Sweet Grace For Your Journey

Episode 280-God Wants to Rebuild Us   280-God Wants To Rebuild Us God knows our hearts. He knows what we need. He speaks right to us whether it comes through me, you, or someone else. We need to always have an attentive ear to listen to Him. We need to learn to listen to Him. This podcast contains words that God asked me to share with you. These are words directly from Him. The show notes will include only a small amount. Please listen to the podcast for more. God said, “Whatever happens on the outside of you, and in your body, in your brain, in your physical nature is totally governed by you. I, God, am not in charge of that. I make suggestions. I plan things to help you even if it is something you don't like in the moment. “When I lead you to change something or give something up you think you can't live without, because it seems dear to you, it's because I have better plans for you. I have over-the-top, greater than you can think or imagine dreams for you. It is abundance until it overflows, abundance that just keeps coming. “The only thing that can stop the flow of My abundance to you is what you choose to love more than Me. When you choose things you think you have to have, you are not putting Me first. I must be first without a second in your life for everything to work together.  I don't demand that you do what I want. As a matter of fact, I always give you a choice. “Remember, it is your choice. Don't blame it on what you crave. Don‘t blame it on your body that you think is giving up on you. No, it's not that your body is giving up on you. Your body only responds to what you tell it to do. Trace the causes, the roots. Go to the deep places you've been unwilling to visit for so many years. “All you have to do is listen to Me, follow, and obey. I will uplift you. You will not die when you give up those things you think you can't live without. You may scream. You may cry. But think about this, how long has it been since you have allowed yourself to do wail and mourn over your sins?  “Tears wash the soul. Cry and get it out. Leave your cravings behind you so I can move you forward. They only drag you down. Don't pick them up again. “Come to Me. Let Me fill you with everything positive you need, so you will never want for anything else. Never again. Really desire to surrender everything. Surrender it to me. Completely, totally, and finally surrender it all to Me. One-on-One Coaching Sign up here: https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/one-on-one-coaching/  

Episode 279-Fighting For or Against You? There's a recurring question that has been playing throughout my mind. Are we fighting for God or are we maybe unknowingly, or knowingly, fighting against Him? As Christians we better know that we are in a war. The problem is we likely really aren't cognitively aware of the war until our attention is called to it.  The evil one's main weapon is that little three letter word s-i-n. If he can get us to sell out to sin, he can destroy any influence or effectiveness we have in the world.  God has weapons too. His most effective weapon is that five-letter, living word of Grace. We have to want to implement the strength of His grace to defeat sin. In other words, we have to push the grace button if we want help.  We have grace if we have accepted Christ, but we in order to win the war, in order to apply the strength of God's grace in our lives, we must admit we are weak and need God's help in order to live in God's freedom rather than the bondage of sin. Psalm 139:23-24 NLT is what I want to leave you with. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Make that your prayer.  If you are interested in joining us for my coaching group, please go to https://Teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/  Until Next week, Sweet Grace for Your Journey.  

Episode 278-Becoming a Living Sacrifice Why does God want us to be living sacrifices? Is it the same thing as surrendering to God? What does it mean to be a living sacrifice? Why would God even want us to do that?   Being a living sacrifice means that as God's children, we do what He says and go where He leads. This is paramount as a child of God, but its also really difficult.   Paul tells us this in Romans 12:1 AMP: “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies, dedicating all of yourselves, set apart, as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational, logical, intelligent act of worship.”    Who He is and who we are makes surrendering every single part of our lives to Him a rational, and at the same time a very emotional, course of action. Doing this now and every single day is more than a starting place. It will define how we live in tandem with Him for the rest of our lives. 

Episode 277-Can God Do That? If I came up to you and said, “Do you believe God can do anything? Do you believe He is all-powerful?” you'd probably say, “Yes!” You'd say you serve a mountain-making, mountain-moving, earth-shaking, sky-shattering, miracle-working, dead-raising, sick-healing God who can do anything! But let me ask you this: Do you believe He will do those things for YOU? Do you believe He will move mountains in your life? Or does part of you feel like those miracles were for long ago or for other people—but not for you? I wrestled with this question for a long time. I knew God was powerful, but when it came to my own struggles—especially with my weight—I acted as if He couldn't (or wouldn't) help me. I prayed, but deep down, I didn't believe my situation could change. That mindset kept me stuck. I kept trying to fix things on my own, relying on diets and willpower, and ignoring the one thing God had already shown me—His plan for me. The truth is, nothing is impossible for God. But we have to believe Him enough to follow His lead instead of taking matters into our own hands. That's what I want to talk about today. Overcomers Academy Link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/  Rebuilding Jayne Link: https://www.amazon.com/Rebuilding-Jayne-Her-Fathers-Protection-ebook/dp/B0DGXTXR53  

Episode 276-Conflicting Desires Years ago I did an activity from a workbook where I wrote down every desire I had good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. I thought about what I  really wanted in life and what my desires or passions were.  I wrote down everything that came to mind without evaluating it. I was honest with myself and didn't judge my desires, wants, lusts, addictions, etc. I “threw up” on paper for lack of a better term. With each desire I asked is this a true, God-given desire? Is it noble? Is it right? Is it pure. Hey right there my list got a lot shorter! Just being honest. Is it lovely, and not like new car lovely, but lovely in God's eyes. Is it admirable? Is it excellent? Is it praiseworthy? Many were good desires, but they were in conflict with another good desire. So I had to make some well-defined choice.  I learned that to get anywhere on my journey conflicting desires will keep me stuck. We can't do everything, but we must do what God wants us to do. Overcomers Academy Link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/ Rebuilding Jayne Link: https://www.amazon.com/Rebuilding-Jayne-Her-Fathers-Protection-ebook/dp/B0DGXTXR53

Episode 275-Renew Your Mind Are you stuck? Do you want to do something to change how you feel and how you can get out of the funk you find yourself in daily? Do you want to renew your life? You can but it will take intentional effort. Basically, you cannot renew your life unless you change your habits. Habit-change requires renewing your mind in order to renew your life. Overcomers Academy Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers Rebuilding Jayne Link:  https://www.amazon.com/Rebuilding-Jayne-Her-Fathers-Protection-ebook/dp/B0DGXTXR53  

Episode 274-Tell a Better Story Stories are the fabric of our lives. God loves stories. The Bible is made up of true stories of success and failure in life. God uses the stories of failures of people to show the fall of man, but also the redemption of man. He shows how those destined to create better stories follow Him to their destinies or their demise. He also shows us how when He appears in our lives, things change. Here are some changes that happened to people in the Bible. See if you can recognize who these men are. A former killer turned shepherd turns into one of the greatest leaders and freedom fighters for an entire nation of enslaved people.  A lowly shepherd boy is anointed king but becomes one of the greatest leaders after deep heart-felt repentance for the sin of adultery and murder.  A former head-hunter of Christians turns into the author of the majority of the New Testament.  To find the names of those individuals, listen to podcast 274. Overcomers Academy Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers   Rebuilding Jayne Link:  https://www.amazon.com/Rebuilding-Jayne-Her-Fathers-Protection-ebook/dp/B0DGXTXR53  

