INTRODUCTION
Real Healing from Food Addiction for God’s
People -
A biblical journey to spiritual,
emotional and physical prosperity.
Welcome to a new way of living that can
radically transform your walk with Jesus - the way you think and the way you
feel both on the inside and on the outside (your body)! I’m so glad that you
made the most important decision you will ever make for your spiritual,
emotional and physical well-being to get free from the bondage of addiction. This
program is designed to help you walk in victory and prosperity so that you can
receive and experience all that God has planned for you since before the
foundations of the world were laid.
So what is prosperity anyway? The
Webster’s 1828 dictionary describes it as advance or gain in anything good or
desirable. It also means successful progress in anything that one may put their
hands to. That sounds really good to me – how about you? Would you like to see
success in areas of your life that you never thought you could achieve? Would
you like to see the mountains that have stood in your way for years or even
decades just crumble before your eyes? I believe you answered a resounding yes
to that question. After all, you wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t want
something in your life to change, right?
My friend, I want to start off by
promising you something good to get you really excited. God loves you! That’s
right! Not only does He love you perfectly, all the time, no matter what you
have ever said or done, but He wants you to be prosperous! Yes, in every area
of your life. Would you like to see prosperity (success) in your spiritual walk
with Jesus, where you really begin to think that you are walking hand in hand
with the Master in tune with the Father’s perfect plan for your life? Would you
like to walk away from the emotional scars that this life has placed on your
soul? How about walking away from poor health, or obesity and many forms of
sickness? Sounds good, right?
Not only does it sound good my friend –
it is good! And you can have it all! That’s right. Jesus said it Himself. Look
at this verse, “The disciple is not above his master: but every one
that is perfect shall be as his master.” (Luke 6:40) Religious people today will tell you that
“no one can be perfect.”
The problem with that
statement is that it completely disagrees with what Jesus told the very human
men that He was training to be like Himself so they could carry on His work
when He left and returned to the Father. The truth is (and Jesus always spoke the
truth) that we can be “as our Master.”
This is not an
unachievable goal. We have to toss out what the intellect tries to tell us
about the word perfect. None of us (except Jesus) on this earth will ever be
perfect in everything we have ever said or done or even thought. Perfection can
come through training and mind renewal. Let’s take a quick look at what
“Webster” has to say about the word perfect.
Finished; complete; consummate; not defective; having all
that is requisite to its nature and kind; as a perfect statue; a perfect likeness; a perfect work; a perfect system. Fully informed; completely
skilled; as men perfect in the use of arms; perfect in discipline. Complete in moral
excellencies.
Now let’s take a look
at another passage of scripture which lines up perfectly with what Jesus said
in the book of Matthew (5:48). Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is
in heaven is perfect. Why
would Jesus who is also speaking in this passage tell us to do something if He
knew it would be impossible to do? The answer is obvious: He wouldn’t! That’s
good news.
As we
go through this program, it will be a season of mind renewal, heart healing and
great revelation. Each week you will be encouraged through the Word of God to
think different, talk different and therefore live altogether differently than
you ever have. I don’t know about you, but I was a complete mess! My thinking
and speaking were way out of line with the scriptures. As a result, my
behaviors were anything but godly even after becoming a born-again Christian.
This
program came as a result of a lot of learning, healing, pain and struggle. It
was borne of God out of my own personal experiences through daily journaling
through the Bible. Think of a caterpillar and the cocoon they weave. They have
to go through a complete transformation, uninterrupted by outside forces until
their process is complete, bringing them forth as a beautiful butterfly that
flies about freely and beautifully everywhere it goes bringing a blessing to
everyone who sees it. Would you like that to be said of you by those around
you? The Father already sees you as the finished product – just like that
butterfly. Will you agree with Him to engage in the transformation process? And
it is a process my friend. This is not an overnight solution to a litany of
lifelong problems.
Let me
tell you a little about me and some of the things I have experienced. I grew up
in a very broken and dysfunctional family environment. My parents divorced when
I was 9 years old. During their divorce process, I was sent to stay with my
grandmother and grandfather in Winter Haven, Florida for a couple of months.
During that time, my precious grandma took me to church – something my
immediate family didn’t do except for an occasional Christmas Eve service or
Resurrection Sunday. While I was there I made the decision to go to the altar
and accept Jesus as my Savior and I was baptized. This was important to me at
the time even though I knew nothing about Him or what it meant to be saved.
