%20(2).png)
Revelation Within On the Go!
Revelation Within equips people with life-giving, grace-infused mind renewal tools to deepen their intimacy with Jesus so that counterfeit comforts (like overeating) lose their allure, and the joy and hope of Jesus fills their lives, satisfying their souls.
In our podcast we talk about mind renewal, tips and tricks for getting and staying free from counterfeit comforts like overeating (over-scrolling, over-drinking, over-anythinging...)
We began as Thin Within in 1975, a pioneer in intuitive, mindful eating back when diets were in their hey day! Thin Within has taught people how to tune in to their body's natural signals of hunger and satisfaction, remaining present with their meals and delighting in tastes and textures--and the Lord!
In the 1980s, Thin Within became a Christian ministry, showing people that the emptiness that they have felt and often filled with food that their bodies don't require, was really placed in there to be filled full with God through Jesus. He wants to set us free from all strongholds!
We rebranded our ministry and our podcast in 2023 to Revelation Within.
Join us!
Visit us in our RevWithin.Team community as well! (https://revwithin.team)
Find our listing of classes at https://www.revelationwithin.org
Revelation Within On the Go!
Finding Freedom with Food, Eating, and Body Image
What if societal pressures have been masking the true roots of your struggles with food, eating, and body image? Join us as we uncover the hidden emotional and spiritual burdens often mislabeled as weight or diet issues, especially during the New Year resolution craze. Through personal stories and insights from our Revelation Within community, discover the life-changing journey of renewing your mind with God's truth. Learn practical tools, like personalizing scripture and practicing gratitude, to anchor your life in God's Word. Experience the peace and freedom that come from aligning your mindset with spiritual truth, supported by a welcoming community ready to help you transform your relationship with food, body image, and self-worth.
Learn more about our Revelation Within Community: https://www.revelationwithin.org
Hi and welcome to our podcast Revelation Within On the Go. I'm Heidi Bilesma-Epperson, one of your hosts and the owner and lead coach of the RevelationWithinorg ministry.
Speaker 2:And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a Revelation Within coach and Heidi's partner in all things Revelation Within, and we're so happy to invite you to join us for this episode of Revelation Within.
Speaker 1:On the go. Well, it's that time of year again. We're in January and many people are full throttle in their new plans for the new year new you, new me, that sort of thing. You know, it's a time of year when you know we're filled with ideas about how this year is going to be different.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Gyms get full, the diet programs are inundated, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And if you listener are like many people, well, you're probably, by the time you're hearing this, it might be like mid-January, and if you started with resolutions, you might already have bailed. Right, that's true, and if so, we have a place for you.
Speaker 2:Yes, we do because we understand.
Speaker 1:Yes, and you know, what really matters is the way we think. Anyway, today we're going to talk about this a little bit how the world approaches, how our culture, society, even our churches kind of approach this whole food, eating and body image thing, and we're going to talk about how God may be calling us to something completely different. So if you made resolutions about I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that, so that I get this size instead of that size, you are in the right place because we're going to talk about something different.
Speaker 2:That sounds very hopeful. I'm grateful. That sounds great, yeah. So really, when, when you think about it, the world diagnoses the problem as a food, eating or weight problem, I mean, that's, that's what the world says, this is what the problem is, but God diagnoses our problem as a stronghold issue, oh my gosh. I mean, year after year after year, I remember thinking if I could just find the right plan, the right exercise plan, the perfect diet, if I could just lose this much weight, or if I could just get into that size that I was in, you know, a couple of years ago at this time, or whatever it is, then my world would fall into place, everything would be okay, like I could handle everything if I were just certain gene size. I mean, it sounds so silly, but that is absolutely what I thought year after year. But it never did. And I have to say that even when I did get to that gene size, it didn't, it wasn't.
Speaker 2:And it wasn't until I started renewing my mind with God's truth that I realized, whoa, whoa, whoa. The real issue it's not about food, it's about my thinking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it really, it really is. You know, as I get older and I am older, I am in my yeah, I'm 63 now I hate to admit that on national TV, national.
