Sweet Grace For Your Journey

Episode 060--Unexpected Temptation

Christmas or any holiday, birthday or celebration used to be a time I looked forward to for the food that would be served. Just thinking about eating all that food made me merry. I looked forward to giving into all the temptations that would be there. But actually, eating all those foods made me miserable. 

Still, I continued down this treacherous path gaining up to 430 pounds until I finally listened to what God had been telling me all along. I am the only one who can change what I put into my mouth. I am the only one who can reverse the path I was on, but I can’t do it alone. On my own, in my human strength, I am weak. But that is really good news. 

It is only when I am “weak in human strength, then I am strong, truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength.” 2 Cor 12:10 AMP tells us that and it was a powerful truth on my weight loss journey. I didn’t realize that I had the power to overcome my food temptations from the moment I accepted Jesus when I was seven years old. The power of the Holy Spirit was with me all the time, I just chose instead to comfort myself with food which seems much more tangible than the Holy Spirit.

How did I change? The simple answer is I knew God wanted me to be healthy so I could be of use in His kingdom. I had been living my life for what I wanted. I had to start over and begin living it totally for what God wanted for my life. That meant when He told me to stop eating sugar and bread, I had to understand how to do that. In the process He helped me lose 250 pounds and keep it off.

God has given us gifts to accomplish His work and they are all so that we can fulfill His chosen destiny for us. Not the destiny we choose for ourselves, but the One He chose for us and implanted in us.

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Episode 059--Unexpected Temptation

Many times we can make a plan to keep ourselves from temptation, but what happens when that plan goes awry? On the podcast I share a time that happened to me and seven things I learned from that because we need to understand how the tempter can easily manipulate us without us even knowing it is him, how he uses others to trap us, how our own desires can take over our commitment to live right and how when our plans fall through we usually fall as well.

James 4:3-10 TPT helps us understand more about temptation. When we are willfully giving in to temptation God won’t stop us, but He will give us a simple reminder to listen to Him and follow Him. In my case, He simply asks me a question.

“What are you doing?” It is a question that always begs for an answer. In the case of the scenario I shared in this episode, my answer was,” I’m throwing these cookies in the trash can.”

What do you need to throw in the trash? What plans have you made that will end up backfiring and bringing you into temptation rather than away from it? What recommitments does God want you to make today?

Overcomers Academy waitlist: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers-christian-weight-loss-academy/

Episode 058--Comforting Temptation?

We love comfort and temptation. The two seem entirely contradictory. When we are tempted, it is not a comfortable feeling. And yet, what happens when we feel temptation is comforting? Temptation is NOT supposed to be comforting.

To be comfortable means to be in a state of physical ease and relaxation. It is freedom from pain or constraint. It is a place where we feel that everything is right with our world. If something is tempting it is enticing us to do something that we really want to do but we know it’s not beneficial for us. So that is an intrusion in our comfortable little world and yet, I didn’t see it as an intrusion. I saw any scrumptious foods or desserts as designed for me to consume so I could remain in my comfort bubble.

I didn’t realize I was living in a constant state of giving in to temptation. I didn’t even realize I was being tempted because I gave in so easily. If I were to define my comfort zone back then, it would be working hard and eating everything and anything I wanted. 

James 1:14-15 NLT says it plainly, “Temptation comes from our own desires which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.”

I allowed my desires to entice me and drag me away to be in a continual state of temptation. My desires required me to give into Satan’s temptations, which is sin. To say I allowed this particular sin of overindulging in food to be a lifestyle is an understatement. I couldn’t tell when I was tempted because giving in to my every whim and desire where food was concerned was how I lived every single day. 

Then my mentor introduced me to the concept of habit change, I knew this was the key I’d been looking for. There was no doubt in my mind.  What I had to do was change what I ate. That meant I couldn’t go cold turkey with sugar without learning what I could eat that would fuel my body. 

I went step by step listening to God the entire way to learn how to change my habits by stopping bad habits and starting better habits in their place.

I learned that what I wanted or desired in the moment I couldn’t trust. But I would do what I had written down in my journal, committed to God and told my mentor and the group I was in that this is what I would do. 

2 Corinthians 1:3-5 TPT: ”All praises belong to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For He is the Father of tender mercy and the God of endless comfort.  He always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial. We can bring them this same comfort that God has poured out upon us. And just as we experience the abundance of Christ’s own sufferings, even more of God’s comfort will cascade upon us through our union with Christ.”

Overcomers Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers-christian-weight-loss-academy/

Episode 057--Are You Tempted?

We are all tempted and God tells us He will give us a way of escape. Here are seven things to do before you are tempted to help you when temptation comes. Listen to the podcast for more information.

How to Avoid Giving In: 

1. Know your boundaries and limits and be living them out on a daily basis.  

1. Have a healthy alternative available. 

1. Plan for temptation.

1. Train others, especially those you live with, in how to help you. 

1. Don’t eat beyond your boundaries just to make someone else feel better. 

1. Realize your body is the temple of God. 

1. Join a group of people committed to living a healthy lifestyle journey with God’s help.

1 Cor. 10:13 TPT says it this way: “We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously.”

Overcomers Academy link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers-christian-weight-loss-academy/.

Episode 055--Surviving Temptation

We can survive temptation during the holidays and any time. Here is a quick synopsis of this podcast. Listen to get all the information,

1. Define what things or quantities of things are wrong for us to eat.
2. Know your limits, commit to allowing God to help you follow them.
3. Admit you are weak when it comes to certain foods.
4. Submit to God.
5. Ask God,  “What are my limits and boundaries?”
6. Follow what God told you to do.
7. God will help us when we admit we are weak and we need His strength.

Free #KickSugar link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/KickSugar/

Overcomers Academy link https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/Overcomers-Christian-weight-loss-academy/

Episode 055--Stop the Food Madness

Before I lost an extreme amount of weight and made some drastic changes in my life,  I had a love-hate relationship with Thanksgiving and any other big holiday. I loved the food, but I hated the fact that it seemed like I had no ability to control what and how much I ate. 

Every year I’d lose and then gain back more than I’d lost. It was a never-ending roller coaster ride. I wanted off but I couldn’t find the stop button. I’d scream to myself, “Can’t anyone help me stop this madness?”  I was talking to the right person because only I could prevent the forest fire I had started once I began eating the things I had no control over. Only I had the power to stop myself from sinking once again into the abyss of food addiction. But to do that I had to allow God to be in charge of what I ate. 

I wanted to shout to myself, “STOP the FOOD MADNESS.” But it felt like an exercise in futility. I was the size of two people, but I still couldn’t lose the weight and keep it off.

Many of those I know who want to lose weight have that same love-hate relationship with the upcoming holidays and don’t want to pack on the pounds through the holidays. Even if you pigged out at Halloween already, you can begin again. Remember we are only a failure, when we don’t learn from our mistakes.

So I want to give you seven tips to help stop the food madness during the holidays.

1. Figure out what you want to commit to doing regarding eating during the holidays. Sit down and write out your agreement with yourself and God. Read it aloud to yourself so your brain knows exactly what you are committing to. Then, keep the agreement you have made with yourself and God. Plan ahead. Bring an alternative with you to a holiday meal. 
2. Know your limits. For me and many others I know, that is not eating any sugar-laden desserts. Even one bite can be too much. Many times during the holidays we falsely use the phrase, “Just this little bit won’t hurt. I’ll just have one piece of pie and then I’ll be done.“ While this may work for some people, it does not work for those of us who know we are in the category of being a sugar and carbohydrate addict. As my mentor likes to say, “One is too many and 10,000 is not enough.” This is true for addictions of all sorts.
3. When filling your plate, choose a smaller plate if available. When I buy plastic plates for any meals I serve, I choose the smaller sized plates. It’s funny because no one even sees the difference unless the other size plate in nearby. The smaller plate is about an inch smaller all around but it actually helps us not overfill our plates. 
4. Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners CAN be healthy meals because many will have turkey as the main meat. This is a great low-calorie protein source. If you are hungry, eat more turkey. Snack on the turkey. Turkey is good. Show the turkey some love.
5. If you have a lot of weight to lose, understand that one holiday meal can mean disaster for you. Viewing your eating plan as a forever lifestyle instead of a diet will keep you on track. It’s not worth throwing away a year of work on one meal. It can happen if you don’t get back on track quickly. We must understand that just like an alcoholic gets better by not drinking alcohol, we will get better by not eating the foods which are addictive to us.
6. A lot of tips out there will tell you to eat a little of your favorite dessert, to eat sugar in moderation, to save room for your favorite foods and eat less of others. This is dangerous advice for us if we are obese, morbidly obese, a sugar and carb addict or an overeater. There is no stopping us once we get started. Many dietitians, nurse, trainers and doctors don’t understand this. However, we know our bodies better than they do. Yes I said that. You DO know your body better than the doctors, dietians and nurse. That means you are the only one who can begin to take charge of your lives by listening to what God’s still small voice is telling you.  Make your choice ahead of time. You can’t eat that and you won’t let anyone else talk you into it.
7. Change your mindset. I no longer look at holidays and worry that I will feel deprived of my formerly favorite treats. I need only look at my before and after pictures to understand sugar and high carbohydrate-laden foods are my enemies. What I started to tell myself when I first began my lifestyle journey is: “I get to eat healthy.” I also tell myself that these other people are stuck in having to eat junk that clogs their system and makes them continue to gain weight, feeling miserable and leading them towards an early death, which they could prevent if they just made the right decision. I feel sorry for them. And I truly do. 

At this point in my life, I am also aware that people are watching me to see what I eat and don’t eat. My life is silent witness to others trapped in food addiction. Your life is a witness as well. Who knows you are embarking on a forever lifestyle journey? What would they think if they see you eat things they know are unhealthy? What does that say to them? 

Here’s my definition of freedom: “Freedom is being free from the stronghold that tells me I have to eat that brownie, cake or dessert. Freedom is not feeling bound to the foods that call my name in the middle of the night and draw me to them. 

“Today, I am free. I am free from my cravings. I am free to say no to food temptations. I am free to walk away and not feel drawn to the foods that will capture and enslave me again. I am free to make healthy choices. I am free to provide good fuel for my body.”

“Now may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in Him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with His super-abundance until you radiate with hope!” Romans 15:13 TPT. 

Overcomers Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers-christian-weight-loss-acdemy/

Episode 054--Searching for Freedom

This episode talks about how we can be in the grip of something or caught in bondage which then becomes a stronghold and not even realize it.

I lived in shame and condemnation for nearly 30 years. I knew I had an issue with food. I knew foods made with processed sugar and flour were like drugs to me. I knew I was guilty of something God had clearly showed me I needed to stop. I just couldn’t give it up. And thus, shame and self- condemnation ruled my life.

The shame and condemnation I felt did not come from God. He was not condemning me. He just pointed the way out of the extreme mountain of weight that I had allowed to amass on my body and entomb me.

Keys to Freedom

He had given me the key to freedom. It was right in the door of the cell I had built for myself. You know, the place I told myself was comfortable and just what I wanted. In reality, it wasn’t what I wanted and it was anything but comfortable. I was dying in that dark and dreary place, but I was too entrenched to find my way out. 

Oh, I put on a good front. I smiled. I did my jobs. I took care of my home and family. I did everything but take care of the most important person. I was put here on earth to take care of—myself.

God was trying to be my teacher and guide, but I had built walls to protect my tomb. They were walls made up of excuses and arguments against what God wanted for me. I knew what He wanted me to do, but I didn’t like what He told me. If I did what I knew God wanted for me I would have to give up foods made with processed sugar and flour. I didn’t want to do that. I wanted a different way out of my extreme weight gain. I wanted to have my cake and eat it too. 

Grace

What I didn’t understand was that God was not trying to enslave me, He was pointing the way to my freedom. He did this by giving me the ultimate gift—grace. I didn’t understand that when I repent of what I’ve done wrong that I  have forgiveness for my failures based on God’s overflowing grace, which He will pour over me with wisdom and understanding as Ephesians 1:7-8 in the Common English Bible says.

This episode shares how I got free and how we can all get free from the bondages and strongholds which have become habits that we don’t know how to break. Take a minute to listen and then feel free to check out my Overcomers Christian Weight Loss Academy.

It’s time to prepare even now before the holiday parties start. Wouldn’t it be awesome to face 2021 without some of that extra weight? Let’s do this! Come join us.

Overcomers Academy Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers-Christian-weight-loss-academy/

Episode 053--Restoration

What does restoration really mean? It means to “bring back something to a former or original state.” It is many times used in the Bible to mean being brought back to life either physically or spiritually. 

I would not have known the real meaning of restore at the beginning of this year. To be restored, I had to face my own mortality. I’ve faced it many times. Now that I’m through my recent abdominal surgery, I can talk about it more. There is just something that happens inside you when a surgeon says, “This is what we want to do, but to tell you the truth, we’ve never seen this before and we don’t know what we’ll find when we get in there.” 

My restoration will take a while. Healing from the inside out can’t be rushed and is a necessary part of recovery. One big part of restoration for me has been rest. If you know me, you know I don’t like to rest. It feels very unproductive.

Yet when I go in every other day to get my dressing changed and the nurse tells me how much I’ve healed, I realize it has all been due to me being able to rest enough to give my body time to do that. 

That’s the physical restoration, but there is also a spiritual restoration that takes place when we rest in God and trust Him to take care of us and He always does. The other day God brought a line from a Keith Green song to my mind. “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” The words are from Psalm 51:12 KJV and the song I was remembering was “Create In Me A Clean Heart. “ I wondered just what David, the writer of the Psalm meant when he penned those words?

David wrote this Psalm after the prophet Nathan pointed out his sins of adultery and murder. David, the man after God’s own heart, had been trying to “fix” the wrong he had done. He hadn’t faced his sin. If you think about it this was at least nine months after his sins. The baby he had illegitimately conceived with Bathsheba had been born and then, died. During all this time, David wrote no Psalms. Writing the Psalms was David’s way of talking with God. He was running from God, not physically, but spiritually. He felt far away from God. I’m not sure if he felt like he was above God’s rules and laws and because he was king he could do what he wanted or if he really felt that God’s salvation had been taken from him.

But after Nathan helped him see his sin, He confessed, repented and asked God to create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him. He cries out to God and entreats Him to not throw him away from God’s presence and not to remove the Holy Spirit’s anointing and presence from him. Then he asks God to restore to him the joy of God’s salvation.

He is recognizing that God and God alone is the giver of salvation. He realizes he is far away from God, but God had been there all the time. He was simply waiting for David to come back to Him. David recognized the distance and with the distance went His joy. He longed to be close to God again, to feel the joy that comes from listening to the Lord and following Him. He needed that again. He realized He couldn’t remain being a king without that close relationship with God.

As I began to understand what restoration meant to David, I saw a parallel in my own life. David at least spent a year not repenting of his sin. However, I spent a whole lot more time than that before I really repented before God. I had fallen into a trap I think a lot of us fall into where we don’t think of eating that extra piece of cake or that little bite of this dessert or an extra helping of mashed potatoes as a sin. We’ve been doing it for so long we don’t see it as a big deal. We aren’t a dirty, rotten sinner like David who was an adulterer and murderer. Or are we? Do we really believe that no sin is greater than any other sin? Or are these little sins that morph into much bigger strongholds the longer we do them ok?

We have to understand that the devil is smart! He knows all he has to do is grab us in one area and wheedle his way in until he has made a comfortable cozy nest in our lives, which he then expands to take over everything about us. When he has successfully set up his stronghold in us, he sits back and watches us squirm. 

We don’t like what we’ve done to ourselves, but we can’t seem to get out of the pit we have dug for ourselves. 

God has good plans for us. He wants us to be healthy in order to fulfill those plans. He is ready to restore the joy of our salvation to us. He wants us to understand that we are His sons and daughters, whom He loves. That means He wants the best for us. Not all the goodies we can eat, but all the spiritual blessings He wants to reign down on us. 

Remember when you first accepted Jesus as savior? Remember the joy you had? Where has that joy gone? What would it be like to have the joy of your salvation restored? What has covered up that joy? What might you have to do to uncover and rediscover that joy? 

Are there areas where you are disregarding God’s voice because you think that little areas of disobedience like what we put in our mouths doesn’t matter? 

Overcomers Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers-christian-weight-loss-academy/

Episode 052--Taking Care of You

Most of us are dedicated to taking care of others before taking care of ourselves. This flows out of a well-meaning, but jaded way of looking at how we are to live the Christian life.  

JOY?

I learned in my teens that JOY means Jesus first, Others second, then Yourself. The message I heard from every pulpit was that focusing on myself would be selfish and only get me in trouble.

I understand clearly where this message comes from and it is true. We are humans and such we are self-centered and want what we want. The JOY acronym, though, is misleading. 

Focusing on Jesus first is always right. However I like what my pastor said recently. God doesn’t want to be first on your list. He wants to be the list. 

Great Commandment

Jesus answering a Jewish leader about what commandment is greatest told us the answer: “Jesus answered him, ‘The most important of all the commandments is this: ‘The Lord Yahweh, our God, is one!’ You are to love the Lord Yahweh, your God, with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, with every thought that is within you, and with all your strength. This is the great and supreme commandment.  And the second is this: You must love your neighbor] in the same way you love yourself.’ You will never find a greater commandment than these,” (Mark 12: 29-31 TPT).

What Jesus is saying is God has to be everything to us. If we don’t take care of every part of us, we have nothing left with which to love Him. We have to take care of and guard every part of our life to make sure we can follow Him completely.

Jesus also clearly tells us that we cannot love others if we have no love for ourselves. 

What God Says About Me

To love ourselves we must understand what God says about me, I searched the Scriptures and wrote down 77 positive affirmations with references. These are things I repeat over myself when I need encouragement.

The big truth is for us to love ourselves unselfishly by seeing ourselves as God sees us. Then, we can really love Him with every part of us and love others in that same way.

77 Affirmations Link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/teresas-77-affirmations/.

Episode 051--Sugar Shame

I was guilty of continuing to eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted even though I was an adult and I knew the ramifications. Most of what I ate was candy, sweet treats and desserts. I wasn’t stupid. I knew exactly what I was doing to my body. I was guilty of not doing what God wanted me too and I was ashamed. I lived in my little town of one called sugar shame. 

Cognitively, rationally I wanted to change. Emotionally I was carrying so much baggage I was ashamed to admit what I had done. Spiritually I knew I was guilty of not doing what God would tell me every time I prayed about my weight issue. “Stop eating sugar. Stop eating so much bread. Eat more meats, fruits and vegetables.” 

I felt this was not possible for me to do. I craved anything made with sugar and/or flour. To not eat those two staple ingredients I was taught always must be in your cabinet, was not even on the doable list.

I would do anything else to lose weight. I’d diet, drink weight loss shakes and pills, eat chicken breast and salad for months and I could lose weight that way. But I felt no one could do that forever and I did not want to give up the foods I grew up with forever. Hence I felt guilty and ashamed. 

Guilt and shame are not motivational. They only drag me down. They make me want to stop living instead of encouraging me to live. 

1 Cor. 6:12 NASB tells us, “All things are lawful for me but not all things are profitable (or beneficial). All things are lawful for me but I will not be mastered by anything.”

When I am enslaved to anything contrary to God’s best for my life, I am controlled or mastered by it.  It becomes an “evil” in my life, a stronghold which I have allowed entrance.

Praying for God to deliver us from this evil only works if we are willing to surrender whatever our temptation is and no longer allow it entrance into our lives. When we close the door and say, “No,” that is the start of our turn around moment.  In other words, it only works if we are willing to humble ourselves to God and resist the devil. 

James 4:7-10 NLT says it this way, “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”

 I come close to God. When I wash my hands of the old lifestyle and begin to purify my heart by the washing of the water of the word of God, pouring in His words into my life, my loyalty to God becomes stronger and the pull of what I want becomes less. This is a process, though it must start with an honest surrender time.

In repentance I must cry out to God. I physically felt the impact of what I had done to my body. It almost made me sick to think about it. I grieved for what I had done. I felt like David who said in Psalm 51:10-12 TPT

“Start over with me, and create a new, clean heart within me. Fill me with pure thoughts and holy desires ready to please You. May there never be even a shadow of darkness between us. May You never deprive me of Your Scared Spirit. Let the passion of my life be restored tasting joy in every breakthrough You bring me. Give me more of Your Holy Spirit-wind so that I may stand strong and true to You.”

16-17: “The source of Your pleasure is not in my performance or the sacrifices I might offer to You. The fountain of Your pleasure is found in the sacrifice of my shattered heart before You. You will not despise my tenderness as I humbly bow down at Your feet.”

 “Jesus, I come to you once again broken and needing to be mended. I hand You all the things I have willfully kept for myself and have refused to surrender to You. I am sorry for not listening to You and trusting You to guide me. Take my shattered heart and make it new and clean. We trust You now and always.”

Overcomers Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers-christian-weight-loss-academy/