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Episode 050--It\'s Not All About Comfort

The Holy Spirit is our comforter, but He isn\\u2019t just all about comfort. He doesn\\u2019t have just one facet. He is multi-faceted.\\xa0

John 14:26 AMP says, \\u201cBut the\\xa0Helper, Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor\\u2014Counselor, Strengthener, Standby, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name\\xa0in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf,\\xa0He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.\\u201d

He is what we need most in the moment we are in. This is why going to Him works so much better to help us than indulging in something that only harms us. When we go to food for comfort it works in the moment, but later it is very discomforting. It doesn\\u2019t bring us the peace we need.\\xa0

Comfort is an interesting word. When we dissect it, what we mean is really selfish. It\\u2019s all about what I want and nothing about what God wants for me.

He is calling me and you to go much, much deeper with Him. He is calling us to a new level. He is calling us to transformation and He is using our issues with food to do it. He\\u2019s redefining what comfort looks like and feels like for us.

It\\u2019s about the comfort and peace of mind that comes when we know we\\u2019re doing exactly what God\\u2019s heart\\u2019s desire is for us in order to take us to that next level in Him.

What I\\u2019m learning is that comfort may not be the right word. The Holy Spirit was much more of a counselor to me than a comforter on my journey. It wasn\\u2019t very comforting to give up the one thing my puny little mind had convinced itself was the thing I needed. I had to learn how to cope with myself without running to my drug of choice, which was food made with sugar and flour.\\xa0

His goal, His mission, His desire is to show me the way to the next level in God. Many of us see this Christian thing like joining a club. It\\u2019s much more than joining anything here on earth. It\\u2019s having your name written in the Lamb\\u2019s book of life. It\\u2019s knowing that every step you take and every decision you make is integral to your life\\u2019s mission. It\\u2019s about progressively changing and growing up in God.

Matthew 5:48 AMP says, \\u201c\\xa0You, therefore, will be perfect, growing into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly values into your daily life,\\xa0as your heavenly Father is perfect.\\u201d

He\\u2019s telling that what He wants is for us to be growing, changing, transforming, not stuck in lies that grow into strongholds. He wants us to get to the place where going deeper with Him or rising to new levels in Him becomes our only goal.

When we are forced to face some of life\\u2019s most difficult questions, it will take us deep. Maybe the deepest question you are facing right now is how to stop yourself from what you know to be a slow death by comfort food. Maybe there are other difficult questions thrown in there along with it.

Don\\u2019t be concerned. Most people are never invited to grapple with life\\u2019s difficult questions and so they never grow. It\\u2019s when we are forced to face these issues that we will grow and get to deeper meanings of who God is and who we are in Him.

Whatever issues you are going through, God wants to bring newness out of it. Having to lose 250 pounds was not a fun journey. It wasn\\u2019t the way I would choose to become new. But God has changed me in ways I never dreamed possible. Some of those ways involve just looking at my life differently

2 Cor 5:17 AMP says: \\u201cTherefore if anyone is in Christ, that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior,\\xa0he is\\xa0a new creature, reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit; the old things, the previous moral and spiritual condition, have passed away. Behold, new things have come because spiritual awakening brings a new life.\\u201d

I\\u2019ve had this conversation with my husband about when I really became a Christian. Was it when I was 7 and stole candy from the grocery store and invited Jesus into my heart so I wouldn\\u2019t go to hell? There wasn\\u2019t much difference between me at 7 and at 8. Not much was made new. I had the assurance of going to heaven and I never again stole from the grocery store. That was about it.

But when I was 55 and surrendered sugar to God that was a totally different experience. That\\u2019s when I laid my life on God\\u2019s altar. That\\u2019s when I gave every part of myself to Him. That when I handed Him my previous moral and spiritual condition and said, I don\\u2019t want to do life like this anymore, stuck in bondage to food and sugar addiction. I need to understand Your way of doing things. I need to be awakened spiritually so I can allow You to take charge of my physical wellbeing and show me how to live reborn and renewed by Your Holy Spirit.

It\\u2019s about so much more than comfort. It\\u2019s about growing up in God. Even at 55, I was still a baby in Christ. I needed to trade my selfish desires for the comfort of certain foods and accept the comfort of the Holy Spirit first. Then I had to learn to crawl, stand, walk and run with Him towards the destiny He had planned for me from the beginning of time.

Overcomers Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/Overcomers-Christian-Weight-Loss-Academy/