****Please keep in mind these are only notes. A lot more gets shared in group.
Today's meeting notes:
God's Goodness in Our Desperate Condition
107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for [he is] good: for his mercy [endureth] for ever. 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say [so], whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; 107:3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. 107:4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. 107:5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 107:6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, [and] he delivered them out of their distresses. 107:7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. 107:8 Oh that [men] would praise the LORD [for] his goodness, and [for] his wonderful works to the children of men! 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. 107:10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, [being] bound in affliction and iron; 107:11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: 107:12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and [there was] none to help. 107:13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, [and] he saved them out of their distresses. 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. 107:15 Oh that [men] would praise the LORD [for] his goodness, and [for] his wonderful works to the children of men! 107:16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. 107:17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. 107:18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. 107:19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, [and] he saveth them out of their distresses. 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered [them] from their destructions. 107:21 Oh that [men] would praise the LORD [for] his goodness, and [for] his wonderful works to the children of men! 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
I actually read this out of the Message Bible, while not my favorite because it is a paraphrase, there are times I enjoy it. This was one of those times
These verses paint the picture of what life was like in our addiction and how God reached us when we called to Him in desperation.
I. In verses 1-2, those who have been set free by God are told to tell the world. We are to be like Jesus in this. Jesus said: 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, 4:19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
We are to be proclaiming release to the captives, not hiding our freedom because we still carry the shame from the sin, but sharing our freedom because we are set free from the sin and the shame. My experience in the church with others that had eating disorders was pitiful. Where these others had gained freedom when I asked them for help I was told either "I don't know what to do to help you" or "I don't think I can do anything to help you". I understand that they are human and only operating in what they can see themselves doing. I hold no animosity, I understand. But I stayed in bondage when looking for a way out because there was no one who knew how or thought they could be a help to me. How sad. Now I have been set free. I plan on sharing that freedom with anyone else who desires it. I may not be perfect, I may make mistakes while I am trying to help, but I know that to attain lasting freedom takes help from others. Any recovering addict can tell you accountability is key to lasting abstinence. We must, as we attain the freedom God has provided for us proclaim His goodness, be a witness to those God brings to us, and mentor and lead others out of the bondage to food.
II. Next we have the picture of wandering in the desert. How appropriate a description for the feelings that come with addiction. Those in the desert are hungry and thirsty, "on the brink of exhaustion". That is what we were when we were in the throes of addiction.
A. Constantly hungry wanting to feed the hole in our heart, we turned to food- a physical substance- to fill the need of our hungry spirit. Food never satisfied us because that hunger is only satisfied by a vital relationship with God. Yes, food made us feel good for a fleeting moment, but we felt so much worse later. The thoughts that ran through my head went something like this, "I'll never be able to stop eating like this, why do I even try", "Why can't I make it through even one day", "God, how can you forgive me AGAIN for the same stupid sin". Yes, I felt like my soul was on the brink of exhaustion trying to fight a battle I seemed unable to win.
B. "Then in our desperate condition, you called out to God" Ah, there is a piece to the puzzle. To cry out to God in our desperate condition. (I can tell you only from my personal experience that to cry out alone is not the key, but to cry out in REPENTENCE, true repentence, not just that you want to be thin and not really change your behavior. That is a whole separate teaching!) The next verses tell of the goodness of our God in satisfying our thirst and our hunger. Only He can fill the hunger in our spirits.
III. The image of being in bondage, well that is exactly what any addiction is. It is being in bondage to something and not being able to break free.
A. For those of us with food addictions this means we were not obedient to God in our eating. Maybe He said give up the sweets or cut out the sodas or pray instead of eating that cookie, whatever it was that He told us. We didn't do it. 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
We deceived ourselves into thinking it was okay to overeat, undereat, binge & purge, whatever. Basically we were "turning our back on the High God's counsel) and there was no help for us because we were deceiving ourselves.
B. The same words are used again here. We call out to God in our desperation and He will set us free.
IV. Here is the picture of FOOD ADDICTION. That's right, God even covers food addictions in the Bible.
A. We see that we suffer the physical effects of food addiction in our bodies. For me this meant pain in my knees and hips because I was carrying 30+ pounds of extra weight, huffing and puffing to play with my kids, not gardening (which I love) because it hurt too much. For others it can be diabetes, heart disease, destruction of the esophagus from vomiting, weakness and organ failure from starving and soooooo many more illnesses all directly a result of abusing the body God has given us while we are here on earth. Our bodies are supposed to be living sacrifices: Rom 12:1-2 NKJV "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." (pink emphasis - mine)
We are supposed to glorify God in our physical body:
1 Cor 6:19-20 NKJV
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
B. Verse 18 in the Message says "You couldn't stand the sight of food". For the food addict this can take the form of total avoidance (starving-anorexia) or you can stand the sight of food and consume it until it is gone!!! The second was the one I personally dealt with. I abhorred the sight of food because of the hold it had on me, but I would eat and eat. One of my favorite excuses was "if I eat all of it it will no longer be there to tempt me".
C. The same words are used again here. We call out to God in our desperation and He will set us free, but now it goes back to the admonition at the beginning of the Psalm. We are to offer praises and DECLARE His works.
END OF MY NOTES
Here's my food from the day.
Breakfast: 1 slice whole wheat toast w/ 2 T. Almond butter
Lunch: 2 oz. cheese, 1 slice bread, apple
Dinner: Venison roast (4 oz.), 1/2 potato, 7 chunks of carrot
Snacks: popcorn w/ 2 t. coconut oil & Kashi bar |
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