God Is Doing a New Thing

How Important is What You Think?

2012-05-09T07:16:00.001-07:00

In this day of psychobabble and "new age" easy believe-isms, there are many truths that have been tainted with just enough "lie" that we often want to steer way clear of them.

The problem is truth may be buried there -- truth that God may want us to embrace. If the enemy didn't want us to believe a truth about GOD, His character, ourselves, or about life because he knew that by doing so, we could experience being more than conquerors in Christ, the perfect way to do it would be to associate it with a train of thought repulsive to faithful Christians. That way, Satan would be sure we would throw the *truth* aside as well.

We need to be discerning. We don't want to throw out the good and godly because Satan has associated it with something else from which we need to steer clear.

Nothing else makes this more clear than the power of our minds and what we think. What we think about will have a huge impact on what we believe. What we believe will directly affect our actions. This isn't new age or "spooky," this is truth! In fact, we may grit our teeth to *obey* God, but it is HARD to do so without changing our thinking--our beliefs!

If you think thoughts such as: "I will never break free from _______" (insert addiction or bad habit of choice), chances are you will remain stuck. The thought, repeated enough over time will become a belief and you will discover that you will never break free from whatever-it-was.

This doesn't have to be!

God tells us that our thoughts are important!

Consider these verses:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true,

whatever is noble, whatever is right,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. - Philippians 4:8

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. - Colossians 3:1-2

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. - 2 Peter 3:1-2

Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. - 1 Corinthians 14: 20

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. - 2 Corinthians 10:4

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. - Hebrews 3:1

God places a premium on what we think. As we choose to think thoughts that are TRUE and reject thoughts that enter our minds that are defeating and NOT true, we will begin to change the way we act. I have seen this happen in my own life.

For instance, "It has been a hard day and I deserve a milkshake at the drive-through." This isn't true. It may have been a hard day, sure enough, but I don't deserve or NEED a milkshake at the drive-through. I have begun to take this thought captive and replace it with other TRUE thoughts, such as, "I don't need a milkshake to feel better about today. I need to remember that God has called me to the things I did today and He says, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.'" "I can live without the milkshake." "I will enjoy a hot bath at home and drive PAST the drive-through."

Obviously, this is a rather simplistic example, but given that when I indulge myself in milkshakes when I am not hungry, I then follow that behavior with self-condemnation...it becomes a maelstrom of negativity that doesn't honor God and isn't best for me either!

What thoughts do you need to take captive? What truth will you replace them with?

REAL

2012-05-04T07:27:00.000-07:00

REAL...

Pretending is something we are raised to do so well. First, it begins as a game, our little girl, make-believe, fantasy world, where everything-is-oh-so-perfect times of being princesses, super heroines, and grown-ups! But later, it becomes something we must do to survive.

Some of us pretend we are happy when we aren't. We may pretend not to feel violated when we do. We pretend not to be bothered by all of the pretending when we look in the mirror and wonder..."Who are you...really?"

Real...It is something my heart aches for. Does yours? All of my training as a child and up through these 50 years...well, I balk at it now. In fact, I want to throw it all off so that I can be real.

Sometimes when I let go of pretense and allow myself to dare to be me in front of others, I feel like Lucy in the CS Lewis books...I see Aslan in the glade. No one else sees him. I rejoice at the sight of him! He is there! Beckoning me to follow him and for others to join us! And no one else sees him. I can choose in that moment to remain REAL or to succumb to the way I should be...normal. Feet on the ground. No more Jesus talk. Like Aslan gently rebuking Lucy, Jesus speaks to my heart: "Follow me even when the others don't, Little One."

If I am real, I do that very thing.

Roll your eyes if you will, but this is me. This is who God has made me to be. This is my "real."

What is yours?
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This is my first stab at "5 Minute Friday," something encouraged at one of the blogs I follow. If you want to give it a shot at your own blog, visit Gypsy Mama's Blog and see what it's about!

Now Would Be a Good Time

2012-05-03T08:54:00.003-07:00

In the movie, Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home, our heros and heroines from the 23rd century have time-traveled back to 1986.

There is a scene where Chekov (the guy who seems to be in a brown leather suit) is stuck in a Nuclear "wessel" collecting photons that he needs to fix the now stranded star ship left cloaked (invisible) in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Because of the lack of power on the ship, though, Chekov's usual request "Beam me up, Scotty...Now...Scotty..." is met with a squeak and a fizzle...Even as the American Navy descends on Chekov--a Russian man who clearly doesn't belong on an American Naval Vessel in the mid-1980s, with rifles aimed straight at their foreign target point blank--nothing happens. No beaming out.

Chekov, in one final burst of hope murmurs into his communicator: "Now would be a good time..."

I can hear his words and I echo them even as a prayer right now to God.

"So, God...can you beam me out?"

Though desperate--like Chekov--I get no response...

"Now would be a good time..."

Have you ever felt this way?

I just updated my status on Facebook:

Sooooooooo tired... He gives me everything I need for life and godliness...but does that mean THIS life? Now? In this moment? Ok..I sit here and wait. Dump it on me, God. Cuz if I get up now, I get up without it!

That is about the end of it. I know that I can choose what I will think about and maybe that is why I am left in silence right now. It is a choice God clearly leaves to me. I can "eject the core" (another Star Trek term) of negative thoughts.

OUT into the stratosphere go "Poor me. I am so tired" and "I really can't see how I can possibly make it through this day."

Instead, I "beam in" thoughts that pass what my former pastor, Mike Ernst, called The Philippians 4:8 Test :

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy

—think about such things.

"I DO have what I need to do that to which GOD calls. He promises it and it is SO."

Period. End of discussion. End of whine.

It really IS a choice. It boils down to what I will CHOOSE to set my mind on. Upon what will I fix my heart?

So, I sit here (having given up on waiting for the beam-out!) and choose to give gratitude to God. I choose to praise my King and Redeemer. I choose to thank Him for the many blessings of life even though they may seem millions of light-years removed from this moment.

Hmm...maybe he has been pouring out his answer on me, even now.

