Five Pounds
This week I uncovered a lie that Satan has been trying to feed me. The reason I want to share it is because I think it's a common one that he uses on women. It's simply that "You're too far-gone."
As you probably know by now, I had a baby last February. The Lord blessed me with the ability to lose the weight by last summer. I went to aerobics twice a week and did a lot of swinging, bouncing, and carrying my hefty little boy in my arms. I felt great. Then at the end of September my favorite step aerobics instructor left my gym and was replaced by someone else. I was really bummed and didn't want to go anymore. On top of that, Jackson began sitting up and crawling around that time and he didn't require as much swinging, bouncing, and carrying. I should also add that my husband and I are far from being healthy eaters. So by Christmas I had invited 5 pounds back into my life. It was not a welcome guest.
So I asked myself, "Do I fight for my figure or just accept that I'm going to be heavier now than before?" Well, I didn't want to accept it, but I felt so bad about it that I almost couldn't do anything. Except enjoy more french fries. I could sense the enemy trying to convince me that it was too late and I was too far-gone to get back in shape. Looking back now...are you kidding me? After 5 pounds? Yes, he was kidding me. And it was a cruel joke.
As soon as we got back home from our vacation, Curt and I bought some Lean Cuisine meals to resort to whenever we knew we weren't going to cook. McDonald's has always been our back up. We've only been home a week and I can already see a difference. (I know. We ate there a lot.) I went to my aerobics class twice this week and realized I didn't mind the new instructor that much. And I am not too far gone! And I can still do it! And it actually makes me feel really good - mentally and physically - to exercise! The flaming arrows are not sinking in anymore.
Ladies, Satan is such a liar. If he's telling you that you can't do something, that you're too far-gone, or that it's too late for you, please call him out on it. If we decide to stay in whatever shape or situation he wants us to remain in, will he let us be happy there? Absolutely not! He will shame us mercilessly.
What are your "five pounds"? Whether they are an addiction, a bad relationship, or 50 unwanted pounds, know that God has made us strong, smart, wise women with gumption and we do not have to take "You're too far-gone" from the father of lies. The Father of Victory and Power will equip us to get our lives back in order for His glory.
posted by Amanda @ 2:56 PM
37 Comments
37 Comments:
THANK YOU Amanda for that word of truth. I needed that today. What a blessing you are. I was feeling very discouraged but I realize I have been listening to the father of lies. That ends today.
These blogs are great. I love feeling like I really know all of you. My only request for posting would be that you post the last four days of homework for Psalms. I can't wait much longer. See you Tuesday night.
amanda...i started reading Having a Mary Spirit by joanna weaver and took a break to peek at the blogblob.. Re: 5 lbs - to quote:" ...satan is not nearly as disappointed at losing me from his kingdom as he is determined to keep me from being effective in God's kingdom. ...to be so constantly preoccupied with what we're not that we never get around to realizing all that God is. Our enemy wants to keep us so consumed with our inadequacies that we never get around to appropriating the love and transforming power God has made available to us through his Son." page 26 thanks for underlining this truth! ,lynne
great words, Amanda! We all need to remind ourselves who we are in Christ, and learn to "reprogram" that tape that keeps playing in our brain (Your not this...You can't do that...) I have to live healthy TODAY; not thinking what I can or can't do tomorrow. Live and eat healthy each day (and it doesn't hurt to just ignore that scale for awhile :-) )
Amanda, I am sooo right there with you...and so proud of you! I gave birth to my 3rd child, last April and am working on losing the weight from that pregnancy. It is such a struggle and there are days, like yesterday, that I want to give in and gobble up some McDonald's french fries (they are quite yummy) and just settle for where I am. But I know that I have not yet reached the goal that I know is a healthy goal for me. The other struggle I have is not getting so tied up in the losing weight that I let it become the entire focus of my day...it is such a balance! I so appreciate your honesty and exposing the lies of the enemy. I want to be healthy so that I can honor God with the body that He created and be ready to do the work he calls me to, which is raising 3 little ones right now. My weight is NOT a reflection of my worth! Thank you, I really needed that reminder!
ohhhhhh girl you are right on time with that post. I needed to read that today. Thanks for sharing.