Episode 273-Food and Curses Every mother knows somewhere in the back of her mind that there are two types of food. There is nutritious food every child needs in order to grow strong and healthy. And then there's the stuff that masquerades as food that really just medicates kids. It makes them happy. It comforts them when they are sad or crying, but there is nothing nutritious in ice cream, cake, candy, and soda pop. What does every mom say when toddlers are crying they don't want to leave a fun place? Something similar to, “Stop crying and you can have an ice cream after you eat lunch.” Like magic, the wailing stops. What has Mom just taught that child? Food comforts. What does she also know? Ice cream has no real nutritional value, but includes 25 grams of sugar and 32 carbs.  As we will discover in this podcast, the way we eat can cause a curse that we can pass down through the generations. It definitely happened to me, but we can break these. If you have this issue or other similar issues, I invite you right now to join us in Overcomers Academy. For more information, go to https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers.

Episode 272-Intentional Choices We all know that if we want anything in our lives to change we have to intentionally make different choices. We have to change the way we've done things for years. If we continue eating the same way we always have, we will either stay the same or continue to gain weight.  If we don't add some intentional times of exercise, we will likely not lose weight even if we are eating healthy. If we don't forgive issues in our past that have us stuck in the cycle of eating to overcome emotional issues we won't change our situation. If we don't change our minds we won't change our behaviors. So the big question is how do we make intentional choices that lead to a permanent change in our behaviors?  God wants to help us create the intention to make the right choices so that our desires are aligned with His desires.  Overcomers Academy: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers/ Rebuilding Jayne: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGXTXR53/

Episode 271-Thoughts Have Power What kind of mind games do you allow to take residence inside you? One of the biggest mind games I allowed was that I have to act on every directive that enters my mind. This is a lie that the evil one loves to perpetuate.   The devil and demons do have power to speak to humans, but not to read our minds. The devil and demons can speak to us. The devil can anticipate what we will do in a given because of his knowledge of humankind and of each of us. Yes, the devil knows us better than we know ourselves, luckily so does God! Rebuilding Jayne on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rebuilding-Jayne-Her-Fathers-Protection/dp/B0DJTBJWWK/ Overcomers Academy: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/

Episode 270-Write the Vision “Write the vision. Make it plain so that those who read it will run with it.” Habakkuk 2:2  What is your vision? What is your message? What is the passion that grabs your heart? What do you desperately want people to know? Make it plain. Be sure people understand what you are saying. Use scripture. Make it real. Make it known. Don't write something no one understands.  So those who READ. Nothing happens unless someone reads what you've written. Show don't just tell. Make readers cry or laugh. Incorporate God moments.  Will Run With It If you engage your readers they will want to tell others about your book. Provide at least one sensory detail, color, sounds, smells, textures, tastes, seasons, locations, sight, sound, smell, taste, touch in all your chapters and encounters between characters.  Make sure there is both conflict and character transformation in your book. Without these, there is no story. In the end, writing a book is not about money, fame, or star status, it's about the message. However, you never know when your first book just might make it to be a #1 Bestseller. Plan for it. Believe it. And then leave in God's Hands to show you what to do next.   Rebuilding Jayne on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rebuilding-Jayne-Her-Fathers-Protection/dp/B0DJTBJWWK/ Overcomers Academy: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/

Episode 269-Listen! I tried to avoid it. I didn't want it to be my word for the year, but everywhere I turned it followed me. I finally gave in because it was the only word that God would give me. It was everywhere I turned.  The last straw was when I was filling my calendar in for January. And right there on Jan. 1, 2025, I had written down Listen! In reality, I had not forgotten that word. It had been following me around like a nagging three-year-old wanting a piece of candy. I had pretended listen wasn't my word for 2025.  My word for the year is always something God gives me so I will remember to focus on that topic. Last year was rest and I was always being reminded of that by people who knew that was my word. This year it's listen. I went to the Bible first to see what it says about that word. I found that in the NLT version that word is mentioned 584 times. It's a pretty important word. It doesn't just mean to hear but also to understand, apply, and carry out whatever is being said. That's the reason we listen.   Rebuilding Jayne by Teresa Shields Parker: https://www.amazon.com/Rebuilding-Jayne-Her-Fathers-Protection/dp/B0DJTBJWWK/   Overcomers Academy: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers/  

Episode 268-Jesus and His Dad Have you ever had a question you'd like an answer to, but the answer is not available. For years I've thought about this question because Jesus was divine. But then when He came to earth, He was fully human. So when did Jesus figure out who He is and who told Him? When He was in Heaven He knew who He was. But when He came to earth He became a human. He came right out of His Momma's box. He had the same abilities as His Daddy God, but when did He discover all of that?  Was there a time that Father God said, “OK, Listen Son, this is who you are? This is your job here on earth. You will become the Savior of all people. It will be a really big deal.”  I love to think of these kinds of conversation. Jesus came to earth as a helpless baby. He did that of His own free will. No one made Him do it. If you have never trusted Jesus as Your Savior, now is the time to do it. Let it be your Christmas gift to yourself.  Pray with me.  Jesus, I confess. I love only myself. I try to fix issues in my favor. I don't like people. I'd never die for anyone. Still, I live in terror every day afraid someone will kill me. I need Jesus to help me, but I'm such a big sinner I don't know how to change. I've been told once a sinner always a sinner. But that's not what Jesus says. He says no matter what, He loves me. Right now, I'm choosing to follow Him instead of my earthly desires. Jesus I give You every sin I've committed and every sinful thought. I hand to you all these things that are bringing me down, breaking me down, and making me worried, anxious, and fearful to You, Lord. Save me from myself, Lord. I need You.   If you prayed this prayer, send us an email to tparker@socket.net.  If you are interested in joining Overcomers Christian Weight Loss Academy, go here: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/     