Why A "God List"?

2012-04-27T03:30:00.000-07:00

Many of us try desperately to STOP thinking about food and STOP thinking about eating, and STOP thinking about our diets, clothes, being skinny, etc.

Image Provided by iStockPhoto

In fact, whatever the addiction, bad habit, or temptation...we often try to stop thinking about whatever it is just so we can be FREE!

But the more we try to STOP thinking about these things, the more we actually think about them. The more we feel ensnared.

Let me illustrate the point this way:

Do NOT think about a pink elephant.

(I know, I have used this illustration before...just work with me! LOL!).

Seriously...do NOT think about a pink elephant. NO PINK ELEPHANT thinking!

What are you thinking about?

Chances are, you are thinking about a pink elephant!

This is true with our eating. When we are trying not to give in to eating a hot fudge sundae when we aren't hungry, the more we try not to think about it, the more we think about it, until we are overcome and we give in.

So, my theory (and one that has worked for me and others in the classes I have led) is that if we intentionally change what we are thinking about, we will experience the victory we long for.

Not only that, but if heart hunger is really what is luring me to food, then it seems like I need to feed my heart with heart FOOD to experience satisfaction.

Changing my focus from me and what *I* want and to the LORD is a great way of dealing with all of this! By focusing on the Lord, I stop thinking about pink elephants and hot fudge sundaes. :-) By focusing on the Lord, my heart is filled up on what it longs for...intimacy with God.

This is what the "God List" is for. It is to take the focus OFF of ME and on to God and to fill my heart up on what it really is missing...intimacy with God. God has placed a heart hunger within me to draw me to HIM. If I keep on feeding this heart hunger with physical food, not only will my heart continue to starve for what it was created to long for, but I will get BIGGER (physically). This starves my heart and over-feeds my body!

If you want to know more about the God List, view this video.

More on the God List and what to do with it next week! :-)

What Will It Take?

2012-04-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

There are times when I like to carefully draft, edit, compose thoughtful messages here at the blog. (Ok, so that is a rarity...I don't do it often.)

Photo Courtesy of iStockPhoto

Then there are times when I just sort of let it all hang out. Today is one of those kinds of posts, because truthfully, those of you who visit this blog probably don't need the "super-sanctified" version of life. You are living REAL life and you see through the facade when it is put out there.

So, today's post is taken from an email that I sent a small group of ladies who I am traveling with through the Thin Again book by the Hallidays. I hope it challenges you (in a good way).

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God has been working on a theme in my life recently. Here are some thoughts that have come of it:

How much inspiration do I really need?

How many verses that convict and encourage?

How many great books and devotionals about making great choices?

How many study groups (and goes through the Thin Within book and workbook)?

How many accountability partners?

I have all of the tools, all of the knowledge, all of the conviction and more. I have everything I need for life and godliness, according to God’s Word! I have His Holy Spirit...so what on earth is holding me back?

I am nuts if I think I can be free without SAYING NO TO MY FLESH. The reality is, I have to DO what I know and I may not WANT TO, but then if I don’t want to do it, then I must want to live in bondage more than I want to live in freedom. Living in freedom will take some HARD choices, but God has given me so much to “inspire” me to walk that path.

What really am I waiting for? For it to get easy? It won’t. Or if it does for a while, it might be hard again. I have to say NO to myself just like I do when I want to buy something and can’t afford it, or want to zip around a slow driver, but the double yellow line tells me I can’t, so I don’t (even if no one is looking). I don’t take things I want from the store. I don’t slap my children’s mouths when they are impertinent. I say no to my flesh all the time, so it is high time I do the same with food.

I can keep patting myself on the back ("There, there...don't worry....") with an eye to all the things I have to process that have set me up to have this battle with food, such as:

the fact that my mom abused me regarding food/eating as a kid...
the molestations (my dad)
shoving down all the things that were true about our family so I didn’t have a voice as a child
my mom’s suicide attempts (too many to count before I was 16)
my parents’ knock-down-drag-out fights, even though they were “professional” and church people (we had to keep up the appearance) - and the Sheriffs coming to our house because of it!
the emotional and physical abuses of my childhood (in addition to those mentioned above!)
the other things I struggle with and feel “victimized” by more recently in life...

...but the reality is...this is the life God has sovereignly ordained for me to live...NOTHING has come to me that isn’t according to His plan. He intends for me to be VICTORIOUS through all of these things. If I put off obedience and making good choices until I have “processed my junk,” I am, simply, SINNING. I am called to obedience NOW. He calls me to this with gentleness and love—not one shred of condemnation. He KNOWs how hard it is, but he gives me Jesus as the example.

What choice will I make today—EVEN WHEN I DON’T WANT TO? What choice will I commit to offering to Him as a sacrifice? What today will be an expression of my love for him and of dying to self?

What about you? :-) (You knew that had to come, right? Really...I would love to hear from you.)

Where is Your Focus?

2012-04-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

So many of us who struggle with food and eating (and body) issues, if we are asked "Where is your focus?" would have to answer honestly, "On my food." "On my body." "On my weight." "On my clothes." Etc.

There is a common denominator here. Do you see what it is?

ME.

I believe that moving our focus off of ourselves and on to God is transformational. Here is a video that offers a tool to help us do this practically.

So, will you start your God List today?

It can make all the difference--honest!

Which attributes of God will you start with?

How about if you turn to Jeremiah 32:17, 19-21 to start with? What attributes of God do you see there? How does he treat human beings according to this passage?

Your Children Want YOU!

2012-04-12T05:54:00.001-07:00

Your Children Want YOU!

A great blog post...well worth the read.

Adventure Ahead!

2012-04-10T16:03:00.001-07:00

This week I have an adventure ahead. I get to join folks on a Rock-N-Water Living History excursion on Thursday and Friday! This is a shameless plug for Rock-N-Water. I have been so impressed with everything I have seen and heard about this company and their staff. If you are in California anywhere, consider bringing a group for one of their outings! Check out their website for more info! I will become a different person as I don blouse, skirt, apron, cape, and bonnet (believe it or not!) for the outing with a bunch of 4th graders studying US History and the Gold Rush! SUCH fun!

