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/

Vain Repetitions

Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

One of the things that has made a major difference in my life is reading the Bible every day. I enjoy reading the Bible from cover to cover so much, that when I finish reading it all the way through, I just start reading it again. Over the years of reading the Bible, I try to apply Bible verses and passages to my life, when possible.

 I used to pray for a long list of things. I prayed for God to take care of family and friends, make me thin, take care of particular issues of concern, yadda, yadda, yadda.

 I was just rambling through my prayers as if I had the Cruise Control on as I rambled through my long list of requests. I still do pray for God to take care of family and friends. I also ask Him to take care of my food, body, eating, and stress. Yes, I also ask Him to take care of particular issues of concern and all the rest. So, how's that different from using Vain Repetitions?

 Well, after thinking about this verse for some time, I shortened my prayers, but found I was rambling through them, as well. The thing that Christ has shown me in all of this is the rambling. When I genuinely pray, asking particular things or for particular people, but I'm mindful of what I'm asking and it's not a race to get through my prayers in short order, it's not a vain repetition. Also, it's important to know that Christ doesn't judge us or our prayers by how long they are. I have recently found out that brief prayers at particular times are just as significant as long prayers. See examples of the blog I felt led to create:Christ's Grace Abounds.

Because these posts are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my life, they don't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verse. Debbie

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Only Loving Those Who Can Reciprocate

Matthew 5: 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the Publicans the same?

This is a very thought-provoking passage. I'm supposed to be kind to my enemies, and those who have been rude and spiteful to me. I'm supposed to be kind to those who put down my faith in Christ. I'm supposed to be kind to those who lack a good work ethic, have a different ethnicity, or vices where they make life-altering poor choices.

 Let's think about it. Jesus was kind to His enemies and those who were rude and spiteful to Him. He was kind to those who didn't believe He was the Son of God. He was kind to those who lacked a good work ethic. He was kind to people of every ethnicity, in fact, He gave His Own life for them so that we all could have salvation in heaven with Him, if we know Him as our Savior. He was kind to those with vices even if they made life-altering poor choices

 If you think of it, if Jesus was kind to all of these people, I don't think He would take kindly to us judging others for their skin color, ethnicity, life style choices, political views, income levels, etc. This especially seems significant in a time when I hear of so many judging others and I am seeing less compassion and kindness, which is what Jesus would have shown. Food for thought!

Because these posts are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my life, they don't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verse. Debbie

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God Is Greater Than Our Heart, and Knoweth All Things!

1 John 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

After years of compulsive overeating, I told myself some terrible things. I told myself that I wasn't worthy of being thin, not worthy of having good friendships and relationships.  

 I told myself that I deserved people ignoring my opinions and feelings, because I was overweight and deserved it. 

 I told myself, that I was worthless because I was heavy and it didn't matter if others took advantage of me. I told myself that I was ugly, because I was heavy. I told myself that I didn't deserve good things in my life.

 Fortunately, God is Greater than our heart, and knoweth all things, even if we have condemning hearts.  First of all, Christ loves us whether we are thin or heavy! He does want us to be healthy, but regardless of our size He loves us unconditionally!!!! Christ feels we are all worthy of good friendship and healthy relationships. He doesn't want us settling for less!

 God wants us to know that He loved us enough to send Christ to give His life and rise again for us, so our opinions and feelings most definitely matter! If we are around people that minimize us, because of our weight or looks, it's time to be open to finding people that Christ would want in our lives who are more supportive of us and our feelings. 

Christ doesn't want us to allow ourselves to be taken advantage of, because we are His children and are worthy of respect! Christ doesn't want us judging who we are by our physical size or appearance, because what matters is our love for Christ and trying to live as examples of how He works in our lives. (Sure, none of us is perfect, but Christ still wants us to try to be examples of His Grace.) Christ wants good in our lives, but we, as Christians, need to know that Christians don't always have only good things in our lives. We need to know that Christ will be with us when the bad things happen, but they don't happen because we are heavy or thin. Fortunately, God is Greater than our heart, and knoweth all things

Because these posts are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my life, they don't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verse. Debbie

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Blending in "With the In Crowd"

1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

When Christ allowed me to lose 80+ pounds and has kept the vast majority of it off for over 30 years, it could have become easy to be complacent about it, taking this miracle for granted. It would have been easy to try to fit into groups of people in the "in crowd" that I used to watch from afar for years. I could have started dressing the way they dressed, have the same values, same type of conversations, and get caught up in judging others that didn't meet our standards.