As the
years progressed, my life became one of turmoil and many losses. I was involved
in the whole “sex, drugs and rock - n- roll scene.” I lived a wild and
dangerous life during my teens and could have been killed on several occasions
– but for the grace of God. In my mid-twenties, I married a man I didn’t even
like. We partied well together and worked hard. After four years of marriage we
started a family. I have two beautiful daughters from that marriage.
Even though the marriage was completely wrong, we managed to
get along well most of the time and raised our girls in a denominational
church. While growing up, I never had any issues with food. I was extremely
active; part girl and part tom boy. I enjoyed life, but not sitting around
playing with dolls! I wanted to be outside doing things.
During
my married years, a shift began to take place where food was concerned. Because
I had never really grown in my walk with the Lord, I was living completely in
the flesh. There was a lot of hurt and pain in my soul that had never been
dealt with. Over time this began to bubble up to the surface. By the time my
girls were in school all day, I found myself at home and bored with my life. My
husband was at work and the kids were at school. “What now?” I wondered. I sat
there watching TV reruns and slowly but surely, I began to notice that I was
unable to stop eating, especially sweets, when I wanted to. There was a lot of
gluttony in the people I was around, so I began to become like them.
What I
discovered was that food was quite enjoyable. Later I learned that the more I
ate, the more I felt it was a comfort to me. Food became not only my comfort
but my entertainment. It became a
nonstop obsession over time. I stayed home for the first twelve years of my
daughter’s lives, so I spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Add to that a family
of folks who liked to gorge themselves on food. Before I knew it, I was
addicted to sugar and could not get control of it. My tiny 120-pound body had
slowly but surely reached a staggering 215 pounds for my 5’6” frame.
I
could no longer see Hanny anymore when I looked in the mirror. What I saw when
I looked in the mirror was a total stranger. For a girl who had depended on
trying to look good to get some attention from men so I could get some kind of
affection, I was now a fat middle aged woman who was completely miserable – all
the while saying I was “rah-rah” for Jesus! I had no clue of what it really
meant to love Him, myself or anyone else for that matter.
My
life was so broken on the inside and everything began to spiral out of control
on the outside. Even when I would give it my best effort, I could not stick to
my diet or my exercise plans – though I always enjoyed dancing and physical
forms of working out, etc. Finally, one day in my mid-forties, I went to a
counselor. I told her a bit about myself and my family history. I had informed
her that I just couldn’t figure out why everything in my life seemed so out of
control.
She
took one look across her desk and said to me, “Hanny, you are trying to love
yourself.” Her statement seemed so profound. How true it really was. I began to
try Christian counselors while working at a high stress insurance career and
continuing to raise my two very active daughters and keep up with my husband’s
demands to party and seek weekend entertainment that was anything but
productive. The whole “workin’ for the weekend” mentality was slowly killing
me.
What
happened next was worse than my worst nightmare. I had a complete emotional
meltdown. I left my husband of almost 22 years and literally moved out of the
house, going into the arms of another man, leaving my daughters in a complete
tail spin as they wondered what had happened to their “strong and dependable
mom.” Words cannot describe the horrific things that followed and my life came
to a crashing halt in April of 2004 when I made a very intentional and serious
attempt to take my life. By then I could see no way out of the mess I had made.
After
weeks of planning my suicide, the moment finally came. The devil was right
there telling me to “go on, just do it.” I even said a prayer and informed the
Lord that I had messed everything up so badly that the only thing I could do
was to come and be with Him. While I swallowed enough pills to kill someone
twice my size, the Lord had another plan. I woke up 18 hours later after a coma
filled with darkness. There were no bright lights during my 18-hour nap. I was
very angry to wake up, choking on a ventilator and discover to my dismay that I
was not at the feet of Jesus. Instead, at the end of my feet was a Dr. and
nurse’s station in the critical care unit. I was puzzled. I knew I had
swallowed enough pills to kill me. Why was I still here? That was my immediate
question to the Lord after they took the ventilator out of my esophagus. After
that I was filled with a sense of despair because I had no idea where to go
from there.
I
spent three days in the hospital on a suicide watch and then took a trip via
ambulance (who used to be one of my clients!) to the mental hospital where I
put on my best show to convince the Psychiatrist that I was not crazy and
should not be admitted to their mental institution. By the grace of God, they
let me go. I was relieved about that but very concerned about what would happen
next.