100 pounds ~ So, Have I Kept it Off?

2012-04-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

If you have visited this blog for any time at all, you know that I celebrated a loss of 100 pounds using only the Thin Within principles...eating when hungry, stopping when no longer hungry, eating any food I wanted to, and not being involved in any exercise routine of any kind. Because of all the reasons I tended to want to eat aside from hunger, I learned to depend on God a whole lot to be my "portion" when heart hunger and head hunger called. These can't be satisfied with physical food. During the time I released the weight, my walk with God deepened as I leaned on him for strength. So, from Nov. 2006 to Fall of 2007, I released 100 pounds of physical weight and emotionally and spiritually, I felt set free as well.

Image Courtesy of Stock Exchange

But what has happened since then?

Four and a half years later, I remain a healthy size. That is the good news.

But, I haven't kept all 100 pounds off. I think there was something magical about "100" pounds for me...the number became almost more important than anything else. I don't think that was where I was supposed to land for the rest of my life. So being that thin isn't God's "ideal size" for me.

In fact, last year at this time, I saw just how easy it was for me to be obsessed with weight, size and exercise again! I revisited an obsession I hadn't known in over 15 years! I exercised 2 hours a day in addition to the tennis I was playing. That clearly was out of line.

Truthfully, since 2007, my size has fluctuated. I have remained a healthy size during all that time, but there IS in fact, a lot of work yet that God is doing regarding how I view food and my body. I am definitely still a work in progress.

In my rather lengthy dieting history before 1999 (when I stopped dieting), I never stayed a healthy size for more than a year once the weight was lost, let alone almost five! So I continue to celebrate the fact that I am still a healthy size! WHOO HOO! It is, after all, so easy to beat myself up (even now!) for ways I fall short.

I thought I would share with you some of the struggles I do have...

"Nutritionally dense" foods are not my preferred fare. I am stuck in Phase 1 of Thin Within most of the time...the "Freedom Phase." Since much of my childhood abuse was focused on food, I do try to extend some measure of grace to myself about not eating raw carrots or green salad. Truthfully, I only like vegetables in salsa and well-cooked stew or soup! I hope to "grow up" relative to my eating preferences.

This continues to be a journey of my heart--much more so than of the body. It doesn't take much for me to rush back to the comfort that I have found in food over the course of my life--maybe not with the abandon and zeal of my former years, but the thinking is still there...or there again.

I got rid of my bathroom scale at least four years ago at the encouragement of my accountability partner at the time. It was a great choice then, but right now I am drawn to the added accountability of numbers! This BUGs me--the truth is, I know if I am eating according to the boundaries God has given me without a bathroom scale! If I eat according to those boundaries, I need not fear weight gain. If I don't eat according to those parameters, I know I will likely "find" weight that was "lost." Numbers are so motivating because they are so instant. But I want a heart that is transformed...both in terms of how I think of food and what is most important to me--heart change or body change? I could use the numbers of the scale to be motivated more to stay focused on 0 to 5 eating, but the expense to my heart might be rather high...I might become obsessed with weight--numbers--again. I don't want to go there! Goodness! I am over-thinking this, I am sure. I just want to be normal!

Fear has a grip on me again (still?). (I am sure that is obvious! LOL!) I live in fear that I will weigh 250 pounds again. I want to value having a heart change more than a body change...but honestly, I don't live with such noble motivations much of the time. :-/ I know God wants to renew my thinking in this. I am even more fearful because of my role in the Thin Within company and with a possible book project (being pitched this month)--if I am going to be connected with "Thin" anything, I better be sure not to blow it and not be a healthy size! How is that for godly, deep, thinking?

Here is a photo that hubby took on Saturday...his newest hobby is photography and the silly man likes to take pictures of things in motion the most, it seems. I tend to be his primary "subject." It definitely keeps me "honest." So one more thing I guess I struggle with...when I see this photo, I see "fluffy." I don't like that. I want to see hardened, athletic muscles! I know this is something that God wants to change in my thinking, too. Somewhere between "fat acceptance" and "obsession with thin" is a place where I honor God with my eating, worship with joyful movement of my body, delight in who HE is, and who He is making me to be!

Well, there you have it. The truth tossed out on the table. So, though I have kept off most of the weight, though I am a healthy size, my mind is definitely stuck in a place that I don't think is healthy for me! I need to "lose" the old mindset!

But I am optimistic that God is doing a new thing even now! I refuse to live in condemnation because I don't "do this" perfectly. He is sanctifying me, one babystep at a time!

How about you? Can you relate to any of the struggles I have listed? What new thing is God possibly doing in you right now?

Resurrection Dynamite!

2012-04-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

That is why, for Christ’s sake,

I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.

For when I am weak,

then I am strong.

~ 2 Corinthians 12:10

The grave is empty.

The body is gone.

Jesus' body never decayed.

Instead, Christ "exploded" from the grave! VICTORIOUS!

Death is defeated!

The resurrection proves that 2 Corinthians 12:10 is true! We can delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. Isn't that precisely what Jesus, Himself went through? And look what happened!

Death was conquered.

The grave didn't have the last word!

The word translated "strong" at the end of 2 Corinthians 12:10 seems significant. It is the Greek word from which we get the word "dynamite." Paul declared confidently that when he was weak, he was DYNAMITE. This is the power of the resurrection alive in him.

This same power is available to you and to me to enable us to DELIGHT in--not just endure--weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties. Because of the DYNAMITE of the RESURRECTION, we, too, are explosively powerful when we are in a humble, needy state. Again, God's ways are not our ways...when we feel we are at our worst, it is then, that we are right where we need to be...prepared for Resurrection power.

The Resurrection proves once and for all that in the moments of greatest "weakness"--when defeat seems evident--the final word is not in. In fact, when all seems impossible, it is then that a stage is set for a display of the greatest power--the moment is ripe for a most amazing miracle.

