Sweet Grace For Your Journey

Episode 110-The Beauty of Surrender

The holiday season which should be all about Jesus. His birth, life, death, resurrection was all about surrendering to His Father’s will. Without His surrender we would still be caught in following rules and laws, which was an impossible situation for a human to follow. So then blood sacrifices of animals, which were their livelihood at the time, had to be made. 

Because of what Jesus did for us, all we have to do is surrender our lives to follow Him. And yet, when we think of surrender we imagine that to be hard, difficult and nearly impossible. Actually the ability to surrender to God is one of the most beautiful gifts He ever gave us. For a long time that was hard for me to understand.

As a child, I don’t know how many times during church services I sang the old song, “I Surrender All.”  I’m not sure what I thought it had something to do with accepting Jesus when I was seven and gave up my life of crime as a candy thief.

Yep I stole some penny candy from the grocery store and my dad marched me back there to confess to the store manager. That was when I realized I was a sinner. I was like all the bad people the preacher yelled about every Sunday night. I needed Jesus.

I accepted Jesus and gave up my life of crime, but I didn’t give up candy or desserts. As I got older I thought anything made with sugar helped me get through my day, kept my negative emotions at bay, gave me energy, comforted me and became a friend who was always there when I needed them. But it also caused me to gain up to 430 pounds and have a death sentence pronounced over my life.

My battle with sugar addiction was long and involved and I share more about how surrendering to God was intricately related to that. I also discuss the fact that Jesus modeled surrender for us. 

Just as Father God gave Jesus free will, He did the same for us. We are in charge of our own lives. He won’t make us surrender to Him, but He wants us to so He can guide our lives because He knows how much better our lives will be when we do.

He tells us that in Proverbs 22:4 TPT: “Laying your life down in tender surrender before the Lord will bring life, prosperity, and honor as your reward.”

What is holding you back from surrendering completely to God? 

Sugar Addiction Quiz Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/sugar-quiz/

Episode 109-Unmasking Sugar

As Americans, we spend over $35 billion a year on candy and consume about 7 billion pounds of the white stuff.  Friend, that’s a lot of sugar that we are guzzling.

Sugar has been related to many diseases and issues from depression to memory loss, Alzheimer's, diabetes and cancer. We need to understand that sugar is not some sweet and innocent product. It is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It needs to be unmasked as the killer it is.

Yet we still choose not to listen to the Center for Disease Control that recommends we consume no more than six teaspoons of sugar a day or 25 grams.

In rebellion, the average American consumes over 18 teaspoons of sugar a day or 77 grams per day. Since some of us eat very few grams, then someone out there is eating a whole lot of sugar.

Friends, God doesn’t care what you look like or what you weigh. But He does care about your health and that you follow Him. He cares about your habits.

Proverbs 5:21 TPT warns us about our habits. “For God sees everything you do and His eyes are wide open as He observes every single habit you have.”

We can be our own worst enemies and continue habits that are literally killing us. What we need to learn is how to change our habits. Giving up sugar is not a quick 10-day program and you’re done. It takes. Time and intentionality. 

I am a sugar addict who has surrendered to God. He led me to others who taught me how to give up sugar. In the process I’ve lost over 250 pounds.

If you want to know if you are a sugar addict, I have a free sugar addiction quiz on my website. If you are a sugar addict, have an issue with sugar or just want to give it up for good, take the quiz and then I’ll send you several emails that are like a mini-course in habit change.

Sugar Addiction Quiz Link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/sugar-quiz/

Episode 108--Am I a Sugar Addict?

One of the questions I am asked the most is how can I stop eating sugar like you did?  That question is one I personally never asked myself because I didn’t want to give up eating foods with processed sugar. I never thought I would have to do that. I foolishly thought I could just eat less. Friends, if you are a sugar addict, eating less just never works.

I didn’t know I was a sugar addict. You may not think you are either. But if you are there are definite steps you need to take that are different from just going on a temporary diet to fix your problem.

For the next few podcast episodes we are going to face this subject head-on. I have designed a free sugar addiction quiz to help you understand if you are a sugar addict or not. Link is here in the show notes. In the next few podcast episodes we’re going to explore this topic and how to manage your sugar intake or stop completely.

You may be like I was and you don’t really want to know if you are a sugar addict or not. I knew that would mean I would have to give up a lot of foods I grew up with. Those foods came with all sorts of great and endearing memories attached, memories that are highly connected to holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.  