Episode 267-Craving Sugar? It's Christmas and you know what that means. Lots and lots of cake, candy, pies, and every other kind of desserts. It's the day we celebrate Jesus' birth. It's the day we get together with family and friends. Most of us, though, aren't focusing on the people we will see or even worshipping Jesus, who made a willful decision to come to earth, live as a human, and die on cross in our place. He did it for no other reason but to let us know how much He loves us.  Still, all we can think about is getting our next sugar high. Yes, it's very addictive. It's like a drug. It is eight times more addictive than drugs or alcohol. And, it's a killer. Sugar feeds cancer. It promotes obesity from which all kinds of diseases take hold of us. The devil knows all of this. He has become a drug pusher to us who consider ourselves good Christians. It's his voice speaking when we hear, “Go ahead and eat another piece of cake! As a matter of fact take two or three because it will be gone before you have time to finish everything on your plate. It tastes so good. It has to be good for you.” However, my Friends, the devil is a liar. We know this, but we still want sugary foods because we feel like they make us feel better. And they do for a short-time and then our bodies crave more sugar. Only this time we have to eat more than before. It's always a matter of more. Can we stop craving sugar? Yes, we can. Are you ready? Join us in Overcomers Christian Weight Loss Academy and start the New Year off right.  Overcomers: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers/   

Episode 266-Bitten by the Fiction Bug I've been bitten by the fiction bug, and no it didn't hurt. It felt pretty good. After writing 10 nonfiction books, I finally wrote and published the fiction book God gave me the storyline to 10 years ago.  “Rebuilding Jayne” is on Amazon now in Kindle, paperback, and will soon be out in Audible and a little later in hardback. It is Fiction That Transforms. This particular book's tagline is “Her Father's Protection.  The best way I can describe this series is that it is the fiction version of my best-selling book, which is my memoir entitled, Sweet Grace: How I Lost 250 Pounds. It was a fun book to write because God was there the entire way. There was one time when I was writing a very integral chapter. It was a key piece of the book. I wrote the chapter and then went to bed. When I woke up the next morning, God clearly spoke to me and said, “Throw out that last chapter and start over. I will show you what to write.” From the minute I put my hands on the computer keys to the end of that chapter, not one word had been in my head. It was if I was the scribe and God was the author dictating the words to me. That chapter set the tone for the entire book. He gave me places, people, and the depth of the story line. It was nothing I did except be obedient and write.  Get the book. Write a review so others can find it.  Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Rebuilding-Jayne-Her-Fathers-Protection-ebook/dp/B0DGXTXR53/ FREE CHAPTER of Rebuilding Jayne: https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/rebuilding-jayne-free-chapter/

Episode 265-Build Each Other Up In Romans 15 and 16, Paul covers a lot of ground to make sure he's telling those in the church at Rome everything they need to go forward until he comes to them again in person. He's teaching them and us how to build each other up. This is critical to any forward motion. We don't do our journeys alone. We do them in a community of faith. He encourages mature Christians, while at the same time warning them. Romans 15:1 AMP: “We who are strong in our convictions and faith ought to patiently put up with the weaknesses of those who are not strong and not please ourselves.” In order to follow Jesus we need to deny ourselves or not just please ourselves. In John 5:30 AMP Jesus defines that as setting aside our selfish interests. If we are mature followers of Christ one of the first things we must let go of is our reliance on anything other than Jesus.  Overcomers Academy Link: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/Overcomers/  Free Eating Stress Course Link: https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/stress/   

Episode 264-Through it All How can we be thankful in the midst everything is going on in the world today? We've been through a lot in the last few years and I just want to stop a minute and thank God even for the difficulties many of us have gone through. One of my favorite songs is Through It All, written by Andre Crouch in 1971 after having purchased an engagement ring for a young woman. He was heart-broken when she announced that she was getting married, but not to him. He wrote these words: “I thank God for the mountains, and I thank Him for the valleys, I thank Him for the storms He brought me through; for if I'd never had a problem I wouldn't know that He could solve them…I'd never know what faith in God could do.  “Through it all, through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God;  “Through it all, through it all, I've learned to depend upon His Word.” Even though it was written 50 years ago, this song seems perfect for today. We weren't designed to do life on our own. We need God. So I challenge you this Thanksgiving to think about how going through difficulties has made you stronger and thank God for them.  1 Thess. 5:18 TPT: “And in the midst of everything be always giving thanks, for this is God's perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus.”  For more about giving thanks in the midst of both the good and the bad, listen to episode 264—Through It All. Like and Follow Teresa's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TeresaShieldsParker/

Episode 263-Focus on Jesus, Not Sugar I've been reading and studying Romans 14 for several weeks. I thought when I first read it that it would an easy passage to talk about. I knew it related to my journey but in what way? So I asked Jesus, “What is the message of Romans 14 for my listeners?” And He said, “Focus on Me, not on anything else. Not on sugar, not on food, not on diet laws, not on what to celebrate or not celebrate. Just focus on Me and everything will fall into place.” Then it finally made sense. As a kid, I learned Romans 14:17 in the KJV, but I didn't know the context of the verse. “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.”  The Amplified Version says it this way: “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking what one likes, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Did you hear that? It's not about eating and drinking what we like. It's all about the Kingdom of God. It's about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Nothing else matters but allowing Him to lead us. The MSG adds, “God's kingdom isn't a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness' sake. It's what God does with your life as He sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy.” That makes a lot of sense because verse 18 in every version talks about serving God. We have to get our focus right before we can serve Jesus. I know that was certainly true in my case. For most of my life, my focus was definitely on sugar and not on Jesus.  Romans 14:18 AMP says, “For the one who serves Christ in this way, recognizing that food choice is secondary, is acceptable to God and is approved by men.” This entire chapter is about the freedom Christ brought. This was especially important to the Jewish believers. When Jesus brought us His freedom, it cancelled the rules about what foods are clean and OK to eat and which were unclean and shouldn't be eaten.  I get it. I really do. All their lives they had lived by what their “church” told them was proper. They knew that Christ's liberty had set them free from all of the rules, but they weren't ready to make the switch just yet. This was causing arguments in the church. In this chapter Paul is trying to tell the new Christians that what we eat or don't eat is not something that matters regarding our heavenly destiny. I talk about this as well as my own journey with sugar addiction in this episode. Overcomers Academy: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/Overcomers/   

Episode 262-Time to Wake Up It's time for Christians to wake up to what's going on in the world around us. The time is growing short. We are closer to meeting Jesus now than we were first saved. In Romans 13:11-14 Paul gives a dire warning about the future and describes how we as Christians we are still always one day closer to meeting Him.  He tells us how we should live by describing a normal day. First we have to wake up to the spiritual issues around us. Romans 13:11 tells us to wake up from our slumber. Second, we have take off the old clothes we were wearing in the darkness. Romans 13:12 tells us to “strip away what is done in the shadows of darkness, removing it like filthy clothes. Next we must dress for battle by “putting on the armor of light,” as it says in Romans 13:12. We also must know our enemy and how to defeat strongholds.  Finally, we have to know where we are going. We have to be dressed to run with Jesus. Romans 13:14 MSG tells us we can't loiter or linger. We have to be up and about what God is calling us to do.   Overcomers Academy Link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/  Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds Link: https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Surrender-Teresa-Shields-Parker/dp/0986159247/  What is A Stronghold Link: https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/what-is-a-stronghold/   