Hopeless...

2012-04-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

"It wasn't supposed to end like this..."

"I thought that he was going to rule the world! (And we along with him!)"

"What happened?"

"How could this be?"

"Was it all a lie?"

Image Courtesy of John Bell

I can barely stand to consider how the disciples of Jesus felt following the brutal death of their leader, their Master, their Friend.

Hopeless...

Darkness...

Loneliness...

And guilt. Guilt...definitely. Given that all but John and the women had abandoned Jesus in His greatest hour of need, I have no doubt that they were plagued by guilt. Judas was dead...and I wonder if any of the others wondered about taking the same way out.

Nothing is worse than waiting for hope to come unless it is having found such a Great Hope only to see it dashed to pieces.

Did they ponder Jesus' words recorded in Matthew 17:22, 23?

When they came together in Galilee, he said to them,

“The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.

They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.”

And the disciples were filled with grief.

Was there even a slight glimmer of "What if...?"

Can you identify with the hopelessness of the disciples? I can. Have you experienced a moment in time when you wondered at God's plan, knowing that certainly...

... this can't be it?

God's sovereignty and silence require that we just sit...still our souls...and quietly wait...

What "Good" Is There in Good Friday?

2012-04-06T08:52:00.001-07:00

“I am the good shepherd;

I know my sheep and my sheep know me—

just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—

and I lay down my life for the sheep.

~ John 10:14-15

God gets to define things the way He wants to because He is God--in charge of the Universe.

I didn't think it was "good" when my son was evaluated as autistic.

I didn't think it was "good" when my depression descended on my husband.

I didn't think it was "good" when my baby girl turned blue within hours of being born and was admitted to NICU.

I didn't think it was "good" when the Twin Towers fell.

Had I been there, I wouldn't have called what happened at Golgotha--at Calvary's Hill--"good" either.

The injustice of an illegal trial that sentenced Jesus to die...

The brutal beating, ripping flesh...

The rejection and abandonment by the closest of friends...

The mockery of a crowd that had praised only 5 days earlier...

The agonizing, writhing of a body wracked with pain from spikes driven through ligaments and flesh, lifted up on a roughly formed wooden cross, shreds of wood lacerating already torn skin...we've all seen the movie, The Passion of the Christ...

What was "good" about what happened there?

To find the good, we have to set our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. What is seen is temporary...what is unseen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).

To find the good, we have to trust that God gets to call the shots and he always does what he does for His reasons...and His ways are beyond my ability to comprehend (Isaiah 55:8,9). If I could fathom his ways, he wouldn't be God at all, but would be small and impotent.

So, God gets to define "good."

What happened that day so many years ago, was "good." But it sure wasn't obvious that it was good.

Greater love has no one than this,

that he lay down his life for his friends.

~ John 15:13

Yet this was the greatest good that mankind could ever be offered.

God made him who had no sin to be sinfor us,

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

~ 2 Corinthians 5:21

What God calls "good," sometimes seems to be anything but. The cross proves otherwise.

Join us NOW! :-D

2012-04-04T16:12:00.002-07:00

Hey there! If you are wondering if you can join us for the new Thin Within class, the answer is YES! We "gather" in 20 minutes...which is 4:30 Pacific Time, 6:30 Central, 7:30 Eastern. You don't need anything for this first meeting! Just come on along to http://www.thinwithin.org/chat.php -- Yup...that means YOU! :-D

A Will Counter to God's

2012-04-04T09:26:00.001-07:00

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples

that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things

at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law,

and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

“Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!

~ Matthew 16:21,22

As sincere as Peter was, though he knew Jesus so very well, Peter's "will" wasn't the will of God. If it had been, I would be dead in my sins...stuck in my own slime pit, trying to claw my way to God.

He had walked with the Master--his Friend, Teacher, and Confidant.

Did Peter sense the shroud of darkness descending?

There would be no place of honor on the right and the left of Jesus anytime soon.

Victory songs and celebratory cheers would have to wait. Palm Sunday was great, but that now seemed like a lifetime ago. What was ahead?

The end of this season of the disciples' lives was imminent. Was there a sense of failure? Of waiting? Of foreboding? Of anticipation?

While their own desires wouldn't be realized, they stood on the cusp of something far greater.

Did they fathom just how far-reaching the plan of God was?

Sometimes I hold fast to my own will...it seems so godly....as if it were birthed in heaven itself, steeped in Scripture. Bible verses support my stand, my way of thinking. I boldly take a stand for the Lord by declaring "Thus saith the Lord" about ______________ (whatever it may be).

What if I have missed the point? What if, like Peter, my will actually runs counter to a greater plan of God's?

The cross demonstrates as nothing else that God's will might be so very counter-intuitive. It didn't "make sense." How could anything good come of a righteous man dying the shameful death of a criminal on a Roman cross?

How indeed.

What am I clinging to today that may be counter to God's plan? What must I relinquish in order to experience a far greater plan? It may mean darkness, unanswered questions, a long wait. But is it possible it will be worth it? That I should open my mind to the possibility that I am...dare I say it...wrong?

Grace is Offered...So What?

2012-04-03T06:04:00.000-07:00

About 2000 years ago, Jesus, King of the Universe, condescended from the throne of Heaven. He stepped out of incomprehensible light and love to walk this earth, putting on flesh. Perfect, sweet fellowship within the Trinity was transformed. Moved by compassion, he made such a sacrifice even before the walk to the cross. The expanse between man and Holy God--immeasurable. This, the only way to bridge the chasm.

Image Courtesy of iStockphoto.com

Even before the pain, suffering, and anguish of the cross, Jesus' offer to humanity is incomprehensible. He was GOD, existing in perfection as King of all! Yet he willingly stepped out of Heaven to walk among us where he subjected himself to human "stuff"--physical pain, emotional upheavals, rejection, loss.

He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.

~John 1:11 NLT

Why on earth did he do that? He had literally everything.

While it is our tendency to grab for more than is ours, he set all that was his aside.

What manner of God is this? He wants relationship so much with you, with me, that he set aside his role as King of the Universe to be Savior of the world. He did this though it cost him everything.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor,

so that you by his poverty might become rich.

~ 2 Corinthians 8:9

What will my response be to this grace...today?

What will your response be to this grace today?

Jesus did this. History records his presence on the earth. The question for each of us is So what?

What's Really "MINE! MINE! MINE!" ?

2012-04-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian who survived life at the Nazi concentration camps, was asked by a reporter in a press conference if it was difficult remaining humble while hearing so much acclaim. She replied immediately, “Young man, when Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on the back of a donkey, and everyone was waving palm branches and throwing garments in the road and singing praises, do you think that for one moment it ever entered the head of that donkey that any of that was for him?” She continued, “If I can be the donkey on which Jesus Christ rides in His glory, I give Him all the praise and all the honor.”

I heard this illustration at last week's Bible Study Fellowship lecture in Auburn, California. It struck me afresh just how much Jesus sacrificed when he set aside Kingly glory to take on flesh, to walk this earth for 33 years and to then go to the cross.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus who,

though he was in the form of God,

did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,

being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him

the name that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

~ Philippians 2:5-11

Jesus was/is GOD, very GOD, yet he chose to set aside everything for the sake of bridging the gigantic, unfathomable chasm that existed between Holy God and frail man. Jesus laid down what was rightfully HIS - the glory that he enjoyed with the Father before the world began (see John 17:5 and John 1:1).

Both the donkey and Jesus offer me examples of godly humility. The donkey never thought the honor and praise was for him (so often I do!) and Jesus himself set aside his "rights" as God the Son to do the will of the Father--to meet the great need of humans for a Savior.

How unlike Jesus I am. I grab for what I think is mine: "My food! My body! My way! My will! MINE MINE MINE!" like the gulls in the Finding Nemo movie. I am not even like the donkey. Instead, I am eager to claim any praise as "MINE! MINE! MINE!" as well.

This attitude is a stumbling block for me in my quest to grow more like Jesus. Sanctification is a process...a long, slow, arduous process of relinquishing, clamoring for what is "lost," surrendering yet again, grabbing it back again, and on and on it goes. I must humbly acknowledge that all that I am, all that I have is for nothing if it is outside of God's perfect will for me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world,

yet forfeits his soul?

Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

~ Matthew 16:25-26

Today, I will stop hollering "MINE! MINE! MINE!" I will keep in mind the donkey who humbly carried Jesus out into the world. I will ponder the example of my Savior who possessed everything, but, for my sake gave it all up. I will choose to release my hold on things to which I cling and throw wide my arms to the unknown (and somewhat frightening) possibilities found when I walk in the heart of God's will.

Practically Speaking: What is something you declare is "MINE! MINE! MINE!" that God may be calling you to lay down? I don't have to look much farther than what I eat to find an answer to that. Am I really hungry? Is my body calling for food? Talk about mundane! God uses even something as commonplace as food to show me just how greedy and grabby I am for what isn't mine.

Join the Journey

2012-03-22T06:39:00.001-07:00

Have you wondered for a while about diving in and giving Thin Within a try?

Are you someone who has dabbled in Thin Within but want a fresh start?

Have you been motoring along, but want a connection with a group online that is pursuing doing this thing together?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, then please consider joining us as we launch a brand new session of our online class, studying the Thin Within workbook series!

April 4th is our first introductory session...so you can order a workbook (if you don't have one) before that time and be raring to go. The first assignment will be given following April 4ths class. April 4th will be sort of an overview as we launch into the material, discussing the first lesson on April 11th.

We meet on Wednesdays at 4:30 Pacific, 6:30pm Central or 7:30pm Eastern for an hour-long chat online. I also like to have everyone's email address so I can send out transcripts, additional resources, assignment information and reminders--usually about two emails each week.

If you are interested, you can get the first workbook kit at Amazon or, better (Amazon takes a big chunk of the purchase price), order directly from Joe or Pam Donaldson by calling Thin Within's toll-free number 877-729-8932 9am-5pm Eastern time. The other three workbooks are available from the Donaldsons. It doesn't matter which workbook you use, but if you have never gone through workbook #1, I recommend doing that. Or if you need a fresh start. You can use the link for contacting me that is in the margin of the website here to let me know to add you to the class email list. I promise not to sell your email address! :-)

If you want to know more about the workbook, there is information about the workbook on another page at my blog here and a video where I tell you about it found here.

Hope you will join us! Even better...gather some others together at your church to join with YOU! :-)

Dare To Leave the Familiar

2012-03-21T07:10:00.001-07:00

The LORD had said to Abram,

“Go from your country,

your people and your father’s household

to the land I will show you.

So Abram went, as the LORD had told him...

~ Genesis 12:1,4a

Leaving the familiar behind is uncomfortable, even painful. Stepping out into the unknown requires a huge leap of faith. When we dare to try Thin Within or to venture toward some other "intuitive eating" approach to managing our health (food, eating and size), this leap of faith is definitely required. We have relied upon the tools of scales, calorie (or point) counters, food labels and bathroom scales all our lives. The thought of leaving all of those tools behind is counter-intuitive, certainly! God's invitation to trust him as we step forward into the unknown comes with a lot of uncertainty. What guarantees do we have? Only that he will show us what he has in mind...in his way and in his time.

Last week, I had a tennis match scheduled early in a town a 60 minute drive away (when there is no traffic). Warm-up time was 8:30am, so, to account for the traffic on the main highway and the plan to stop for a quick breakfast, I left at 6:30am (I am a tennis die-hard!). Conditions where I live in Cool, California, definitely weren't ideal for a tennis match:

Everything indicated I was a nut to leave the warmth and dryness of my home to make this trek for a tennis match that might not even happen! The sky threatened to unload even more rain on an already saturated world. I had yet to receive a call or email from my team captain indicating the match was cancelled. I had a decision to make: Would I go against what made sense, travel the distance, battle the traffic, risking the possibility it might be for nothing and the match cancelled after I got an hour down the road? If I waited to leave, hoping for the cancellation call, what if it didn't come? I might risk being late and possibly bring my team a default! NOT a good idea. So, I resolutely packed my car with my tennis gear and started down the highway, wondering if I would end up turning around.

About 15 minutes from home, I wondered...maybe this wasn't so futile after all!

The distant horizon seemed to breathe a bit of a promise. But in the foothills, these things can be deceptive. Would the journey be worth it?

As I got on the highway about 20 minutes from my home, it was clear that the worst of the weather was behind me, but I still wasn't convinced! Not until I got farther down the highway.

By the time I drove past Sacramento (a good 40+ miles from my house), if I looked behind me, I could see why I had wondered, but going forward...there were barely any clouds in the sky! Once to my destination town, I couldn't believe the springlike conditions!

Having stopped for a quick bite to eat within 15 minutes of my destination, I received a text from another player on the team who lives near me in the foothills. She hadn't left her home yet and it was, in fact, pouring rain on her end of the line. "I assume the match is cancelled?" I responded with a text joking that the opposing team might think we were nuts for even wondering given that there wasn't a cloud in the sky down in the valley! Hard to believe that the photo above was taken just an hour and a half after I left my home where the sky was so dark and everything so wet!

Although there was no rain and the match wasn't cancelled, we did have to do battle with extreme wind. I thought one of my teammates was going to be blown right off the court! It wasn't for the faint of heart and I, unfortunately, lost my match in a third set tiebreaker.

But I couldn't help but wonder if the faith required to leave the warmth of my home that morning wasn't at least somewhat similar to what we are called to when we feel God leading us to let go of all our diets, dieting paraphernalia, beliefs about food and body weight and to join him on an adventure to trust him with our body's signals...to eat when we sense a physical sensation of hunger, stop when we are no longer hungry, to eat foods that are "normal" and enjoyable to us and to be sensitive to the many other reasons that we feel drawn to food, going to God to have that "heart hunger" satisfied instead.

I wonder if "leaving and going" to the "land" that God has for us might not be rewarded with "almond blossoms and blue skies" like I was as I left home last Tuesday.

The return trek back to the familiar after my tennis match looked pretty unintimidating. I even had the top down in my convertible!

Thirty minutes into my drive back toward the foothills, though, I was wondering...

And by the time I was here:

...it was clear I needed to pull over and put the convertible top back up. Sure enough, I was heading back to the familiar...back to the dark, dreary, wetness.

I want to encourage you...if you are uncertain about the invitation to "leave and go"--to set aside all that you "know" about food, eating, and diets, to risk, to change, to be challenged in a new adventure with "intuitive" eating...a non-diet approach...be it Thin Within or something similar...it will be worth it. There is something waiting for you that is vastly different than anything you have experienced before. It is freedom. It may take a lot of faith to keep on the road. Doubts may assail you. Everything may seem to indicate that this isn't "intuitive" at all! But hang in there! Victory you have longed for awaits down the road!

How about you? Are you considering Thin Within or another intuitive eating approach? What questions, doubts, fears do you have? Are you willing to give it a shot? :-)

To Be At Peace With Our Bodies

2012-03-05T06:57:00.000-08:00

This blog post is actually from an email that I received. Jill Robbins shared such valuable insights with me in her email that I asked her if I could share them here at the blog and she graciously said yes! Thank you, Jill!

=========

A month or so ago I had decided to return to eating mindfully, but then I decided one day, that I knew best, because the weight wasn't budging, and started counting calories. Then when that wasn't working as I'd hoped, I started using my old weight watchers material. In the midst of all this, I heard a message on the radio about how you can lie to everyone else, but you can't lie to yourself. I can't lie to myself!

Back in November God called me to quit dieting and assume a proper attitude about my weight, food and exercise. I wrote it down and emailed a trusted friend so I couldn't deny it. I'm not sure I struggle with food as comfort, though I'm sure I do at some level. I struggle most with using diets to gain control of my life. I guess I'm a control freak. I try and grab the reigns and say, "OK, Lord, I'll take it from here." Then I inevitably fail an beat myself up over it.

Yesterday I came across something online and it totally spoke to me. It was an article by Mary Louise Bringle. In one paragraph she states, "Diets also don’t work for the psychological/spiritual reason that we cannot heal an obsession by replacing it with a counter obsession. Compulsively scrutinizing what we may and may not allow ourselves to eat merely perpetuates our consuming preoccupation with food." That is something I felt and knew in my soul, but I didn't know what to do with it. She also said diets are the path of works versus grace. I totally get that! I tried to deny it by justifying in my mind that I wanted to be healthier, but really, I just wanted to be thinner. I tried to justify it by asking my husband if doing weight watchers was spiritually wrong. He looked at me, head cocked, and I think he had to suppress a laugh, but for my sake he answered honestly from his knowledge. He didn't think it was sinful. But one thing he did say was that anything that you (or anyone) obsess over IS a sin. I left off the last piece of information and continued on my way until the guilt consumed me and I gave it again to God. I asked God to convict me. I asked him to fill me with guilt if I should not be dieting. And true to His character, he did.

I'm really not sure where to go from here. One thing I do know is that I have to make peace with the body I have right now. I have be willing to take care of my body by eating properly and exercising appropriately even if that means I will not ever be thin. I will respect my body even if it doesn't get skinny. That's where I think God wants me right now. I need to do what's right even if I don't see the fruit of my efforts, but instead look to God for my hope, my peace, my comfort. Thin is not good, fat is not bad. God is good, sin is bad. If I can focus more on that then I think I'm going to be ok.

=========

How about you? Do you find yourself exalting "thinness" over freedom? What do you think about what Mary Louise Bringle says in her article? "Diets also don’t work for the psychological/spiritual reason that we cannot heal an obsession by replacing it with a counter obsession. Compulsively scrutinizing what we may and may not allow ourselves to eat merely perpetuates our consuming preoccupation with food." Thanks again, Jill!