 This passage: For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. is very significant. After the weight loss, if I started dressing in a flashy, provocative way, I wouldn't have been glorifying God with the weight loss miracle He allowed in my life.

 After the weight loss, if I had assumed the same values as those of the "in crowd" by valuing big houses, cars, prestigious jobs, expensive clothing and the newest technology, I wouldn't have been glorifying God with the weight loss miracle He allowed in my life.

 After the weight loss, if I started talking in the same way as the "in crowd," using God's name in vain, because everyone else does, I wouldn't have been glorifying God with the weight loss miracle He allowed in my life.

 After the weight loss, if I started judging others in the same way as those in the "in crowd," because they have different colored skin, different ethnicity, different financial situation, different political views, I wouldn't have been glorifying God with the weight loss miracle He allowed in my life. God calls us into holiness, not into blending in with the "in crowd."


Because these posts are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my life, they don't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verse. Debbie


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Christ Shall be Magnified in My Body

Philippians 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

I know this is a somewhat literal interpretation of this Bible verse, but when I read the Bible each morning, I try to be open to ways that the Bible verses I'm reading apply to my life. If you would like to see other examples of how to relate the Bible to your life, check a blog I was led to create called Bible Study: Relating the Bible to YOUR Life!

Anyway, the I related this Bible verse to my feelings of frustration when Christ allowed me to lose 80+ pounds over 30 years ago. You might think that's a funny thing to feel after the miracle Christ allowed in my body. I should feel guilty for being frustrated after all He did for me, but I want to be honest with readers.

 When I lost over 80 pounds, instead of having that slim, trim body I had envisioned all those years, I had a body with droopy arms, stomach, and other parts I won't mention here. Instead of being grateful, I felt overwhelmed. Fortunately for me, Christ had taught me that I need to turn any and all stress, including this, over to His very capable hands. The portion of the passage: that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death, leads me to know that I needed to turn over the frustration and being overwhelmed. When I did, Christ filled me with a calmness, where the vast majority of the time, I don't focus on the droopy parts and less than ideal body. I feel so blessed that Christ did this miracle in my life that the other things pale in comparison and I rarely feel ashamed. If I ever do, I turn it over to Christ.

Because these posts are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my life, they don't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verse. Debbie
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That's Why I Share My Faults

James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

If you've read my Christian Overeater Past and Present blog before, you may wonder why I share all my shortcomings. It would be easy enough to not tell you how I ate three fried egg sandwiches and the third one fell face down with the mayonnaise sticking to the floor. I'm not proud that I picked it up, put it back together and ate it, but I did. Part of this post is showing that being honest with our vices while turning them over to Christ is healing. It helps us realize how that particular vice has taken hold of us and has worked a wedge in our relationship with Christ, our family and ourselves.

Another part of this post is not as easy to explain. I was surprised when I first felt led to share my many shortcomings on the blog. It's kind of humiliating, in a good way. You might think that it's strange that I say that. The reason that it's in a good way, is that if readers can see that if God healed me of this all encompassing vice as sinful as I am, He can also heal you!

If you can read that I didn't have to do tons of exercises, eat only clear broth for months, and pay lots of money to some weight loss company, you know that it truly is a miracle from God. If He led me to write this blog to share how He changed my life around, He wanted you to read this to know He can change your life around, as well, if you let Him. All I had to do is tell God that I give up! I had tried bajillions of diets and gone to a wide variety of weight loss groups, but I only lost a little weight and gained that back and more. Instead, I was left with more self-hatred. That morning I told God that I give up, I told Him that if He ever wanted me to be thin, He'd have to do it, because I couldn't.  

After having the vast majority of the 80+ pounds that were lost staying off for over 30 years, I found it vitally important to turn my food, body, eating, and stress over to Christ's capable hands prior to every time I ate anything and first thing in the morning and the evening. Christ replaced my self-loathing with a sense of calm that's difficult to explain. When ever I feel myself back-sliding, I find it important to turn to Christ, who immediately refocuses me. My fear of losing that sense of calm that Christ gives is worse than even the fear of gaining the weight back. If Christ can do all of this for me even though I have many faults, He can do it for you, too, if you only ask Him.

