Can You Hear God's Voice?

     I am sitting in my hotel room in Montana at 4:30 a.m., in front of my computer screen trying to let God speak to me about what I am suppose to write about today. I have been sitting here staring at a blank screen for over an hour. I bet you are wondering why I am not asleep at 3:30 in the morning. I have to admit I am very tired. We have had several late nights and early mornings in a row and both Dwayne and I are extremely tired. However, though we are both tired; our bodies handle it differently. When Dwayne is very tired and he sleeps, he snores. The more tired he is; the more he snores and the louder he snores. He is really, really tired tonight! I try hard to ignore it but sleeping when he is really tired is one thing I have never been able to do. At home, I would just go to another room to sleep but in a hotel room there is nowhere to go. So, I decided to get up and write my devotion. Except, I have learned another thing. I can’t concentrate when I am really tired except at the snoring that is happening from the bed. After sitting here for a while I have realized that maybe if I put my earplugs in and listened to a book on my phone, I could drown him out and go to sleep. It worked on the plane! I got my phone out and my earphones. I put my earphones in and went to turn on my phone and wouldn’t you know; it is dead. So I have dug out my charging plug and I am now waiting for my phone to charge. As I continue to sit here thinking about all the great ideas I have for today’s devotion and yet each one can’t get past the initial thought. I have conceded to write about my husband’s snoring. I tried not to write about it, though it was my first thought, because remember, he edits my devotion and I didn’t think he would like my subject choice. But after an hour of sitting here, I decided that God must want me to write about his snoring. So he will just have to deal with God over today’s devotion illustration! lol
     In our daily lives we can get tired from the stresses we deal with everyday. We all respond differently to this stress. Many times, the more tired we become, the more we concentrate on the problems. Sometimes we run from the problems by concentrating on something else. If the stress is at home, we concentrate on work. If the stress it at work, we concentrate on home. However, there are those times we can’t seem to be able to get away from our problems or stresses and we become extremely tired. We know we need to spend time with God and let Him speak to us, but between the tiredness and the focus on the problems we just can’t hear Him. What do we do then? We ask Him to speak louder to us than the screams of life and when our power to hear Him is running on dead batteries, we plug into His power source, the Holy Spirit. We open the Bible and start reading until He speaks to us, or we pray without ceasing until we hear from Him, or we go to a spiritual leader in our life and seek wisdom and advice, or we take our circumstance and we see what God is trying to tell us through circumstance. Sometimes the circumstances are speaking to us loudly because God is trying to teach us something through them.
     One thing is for sure, ‘life happens’ and when it does, it can catch us off guard when we are extremely tired. How are you going to respond? Are you going to fight it and not find rest? Or are you going to find a way to hear God beyond the loudness of your problem? The rest we seek comes only from hearing His voice!

My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they know me.

John 10:27

It Worth the WorK

     Well, I am waking up this morning in Montana. I am sitting at a friend’s cabin looking out at the snow covered mountains. It is a great place to be. When we come back to Montana, we feel like we have come to our second home. It was great getting off the plane and having friends greet us with balloons and crazy hats. We have many deep relationships with people from walking through some spiritual growing experiences together. Also, they were our first church and we always consider them our babies in the ministry. If you were to ask me today, I would say that any hard times we experienced in our ministry here in Montana was worth it. However, I did not see it like that when we began South Hills Fellowship fifteen years ago. There were many days of tears and loneliness. My first day in Montana was sitting at a restaurant with my kids, crying because we had no place to live. We couldn’t find a place to rent and was suppose to stay at a person’s home until we could but they were out of town and we couldn’t find the person with the keys. I remember being homesick for a place that I fit in. Montana people are not like us southerners and sometimes they didn’t know what to think about us. I remember having 10 people at our first church service. I asked God the selfish question, “Why did you take us from teaching a Sunday School class of seventy-five, send us to seminary for 2 years, just to give us a church of 10 people?” I am very ashamed of that question today. I learned that 10 people here in Helena meant 10 lives were changed. I learned that each person God brought our way wasn’t playing church (they didn’t have any church background), they were truly lives being changed and God used us to love them. Each of them was worth any sacrifice I thought I was paying. Today we have the blessing of seeing a beautiful church standing on a hilltop, ministering to a community and knowing that God used us to start His vision. What an honor and what a blessing!
     God may not call you to start a church, or move you across the country, but you have been called by God to serve Him! Whatever your ‘service' is, it will be hard because if it wasn't, you wouldn’t depend on God. I will assure you that when you follow through with your assignment, you will be amazed at what God can and will do. There is nothing that will bring you more humbleness, honor, and blessing.
     What is God calling you to? Do you feel like quitting sometimes? Does it seem like you're not making a difference? Trust God to do the work and simply concentrate on being obedient to Him and His plan. You will see the fruit of your labor; even if it is not until the day you stand before Jesus receiving your rewards! Keep on keeping on!!!

We pray that you’ll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work.
Colossians 1:10 (The Message)

Conscious Words!

     This last week I have experienced and seen the damage of false words. We call it gossip, slander, or lying. No matter what we call it; it is sin and it can cause damage to people in all sort of ways. It can ruin reputations, destroy marriages, terminate jobs, ruin friendships, and damage the hearts and souls of people. I have seen this all happen in front of me during the last few days. I have to admit, I cannot tell you that I am totally innocent of gossip. We woman seem to be the most vicious with our tongues when we get all wrapped up in emotions. Our tongue leads us straight down the path of sin. Let’s look at the definition of these words: Gossip is idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others. It is the sharing of unproven facts and views: To lie is to state something that one knows to be false or that one does not honestly believe to be true with the intention that a person will take it for the truth: Slander is spoken words of communication that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an a negative image. In each case the repeated words are not true. It doesn’t matter if it was intentional or not. It is our responsibility to not repeat words that are not true. Now that doesn’t mean that we repeat everything that is true, but that is teaching for another day. Many times when we are involved in repeating things we have heard, we later find out that it was untrue. We can try to go back and correct it with those we spoke to but we will never be able to totally clean up the damage. The best illustration I have ever heard to describe the damage from the rumor mill is this: If you went outside in the wind and had a great fight with a friend using feathered pillows, soon the pillows would bust open. Feathers would begin to float away in the wind. They would float everywhere. Now you decided that you shouldn’t have had that pillow fight and you are going to go pick up all the feathers. You would never be able to retrieve every feather. They would have spread too far. Words are like those feathers. Once spoken, you can never totally clean up the damage!
     Scripture is very clear that lies and false hood comes from Satan. He is called the father of lies. Lies and falsehoods have nothing to do with the perfect, sinless Jesus Christ. Part of keeping a clean heart is not letting any lies or falsehoods in the door because they do nothing but make a complete mess of everything. We must start avoiding idle talk. We need to develop the discipline of being wise with our words. Take time to pay attention to each word and make sure they are not any form of untruth. Let’s practice conscious words today!

Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts. Don't talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies and gossip.