Does Food Control You?

If you’ve been listening to my podcast for any length of time, you know that at one time I weighed 430 pounds and stayed there for quite a few years. 

So even though I eating sweets were attached to many fond childhood memories, in reality overindulging in sugar was heading me towards an early grave. A cardiac surgeon had given me five years to live if I didn’t lose weight and keep it off. And that was when I was still in my 40s.

I coach women who deal with lots of various food issues such as sugar addiction, carb addiction, binging, bulimia, overeating and others. Some don’t look large because they hide their issues well, but they long to get free of the stronghold that food has on their lives. If you are resonating with any of what I have said so far, you are likely stuck in bondage and don’t know how to get out. I get it. I was there for way too long. 

Here to Help You

If you want help, really want help, I’m here to help you. Doors are open now for Overcomers Christian Weight Loss Academy. I’m only taking members who really want to work with God to be the best person they can be. If that’s you, I can’t wait to see you in the group.

If you want to know if you are a sugar addict, check out the free sugar addiction quiz as well.

Overcomers Link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/

Sugar Addiction Quiz Link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/sugar-quiz/

Episode 107--Through It All

How can we be thankful in the midst of everything that is going on in the world today? We’ve been through a lot in the last few years and I just want to stop a minute and thank God even for the difficulties many of us have gone through.

One of my favorite songs is Through It All, written by Andre Crouch in 1971 after having purchased an engagement ring for a young woman. He was heartbroken when she announced that she was getting married, but not to him. He wrote these words: “I thank God for the mountains, and I thank Him for the valleys, I thank Him for the storms He brought me through; for if I’d never had a problem I wouldn’t know that He could solve them…I’d never know what faith in God could do. 

“Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God; 

“Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His Word.”

Even though it was written 50 years ago, this song seems perfect for today.

We weren’t designed to do life on our own. We need God. So I challenge you this Thanksgiving to think about how going through difficulties has made you stronger and thank God for them. 

1 Thess. 5:18 TPT: “And in the midst of everything be always giving thanks, for this is God’s perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus.” 

For more about giving thanks in the midst of both the good and the bad, listen to episode 107—Through It All.

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Episode 106-Build Each Other Up

In Romans 15 and 16, Paul covers a lot of ground to make sure he’s telling those in the church at Rome everything they need to go forward until he comes to them again in person. He’s teaching them and us how to build each other up. This is critical to any forward motion. We don’t do our journeys alone. We do them in a community of faith.

He encourages mature Christians, while at the same time warning them. Romans 15:1 AMP: “We who are strong in our convictions and faith ought to patiently put up with the weaknesses of those who are not strong and not please ourselves.”

In order to follow Jesus we need to deny ourselves or not just please ourselves. In John 5:30 AMP Jesus defines that as setting aside our selfish interests. If we are mature followers of Christ one of the first things we must let go of is our reliance on anything other than Jesus. 

Overcomers Academy Link: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/Overcomers/

Free Eating Stress Course Link: https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/stress/

Episode 105--Focus on God, Not Sugar

I’ve been reading and studying Romans 14 for several weeks. I thought when I first read it that it would be an easy passage to talk about. I knew it related to my journey but in what way?

So I asked Jesus, “What is the message of Romans 14 for my listeners?” And He said, “Focus on Me, not on anything else. Not on sugar, not on food, not on diet laws, not on what to celebrate or not celebrate. Just focus on Me and everything will fall into place.”

Then it finally made sense. As a kid, I learned Romans 14:17 in the KJV, but I didn’t know the context of the verse. “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

The Amplified Version says it this way: “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking what one likes, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Did you hear that? It’s not about eating and drinking what we like. It’s all about the Kingdom of God. It’s about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Nothing else matters but allowing Him to lead us.

The MSG adds, “God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as He sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy.”

That makes a lot of sense because verse 18 in every version talks about serving God. We have to get our focus right before we can serve Jesus. I know that was certainly true in my case. For most of my life, my focus was definitely on sugar and not on Jesus. 

Romans 14:18 AMP says, “For the one who serves Christ in this way, recognizing that food choice is secondary, is acceptable to God and is approved by men.”

This entire chapter is about the freedom Christ brought. This was especially important to the Jewish believers. When Jesus brought us His freedom, it canceled the rules about what foods are clean and OK to eat and which were unclean and shouldn’t be eaten. 

