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/

Be Not Afraid...

Matthew 14:27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

Since all this social distancing with the COVID 19 virus orders, I have spent many nights awake. It's enough to drive a person to eat the door knobs off, but instead Christ has given me The Peace Which Passes All Understanding and it hasn't affected my eating. That's how I know it came from Christ and not from something I'm doing. I know under a normal situation where this much stress is present, I would be looking for something to snack on, something to eat, with a constant gnawing at my stomach.  I used to think that it was that I was just really hungry, but Christ has shown me over the 30+ years since He allowed me to loose over 80 pounds and keep the vast majority of it off, that those gnawing feelings are stress.

So when I'm in bed lying there late at night pondering what I need to next to prepare for all of this, Christ reminds me just like He did the disciples when Jesus walked up to them on the water, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." He lets me know that He will be with me throughout COVID 19 and He doesn't want me to get caught up in worrying if this is "my time" or not. We aren't supposed to know that. We are just to know that Christ is our Savior and will be with us through thick and thin. If, at some point, it is "my time," and He wants me to join Him, so be it. 

Until that point, I need to be focusing on Jesus instead of fear, because that's how Satan tries to work a wedge in our relationship with our Savior. When I am fearful, it's like I'm saying, "Christ, I don't really trust you to take care of me and to be there with me no matter what happens." That's definitely not the message I want to be giving our Savior!

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

Am I Just Going Through the Motions?

1 Peter 1: 22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.

When I read this passage, I have to evaluate if I am truly loving others with a pure heart or am I just going through the motions? I think I often delude myself into thinking that I am being truly loving and caring of others the way that Christ would want me to be.

I find myself getting caught up and resentful of those who have anger issues. If I'm resentful of these people that have anger issues, and I loving others with a pure heart? When I'm being honest with myself, I'm not. If I'm loving others with a pure heart, I don't let their anger issues cause me frustration and I don't eat over those frustrations, something I've done periodically.

If I'm loving people with a pure heart, I'm loving them despite any flaws they might have, any life style choices they might have made, and any faith they might have or not have. As I evaluate this, I realize that I have to be more prayerful about loving others with a pure heart. Funny thing is, I thought I was, but obviously, Christ has much more work He needs to do in me!!!!

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

COVID 19 and Panic!

It can be really easy for me to become overwhelmed every time I watch something on the News about COVID 19.  This is pretty easy to happen, since updates on this are everywhere. It is on every News channel. They even interrupt regularly planned shows to update you on a daily basis!

 If that's not enough, COVID 19 seems to, ultimately become the main topic in almost every conversation with others. There have been times that it has been on my mind, trying to figure out what I should do to minimize the likelihood of being infected. 

 Having lots of brief prayers and some longer prayers about this, Christ has given me COVID 19 Grace! He calms me down and lets me know that He is ultimately in control. I have gotten the suggested safety items, stocked up on necessities, and tried to limit unnecessary interactions. Instead of turning to fear, or food, to deal with concerns about the COVID 19, I need to focus on Christ and His will in my life. I'm of the opinion that if it's the time Christ wants to take me to heaven to be with Him, it will be in His timing and not a second earlier! 

 Instead of being fearful of the ultimate outcome, I need to focus on Christ and having the relationship with Him that shows His influence on my life. Additionally, in that others are panicked about COVID 19, Christ wants me to be an example of how He works in my life. This may ultimately help others turn to Him with their concerns and fears rather than anything that might be counterproductive. I am so thankful Christ has giving me this COVID 19 Grace! I really feel He has given me the Peace Which Passes All Understanding, because it would have been really easy to be stuck in a somewhat constant state of fear and panic, but Christ has replaced that with calm in the midst of all the News reports, daily updates, and negative conversations. Try it. Christ can calm your fears!!!

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

Resources for Kids During the COVID 19 Social Isolation Period

Generally, this isn't what I have in these posts. But Jesus has put it on my heart to share a blog that I felt led to create some time ago. It has a wealth of resources for kids to do while they are off of school for Social Isolation to help rid our country and communities of COVID 19. 

 These FREE activities are mostly for a variety of elementary ages. Additionally, there are tips and suggestions for parents of struggling readers. The feeling I had was that it's much more productive for them to be doing some fun learning activities instead of worrying about whether they or loved ones might be affected by COVID 19. 

 Feel free to share this link or activities with others, in that I created them for this purpose. 
I'm a Retired Teacher    at https://ImaRetiredTeacher.blogspot.com 

Envy, What's It Get You?

Galatians 5: 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

I can't tell you how many times I've envied others. I wish I were as thin as, pretty as, had hair like, or dressed like someone else. But what does envy get you?  Well, when I'm being honest about it, it gets me nothing positive. It's like I'm telling myself that I'm not good enough. I'm saying that these things or attributes are what it takes to make me happy, to make me feel worthwhile.

