Lets beat this sugaremy down. Beat downtime. Sugar? who really dwells too much on this delicious commodity and in all its tempting forms? This seemingly innocent culprit that in reality is cunning as all hell. Literally if not leashed will slay you spiritually. That is right death by cookies? not very heroic and mildly embarrassing.
Think again sugar has a dark side Don't let it's powdered fun color filling face deceive you.
Sugar in all actuality is destroying more of us than we like to admit. This sweet substance one is highly addictive and its aim is to slay us and bring us down. It's a spiritual paralyzer, spiritual stun gun. Tazed by sugar. I admit I have and do have to do a punch to sugar some days with a 1,2,3 combo. It can be a subtle struggle and if you're not overweight you may not even bat an eyelash.
It is a constant battle, not an everyday battle. It is a part of rendering the flesh. Regardless of how often binging on sugar is not ok, I want to be balanced. I want to remain and embody balance because that is the Character of the Holy Spirit and Beautiful Jesus.
I long to be forever transformed like Jesus. Which will never end until my last breath, as long as I'm in this meat sack called my flesh. After a regime of balance, I have found myself crashing and sugar binging at times. I don't want that but I do it. Who really doesn't?
It is what Paul describes in Romans of doing what we will not to do. Our sin nature, we give hell way to much credit. When most of the time it's our FLESH.
And no judgment to all you men. I don't know what it is about men, but seriously why can't a woman pick up two desserts without that disapproving look. You KNOW what I mean too! HAHA!
That distinct look every woman knows and secretly fears the man check yourself look.
All men have this look when they think a woman is crossing a blurred line of food indulgence. That unspoken look like giiiirl who are you kidding? men do two slices, but not our ladies? I know men want us to stay fine, and are problem solvers. LOL right? They can't help stink eye sugar as it is a threat to our beautiful bodies ( if you married)
But whatever.
A sin issue a deep one. I like to minimalize it, but I can't. It doesn't really matter the degree of the out of control binging it is sin. Anything I do with a lack of self-control is a sin. Yeah, I know I have a lump in my throat too, as I write that. I don't know about you but I am tired of going around and around the mountain. Gods way is better.
As innocent as sugar may seem innocent picking up that third cookie, ice cream snack, or baked good. It's crap and idolatry. My weeks of clean eating do not outweigh it or free pass it. What's the deal? I'm exposing you sugar.
Do you notice how you feel after crushing sugar? Personally, I feel like complete crap and I regret it instantly. That instant gratification of sugar bliss is very short lived.
Sugar is a trap. Regardless of what degree I suffer from self-induced sugar comas, it is destructive. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Usually, when I am gaining spiritual ground the enemy comes and tries to get me to stuff my face with sugar.
I visualize my sugar attacks from an outsiders perspective as the enemy trying to shut up the Holy Spirit in me. The weapon of choice being sugar suffocation. Death by sugar. The goal is to tempt me to later render me motionless and ready for a lion to devour me. Sneaky.
Thankfully we have the victory in Jesus name.
Do you remember being a kid and adults would tell us not to talk to strangers? In particular, we would be warned to be careful of strange adults offering us candy? Especially friendly strangers with sweets who smiled, behind that smile an evil lurked. A prowling lion. Wanting to kidnap you. A luring.
The end results in an unaware zealous kid being loaded with sweets suddenly rendered helpless. Sadly in most cases never to be seen again a statistic on the side of a milk carton. Missing. Sick trick.
The reality is I fall for this as an adult!! You do too if your human. I become this zealous kid hostage and helpless. We need to fight I'm a warrior and I am being taken down by sugar? What on Gods green earth! NO! Subdued to a food coma unable to summon the energy to pray, praise, and call on God.
My Jesus! No.
This scheme is still at large in the devil's camp. The sugar trick is well and active slaying many of us. Look at the temptations around us, come on now! I can't walk down the street without smelling cinnamon buns, or baked goods, fresh bread. In a world where I need to pray and fast.
Please do not misconstrue what I am saying. I am not saying baked goods, sweets, fresh bread is a sin. It is all made to be enjoyed in moderation.
I, however, at times if I would can be honest cross the line though. Frustrated yes, but now recovered I am happy to be free. Initially, this conviction hurt, but for good reason. God wants me to be free. I can be free too already Jesus set me free. So I confess, repent, renounce, and ask for forgiveness. Freedom.
I am exposing you sugar!! Sweets, cakes, ice cream, chocolate, licorice, the list is endless. High sugar foods that give us a rush of false satisfaction. I started to carefully examine how I was feeling prior to eating the sweets, and the feeling during and afterward. I felt nothing. It didn't bring me any closer to God. I was not even satisfied.