Episode 261-Holy Spirit Glow Do you want glow with the power of the Holy Spirit? It's certainly something I desire. This is lesson 20 in our study of the book of Romans. We've learned that Romans is all about the foundations of the Christian life, how to follow Jesus, how to renounce our fleshly desires, how to renew our minds and how to transform our lives. Now in the latter part of Romans 12 we learn about serving God. After we learn to lay down our selfish desires, we begin focusing on what God wants us to do with our lives. It's then that He starts showering us with His grace gifts so we can do the tasks He has called us to do. These aren't gifts to hoard. They are gifts to be used to serve Him. This where Romans 12:11 TPT says, “Be enthusiastic to serve the Lord, keeping your passion toward Him boiling hot! Radiate with the glow of the Holy Spirit and let Him fill you with excitement as you serve Him.” The Message says, “Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame.”  Overcomers Academy link: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/   

Episode 260-From the Inside Out We can be changed from the inside out. We can renew our minds which will then transform us. Romans 12:2 AMP and in the MSG gives us several keys to consider which we visit in more depth on the podcast. First, to renew our minds we can no longer just go with the flow. We have to ask ourselves, is this really what is best for me or is it just what my flesh wants? Second, we let God mess with our priorities, our habits and our comforts in order to transform us from the inside out. Third, we don't allow our old programmed minds to talk us into doing things that are not best for us. Fourth, it's not enough to just recognize and know what God wants for us we must quickly do what He wants us to do. Fifth, our goals should always be follow God's plans and purposes for our lives.  Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds Link: https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Surrender-Teresa-Shields-Parker/dp/0986159247/ Overcomers Link: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/ VIP Freedom Coaching Link: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/vip-freedom-coaching/ 

Episode 259-Surrender Delights God Why should we surrender to God? Because our surrender delights God. If there is anything we should want to do it is to please God. Surrender also has great value for us on our journeys which also delights God. Romans 12:1 AMP: “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies, dedicating all of yourselves, set apart, as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational, logical, intelligent act of worship.” What does it means to be living sacrifices? It means to be alive to what Christ wants for us and dead to evil things. It means to surrender to God and that means everything on our journeys. When God talks about living sacrifices, He is talking about the fact that we have died to living for what we desire and have decided to live for what Jesus wants. Gal. 2:20 NLT: “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice to God is intelligent, rational, logical because we are obeying God. We are following the God of the Universe who is bigger than we can imagine, but small enough to fit inside us at the same time. Who He is and who we are makes surrendering every single part of our lives to Him a rational, and at the same time a very emotional, course of action. Doing this now and every single day is more than a starting place. It will define how we live in tandem with Him for the rest of our lives.  Overcomers Academy Link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/ 

Episode 258-Listen to God Why don't we listen to God? The other day I was jogging in the water and pondering what I would share on this podcast. I had been reading Romans 11 for several days but I had decided I was going to go on to do the next podcast on Romans 12 because I understood how it fit into my journey. Still, the last four verses of Romans 11 kept calling me back.  It's a great section of scripture but I knew there was something I wasn't getting. I have to grab hold of it first before I can share it with y'all. So I asked God to show me. That's when He asked me the question, “Why didn't you listen to me when I told you to stop eating sugar the first time back in 1977?” Then I saw clearly three reasons I didn't and they all come from Romans 11:33-36 TPT, the passage I was going to skip over and not include in this series. But now I understand that it may be one of the most important lessons yet.  First, I want to read the passage. “Who could ever wrap their minds around the riches of God, the depth of His wisdom, and the marvel of His perfect knowledge? Who could ever explain the wonder of His decisions or search out the mysterious way He carries out His plans? “For who has discovered how the Lord thinks or is wise enough to be the one to advise Him in His plans? Or who has ever first given something to God that obligates God to owe him something in return?”  “For out of Him, the sustainer of everything, came everything, and now everything finds fulfillment in Him. May all praise and honor be given to Him forever! Amen!” Here are the three things He dropped into my heart. All of them hit me hard because I remember believing them and feeling them at the time. They hit me hard because I knew each of these things aren't true theologically, but at the time they felt very real to me personally. 1. You didn't listen to Me because you felt I was too difficult to understand. 2. You didn't listen to Me because you didn't think I cared about you, really knew you or really wanted the best for you. 3. You didn't listen to Me because you felt like you knew better than Me.   Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds link: https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/sweet-surrender/   

Episode 257-Grace is Amazing I know a whole lot more about God's amazing grace today than when I accepted Jesus at age seven. I knew I had been saved by grace, but that's all I knew. I also knew it was amazing because we sang about that all the time in church.   I love how grace is explained to believers in 1 Peter 4:10 AMPC: “Each of you has received a gift, a particular spiritual talent, a gracious divine endowment. Employ it for one another as good trustees of God's many-sided grace, faithful stewards of the extremely diverse powers and gifts granted to Christians by unmerited favor. God's grace is many-faceted because it is as vast as God. Grace is the DNA of  God. It's what He is made of. The grace of God cannot be explained or contained in a few words, but I see at least seven words that help us understand how grace operates in our lives. Each one seems to build on the other.  Grace saves us, sustains us, surrounds us, searches us, stretches us, strengthens us and stands us each in the place of our assignment or mission.  On this episode we are going to look at each of these aspects of grace. Overcomers Academy link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers

Episode 256-Rebuilding Jayne & You This fiction book, Rebuilding Jayne, and the nonfiction book, Sweet Grace, are very connected. My biggest issue when I was super morbidly obese and Jayne's issue in is we are both refusing to do what God was telling and showing us to do. I resonate with Jayne because in many ways she and I are a lot alike. We're also very different. She is wealthy and I am not for one.  At one point God even told me, Jayne is you. Well, certainly at the core of her being she is. I do think it is so true that we are all alike in many ways and so very different in others. Yet, we can learn from each other. I never expected a fictional character in a book to minister to me, but she really did.  Even though I wrote the book, God had a lot to say to me through the story of the book. He told me what to write many times when I didn't have any idea how to get a character to the point or decision they needed to make. I was just the scribe. He is the Author. I wrote Rebuilding Jayne to help people understand God is not this big person in the sky ignoring what we are doing. He's with us in every aspect of our lives. When He speaks to us, we need to pay attention and do what He tells us to do. God knew His plan for me was what I needed in order to live. It took me many years to understand that what I told Him was the truth—I can't stop eating sugar. I can't do it by myself. But I can do it when I  follow what God shows me to do. I had to surrender every part of me to God, even what I eat.  To Join Overcomers Academy go to https://Teresashieldsparker.com/Overcomers/  To check out my new book go to Amazon.com and search for Rebuilding Jayne by Teresa Shields Parker. Available in kindle, paperback, and hardback.

