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/

Hot Under the Collar

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. Psalm 37:9-9

Christ has the above advice for us within the Bible. Do I always listen to it? Unfortunately, not! I don't get angry often, but there are times where I feel justified in doing so. Does it make matters better? No, although on some level it opens up communication on a topic, generally it's with someone who feels wounded from the interaction. So, is eating over it the answer to being hot under the collar? No, but I've done it more times than I'd like to admit.

I'm less apt to say things I regret, although I may be justified in my anger, at times, if I pray first. I have to ask God to take care of my anger and guide my interactions with that person. He will, if only I'd listen, but there are times when I'm too revved up from feeling justified, I ignore all His guidance. Of course, I always live to regret it, because Christ wouldn't have given me the instincts to hold my tongue if He wanted me to blurt it all out.

I wish I could tell you that I no longer do this, but when I find this emotion sneaking up on me, I try to find a quiet spot to pray and ask for God's guidance in this situation and for Him to give me the willingness to listen to Him. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. Psalm 37:9-9

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.


Always Wanting More

A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. Psalm 37:16

This is sure timely. This passage makes me think of all the things I have, but it seems that I always want more. Unfortunately, that holds true for food, as well. I can't tell you how many times I've been at a restaurant and I scour the menu looking for the best food that sounds like it also includes the most food. An example would be that I might pick the meal with two grill pork chops, because it sounds like more when they aren't a ten for me. Instead, I might not have eaten the meatloaf, which is a ten, because I don't think they will serve me very much.

When I get so caught up in food, it's just as bad a vice as wanting more possessions. The thing about possessions is that they can start to possess you, your thoughts, and goals. I truly don't want to be possessed by food or possessions, so I have to periodically turn these over to Christ's very capable hands when I notice they are becoming an issue. 

Do I have to wait this long? Actually, that's what came to mind when I finished typing the previous line. No! I need to be turning the desire for food and possessions over to God on a daily basis rather than waiting until I get in over my head. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. Psalm 37:16


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.



I Was Hacked!!!

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Psalm 51:10-11

I found out that three of my Christian blogs, not this one, were Hacked!!! Large portions, almost 100+ blog links were deleted from those three blogs. I had put them in to make it easier for viewers to find specific topics that they could access within the blog.

I felt like I should be overwhelmed, but I wasn't. I knew I would normally eat myself silly over this, but Christ gave me the calm feeling that I call The Peace Which Passes All Understanding! I can't really explain it, but know that I've been given a calmness that I would normally have in devastating situations. I knew that I might not be able to recreate what was lost, but I still felt calm. Then, I realized that if God gave me this calm feeling, He would take care of things and I shouldn't fight it.

After lots of prayerful contemplation, I put an Archive to the right of the regular post. It wasn't as easy to use as the original post links I had included, but it did allow viewers to access all the previous posts. Again, after much prayer, I reconfigured the Bible Study: Relating the Bible to YOUR Life! blog. It had previously been columns of posts link examples to help viewers learn to better relate to the Bible through Bible to Self Connections, Bible to World Connections and Bible to Text/Media Connections. Eventually, the blogs was reconfigured to be three shorter blogs posts with several links in each to give examples of how to make these examples. In the long run, I realized that sometimes God takes things that appears bad and turns them into something good. Once I was open to that, I could see that God made the blog more viewer friendly. In fact, it might be easier for viewers to relate to the blog now that there weren't 100's of post links everywhere. I'm glad that Christ calmed my initial anxiety and left me with the calm feeling. I'm also glad that He made the blog easier for viewers. I am truly blessed beyond words! Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Psalm 51:10-11

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.



Open My Eyes to What's Going on and Pray-Not Just Going Through the Motions

Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies. Psalm 108:12-13

I don't weigh on scales, except for once or twice a year or when I go to the doctor's office. God showed me that I let the scales tell me who I am and how I should feel about myself for too many years. Now, I use how my pants fit and/or how my sleeves fit. That tends to be a more accurate indicator of how in-tuned I am with turning my food, my emotions, and my eating over to my Heavenly Savior.