Over
the next many months, I wandered in and out of the relationship with the new
husband I had left my long-time husband for. It was a mess and getting messier
all the time. God would never bless my mess. Now I had to pay the high price
for my poor decisions. I had run to a man for comfort rather than the Lord, and
the man failed me, along with every other bite of food, drink of alcohol or
pill I swallowed. Nothing helped relieve my misery.
I
started trying to clean up my mess as best I could. Over a year later, I was
led to a church that taught on the Ten Commandments. I had never heard a
teaching like that before. By the time the pastor came to week two on the
second commandment, I was sunk. When the Lord says we are not to have any gods
before Him, He is very serious. As I sat there taking notes, I realized that my
life had become stacked full of idols. My kids, shopping, food, sex, you name
it. Anything I could turn to for comfort was taking first place in front of the
Lord I had claimed to love so much.
After
that service, I went home and dropped to my knees beside the bed. I said this
to the Lord out loud, “Oh God, I’m a mess. Will You fix me?” Well my friend,
that’s all it took. There was no long, formal religious prayer involved. I
spoke to the God of heaven’s armies straight from my heart based on what I had
just learned at the church. After spending 24 years in a denominational church,
I had learned just about nothing concerning a relationship with Jesus. But
everything was about to change. The Lord heard my cry for help and He was more
than happy to come to my rescue. How long in my life He had waited for this moment?
For Him, it wasn’t long at all really, but for me, then 2 months short of my 50th
birthday, it was a long, hard and very painful road.
The
journey to health and wholeness through a living and active relationship with
Jesus began. I started to read the Bible and was excited to tell others about
Jesus such as I had never been before. I bumbled along, learning and making all
kinds of mistakes. Eventually, the Lord was calling me to move to Florida where
He would really begin the healing and growing process for me. It was like going
into boot camp. I had to work hard to pay off past debts and take care of
business. My family relationships were a mess. My daughters were not speaking
to me and I was completely broke. The only way I got to Florida was with the
help of the mentor I had from church and my former husband. I went to Florida
and lived with family members who needed my help with their business. It was
all part of God’s plan to take me out into the wilderness and get me out of
Egypt!
After
just a few short months, the Lord began to restore my career and my finances.
He brought many wonderful women from church into my life. I had a lot of help
to come up and away from all the damage that had been done over the previous 4
long years of hell on earth. Everything began to clear and my future became
brighter as I fell more and more in love with Jesus and His Word. I could see
Him changing things in me I never thought possible. Years of pain and damage
were beginning to be healed.
He
showed me a food plan that I had obtained while I was still in Michigan. I
thought it would be very tough to follow, now living alone. With His help, I
began to undertake the process of learning to eat a whole new way and stay
consistent with exercise.
I
learned a lot about this verse…
What? know ye not that your
body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and
ye are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19.)
I began to understand from God’s word that I needed to honor Him with my
body. Pouring junk food into it was no longer acceptable. The sweets – the
hardest thing to let go, had to stop. The Lord kept showing me that He wanted
me to turn away from my idols. I had to stop going to food for comfort and
start going to Him. It was not easy.
My flesh has done a lot of screaming in this process. He set a “starter”
weight goal for me that seemed impossible at the time. But, I was willing to go
for it. I wanted to please my Father in heaven. He was now becoming my
EVERYTHING. (I AM that I AM) Hallelujah! One of the most important things I
have learned recently is that the biggest enemy we have is not the devil – it
is our flesh. Our flesh is with us 24/7. If we don’t learn to put the flesh
under like Jesus modeled for us, then our lives will be unfit for the kingdom
work that the Lord had planned for each one of us.
My friend, maybe you have reached a point with your eating and weight
that seems too hard to overcome. Or maybe you have been struggling with some
other form of addiction. It doesn’t matter - addiction is addiction and it is
idolatry. The fact that you are reading this shows that you have not given up.
I want you to know some very good news. Your Father in heaven has not given up
on you. He never will. Like Jesus called Judas friend to the very end, giving
him every opportunity to repent and come and do things His way, He will keep
calling you friend. He will love you till the end. There is nothing you can
ever do that would change how much He cares for you.