Love ya
Lori
Amanda, you are a blessing! Thank you so much for posting - I have more like that 50 lbs you mentioned and yes, I have bought into Satan's lies. You are so right the first lie isn't enough for him - once you've bought into the lie he is unmerciful (but isn't he always!) and reminds you how unattractive you are - daily! How hopeless it is and how other people are turned off by your appearance. Praise God for HIS word, it is the Truth and know I need not feel that way about myself!!! While I know HE loves me and I combat those negative feelings with the truth of God's word, I also know my weight needs to be dealt with and it is not hopeless or too far as you say.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Thank you for this topic. Oh my goodness is this true. This has really ministered to me. A little over a year ago I lost over 60 lbs. and I felt great and it encouraged me to lose more weight. Thru the past several months the weight starting pouring back on and I felt terrible. It's like I woke up one day and my clothes didn't fit. Due to health reasons the weight came back on and on top of that I lost my insurance and could not seek the medical attention I needed to regulate my thyroid. A couple of weeks ago God gave me back my insurance and I am trying to find a good oncologist that can understand my health needs and the type of cancer I had. Satan, the father of lies that he is, tried to convince me I couldn't lose the weight and I was doomed to keep gaining. Praise God that was wrong! Amanda, I know about McDonalds and the dollar menu is true temptation at it''s finest. You all know the commercial where the parents call their children to eat and they run down stairs and get in the car?! That was us. I asked God to give me the desire to cook and eat better and to regulate my thyroid. I can't exercise the way I used to but I can do some things and the biggest change has come thru drinking alot of water! God is good and praise His name that with Him ALL things are possible!
Love Ya,
Patty
Preach it, sister. :-)
(Is it bad that I agree with you even though I have a pan of homemade lasagna in the oven?) :-)
And seriously - it's so easy to put ourselves on the back burner when a baby comes along...but I'm a better wife, mama, daughter, sister and friend when I'm intentional about exercising. We need not feel guilty about taking care of ourselves.
Great, timely encouragement!
This message was perfect timing. Thank you so much for sharing!!
You are a blessing and such an encouragement. Thank you for sharing this with all of us.
-Melissa
I had a miscarriage 6 months ago, and haven't been active since,so it has often been depressing, but thank you, your story helped.
AMEN my beautiful sister. I have delt with major self esteem issues and enemy-authored lies since I was 12. (I'm in my early 20s now.) He ate me up with his hunk of junk about how I was worthless, had no value, and meant nothing to anyone. The Lord is the only explanation for why I never was able to give myself the eating disorder my flesh SO desired. Our loving Lord delivered me of this stronghold, and healed my mind to FREEDOM over my 4 days at Passion. PRAISE HIM for He has already won the victory over all our battles! Let's make the enemy sorry he ever messed with us daughters of THE KING. :)
Bless ya'll
I echo the thanks and am touched by your honesty. A much-needed and timely message for me, too. Not just for this season, but for my life!
Amanda,
Thank you for such an honest and vulnerable look at the struggle we all as women face. I am reminded of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. He asks her for a drink, prompting interaction (which I just love about Him) and she responds with "Why do you ask me?" She has believed the lie of her own worthlessness and shame and cannot comprehend why in the world HE would seek relationship with HER. Why? It's His grace, His wonderful, amazing, lavish grace!
I am thrilled to discover your blog. Beth has been a dear friend for many years, despite the fact we have never actually "met." Is technology amazing or WHAT?
Blessings,
Lisa
Anonymous 9:58
I wanted you to know that I just prayed for you! I had 2 miscarraiges before having my 2 kiddos who are now 6 and 4, and that was such a hard time for me. I truly wrestled with God, and I remember hearing Beth say that wrestling is an intimate activity!
