Manna Issue 7

Matthew 9:12 [Jesus said] "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." "The church is a hospital for sinners, and not a hotel for saints." Clever little saying that only, as a sinner, can we appreciate. As with our Word today from Scripture, someone who is not quite whole yet, can we appreciate the value of calling out to our Great Physician. So, today we come to the grips that if we do not realize our great need to be healed, we might not call out for His help in the area of restoring our bodies to a healthy weight range once more.

I have learned that if food is a problem, so is something else. I need a Physician who can determine what is going on within me that is driving me to an obsessive factor in overeating, and losing the Holy Spirit's fruit of self-control. When we are tempted to try to feel better by overeating, we have to discover why, and that is why we call on God and ask Him for His diagnosis. I do laughingly admit that when we call for a real doctor's appointment we may have to wait weeks or months before we can get in for a visit. God is willing to see us and heal us, but WE might wait before it is a convenient day to show up for the appointment. Or to face the diagnosis. Or to act upon taking the appropriate measures to cure us that He prescribes. But the fact remains, before a cure can occur, a diagnosis needs to be made.

Today, instead of listening to my propensity to throw in the towel and binge, may I listen closely to my feelings and take them to God for the solutions. This is what it is all about when we say we are Christian dieters. It is not about the plan we are on, how well the scale rewarded us this week, or whether we cheated or not. It is all about losing the weight once for all and learning in the process how to keep it off permanently. That happens by allowing God control in our life in all the areas that excites us, or disappoints us. It is how we react to joy, boredom, anger, stress, and all of the other feelings that occur to us throughout a typical day. If we can deal with issues on a daily basis, we need not deal with them all at once when we go searching for the reasons we gained weight for years, until it was out of control, and we were overwhelmed at the prospect of ever regaining a normal weight again. I moderated three different Christian diet message boards at one time, so that I was exposed daily to not only dispensing my own insight on dieting, but also listening to other beginners problems or denials. That helped me to keep a healthy balance on what it is like to be faced with God's road map plan to our recovery.

I am forced to recall the reluctance I felt at first to admit I had things other than weight which was burdening me, and I am forced to remember that it wasn't as easy as saying, "God will help me", and just leaving it go with that one sentence. A recent post on one of my boards read this, "I'm just frustrated, I guess. I want to "connect" here on this board, and I do love some of the fellowship and encouragement that occurs here...but lately, it seems like the weight-loss thing is a spiritual "journey" for the majority." She continued by saying that her 40 pound gain was a result of 2 Cesareans, and that Scripture here was twisted out of context to make it a spiritual issue for everyone."

I don't believe that it is a medical fact that Cesareans cause weight gain, but I do know that we can all pinpoint a certain time or "reason'"in our lives when we did gain. Nonetheless, have a question? Jesus has the answer! I responded, in part with this, "1 Corinthians 10:31 says: 'So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God'. For many of us then, our problems with food are both physical and spiritual. I lost 85 pounds. I could have blamed medications and menopause for my weight gain, and in fact I did, but it really boiled down to learning as I aged I could no longer eat whatever I liked, whenever I wanted too. I could no longer eat my way through problems and uncertainties I was having with my physical body. If we say grace before each meal, then again our food becomes more than physical nourishment, it is also an act of worship. We know that the members of the Body of Christ are diversified. I certainly cannot agree with every post I read, yet I have learned through the years how unique each person's struggles are and have been enriched by the variances of opinions.

The Board name, "Grace Today Dieters", was chosen with great care. We have incorporated God into our quest to regain our health and each one of us exercises our spirituality to do that. The Word of God brings both comfort and conviction, and God speaks to us through that means individually. What is God speaking to you today? Do you have a problem with food or not? Are you taking in more than your daily bread or not? Are you eating only for nourishment or not? Is food a problem for you or not? Do you have something that is "eating away" at you, or are you just eating away? If food is a problem for you, than you need to turn to the Physician for help. If food is not a problem for you and it is a physical problem, than you need to turn to a doctor and ask the Great Physician to guide him while diagnosing your medical condition. Very little weight gain actually has to do with a physical malady. The physical problem we all experience at given times in our lives might cause us to overeat and consequently gain weight, howbeit it is a matter of cutting back on calories. What different advice do you think your doctor would give you than just to cut back on calories. I almost shudder to quote it here, but I have read less than one percent is actually the body rebelling against a physical problem. But physical or spiritual, there are answers if we seek them.

Have you ever wondered why your windowsills always contain dead bugs? I'm sure you've seen an insect such as a fly or bee struggling desperately to escape to the outside world through a closed window. It never gives up. Its frenzied effort would be almost funny if it weren't a life and death struggle. It backs off. Flies into the glass head on. Crashes. Backs off. Flies into the glass head on again, and again, and again until it totally exhausts itself and drops dead on the windowsill. Little did it know it was doomed from the start, because it was looking at things as they were (the outside) rather than things as they are (the inside). Have I made my point or ought we read about the insect one more time to get the point?

