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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 [email protected].  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/