Dena
You are barking up my tree now. I struggled with the temptation to overeat for years. I finally realized that it was "sin"~~ gluttony to be precise. Raised in the church and loving the LORD, how could I have missed that? Satan made sure I did, he kept telling me a lie and I kept believing it. I was 49 before I gained that wisdom. Praise God upon my confessing and repenting and praying for His strength, I lost 104 lbs in the next 18 monts. I give Him all the glory for He alone is worthy. That happened 10 years ago this past March. It still isn't easy but I know if I trust God I can overcome. When I was doing the study, "When Godly People Do Ungodly Things", I gained so much wisdom and it helped me so much concerning my struggle with this. THANK YOU BETH! Just wish I had the revelation when I was your age. God bless you Amanda!
Linda
Amen! I have struggled for several years with chronic illness and resulting depression. I had been through two small group studies ("Believing God" and "A Heart Like His") in my community, attending as many sessions as I was able to attend between the impact of my illness and lack of transportation. I was very blessed: "A Heart Like His" was offered a second time at another church! (I must have needed the study!) I got the message and started again, this time making it through all of the material and attending eight sessions. Last June, I was attending a presentationand was personally convicted regarding my wishy-washy attitude about going to seminary. I had applied in June 2005 but had never done anything further because I was afraid that I could not make it in school. I decided that it was time to take a step of faith...
I just completed my first semester--with perfect attendance and a 3.5 GPA! I went to class in pain many days and have had to put in long hours to do extra work to convert print materials to electronic form so that I can read them with the speech output software on my computer since I am visually impaired. My insurance plan was changed in the middle of the semester, and I did not have some of my medications for several days. But God is faithful and bigger than these things! He always provides, even when His provision looks nothing like what I think I need.
As I sit here I am preparing to lead the study "Living Beyond Yourself". If there's one area where I need to learn to walk closer to Christ it's in my area of self-control. I have 100 pounds to lose, but, finally, for the first time, I am giving the Lord my problem and doing it through Him. Because I know that this is DEFINITELY not something I can do in my own strength. He has already helped me to lose 6.5 pounds in my first week of dedicating my health to Him. I have promised to give Him the glory in it all, and I do. Thank you Amanda. This is my first time to the blog site and it was a word that I needed!
All of you ladies are such an encouragement. God is bigger and you are all right in that we do all need to live beyond ourselves and to not listen and feed into Satan's lies. Thank you Amanda and all of the other posters for your encouraging words. I know I have to work on several things at once (bad eating leads to laziness, etc.) and now I know that I can overcome some of my insecurities, my buy-ins into Satan's lies and with God can overcome. God is much bigger and has better plans for each and every one of us! Praise God!
How timely that was!!! I've gained about 2-3 pounds a year for the past 10 years (yes, you do that math!) I had just about given up that I would ever not only be able to stop GAINing but would also be able to lose some.
I have recently felt very convicted that I haven't been taking good care of this "temple" that belongs to Christ. I have asked my small group of women to help me each time we meet (every two weeks). I started "weighing in" with them at each meeting in order to have some accountability. I lost 3 pounds last time!
Thanks for your encouragement!
Your words are EXACTLY what was on my mind today. I've been trying to lose weight for - well ever since I can remember! I'm 31, I have a four year old, and it's time! No more listening to lies from the enemy! Thank you for your encouraging words.
Amanda you are sooooooo right. I have decided that the reason weight is such an issue among Christians is because Satan attacks us morally and can't budge us! He can't make us lie, steal, do drugs, etc etc so he gets the only weak point we have. I quit smoking (after 20 years) COLD TURKEY about 3.5 years and am Battling the Bulge now. Please pray for me.
THANK YOU for you honesty. I have big tears in my eyes. I am 44 and overweight. I made a commitment to eat right and exercise Dec 28th. I am struggling with the weight causing my knees to have problems. The enemy wants me to quit...I feel like I am in a fight for my life!
(I am down 9 lbs)Sherry (GA)
ok...so I've been using the "baby weight" excuse for the past 15 years, but something tells me that no one is buying it! You have deeply encouraged me with your words and brought holy perspective to this mother of four. Thank you for sharing your struggle.
~elaine
Just wait until you ALMOST 50! (It's closer than I want it to be.) It seems like you'll NEVER lose 5-10-15-20 pounds. But I love the analogy - what's your 5 pounds. Lately mine has been wondering if I'm too old to start a new thing with God. Satan has been putting doubts in my mind. He hasn't changed since the Garden, has he. Our God is AWESOME and 5 pounds is nothing to Him! Praise!
Amanda, thank you so much for that. I truly needed it. I gave birth to my first child about a month after you did. (In fact, I was at your mom's conference in Knoxville in Sept. '05 when she announced that you were going to have a baby, and I was so excited b/c I was pregnant, too!!) Anyway, I was not as fortunate to lose my weight and still have about 20 pounds left to lose. I have struggled with my weight my whole life and I never ever realized before that Satan has been loving the fact that I always think I'm too far gone. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have tears streaming down my face. I have already lost 12 pounds since New Year's, but this gives me so much encouragement to continue. God bless you and your precious boy.
Angela
My friend just told me about this blog that y'all are writing on here, so I got on to check it out. I went all the way back to beginning to "catch up" and stopped at this blog of yours, Amanda. I just joined Celebrate Recovery at our church for food addiction. I grew up in a Christian home. My dad is a music minister and a chaplain for hospice and we were missionaries in the Philippines. I had a wonderful childhood and always that that I didn't have any problems to recover from. So Celebrate Recovery was something that I did not even look into. But last Sunday I was standing at the table talking to my friend and I saw the "Food Addiction" pamphlet. The Lord slapped me upside the head. Then the sermon in church was spoken RIGHT to me! I couldn't believe it. I just overeat. I go to food as my comfort. This addiction is my 5 pounds. Thank you so much your encouragement. I have two little ones and know what it's like to lose that baby weight! You are a blessing.
thank you so much, amanda, for this post. it really hit me today because i beat myself up a lot about my weight and what's embarrassing is i'm not overweight at all. so my "five pounds" are the lies i allow into my head and that i dwell on. God has really been teaching me a lot about memorizing his word and praying through times when i really struggle...and i'm so encouraged that he brought along this little post of yours today. :) thank you!
Thank you Amanda for that good word, and encouragement I felt to not give up, and not listen to the enemy. I too struggle in this area, and have much more than 5 pounds to lose, and need to heed that voice of my Father in heaven the not the deceiver and lier that tells me otherwise. You are wonderful!!
Thank you for that!!
This is my first visit to the blog
and it could not have been more timely! Thank you so much for being so transparent and encouraging. We all need to remember, "greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world".
Susan in TN
Amanda,
I'm just enjoying some time off during mid-term break to catch up on some things I've been putting off. This was a much needed word of encouragement to squash a lie that satan has been whispering for far too long! Thank you for being so transparent.
Amanda,
Thank you for being transparent! I won't go into details, but be assured that this has been a wonderful word of encouragement in the face of a lie that I've listened to for far too long!
Thank you for this blog!
Combining this blog reading with "Get out of that Pit!" has really helped me find some solid ground on which to stand! Thank you Jesus! Satan is a liar, thank you Amand for phrasing his lie just the way you did...I'm not too far gone. Christ is victorious. I will cling to him. Please continue to give us a fresh word (please Beth too!) and let us indulge in this fairly intimate communication!
You're awesome! Thanks for being real with us! :) And by the way, you're beautiful!
He's really good at what he does. It makes me glad when I can him for what he is and I don't believe his lies!
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