Proverbs 4: 23-24

Pictures of LIfe

     Life is full of many uncertainties but one thing is always certain; we will have to deal with the deaths of people we love. I have had my fair share of death lately. I have had three special people in my life die in the last three months. Today we had the memorial service for my uncle. Family funerals are always a little exhausting for Dwayne and me. He usually conducts the service and I usually put together a picture presentation of the person’s life. Working with the pictures of someone’s life is very revealing. First, pictures remind you of how someone was. We get so use to seeing a person for how they are today; we forget what they were like. I can see this with my own mother’s pictures. It amazes me that I have forgotten what my 30 year old mother looked like; I can sit and look at her picture for a long time trying to pull up the memories. Pictures also show us the journey of life. They show the seasons we experience and the changes that occur along the way. They can show priorities: the people, the hobbies, the places that were important to them. They stir emotions. They can make you laugh, question, and cry. They can comfort us, make us angry, and confuse us. Pictures are what we leave behind to the generations following us to let them experience a glimpse of who we were. When I see pictures of my grandparents who were poor and raising seven children, I have a new respect of the hard life they led.
     The pictures of my uncle were revealing to his extended family. I saw him the way he was before I was born and how he was in my memories. I saw the people that were important to him and the places that were his normal hang outs. I saw him do things like karaoke, that I would have never guessed he would ever do. They showed him wear things I never had dreamed he would wear, like shorts and a bathing suit. They showed us how important his friends were to him and he traveled to many places with those friends. Some pictures made us laugh. Some pictures made us wonder.
     When we know someone, we usually know them in one role of life. We know them as a friend, a brother, a sister, a coworker, an uncle or aunt, a child, or a spouse. We see people differently by what role we know them. It is when you get to see the view points from different perspectives that you really know someone.
     God sees us from all view points. There is no hidden life from God. He doesn’t see us in snapshots: He sees our life in video. However, the pictures we leave those who know us is only complete when all the parts of our life come together. For the whole picture to reflect Jesus, each part must reflect Jesus.
      What pictures of life are you creating? Do they reflect Jesus? Does every part; every role of your life show who you are in Christ? If someone who doesn’t know you now, could only know you by the pictures of your life and the testimonies of others, what would they learn about you? Is it the legacy you want to leave behind?

Words of Paul as he writes to the Corinthians: We’re writing plain, unembellished truth, hoping that you’ll now see the whole picture as well as you’ve seen some of the details. We want you to be as proud of us as we are of you when we stand together before our Master Jesus.

2 Corinthians 1:14

How Clean is Your Heart?

     What is your definition of a clean house? I have learned that my definition changes. There is the ‘last minute’ clean. If you are like me, this is your normal clean. Someone is coming over and the house is messy, so I run around picking up, dusting, vacuuming, and lighting candles: candles always makes things seem cleaner. I am usually doing the last little cleaning when the door bell rings! Then there is the ‘I can’t stand it anymore clean’. This is the clean that takes me a few good hours. It is when I pick up the clutter, clean the toilets and sink, shine up the mirrors, do the laundry, etc. When I am finish with this kind of clean, I always say, “This house hasn’t been this clean in a long time”. Then there is the ‘bare all’ kind of clean. I am thankful this only happens occasionally because it can be painful and time consuming. When we put our last home up for sale, I thought my house was clean. However, I needed to get it ready to show buyers. I had to look at things with a more critical eye. I had to clean dust boards and sweep into corners. I touched up the paint on the trim and I cleaned ceiling fans. Worse of all, I had to do the dreaded closet clean out! My closets were so cluttered, you had to be ready to play the game of ‘open and catch’. That is when you open the door with one hand and get in position with your other hand to catch something falling. My closets looked so small because they were packed full of stuff that should have been discarded long ago. Because things had not been removed and things had been thrown in, the closets were in total chaos. Closets are often the forgotten, hidden trash piles. The only way to clean them is to throw things away. When I am done with this kind of cleaning, I always say, “This house hasn’t been this clean since we moved in!”
     Cleaning house reminds me of how we maintain our hearts. When we invited Jesus to come and live in our hearts, we did some last minute cleaning. We made it look clean and presentable and hoped that He didn’t notice the areas that needed a little more cleaning. We feel pretty good that everything looks clean and we become comfortable. Then through time with Jesus, we realize that we have some “I can’t stand it anymore cleaning” to do. We spend time cleaning the deeper things. We feel better and enjoy this clean heart we have. The problem is Jesus does not want to live in a heart that is not totally clean. He wants the ‘bare all’ kind of clean. He wants to deal with the dirt in the corners, the chips on the walls, and the hidden and forgotten closets full of trash. He wants to help you rid the chaos of these closets by discarding things that should have been gone a long time ago!
     How clean is your heart? What does the walls of your heart look like? What have you swept under the rugs or thrown in the corner? What hidden and forgotten things do you have in your closet? Is it clean enough that you would let Jesus open your closet doors? What kind of clean are you expecting Christ to live in? Maybe it is time for some deep cleaning! Maybe it's time you let Jesus clean up some areas of your heart that you haven't let Him before.

He is going to clean house - make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”

Luke 3: 17

Got a Stone for Tiger?

     The big news today was the Tiger Wood’s confession. The coverage of the whole Tiger situation has been very confusing to me. I do understand that many people idolize Tiger because he is an amazing golfer. But why do we make athletes an automatic idol? I am all for respecting him for his abilities but at what point did Tiger sign a contract with the public to be a morally perfect man? Why do we demand sinless behavior from him when we do not demand it from all the other athletes who have reputations for living wild and crazy lives? I am not saying that Tiger’s behavior wasn’t shameful to his wife and family. However, why does America feel like he owes them an apology? It was America who put him on a pedestal and paraded him in front of their children as the All American Hero! Did they even look at him beyond his golfing trophies? The other thing that I do not get is that the average statistics show that approximately 50% of men and 25% of women have had affairs. How would they like to be put on a public trial? Again, I think Tiger has some big problems that he needs to fix. However, his sin has nothing to do with me. They are also no bigger than mine. God is willing to forgive his sins just like He forgives mine. The problem is that Tiger is not turning to God, he said in his interview, he is turning back to his roots and turning to Buddha. As Christians, maybe we should pray for him instead of spending our time condemning him.
     Jesus was set up as a judge in a public trial. The public humiliation of a woman caught in adultery. Sinners were picking up stones to throw at her, to kill her for her sin. It wouldn’t surprise me if the man she was just caught with was standing there with a stone in his hand. Jesus bent over and wrote in the sand (I have always thought he wrote a list of sins, but if the scholars do not know, I can only guess). Then He said that whoever does not have sin in their life can throw the first stone. One by one they dropped their stones and walked away. There was nobody left to condemn her. That is when she was left alone to face her Lord and Savior!
     What impact would it make on Tiger if he could hear one stone after another fall to the ground? If he could see one sinner after another turn away from condemning him; maybe then he could see his real Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
     How many times do you pick up a stone to throw at someone? How many times do you forget that you too are a sinner? How many times have you not accepted the fact that Jesus does not condemn you? Those that understand grace and have received grace, throw down their stones. Close your eyes, hear the thug that each stone makes as it hits the ground. That is the sound of grace! Let others always hear grace from you! It may be the only way they will hear the love of Jesus!

The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with this finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt. Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. T he woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman where are they? Does no one condemn you?” “No one, Master.” “Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”

John 8: 3-11 (The Message)

Weed Out Bitterness!

     I am use to my car being parked in the garage. That means it isn’t covered with ice in the mornings and it doesn’t take long to warm up. However, yesterday my car had to be parked outside in single digit temperature. I could tell my car didn’t like that. It took a long time to warm up and when I drove it, it cried with extra squeaks every time we hit a bump. It was as if it was frozen! My windshield even cracked from the cold! It sounded like the entire glass was going to break.
     It reminded me how brittle things get when it is cold and frozen. I have a jelly filled eye mask that stays cool and feels great on my eyes when I have a headache, it was a Christmas present and I couldn’t wait to use it. When the time came that my eyes needed it, I couldn’t find it anywhere. I looked everywhere for it. Then Dwayne opened the freezer one night and out came my mask; it fell in the floor and broke! It broke right at the nose area! (My mother didn’t know and put it in the freezer) The mask would have never broken if it had not been frozen; it was flexible to be moldable around the eyes.
     These incidents made me think about how brittle and cold our hearts can become. Before bitterness takes residents in them, they are pliable but once hurt and disappointment turns into bitterness, the heart becomes brittle. Brittleness just makes it easier to break. We think it builds walls of protection but in reality it doesn’t protect, it hides the hurt. Bitterness brings nothing good to your soul. God tells us to not let our hearts possess bitterness. Bitterness does not reflect Jesus.
Is there any bitterness in your heart? Lay any bitterness at the foot of Jesus and let your heart become flexible and pliable in the hands of the potter. When clay is brittle, it can’t be molded! It’s time for a heart check.

See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

Hebrews 12:15

An Ounce of Prevention

    I wonder how many times in my life I have heard the famous quote by Benjamin Franklin, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!” Though it is a true statement, I do not believe it is a statement we really live out. I have been in Nebraska this week encouraging the employees of one of our clients to take care of their health. After hearing numerous stories, there seems to be a common thread. We pay way more attention to a situation once a problem has occurred versus preventing the situation from happening. I have listened to several people who have recently been diagnosed with diabetes. They were all overweight, eating anything they want, never exercising, and not wanting to give up their lifestyles. Now that they have diabetes, they are willing to change their eating habits and start exercising. I am glad they are willing to make those lifestyle changes to be able to keep their diabetes in control. However, it would have been wonderful if they had made those changes before they developed that terrible disease.
     We have the same thinking in many things in our life other than with our health. I see it in marriages. So many people ignore their marriages and they do not deal with the issues and needs of their spouse until their hurts have grown to a critical state and their marriage is ending. Then they decide they love their spouse and are willing to do whatever it takes to restore their marriage. I see it in people’s finances. They do not take care of their spending and their budgets until they are in a position of repossession or bankruptcy and then they make the necessary changes in their life to deal with their issues. I see it in the raising of children. People do not discipline their children and teach them life principals until they are older and get into some major trouble and then they change their parenting style to help their children succeed. I see it in people's activities and schedules. They live such a crazy life governed by one activity after another. When they are at a breaking point and stress affects every aspect of their life, then they reevaluate their calendars and give some things up and learn to say ‘no’ to constant demands.
     I could go on listing other examples but the most important one has to do with living for God. So many people know that following God’s leading and principals is the best prevention to the many problems of life. However, they don’t want to give up things they think brings them pleasure and they don’t want to develop discipline to do the things they know they should. They try to walk as close to the fence as possible and still claim to be a follower of Jesus. When life crashes in on them and there is nowhere to turn, it is then they surrender to the obedience of God. They wait until they are in need and then beg God to fix it! Thank God for His grace because He is always there to lift us out of our self made pits!
     How many heartaches, trials, and scars could we avoid if we were willing to practice prevention? How many troubles do we bring on ourselves because we don’t want to change until we have to? Our lives would be so much easier if prevention was a part of our lives. What area are you gambling with? We would endure less complications if we would make the necessary changes before we have to deal with the repercussions. I think Mr. Franklin was wise to say that a little prevention is more valuable than cleaning up the aftermath!

A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks;

a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered!

Proverbs 27:12

Today Determines Tomorrow!

     Today, I taught seven classes in Nebraska on why we should care about wellness and three steps to achieving wellness. The most unique class was at a remote location. It was a county road crew facility. I walked into an old, dirty metal building. It looked more like a car repair shop. After questioning a man in the shop, I was sent into an old, dirty office. When I walked in, I was face to face with four walls of dirty, burly men; all in Cartharts and facial hair of some sort. I wanted to say, “Oh, I am sorry, I have the wrong location!” However, I knew I was going to the talk to the road crew, so I didn’t know what I was expecting. To my surprise, they did not start booing me when I mentioned the word . . . wellness. They actually engaged and asked questions. We ended with the statement, “What you do today will determine your tomorrow!”
When I got back to my hotel room and turned on the Olympics, it wasn’t long until the same philosophy reared its head. Can you imagine an Olympian performing for the first time at the Olympics? When they perform they are demonstrating their years of practice. What they are today is because of what they did yesterday!
     Our Christian walk and faith are also determined by what we did yesterday. If you want to walk firmly on the path God has for you, then you must put your time in today in studying and learning. You will not wake up one day and be the mature Christian you want to be. You will be what you prepare to be today. My lovely daughter- in-law came up with a great quote we can apply: "It is time to stop being a couch potato Christian"! Have you considered what Christian you would be tomorrow because of what you did today? Is that what you want to be? Are you a couch potato Christian? Are you ready to get up and start training for future?

Stay alert; be in prayer, so you don’t enter the danger zone without even knowing it. Don’t be naïve. Part of you is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.
Mark 14:38

Support of Friends

     Yesterday, I drove to Nebraska for work. I will be here for a few days. I did something stupid and I paid the price for it while I was driving. I didn’t start out the 12 hour journey well rested! We had an extremely busy weekend. Friday, I left work and went straight to a marriage retreat that we taught. It was a great time that lasted late on Friday night and started early on Saturday morning. When we got home from the retreat, I had one hour to get ready for a formal hospital benefit. Saturday night was a late night and Sunday was church, then a dinner theater that we go to in Tahlequah. We had a visit to make on the way home and we got home about 6:30 p.m. I had to chill for a while, pack for the week, and write Monday’s devotion. I stayed up after midnight and got up before 6:00 a.m. and started my trip before 7:00 a.m. Within two hours, I was dreading my lack of sleep. Right when I felt like I was going to have to pull over at a convenient store to sleep for a few minutes, I hit snow. That was enough to wake me up for a while. As soon as I got through the falling snow, I pulled over and set the alarm for a fifteen minute nap. Five minutes into the nap, I started fighting the need to go to the restroom and within a few more minutes, Brittne called me. She is in a village without internet and the only contact I get with her is a five minute phone call once a week. So, there was no, “call me back in ten minutes!” By the time I talked to her, pumped some gas, went to the restroom, and got something to drink, I was awake enough to be on the road again. I knew I was going to have three dead spots that would be boring enough to challenge my sleepiness. One was between Joplin and Kansas City, one between St. Joseph and Omaha, and between Lincoln and Lexington, which was my final stop. These times actually flew by thanks to many friends and family. We always say that time with friends fly by and I used that to my advantage. I talked to some old friends, and several friends I needed to check in with, I caught up with my son and daughter-in- law, spoke to Dwayne a few times and checked on my mom several times while she was at the hospital with her critical brother. Thanks to all of them, I didn’t have to deal with anymore sleepiness until I hit my hotel room. Once I crawled into my bed, I died. That is why I am up at 5:00 a.m. writing this devotion! Lol
      Have you ever experienced that same exhaustion when it comes to life? Do you have times you thought you can’t function anymore? When we get to that point God is always there to refresh our spirit. However, many times He uses others to give us love and support. There is a great story in the Old Testament that I love and it illustrates this point perfectly. When the Israelites fought the Amalekites , they only won when Moses’s hands were raised. However, his arms would tire and when he dropped them, they would start to lose. Thankfully, Aaron and Hur came along and held up his arms for him. For the entire day, they helped keep his arms raised until victory was theirs. When you are at the point of exhaustion, be willing to let others help you, strengthen you, and love and comfort you. They are messengers from God and never turn them away. I always hate finding out that a friend has been going through a really bad situation and they never told anyone or let anyone help them. We are to carry each others burdens but how can we do that if people refuse to share their burdens or accept help? Will you let others support you in your time of need? Even with the small needs?

Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2

Celebrate the Differences!

     It never fails, as soon as I commit to showing Jesus more to those around me, I have to endure one of those days that tests your patience at every turn. As I get older and my hormones get crazier, patience grows harder to possess. Since I do not get a pass from God on patience due to hormones, I have to work harder on letting the Spirit fill me so I can demonstrate patience in my life. The other day, I found myself asking the questions, “Is everyone being so irritating because my spirit is off or is my spirit off because everyone is being so irritating?” It was one of those challenging days. It wasn't due to some major issue, it was just a day where every driver I shared the road with had an attitude and one actually had the nerve to honk at me when I waited a few seconds to accelerate as soon as the light turned green. I was running against the clock and it was winning. On top of that, every person who waited on me was rude and unhelpful. Oh, how I wanted to have a fit and teach a few employees how to give good customer service!
     Looking back at my question, I have determined the problem was my spirit was not what it should have been. I was not focused on walking as a child of God. I was not humble but was focusing on myself and the customer service I deserved as a customer. I did not consider the day those employees or drivers were having. I did not wonder if they had a major life event happening. It was all about me! I did not give grace or unconditional love. Yet the other day when I left the hospital after visiting my friend with the daughter in ICU, I was pondering on her situation as a mother and pulled out to turn and did so quite slowly. Some car honked at me. I really thought about turning around, following them to their parking spot and explaining to them that many times people are hurting when they leave a hospital and it was very insensitive of them to honk in a hospital parking lot!
     Sometimes, it is not the minor encounters with people that test our patience; it can be with those closest to us. We can become frustrated and not show love to our coworkers, friends, or family. I believe the main reason we great frustrated with people is that we expect them to act like we would in situations. We do not appreciate their differences such as their history, their hurts, their personalities, their spiritual gifts, their gender, their family situations, their financial stresses, etc. It is very arrogant of us to think that everyone should be like us. That they should respond like us, handle situations like us, work like us, think like us, and act like us.
     In God’s wisdom, He did not choose to create everyone all the same. He gave different purposes, spiritual gifts, personalities, etc. I love the difference in my children and appreciate their uniqueness. So does our Heavenly Father. He created the differences, so maybe we should stop expecting everyone to be just like us and start celebrating the differences.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life
 worthy of the calling you have received.
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient,
bearing with one another in love.
Ephesians 4:1-2

It's Gotta Be a Lifestyle!

      Today is my last day to talk about health. I know some of you are very happy to go on to another subject. However, always know that if any of you need some encouragement or help when you are ready to begin your journey, just let me know and I will be glad to help you!
     A few days ago I attended a luncheon for Oklahoma Healthy Business. It is a group that recognizes businesses in Oklahoma that are working toward achieving health and wellness for their employees. I joined a table of women. Only a few of them knew each other but it didn’t take long for the conversation to be centered on food. I have to admit the chocolate swirl cheesecake at each setting definitely was what steered the conversation. First, it was about the hypocrisy of rewarding healthy businesses with cheesecake and then to the calories that was in that cheesecake. I sat and listened to their conversation. It seemed they were all involved in Weight Watchers and started figuring out points for that lovely dessert and then started guessing what was for lunch. They jokingly said lasagna. Sure enough, they guessed right. It had some veggies and chicken in it so I am sure it was healthy ‽ I continued listening to the women talk. (I know some of you are shocked I can listen to them without talking!) I picked up on some phrases that showed me their commitment to their weight loss journey. It was apparent they all wanted to lose weight but the world ‘health’ was never spoken. Also, they were adamant that if food tasted good, they could not eat it. Everything they had to eat was inferior. I think this way of thinking is a means of sabotaging yourself. We mess up our taste buds with all the crap (I am sorry, I just don’t know a better word for it) we put in our bodies. When everything we have eaten for years is loaded with fat and man made chemicals, our view of good tasting gets marred. My translation of their phrase is, “Everything that God made for us to eat taste bad but everything man has made is great!” I do not believe God makes inferior food. If we have lost the taste for a sweet juicy piece of fruit but can get satisfaction from a calorie packed, fat laden candy bar, our mind and taste buds needs to be refreshed. When we stop eating the bad stuff, we start to taste the sweetness in a piece of fruit. I started enjoying my vegetables. I learned to enjoy the creaminess of yogurt. Now the bad stuff doesn’t taste so good! When this process happens, your new way of eating becomes a lifestyle and not a weight loss project that ends when the goal is hit. Also, to become a lifestyle, it has to be continued for the goal of ‘good health’. If you always feel you are giving up everything good and have to endure the inferior foods in life and if you think you are doing it for only a weight goal, you will not make it a lifestyle and you will continue to yoyo your weight.
     We see people yoyo their spiritual walk as well. They realize that their life is in chaos and they need God to fix it all. They start going to church and attending Bible studies. Then the stress of life starts to minimize. They begin to miss all the things they think are fun; you know, the things that brought the stress and chaos to begin with. Before too long, they are out of church and back to old ways. Soon the chaos and stress returns. Then the process starts over again. The problem is that God isn’t their lifestyle. He is someone to fix their problems. They see His ways as inferior to the world’s way. It is never about a long term relationship with Jesus, they only focus on the short term. When walking with Jesus is your lifestyle, you commit yourself to God’s path for your spiritual and emotional health, not just to get quick fixes. You realize that your desire for God has been marred because you have fed too long on the emptiness of the world. The more you consume Him, the more the world loses its appeal. Soon your desire for the food of God is all you care about. You continue to serve Him for your health and the amazing thing is; you have less things in life that needs fixing!

So here is what I want you to do. God helping you:Take your everyday, ordinary life-- your sleeping, eating, going- to -work, and walking around life-- and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Romans 12: 1-2 (The Message)

Need Some Encouragement?

     I just got back from seeing a precious friend at the hospital. Her daughter is a special child and is very critical in ICU. Please pray for her; her name is Sammi. My friend is Terri and why she is so special to me is that she was my Weightwatchers teacher when I began this new journey almost three years ago. We bonded quickly because she is a pastor’s wife too, kindred hearts I guess. She taught me the principles of eating and exercise, but more importantly, she was my encourager. She saw me when I was mad at the scale and she saw me when I wanted to quit. Yes, she even saw me cry! I made the mistake of comparing myself to the others in my class. I tried to eat perfectly and I never cheated for the first six months. I exercised everyday! However, every week I would get on that scale and it would read a loss of 1.4 pounds. I should have been ecstatic over the consistent weight loss, but I wasn’t. Every week so many of my classmates would confess about cheating and how they totally blew it. They never exercised and yet they would lose 3 or 4 pounds. It didn't seem fair! The harder you work, the more you should loose. Regrettably, it does not always work like that. The older our bodies, the harder it is to burn off those stubborn fat cells. After all, they have been there a long time! Terri was always there to keep me going, to tell me she understood, and to encourage me. I really do not know if I could have endured those first six months without her. Now I have the privilege of passing on to others what she has done for me. I haven’t had her as a leader for 18 months but now I can continue my journey alone because it is now my lifestyle. She held my hand when I was just on a diet to lose weight until it became more; until it could be a part of me and my habit for life.
Do you have a person to be your encourager on your journey to health? We all need one. Occasionally, I still need a little push not return to old habits.
     We also need an encourager for our spiritual journey. At first it is hard. It is way different than our normal fleshly behavior. Sometimes we get mad at our results. Sometimes we want to quit and just go back to the easy way, even if it is the wrong way. Sometimes, we just need a good cry. But we always need someone to love us and encourage us. Someone to tell us that we are doing great and that baby steps are okay. Some people seem to grow faster than others, or understand quicker than others, or not struggle as much. Do not make the mistake of comparing yourself to others. Two children do not learn and grow the same, neither do God’s children. It is okay. All you have to do is make sure you take hold of God’s hand and that is sometimes done by taking hold of the hand of another. Someone who can encourage you until you grow to the point that it becomes your way of life; and even then, can give you a little push to never go back your old self.
     Are you trying to do it all alone? Do you have someone to encourage you? Pray for you? Love on you? Teach you? If not, look for them. God will send them and when He does, take them by the hand as if you were taking God’s hand of love: because you are!

Read the words of Paul:
With each of you we were like a father with his child, holding your hand, whispering encouragement, showing you step-by-step how to live well before God, who called us into his own kingdom, into this delightful life.
1 Thessalonians 2 : 11b-12

Live for Tomorrow; Today!

     In this ‘live in the present’ society we live in, our future can easily be sabotaged. We spend for today, love for today, react for today, and work for today. We think very little of the future and when we do, it is unrealistic because we are doing nothing to prepare for it. We do not realize that how we take care of our body today determines our health in the future. Many people see their health as a prolonging of life and that in itself is not enough to motivate them to do something about it today. In reality, God is the giver and taker of life but how we take care of our body does affect how we will live the last third of our lifespan. The fewer health risks we have as we enter our fifties, the better our chance of living our last years with good health. The more health risk we have entering our fifties, the more likely we are to live a very sick, diseased, and limited golden years. A few health risks are high blood pressure, tobacco use, alcohol abuse, high cholesterol, overweight/obesity, raised cholesterol, family health history, sedentary lifestyle, and high stress. We need to work today to control these factors. Many of us are hopeful that we will live out our retirement years serving the Lord and doing all the things we can’t do today. If we do not take care of our health today, we will be limited on what we can do for the Lord when we get the time. The years go by very quickly, use today to give you the best tomorrow you can have.
     We will one day stand before the Lord. That day is for certain. What you do today will determine how prepared you are for that time. Will you spend eternity with Jesus because of the choice of following Him today? Will He say the words to you that we all long to hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant”? Or will you stand regretful of the choices you made today? We never know when that time is coming. We could be standing before Him before the end of the day, or it could be when we take our last breath. Don’t waste a day of preparation; it will all be worth it!

Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off til tomorrow. Seize the day.”

Luke 9:62

How's Your Core?

     Getting rid of the belly bulge is all about diet and cardio, rather than strength-training exercises that target the abdominals. However, Core exercises are important. Our core is the muscles in the pelvis, lower back, hips and abdomen. It is beneficial to have these core muscles strong. Strong core muscles make it easier to do everything; from swinging a golf club to getting a glass from the top shelf or bending down to tie your shoes. They give us a stronger foundation for and prevent injury from daily activities and sports. They give us better balance and stability. Weak core muscles leave us susceptible to poor posture, lower back pain and muscle injuries. The great thing about core exercises is you can do them at home. Try them on the floor while you're watching your favorite shows. You can even do core exercises with a fitness ball. The older we get, the more we relax our stomach muscles and soon they become lazy. Become conscious of your stomach and practice keeping your muscles tight throughout the day. Though it is important to get rid of our belly fat, we need to have strong muscles underneath to hold everything together.
     It is important to have a strong core to our spiritual health as well. A strong core can give us a strong foundation for everything we do. It keeps us in balance and gives us stability in this shaky world. When we exercise our core, we read God’s Word, we talk to Him through prayer, we worship him with our church family, and we carry each other’s burdens and experience Christian love through fellowship. These are the exercises that keep us strong and hold everything together in life. It is great prevention from hurt and injury. Keep you core strong, don’t get lazy!
     How is your core strength? Do you need to get on a core strengthening workout plan? Is it crunch time?

God is strong and he wants you strong! So take everything the Master has set out for your, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

Ephesians 6:10-18

It Takes Time

     Ever give yourself a birthday present? I did! For my 47th birthday, I gave myself an achievement I had wanted my whole life. I worked for three months to be able to run a mile: it was actually like a fast jog but in my book it was running! Please understand, it did not happen overnight. It was embarrassing the first time I went out for my new goal achieving run. I would run as far as I could, then I would walk, then run, then walk, until my one mile finish line. What was embarrassing was the fact I could only run about 10 yards before I was sucking air. Then I would walk about 50 yards to catch my breath. Each day I ran a few more steps in my running section, and walk a few less steps in my walking section. Then after seven weeks, I ran my first mile! Now, I can run a 5k distance. That process taught me a lot about endurance. It didn’t matter where I began. As long as I continued running a few steps more each day, I would eventually achieve my goal. Also, I learned that no matter how bad I wanted to be able to run the mile, unless I continued working each day and continued to do a little more each day, I would have never been able to give myself such a great gift.
     Many times we see a Christian person we admire. We are impressed with their faith and their walk with the Lord. However, they did not become strong in their faith overnight. It took learning to walk with the Lord everyday; through valleys, hills, and curves. They endured times of tears and times of joy. When you plant a seedling tree it isn't suppose to be staked down for long. The tree becomes strong by learning to bend with the wind. The more it bends the stronger it becomes. We are like that tree. The more wind we endure the stronger we become. You can not have the results you want if you are not willing to endure the process.

     What goals do you want to achieve spiritually? Are you willing to endure the process? If you are, you will achieve you goal! If you aren’t, you won’t!

So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.

2 Peter 1:5-8

Time to Move

     We have looked at the importance of consuming the right foods in right portions. However, there is something else that is just as important and it must work together with correct eating. We have to get up and do something. We must add exercise to our day. When a group of people who had all lost 60 pounds and had kept it off for six years were asked how they kept it off, it was determined that you only have a 10% chance of keeping your weight off without exercise. Also, among health experts there has been a debate going on between being fit and being at the correct weight. They have gone back and forth as to which one is most important. They are both important but right now it is looking like being fit is inching its way to the forefront. If you absolutely had to choose between the two, it is better to be fit and a few pounds overweight than at the correct weight and not be fit. In the end, it is better to consider them twins; they go together and give the ultimate results when they are both practiced. A few things to remember is that you need to work out doing cardio and weight bearing exercises. You need to do 30 minutes, five times a week at a minimum. Ultimate health is achieved through 1 hour of medium intensity workouts every day. Find the exercise that you love. Change up your exercise to keep from getting bored. Lastly, always challenge yourself to do more than you think you can!
     Just as it takes healthy eating and exercise to achieve ultimate health, it takes faith and works to achieve ultimate spiritual health. To do only one is not God's intent and cheats you out of the God's best blessings. We must exercise our faith as well as work for the Lord. Everyone needs to do something. No one gets to be a couch potato.
Are you doing both in your life? What work are you doing for the Lord? Seek to find your calling, the service that you love! Exercising your faith is not easy, it will be a challenge, but that is how you grow! Don’t be content with your spiritual fitness level, increase it another step. Don’t ever let yourself be content with what you consume, like going to church, you have to go to work too!!!

Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department; I’ll handle the works department.” Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works, works and faith fit together hand in glove.

James 2 17-18

New Year Resolution?

