This morning I logged on to my email and read a devotion (devotions@proverbs31.org) I subscribe to...and the author wrote about our body as a temple.
She referenced 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 16Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple. (NIV) and the Message version says this 16-17You realize, don't you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God's temple, you can be sure of that. God's temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple.
I meditated on these verses while I was getting myself and my kids ready for school....stopping now and then to read them again...taking time to write the words in my journal...reflecting on the meaning...we are God's dwelling place...God lives with in us...and the Message says "no one will get by with vandalizing God's temple".
How do I treat this temple...not just with food or restricting food...or taking laxatives to feel empty inside...but also how do I talk about myself...do I curse my temple...the one that God resides in? Do I deny my temple nourishment...the one that God resides in? Do I "vandalize it"?
And then sitting in the dentist office waiting room, I pull from my purse the book I found at the thrift store the other day...the one God put on the shelf just for me...the one I can't believe my eyes found...and I open it to the page I left off...I read. The book is called Who Calls Me Beautiful by Regina Franklin
Rarely do we draw a connection between the words we say about ourselves and the fact that we are speaking about God's temple. We would never consider vandalizing our local place of worship, but we don't think twice about damaging ourselves with self-deprecating thoughts and words. The impact is the same....Scripture is clear that the Spirit of God does not dwell in buildings made of brick and stone but in the flesh and blood created in His image. Paul wrote "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16) (pg 67)
Do you think God is trying to tell me something???!!!!!
This book is full of highlighter and underlines and stars in the margins.
God dwells in us...His temple...and what do I do to it...I curse it...I beat it up...I treat it poorly...I let it become unbalanced and broken down. Would we go in to a church and treat it like this...God's house...and he actually resides in us not in the walls of a building...but we treat the church with love and care...do we treat the place God lives with love and care? This book is challenging the way I think and behave and convicting my motives.
My challenge for us all today is to be reminded that God resides in us and we should strive to have a temple that is healthy and renewed....not just our physical body but our words and our thoughts. The only way we can do this is by choosing who we are going to serve each day...God or the world. And this means keeping our eyes on our Creator!
Even though every day God shows me His love for me in such personal ways....it still awes me each time. God adores each one of us. He gave me this message so clearly from two separate sources...He showed me a book I would not have seen otherwise...He takes care of every single need and I have to remember to QUIT worrying and forgetting that He always shows me what to do and when...why do I forget that? And He knows my thoughts and what I need to restore so that I can fully serve Him in the way He is calling me.
Take care of your temple...God's dwelling place.
Have a fabulous day.
We have 2 more days of school!
Love, Teresa
Showing posts with label eating disorders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eating disorders. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
My Heart Today
Why do we seek the world to tell us who we are supposed to be?
Why do we hurt our bodies in order to be accepted by other people?
Why do we dislike the very body that God created for us so intricately and beautiful and wonderfully?
I am hurting today.
Others are hurting today and I want to help but I don’t know how.
I see it.
I feel it.
I hear about it.
I know it is there.
But how do those hurting souls get refreshed and renewed?
How do they begin to redefine who they think they are to the real beauty that God created so sweetly?
One minute I am eating my lunch with vengeance in my heart because the enemy is telling me not to eat…the enemy spews lies at me because he knows that I am acceptable to God and I am eating a healthy lunch. I am not afraid to eat it. I eat it as a reminder that the enemy can’t win. I eat it because my body needs fuel. I eat it because I will not let the shape of my body define me. It is healthy…I created it…a healthy lunch with whole foods.
But then a half hour later…the enemy starts playing with my familiar thoughts telling me I should not have eaten the whole thing. That now I have to work it off and I feel every piece of food in my body. I feel it touching the insides of me. It doesn't feel good.
I am mad that these thoughts still creep in.
I am more than mad.
And then I hear the news…a girl I am supporting…is not eating…she is not being held accountable (she is a minor) and I think lack of knowledge on her parents part and the not wanting to upset anyone…is holding them back.
