Fifteen years ago God woke me up. He said it was time. Time to let me secrets out.
Secrets of shame.
The shame hurts. Bad. Real bad. I am broken. Shattered. Afraid.
So much pain poured down down down.
Too much for an ocean.
Just a drop in Your hands.
Here’s a new song (to me 🙂 ), thanks to my friend Karla Meachem, who shared it with me and all her FB buds . Let the words wash over you. Let your healing begin. EnJOY.
Got food issues? This is the second of three posts on food addiction. Let’s face it together.
The licorice lie: Food makes me happy.
Yeah, right. Food makes me happy for, like, ten minutes.
The truffle truth: God gave us food to enjoy.
Say what? I enjoy food too much. Too much chocolate, too many chocolate-chip bagels. I’m too depressed NOT to eat because at least for a few minutes I don’t have to feel. I’m sick of feeling hurt. I’m sick of feeling lonely. I’m sick of sick. I’m sick of me.
Does this sound familiar?
You may have swallowed licorice lies whole. Now they are worming their sticky sweetness into your thoughts and emotions. Not pretty.
Elyse Fitzpatrick writes in Idols of the Heart, “Let’s face it: we’re glutted on the joys and pleasures of the world, and our minds remain unconvinced that the joy of the Master is all that much better. ‘The attractions of this world and the delights of wealth, and the search for success and lure of nice things’ (Mark 4:19 TLB) crowd out love for God.”
So how do you become convinced to put food in its proper place?
1. Pray. Heart-humbling, Spirit-led and regular confession and repentance are the only weapons that weaken the stronghold of idolatrous thoughts and desires. When you or I confess our neediness and sin, God gives us grace. It’s a promise. The apostle Peter wrote, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5)
Follow your confession with repentance. Think of repentance as a U-turn. You’ve been going in one direction, dangerously close to the edge of ice cream mountain. Now you’ve realized your error and confessed it. You turn the opposite direction and follow God into the spiritual Promised Land of abundant joy. Here you desire what God desires, and what he desires is your obedience because he knows what you need: Him.
2. Put to death your food idol. By the power of the Holy Spirit – you won’t be able to do it on your own – determine to honor God in your thoughts and actions.
An example: You catch your reflection in the mirror and begin to trash-talk (i.e., “you’re so ugly” or “you won’t succeed at loving yourself thin”). Say to yourself, “This is a lie. I am made in the image of God. I have beauty and value.” And, “With God’s help, I will succeed and love myself well. And if I slim down, great.”
Another example: After a stressful workday, you don’t feel like eating well. You want to pick up a carton of ice cream, turn on the TV and tune out. Though tempted, you can choose a route home that steers you clear of grocery stores. Once home, you can pop an easy meal into the microwave and enjoy it, guiltlessly.
3. Put on praise. Let me illustrate with another example. Julie ate when she felt lonely. The lonelier she felt, the more she turned to food for comfort. The comfort lasted a moment, then she felt mortified and desired more comfort from more food.
A Christian, she confessed her sin of turning to an idol (food) instead of God, who promises to be with her always. Then she did a U-turn and walked away from the pantry. Recognizing that she is not alone, even though she often feels lonely, she sang praise choruses.
While these three steps sound easy – a child can learn them – follow-through is tough. Old patterns hang on like stubborn stains. Satan tempts you where you are weakest. Your sin nature still wants its food NOW.
So what’s a girl to do?
Pray. Put to death your food idol. Put on praise.
As. Long. As. It. Takes.
In the end, this is the question you must ask: Whom do I love most? When you continually believe that God loves you and wants your very best, you will choose him over anything. . .even chocolate.
Close to three million people listened to me on KFAX 1100 AM in the San Francisco Bay area during drive time this week. The radio host mentioned my website several times. My heart cartwheeled down a hill, giggling.
The thought, “Will I get my book deal now?” zipped through my mind.
You see, a few things have happened since I wrote part 6 of The Making of a Book, a series on this blog. (If you’re a writer looking for a break in this tough economy, search this phrase on this blog. You’ll read my ups and downs and if you need help getting your writing career off the ground, contact me.)
These latest happenings sound like a chapter from a How to Get Published handbook.
Attend another writers’ conference. CHECK.
Walk up to an agent, give a 30-second “elevator speech,” and ask to meet with him or her. CHECK.
Meet with the agent at the writers’ conference. CHECK.
Upon his/her request, email the book proposal to the agency. CHECK TIMES 100.
So I emailed it and waited, waited some more, he wrote back, and still likes it. He asked me to tweak it and pump up the “platform” portion. Publishers like ocean-sized platforms. The bigger the size, the greater the likelihood the author will land a contract and the book will sell well.
My platform size? Maybe a lake. It’s hard to measure these things.
Then along came a Twitter butterfly, who flitted onto my path and landed on my orange daisies. (Orange daisies grow all over my websites, blogs, desk, tee shirts. Orange says “bold.” The petals are tender. Butterflies love em.)
This particular butterfly produces radio and has booked me on three shows so far, with more in the works. Millions of listeners. A much bigger lake, maybe even a Great Lake.
This week I’m pumping up my book proposal with this new platform info and sending it back to the agency for another look.
God willing, this is the day the Lord used a Twitter butterfly to “bring it.”
“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24
This is a horrible topic, and some of you won’t read past this sentence. That’s OK. I understand.
The thought that one human would use another human like a toilet sickens me. I want to look away. I want to pretend child sex slavery is a myth.
Now a confession: God gave me an idea to hold a yard sale and encourage others across North America to do likewise in order to raise awareness and funds to save the girls.
Have I? No. Do I feel bad? Kind of.
I had been excited about this venture. So simple, really. But then I put it on a back burner. What I don’t know: Was I rushing ahead with my plans, not God’s?
Please pray for this new ministry. A dear, dear friend and nationally acclaimed artist drew the logo for Save the Girls. Her name is Lynn Parker and she’s on Facebook. All I have to do is get t-shirts and yard signs printed.
Meanwhile, the crime continues. In fact, it’s getting worse.
So while I fence sit — uncomfortable! — support Purse of Hope, a nonprofit that sells purses. It’s SO much more. The owners have purchased a home in Uganda, where the freed sex slaves receive Christian counsel, health care (many girls have STDs, even HIV) and job training. When you go to their website, you may notice it isn’t overtly Christian. Why? The owners want to operate safe havens for freed girls in anti-Christian countries. I assure you, the girls receive biblical truth. They discover Jesus. They regain true hope. Next destination: India
Kristen Hendricks, founder of Purse of Hope, tapped these words on her keyboard to describe the sick reality of sex slavery:
Imagine walking past a cracked door and catching a glimpse of a small twelve-year-old girl curled up in the corner hugging her knees to her chest.
This child’s name is Banji and in a tiny, bleak, windowless room that is hardly bigger than her filthy mattress, she is forced to service up to thirty men a day.
Imagine the thoughts that must run through her mind. Imagine her anguish and her physical and emotional pain. Imagine how little the future holds for her.
Now imagine not just one room with one girl, but the millions of children in countless cities worldwide that are being forced to feed the insidious demand of the commercial sex trade.
Now, for just a single moment, imagine that one of those children was yours…
Whoa!
This is not a piece of fiction.
I wish it were.
Several years ago, Kristen and two friends started up a handbag business: funky, conservative, stylish; then she stumbled on a video about child sex slavery. Driven, she researched the topic. And soon found herself in Uganda, ministering to sex slaves.
God orchestrated her steps. Through Purse of Hope, she bought a home in Uganda to provide safety
and hope
and the love of Christ to the girls.
Every handbag sold by her company Juxtaposie helps the former sex slaves.
You can help fight sex slavery.
First, pray, pray, pray.
Second, tweet this post or put it to Facebook so more people know.
Third, if you’re in the market for a cute handbag, buy one through Juxtaposie. Click HERE or on the Juxtaposie logo to the right. Twenty percent of a sale goes to support the girls at the Uganda home.
Finally, please share your thoughts here. I think I need a kick in the rear to jumpstart Save the Girls: A Ministry of Message, Rescue and Care. Would you consider holding a yard sale to raise awareness and funds to fight sex slavery? I need ideas. I need encouragement. I need to trust God.
Thank you!
You can change your world because Christ has changed you!
. . .AND KNOWS your needs. In fact, he promises to give you everything you need. He’s a walking/talking/
thinking/breathing God-man of generosity.
So what about the crazy economy? Some people have lost their homes or jobs; others their 401Ks (or at least a big chunk). Gone are the once-a-month fancy dinners for most people as well as yearly vacations.
The apparent disconnect of generous Jesus and rinky-dink household budgets may have you wondering, “What’s up with that, Lord? Didn’t you feed thousands with two fish and five loaves? Didn’t you heal (for free and with no co-pay!) a paralyzed man, a woman with chronic bleeding, ten lepers and many more folks?”
Yes, yes and yes. “So what about me? Will you meet my needs?”you ask.
Good question. It deserves an answer.
I am completely convinced that Jesus will meet your needs too, because he says he will and he does not lie. Lying is the specialty of the evil one. The Bible identifies him as the father of lies. However, the Lord may not meet your needs the way you think he should. He is far more interested in your spiritual needs than your physical ones.
In crazy times (and all times) the real question is, “Do I believe Jesus?”
Well, do you? Do I?
Do I believe him not only for paying my sin debt on the cross but also for working out every detail of life?
I used to think he was too busy to care about me.
I was wrong.
He cared enough to walk with me through the valley of depression. Years of depression.
And anxiety.
Then I left the valley. Something had died finally.
What?
My unbelief. Don’t get me wrong — I was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ — but I didn’t believe him moment by moment. Salvation but no joy. Yuck.
Then I changed. Rather God changed me.
What happened to me reminds me of the story in the Bible about the desperate father whose son had a demon. As the boy convulsed, foaming at the mouth, the dad pleaded, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
Jesus answered, “All things are possible for one who believes.”
I love this next part.
The dad cried out “I believe; help my unbelief!” His statement shows that he wanted to believe yet struggled deeply. How do you think Jesus answered his prayer? I think Jesus helped him believe; it’s his way.
He saw the man’s real need.
He is able.
He cares.
What do you believe?
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