Well, for the last couple of months, both my pants and my sleeves have been pretty snug on me. I seemed to find a way to ignore it, but not today. I was barely able to close the clasp on my pants today, so I can no longer put my relationship with God on a back burner. I'm not sure if it's that I'm rambling through my prayers to Him, turning my food, body, eating, and stress over to His capable hands or whether I'm forgetting to turn them over at all.

  God's letting me know that I need to open my eyes to what's going on and pray- not just going through the motions. I don't want to take the miracle He's done in my life for granted and certainly don't want to fall back into old eating patterns again. As a forgiving God, He will bring me back into a closer relationship if I ask Him. That's what I need to do now!!!! Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies. Psalm 108:12-13

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.



The Peaches Threw Me for a Loop

I rejoice at Thy Word, as one that findeth great spoil. Pslam 119:162

We went to a breakfast buffet with some family. I was trying to be healthy, but I wanted some of the chopped nuts. I decided to get some of the sliced peaches with some cottage cheese. Then, I covered the top with chopped nuts. Yes, I over did it in the nut department, but that's not the worst of it.

We were driving home and I kept craving sweets. Since I rarely eat anything with sugar, because of my Hypoglycemia, I don't crave sweets often. I kept having thoughts about pie ala mode. My husband had gotten some on a recent family outing. There was so much ice cream, I, of course, had to help him out with it. The thing is, that was about a month ago, so why was I craving sweets now?

In the midst of my trying to figure out if we had anything sweet in the car, I tried to be prayerful about why I had this strong craving. I went through all the things I had eaten during the day and most things were pretty healthy. Then, Christ showed me what threw me for a loop. It was the peaches I had eaten at the breakfast buffet. Pondering this, I realized that the peaches must have been in a heavy syrup. At home, I only buy them in 100% fruit juice and didn't think about how the peaches would affect me. I prayed about God taking over my craving, so I could stop pestering my husband about wanting something sweet. Shortly thereafter, I decided to eat an apple. God had answered my prayers and I was no longer craving sweets, but I haven't had such a strong craving in years. This experience makes me mindful that turning to Christ with this gave me something much more significant than the great spoil (treasure) I had wanted. He showed me that He is there beside me whenever I make poor choices in my life and I can always count on Him!!!

I rejoice at Thy Word, as one that findeth great spoil. Pslam 119:162

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.



I Was Saddened to Admit This At My Brother's Funeral-

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 1 John 5:20

When I was young and was in charge of my siblings while my parents were on an errand, I took advantage of my younger brother. I talked my little brother into getting all the money out of his piggy bank, so we could all go to the movies. Since he was the youngest and the only grandson, he had quite a bit saved in his piggy bank. He would have never thought of this, because he was still too young and innocent and I took advanatage of that, I'm not proud to say.

My generous little brother paid his way into the movies, as well as, my sister's and my way. On top of that, I encourgaged my brother to pay for all our snacks at the movies. The overeater that I am had a wonderful time. I got to try all the candy bars I couldn't usually afford. I ate myself silly.

Of course, there were consequences when we got home, but the most serious consequence is how this situation has impacted my soul. It hurts my soul that I took advantage of my younger brother for worldly things like a movie and candy. It hurts my soul that I would take advantage of him when he was so innocent and trusting. It hurt my soul when I shared this after his funeral, as well. Although I could rationalize that I'm human and it was a childish prank, my actions weren't showing my love for my brother or for God. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 1 John 5:20

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.

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An Eye-Opening Experience Once Again!-

Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

I've been taking all that Christ has done for me through the weight loss for granted. I feel so ashamed! He took my stress and compulsion to eat sweets and large amounts of food away. They had become a false god in my life, because I turned to them instead of turning to Christ in times of stress, etc. It's been over 35 years that God has taken care of my food, body, and my eating, but I notice that my pants and my sleeves are getting tight-two of the indicators that I'm off-track with my eating and my relationship with Christ. That means, I've been fudging on my eating and fudging on my prayer time with Christ, turning all my concerns over to His very capable hands.