And I am mad that I can’t make her eat.
And I am mad that my thoughts go to the same place sometimes.
And I am frustrated because she could die…she is so frail.
I remember my friends stepping in and being in my face (in a loving way) because they cared and wanted me to live and be healthy.
Why today do my thoughts of my self and my own eating become so hard when I am hurting for someone else and wanting her to eat and wanting her to live and not think the way she thinks anymore.
I want to show her the truth and teach her who she is in Christ.
But what about my own wandering thoughts?
She needs me to be healthy.
Others will need me to be healthy so I can speak the truth to them.
I don’t care if I have to eat more than I am use to…I will not allow the enemy or the lies to hold me back from being healthy.
I will not allow the enemy to lie to me…because God has called me to be healthy and speak the truth to those who can not speak it to themselves right now.
I will eat.
My lunch was fuel for my body.
What I look like does not define the inner most parts of my heart….the heart that God peers so lovingly in to.
Please pray for this girl…the girl who won’t eat….the girl who is so thin she could collapse…and pray for her parents to stand up and fight for her…and pray that I will know what to do…and pray that I will eat and fight those familiar lies and stand firm in the truth.
God did not create me or you to spend our days wondering if we are acceptable to the world…he created us to love. And He does not even see our outward appearance. When God looks at us…he looks straight in to our hearts, past this shell of flesh and looks right directly in to our hearts.
That is who we are to him...we are our hearts.
Thanks for listening to my heart today.
Love, Teresa
Why do we hurt our bodies in order to be accepted by other people?
Why do we dislike the very body that God created for us so intricately and beautiful and wonderfully?
I am hurting today.
Others are hurting today and I want to help but I don’t know how.
I see it.
I feel it.
I hear about it.
I know it is there.
But how do those hurting souls get refreshed and renewed?
How do they begin to redefine who they think they are to the real beauty that God created so sweetly?
One minute I am eating my lunch with vengeance in my heart because the enemy is telling me not to eat…the enemy spews lies at me because he knows that I am acceptable to God and I am eating a healthy lunch. I am not afraid to eat it. I eat it as a reminder that the enemy can’t win. I eat it because my body needs fuel. I eat it because I will not let the shape of my body define me. It is healthy…I created it…a healthy lunch with whole foods.
But then a half hour later…the enemy starts playing with my familiar thoughts telling me I should not have eaten the whole thing. That now I have to work it off and I feel every piece of food in my body. I feel it touching the insides of me. It doesn't feel good.
I am mad that these thoughts still creep in.
I am more than mad.
And then I hear the news…a girl I am supporting…is not eating…she is not being held accountable (she is a minor) and I think lack of knowledge on her parents part and the not wanting to upset anyone…is holding them back.
And I am mad that I can’t make her eat.
And I am mad that my thoughts go to the same place sometimes.
And I am frustrated because she could die…she is so frail.
I remember my friends stepping in and being in my face (in a loving way) because they cared and wanted me to live and be healthy.
Why today do my thoughts of my self and my own eating become so hard when I am hurting for someone else and wanting her to eat and wanting her to live and not think the way she thinks anymore.
I want to show her the truth and teach her who she is in Christ.
But what about my own wandering thoughts?
She needs me to be healthy.
Others will need me to be healthy so I can speak the truth to them.
I don’t care if I have to eat more than I am use to…I will not allow the enemy or the lies to hold me back from being healthy.
I will not allow the enemy to lie to me…because God has called me to be healthy and speak the truth to those who can not speak it to themselves right now.
I will eat.
My lunch was fuel for my body.
What I look like does not define the inner most parts of my heart….the heart that God peers so lovingly in to.
Please pray for this girl…the girl who won’t eat….the girl who is so thin she could collapse…and pray for her parents to stand up and fight for her…and pray that I will know what to do…and pray that I will eat and fight those familiar lies and stand firm in the truth.
God did not create me or you to spend our days wondering if we are acceptable to the world…he created us to love. And He does not even see our outward appearance. When God looks at us…he looks straight in to our hearts, past this shell of flesh and looks right directly in to our hearts.