Beyond this, I'm realizing that it sends a terrible message to Christ. It's not showing Him how thankful I am for all He's done for me. It's like I'm saying, "Christ, I know you've allowed me to keep off the vast majority of the 80 pound weight loss for over 30 years, but if You made me pretty like this other person, or give me the hair like theirs, or allow me to dress like them, then I'd feel happy and worthwhile. 

In fact, I'm realizing as I write this, that it invalidates all that Christ has already done for me and makes me, in fact, very ungrateful. That's definitely not what I want to be. I need to make sure I am more prayerful about being envious of others, although I never realized until this moment that it's an issue in my life. Sometimes, these blog posts are extremely beneficial to me, because it makes me re-evaluate my actions and what they really say to Christ.


Living Peaceably with Others

Romans 12: 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

It appears to me that there are so many in society which appear to be angry, almost if they are holding a grudge against others for political views that might differ from theirs, etc. It saddens me to see this so commonly in society.

 I have to evaluate whether I'm responding the right ways to this. Am I eating over the tension this creates and angst I see in others or am I doing my best to live peaceably with others? Well, I can't say that I haven't eaten over this, but I want to turn that stress eating over to Christ's very capable hands. If He allowed me to lose over 80 pounds and to keep the vast majority of it off for over 30 years, He wouldn't want me to revert back to stress eating over these issues or any other, for that matter!

 I need to be prayerful when I'm among others who have strong negative opinions. It's hard to interject positive comments to provide balance in the conversation, at times, because it makes some of these people angrier. That increases my stress levels. I realized a week ago, that when someone shared something positive with me, it made my day much better. I felt led to create a new blog called: Share the Joy Blog at https:SharetheJoyBlog.blogspot.com/  where we can share things that give us joy. Hopefully, reading positive things will help counter act all the negative we hear and see in society and in the media. It's really meant for others to share things that give them joy, but no one has commented, yet, but it's not been out for long. Additionally, I need to continue to be prayerful on a daily basis about being the person Christ wants me to be when with those who are angry or are saying negative 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

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I Know What You Really Think

Luke 17: 3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. 

I read this Bible passage and have to evaluate if I truly do this. If I'm really being honest, there have been times when I have said in my mind, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know what you really think," when I have interacted with someone who has made negative comments about me, my eating, my weight or anything else related to me.

Am I taking the high road as Jesus suggests? Obviously, I'm not. I may not be rude to these people, but I'm not giving them the benefit of the doubt and I'm still harboring negative feelings related to comments they have made in the past. Their negative comments cause negative within me and if I turn these feelings over to Christ, He can heal me from being resentful to them and heal my feelings about myself. 

I need to let go of these resentments which is easier said than done, but Jesus can certainly 

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

Faith and Hope...

For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? Romans 8:24

I read this verse and was confused, at first. Then, I realized that when I prayed for God to heal my food, body, eating, and stress years ago, I didn't know He would actually do it, but He did. I was hoping He would take care of it, but I'm not sure my faith was as strong as it should have been, because I was basically giving up the idea of ever losing the weight, at the time of this particular prayer.

 I think that some of us in our faith that Christ will be with us through thick and thin, want to see the proof first of exactly how Christ is going to take care of us. What is He going to do and when? But that really isn't faith/hope, is it when everything is already spelled out for us?

 It's difficult for me, at times, because even though Christ has shown me so many, many times how perfectly He takes care of me and my families' needs, I still find myself reverting back to trying to have Christ show me exactly how, when, and what He is going to do. I need to be much more humble and realize that Christ will show me in His timing, not mine!

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

Am I Making Satan Happy Instead of Christ?

John 10: 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.

I told recently about how I personally shared how Christ allowed me to lose 80+ pounds and to keep the vast majority of the weight off for over 30 years. I almost never ever share this information personally, but felt led to this time. In thinking about it, it's probably that I have much more risk involved in sharing this personally, but I knew this woman was a Christian.

 Over time, this person has seemed more distant and it feels that anything I've done to rectify things has really been counterproductive. I recently posted that maybe I should just stick to sharing this miracle that Christ did in my life with those on the podcasts and blogs. Then, I thought, maybe doing that would make Satan happy instead of Christ.

 If I back away from sharing one of the more significant things that allows me to share my faith with others, maybe I'm doing Christ a big disservice. Christ didn't back away from others just because they might not respond to Him welcoming arms. He took these risks regardless of the outcome, because He wanted them to have the opportunity to have salvation that is offered to all those who believe in them. I have to be prayerful about all of this and see where Christ leads me.

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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