Food Addiction - This Dude is in Distress - Purity 1502

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I am M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. To see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of an arid landscape of desert sands, cacti, and Rocky Mountain peaks in the distance come to us from an unknown Facebook friend who shared this desert scene on social media. Back on April 8th, 2022. If this memory is yours, let us know and we will photo credit you on the blog after the fact. Well, it's Wednesday, and I share today's photo featuring two distant mountain peaks and a desert to visually represent our arrival to yet another mid-work week summit— mid-work week summit— and to confess that even a relatively abundant life on the path of Christian discipleship can lead us into those valley moments where we seem to be walking on quicksand, where every step of our progress is difficult and it feels like we are being sucked back into the bondages that we work so hard to be free of. My previous reporting of my battles with food addiction is a story of victories and losses, and with this particular battle of the flesh, there can seem to be no end in— end to the struggle in sight, as the The fight gets little support from the world, and it is easy to be pulled off track when we lose focus or forget that moderation is not a key that the addict can use. Elimination, not moderation, is the name of the game for the addict that wishes to be set free. But food addiction has a unique challenge that we can't eliminate our use of food. Uh, food sustains us, and we can't just cut it off. So the food addict has to be very hypervigilant in their efforts to examine their experience and be wise in discerning and choosing what and how they will eat. The diet industry does not, does not lack for different menus, food plans, or eating strategies that can overwhelm us with information and cause us to lose hope that we will ever find a methodology that'll work for us specifically and be something we can live with. A lifestyle change is called for, but if we are unwilling or unable to actually implement the changes to our eating habits and remain committed to making it our new way of living, our best efforts will be nothing more than another failed attempt at the latest fad through the peaks and valleys of yo-yo dieting. Currently, I'm transitioning to become— to becoming a nutritarian, a veritable vegan, as I have seen the truth of what I need to do for optimal health and length of life that was highlighted in Dr. Brian Michael Brown's Breaking the Stronghold of Food and Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Eat to Live. But in my transition from carnivore keto to vegetable veganism, I am in the valley of the shadow of doubt. And because I am neither here or there, I have allowed this interim period to be a hopeless time of compromise, indulging in candy and sweet treats that don't make the menu of either lifestyle. Lifestyle change. So over the last few weeks, I've gained weight and now feel the distress of failure, and I am trying to keep walking and hoping that I won't suddenly fall into food failure again. I've fallen and I can't get up seems to be where I am right now. But with each passing day, the distress of failure and the dwindling supply of meat in my refrigerator seem to give a slight glimmer of hope that things won't always be this way. And if I just keep on walking forward and lean on the Lord for strength and wisdom, I will someday emerge from this desert and walk forward into victory. I can't wait until I get there, and I hope today will be a day of food plan success. But until I do, I am distressed over how easy it is to go astray. Today's Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah, Jeremiah was helpful, uh, for me in recognizing that I am currently in a state of distress. And so I'm sharing it on the blog today to encourage us all to recognize the distress in our lives and to find the way out of it. And so Dr. Jeremiah writes, um, distress, and he shares Psalm 4:1, which says, hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. You have relieved me in my distress. And he writes. Stress is bad, but distress is worse. In Genesis 3:32-7, Jacob was greatly distressed. All Israel was greatly distressed in Judges 2:15, and in Judges 10:9, they were severely distressed. In 1 Samuel 16:14, King Saul suffered a distressing spirit. Job was in dire distress in Job 36:16. The Apostle Paul spoke of the personal distress that overwhelmed him in 2 Corinthians 12:10. Sometimes we go through periods of distress and great distress and severe distress and dire distress. But the most amazing distress passage in the Bible is in Mark 14:33, when our Lord began to be troubled and deeply distressed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Uh, if you are in distress today, remember that Jesus suffered his distress to bring you out of yours. The book of Romans says Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress? Yet in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. When we praise and worship God when distressed, our problems may not instantly disappear, but don't give up. In his own way, the Lord will relieve you in your distress. That was from David Jeremiah, and he shares a quote from Tim Keller who wrote, suffering is unbearable. If you're not certain, God is with you and for you. Amen. Um, you know, I don't think many people would easily admit that they are in distress, but the truth is that many of us are. Jesus's distress in the Garden of Gethsemane gives us a picture of what distress is like: a situation that is bad or not of our own choosing, that we cannot escape or avoid but must be gone through. That must be endured, and it looks like the end. There's no promise of a good outcome. It looks like a trap, perhaps of our own making, that we can't get out of. It may look like a major loss that we don't know if we can overcome. That's distress, and most of us have aspects of it in our lives that qualify as distress. Uh, Jesus was facing death, and although he prayed for another way, he trusted the Father and accepted the cup of suffering because it was his will. And would lead to the freedom of many, including his own. He left the pain of the cross behind when his spirit left his body and went to hell to set the captives free. So we should take our dis— our distress, our losses, our bad habits, our weaknesses, and like Jesus, bring it to the Father in prayer every day. Ask for a good outcome, but also accepting uh, what will happen as the Father's will to bless us or to strengthen us and to mold us into the people he made us to be. So we petition the Lord with prayer to get us out of our distress, but we also draw near to him with thanksgiving for the good we have now, the good we have known, and the good that will be. And we ask him to provide us with everything we need for today—his strength, guidance, comfort, peace, and love. To see us through the distress and to endure another day until we can look back and see that the distress is gone. So send out a distress signal to the Lord in prayer today. Tell him that you are still alive and ready to receive whatever he has for you, and that you know that even though it might not look like it, he is working all things together for your good because you love him and know that you were called according to his purpose. Today's Bible verses come to us from the quick— come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John J. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on giving, and today's verses are Matthew 6:1-4 from the New American Standard Bible. The word of God says, beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them, otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving will be in secret, and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Today's, uh, verses, um, fall under the seventh point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on giving. And that seventh point is: don't give to the— don't give to be seen by of men. And yeah, today's Bible verses warn us of the trap of good works, that we, that we could do them to be praised in the eyes of men rather than to give glory to God. Um, the scariest verses in the Bible tell of people who are denied a place in God's kingdom because Jesus didn't know them, even though they had a resume of good work supposedly done in his name. And here Jesus warns us not to give to others or to do good works with the hopes that others will, will think highly of us, and to do our good deeds humbly, knowing that our Heavenly Father sees us and will reward us openly for the good things we do in secret today. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we— well, no, today we begin a new chapter of sharing from J.E. Adams' daily devotional, Day by Day Along the Way. And today is the first day of a 365 daily devotional that will begin, um, so we'll be finishing up next year just in time for the holiday season. So, so let's read what he had to write. Um, he shares from John 14:6, which which says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me. And then J.E. Adams writes, the only way to God is through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a wonderful exclusiveness about the Christian faith. Some think all roads lead to heaven, but God has made it plain that it is only by his way of life that anyone may ever enjoy the wonders of eternity with him. Since there is but one God, there must be one way. His way, and that way consists of trusting Jesus as the one he sent to die in the place of guilty sinners, taking their sin upon himself as their substitute. All who confess and repent of their sins and depend wholly upon his sacrificial death for salvation find forgiveness from God the Father, whose children they become. Have you trusted him as your Savior? If not, do so today. Otherwise, you will not be able to travel on the one path to the Heavenly Father's eternal home. Amen. Amen. Yeah, Jesus Christ, the one way to God. And so we, we suggest, like Jay Adams, that you put your faith in him wholly. And that's why we always ask the question, have you fully surrendered to God? Have you made Jesus your Lord and Savior? Are you living your life according to your faith? And, uh, you know, you can answer that one, but we encourage that— we encourage you to say yes, yes to Jesus and yes to his ways for living. Because not only were you guaranteed, you know, a place in God's eternal kingdom in heaven, um, the kingdom comes to you now when you start living by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. And he'll lead you into repentance and lead you into good works. And, uh, one of the good works that he's led me to, um, is the Celebrate Freedom support group that meets tonight night in Clifton Park at Starpoint Church. So we encourage— well, we invite anyone in the Capital District of New York to join us for Christian recovery and discipleship. Basically, we teach walking in the Spirit, and we also share lessons from Celebrate Recovery's curriculum to help us to overcome our hurts, habits, and hang-ups. But mostly, we just form a community, where we come to support one another to, to walk with God and to be set free from the things that, you know, keep us stuck. So, um, we invite you to come. Uh, beyond that, for any men out there, I am offering an online teaching and support group for the holiday season that begins next Monday, this coming Monday, November 18th. It's called Grace for the Holidays. I'll be walking through Freedom in Christ courses, uh, the Grace course, the original Grace course 6 lessons on God's grace, and, uh, we'll be there to, you know, check in, support one another, and, and learn together as we go from the week before Thanksgiving to the week of Christmas. And I'm happy to announce that people are signing up. Um, so we have, um, we have some guys registered, and I'm looking forward to beginning. And, uh, I encourage anyone out there, um, who wants to get some good Christian teaching and support to, to join us. Um, it is for men only, so we encourage you to do that. Um, beyond that, if you can't make the, uh, Grace for the Holidays on Mondays, well, we're offering Freedom in Christ on Tuesdays in the new year. January 7th, 2025, we'll begin again with the Freedom in Christ course. We just finished one last night, and we're going to start again next year. Um, so if you're interested in that, we encourage you to go to ficm.org, uh, and look up their online courses. My group's for men on Tuesday nights at 6:30, but there are other classes out there for women and men alike that you can check out there. Yeah, so we encourage you to check those things out. And beyond that, if you can't make those online courses, or maybe you're just, you know, too shy, you can go to our YouTube channel, M.t. for Christ 247, and find or increase your freedom in Christ by joining one of our podcast classes. We podcast classes for Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, Freedom in Christ, and our very own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course. Um, you can find those on our, our playlist page, uh, on YouTube, or you can actually go to mt4christ.com and look at our YouTube playlists links that are, uh, on our very own page there that you can go to, and you'll see all the different series we've done, uh, over the years. And our playlist page also includes other Christian theologians and counselors that we believe could help you on your walk. So check those things out. And, uh, we end by asking the question: Are you empty for Christ too? Have you surrendered to God? Are you willing for the Holy Spirit to come in and fill you and guide you in the way you should go? Uh, if not, um, well, if you are, we say keep on walking and talking with God. If not, we encourage you to pray, ask the Lord for for him to reveal himself to you and to, uh, you know, make Jesus your Lord and Savior. Um, we know that prayer changes things, and so we pray every day, like right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all that you've done through us and for us. Lord, we thank you for another successful, uh, ending of a Freedom in Christ course. Lord, we thank you for the men that joined us for that journey. And Lord, we thank you for the men that will be joining us in the journey ahead next week with the Grace course. Um, Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith, um, because we need your help, Lord. And we pray for you to go before us too today. Open our eyes to the things you want us to see. Lead us in the way we should go, uh, because all I want to do, all we want to do, is represent you and your kingdom. And, uh, we desperately need your help with that, Lord. So thank you, uh, Lord. We thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.