Episode 255-The Master Potter We are all lumps of clay in the Master Potter's hands. God is God. He created us for a purpose. When we find that purpose it makes all the difference in the world. Instead, a lot of us rebel against how God made us. Romans 9:20-21 TPT: “Who do you think you are to second-guess God? How could a human being molded out of clay say to the one who molded Him, ‘Why in the world did you make me this way?' Or are you denying the right of the Potter to make out of clay whatever He wants? Doesn't the Potter have the right to make from the same lump of clay an elegant vase or an ordinary pot?”  God is telling us that no matter what we look like, what our gifts or talents are or what family we were born into, whether we are rich or poor we all have to make a decision about whether or not we are going to follow God's will for our lives.  The problems come when we want to be something God never intended us to be or we refuse to step into the destiny God has for us or we desire the same destiny someone else has.  God sees us for what we will become. He also sees the ways we have failed Him, but tells us time and time again that if we repent and turn to Him, we will be saved because He is alone is God.  Our bodies are like dust and to dust they will one day return. This is why God uses the analogy of clay and the potter. Our bodies are like the everyday common clay pots and dishes those in Biblical times used to eat their meals on. The difference between us and those common utensils is God's presence lives inside of us. “We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious treasure within, so that this immeasurable power will be seen as God's, not ours.” 2 Cor. 4:7 TPT. The problem is that dishes get broken and so do we. Our dreams get dashed. People fail us. We fail ourselves. We do bad things that we can't undo and feel, just like the broken dish we threw in the trash that there is nothing good left in us. If a broken dish needs to be thrown away, then what should be done with a broken person?  God, though, sees value in everything. He will use our brokenness to make something truly beautiful from our lives.    Overcomers Academy Link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/ Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds Link: https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Surrender-Teresa-Shields-Parker/dp/0986159247/

Episode 254-Jesus Loves Me Romans 8:38-39 are some of the most dramatic, poetic and impactful words in scripture. They are so monumental that we sometimes just pass right by them. However, when we finally internalize what they really mean to us it will change how we view God and drive us to trust Him more.   “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 NKJV    For eight chapters in Romans, Paul has been laying out the plan of salvation and sharing who Jesus is and why trusting Him is important. In this conclusion to the first part of Romans, Paul is telling these new believers that Jesus' love for them is a trustworthy foundation  for their faith. It will stand any test they might throw at it. His conclusion is a convincing and persuasive argument that NOTHING, can separate those of us who are in Christ from Jesus love for us which gives us access to Father God.   The depths of God's love is seen in what Jesus did. It should be a big deal for someone to say, “I love you.” As awesome as that is, it's quite another thing entirely for them to tell us that nothing will stop them from loving us. Nothing.    I love my husband. We've been married for 44 years. Not every year was perfect, but the imperfect years were mostly my fault. I say mostly because it does take two, right? See, God gave me a gem when he gave me Roy. He is calm, patience, loving. He has a servant nature that I could never outdo.    He loves me and I love him, but are there things that could separate me from his love? I'm sure there are. But he has already put up with a lot  from me, think 250 more pounds on my body. That still didn't stop him from loving me.   However, if I yelled and screamed at him every day, that would do a lot of damage to our relationship. Are there things that could come between even the most committed couple? Yes, I've witnessed it happen to those who thought they'd be married forever and then out of the blue, something happened to separate them.   My question then is how can God say that there would be nothing at all that could ever stop Him from loving me? We are humans and we aren't perfect. We learned that back in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All means all, everyone, yes, me and you, too.    But here's where Romans 6:23 ESV comes in. “ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This verse solidifies our fate as sinners, but it also gives us the way out. Jesus is God's pure gift of love to us. It is only because of what Jesus did that God can love us.    Without Jesus willfully agreeing to leave His heavenly throne and come to earth as a human, die on the cross, be buried, rise again from the grave, and ascend to heaven, God couldn't love us. We are sinners by nature. It took God with skin on to rescue us when we accept His gift of salvation. If we have accepted Christ, God now sees us through Christ's righteousness and as such we are welcomed into God's presence.    Link for Teresa's Website: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com Link for Overcomers Academy: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/ Link for Teresa's Fb page: https://www.facebook.com/TeresaShieldsParker Link for Teresa's IG: https://www.instagram.com/treeparker/ Link for Teresa's Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/treeparker  

Episode 253-More than Conquerors One of my main goals is to be a victorious Christian. I want to be an overcomer. I want to be able to conquer whatever difficulties come my way. Romans 8:37 tells us that in all things we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. But what does that really mean? First and foremost I know I cannot be victorious without God's leadership. That means I have to lean on Him every step of the way. Paul, in Romans 8:35, asks the question. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Then he goes on to list a bunch of things that are real fears people have. These are things we are afraid might cut us off from God and everything we love.  As I share this list that I compiled from various versions of the Bible, think of your own life. Have you encountered any of these things:  trouble, hard times, tribulation, calamity, anguish, hatred, distress, hardship, persecution, harassment, famine, hunger, homelessness, deprivation, bullying threats, backstabbing, destitute, naked, danger, peril, sword, threatened with death, or the worst sins listed in Scripture. To be victorious, to overcome, to be a conqueror, I can't focus on difficulties that are happening or may happen. I really have to follow 2 Cor. 10:5 which tells me to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” In other words I have to intentionally take authority over my thought life.  In this episode we talk more about how to do this and how to be victorious in our lifestyle change journeys.   Overcomers Academy Link: https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers-christian-weight-loss-academy/ VIP Freedom Coaching Link: https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/vip-freedom-coaching/ What Is A Stronghold Free Offer Link: https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/sweet-surrender/what-is-a-stronghold/  

Episode 252-God Is For Us Do you believe God is for you? Are you living that our in your everyday life? Are there times you think you are all alone and have to protect yourself because you feel vulnerable?  Romans 8:31 NIV asks a really poignant question. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The issue for us is believing completely that God is for us. As this passage continues it uses words that remind us of a courtroom scene.  Romans 8:32-34 NIV: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.“ In this scene, God Himself is our judge and Jesus is our defense attorney. The question asked is really a no brainer. If the Judge, is for us then who can ever be against us? Really believing this, though may take some introspection on our part.  Overcomers Academy Link: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/Overcomers/.  

