Roots

I gained one and one half pounds in a month and started getting into some old crazy thinking. I cried out to the Lord to be set free from this and He began showing me some roots. Many cases in my childhood when different relatives fed me instead of talking to me, pointing me to the Lord, and listening to me and hugging and loving me. I learned at an early age, and repeatedly, that food makes me feel better during stressful times.
I felt badly, but am now thankful for this weight gain. I am feeling more compassion for people who are in any addiction. At some point, they were in distress, and a substance made them feel better, thus setting up a stronghold.
The Lord came to set the captives free, and as we come to Him, grieve out those places, ask Him to show us where He was in those instances, ask Him to use this for His glory, surrender these areas to Him, and pray, and quote scriptures of truth and His promises these strongholds will tumble in the name of Jesus.

Continuing

As I coontinue this program I notice some changes. In the beginning the focus was on me doing the 8 keys and how well I did them.
The more I study this program and the longer I walk with the Lord the more I focus on the spiritual concepts and on honoring God and the less I focus on my weight and my performance.

Jesus satisfies

Jesus is teaching me that He is the only thing that satisfies. I ate a piece of cobbler. It tasted good but the good feeling did not last. I bought some new jeans. That was exciting for a day, but then I lost all enthusiasm. I started a new job. That was exciting for a month. I received a lifetime longing for a dream I had. The joy from that lasted for a week.
Only Jesus satisfies the longing of my heart. He is the only constant in my life. He really is the Bread of Life and the Living Water which sustain me.

living according to the Spirit

The Lord is speaking to me this morning that TW is simply living according to the Spirit and not the flesh.
At work I pray before doing almost everything and the Holy Spirit cares. He guides and directs me.
TW is doing the same thing with my eating and exercise. I need to ask Him to be my guide and then know that He will help me and comfort me and that I do not need comfort from food and He cares more about my body than I do. It is where He dwells.
I will do this today and be excited to see the results.

attributes

Online at TW under the leadership of Heidi who helped write TW book we are doing a thourough study of the TW book.
We are praying and praising God for His attributes.
I was reading John 17 and praying this out loud for myself and for other believers and something jumped out at me that I had never seen. Verse 23. God loves us as much as He loves His Son. I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
This is NIV. The New Living says as much as you have loved me. I got only a glimpse of how much He loves us.
Oh to know that we are fully loved and accepted my Him. What a difference that would make in how we view ourselves, thus making total love for self and others more attainable and therefore our weight struggles less and our fredom more.

masterpiece

If only we could see ourselves as God's masterpiece. That we are one of a kind and unique and that God loves us just the way we are.
God has been speaking to me about how we are all unique. Then at our Church the children sang a song about this very thing.
If we can get a grasp on this and on His love for us it will affect our image of ourselves and thus affect our eating and body image.

In the eating arena, I am going to the table and applying the 8 keys at every eating occasion. I have done this at meals, but I am now doing it even if I need an apple between meals. It makes such a difference in how I enjoy the food. I also have been praying more about choices etc. I thought I don't know whether God will answer something this piddly or not. I prayed about breakfast and did not think I was going to get an answer. Then just as I got to the kitchen and decided to make my own selection the thought came to me to have some oatmeal. It was just what I needed and had not had any for a long time. God does care about every detail of our lives.

Heal

I am going through the Heal book now. I always have something I am doing in the area of food and eating in addition to regular Bible reading. This is so good. Right now I am going through Psalm 139 a verse at a time just like the Heal book suggests. There is so much growth in this for me. To read and pray about each verse and journal about how this applies to my weight and eating.