Speaker 2:TV. I think we're all getting older, Heidi.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I have come to a place where I'm really sensitive to other women who are older, who say, you know, like I've even met some people 70, 75, who are still obsessed, and I hope you know I don't want to offend anybody, but it's, it's on their mind constantly, right, they're not happy with their size or their shape, or they can't have this food and they need to have that instead and it's like, oh, my heart just breaks. I want everybody to be free of that, definitely by the time they're 70.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:So the world diagnoses the problem that we're talking about and as we said, as a food, eating and weight issue, and many people I mean how many people don't have this on their mind. I don't know, but I'm guessing there aren't very many people that don't. Maybe it's just because I just know a lot of people who are struggling, but they diagnose the problem as a food, eating and weight issue and then they have their solutions that address a food, eating and weight issue. So if you control what you eat and how much you exercise, you'll fix the problem. That's all there is to it.
Speaker 2:Yes. Well, I just have to jump in here and say we have a whole group of ladies in our community who are in their seventies and and even a few in their eights, and many of them have found peace with food and eating and their body image for the first time in their whole lives. And I just want to say it is never too late, you are never too old.
Speaker 1:Well, let me ask you, since you're bringing that up do you mean that they finally lost all their extra weight and so they're at peace because they've arrived?
Speaker 2:They've arrived. No, I think that what happens as we get older many of us I mean, I just had a birthday, I'm definitely getting older I think we get to the point where it's like you know what, Whatever my size is, I'm tired of not having any peace.
Speaker 2:I'm tired of being trapped by this stronghold, Like I feel chained. And here I am in my seventh decade or whatever, whatever decade it is, and it's like I can't believe. I've dealt with this my whole life, and so we've had a lot of people come to us and say I'm ready to be at peace with my body and at peace with food and eating. And then they start renewing their minds and all of a sudden their thoughts are full of God's thoughts, the way God sees them, the way God sees food as this beautiful, abundant gift you know the way God sees everything. And the more they renew their mind, the more, whatever it is, they are feeling free for the first time in their lives and oh my gosh, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:I'm so grateful for that. But really at any age, I'm grateful for that at any age.
Speaker 1:Yes, definitely. I just know that there are times when it feels like we should be beyond this right now, when we start fussing at ourselves about what we're eating or our size or what we think we see in the mirror. I want to be a woman of God who is content in my skin and knows her identity and delights in who God has made me and he is. I think it breaks his heart that I allow that outside appearance to cause me to be tripping around, self-deprecating, trying to hate myself in a positive change. I think that breaks his heart so much more than anything else that related to this issue, like how much I eat or how big I am or whatever. Anyway, let's look at the word of God for just a minute and I'm in Colossians, chapter two, verses 20 to 23. Again, that's Colossians 2, 20 to 23. Here it reads since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belong to the world, do you submit to its rules? Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. All right, so this passage. Obviously, paul was probably not talking about modern day diets and dieting and body image and all of that, but God in his wisdom knew that people in 2025 would read this passage and see a principle or two in this passage that we can apply to that. I mean, seriously think about this, do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. I mean, we have rules for ourselves or others want to impose rules for us about food and eating, and I think that the principle that's here is these rules, these diet rules that come up, they have to do with things that are going to perish and, in fact, they may perish by next year when there's a whole new diet plan that says the opposite. I mean, I had to laugh.
Speaker 1:Somebody I know she's a medical doctor. She's out there in the social media world and talks a lot about all kinds of things. She used to promote veganism very strongly when I knew her well, and now she's got a new thing she's on the carnivore diet, feeling better than ever. Okay, yeah, well, it's like that's just. It is. It's not about that. It's totally not about that, and really what we want is something that addresses our hearts. Um, and so we, you know, we can't keep it up. We just can't keep it up. Do this and don't do that. No, we can't keep that up.
Speaker 2:Well and I'm just going to throw something out there because this was true for me for so many years there's a certain comfort in that whole dieting mentality.
Speaker 1:There's a certain familiarity.
Speaker 2:It's like, oh, there's a club, did you know? There's a club? Yes, and there's also the club of condemnation.
Speaker 1:That's like hitting my head, but it's almost like you can't be a part of the club unless you're doing the dieting thing.