Episode 251-What is My Destiny? You can probably quote from memory the main verse we're talking about this week. Romans 8:28 NKJV, “We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”  We might see this verse as meaning God is behind the scenes pulling the strings and we are all just puppets. We also focus on the word good thinking this means that nothing bad will ever happen to us. So we think, why do we need to pray if everything is going to work out anyway? Why do we need to try to do what He wants for our lives, if it's going to turn out great whatever we do?  Still we realize that bad things have happened to us, so what does this verse really mean anyway? Romans 8:28 is talking about our belief in the promise of what will happen if we are in Christ. It might be said this way: We have God's sure promise that everything will work out for good because we are called by God. Our confidence is based around our belief in God and His calling on our lives. This verse is here to comfort us and let us know that even the bad things which happen to us are things God can weave into our lives and use them for good.  I have seen this in my own life. I have made so many blunders and mistakes on my journey. Eating myself towards an early grave was one of those that took up a huge part of my adult life. For more watch the podcast. Overcomers Academy link : https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/Overcomers Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds link: https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Surrender-Teresa-Shields-Parker/dp/0986159247

Episode 250-Towards Glory As we're running this race called life it's good to remember that we are headed towards glory.  ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬Suffering is part of living in our very mortal bodies. But suffering for Christ, either physically or in any other way, is not losing. It is winning. Romans 8:18 tell us that “what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later.” 2 Cor. 4:17 NLT echoes that. “For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” I've know some great moments here on earth, sweet, intimate moments with my husband, loving moments with my children, beautiful moments exploring God's creation, awesome times celebrating with family and friends. Multiply those by 1,000 and it still doesn't come close to the glory that will be revealed to us one day.  1 Cor. 2:9 NLT says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.” It's almost as if God is pulling back the curtain just a little to give us a taste of what is coming. In the great scheme of things, the suffering, the disappointments and pain that we encounter today are not such a big deal because we are in a race to the finish line. We are headed towards glory! Overcomers Academy Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/Overcomers/  

Episode 249-Run the Race We have a race to run while we are here on earth. It's leading us towards a heavenly prize God already has waiting for us. Of course, we know we have an enemy that does not want us to run the race or obtain the prize. One big obstacle our enemy throws in our way is condemnation. He makes us feel condemned or ashamed, guilty, fearful, unworthy, forgotten, useless, good-for-nothing.   God, though, tells us in no uncertain terms that we are not condemned. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:1 NIV says. Or as TPT puts it, “So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One.”  As a Christian weight loss coach, I talk to a lot of women who feel condemned and like there is no hope for them because they just love to eat or feel like they are addicted to certain foods like desserts. They try to stop. They know God wants them to get healthy, but they just can't.  When I was in this position and weighed 430 pounds, I felt condemned, ashamed and guilty. I worked through that but it took some time. If you are feeling condemned, remember what Paul said in Philippians 3:12-14 NLT, “Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” We don't live in the past so let's step out of shame, guilt, worry and fear, forgive ourselves and then start running the race. That's what Jesus is calling us to. His goal is for us to gain the victory prize He has waiting for us.    Website: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com Podcast: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/podcast/ Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Teresa-Shields-Parker/e/B001K8ICKG/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeresaShieldsParker/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/treeparker/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/treeparker/_created/  

Episode 248-The Conundrum A conundrum is a difficult or confusing problem or question. It's like a mystery we can't solve. In Romans 7, Paul shares a conundrum that I identify with and I expect if you are honest, you do too.    Like any problem or mystery, I want the conundrum to be solved in 30 minutes like a good tv show. I don't want to be left hanging to find out how things are solved for a week! Good or bad, I want it brought to end right now! However, for years I had no idea how to solve this issue that kept turning over and over in my mind.    Paul is really bold about his issue. He doesn't tell us what the exact thing is he is referring to, but in Romans 7:19 he tells us straight out: “I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.”   Why can't I do anything right? Why can't I do the things that are pleasing to God? I want to do them, but many times I end up doing the opposite. Why is that? These are the questions Paul, is grappling in this chapter. And they are the questions we all struggle with.   None of us are perfect, even Christians, and we shouldn't purport to be. In this chapter Paul makes that clear. He also tells us how the law shows us our sin, why we struggle with sin and what we can do about it.   Overcomers Academy: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/Overcomers/ Sweet Surrender: Breaking Strongholds: https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Surrender-Teresa-Shields-Parker/dp/0986159247/  

Episode 247-What War? We are in a war. We may not realize it as we walk through our daily lives but we are. Romans 5:17-6:23 talks about this as a war between the power of sin and the greater power of God's wonderful grace. If we belong to Jesus, sin has no legal control over us. We are free to follow God. However, we are just as free to be entangled again in the pull of sin.  Romans 6:6 TPT: “Could it be any clearer that our former identity is now and forever deprived of its power? For we were co-crucified with Him to dismantle the stronghold of sin within us, so that we would not continue to live one moment longer submitted to sin's power.” The whole purpose of Romans 6 is to remind us that we can choose to disentangle ourselves from the power of sin walk freely following God.  Romans 6:23 MSG: “Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.” Find the Spirit-Led Transformation course with action steps, challenge, transcript and video by joining Overcomers Academy. Go here: teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/.

Episode 246-Patient Endurance If you're like me, somewhere along the line in Sunday School you learned the nine fruit of the Spirit which include: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are all great virtues we should be incorporating on our Spirit-Led Transformation journey. As I was reading Romans 5 this week, I realized that as Christians there is one of these virtues we rarely talk about. That might be because along the way someone somewhere told us to never pray for patience because if we do something difficult will happen that will teach us the hard way how to be patient. How to endure.  After the list of virtues, Galatians 5:23 TPT says: Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless. In other words, all nine virtues are things we should desire to have in our lives in limitless quantity, especially patience. We may not like learning to be patient, but apparently God feels it something we need. In Romans 5:3 we read a bit about why this is. “With joy let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship, distress, pressure and trouble produces patient endurance.” All the bad stuff we have to go through in this life helps to produce a virtue God wants us to possess. We need patient endurance to get through whatever is going to be thrown our way in this life.  Hebrews 10:36 TPT really sums up what this entire episode is all about “You need the strength of endurance to reveal the poetry of God's will and then you receive the promise in full.”  As always the action steps and challenges for this lesson will be in the Spirit-Led Transformation course along with the video and transcript. This course is only available in Overcomers Academy. Go to: teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/ to join.  