     Happy New Year! January is the time of year when everyone talks about resolutions. I think it is because the beginning of a new year makes us think about new beginnings in our lives. Most people’s resolutions have something to do with quitting smoking, exercise, or losing weight. You will see the TV programs bombarded with commercials for eating programs, gym membership, diet pills, and smoking aides. People also make resolutions to be better with finances, work on careers, get more education, have a better attitude, volunteer, etc. The problem with resolutions is that only 12% actually achieve them. I think there are several reasons for this.
     One, resolutions have to come from the heart, or God’s conviction. Two, you have to be committed to the process, not a quick fix. And three, it can’t be to please people or the world. It has to be a decision you make in order to be all God created you to be.
When I was teaching a group of women in Montana, God gave me a new twist on New Year resolutions and of course, I passed it on! That is why I am going to challenge you not to make a typical, worldly, New Year resolution. However, I am going to challenge you to make a spiritual resolution with God.
     Here is how you do it. You pray until God reveals to you the area He wants you to focus on for the next year. Maybe He already has and you know what it is. Let me point out a few things about this assignment. Your resolution comes from God, not you, not others, and not the world. This is something you will work with God on for the next year. Not a week, not a month, but a whole year! The goal is to let God continue His molding process on you. To grow you into what He needs you to be. After you get your spiritual goal for the year, find a scripture that speaks to you in regards to your goal. Now this doesn’t mean that this will be the only lesson God teaches you this year or that this will be the only thing you will work on. You will be surprised how many different goals come from your main resolution. For example, for many years now God told me to focus on my self-discipline. For me, it has been a goal He continued to give me; year after year. Maybe it is because it took me so many years to make any progress.
Now, I just have one more step for you. The research which showed that only 12% succeed at their resolutions also showed that women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends. So, make it public.  You can share it with a friends and then you can support each other and pray for each other or you could list it on the comment section.  We are to encourage each other so don't try and do it alone!  What is your spiritual resolution for 2011?

Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions,

give it all you’ve got,

be resolute, and love without stopping.

1 Corinthians 16: 13

What Goes In?

     Weight loss is a matter of calories consumed versus calories burned. It is referred to as ‘calories in/ calories out’. We each have a certain amount of calories our body burns each day that is determined by our age, gender, normal daily activity, and weight. There are many sites on the internet that will calculate it for you. A great website is http://www.mypyramid.gov/ . On this site, you can figure your daily needs in calories and nutrients. Once you know the calories you need each day, you need to cut your calories to lose weight, eat the proper amount to stay the same, or if you eat too many calories you will gain weight. A pound is equal to 3500 calories. If you eat 500 calories less than you need each day, you would lose a pound a week. Also, you can add additional calories to your daily burn by exercising. Again, if you wanted to to cut your calories by 500, you could eat 200 less calories each day and exercise to burn off 300 calories and still achieve your goal.
    When we were young, many of us heard, "what goes in must come out!" We know the principle! We see its physical evidence when it comes to our bodies, but it also applies to our spiritual being. What we put in our minds and our spirit is evident in our life. It affects our disposition, our bitterness, our forgiveness, our sins, our words, and what we radiate. Scripture tells us to stand on God’s Word through every situation we encounter. However, how can we do that if we do not know the Word of God. We can only know it by reading it. We put it in our heart by learning its applications. It does not happen by osmosis. If you want to reflect Christ to the world, you have to put His Word in you. You have to know Him!
     Think about your past week. What did you put in your mind? What did your eyes see? What did your ears hear? How much time did you give God? How much did you give the world? Did your life reflect Christ? Or was the mirror foggy?

I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

Psalms 199: 15-16

Replace the Bad with Good!

     When it comes to changing my eating habits, I became the 'Queen of Substitutes'! It is what made the transition from sweets and high fat foods bearable. It also allowed this new way of eating a more acceptable long term habit and not just a quick and easy four week diet. If you do not find healthy choices that you love, you will revert back to those things which aren’t so good for you. Ice cream was one of my favorite foods. Actually, I love it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or late night snack! If I had not found substitutes for my desire for the sweet, creamy, cold sensation, its temptation would have been the dagger to my weight loss. I have found that the ‘Guilt Free’ ice cream is great and very low in calories and fat. I freeze my yogurts and eat them as ice cream. Also, I make smoothies with frozen fruit, skim milk, and juice. It is very thick and I eat it with a spoon and call it sorbet. If we are out in a town with a ‘Cold Stone’, a cup of sinless ice cream with berries is my special treat and is less than 200 calories. I have found new food choices for every tempting edible favorite. I still eat all the foods I have always loved but they are prepared differently, with healthier ingredients, or substitutes. They have been 'skinnied up'.
     Beth Moore tells a story in one of her lessons that illustrates the need to replace the bad with the good. There was a woman who had a hideous green chair. It was worn and ugly. She hated it! Every time she walked by it, she just got more and more frustrated. One day, she had enough. She dragged the chair out to the trash for the trash man to pick up. For days she would walk by the spot where the green chair once was and notice the big empty space. She didn’t have the money at that point to buy a new chair. The space seemed so vast. It didn’t seem right. After a few days, she went out to the trash heap and dragged the chair back into the house to its place of honor. She hated the empty space more than she hated the chair.
    There are many things we hate in our life; our sin, our habits, our activities, etc. We want them done away with. Sometimes, we make a commitment to rid them out of our life. However, if we do not put good things in their place, we will soon drag them back into to their original position. Let’s say you decide to give up an activity you do every Friday night. You have determined it is not glorifying to God and causes you to sin. Your spirit hates it. You need to find a positive activity to do every Friday night in its place. If you don’t and you sit at home bored every Friday night, you will one day hate your boredom so much you will go back to doing the activity you didn't want anymore.
     Do you have a green chair in your life? Something you hate? Are you ready to drag it to the trash? What are you going to put in its place? If you end up hating the empty space more than the chair, the ugly green chair will be back in your life before you know it!

So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word,
making a salvation-garden of your life.

James 1:21

It Is Hard Work!

     I have said before how much I love watching the Biggest Loser. I have learned a lot from watching it! It pushes me when I need it and it encourages me to do more and not to quit. Last night’s show didn’t do any direct teaching but it gave me a visible picture I will never forget. Every week there is a challenge where teams compete. This week each team had a cage that was attached to ropes connected to a massive crane. Their mission was to pull on the ropes to lift themselves 120 feet to the top of the crane. The first team to get there would win phone calls home. Every team wanted those phone calls really bad. Before they began they each spoke of how much they wanted it and how they were going to work hard to win. Within a few pulls, they were beginning to talk about how hard it was to move their cages. Within minutes several teams stopped trying because they didn’t think they could do it. It was too hard. Usually every team finishes the challenge just because they do not want to quit. This week only two finished.
The journey to good health and weight loss is hard. It is one of the hardest things I have done. You have to understand that from the beginning so you do not quit when it gets hard. One day when I was so disappointed about the results of my hard work, I cried to God about why it had been so hard for me when the weight seemed to fall off for my friends. I believe God revealed to my heart that if it was easy for me, I would go right back to my old ways as soon as I met my goals. Then I would just easily take it all off again. When it is hard, I will work much harder to keep myself from gaining it all back. He was right. Though I am still not where I want to be, I work hard at not going back to old ways, because I know how hard it is to take off.
     There are many things that are hard about the Christian walk. Do not expect it to be a breeze in the park. Though it gives us blessings, joy, and peace it is not easy learning to control our flesh. It is especially difficult to not be controlled by the flesh when it comes to getting along with people. When we have to eat our words, or apologize, or admit mistakes, or forgive someone, or let go of hurt, or ignore attacks, or choose to not argue and defend our viewpoint, IT IS HARD!!! However, the results are amazing. We experience the control of the spirit which fills us with love, joy, goodness, kindness, peace, patience, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I think that is a great trade off.
     Are you ready for some hard work? Or do you want the easy way? Are you going to give into the flesh? Or are you going to give into the Spirit? You will reap the result of your choice!

    

You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

James 3:18

It is All About Balance!

     One of the most important principles of eating healthy is to make sure to eat a variety of foods. Keeping the right balance is essential to health and weight loss. We need to eat a minimum of five fruits and vegetables each day. We need two low-fat dairies each day. Also, we need protein, whole grains, and healthy fats. The better we balance these fuels the better our bodies run. I heard great advice once, if you make sure to eat what you need every day you will be full and satisfied and not want all the junk food.
     Isn’t life like that as well? We have so many roles to balance every day. We have to find time for our spouse, our children, work, God, friends, play, commitments, school, and ourself. We must constantly find the right balance. First and foremost we have to fuel our soul with time with God. We then need to love and support our spouse and see the needs of our children. If we work outside the home we have to fulfill our responsibilities to our employer. Then find time to care for our self. Any time left can be filled with the other areas. When we live with things in the right balance, we will feel we are in control of our life, we will have peace, and have time to enjoy life. When we do not keep a good balance, life gets totally out of control and those breaking point fits are destined to happen.
     How is your balance? Is it time to do some readjusting? It is something we need do monitor regularly and make the proper adjustments. The benefit of living a balanced life is well worth the effort.

Be well balanced, be vigilant and cautious at all times; for the enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring, seeking someone to seize upon and devour.
1 Peter 5:8

Step by Step

     It is never easy changing habits and as much as we wish it so, it never happens overnight. Changing eating habits is one of the hardest things you can do because food is always in front of us. It isn’t the healthy food that bombards us; it is the sweet candy, gooey rolls, and burgers and fries that we can’t get away from. The higher the calories the more it screams our name. We are hit with it in stores, at the office, on commercials, and billboards. Food is the one addiction we must overcome and not give up. We have to eat food; we just have to learn to control it, instead of it controlling us. We have the power to overcome any temptation. It takes consistent effort to not give up. The longer we go, the easier it gets. When eating healthy becomes our habit, we don’t have to think about it as much. You will always have to reevaluate your eating and make adjustments. It is a step by step process. There will be time when we splurge and eat things we normally would not. One meal, or one day is not going to destroy our health. It is what we do after the splurge that determines our path. So many times we say, “Well, I blew it! So, I might as well eat what I want for the rest of the day (or week). I will start again on Monday!” We need to get right back on track when we step off. It is what we do 90% of the time that determines our success.
     I remember when I first became a Christian. I was so frustrated that I still had to battle this flesh. I wanted to wake up one day and be all God wanted me to be. However, it doesn’t work like that. It is a hard process because we have to battle our flesh, our desires every day. Sin bombards us everywhere we go. It is impossible to get away from it because wherever I go, sin is there! We are tempted constantly. Yet, we do have the power to overcome because we have the Spirit of the Lord with us every day. We just have to use it and depend on it. The more we starve our flesh, the less it fights us. We must keep our eyes on Him and persevere. Over time we can become the follower of Christ that brings glory to Him. It is a growing process. We will all sin, but we can’t let that give us permission to surrender. We need to ask forgiveness, learn from our mistake, and keep on letting God mold us. We will never reach a point where we arrive as a Christian. However, we can still mature and grow and become a person that honors and glorifies God.
    So many times, we pray and ask God to remove our temptations, He does not. We have to grow through them. We have to want God more than we want our sin. What do you want the most?

Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set.
Psalm 119:5

What Do I Turn To?

     There is no way to avoid stress, heartache, and hurt in this life. We have to live in this world where sin is rampant. Also, the way we cram our calendars with activities only magnifies our stress. What do we do when we are overwhelmed with emotions of any type? I find myself turning to a great friend for sympathy, or my husband for a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes I let ‘Calgon take me away!’ A few times, I have tried letting a new outfit heal my spirits. If I want to stop thinking and mentally escape to another place and time, I watch TV. I also have two little adorable dogs that love to cuddle and if I need a little unconditional love, I turn to them. However, there is something magical about turning to some good ole comfort food! Almost all of us have our favorites. If I am sick, I must have mash potatoes and cream corn. If I feel wiped out, ice cream can restore my senses. And when the stress level is high, anything chocolate will do.
     It is now my job and my heart passion to teach, coach, and encourage people to achieve and maintain good health. Many times to achieve good health, we have to deal with weight issues. Other times, it is achieving healthy eating. Either way, we must deal with our love and desire for food. I remember when I started my weight loss journey, I struggled to accept the fact that eating healthy had to be a lifestyle. I did not want to give up all of my favorite food for life! I would do it for a short time to achieve my weight goal, but for life was out of the question. Food was too important to me to give up. I now know that I am not the only one who feels this way. I have talked to people from 120 to 400+ pounds who struggle with giving up food. For me, it has been a process. I first gave up certain foods temporarily, and then I realized how much better I was feeling and looking. My taste for the bad food had changed and the pull it had on me was not as strong. Now I eat for health and I trust the healthy weight will follow. Recently, I have taken a step I would have sworn I would have never taken. I now eat organic foods as much as possible. I don’t want all the pesticides, chemicals, and processing in my body. I have learned they mess up hormones, which messes up weight loss. At 49, my hormones are crazy enough. Anything I can do to quiet them down is worth it to me.
     At this point, I realize there will be times when I eat chocolate or ‘low fat’ ice cream. However, I make sure I eat the correct serving size and my diet is not consumed with high sugar, high fat foods. The real issue with food is the addiction we have to it. When we live to eat, instead of eat to live, we are out of balance. Part of the definition of gluttony was ‘a misplaced desire of food’. When we hold on to a certain food because we need it, maybe it is a misplaced desire, or in harsher terms, a form of gluttony. Once my doctor told me to give up carbohydrates and dairy products for a month. I refused. After all, I had already given up my unhealthy processed carbs and dairy. The only ones I ate now were healthy and now she was asking me to give them up for a month! Eventually, I gave in. It taught me that I can live without them. Their power over me diminished. They were no longer a ‘misplaced desire’. What about you? If you were asked to give up sugar for a week, how would you feel? Or maybe carbs? Or maybe dairy?
     Besides the issue of gluttony, there is another area I struggle with spiritually. As a follower of Jesus Christ, should I not turn to Him when I am overwhelmed in life? Shouldn’t He be the One that comforts me, restores me, and heals me? If He is the most important priority in my life, why do I turn to other people, or things, or food to deal with my emotions? That is the role I have committed to Jesus. I should put nothing in front of Him. In the end, He is the only One that can satisfy. I heard a statement many years ago that I have tried to apply to all aspects of my life. “If Christ isn’t Lord of all, He is not Lord at all!” That includes my eating!