Speaker 2:Well, yes, and not only that, but I feel like for so many years really, you know, for decades, if something was wrong in my life, anything, anything at all, that was feeling wrong in my life, something with work, or the kids, or my marriage, or the weather, or, you know, my body or anything all I had to do was blame it on my size. All I had to do was blame it on how I was eating. And then I, I think I thought maybe I had some control or something.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:There was like a pull to that I always landed on well, it's because I'm overweight, or, oh, well, it's because of my size. Well, I must not be eating right, otherwise these other problems would go away, and that makes no sense. But I truly I lived that way, I believed it, and when I was struggling with something like I said anything, my go-to was I got to get on a diet of some kind. And that's just so sad to me that I lived so many years that way, and I know that many of you out there can relate. We are looking for something, we are longing for something. That's what's going on here. So the real issue is a stronghold, as I mentioned before.
Speaker 2:So here we have 2 Corinthians, 10, 4 and 5. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. I was watching this video the other day and it was a video of a huge, high-rise building being demolished. And, you know, they had put all whatever they use these days dynamite, whatever it was explosives at the bottom and in different places in the building and they did like a countdown and they had this whole safe area around it. And then, of course, the video was in slow motion and all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom, boom and this building came crashing down. That's what I think of when I see the word demolish.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's like a big deal.
Speaker 2:Totally it's a big deal. We got explosives, it's like this crazy big destruction, and so I love that the word demolish is used here for strongholds in 2 Corinthians. So strongholds are rooted in lies that we believe about food, body image and identity and a million other things. So here's an example If I lose weight, I will be loved. Oh my gosh that just brings tears to my eyes.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:You know, so many of us struggle with that, and I can change that word to accepted, you know. Or I could change that word to admired, yes, and to be loved. Have you ever followed the world's solutions and still felt empty or frustrated?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I know the answer is yes, oh yeah. I remember a year at Weight Watchers. I had lost a boatload of weight. I'd lost a hundred pounds.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
Speaker 1:I was my leader's star pupil, but my heart was chained to food and compulsive over-exercising more than ever before. I came out of that with a bigger mind stronghold. My body might've looked great, but my mind was heavily burned. It's like the weight moved from being physical to being emotional and spiritual. I mean, it just was huge.
Speaker 2:Well, and you and I didn't know each other at the time, and you were in Northern California and I was in Southern California doing Weight Watchers and I was the failure pupil and I showed up to the meetings and I was I had the hardest time doing any of it and so I was on the other side of it. But again I felt the same way. I felt chained, I felt trapped. It was all I could think about. My brain was full of those thoughts constantly, and so isn't that interesting that we were in the same state, opposite sides of the state, doing the same program, feeling the same way, but you had released the weight and I was just a disaster.
Speaker 1:No, I had lost it because I found it again, okay, so it wasn't releasing.
Speaker 2:Releasing is when you just let it go forever.
Speaker 1:Well, I wonder if those listening can identify at all with that, where?
Speaker 2:yeah.
Speaker 1:I found the answer, I found the solution, but then it ends up being empty or, yeah, they give up, and we're in the middle of January, so it's a great time to ask you, listener, is there something God's challenging you with? Instead, instead of grasping for the next diet, or reviewing a diet that worked for you years ago or whatever it might be, or exercising harder, instead of focusing on the size and shape of the tent that God has given you to live in and care for, maybe there's something else that he has for us.
Speaker 2:And that, again, that's so hopeful, because I think we're all hoping that that's true, and it is true, it is true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just want to revisit really quickly Colossians 2, 20 to 23. And that was the verse I quoted earlier, the one about do not handle, do not taste. And it goes on to say these rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. And then the part that I didn't quote yet is that they have an appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship. Boy, that sure describes our culture, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body. This is in verse 23 of Colossians 2.
Speaker 1:I know, but I know it's crazy, isn't? It Sounds just like dieting, but anyway it does. But they these regulations that have this really good appearance? They lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. And again, we aren't trying to say that Paul was talking about dieting in this verse, but wow, it certainly applies, at least from where I sit, my interaction with dieting and food and eating and body image and all of that, this really applies. I don't want to be swept up in the self-imposed worship that Paul speaks of and you know this harsh treatment of my body and you know beating my body so that it loses weight.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for the rest of your life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it lacks any value in dealing with the heart. It says in verse 23, right In restraining sensual indulgence. You know, because that's really the heart of you know, I'm going after something for this pleasure that you know, god's inviting me to step into something so much more rewarding and so much more beneficial.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:We're not going to be transformed by diet and exercise. Nope, nope, no. That might change the outside, although it's really tough to sustain it, but it's not going to transform us. We need true blue transformation, true transformation, and right there in Romans 12 too. Why don't you read that for us, Christina?