Episode 245-This Thing Called Faith Faith is foundational on our Spirit-Led Transformation journeys. Without it, we have no transformation. Without it we cannot be Spirit-led. So what just what is faith and how do we know if we are really living our lives based on faith?   I'm a words person, so let's see what the dictionary says faith is. First definition is “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” Second definition says it is a strong belief in God.   Hebrews 11:1-2 has long been the go-to verse to explain faith. In NIV is says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” But we read that and say what does that mean?   To help us understand better, let's read this scripture the Amplified Bible, which has a way of explaining things better.   It says, “Faith is the assurance, title deed, confirmation, of things hoped for or divinely guaranteed, and the evidence of things not seen or the conviction of their reality. Faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses. For by this kind of faith the men (and women) of old gained divine approval.”   Remember the dictionary definition of faith we see that faith in God, or complete confidence in Him, comes from our foundational knowledge that we can trust Him to lead us.    In other words, we must have complete assurance that God is leading us and the eventual outcome of where He is leading us is for our good and His glory (as it says in Romans 8:28). We have the title deed to whatever the outcome is that God wants to happen. We have the title deed to whatever God has already put in our hands!   Several years ago we reached a milestone on our financial journey and paid off our house. We now have the title deed to our home. It is ours. Whatever God is telling you and me, if we have faith then we have the title deed to that. It is ours. It's not just guaranteed by a financial institution, it is divinely guaranteed by the God of the Universe, who just happens to be our Daddy.    The next part is harder to understand because it is in the future. “Faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.” God already sees it. He has called what we can't see as if it has already happened because He stands outside of time and can see the whole picture of our lives.    Our faith in God has to help us comprehend as a fact what we cannot actually see, touch or feel right now. We cannot experience it by our physical senses right this moment but we trust God and have faith that what He has said will come true. This goes back to 2 Cor. 5:7 where Paul tells us, “We walk by faith not by what we see.”  Friends, it wouldn't be faith if we could see it! . . . I feel like I really started living by faith around 2009, when I was 56. It took me lots of years to lose 250 pounds. First I had to totally surrender to God and trust Him for the next step on my journey. I had to get His lifestyle change plan for me and do what He said to implement it. I made a lot of mistakes on my journey and as such I am well-equipped to steer others away from my same mistakes.   One of the most beautiful and spiritual part of any transformation journey is learning how to have faith Jesus Christ, and to be led by the Holy Spirit in each step we take. Then the grace, mercy, favor and glory of God will surround us as we walk in tandem with Him.    Is it easy? I mean some of the things Abraham did look easy. Who knows, maybe he was glad to get away from his mother and father and go somewhere that he had inkling of. However it definitely wasn't easy waiting for the promised son. And I don't think for a minute it was easy preparing to sacrifice his promised son.   Yet, through it all, He trusted God. I like to think it all started with that first step out the door of his homeland, going to a place God said He'd show him. That's faith.   Let me ask you, what would it look like for you to have that kind of faith on your Spirit-Led Transformation journey? What would it take to do whatever God is whispering in your heart to do?    It's time. He's calling you. Will you have the faith to take the next step?  Father God, I lift your children to You today. Give them clear directions. Remind them of Your promises and help them take that next step on their journey whatever that may be. Make it clear to them. Give them faith to take action.   As always the action steps and challenges for this lesson will be in the Spirit-Led Transformation course along with the video and transcript. This course is only available in Overcomers Academy.  Go to: teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/ to join.  

Episode 244--Why Forgive Others? An important step on our Spirit-Led Transformation is forgiving others. It's actually a command from God. He demonstrates exactly what He wants us to do for others when He forgives us. He is teaching us by example. Most of the time, this feels like a really hard thing to do so we sort of just put it in the back of our minds and leave it there. We have a problem with forgiving someone who has done us wrong because we want them to be brought to justice.  However, you aren't bringing them to justice or hurting them by not forgiving them. You are only hurting yourself. It does you no good to hang on to the wrongs someone did to you. It's only keeping you further away from God because God clearly says we must forgive others or He won't forgive us.   Forgiving Others Is A Process Forgiving others is a process we go through to disentangle or release ourselves from others who have hurt us and let God take care of us and them.  It's the reason Jesus tells us in Luke 6:37 to “forgive others and you will be forgiven.” It's the reason Paul reiterates that in Colossians 3:13, “Forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” God wants us to demonstrate His principles of forgiveness in our personal lives and interactions with others. We want retribution, but He asks that we show them mercy and leave everything else up to Him.   Why Should We Forgive Others? -Because God forgave us. -Because God asks us to forgive others. -So we demonstrate God's forgiveness to the world. -Because we understand God is the only one who can judge. -Because it releases us from that person's control over us. -Because it is the only way for us to be at peace. God wants to use His not-so-secret weapon of forgiving others to set you free to live in peace and demonstrate His forgiveness to the world at the same time. Action steps and challenges for this lesson and others in the Spirit-Led Transformation series can be found in Overcomers Christian Weight Loss Academy: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/    

Episode 243- Forgiven Forgiven. It's such a great word. This is the second in our series of Spirit-Led Transformation because understanding the depths of being forgiven can set us free to follow God with all that we are and all that He made us to be. However, when we feel like we are not forgiven and feel deep shame and regret, we are stuck and cannot move forward.  Forward motion on our transformation journey is what we want. The devil will continually remind us of our sin if we let him. He knows that will keep us from any forward motion. Before we are ready to begin our Spirit-Led Transformation, we have to accept Jesus as our Savior. Then we can begin to walk in tandem with God. Some of us, and I have lots of fingers pointing back at me, have had to learn that the hard way. On this episode I share how I came to know Jesus as my Savior. Crazy enough, it happened because I stole candy from the grocery store. At seven years old, it made me realize I was a thief, which made me a sinner. After accepting Jesus because of God's grace, I was forgiven for everything I have ever done. All my flaws, mistakes, debts and sins have been wiped away by an Almighty God, who could rightly hold me guilty for everything I've done wrong. Instead in His grace, He forgave me. And let me tell you, that's a really good thing because I've had to confess a lot of stuff since then as well.  Overcomers Academy link: https://TeresasShieldsParker.com/Overcomers Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeresaShieldsParker Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/treeparker/

Episode 084-Flesh Versus Spirit This episode is going to be the first in a series I'm doing based around the book of Romans. It's really a book that talks to us about Spirit-led Transformation so that will be a topic we'll be exploring for the next several months. Because these episodes are so foundational I am putting them into a course that will include the transcript, action steps and challenges. Those last three will only be available to those in Overcomers Christian Weight Loss Academy. So if you want the deeper dive you will need to join us there to get this course and all the other things we provide in that group. In talking about the flesh we need to define what it is, what sin is, why if we allow our flesh to lead us it will lead us astray and why following the Holy Spirit is the right way but we many times resist it until we have no other choice. Two favorite scriptures from this episode are Romans 2:2 TPT, “God is always right, because He has all the facts.” And Galatians 5:16 TPT, “As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life.” Then there are two of my favorite quotes, “Your flesh doesn't care about your eternity because it's not going with you.” And “Flesh cannot fix flesh.” Overcomers Academy link: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/