I chalk up random outburst the so-called sweet tooth? a lust of food? or sex? With the same seducing power as every other kind of lust. I realize anything I am doing in a frenzy, is a huge red flag. How it can this just violently pop up out of nowhere? the source of this action originally seemed undetectable at first. Perhaps a little discomfort.
The Holy Spirit revealed to me that I had a lot of repressed anger. I was not expressing outwardly, but it was deep inside me. I would explode and release it in a passive manner, with sugar. The root was anger and pride. It went deep.
I would trigger like an AK47, bam all that self-disciple and prayer and fasting out the window. My emotions out of control situations or the weight of simply having to confront myself and change. It feels so overwhelming I would run to cake instead of Jesus. Not to mention I was a very regimented person and athletic and binge eating and cut dieting was normal to me. However, it really is not normal and not good for my mortal body.
With lightning speed too! The result leaving me sitting stunned, with chocolate on my face, filled with guilt and self-condemnation. Confused?
I consider myself to be a healthy fit person. After a couple of these embarrassing sugar outbursts, I decided to ponder. Like what is going on with me? I pressed in to inquire of Jesus with prayer and fasting. I would have insane crazy and out of control episodes. So contrast to my daily life.
How the flesh detests fasting. It truly is a fight. Dirty boxing match. How all our stuff surfaces when we deny ourselves.
I noticed in certain emotional experiences I was exposed (usually issues painfully in nature) I would gun it for ice cream, or two. Let's be honest. I would hunt for anything sweet. Things I never normally would eat. Things I don't even have in my house. I would jump in the car or take a walk to the nearest place where I could get my hands on some SWEETS cookies, pie, or squares.
The best illustration I can give is that of a shark in a blood frenzy! Circling around a yummy seal.
Afterward, I ate my kill, I would lay down in a coma! Laying down is the only position my body could be in since my tummy was overloaded with sugar. What made it much worse it was such a shock to my body because I never ate this stuff on the norm. Depleted of all energy. I would be a hot mess covered in powdered sugar already the uncomfortable feeling of a pending digestive nightmare.
As I lay, questions would float through my mind the most natural one being what did I just do to myself? I feel like my body just got hit by a train.
The once normal very energic person I knew was gone. This slow sluggard feeling weighing me down like a stone. I am not a sugar savage? Am I? I know that? Out of order?
This started to really bother me a developing pattern I picked up on. I fell initially into the trap of dismissing it. I would start having some seriously dumb self-banter about how it is ok. You know it is just sweets, right? Do you know you do not do it all the time? Don't be so hard on yourself? You should take easy on yourself? Really it is not that bad it is only sweets?
Does this sound vaguely familiar to anyone? Pretty dangerous mindset the beginning of a stronghold ugh hello compromise? Thank you, Jesus.
I kept confronting it in my mind. My second banter would be the comparison trap. I noticed I would be comparing my behavior to other bad habits that I have been delivered from. Free passing myself. I was still a little dumbfounded by this.
Never the less I shrugged it off and continued on into regular healthy eating habits and lifestyle. Then Bam! I was confronted with my struggle with loneliness. Boy did I hit the sweets like a maniac. I made a mad dash to the nearest place to grab some sweets ( I never have them in my house unless I make them) As I was eating my rather large portion of sweets it dawned on me I am not actually enjoying these? They could have been bread with no butter. This was not for enjoyment or thankfulness.
The Holy Spirit told me to pause breath and pause. As I obeyed then rationality a light beamed on. Why am I doing this? ugh, stop. Stop now.
This is a sin. Wait a minute, sin I was dismissing the sin too. I was sugar coating it? SIN. A sneaky very deceptive one too. I mean it is only food, right? Wrong?
A trick of compromise to sink a tooth in. To steal my joy and peace. I don't care what it is sugar or a loaf of bread anything that I am using to fulfill any part of myself outside of God is a sin, an idol.
I need to confront and by grace put it under the blood of Jesus Christ. This is a type of self-seduction, pride, anger, emotional issues, and self-soothing. An impossible fleshly attempt to heal what only God can.
If you're a person who is pretty well disciplined, this is much worse! The manifestation hits us harder. Don't fall into the permission slip trap. It is easy to want to fool ourselves into believing the lies. The truth is no one really likes the truth especially when it disrupts our normal or makes us check our ego. The fact is admitting we may be wrong about most things is not easy. Pride and fear combat all humans to an epic degree.
The lie is that our other good deeds and disciplined behavior exempt us from confessing sin. Playing God. Who else did that?
The answer by the grace of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit we must diligently kill the flesh. So frustrating. All I want to do is love Jesus and all these barriers drive me nuts.
Beautiful Jesus thank you for grace and mercy!