Speaker 2:Do not conform to the pattern of this world. How did God know? I mean, he lived here for a while. Okay, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Speaker 1:Let me get this straight I'm not supposed to be transformed by going to the gym for two hours every day.
Speaker 2:No, wait, let me look again. Does it say that here? I don't see it.
Speaker 1:I'm not supposed to be transformed by telling myself what an awful person I am because I gave in to eating whatever and didn't exercise whatever. I'm not supposed to be transformed that way.
Speaker 2:I'm looking again and I don't see that here.
Speaker 1:No, and I'm not supposed to be transformed by you know what. Let's go for another run. I went for one this morning. Let's go for another run this evening.
Speaker 2:No, I'm looking again. I don't see that here. How about cutting out like an entire category of food? Let's check for that. No, I don't see that here.
Speaker 1:No, we have to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, and so if we want to see change, we want to get on God's page with that. What does this mean? To renew my mind, and that's the key. You know, the world's tools are restriction, excessive exercise, versus God's tools are renewing his mind with truth, thinking with the mind of Christ, like 1 Corinthians 2.16 says. And we at Revelation Within have a mind renewal toolbox and we're going to share a whole long list of our mind renewal tools with you.
Speaker 1:We want to dangle these out there in front of you all listening, because we hope that you'll come to RevWithinteam and check us out. A free month, a whole month for free, yes, so generous, oh my gosh. Yes, well, I'm excited about it. And well, our theme for the year is best year ever. We're going to have the best year ever, and January, specifically, is starting fresh with God's truth. How awesome is that? So all right. So let's list some of these mind renewal tools and if you want to learn more, come on over and get your free month trial at revwithinteam.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, all right. The first one is scripture word focus.
Speaker 1:Yes, and we're even going to be doing a special Zoom class for our community members on this tool.
Speaker 2:Yep In a couple of weeks. I think yeah, it's a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm so excited. I love this one. Today is the 7th, that'll be the 21st of January, so if you get in there and start your trial before then, you can get in on that training. Another one of our tools is, I wonder.
Speaker 2:How about this one Personalizing scripture? Oh my gosh, one of my top, top favorites. Think it through.
Speaker 1:Visualize.
Speaker 2:How about praying scripture? Awesome Truth journaling, victory list, victory wall I love it.
Speaker 1:Yay. Lessons learned list. How about?
Speaker 2:the emergency kit. That sounds like one we need to jump on.
Speaker 1:Beads on a string.
Speaker 2:Marble jar, gratitude, of course, the God list and the praise fest, two of our favorites. Yes, listening prayer Beautiful. How about the happy list? Yay.
Speaker 1:How about the stall tool Post mealtime prayer, yay, observation and correction, or what we now call, gladly call, look and learn.
Speaker 2:Oh, and I love the what if tool what if so hopeful conversation with god.
Speaker 1:How about letter to god or letter from god? Ohorship music and hymns, truth cards and truth lists?
Speaker 2:Oh, I love this Look and learn journal.
Speaker 1:Making our own audios so that we can speak truth into our own heads. Of course, it's all rooted, all of these are rooted in God's word, and so what we're doing is we have tools to bring home God's truth into our hearts. We use the word of God, we invite God in every time. Anyway, what else do we have, christina?
Speaker 2:We've got heart to hearts and porch chats. Those are videos that Heidi and I make and post in our community Fantastic.
Speaker 1:Heidi and I make and post in our community Fantastic and a resource that we have appreciated over the years and continue to is. I Deserve a Donut by Barb Raveling.
Speaker 2:Yes, and then praying God's word.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a posture of humility. That's another one of our mind renewal tools.
Speaker 2:I love this one. You are and I am.
Speaker 1:Yay, I love this one too. I am, so I, and that has to do with who God says I am. Yes, because I am who he says I am. What is possible?
Speaker 2:You are the God who I could do that one for hours. Yeah, I know you can.
Speaker 1:I will fix my eyes on Jesus when.
Speaker 2:Oh, this is one of our newer ones Jesus longs. What does Jesus long for? Love it.
