Matthew 6:33 
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

The experience of God is slightly different for all of us, I think because God knows how to reach each one of us. Since we are different, His approaches are different. That's why I often don't write about how close God can be, because if your experience of Him is different from mine, that doesn't make your experience any less, and you don't want to miss how He reaches out to you because you're looking to find Him in the same places as others. The Holy Spirit knows you uniquely and will reach out in whatever way is best, it's why the Bible is so important, the Bible is the authority from God to discern with...not what anyone else says and not what anyone else's experience of Him is.

Matthew 11:29  Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My Yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

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Putting on the Armor of God

    Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

      Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,  and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—  and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,  for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6)

So just how does someone put on the armor of God? First of all, prayer. Simply ask. God loves us, He told us to give Him our burdens. For me, this is a huge one. So I ask. I ask Him to show me if my motives are correct. I can fool myself but I can't fool God, and He knows. If my motives aren't correct, if God looks down the barrel of time and sees me flaunting a thin body even if my motives began innocently, then I have to accept (and I do), that He knows better than I do what is best for me and I have nothing but sincere gratitude in that. Trusting my Shepherd to lead me to the right places...this is rest.

But if my motives truly ARE correct and my requests godly, God is all about helping me. He is the Giver of all good gifts, and right now He is gifting me with the insight of what this battle truly is about. It's about picking up where great grandma Eve left off except THIS time, Christ is in me, and He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4)

In fact, Jesus fasted for 40 days and the Bible says:

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

"But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

So the first maneuver that Satan used was to tempt Jesus with bread. It worked on Eve but not the Christ. Jesus responded with Scripture. He didn't shout at Satan, He just responded with the Truth. Jesus here shows me how to respond to temptation as well. It IS the Sword of the Spirit.

But there isn't always time to look up Scriptures when temptation comes. I find that there are many "darts" of the enemy aimed at me. Insecurity, anger, stress, guilt, mistrust, even plain exhaustion...those are what I call "toxic thoughts." Accumulate enough unanswered toxic thoughts and I fall to temptation easily. I believe it's why God said:

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (Philippeans 4:8)

I am working on a list of Scriptures to memorize. I need to be battle ready. The enemy is gunning for me, for all who seek God. The Bible says:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.  But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.  To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5)

The thief does not come except to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10)

Did you think this battle didn't matter? Satan and his minions are seeking to destroy God's people. This battle is SERIOUS, but it's the battlefield we are born for. It's where we get to choose whom we belong to. 

But Jesus came that we may have life, and that we may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

I choose life. I choose to be hungry as Jesus was hungry. We don't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Easily said, much more difficult to follow....the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. And that is why, when I think of Jesus and the hunger He felt...for me...

Jesus suffered hunger for me and so much more

He laid down His life and picked it up again....

He came...for me. For you and for me.

The love of God changes everything. <3

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 "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." (Matthew 7:2) 

If we look to criticize others, we internalize it ourselves. Negative thoughts about others are toxic thoughts to ourselves.

"Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." (Philippians 4)  

First, be honest. If you want to lose weight for Godly reasons, for health, for energy, to repent from possible gluttony, for husbands, to find a godly husband, (most important) to give glory to Him; then God is wherever you are to carry that burden. If your goal is to drive men wild, to lord it over other women in social settings, to feel superior, well, believe me, God knows and I highly doubt you will find much here. 

Dieting almost always fails because so many of us approach it with an attitude of "I'm not good enough" as we are. Many beat ourselves up while mentally dangling seductive visions of ourselves born from today's culture. If we are in Christ, then the Holy Spirit is indwelling us, and we might be able to lie to ourselves about our motives but He knows us better than we do. So first and foremost, be honest with yourself. Once you have that, get ready to love yourself through Christ's eyes, which melts away that kneejerk reaction to toxic thoughts that cripple us. Toxic thoughts about ourselves and those around us. Anger, guilt, rebellion, there are so many reasons besides good taste that cause us to eat too much. My prayer is that all of us discover God's truths about how He sees us, about the love that He has for us, about His protection and strength in carrying the burden as we discover Him through our trials and the trials of others on this page. 

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 Lord I lift up every member here and pray for your strength and encouragement. Only You, Abba Father, can quiet our minds, only You remain at our sides through the good times and bad, only You can orchestrate every circumstance that we can grow as You shape us into who You desire us to be. Whatever that is, Lord, we just seek freedom and relief from self-sabotage or boredom. Keep us awake, keep us on guard, stay with us as we keep watch, explode through our hearts and mind with worship song...and help us find those songs that just set our hearts on fire. We praise You, we love You, we worship You, we give it all to You because You are the power and the glory forever. Thank you so much for being there, for caring, for watching over us, for keeping the wolves at bay, for Your patience as we learn to walk in ever stronger ways. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

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"I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day...being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you... and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you...For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

I looked up the verse and thought so much of the context was perfect for here. Lord I lift up each one of these people and ask for Your blessing upon them. Help us to walk in the Light as You are in the light. Show each of us what we need to know today and thank You for Your presence and guidance in our lives. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

I don't know about anyone else but the only success I have had is when I wait until I'm hungry, I learned it with the Weigh Down Workshop, and with that you can eat ANYTHING YOU WANT as long as you're hungry. It's awesome, you never feel deprived, you just have to wait, it teaches patience. You also learn to listen to your body signal what it's craving because I believe God gave us bodies to help us know what it needs. So I started out a LITTLE hungry but...I pray to do better tomorrow. Other than that it was pretty good. Anyone else? I know you have different strategies, how are you doing?