While a subtle sweet kiss of sugar may be ok it can release a vicious attack from hell on my entire life. An entire doorway. What is the point? All I do is become a complaining lifeless sack of meat full of self? I am robbed of everything that is good of the Holy Spirit.
Opening just enough space for a wave of a much bigger attack to knock on the door.
It is not natural to function properly in this condition, a set up to lower my guard to bomb me with other attacks. Even if it is only for a couple of hours, a couple of hours too long. Giving the enemy just enough time to fire doubt and unbelief to set on whatever I have been praying about. The result is I lost all my momentum.
Being drained of energy and having low capacity. My once loved energy for worship, prayer, ministering to the Lord and others, gone. Not to mention the yucky mood as my body tries to regulate, now I am susceptible to opening my big mouth against myself likely cursing myself. This whole self-destructive cycle starts just from sugar binging. Not worth it.
The devil is a liar.
Nothing righteous comes out of coating yourself in icing sugar figuratively or literally if that's your thing. All it did for me is left me lazy feeble victim ready for a lion to chomp on my rear end. Weak and slow to repent.
I ran to Jesus. The answer is always Jesus. All problems and answers are found in Jesus.
The Holy Spirit revealed something that needed to be dealt with. Jesus is so faithful. The Holy Spirit helped me find my root! The root of everything. Deep loneliness, anger, pride.
The enemy is always after anything that will take away my momentum towards Jesus. These traps many of us fall easily into.
Do not be mistaken my brothers and sisters, it is as cunning and an evil trap as they come. Take heed and maybe ask the Holy Spirit to help you if you struggle with this.
Don't buy into the lie of what is a few extra cookies under the hood right? I will tell you from experience that is where it all starts. The beginning of the cycle of opening a legal right to the devil. It can allow our enemy to come in and unleash havoc on our bodies and our lives.
We're not to let anything reign over us but the Holy Spirit. So if this is you as it was me, next time you pick up a box of Oreo's and find yourself mindlessly mowing away getting to maybe six? ( pray for me). You find yourself just crushing cookies or whatever you're chomping on like a zombie. I encourage you to pause, and start asking yourself some questions out loud? I find speaking out loud activates my brain to attention. Helps get me out of that inside chatter. Ask yourself am I even hungry? Do I normally eat like a chaotic mess? Does this really taste good? How is my inner man doing? Check your emotional temperature? Did something trigger me? When is the last time I thanked the Lord for his love? Am I ok? Prayer closet time? ( in my experience it is always prayer closet time)
I believe sugar coating the sugar is a freedom killer. The longer it lingers the harder it is to rid of. Sugar has that old snowball effect into something much larger. Pure, deception to lure us to sin of course, but not just once.
The kid and the candy trick. Thank you Holy Spirit for revealing this to me to share. Thank you through you, Jesus, we have the power to overcome all we are enslaved too. Thank you, Jesus, that you care about every part of our lives and hearts.
You want us to be healthy and free.
The transformation may hurt sometimes but to the glory of God, it is more than worth it to surrender all to God. The sweet exchange.
Helps us Lord have the self-control to say no, and yes when we need to.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the sweets! I like sweets you know that. Thank you for teaching me that everything is good in moderation. Thank you for helping me help me to live a better Holy Spirit-filled life. You died for me to be free in you Jesus. Thank you that you want us all to be healthy. That you created each and every one of us and gave us these beautiful temples to treat and steward well. I pray that you put a desire in each of us to give you Holy Spirit a luxurious dwelling place in our body. I pray in the name of Jesus, that you would continue to work this out in me and others. Expose any other sneak attacks the enemy uses to get us to open the door. Every weakness we surrender to you, Lord Jesus. I pray you will expose the kidnapping candy trick in every area of our lives. I pray for anyone who is reading this and struggles with sugar, emotional eating, binge eating, uncontrollable random sugar cravings. I declare there is power and freedom in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray Father you would do great and mighty work in our lives. Holy Spirit, align our whole being mind, body, soul, heart, emotions, will to be like Jesus. Cleanse us Lord to look like you Jesus white as snow. Draw us to you, to your heart Jesus. I just love you, Jesus, I want you more. Thank you for the joy of salvation and the freedom that I have in you, Jesus. Safeguard us Lord and remind us that the enemy cannot have our joy. For all the pain that causes our children to have these triggers, I pray for the grace and mercy to open our stone hearts. May you give us all a heart of flesh. I pray you would expose every plot and scheme of the enemy in each of our lives, shine your glorious light in all dark places, and cracks. Sugar binge you're a liar!! Convict us of sin, and the coming judgment. Let us surrender our sin Jesus and trade it for precious undescribable love.
In the name of Jesus Most Holy & Precious Name
As it is in Heaven
Amen & Amen
~ A woman done sugar coating sin trading in my second slice of apple pie for prayer
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