Where do you look for obesity solutions? Who can you trust?

Let me start by introducing one woman’s story of healing. If you don’t know Audrey Mack, you are in for a treat.

I loved Audrey Mack’s teaching at the Healing is Here Conference on 8-16-18. She taught that God’s goodness is the foundation for our faith. And that “you won’t have confidence in God’s Word if you don’t have confidence in the one who spoke the Word.”

Audrey demonstrated that throughout the book of Matthew the testimony of Jesus was to heal them all – every person, every sickness, every disease.

• Matthew 4:23-24
  “Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all.” (NLT, emphasis mine)
• Matthew 8:16
  “… he healed all the sick.” (NLT, emphasis mine)
• Matthew 9:35
  “Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.” (NLT, emphasis mine)
• Matthew 12:15
  “… He healed all the sick among them” (NLT, emphasis mine)
• Matthew 14:36
  “They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.” (NLT, emphasis mine)
• Matthew 15:30-31
  “A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.” (NLT, emphasis mine)

What about cancer? Does Jesus heal that today?

Audrey gave a testimony of her experience with cancer. She knew of several Spiritual Solutions to problems, such as:

• Confess the Word
• Enter the Rest
• Speak to the Mountain
• Fight the good fight of faith
• Faith is an Act

She describes this Solution Set as something similar to a deck of cards.

She knew that healing was hers. She knew that Victory was hers, but she wasn’t sure how to get there.

When Audrey didn’t know what to do, she asked the Holy Spirit. Because of her knowledge of the Word and God’s goodness, she knew the Holy Spirit would provide an answer like pulling from a deck of cards. Her personal answer was this:

1. The joy of the Lord is your strength
2. Keep your mouth shut

The Holy Spirit gave her a plan of attack and she was healed from the cancer.

This is not ‘The Solution’ for everyone. It’s not a magic formula. This is what the Holy Spirit told Audrey Mack to do and she obeyed. And she was healed.

It’s not a method or a principle, it’s a relationship.

Audrey said that at a different time in her life, when she was experiencing a physical challenge the Holy Spirit told her to “drink more water and stop eating too much sweets.” When she obeyed, the physical challenge went away.

“Place your confidence in God that not only gave you the victory but also gave you the Holy Spirit to lead you from A to Z – to lead you to triumph; to lead you to wisdom – so you know what to do and how to do it.”

We can apply this approach to every aspect of our lives. We need to put our eyes on God and ask the Holy Spirit what to do.

Jesus is talking in John 10:10 where he says:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (ESV)

If you are struggling with obesity, are you living an abundant life?

No, you are not. The enemy is stealing your energy, your health, and maybe even your joy. Instead, you are left with fatigue, guilt, confusion, poor health.

Too often, you are told to just eat less food. While this may work for some, it causes others to feel humiliated or embarrassed. Many obese people are eating very little. Their bodies are literally starving for nutrition. Something is broken.

There are obesity solutions. Some of them are in the spiritual realm, some are in the natural realm. Let’s start building that Answer Deck for obesity, so the Holy Spirit has something to work with.

Possible causes:

• Emotional eating
• Addiction – sugar is very addictive
• Endocrine system not functioning optimally
• Damaged gut microbiome
• Lack of knowledge
• Wrong teaching about ‘good nutrition’
• Damaged food supply
• Side effects from prescription medication
• Inflammation
• Elevated blood sugar levels
• Sedentary lifestyle

Problem foods:

• Sugar and artificial sweeteners
• Grains
• Bad fats
• Dairy
• Highly processed ‘foods’
• Soy

Some eating plans that have been shown to be highly effective for losing excess body fat and maintaining a healthy weight:

• Trim Healthy Mama
• Keto
• Paleo
• Low carb, high fat, moderate protein

Characteristics of healthy whole foods:

• as close to the way God made it as possible
• no man-made chemicals in the final product
• no chemicals used in the growing (or harvesting) process

There is no one-size-fits-all answer.

But there is One who has the answer for you. Ask the Holy Spirit for answers and He’ll show you where to look for solutions that are right for you. Pray for wisdom about the source of the problem. Then ask for solutions.

If your prescription medication is causing weight gain, you need to heal your body from the original problem. Once that problem is gone and you no longer suffer from medicine side effects, weight loss solutions become much simpler.

If you are an emotional eater, pray for wisdom on the correct ways to address your stress. The answers are there. You just need to ask.

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” John 7:7 NLT

It’s time to stop being a victim and instead become the Victor that you are in Christ.

In future blog posts, I’ll help you build an Obesity Answer Deck with LOTS of research and evidence to back up my claims. Stay tuned!