Because these posts are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my life, they don't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verse. Debbie

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With the Mouth Confession Is Made Unto Salvation

Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

I need for you to know that this post isn't going to be the actual meaning of this particular Bible verse. I will be sharing with you how I relate some of the Bible verses to my life. I had been a Christian and a compulsive overeater for years. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with being a Christian and a compulsive overeater. I'm just showing how I applied this verse to my life.

 Before I turned my food, body, eating, and stress over to Christ's very capable hands where He allowed an 80+ pound weight loss and has kept the vast majority of it off for over 30 years, Christ showed me lots of lessons. Some I learned right away and some I was stubborn about, but eventually learned. This would be an example of the latter.

 There was a point where Christ was trying to show me how food had become too important in my life. I'm not proud to say that an example would be that I was crabby with my family if they ate the foods I had saved for myself. Anyway, He was showing me the effects that food, thinking about food and feelings of self-loathing were impacting my life and the lives of those around me. I tried to tell myself that it wasn't true, but it was. You can't fool God. 

 You would think I would know that. What's more than that, I tried to avoid paying attention to the lesson He was trying to show me. I would know there was something I shouldn't eat, especially sweets, because they affect my blood sugar and I got cranky with my family. I would try to gobble it up really fast and then say, "God, I'm so sorry. I didn't know I shouldn't eat it. Please forgive me." The thing is, I knew full-well that I should eat that, but I was still trying to fool God and myself, I'm ashamed to say.  

 Through all of this, Christ was able to show me that food had become a false god in my life. I turned to it in times of stress, etc. instead of turning these things into Christ's very capable hands. After trying to fool God for so long, I could no longer deny that food had become a false god. I got to the point that I felt helpless to change my actions and gave up and shared that with God. I also told Him that if He ever wanted me to be thin that He'd have to do it, because I couldn't. And you know what, He did, starting that very same day! I actually didn't expect anything to happen, which shows how weak my faith was, but God still caused this miracle in my life. Starting that afternoon, I no longer craved excessive amounts of food, sweets, carbs, etc. He replaced my self-loathing with healing and a thankful heart. He changed my life in sooooo many ways and filled me with a sense of calm where I no longer needed to turn to food.  In this situation, Christ's healing my overeating, allowed my mouth to be used to share the miracle He did in my life instead of stuffing food down it. (With the Mouth Confession Is Made Unto Salvation)

Because these posts are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my life, they don't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verse. Debbie

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Going Through the Motions of Being a Christian

1 Thessalonians 3:8 For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.

All those years I went through the motions of a being a Christian. I really thought I was, too! It wasn't until I started reading the Bible on a daily basis, I started feeling Christ aligning my heart with what He wants in our lives.

 It wasn't long after I had read the Bible through or maybe I was only partially through with reading it from cover to cover, He started changing even more of my life. He started showing me lessons about how food had become a false god in my life, because I had been turning to food in times of stress instead of to Him. He showed me how my compulsive overeating interfered with my relationship with Him, my family and myself. He showed me so many things that it's hard to list them all here. If you are interested in reading more of the things He showed me as He allowed me to lose 80+ pounds and to keep the vast majority of it off for over 30 years, check out: Christian Overeaters Support where there are 100's of previous Christian Overeaters Past and Present Posts.

Because these posts are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my life, they don't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verse. Debbie  

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What to Do When You Have a Dilemma

1 Peter 2:17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

I read this Bible verse and I'm very torn. I agree with Christ's letting us know through the Bible that we are to honor all men and to love the brotherhood. He wants us to love our neighbors as ourselves.

It's tricky for me, when it says to honor the king, although we don't technically have a king. My problem is that the person in charge of my country doesn't honor all men and love our neighbors as ourselves. This baffles me and is enough to eat myself silly, at times!

When I pray about this, I am supposed to honor the person in charge by being respectful. That doesn't mean that I have to agree with how he treats others, especially those of other ethnicity. I don't approve of his being disrespectful to others and need to make sure I'm not being disrespectful to him, as well. The way I resolve these things is to stay focused on Christ getting me and those I care for, through these times when we hear more negativity coming from some politicians in lead positions. My focus needs to continue to be on Christ!!!!

Because these posts are examples of how I've applied these Bible verses to my life, they don't necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verse. Debbie

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