Do you eat when you're bored?

How about when you're worried or stressed out? Is it something you do for fun or to avoid doing something else? If so The Truth Will Set You Free. Ask God for help to break free from the stronghold of emotional eating. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 tells us how to tear down a stronghold: Take your thoughts captive to Christ. No wonder we haven't been able to lose that weight and keep it off! We've been fighting a spiritual battle with manmade weapons: diet and exercise. In this Bible study, you'll get daily hands-on practice using spiritual weapons to bring your thoughts captive to Christ. You'll learn how to take off the lies that make you eat and put on the truth that will set you free.

Freedom from Emotional Eating contains 40 daily Bible studies that will help you:

Break free from the stronghold of emotional eating. Deepen your relationship with God. Let go of negative emotions like worry, stress, and annoyance. Gain victory over your eating habits. Through daily Bible studies and practical renewing-of-the-mind tools such as truth journaling and Scripture prayers, you'll get hands-on practice going to God rather than food for help with life.

Day One

Truth

I never knew the value of truth until God began to change my life with it. Yet the teaching of truth permeates Scripture. We're urged to believe the truth, live the truth, and speak the truth.I guess that begs the question: What is truth? The Bible gives us an answer: God is truth. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all defined by truth (Isaiah 65:16, John14:6, John 16:13). God's Word is also defined by truth John 17:17. As we abide in His Word, He counsels us with truth (Psalm 119:24), He transforms us with truth (Romans 12:2), and He sets us free with truth John 8:32. Is it any wonder that we begin our study of emotional eating with a study of the truth?

Let's get started!

In order to fully understand how the truth can set us free, we must first recognize

how a lie can enslave us. Our study of truth then will actually begin with a study of

lies. We'll look first at where lies come from, then how they affect us, and finally how

we can stop believing them.

Think back to the first time lying appeared in the Bible. Who was lying to whom?

(Genesis 3:13)

The world had been created. A wonderful world where Adam and Eve could enjoy

fellowship with God in an idyllic setting. Unfortunately, Satan started working on

Eve right away to take her out of this perfect world and cause a rift in her

relationship with God.

Think of this for a moment. Can you imagine what a daunting task Satan had

before him? God had blessed Adam and Eve. They had a beautiful place to live and an

intimate relationship with God. How could Satan ever get them to give up

perfection? Obviously, he needed to come up with a plan of action. What did he

decide to do and how did it work? (Genesis 3:1-6)

Did you notice how sneaky Satan was? He didn't come up with an open plan of

attack. He knew Adam and Eve would never have gone for it. Instead, he used

deceit. His questions made it easier for Eve to rationalize to herself, "Well, maybe

that's not really what God meant." He also helped Eve to focus on the advantages of

disobeying God. Right away, at the beginning of the world, we see how well Satan

uses his weapon of deceit to lead us astray.

How is Satan described in the following verses?

John 8:44:

Revelation 12:9-10:

• If you're anything like me, you've not only been deceived in the area of food, but

you've also experienced quite a bit of self-condemnation because of it. In Revelations

12:10, Satan is called the accuser of the saints. Why do you think Satan accuses us?

• How does it affect your weight loss efforts when you beat yourself up after breaking your boundaries?

When we beat ourselves up after breaking our boundaries, our eyes are no longer on God and His life-giving power to transform us. Instead, they're on us and our incredible inability to ever break free from the control of food.

Thankfully, God hasn't left us alone to face Satan's lies and accusations. Instead,

He's given us weapons we can use to fight back. Not surprisingly, one of those

weapons is the truth.

Read Ephesians 6:10-20 and then look more closely at verse 14.

What does Paul tell us to do in that verse?

In the days of Jesus, men wore long robes. These robes got in the way when the men

engaged in physical activities, such as fighting. To prepare for battle, a man would

reach down and gather up the bottom of his robe, pull it up between his legs, and tie

it at his waist with a belt. This was called girding the loins, and it was something that

had to be done before going into battle.

Can you imagine a soldier in the middle of a battle saying,

'Just a minute, guys! I need to get my robe out of the way!' That's crazy. He'd be dead before he got his belt tied. To be effective, it had to be done before going into battle.

Just as soldiers prepared for battle by getting their robes out of the way with a

belt, we prepare for spiritual battle by getting the lies out of the way with the truth. If

we don't put on the truth before we go into battle, then we won't be prepared to

withstand temptation when it comes. It's essential that we take the time to fill our

minds with the truth on a regular basis so that we're ready when Satan attacks.

Read Ephesians 6:10-20 again.

What else are you to put on when you prepare for battle?

What is the only offensive weapon mentioned in these verses?________________

In John 17:17 how is the Word of God described?_________________________

Are you beginning to see how powerful the truth is?

Paul talks about using it as both a defensive weapon and an offensive weapon. This is the weapon we must use to break free from the stronghold of emotional eating. We'll spend the rest of the week learning how to use this weapon.

In closing, write the words of Jesus in John 8:31-32. This is a wonderful promise we

can rely on as we go to God for help with emotional eating.