Speaker 1:Let me, which is taking the voice of the Lord and putting an answer to that Like let me love you, Let me show you, let me draw you into a place of strength, depending on me.
Speaker 2:How about I surrender all Do?
Speaker 1:you? Yeah, we also have tools we use on the fly, so you don't have to sit down and spend hours to renew your mind. You can be on your way running errands. I spy with my little eye. I love this, you know. Whatever is good, whatever is noble, whatever is excellent and praiseworthy, those are the things God says to think on. So, instead of playing, I spy with my little eye, like we do with the kids. Something blue how about something joyful, something beautiful, something noble?
Speaker 2:Oh, that's fun.
Speaker 1:It is fun.
Speaker 2:Okay, god, I love, love that tool, use it constantly.
Speaker 1:Me too.
Speaker 2:What is true, what is good?
Speaker 1:Yes, I believe, I am free to Lord. Here I am Praise fest. I love how about this one? He will, and he really will. He will. Singing truth is a great way of getting it into your head. So some of the things that God lays on your heart that are true from his word or from his spirit to your own heart, you could sing it and get it in there nice and deep. Yes.
Speaker 2:How about truth in your pocket? I love that one. Do I have a pocket today?
Speaker 1:Scripture cards. Oh breath, prayers, and even though how about?
Speaker 2:where are you? God, God's good gift? Oh, and I love this one.
Speaker 1:Everything important is still in place and because you God are, I will.
Speaker 2:Because you are healing me. I can, me, I can. What do I?
Speaker 1:love about my new revelation within life. I love that one Lord I choose. This is hard because and I am thankful because- oh, and this one.
Speaker 2:how about without you, with you looking at our lives, our moments, our situations, without God as opposed to with God?
Speaker 1:Which is where we really are. You are the God who I love, that one too.
Speaker 2:You are enough for me. Living the dream. It's like you're dreaming, you're longing. What? What would it look like to live the dream and then renewing your mind about that, the dream of being freed from the stronghold, grief and gratitude. I love that one and then I am. Actually. That can be done two ways. That could be God saying I am. It could also be I am talking about our identity in Christ and then God's not worried, I love that one, I love that one. Okay, so now let's go into a little bit of some practical steps for renewing of the mind and relate it to food, eating and body image. Yes, and you can do this with us right now here on this podcast. Just keep your eyes on the road if you're in the car.
Speaker 2:Anyway okay, step one is so, so critical, so important. What we want to do first is identify the worldly thought or the lie. So an example might be if I eat this, or if I eat too much of this, I am a failure. Okay, so you know, there are hundreds, thousands of lies that can come up in our minds, and we want to grab a hold of those and submit them to Christ. And so step two is replacing it with God's truth. So here's an example my worth is not tied to food. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and of course that's from Psalm 139, 14, my favorite Psalm.
Speaker 1:And I love going a step further too with what can I learn from this experience? And invite God into that and see what he actually tells me.
Speaker 2:I can learn, you know what this was such a game changer for me, heidi. When I learned look and learn, when I learn how to do it because I never knew what to do with my failures, with my stumbles I had like nowhere to go with them except an awful place of shame and guilt and wallowing around in the mud after I'd fallen. That's just what I always did, and I always just felt so guilty. I also thought God was disappointed in me. Oh, on and on and on. And so I love, love, love.
Speaker 2:This was just a huge thing for me to realize. I'm going to mess up pretty much every single day, and so I'm going to expect it. God expects it. He knows I'm in progress, he knows that and I can accept that and I can be in a position of humbly learning. Lord, teach me, you know. And so looking and learning is so incredibly valuable. Okay, step three repeat daily to transform patterns of thinking. So I'm going to take this truth and I'm going to say it to myself again and again and again. I might write it on note cards and put it all around my house. I might have it ready on my phone. I might have other truths that kind of go with it together, which we call a truth list, or you could make a deck of truth cards. I might tell someone, a trusted friend, somebody who understands, so they can be praying that truth with me and for me and asking me how are you doing with that? You know a little accountability.
Speaker 1:You're not talking about how are you doing with the eating of the food as much as you are about what.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how are you doing with that truth? My worth is not tied to food Other examples of that. My worth is not tied to my size. My worth is not tied to how well I can follow all these rules. You know, my worth is rooted firmly in Christ, my identity, my worth, my value. I'm fearfully and wonderfully made and we have an entire list, a beautiful list of who we are in Christ, with scripture references.