The Lord helped me reach a final goal of, guess what? 120 pounds – the
very same thing I weighed when I was 13 years old! That is 15 pounds below the
initial goal that I was shooting for. At age 61 (as of the time of this
writing), I can honestly say that He has renewed my youth like the eagle. Glory
to His name forever. It wasn’t my strength or effort that got me here. It was
His Spirit within me that wouldn’t let go and kept spurring me on toward love
and good deeds. I had to do my part. But when I did, He stepped in and did for
me what I could never have done for myself. I have to give Him all the glory.
He had miraculously placed me in a health insurance career at the age of
20 and that is another story for another time. Now He has called me to help
others with their journey to wholeness, spirit, soul and body. Because He has
given me the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ by the power of Holy Spirit,
I am now called to help you and encourage you my friend. That’s what this
program is all about.
Ok, with all that said, now let me tell you what this program is
designed to do and what it is not designed to do. First of all, this program is
not a ‘quick fix diet plan.’ If someone is looking to lose some weight quick
for a wedding (LOL!) or because they just can’t take being overweight anymore
but want to ‘do it quick’, this program will not work. There are no easy
solutions that will bring lasting results. It is a journey friend. Change takes
time. Thinking differently has to be done day after day over a period of time
before it really starts to show up in our lives. Everything starts on the
inside. A seed takes time to grow and God’s word is the seed. Our hearts are
the soil into which that seed is planted. Remember, seed, time and harvest.
When we plant the seeds of God’s word consistently into our hearts, over
time these seeds will spring up and produce a bountiful harvest of a righteous
and peace filled, joy filled, satisfying life. And that is what this program is
designed to do. It has been created to help you grow as you ‘eat’ God’s word
every day and mediate on it – really think about what He is saying to you in
it. I promise you this. If you will faithfully engage in this program for at
least one solid year, you will not be the same person you are today. You will
be more than a conqueror as you allow the Greater One on the inside of you to
transform your thinking from defeat and failure to victory and success.
Here's what I’m asking you. Are you willing to give God at least one
year to change you from the inside? Are you willing to “go the extra mile” with
Jesus so He can use you to help others in this hurting world? Are you willing
to see your life and your future as something so much bigger and better than
you see it right now? Will you walk this journey with me week by week and watch
the transformation take place? If you said yes, then you are already
victorious! I praise God for you. It doesn’t matter if you are 40 pounds
overweight, or 400 pounds overweight. If you go to church but have been living
on cocaine for the past 6 years; whatever the addiction, the Lord can help you
shed that internal baggage on your soul that is showing up on your physical
body or in some other way in your life right now.
If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you
already have a regenerated spirit. Your spirit man got born again, but your
soul and your body did not. That’s the part that needs to be healed and changed
from the inside out so that you can be prosperous in every area of your life.
Mind renewal in the word of God combined with quality time spent with Him will
help you to successfully achieve your God given goals and destiny.
The Lord wants us to prosper and be in health, even as our souls
prosper. He cannot take us to bigger things until we take care of all the
‘splinters’ that have gotten in the way. Once you get past all the pain and
healing, you will be free to walk into the destiny that the Lord has planned
for you since before He knit you together in your mother’s womb. That’s worth
shoutin about!
This program contains a teaching for each week. There will be
supplemental information provided along the way to encourage you and further
educate you on how to live a healthy lifestyle. I will give a teaching each
week as I am led by Holy Spirit to help you and keep encouraging you with the
lessons I have learned along my journey. My daily journaling has been the basis
for this program. The messages will be made available to you after each
session.
If you will invest your heart and your time in this program, it will be
more than worth its weight and exceed even your greatest expectations. I’ll
close with this. Real progress comes from a steady and slow journey. This is
not meant to be a sprint. It will be a lifelong marathon. When you finish with
the first year, you should be well equipped spiritually and healed emotionally
and physically enough to go the course and run your race hand in hand with
Jesus. That’s God’s plan for you my friend – victory in Jesus. I’m just here to
be used by Him to speak to you in the flesh as I’m led by His Spirit from
real-time experience that forever changed my life. Thank you for joining this
program of prosperity – you’ll be glad you did.
With great love in Christ Jesus,
Hanny Lynn Stearns
Brought to you by: Fish
N Loaves Ministries, Inc. “Multiplying God’s Word Around the Globe”
(KJV Scriptures Unless Otherwise Noted) Jesus words in
red and all scripture in italics.
If you would like to join our weekly phone call for a live meeting on each week's topic, please send an email to us at:
The3rdJohn2Program@yahoo.com
Currently the calls are conducted every Tuesday at 5:00 PM EST.
