Grace Based Eating verses Law based eating part 2

Last you read how the first step in overcoming the stronghold of food is to admit you can not do it on your own accord and to put yourself under Grace.  Easy said, but how do you do that?  Glad you asked.  The word that Jesus used often is REPENT.  This is a word often misinterpreted.  The Greek word of repent is actually Metanoeo, translated- To change one's mind for the better.  It is not what most people think of when they hear this word.  More times than not it is thought of as changing one's behavior, but behavior has nothing to do with repenting. On the contrary, it is all about your thinking.   Why is it that Jesus didn't say, "Change your behavior!"?  He knew that if you were to change your way of thinking, your behavior would follow, and it would follow effortlessly.  Well intentioned believers have unfortunately reversed this logic.  Change my actions by way of behavior modification, make a good confession of faith and hope my thoughts follow.  But God isn't after Behavior Modification, He desires Heart Transformation.  We see this example when Jesus spent time with Zacchaeus (the tax collector who took more than he was suppose to).  After being in the Lord's presence and seeing first hand His goodness, Zacchaeus repented and proceeded to follow up his change of mind with actions by giving away half his possessions and repaying fourfold what he had wrongly taken without the Lord saying one word about his behavior.

What does the story of Zacchaeus show us is the first step in repenting?  Spending time in His presence is the key.  The more time we spend in fellowship with the Lord, the more we understand who He is, the more we know who He is, the more we know who we are, for "As He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17 )  Do you want to build your faith in the Lord and see the fruit of self control, peace, and patience develop?  Don't focus on the fruit, focus instead on the root.  These are all fruits of the Spirit, not fruit of your works (Gal 5).  I often hear people say, "I am working on my patience".  Good luck with that one, because you can't work on it.  Well, you could from an external display, but internally you are still the same unless your heart has changed.  Same goes with the fruit of self control, a term we hear a lot when dealing with eating healthy and exercising.  Let us not fall into the same pitfalls.  Stop thinking that your faith in your faith  (not a typo) will get you anywhere and start believing that your faith in HIS FAITH FULLNESS by the finished work of the cross and His Grace will cause you to be victorious .. Faith comes by hear and hearing by the word of God.  Translated- Faith in His faithfulness comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christos (Jesus).  He is your bread, don't be afraid to take from Him.  That is one of the reasons He died for you and me, "That you may have life and have life More abundantly." (John 10:10)

Some people are gifted in this area and do not struggle at all with living a healthy lifestyle.  But I can pretty much assume there is something that they do in fact struggle with, and the principles of this blog can carry over to any circumstance.  A recap:

step 1- Admit that you can not achieve victory of your own self effort

step 2-  Repent (change your thinking) of who He is, who you are in Him and what/who is Grace by spending time in the Word, praying, meditating, listening to Grace messages, and Growing in your understanding of His Faithfulness.

Step 3- The topic of the next blog:  Repent In Your Understanding of Food

Grace Based Eating verses Law Based Eating

We have all been there... countless attempts at dieting and exercising to lose weight and get healthy. Atkins, Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet, the Master Cleanse, Jenny Craig, Nutra System, etc, etc.  Most of us see results at first, but time will show that what we have started is too difficult to continue and nearly impossible to maintain.  I was in this same boat.  Since third grade I have dealt with issues regarding food and my weight.  I had lived a lifestyle of the yo-yo dieter.  Yes I was healthy looking at times, other times, not so much.  Regardless of where my body was, one underlying factor remained.  I was obsessed with food!!!  I thought about it all the time.  Food had an enormous stronghold in my life, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't in my own strength overcome its hold on me.  That is until I had a revelation which changed my life forever.  Not only am I now living in a healthy body, more importantly I am living free from the bondage of food.  How did this happen?  I realized in my last weight loss journey over a year and a half ago what I had been doing to myself all these years...putting myself under LAW!

As a believer it was easy for me to understand that I could not earn my salvation, hence the need for our beautiful Savior.  No matter how good I behaved, all my righteousness would be like filthy rags.  For all have sinned in word, thought or deed and fallen short of His glory.  Therefore, if I knew that I needed Christ to receive my salvation, who was I to think that I could earn my healthy body by my own self effort?  Don't get me wrong.. the lifestyle I live would appear that I live under self effort; for what I physically do is in itself a "work".  The difference, however, is that before, my works were birthed from my own attempt to control and earn what I wanted.  It took my will power to lose weight, my will power to keep it coming off, and my will power to maintain it.  That took a lot of will power that frankly was not very dependable.  Now, the "works" that you see me live out is birthed from a changed heart.  A heart that relied on His abundance of Grace to transform, shape and mold me into who I am today.  He helped me to see myself as He sees me- as His temple, His beloved daughter and the righteousness of Him because of the finished work of the cross.  Now that I have a revelation of who I am, why would I want to treat my body any other way than what causes it to prosper.  "All things are permissible/lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial.  I have the right to do anything- but I will not be mastered by anything".  (1 Cor 6:12)

So, one can in fact put themselves under a self imposed law of any means and see results (a form of glory) , but how much more Glorious is that which is conceived from being under Grace.  (2 Cor 3:9)  As you read this full text in ch.3, it clearly reveals to us how we fall from Grace and its supply of power when we put ourselves under law.  Not to mention, putting our selves under law just strengthens our desire to rebel against it. (1 Cor 15:56)  Why would you want to set yourself up for failure?

Determine today to admit that you NEED Him and His unmerited favor to see your success in this area of life.  That my friends, is always the first step in receiving your salvation in whatever area you are overcoming. 
To be continued.........