Speaker 1:You can grab that and download it, if you haven't yet, from the web address. Here it is teamlifeisgoodcom. Forward slash identity.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so really that's one of my main go-tos when I'm struggling with issues of worth and identity and value. It's like God who do you say I am. And so, as we've talked about so many times our thoughts, then the more we think what is true, our beliefs actually change. We begin to believe what is true. I had someone say to me the other day Christina, that sounds great, but truly I don't believe it. I want to believe it, you know, I want to believe it. I want to believe that my worth is not tied to what I eat or my size. But that's really what I've believed since I was a teenager, and so to that we say Just start by saying it.
Speaker 2:Start by saying the truth.
Speaker 1:God says it's true. So we know it is, even if we don't believe it yet. By saying it again and again, and again, and by inviting God to help us really believe it, we will begin to believe it and we'll act on it.
Speaker 2:I also had someone say to me this past week I love the tool, lord, I love, but you know what? I'm not feeling it. I'm not feeling it, I'm not grateful. I'm not in a posture of gratitude right now. I'm angry, I'm struggling, I'm upset. You know, I don't like the things that God has allowed for me. What do I do with that? Again, just start, just say it, one thing that you're grateful for, just start into it with a step of faith. God will help you and meet you in that place. So you know, you might want to consider what lie have you believed about food, eating or your body? What truth from God's word can you replace it with? Maybe once a day you're noticing, you might want to ask God, help me to find these lies, help me to see them. And then, wow, lord, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 1:on this, right, yeah, and Lord, please show me the root cause of this, right, yeah, and Lord, please show me the root cause of this, so often overeating or obsessing about our body image. You know our obsession with dieting. I mean, it's really the flip side of the same coin. It's obsession with overeating, obsession with dieting, restricting, and it's still obsessing about food, and so it often stems from deeper issues, things that often were a part of an experience or many experiences growing up, or as a teen or in college.
Speaker 1:There might be fear, shame, a desire for control. I must have control over this, and so invite God to show you and recognize that he's addressing your heart. He wants your heart. I don't know. I've said this for years. He doesn't want us to be thin or skinny, or even healthy, I think, as much as he wants us to be his hook, line and sinker. He wants our hearts. He wants our hearts. He's not just about the behavior. He's about what the behavior is fed by, and you know, for instance, emotions. When we face difficult emotions, we want to get in the habit of thinking God's thoughts about what we're feeling and turning to him instead of food to numb out or to have a little happiness in our lives.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I wanted to share about one of my dear, dear friends that has been with Revelation Within for years and who I have coached one-on-one and am still coaching, even though half the time it's really her coaching me. Anyway, it is such a joy to meet with her. She has an incredible story of dealing with and being trapped by this stronghold of food eating body image for her whole life. She is in her 60s, late 60s, heading towards 70. And it has been an incredible struggle for her all these years. All these years she has turned to food for all the different reasons, all the different things, everything that is for the wrong reason. You know, not hunger, fullness, not fueling our bodies. And she had done, you know, thin within, now revelation within. She had done, you know, some of those things the Bible studies for years and years.
Speaker 2:But what happened was a shift, a huge shift, when she committed with two feet in to renew her mind and she said you know what? I'm tired of this battle. I'm so tired of it, I don't want to do this anymore. I've been doing it my whole life. I want to be at peace. Whatever, whatever it takes, I want to be at peace. Now, notice she didn't say I want to lose the weight. It was on her mind, certainly because you know those of us I mean we we know what it feels like. There's the sense of I'm, I'm not there, I'm not finished, I haven't figured this out, and so we're uncomfortable in our bodies.
Speaker 2:But she was at a point where she thought I'm going to learn to renew my mind, I'm going to put all my focus on that, I'm going to focus on what I'm thinking. And this is while she was working full time. This is while she had a full life, full career, family, everything. And she jumped in with two feet. At first it felt kind of awkward, I think. At first it was like what am I doing? Do I really believe these things? I'm not really sure. Is this really how God sees me?
Speaker 2:She had to grapple with a lot of those things. But once, really how God sees me, you know she had to grapple with a lot of those things. But once those thoughts really took hold in her mind, they turned into her beliefs and so more and more her beliefs lined up with God's thoughts and then things started changing. Now she wasn't weighing herself, she was focused on the renewing of the mind, but slowly she was releasing weight More important than physical weight. She was releasing the guilt and the shame that she had been carrying all those years, all those years and of course I can relate, you know, we can relate to that kind of guilt and shame, but the renewing of the mind was what made the difference. And, of course, surrendering, letting go of her own thoughts, those lies that had driven her for so long, letting go of those, surrendering every day, not in her own strength, but in God's strength.
Speaker 1:Certainly not doing anything perfectly, I just want to throw that out there Right. Sometimes we need to surrender our obsession with getting to be a certain size or shape. That, that is what the stumbling stone is, and it's so interesting. I keep coming back to the way God designed us and how, when we put pressure on ourselves, our body interprets. That are marvelously made, fearfully and wonderfully made bodies interpret that as stress, and that means that our bodies don't operate their best, that we don't metabolize as well. We add cortisol to our body. Anyway, it's so interesting to me that the very thing that we do to try to change our physical shape can actually cause problems in our lives, make us unhealthy, you know, by adding cortisol. Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked, but but that's true, I mean it's like we make it so hard on ourselves.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So this person that I'm thinking of and there's been many, many hundreds, hundreds, thousands of people over the years but this person that I'm thinking of and there's been many, many hundreds, hundreds, hundreds, thousands of people over the years but this person that I'm thinking of, she is walking in freedom, with food, eating and body image. She is at peace Now. She trips and she stumbles and she does look and learn every day and she takes it all to the Lord and she's had some really tough things happen in the last couple of years, but she is walking in freedom, in peace, and it's beautiful and it's amazing and I'm so grateful for her and her story. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Let's go ahead and wrap up now that reviewing some of our points that we've been trying to make here today.
Speaker 2:Oh, we've gone all over the place it feels like.
Speaker 1:but first and foremost is you know, god looks at our hearts, not our behavior alone and not our physical appearance. That's not the point. The point is what is going on in our hearts and if our quote solution is in any way focusing on our physical appearance instead of the heart, we're missing it and it's easy to miss. And it's easy to fix that missing. We get back on track or we get on track by turning to him.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love that, Heidi. It's easy to miss, but it's easy to fix that. I love that. It is just one step in that direction. So the solution isn't restriction or outward appearance. It's renewing our minds and thinking with the mind of Christ. That's the solution. That's the only thing that I have found in my life that has brought peace and freedom in all kinds of areas, all kinds of struggles.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and and my experience is the same too when I renew my mind, things fall into place. There's peace. When I seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these things are added to me as well. But when I don't renew my mind, things go sideways, it's. It is like clockwork. I tell you what?
Speaker 2:it really is yes.
Speaker 1:True freedom does come when we embrace God's truth about who we are in him and rest in his grace instead of in our performance.
Speaker 2:So we want to encourage you, we want to give you a little challenge here before we go, to give you a little challenge here before we go this week. Go to God, invite him in and ask him to help you identify one stronghold this week, maybe even just one lie that you have been believing, that has been taking you down, and begin to replace that lie with God's truth. Go to the word, ask him, lord, what are your thoughts about this? And begin to renew your mind. Just start so simple and see what happens. Yeah, we think you're going to love it.
Speaker 1:Definitely, and if you want more support in this area, there's two things. Two things you can do. One visit RevWithinteam and get a one month free trial of our community. But there's also another thing you can try. You can have a discovery call with Christina If you think one-on-one coaching might be something that could work for you if you had just the right amount of encouragement and support and accountability. Christina is an amazing coach. You can reach out to her at her email address, christina at revelationwithinorg, and reach out and let her know you would love a discovery call. It's free for that. You guys can see if you are a good fit together.
Speaker 2:You don't have to go it alone is what we're trying to say. You don't have to go it alone. We have so much support for you in our community. What an amazing community we have, oh, my goodness, and. Heidi has prepared so many beautiful things that are there waiting for you, and we're there all the time. We're coaching the community all the time as well. Come and join us One month for free, and we'd also like to invite you to join us for our next podcast episode here at Revelation Within On the go.
Speaker 1:Oh, we'll see you next time.