I get it. I really do. All their lives they had lived by what their “church” told them was proper. They knew that Christ’s liberty had set them free from all of the rules, but they weren’t ready to make the switch just yet. This was causing arguments in the church. In this chapter, Paul is trying to tell the new Christians that what we eat or don’t eat is not something that matters regarding our heavenly destiny.

I talk about this as well as my own journey with sugar addiction in this episode.

Overcomers Academy Link with special offer of free copy of Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds book: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/Overcomers/

Episode 104--Time to Wake Up

It’s time for Christians to wake up to what’s going on in the world around us. The time is growing short. We are closer to meeting Jesus now than we were first saved.

In Romans 13:11-14 Paul gives a dire warning about the future and describes how we as Christians are still always one day closer to meeting Him. 

He tells us how we should live by describing a normal day. First we have to wake up to the spiritual issues around us. Romans 13:11 tells us to wake up from our slumber. Second, we have to take off the old clothes we were wearing in the darkness. Romans 13:12 tells us to “strip away what is done in the shadows of darkness, removing it like filthy clothes.

Next we must dress for battle by “putting on the armor of light,” as it says in Romans 13:12. We also must know our enemy and how to defeat strongholds. 

Finally, we have to know where we are going. We have to be dressed to run with Jesus. Romans 13:14 MSG tells us we can’t loiter or linger. We have to be up and about what God is calling us to do.

Overcomers Academy Link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/

Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds Link: https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Surrender-Teresa-Shields-Parker/dp/0986159247/

What is A Stronghold Link: https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/what-is-a-stronghold/

Episode 103-Holy Spirit Glow

Do you want to glow with the power of the Holy Spirit? It’s certainly something I desire. This is lesson 20 in our study of the book of Romans. We’ve learned that Romans is all about the foundations of the Christian life, how to follow Jesus, how to renounce our fleshly desires, how to renew our minds and how to transform our lives.

Now in the latter part of Romans 12 we learn about serving God. After we learn to lay down our selfish desires, we begin focusing on what God wants us to do with our lives. It’s then that He starts showering us with His grace gifts so we can do the tasks He has called us to do.

These aren’t gifts to hoard. They are gifts to be used to serve Him. This where Romans 12:11 TPT says, “Be enthusiastic to serve the Lord, keeping your passion toward Him boiling hot! Radiate with the glow of the Holy Spirit and let Him fill you with excitement as you serve Him.” The Message says, “Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame.” 

Overcomers Academy link: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/

Episode 102-From the Inside Out

We can be changed from the inside out. We can renew our minds which will then transform us. 

Romans 12:2 AMP and in the MSG gives us several keys to consider which we visit in more depth on the podcast.

First, to renew our minds we can no longer just go with the flow. We have to ask ourselves, is this really what is best for me or is it just what my flesh wants?

Second, we let God mess with our priorities, our habits and our comforts in order to transform us from the inside out. 

Third, we don’t allow our old programmed minds to talk us into doing things that are not best for us. 

Fourth, it’s not enough to just recognize and know what God wants for us we must quickly do what He wants us to do. 

Fifth, our goals should always follow God’s plans and purposes for our lives. 

Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds Link: https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Surrender-Teresa-Shields-Parker/dp/0986159247/

Overcomers Link: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/

VIP Freedom Coaching Link: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/vip-freedom-coaching/

Episode 101-Surrender Delights God

Why should we surrender to God? Because our surrender delights God. If there is anything we should want to do it is to please God. Surrender also has great value for us on our journeys which also delights God.

Romans 12:1 AMP: “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies, dedicating all of yourselves, set apart, as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational, logical, intelligent act of worship.” 

What does it means to be living sacrifices? It means to be alive to what Christ wants for us and dead to evil things. It means to surrender to God and that means everything on our journeys. 

When God talks about living sacrifices, He is talking about the fact that we have died to living for what we desire and have decided to live for what Jesus wants. Gal. 2:20 NLT: 

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” 

Presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice to God is intelligent, rational, logical because we are obeying God. We are following the God of the Universe who is bigger than we can imagine, but small enough to fit inside us at the same time.

Who He is and who we are makes surrendering every single part of our lives to Him a rational, and at the same time a very emotional, course of action. Doing this now and every single day is more than a starting place. It will define how we live in tandem with Him for the rest of our lives.

Overcomers Academy Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers