Daily devotions and inspirational messages
for Healthy Eating & Losing Weight

Aug

8

“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint;… Proverbs 29:18

Revelation:  The act of communicating or revealing a divine truth

Restraint:  A condition that keeps someone or something under control or within limits.
Verse Reflection:  Hiding behind our issues, ignoring our issues, eating to dull our issues only exacerbates them in the long run.  Until we reveal God’s truths in our lives we cannot restrain our eating.  Sometimes this means we have to deal with the baggage in our lives.  I always say, we all have luggage, it becomes baggage when we don’t unpack from the last trips.  So, what do you need to unpack from life?  Issues with parents?  Issues with boyfriends, girlfriends, teachers, people at work? Give them the same gift of grace your Father in heaven gave you.  Forgive.  Move on.  Does that mean you have to agree?  No.  Does that mean you spend more time with them?  Not necessarily.  Does that mean you condone what they did? No.  Just give grace and move forward.  Got issues with your own self?  Extend to yourself the same grace God has given you.  Forgive, move forward.  Holding on to issues, putting them in the darkest corners to hide them instead of allowing them to be revealed will weigh you down.  We must allow truths to be revealed.  It gives us the freedom to choose restraint.  When we hide issues, we often eat those issues into pain, into self-rejection, into rebellion.  When we put it all out there then we can approach eating from a normal vantage point.  We can eat within limits or restrain ourselves.  What do you need to admit to yourself?  What do you need to have God, reveal to you?  Once it is revealed then you can control or restrain yourself from reacting to circumstances that have caused you to “cast off restraint”.   Psychologists have been saying this for years.  Who knew it was in the Bible?  We have to talk about what is making us overeat.  We have to admit to the issues that make us overeat.  Even now, as I am finally producing leptin, our hunger blocking hormone, I still deal with stress issues.  Sundays nights are really tough for me and I even love my job.  However, I always get a little anxious about going back to work Monday mornings.  I think I have a guilt hormone that makes me think I should have done more work at home before Monday.  I feel guilty if I take a full two days off.  We all have issues.  Mark and I call them “shoes” in the closet.  I have bright green shoes in the closet that I take out every Sunday night.  I love those is-shoes.  I love to wear them, I love to cook and pig out on Sunday nights.  However, I have to find a way to destroy those shoes and wear my sandals on Sunday night.  God has revealed the truth to me.  Now, I have to react to that truth so that I can restrain my eating and my cooking habits on those days.  Those bright green Sunday night shoes are painful the next day.  I have cast off my restraint.  Today I am going to not put them back in the closet but put them in the trash can and break the heels off the bottom.  Today my Sunday night “shoes” are going to go away.  What shoes do you need to pull out of the closet, reveal their purpose, and then destroy?   God foods here we come.  Now I can practice restraint instead of casting it off!

Prayer:  God You are so smart.  Thank You for revealing my Sunday night “is-shoes”.  I thank You that I recognize now this one day of the week is more difficult for me.  I thank you that you are the author of revelations.  Continue to reveal to me my “is-shoes”.  I have no doubt I have other points that need to be revealed.  Thank You for reminding me in Your word that without acknowledgement of our issues we cannot restrain our eating.  You give us the power to restrain, to take this revelation to the next level.  Let us know what people make us throw restraint away, what times of day make us throw restraint away, what times of the week make us throw restraint away, what foods make us throw restraint away, what restaurants or destinations make us throw restraint away.  Reveal truth to us.  You are the way the truth and the life.  Thank You Lord.  Be my Lord today as I honor You with my eating habits.  I love You today and every day.  I am ready to eat God foods.  I am ready to practice restraint.

Did you know?  “The closer a food is to the way it started out, the more nutrients it will contain.” Harvard Medical School   Note:  This is God food!

Daily Challenge