Obedience Feels GOOD

2012-03-03T08:20:00.000-08:00

Obedience requires sacrifice. I say NO to what I want in the moment, trusting that there is a greater reward...knowing that SATISFACTION (which sometimes will be delayed) will meet my soul, even as I refuse to grasp for instant GRATIFICATION.

Today, as I look back over yesterday, I have to say this...no, I must shout it from the rooftops!

OBEDIENCE FEELS BETTER

THAN ANY FOOD TASTES!

How about you? Will you join me today in saying NO to impulses to eat when we aren't hungry? Will we trust that letting go of our desire for instant gratification will yet bring a deeper satisfaction--a saturation of our souls with God's complete "enoughness?"

Rebellion?

2012-03-01T07:04:00.000-08:00

The fog has cleared. I look around, taking stock.

How did I get here? I wonder.

How did I stray so far from where the Lord had brought me?

Image Courtesy of Stock Exchange

There can be no doubt that the past 18 months have brought uncharted difficulties in my life--like a raging sea with occasional calm:

Facing an 86 year old Mom who, one day engages in conversation and the next looks at me with confusion, and cries: "Where is mother?" Has opportunity for restoration passed?

Evaluating the ramifications of an empty nest as my "biggest fan" heads off to Wheaton College in the fall...Lord, is she ready? Have I taught her enough?

Putting the pieces of a 27-year-long marriage back together after the demon of depression had it's way with my best friend and hero for 15 months. How can I trust again, Lord?

Wondering what will become of my socially challenged son as he, too, heads off (against his will) to Montana Wilderness School of the Bible to experience community and whatever God has for him there. Will he ever be "normal," Lord?

And with these challenges (and more) have returned old habits that I thought (in pride) were ancient history. Apparently not. Try as I might to deny it, what I see is that I have turned back to food once again to be my "comforter." I have turned a cold shoulder and shaken a fist at the Lord who loves me with an attitude of entitlement and rebellion: I deserve better!

I struggle with defeat.

I am supposed to be beyond this. I lead Thin Within classes! I write material for the company! Sheesh! I even have one of the best literary agents in the business and new plans for a book to help women on this journey....and yet, here I am...struggling with this...again? Or is it STILL, Lord? How can I pretend to have anything to offer others when I am here? Worse...how can YOU stand me!? I can hardly stand myself! Such hypocrisy!

I go to the Word of God. Renew my mind, Lord.

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.

He sent forth his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.

Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men.

~ Psalm 107:19-21

God lovingly leads me to ancient pages. Such wisdom, such love, such grace and mercy flow off of the page, dripping, it seems into the ache of my heart. Forgive me, Lord. I have looked to counterfeits for what only you can give. You alone hold the answers and Comfort I need. Thank you for your unfailing love, for your kindness and all you do for me...

Deuteronomy soothes me:

But if from there you seek the LORD your God,

you will find him if you look for him

with all your heart and with all your soul.

When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you,

then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.

For the LORD your God is a merciful God;

he will not abandon or destroy you

or forget the covenant with your forefathers,

which he confirmed to them by oath.

~ Deuteronomy 4:29-31

Today, is a day to return and obey. I have a merciful, loving God who doesn't abandon me, even in my rebellion. He intends these trials to lead me to greater reliance on Him. Today, I will cooperate with Him. I will link arms with Him. I will walk with Him.

How about you? Is it time to take stock? Have you been using food for something other than what it is intended? Is God beckoning, wooing you back to Himself?

Chat Today on The Fight of Faith

2012-02-22T09:22:00.003-08:00

Come and join us for a chat on The Fight of Faith! Today at 4:30pm Pacific Time or 6:30 Central or 7:30 Eastern at http://www.thinwithin.org/chat.php I hope to see you there!

Permission to be IMperfect!

2012-01-26T06:54:00.000-08:00

Where do we get the impression that we have to be perfect?

We *can't* be -- WON'T be -- perfect this side of heaven. This is OK!

Photo Courtesy of Stock Xchng

We say we understand this, yet again and again we get discouraged (or worse!) as we try to apply ourselves to the Thin Within principles; as we try again and again to live in freedom from being controlled by food, our desire eating, and carrying more weight than we feel we should. We get discouraged because we can't seem to string together two "good" days in a row.

Let's understand though: Our longing for perfection is a desire for Heaven! That is a GOOD thing! God has placed this longing deep within us (Ecclesiastes 3:11). But it is misguided and misdirected when we think we can and should be perfect here and now. In fact, it leads us perilously close to exalting self and a posture of pride.

Let's STOP it!

This insistence for perfection will always lead to pride, self-exaltation, or conversely to self-condemnation. Neither side of this pendulum are the place where God wants us to land.

We need to extend the same grace to ourselves that Christ does. We need to allow the cross of Christ to be our focus and our stabilizer.

YES, grace teaches us to pursue godliness (Titus 2:11,12), but no where in Scripture are we told that the expectation is perfection this side of the grave.

Let's relish, instead, the joy of being a human in process.

Let's delight in Philippians 1:6 growth! That God will continue to do the work he began in us until HE completes it.

It is our job to cooperate.

If you ask people who have released weight and maintain their new healthy weight how they do it... are they "perfect" in applying the principles of eating between 0 and 5 and the other Keys to Conscious Eating, they will ALL tell you...NO, we haven't been perfect! We still have times when we overeat, or "sneak" a taste of food before we are at 0 or even complete days where we never wait to be hungry! YES! It is true! Can you imagine? :-) In fact, it isn't uncommon for "a successful person's" weight to vacillate slightly in response to these challenges. God takes us to new levels of processing things that we thought were "over and done" and in our past! He keeps us dependent on Him sometimes by showing us just how much growth there is yet ahead.

I have been in such a season and I hope to share more about that in the days ahead. But I will tell you now that, instead of beating myself up for it (we can't hate ourselves into positive change!), I try to take what Paul has said to heart:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect,

but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

I press on toward the goal to win the prize

for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

- Philippians 3:12-14

There are principles in this passage that apply to me in this pursuit. I don't think the goal or prize is a thin body, though...the goal or prize is a heart given TOTALLY to the Lord, where my longing for Him far surpasses my longing for brownies fresh out of the oven, or to be a size ____ and able to wear my "skinny jeans" comfortably.

