I just thought I was hungry. I would eat ice cream thinking it would cool down my stomach, but it didn't. Then, I would make this certain gelatin recipe my mother used to make, thinking it would help, but it never did. By the time I had sampled this and that and almost the entire quantity of many of these things, I would be so sick to my stomach that it was very apparent that I had made matters much worse by eating all of that.

Here I am at another time in my life, and I just don't feel like I have the energy to get up and eat. I know that I need to in order to keep up my strength, but it's a major effort. Does that mean that I need Jesus less now, since food isn't as big an obstacle in my life? Of course not!

Although God is healing my compulsive overeating, I can slip back into those old eating patterns at a drop of a hat. I can turn to food instead of turning to God in times of stress, joy, etc. I can get caught up in being prideful about the miraculous changes that God has allowed in my life, but then I would just be letting Satan work a wedge in my relationship with Christ.  Luke 5: 31 And Jesus answering said unto them, they that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. 32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

What's the Flip Side of This?

Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.

This is a pretty inspiring passage and the flip side of this has even more meaning than I originally thought.  We don't have to have the ethnicity of God's chosen people led to the Promised Land to receive salvation and neither does any one else. 

We don't have to be determined in the top 10% of our graduating class to be worthy of God's attention and neither does any one else.  We don't have to prove ourselves to have the cunning of Wall Street Banker to be worthy of Christ and neither does any one else.

Christ is the one, true, Equal Opportunity Savior of us all! We just have to love Him as our Savior, regardless of our size, bankroll, social status, etc. and that's the same for all people throughout the world, which is a pretty amazing flip side if you ask me!!! Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.

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.

What Is Beauty?

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Psalm 50:2

This is in contrast to my previous post about the man who couldn't get out of the store fast enough when he saw that I wasn't wearing any makeup. Is beauty something that can be identified by our size? Are we more beautiful to God when we are super small size? Fortunately for me, Christ didn't give His life for me to be slim and trim.

Am I more beautiful to God when I'm dressed in trendy clothes? Fortunately for me, Christ didn't give His life for me to be trendy. Am I more beautiful to God when others admire my physical beauty? Fortunately for me, Christ didn't give His life for me to be physically beautiful.

So, how can I be beautiful to Christ. Although I can't tell you that Christ evaluates us in any forms of physical beauty, but I think He admires the beauty in our actions when we stand up for those who are oppressed. I think Christ admires the beauty in giving to others out of our need rather than out of our excess, I think Christ admires the beauty in serving others selflessly and not secretly waiting in the wings for a pat on the back. I think Christ admires the beauty in any time we take the risks to share our faith in Him with others even though we are afraid of what others might think. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Psalm 50:2

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

He Couldn't Get Out of There Fast Enough!

When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah. Psalm 39:11

I think that I had mentioned that I have been dealing with a resistant sty and haven't been using eye makeup, to allow it a better chance to heal. I guess, because of my vanity, although I thought of myself as a very humble person, I wear sunglasses whenever I can to hide the lack of make up.

Well, I started walking through the automatic doors of a local grocery store and this man had this big smile on his face and started to say something to me. It was at that moment that I pulled my sunglasses to the top of my head and the man shut his mouth immediately and stopped dead in his tracks. Within seconds he was out those automatic doors and couldn't get out of there fast enough!

There are many lessons that God has for me in all of this. First of all, one of the difficult things for me to deal with in having a thinner body is unwanted attention from the opposite sex. Well, is that what I was dealing with? Kinda, half way. He was starting to flirt with me, but rushed out the door instead, but I survived both, the flirtation and the rejection. 

There's a part of me that can get caught up in feeling inferior because I was rejected because of the lack of eye makeup, but I didn't want that attention to start with. I could contemplate wearing eye makeup again, but who would I be trying to please and for what purpose?  I really just want God to heal my eyes and don't want to find myself slipping back into a vanity mode. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah. Psalm 39:11

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

Oh No! What Did I Get Myself Into?

In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:6.

We were headed to visit my son and his family. We had missed my husband's favorite fried pie exit, but I needed to use the rest room.  We stopped at a bathroom in a nearby town and found that they had an A & W inside the gas station.

Since we don't see A & W's very often, my dad decided to get a root beer float and my husband got a root beer freeze. They enjoyed these immensely as we drove the rest of the way to my son's house.

On the way home, they wanted stop at A & W again. This time, my dad bought me a float, because he didn't want me to miss out on the special treat. After eating about a third of this, I wondered what I was doing. I knew I had Hypoglycemia and that ice cream often makes me cranky when the effects of the sugar wear off. At first, I thought I'd just have to drink the whole thing, because I didn't want to offend my dad. Part of me didn't mind this in the least, because it tasted really good!

I prayed asking God how I could get rid of the root beer float without hurting my dad's feelings. The thought that was in my mind, which is often how God works in my life, was to see if my dad wanted to drink the rest of mine and he did! It surprised me, because he still had most of his own float left, but God knew the Big Picture and that my dad would take it off of my hands. I was so relieved, because I wanted to avoid being cranky later.In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:6.


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.



Did I Listen to My Own Advice?

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. John 67:35

Oops, I did it again! I should have known better, but I ate a light lunch of  leftover cabbage soup. That's a good healthy thing to eat, but it wasn't substantial enough to last me until dinner. Mainly, I couldn't find anything else that was healthy and appealed to me to eat with it, other than the apple I grabbed.

I was trying not to eat anything with white flour, because it has a tendency to clog me up, so I only ate a dinner salad, thinking I would eat a few corn tortilla chips with it. Well, half way into the show we were watching, about half the bag of tortilla chips was gone.

Did I listen to my own advice? No! I have told others for years that it's better to eat a substantial meal, so we aren't tempted to fill up on snack foods. You would think I would have remembered, but I don't think I wanted to. I think that I had felt deprived since lunch time and I wanted to eat something totally frivolous, because I had earned it. How's that for misguided logic?

I need to remember that Christ is the one who healed me from letting food control my life and my focus needs to be on Him at times like this. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. John 67:35

Falling Into the Same Pattern Again After All These Years

Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for Him hath God the Father sealed. John 6:27

I think that with all the lessons that Christ has taught me about my eating, I would no longer have to deal with the same issues, but I was wrong. One of the life-changing issues God showed me about my eating happened years ago when my daughter was sharing my apples with her friends. I later realized that I was not only not being a good example to my daughter who was sharing, I was letting food and weight loss become a false god in my life. It controlled how I felt about myself, how I interacted with my family, with God, and others.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband was giving our grandsons my apples. You should have seen the hair prickle on the back of my neck. How could he give away MY apples? Then, God who is infinitely merciful and patient with me had me remember the lesson some 30+ years ago about my response with sharing my apples back then.

How could I have fallen back into the same pattern again after all these years? Satan knows our weaknesses and fortunately for me, so does God, who reminded me before I got onto my husband about it. It also shows me that I'm more vulnerable to the wiles Satan dangles in front of me if I'm starting to fall prey to these again. I need to be extra vigilant about turning my food, body, eating, and stress over to God's very capable hands.

God's Unspeakable Gift and Protecting Our Children

2 Corinthians 9: 14 And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. 15 Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.

I had thought I was going to write about something else when I read these verses, but a picture came into my mind. It made me think of how we parents go out of our way to protect our children from being hurt from pain and hurtful comments and actions of insensitive people. What was in my mind was that God the Father, is just that...the Father of Jesus. His instinct would be to protect His Son, Jesus, from hurt and pain, but He didn't. He allowed His Son to go through all of these for us.

My instinct is to run to the aide of a child who is going to fall and skin their knees, but God the Father didn't intercede and protect Christ from going through all of that humiliation and pain. It was part of His unspeakable gift for us. God loves us so much that He allowed Christ to give His precious life for us, whether we: tithe, are overweight or not, are in the popular crowd or not, go to church every week, or are always giving to others.

He doesn't care what we look like or what groups we belong to. God only cares that we love Him and believe His Son, Jesus, gave His life to save us from the consequence of being sinful human beings. God the Father loved His Son, but loved us too in order to give His unspeakable gift to us.  2 Corinthians 9: 14 And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. 15 Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.

Since I am applying these Bible Verses to my life, it may not convey the whole meaning of the verses. Debbie

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