Tonight, I had an eye-opening experience. I was really craving something sweet and with nuts. I should have paid attention, because I rarely crave sweet things when I'm putting my vices into God's hands. Anyway, I was going to make these oatmeal cookies, that use unsweetened applesauce and honey instead of sugar. I'm hypoglycemic and can't have sugar. It throws off my blood sugar, my moods, and my interactions with others. I found the recipe and started to get out the ingredients when I realized I didn't have any unsweetened applesauce. I said a quick prayer thanking God, because He knows whether I should be eat the cookies or not, even though they don't use table sugar.

Later, I figured that I would look up a different recipe that didn't use applesauce and would just put a lot of nuts in it. Truth be told, it's probably the nuts that I was craving more than anything! God let me realize that I was putting an inordinate amount of attention on these baked items with nuts, so I decided to put the idea on the back burner and eat some watermelon in the mean time. I cut some watermelon for both my husband and myself and one of the pieces slid off the cutting board. Instead of putting it into one of the bowls or trashing it, I quickly thought that piece is mine and shoved it into my mouth! I immediately started choking. I held my hands over my head and tried to catch my breath, something that didn't happen immediately. It was pretty scary!

Not only had I been obsessed with baked items chock full of nuts, but I was been greedy when I grabbed that watermelon and quickly crammed it in my mouth! Did it matter to my husband that I ate that other piece of watermelon rather than divide it between both bowls? No! It's what was going on in my mind when I did it and God knows my thoughts! Right after this, I remembered that I ask for God to heal my food, body, and eating and my willingness to let Him heal my vices. This shows me that I have sooooooooooooooooooo much to be prayerful about. I've been taking the grace that Christ has extended to me for granted. More than gaining my weight back or reverting to old eating patterns, I don't want to let my close relationship with Christ slip through my hands. My life has been at peace even through stressful times when I've turned everything over to Christ. I don't want to go back to the way things used to be, the way I used to feel about myself, and how I reacted to others, including God. I need to be prayerful for God's forgiveness and grace in these matters. Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.


A Little Difficult Giving My Prayer Structure Over to God-

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. Psalms 5:3

Daily prayer is one of the most important parts of my recovery from overeating, because it was God who has freed me from my excessive overeating. I used to say my prayers in the evening, but fell asleep, at times, before I finished my prayers. Praying in the morning worked best for me.

I was praying for so many people and different issues, I was afraid I might forget to pray for someone or their specific needs. I ended up making a list of people and specific needs to use each morning as I prayed. This felt like it worked for some time as I mindlessly rattled through my prayers. Every time I would remember the Bible verse that says not to pray with vain repetitions, I would struggle with what I was doing. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Matthew 6:7

Finally, after several years, God changed this for me. Always trying to be in control, it was a little difficult for me to give my prayer structure over to God, but it has been the most freeing experience. Now, my prayers are vague, not very specific, but give me a closeness with God that defies explanation.

I start by acknowledging that God knows our each and every need before we even know they exist. I tell Him that He knows all the family, friends, and people I'm praying for and their specific needs and I trust Him to take care of these as is His will. I ask God to have us all come to have a life long positive relationship with him. Additionally, I pray about healing all our vices. (I used to try to list many of these vices in my other prayer, but God knows what they are.) I ask God to help us turn to Him instead of things and to have the prayer life that He wants for us. Finally, I ask God to take care of all these things in whatever way is His will in Jesus name. Amen. (This, too, could become a structure. I wanted you to know that this is just an example, because I vary my prayers each day, now.)

This was very difficult for me, at first. Trying to be in control of things in my life, I wanted to ask for specific things to happen in the exact way I asked for them. Leaving my prayer vague, leaving my prayer not structured, although unnerving, at first, has proven to be something that makes me feel my Lord's healing touch on all aspects of my life even more than before. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. Psalms 5:3

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 verses.


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