Thursday, March 7, 2013


Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
Galatians 5:22,23

"Food is good.
I created it to sustain life.
Not to be worshiped.
Not to be used as a tool of temptation.
Not to be abused or over-indulged in.
So many are enslaved to it.
When they see it, they are powerless to resist, even when they aren't hungry.
Hence, many of the health issues among My people.
Just like other things, food becomes a god that is put before Me."

I never thought of it that way.
The Potter is absolutely right, as always.
I can't live without food.
But, do I need so much of it?
Must I be such a slave to it?
To the point I can't pass it by without indulging in it...hungry or not?

"It is like a never-ending cycle of bondage.
There are many forms of enslavement.
Many addictions that become masters to My creation.
I never intended it to be this way.
When satan tempted Eve with food in the Garden of Eden,
he used a most effective tool.
He lured her by convincing her that
the taste of the food was worth more than obedience to Me.
She took the bait.
Mankind has been entrapped by the same snare ever since.
The pleasure of temptation is very short-lived.
The repercussions for giving into it are longer-lasting by far.
The taste of goodness on the tongue is
The repercussions to health are long-term and destructive.
Giving in to temptation the first time is difficult.
The conscience is keen and sounds many loud warnings.
As the warnings are overridden, as the voice of reason is shushed,
as temptation is yielded to, the conscience becomes less keen.
 The justification of self takes over.
Excuses are made.
With every cave to temptation, the bondage becomes more powerful.
Until addiction is formed and hopelessness sets in.
This is exactly what the tempter wants.
This is his motive in first presenting the temptation."

I thought of the many times I just "eat to be eating".
Just because I associate eating with certain activities.
Just because we have chips in the cupboard.
Just because my hands need to be moving.
How much food do I really need?
Isn't that really all that is necessary?

It is amazing how sly the tempter really is.
To take something that is legitimate that God intended for our enjoyment and the sustenance of life,
and use it as a tool of temptation and downfall is the height of deceit.
It brought Eve down...and Adam.
Caused them to leave the paradise on earth God had created for them.
Caused all of us to be born with inherited sin.

Wouldn't you think I would learn from this?
Wouldn't you think it would be an obvious assumption
to beware of the temptation of food?
So often, I blame Eve!
For bringing such trouble to womanhood!
How often do I stop and identify that much of my health issues
are caused by yielding to the same tempter Eve yielded to?
When have I ever stopped to consider that
the tool that brought her down is bringing me down?
All these years later.
You would think I would have put two and two together by now.

So sly and cunning the tempter!
He takes something that is needful....
something we all have to have and partake of....
and he uses it to draw us into the trap of excess and over-indulgence.
It isn't like we have to go into a dark alley to make a purchase.
It isn't illegal.
It is necessary, beneficial,
and harmless when consumed in moderation and reasonable amounts.

The Potter sees right through all of his deception.
He is opening my eyes.
I am perpetuating my own entrapment.
I hold the key to walk away free,
yet, I consistently make the choice to stay behind bars.
Just because it tastes good.
Isn't that warped?

Every time I walk by the cupboard and see the Cheez-it box,
why must I reach my sanctified, set-apart, redeemed-at-the-cost-of-Jesus'-blood hand for it,
open the box,
tear into the plastic,
and indulge?
Am I so weak?
That I cannot say "NO"...
and just walk away?

It's okay to eat moderation.
If I could....if I would....stop with a handful here and there.
But, to sit down and consume half a box in one setting?
Wouldn't this be considered "yielding to temptation",
"giving in to fleshly desires",
and "going beyond what is moderate"?

It is easy to judge others.
"Why can't they stop smoking?
Surely it can't be that hard.
They could kick the drug habit, if they really wanted to.
They were weak to ever give in to it in the first place.
He is losing his family because of the bottle.
Why doesn't he wake up and change?
Before it is too late?"

So easy to utter such words....
as long as I am talking about the other guy.
So easy to place such blame and accusation....
as long as it is upon someone else.
So easy to overlook me.
Am I not in the same boat?
Am I not self-destructing?
In a different way?

I hate being overweight.
Absolutely detest it.
There is no word strong enough to express how much.
There is nothing,
and I do mean nothing about myself
that I loathe more.
It holds me back.
Makes me sad.
Causes me to feel "less than".

So, why can't I just walk by the Cheez-it box?
Why does it hold such power over me?

"You must learn that this has become a stronghold of satan in your life.
He couldn't get you to try drugs.
He has been unsuccessful in convincing you to get drunk.
He didn't persuade you to become addicted to nicotine.
You have turned down so many of his offers.
You have overcome in so many other areas.
He doesn't care how he brings you down and defeats you.
He will keep dangling things in front of you, until he finds the one thing you can't resist.
He will package it deceitfully.
Cause it to look harmless.
Even use something essential to life.
Convince you to over-partake.
Then your eyes will come open and you will see the deception.
For you, food is the culprit.
It isn't wrong to eat.
Obviously, I created you to need nourishment.
But, too much food is as wrong as too much of anything else.
Excess consumption leads to excess weight.
Excess weight causes you to feel less than who you are in My sight,
leads to a host of adverse effects to your health, and shortens life.
It drags you down.
Renders you incapable of being the woman I want you to be.
This is the trap into which you have fallen.
Each time you give in, he drives another nail into the coffin of doom in your mind.
The enslavement strengthens.
As long as he can convince you this will never change,
you will continue this path.
He comes to steal, kill, and destroy...
everything good in your life.
Your spirituality.
Your physical health.
Your emotional well-being.
I have provided, at no cost to you, essential, effective tools to overcome.
You must make the choice.
To say no.
To walk away.
To resist temptation.
To break free.
To speak My Word."

I am seeing this all in a spiritual light now.
It is no longer just "being overweight".
It is no longer just a physical problem.
I am seeing this as a deep-rooted spiritual need.
I am continually, consistently yielding to the tempter.
Each time I do, I am enabling him to entrap me tighter.
This is a spiritual problem.
I am enslaved.
Held captive in this stronghold of his lies and deceit.
The packaging looked innocent.
After all, it was only food.
Just way too much of it.
It didn't happen overnight.
Does it ever?
Just little by little, day by day,
of consistent over-eating, making wrong choices,
choosing to ignore my conscience...
and the steadily-rising number on our bathroom scale.

When the tempter presents a temptation,
he shows only what he wants us to see.
Of course, he doesn't announce who he is when he approaches.
Otherwise, we would turn and run and tell him to get behind us.
He doesn't show us the ugliness of the underside of temptation.
How the after-effects will leave us feeling guilty,
dejected, hopeless, sorry beyond words....
filled with inconsolable regret...
carrying around the baggage our disobedience leaves in its wake.

"This didn't happen overnight, child.
You won't correct it overnight.
This has happened one event at a time.
You will break free by resisting satan's at a time.
What you must do is fight food temptation,
just like you fight all other temptations and suggestions from the enemy.
He knows your weaknesses.
He's held you captive in this area for a long time.
He has built a fortified stronghold.
He won't give up easily.
But, you hold the one thing that will defeat him...every, single time.
The key of My Word is in your hands...and heart.
You have hidden it there.
You don't have to fail in this area.
Knowing and utilizing this truth will set you free."

Knowledge is empowering.
Identifying the root of a problem is liberating.
Admitting we need help is the first step to victory.
Instead of looking at and judging everyone else's faults,
and issues,
we should turn the spotlight inward.
It is so easy to talk about others and say what we would do if we were in their shoes.
How we would break free and make life changes.
It is a different matter when the problem is in us.

"Either how canst thou say to thy brother,
Luke 6:42

Powerful words spoken by Jesus Himself.

"Lord, please forgive me.
For my hypocrisy.
For my pride.
For not understanding others.
For not feeling their pain.
For deeming myself superior because I don't share their addiction.
For not admitting to my own.
I confess it to You, now.
I am wrong.
I have a problem.
It is real.
I admit it.
I acknowledge it.
I am sorry for every time I have yielded to the temptation of food.
I confess that I have felt Your Spirit check me innumerable times.
I have known that I was doing the wrong thing.
And I have done it anyway.
Time after time after time.
It shows.
I am the cause of my weight problem.
It isn't the health issues.
It isn't stress.
It isn't anything other than me.
I do not have my body under subjection to Your authority.
I do not bear the fruit of self-control.
Every day, I plead with you to allow me to live & be in health in order to completely raise Zachary.
Yet, I consistently make bad choices that are adversely affecting my health.
I steadily drown out Your gentle voice.
I hear You, but I choose not to listen.
Today, in this moment, I take full responsibility for my obesity.
I am 100% to blame.
I own this problem.
It is mine.
I confess my sin of gluttony.
I confess my sin of laziness.
I am slothful and inconsistent in exercising the body You have given me.
I choose not to use the wonderful bounty of tools with which You have blessed me.
I don't drink nearly enough water.
You have reproved me of this many times.
Still, I rebel.
Thank You for Your forgiveness of my sin....all of it.
I know I have damaged Your temple by my disobedience.
I hope it is not too late.
I trust it is not irreparable.
With You, all things are possible.
I place my life and all my sin into Your hands.
I fling myself at Your mercy and beg You to forgive and repair what I have destroyed.
Please help me to change.
I make excuses no more.
Thank You for wake-up calls.
In Jesus' name, Amen."

"If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
I John 1:9

Food addiction is real.
Being enslaved by it is painful.
The results and repercussions are devastating,
as they are with any addiction.

I wish I hadn't taken this path.
I wish I would have reined in my gluttony.
I wish there wasn't so much excess on my physical frame.
I can wish all day long, but it isn't going to solve my problem.
At the end of the day, all of the talking in the world, will do no good.
The blubber will still be tact and on target.  :~)
Sadly, the fat will not have magically melted away.

I am going to have to change.
The Potter is working on the focus of the lens of my perspective.
He is renewing my mind.
He is fixing the inside.
He is equipping me with the tools I need.
The rest is up to me....
to stop wishing, regretting, and hoping things will mysteriously get better,
and to start changing the outside.
To start resisting temptation.
To stop reaching for the Cheez-its...
just because they catch my eye and sound good.

How about you, my friend?

Would you consider yourself enslaved?
Captured by a force that continually keeps you feeling beholden?

Feeling hopeless?
Please don't.
We all fall into snares.
Yours may be different than mine.
Perhaps it is the same.
We don't have to stay here...
enslaved and imprisoned by satan.
He is a hard taskmaster.
I can vouch for that.
But, he is not our master.
Our Master is THE Master.
He is bigger than any addiction,
greater than every hang-up,
 more powerful than satan or any prison he owns.
Our Master is....and holds ALL power.

I am right there with you.
Fighting my own battles.
Far from victorious.
Don't beat yourself up.
Don't beat yourself down.
Don't give up.
Don't stop trying, just because you have tried and failed.
No matter how many times.
Who's counting?
Own your problem.
Admit it and accept it for what it is.
Confess it to God.
Take His hand...and mine.
Let's walk this journey together.

I do a lot of talking.
You do a lot of listening.
If you need to talk, I'm here.


  1. Hi Cheryl,
    I saved this so I can read and re-read it slowly. I am working on this area with the Lord. Sure could use prayer:)
    Hugs from Shirley

    1. Oh, Shirley! God bless you! I am still struggling, but still trying. I am exercising faithfully now and drinking more water, but my, I still have a long way to go. We have to take it one day at a time, sweet friend. Thank you for stopping by and for your comment. I will be praying for you. :)