Episode 241-Finding Freedom One minute I was sitting in the green metal lawn chair in my uncle's front yard, talking and laughing with my aunt while cousins and our children played hide and go seek. The next minute I felt the bending and eventual collapse of the rounded legs of the chair as they slowly lowered me to the ground. Even though I'm sure the sight of a 430-pound woman sitting on a pile of metal was funny, all laughter stopped. My uncle jumped up to help me. Being super morbidly obese I always tried to blend into the wallpaper and not make more of a spectacle of myself any more than I already was. That day, however, the proverbial cat had been let out of the bag. I'm fat, really fat. I break lawn chairs like twigs. I can't be trusted to sit anywhere. I knew I had a problem. I denied it constantly. I tried to push it under the rug. However, I could no longer ignore the obvious. I was a really good Christian. I didn't drink alcoholic beverages. I'd never done drugs, smoked cigarettes, had sex before marriage, gone to an X-rated movie, watched or listened to pornography. I went to church every Sunday. I taught Sunday School and small groups. I worked in ministry. And I was a glutton.   Overcomers Academy link: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/  

Episode 240-What God Wants I've learned since childhood that I should listen to God. I knew He wanted me to give up sugar and flour and eat more meat, fruits, and vegetables. However, I continued to do the opposite. I was like the people of Jeremiah's day. “We will not listen to your messages from the Lord. We will do whatever we want … For in those days we had plenty to eat, and we were well off and had no troubles!” (Jeremiah 4:16-17 NLT). My desire to do my own thing regarding what I ate and how I didn't exercise or listen to God about my health was not working. As a matter of fact, I was eating myself into an early grave. I was eating myself to death and thinking I was having a great time doing it. Because of what I had done to myself, in 1999 I found myself lying in a hospital bed awaiting the results of an angioplasty. The very rude cardiac surgeon came into my room, looked at me and without compassion said, “You don't need open heart surgery. You need to lose at least 100 pounds and keep it off or you'll be dead in five years.” Then, he promptly turned and walked out of the room leaving me very alone. My world came to a screeching halt. I had just been given a death sentence.  Overcomers Academy link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers  

Episode 239-King of My Heart Who or what is King of your heart, the most important thing in your life? The first stanza of the song, King of My Heart says, “I'm in a war every minute. I know for sure I'll never win it. I am David up against Goliath and it's a fight for my attention. I'm being pulled every direction.” However, David's real giant was not a huge hairy man, but a beautiful woman named Bathsheba. He saw her. He wanted her. He took her even though she was married and knew it was wrong. I so relate to David because I had a love affair too. His name was Sugar and He tasted so good.  Let me tell you when something takes over as King of your heart, it's not easy to dethrone it. But, here's how. One-on-One Coaching Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/one-on-one-coaching/ Overcomers Academy Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers/.

Episode 238-Intimacy I love this episode! I love talking about real intimacy with my husband and with Jesus. Intimacy is a deep, close relationship that makes us feel validated and safe  In simple language  Jesus told us how to be his intimate friends “You show you are my intimate friends when you obey all that I command you … I call you My intimate friends for I reveal to you everything I have heard from My Father” (John 15:14-15 TPT).  Obedience to God unlocks the door to intimacy with Him. Trust then becomes the foundation for intimacy with Jesus, as well as deep and true intimacy with our husbands and other loved ones.. One-on-One Coaching link: https://www.teresashieldsparker.com/one-on-one-coaching/. Overcomers Academy link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/Overcomers/.

One of my issues growing up was I was the oldest child and my mother had many issues that caused her to be unable to do a lot of household duties. Many of these fell to me because otherwise they wouldn't get done. So, as the oldest child of three, I stepped into a controlling, bossy mini-Mom.  From an early age I took on a works mentality. I took over Mom's duties to they would get done. I did housework, laundry, cooked supper, took care of the kids, and did my own homework and school activities. I was always working. It was who I was. I became an in-charge Martha. Finally came the day, though, when God showed me how wrong I was.  One-on-One Coaching link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/one-on-one-coaching.

Episode 236-Hiding from Fear? Are you afraid of people, things you failed at, things that want to make you go somewhere and hide and never come out again? Many are. This episode contains a fictional story about a woman who wanted to just live never having to deal with fear. When she thought about stepping outside the room, she felt naked, exposed, and vulnerable. To go for her dreams felt way too difficult, impossible, and scary. Fear can keep us stuck. Fear can cause us to disconnect from everyone we love. Fear can cause us to even hide from ourselves and make us stop trying to reach the dreams God has placed inside us. This woman learns how to step into life and go for her dreams. You can as well. Overcomers Academy link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/ One-on-One Coaching link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/one-on-one-coaching/

Episode 235-Self-Effort Are you doing things in your own self-effort? Or are you doing them with God's help and strength? How do you know? How can you do things with Him instead of for yourself? Overcomers Academy link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/Overcomers  

Episode 234-Who Am I? Who am I? Who are you? Many times in our lives, people knowingly or unknowingly tell us who we are. This happened to me when I was six years old. At the time, I didn't really know what was said would define me. I tried to push it out of my mind. It stayed there until another similar statement when I was an adult jogged my memory. And I realized how what was said along with what others said had set the tone for my life. I finally understood that I should allow no one but God to set the direction for my life. After all, He is the only One who truly knows me and can lead me. He is the only One who knows who I am and what I will become. I will follow Him. Overcomers Academy link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/Overcomers

Episode 233-Forgiven I sat on the back deck of the lodge at the north rim of the Grand Canyon while my family was hiking. I just wanted to sit there forever and take in the glory and the splendor of God's majestic, vast creation. The canyon is miles across. It looked huge. I thought of the song, “There is a cross to bridge the great divide.” The width of the chasm visibly reinforced the fact there is a wide gulf between me and God. There is no earthly way I can jump to the other side of the Grand Canyon.  As a human many things look impossible, but with God everything is possible, especially forgiveness. Overcomers Academy link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers

Episode 232-Am I Greedy? I never really thought of myself as greedy, but my journey has really been one of greed. What is greed? The definition of greed is “an intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food.” Did you get that? It's not just an intense desire for money or position. It's also a selfish desire for food!  Are you greedy? Listen to this episode to find out if you are and what to do about it. Overcomers Academy Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/Overcomers/  

Episode 231-Deception A person who deceives is one who misleads by a false appearance or statement. Isn't it interesting Satan can appear as an angel of light.  One big deception the enemy threw to me was that I needed food to eat so I could eat all I wanted to. The devil is a deceiver who turns something, which looks good, into something which leads to death, even though it may be a while coming. So what can we do when we have bought into a lie that has become such a habit we think we can never get free? That's what this episode is all about. Overcomers Link: https://TeresaShieldsParker.com/overcomers/  

Episode 230-Prayer Answers For many years I was frustrated because I would pray and it felt like God wasn't answering my prayers. I knew the Bible said He would, but I didn't believe it because I wasn't experiencing the answers I wanted, which was to have my mother healed of her bipolar disorder. They weren't selfish prayers so why wasn't He answering? This episode examines two huge instances of how God answered prayer but it wasn't because of me. It was because it was because it was in God's will and His time. If you have unanswered prayers, this is the episode to listen to. Overcomers Link: https://teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers