“Conquering”

Who (What) shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or nakedness or danger or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8: 35 & 37

Verse Reflections:  Which of us has ever noticed the word nakedness in this verse before?  Wow! .  I am fascinated by the fact that God knows us so well that He addressed the issue of our nakedness separating us from His love. Think deeply, our “nakedness” can separate us from Christ.  My vanity, my weight on the scale, my self-proclaimed disgusted vision of myself in the mirror when I am naked or when I try on the clothes that fit too tight separate me from believing in the unconditional love of Christ.  I do not feel lovable.  All of these things separate me from the love for myself and thus the God I love. Starting today, we will not let our nakedness separate us from the love of God.  He loves us just the way we are.  Look in the mirror and tell yourself “my nakedness is beautiful and I cannot be separated from His love”.  If He loves our nakedness, we must love our nakedness and love ourselves unconditionally.  We are MORE than conquerors of our bad eating habits.  We are loved by Christ!  How can we not be successful?

This verse also tells us that hardship or trouble cannot separate us from God.   Today we will begin the hard conquest of our illness or our unhealthy eating habits.  We will pull together with Christ and refuse to be separated from His love and we will overcome our need to binge. I know I am “allergic” to certain foods.  I am addicted to sugar.  When I eat carbs or sugar I crave more.  My brain does not want to give them up. These foods create a release of dopamine that boosts my mood.  The combination of eating these foods and the release of dopamine literally makes me happy but I know I have to give this cycle up.  This is hard!  This is trouble!  Yet in this verse God tells us He has the hardship and trouble covered!  Claim it, live it, bask in the amazing love of God.

Prayer:  Father, I give you my nakedness, my vanity, my weight.  I give you my indulgence of baking with sugar and butter and yet I need You to turn this into a positive new investment.  I’m not sure how to go forward because I am truly powerless.  I know I cannot face life writing down all that I eat.  I cannot buy diet pills that rev me up or tune me down.  I cannot buy pre-prepared meals that come in a box or a silver foiled package.  I truly believe if I eat the foods you gave us with no extra preservatives… I will not have a weight issue.  You have already solved the problem that I am now acknowledging.  Bless the cravings that pop into my head and tend to haunt me until I indulge. It truly is like the compulsion of an addict at times. I give them to you and ask that your love surround me.  Romans 8:37 tells me: “I CAN conquer this through You who loves me”.  I really CAN’T do this alone.  I do not have the ability or the strength.  I have the sincere knowledge that You gave me this dream, this vision of how to live eating God foods plus 1 serving of “other” foods.  If I really think about it, every “diet” we use goes back to these basics but I can’t diet Lord.  I just can’t. It screws with my brain and pierces me down to my very soul.  I have to fill in these stab wounds with Your love and enjoy Your food with all my heart and soul.  Today we will conquer our past eating habits and develop new ones because You love me… even in my nakedness.