What we need the most in our lives is balance. To see foremost what God sees and applying it to what we see. We might be blinded in our diet attempts by our past failures, but we need to see why we let history repeat itself. We go to the Physician because he has kept our records. He is qualified to diagnose our problems, and He is able to teach us the remedy. We need to do things entirely different this time around. If we have not shared our weight loss requests in prayer to God, we will not receive an answer. Jesus said, "You have not because you ask not". This time we need to ask, and then we need to listen. Listen to God, listen to others, and listen to our own inner feelings and thoughts. This time we do it right. This time we pay closer attention to signals and triggers. This time we look within and discover why we continue to excel in one area and constantly fail in another. We learn first our patterns, and then we learn how to break repetitious bondage.

I am fully persuaded that God is going to help you throughout your journey for health again. It will take effort, it will take truth on your part, courage, persistence and faithfulness, but this time you can not only be successful in losing the weight, but more importantly triumphant in keeping it off. You will not have a perfect day every day. It is said that one habit alone takes twenty one days to break it, or to instill a new one. Does any of the following sound like one of your habits and prior dieting attempts? "Habits of pessimism lead to depression, wither achievement, and undermine physical health. The good news is that pessimism can be unlearned, and that with its removal depression, underachievement, and poor health can be alleviated." (Martin Seligman)

Maybe you are thinking, I have asked Him and still not made any headway yet. Than ask again. Remember the parable of the widow who came to the judge daily and asked for relief? (Luke 17:1-8) Her request was granted because of her persistence. Your next question might be, "What happens when I do ask God to guide me, diagnose me, heal me"? Be forewarned that your dieting loss will be no faster as a Christian than as a non-Christian. What will happen by including the Lord on your quest is that you will begin to understand what has caused your gain, how to take it off sensibly---God's way step by step, how not to fall back into old eating habits and how to lose the discouragement in this area that you might have been carrying around for years. What will also happen along the way, is a closer walk with Jesus, a deeper understanding of His love and grace, and a renewed spirituality. Sounds so much better, doesn't it, than just the word diet alone? What would you have to lose by inviting God to be your Physician? The answer is weight, and that wouldn't be all so bad, would it?

Heavenly Father, guide us along the way. May it please You that we desire to be made well and whole again. Grant us Your mercy and grace, and restore our health. Help us not to sit idly by in discouragement, but make us active in this pursuit. Feed us this day, Lord, with your truth and help. In Jesus' name. Amen ©2003-2007 www.gracetoday.com

thankyou this was good.

Nancy, I know that the Great Physician is making a housecall in our lives :)

:th: editor for the wonderful lesson! May I practice James 1:22-23, "But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror, for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was..."

Ironia, thank you for starting your day with a healthful manna breakfast. :)
I also have written a beginner dieter study on the book of James. Might get aroundd one of these days to presenting it here for us. The Lord had you choose a good Scripture to compliment todays "sermon".

:) Praise God and thank you editor! The book of James would make for a good bible study!

:ghug:

I enjoy Manna days, I really do. In fact, I look forward to them. Needless to say I was a little disappointed that yesterday was only Tuesday. Today's Manna appears to me that each post gets better and better and I am looking forward to next week's already. With that being said, I do have some questions/comments I'd like to make. I know, this comes as no surprise to you either.

The judge that the woman kept persisting with wasn't anything like God. I suspect he was being a bit ornery and thus her need to persist. This example has been taken out of context and become a doctrine or tradition making the Word of God of no effect so to speak. God is loving and kind and He has said that if we ask anything in His name according to the will of God, He will grant us that Jesus be glorified. I apologize for not having the exact scriptures for you and I may not have my wording correct. My books are in the other room and dd is sleeping. He's faithful to His Word so there is no need to bombard Him or try to manipulate Him. With that being said, there are times when I'm thankful that God hasn't answered my prayer the way I wanted Him to because a) He is God and b) Father knows best! I don't want to get my own way with my dh. I'm glad that he isn't a pushover and remains a source of authority in my life. God knows I need that and its in my best interests for it to be that way. (authority not dictator). I receive that and more from God and I'm especially thankful that God isn't a pushover either. What a terrible position we'd all be in if that were true, huh?

Anyways, I said all that to say that I really appreciate the candid (is that the right adjective) honesty of this board's members and I especially appreciate some of the teaching that is given by yourself and the other "members". Its difficult for me to shut up and listen sometimes but when I do, there's much to learn. Today's manna describes much of my past experiences and some of my present ones. It's been helpful, encouraging and confirming all in one. I don't think its fair to expect any one of us to have all the answers all of the time and I think its dangerous too. If something doesn't check out with us, we don't have to check out of here however, we do have to check it out with the Word itself.

Thank you so much for the time and effort you take into studying, researching, drafting and editing, editing, editing that you do to put one manna together. I know its presented well and at the same time I know that its not without a great deal of prayer and energy on your part. I love you for it! Thank you once again! Now, is it Wednesday again yet?

Oops! I almost forgot. I wonder sometimes is it necessary that I (personally and this may/may not apply to anyone reading this) ask again or it is that a)I need to shut up and listen b)obey c)trust d) all of the above. Me thinks the answer is d. What say you?

:th: for your observations Coach. I do not bombard God either, unless I didn't get it right the first time. :lol:

If it weren't for the fact and truth that God is patient, I'd be in a heep of trouble I'm sure. :lol:

good read, thanks.

Connie, sure have done my share of missing you this week! :hug:

:aw: thanks Editor :hug: MIL is refreshed and FIL is back home(He goes away to their dd's home to help her with her house) so now to getting back on my routine again :)