Do you need to give yourself permission today to let go of "failures?" DO IT.

Press ON.
Take HOLD.
FORGET the past.
STRAIN toward what is ahead.

Let's refuse to indulge in the pity party stuff that we sometimes do when we are discouraged.

GRAB THIS MOMENT for the Lord!

Be FUTURE focused!

Invite him to sanctify you through and through...this is to be our goal, after all...not our skinny jeans. Welcome his invasion into the private spaces where you allow food to be your Comforter. Let him convince you that every single solitary babystep "Godward" you take on this journey is a wonderful offering to Him that delights his heart.

It is ok not to be perfect. He IS doing a work in you...that sounds pretty awesome to me.

Green Elephants

2012-01-22T05:02:00.000-08:00

Don't think about a green elephant.
No...no thoughts of a green elephant are allowed.

You aren't thinking of a green elephant are you?

Stop it! No green elephant thinking! No sneaking even a single green elephant thought!

Wait for it...wait for it....well??? :-)

So, honestly, have you been able NOT to think of a green elephant since starting to read this blog entry?

I didn't think so.

When we try NOT to think about something, often that is ALL we think about! So, if you tell yourself "Don't think about a green elephant," that is precisely what you are likely to think about!

And when you tell yourself NOT to think about food, that is precisely what you are likely to think about...food!

Often, people want to give up applying themselves to eating 0 to 5 (between hunger and satisfaction) because they say it makes them more food focused. Sometimes, what this really means is we are giving ourselves permission to eat whatever we want, whenever we want, in quantities that we want...making provision for the flesh instead of submitting our desires to the Lord.

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.

What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?

Those things result in death!

Romans 6:20-21

So if we "give up" on 0 to 5 eating, maybe we aren't so consciously focused on food, but our lives return to becoming food-centered. We may not think about food as much, but we eat more often and in larger quantities! We plan our lives around food, which restaurants we can go to when we run errands, which movie would go best with a large platter of nachos, etc....Is that really freedom from being food-focused? Of course not!

I propose that we be intentional. If we don't want to think about green elephants, if we don't want to think about food, the best way to do that is to think about something else. I propose that we allow thoughts of the Lord and His character flood our minds. This works wonders for me and in the Thin Within classes I have taught, I have heard great responses to this exercise as well. We have to think of practical ways of filling our minds with thoughts other than food.

For me, this takes several forms. Here are things I do. You may want to try some of them:

Create a GOD LIST. This is a cumulative list of all of God's attributes that I stumble upon in my quiet times, at church, as I read, in music, hymns or in conversing with a godly friend. I have started keeping my GOD LIST on my iPad since it travels with me. This list is not only what his attributes are, but it is also a list of ways he interacts with people...the things he has done for people.
I use my GOD LIST frequently to praise God. I praise Him for these attributes. We were created for worship, so it stands to reason that the best thing I can do is what I was created to do! When I daily take time to praise God, just listing back some of the things on my list to Him in prayer and thanking him for them, my heart is flooded full. Funny thing is that I am not drawn to food as often. I can even have a "Praise Feast" like this when I *am* tempted...rather than the food and my desire for it being my focus, GOD is my focus. It really makes a difference!
Use praise and worship music playing a lot of the time. I don't know if it is just me, but when I drive, I love to worship the Lord. It is a time that I can do that. The words to the music don't just wash over my mind, but I try to soak in them, praying them back to the Lord. If my heart isn't "into it," then I make it a prayer. "Lord make me willing to surrender all to you as this song speaks about..."
I set the timer on my watch to go off throughout the day. When the beeper goes off, I take a moment to just give thanks to God for his character or the gifts that I enjoy in life.
During my most difficult times of the day, I can have a quiet time. Even if I have had one in the morning, I can have another one...just times of being still in His presence and letting him fill me up. I can do another section of my BSF lesson or the next exercises in my Thin Within lesson, or open to Ephesians 1 (or another great section of scripture) and soak in the amazing truths found there. I don't have to have *only* one quiet time each day!

Even if we are busy people with a busy work life or a stay-at-home Mom, homeschooling 4 under the age of 10, we can foster an inner attitude of worship.

Doing this is the BEST antidote for our tendency to being "food-focused." Rather than "quitting" eating 0 to 5, why not start some new habits that focus my attention on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things (Philippians 4:8)?

Asking the Right Questions...

2012-01-20T04:26:00.000-08:00

This post was inspired by a few things...not the least of which is a post at Michael Hyatt's blog.

Photo Courtesy of Stock x.chng

I get asked a lot of questions in email, in chat, on forums, in person. They often go like this:

How much weight did you lose?
How many times a day did you get to "0" while you were losing?
How long did it take you to lose all your weight?

I rarely get asked:

How did God use this struggle to draw you closer to his heart?
Or how did your prayer life change as a result of this experience?

It is common for us to focus on the outward appearance. After all, that is what draws most people to Thin Within in the first place--we want to release extra weight.

But if our primary (or sole) focus is outward appearance we will miss the work that God is really after. As I have said before and truly believe, if Jesus had five minutes to speak face-to-face to you, I don't think he would say, "Now, about your weight..." No.

Jesus wants our hearts.

Lots of the questions we ask, assume the worst. Analyze the questions you ask and see what the underlying belief or motivator is...

Like:

Will I ever stop overeating?

...may actually assume that you *won't* stop overeating, thus assuming the worst.

So, rather than ask these questions:

When will I finally get this eating thing right?
Will I ever be free?
Will I ever be thin?

...maybe we should ask these, instead:

How is God drawing me closer to Him?
Am I learning to trust Him with my body?
How can I demonstrate my choice to love Him today?

Big difference between the questions we are prone to ask and the questions that God may want to answer for us.

What questions are you asking these days? What questions might be better ones to ask?