That is who we are to him...we are our hearts.
Thanks for listening to my heart today.
Love, Teresa
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Romans 8:28
Tomorrow morning I am going to a training session at the National Eating Disorder Association office in Seattle to learn how to take calls on the help/referral line. I am excited, nervous, elated, scared, humbled, and grateful all at the same time. Two years ago this month I was battling an eating disorder and now God has brought me to a place where I can "help".
"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of these who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28
There is also a new program called Navigators that I will be learning about as well tomorrow. The program trains people to go out and speak to bring awareness and education to the community about eating disorders. I know that God's focus for me is not exclusively eating disorder related...I believe it is to support, encourage and educate girls and women to see their true identity, value and worth.
I think God is using this time to shape me and give me the wisdom and resourses needed to do the work He has for me in the year to come.
So I want to encourage you to trust God...trust that what ever you are going through or have gone through will not be wasted...God will somehow use it to bring glory to His Kingdom. It could be in the form of encouragement to someone, being there when someone else is struggling, loving on others, volunteering, praying...God will show you the path.
When we are going through something it doesn't seem possible that there could be any good that will come out of it. Someone might remind of you Romans 8:28 and at the time you just don't want to hear it...but God's Word is truth...and yes...somehow good comes...maybe through strength, deliverance, a change of heart...
Tomorrow I get to sit in an office dedicated to fighting for people and families suffering from eating disorders...learning how to direct them to help...when two years ago I could have been the one on the other end of the line...I will know...I will hear the cry of their heart...I will know...
Works together....
For the good....
of those who LOVE God....
Oh how I love God...
I fall to my knees...in complete and humble gratefulness...
God is good...all of the time...even when we can't see through the stormy clouds to the sun that is just waiting to make an appearance....Light will come....darkness will go.
Love, Teresa
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Storms
Acts 27:20 "The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars until at last all hope was gone."
As the Eating Disorder Awareness Week ends, I was struck by this scripture. It was written during time when Paul was prisoner on a ship set sail for Italy. When winds started to blow, Paul warned the captain, but he discounted the warning and chose to keep going. The storm soon became too much for the crew to handle.
The following verse, Acts 27:21 says "No one had eaten for a long time..."
An eating disorder is like v20...a "terrible storm" that rages "for many days". It is like a whirlwind of confusion...a tornado of lies...a shattering earthquake too strong to get solid footing. It seems as though it will never end....how could it...that would mean gaining weight, letting go of control, revealing the inside that has been hidden for so long, letting go of shame and guilt, forgiving yourself...things that seem unattainable. Pain and isolation "blot out the sun and the stars"...the very things that shine light. "...until at last all hope is gone." All hope. Gone.
That is what an eating disorder feels like...no hope...lasting forever...a terrible raging storm.
In Acts 27 the crew of the ship began to lose all hope of life. They threw things overboard. They didn't eat. They sat depressed not knowing what to do next. The storm was too strong for them. Some tried to abandon ship. There was nothing else to do...but abandon the structure that was taking them to where they were suppose to go.
This crew didn't know what else to do. In their eyes they were never going to recover their belongings. They were not going to make it through this storm. They wanted to give up.
BUT GOD had other plans...An angel of the Lord came to Paul and told him to "take courage" (v25). Paul's faith brought them through. His believe in the Lord. His faith in God's promises. When no one else could see light or hope, Paul's unwavering faith stood firm in the midst of raging waters and darkness. When God said that they would all live and be shipwrecked on an island, Paul believed.
When God says He loves us and calls us His masterpiece, we must have unwavering faith, stand firm in the midst of the raging storm and trust that what God says is truth. When all we can hear are the lies, we must "take courage" and know that God will bring us to safety.
When immersed in the depths of an eating disorder or really any type of storm, there seems like there is no hope. BUT GOD...but God says there is.
Everything Paul said happened. They were safe. They were shipwrecked. They people on the island where they landed were very kind to them. While Paul was making a fire a poisonous snake bit him on the hand, but he just shook it off and kept making the fire. Everyone who saw it was amazed. They were just waiting for him to die. But he didn't. "He wasn't harmed" (from 28:3-6)
Paul knew that God kept his promises and when God said that nothing would happened to them, Paul believed it. He trusted that what God said was truth. There was no doubt in his mind or heart that this snake could hurt him. God's promises are true.
"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness." Romans 8:26
"And we know that god causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28
"If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" Romans 8:31
"Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?" Romans 8:35
"...overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us." Romans 8:37
"...Nothing can separate us from God's love" Romans 8:38
Each of these verses...are for each of us. They are His promise to us.
The storm cleared. They were safe. Light came. Hope returned.
God says "take courage".
I pray that anyone who is in the midst of a storm and can't see light or hope...will cling to God's promise of light, love and hope. Never stop believing in the promise of our loving God.
In love, Teresa
As the Eating Disorder Awareness Week ends, I was struck by this scripture. It was written during time when Paul was prisoner on a ship set sail for Italy. When winds started to blow, Paul warned the captain, but he discounted the warning and chose to keep going. The storm soon became too much for the crew to handle.
The following verse, Acts 27:21 says "No one had eaten for a long time..."
An eating disorder is like v20...a "terrible storm" that rages "for many days". It is like a whirlwind of confusion...a tornado of lies...a shattering earthquake too strong to get solid footing. It seems as though it will never end....how could it...that would mean gaining weight, letting go of control, revealing the inside that has been hidden for so long, letting go of shame and guilt, forgiving yourself...things that seem unattainable. Pain and isolation "blot out the sun and the stars"...the very things that shine light. "...until at last all hope is gone." All hope. Gone.
That is what an eating disorder feels like...no hope...lasting forever...a terrible raging storm.
In Acts 27 the crew of the ship began to lose all hope of life. They threw things overboard. They didn't eat. They sat depressed not knowing what to do next. The storm was too strong for them. Some tried to abandon ship. There was nothing else to do...but abandon the structure that was taking them to where they were suppose to go.
This crew didn't know what else to do. In their eyes they were never going to recover their belongings. They were not going to make it through this storm. They wanted to give up.
BUT GOD had other plans...An angel of the Lord came to Paul and told him to "take courage" (v25). Paul's faith brought them through. His believe in the Lord. His faith in God's promises. When no one else could see light or hope, Paul's unwavering faith stood firm in the midst of raging waters and darkness. When God said that they would all live and be shipwrecked on an island, Paul believed.
When God says He loves us and calls us His masterpiece, we must have unwavering faith, stand firm in the midst of the raging storm and trust that what God says is truth. When all we can hear are the lies, we must "take courage" and know that God will bring us to safety.
When immersed in the depths of an eating disorder or really any type of storm, there seems like there is no hope. BUT GOD...but God says there is.
Everything Paul said happened. They were safe. They were shipwrecked. They people on the island where they landed were very kind to them. While Paul was making a fire a poisonous snake bit him on the hand, but he just shook it off and kept making the fire. Everyone who saw it was amazed. They were just waiting for him to die. But he didn't. "He wasn't harmed" (from 28:3-6)
Paul knew that God kept his promises and when God said that nothing would happened to them, Paul believed it. He trusted that what God said was truth. There was no doubt in his mind or heart that this snake could hurt him. God's promises are true.
"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness." Romans 8:26
"And we know that god causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28
"If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" Romans 8:31
"Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?" Romans 8:35
"...overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us." Romans 8:37
"...Nothing can separate us from God's love" Romans 8:38
Each of these verses...are for each of us. They are His promise to us.
The storm cleared. They were safe. Light came. Hope returned.
God says "take courage".
I pray that anyone who is in the midst of a storm and can't see light or hope...will cling to God's promise of light, love and hope. Never stop believing in the promise of our loving God.
In love, Teresa
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