You know the old saying, “First you eat to live, and then you live to eat”? Well, it may be true that the body is only a temporary thing, but that’s no excuse for stuffing your body with food, or indulging it with sex. Since the Master honors you with a body, honor him with your body!
1 Corinthians 6:13 (The Message)

Eating Responsibly

     Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is we are done talking about water. The bad news is we are moving on to food! We have an epidemic in this country; it is called obesity. Today, about one in three American adults is considered to be obese. Obesity is defined as having an excessive amount of body fat. Body fat is determined by your BMI, Body Mass Index. The formula uses your height and weight. Here is a link to determine your BMI: http://www.bing.com/bmi/search?domain=bmi&q=BMI+calculator&FORM=DTPNUA
BMI Weight status
Below 18.5=Underweight
18.5 — 24.9=Normal
25.0 — 29.9=Overweight
30.0 and higher=Obese

Symptoms associated with obesity can include:

· Difficulty sleeping
· Snoring
· Sleep apnea
· Pain in your back or joints
· Excessive sweating
· Always feeling hot
· Rashes or infection in folds of your skin
· Feeling out of breath with minor exertion
· Daytime sleepiness or fatigue
· Depression

     If you're obese, you're more likely to develop a number of potentially serious health problems, including:

· Blood (fat) lipid abnormalities
· Cancer, including cancer of the uterus, cervix, ovaries, breast, colon, rectum and prostate
· Depression
· Gallbladder disease
· Gynecological problems, such as infertility and irregular periods
· Heart disease
· High blood pressure
· Metabolic syndrome
· Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
· Osteoarthritis
· Skin problems, such as intertrigo and impaired wound healing
· Stroke
· Type 2 diabetes

     I know that it is shocking to find out you are classified in the obese category. When I started doing something about my health, I found out that I was obese. I felt an array of feelings; shock, shame, anger, regret, hopelessness and embarrassment. I had ignored the facts and refused to look at myself. Every time I stood in front of a mirror, I would stand head on into it, stand as straight as I could, and suck it all in. This view was my best view and if I just took a quick glance, it wasn’t so bad. My new facts brought me out of my fantasy world and dropped me dead center into reality. It was here my process began. I had to realize that I didn’t get obese by accident. I was not controlling my eating. I was eating what I wanted and when I wanted. I was eating more than my body needed.

    For me, I had to take a good look at it from a spiritual perspective as well. I had one basic question! I had been in many Bible studies, I had attended numerous women’s retreats, I had sat through thousands of sermons, so why had I never heard any lesson on how God expects me to take care of my body? I had heard of the sin of gluttony, but why had I never heard any teaching on it? Maybe it has become so much a part of everyone’s life, nobody wants to talk about it. This is one reason why I feel convicted to teach about health and wellness to Christians. Since most of us are conditioned by our culture to think about our weight loss in January, this is why I am covering this subject this month.
   I did study the definition of Gluttony. “Gluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or intoxicants to the point of waste. In some Christian denominations, it is considered one of the seven deadly sins—a misplaced desire of food or its withholding from the needy.” (Wikipedia) This definition only creates more questions. When does eating become over-indulgent? When is it considered over-consumption? When is it waste? For me, I believe it is when we eat more than our body needs, when we eat to the point of being miserable, and when we eat so much we hurt the health that God gives us. If I stand on what I believe, then I must confess that I still am working on this sin in my life. Many days, I still find myself eating more calories than my body needs. But I am committed to get all forms of gluttony out of my life no matter how long the journey takes me.
     Where do you live in regards to your health? Are you living in a state of denial or are you facing reality? We are not assured of tomorrow, so what better time to start a journey of health than today?

“And put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony”

Proverbs 23:2

Are You Thirsty?

     I wish I always did what I knew I was supposed to do. My life would be much better if I did! It can be very frustrating. I am in good company though. Paul also experienced this frustration when he said, “Why do I do the things I don’t want to do and I don’t do the things I want to do?” We have studied for days why it is important to drink water. We have the information. Does that mean we will all start drinking our water, eliminate drinking pop, and drink tea, coffee, juice, and milk in moderation? I wish it was that easy. It will take more than hearing why we need water; we will have to develop a thirst for it. I think we develop a thirst two ways. One way is to bring up the heat. When we are hot and sweating we want something cold to drink. If it is summer, it is easy to get hot and want to drink some ice water. However, in the middle of winter it is more challenging. Working out and sweating is a great way to bring up the heat. We will want water if we are hot and sweating! The other way we will develop a thirst for water is to drink water. I understand that is an unusual principle but it is true. When I did not drink water, I never craved it. When I started drinking water, I started to thirst for it. Before long it is the only thing that satisfied.
     Again, the same principles apply spiritually. We may want to consume Living Water on a constant basis but before we know it, we are drinking in everything else but Living Water. We have to develop a thirst for it. That thirst is developed when the heat rises from the hard times in life. It is when life takes us through a desert. When I was in Peru, standing in the middle of a desert on a sand dune, I remember looking out over the horizon and thinking about walking across it. How hard it would be to walk in that hot sand, each step sinking deep, and the sun beaming down on you. It would be impossible to do without water. If you found yourself in that situation, you wouldn’t have a problem experiencing thirst. I don’t think it would be a mild thirst, I think it would be intense, to the point of being painful. Jesus is waiting to consume you with refreshment. He is our oasis in the middle of our desert. He gives us the only thing that can help us recover from the severe heat. The other way we develop a thirst for Living Water is to spend time with Jesus. The more we are with Him, the more we study about Him, the more we obey Him, the more we develop a thirst for Him. Before we know it, we will realize that nothing else satisfies. The thirst continues to grow and the thirst can be so strong it is painful.
     Do you have a painful need to be refreshed? Refreshed can be defined as “recovering from the effects of the heat”. Do you need to be relieved from the effects of the heat in your life? Only when we develop a painfully, conscious thirst will we drink in the Living Water and reflect Jesus. We cannot reflect anyone that is not a part of us. Will you commit today to develop your thirst for Jesus and drink Him in daily? Only Jesus can keep us spiritually hydrated.

Let everyone who is thirsty (who is painfully conscious of his need for those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened) let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of life.
Rev. 22:17

Time to Grow UP

We are going to discuss one more drink which we consume instead of water. This drink is a necessary part of our diet. “It’s what's good for you." MILK! We have been drinking it since the day we were born. It has calcium (which is fundamental to our bones), proteins, and vitamins. It helps prevent atherosclerosis. I love my milk in any form other than a liquid in a glass, regardless of how cold it is. On the other hand, I like cheese, butter, creme, and yogurt. My favorite way to have my milk is creamy and frozen! Research shows we each need two low-fat servings of dairy per day. However, whole milk is high in saturated fats and cholesterol, this can increase our cholesterol levels and in turn, increases the risk for coronary heart disease. Also, the high fat content can show up on the scales! Milk is definitely something we need, it gives us vitamins and nutrients to help us maintain good health, but it cannot replace water!

Today, I do not have to come up with the analogy of milk and our spiritual health. God already did that for me in Hebrews 5:12-14! In these verses, the basic teachings of God’s righteousness is called milk. Though it is important to drink milk when we are infants, we are to learn God’s Word , to teach it to others, stand on it, practice it, and grow up and eat solid food. We shouldn’t have to be taught the same principles of God’s righteousness over and over. The older I get and the longer I counsel and teach people, the more I believe the majority of Christians never get off of milk. I know Christians who continue to hear and study the basic principles of our faith over and over. Years go by and they are still struggling with the same issues. They have never taught or shared God’s Word with anyone. They are not confident in their own knowledge because they have not studied God's Word for themselves, they just hear it from the pulpit every week. When trials and tests come, they do not stand on their faith and their beliefs. They doubt and question. Then the same learning process starts all over again.

One thing that can test the patience of a mature adult is dealing with an immature person. This person may be an adult by age but they act like a child. They complain, cry, and want things their own way. They want to play and not work. They only laugh and joke and are never serious. As we grow into adulthood we expect others to act like the adults they are. God expects the same from his children. We start out as babies and we get nourishment from the milk, the Word of God. As we grow though, God expects us to change and mature. We are to practice our faith and let it grow us to mature adult children of God. As adults we consume the Living Water to mature us and teach us; to give us spiritual health.
How long have you been a Christian? Are you a baby or an adult? Are you still consuming milk? Is it time to drink more Living Water?

For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God’s Word. You have come to need milk, not solid food. For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought and action), for he is a mere infant (not able to talk yet)! But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental facilities are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.

Hebrews 5:12-14

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement for the devotions. Today is the 100th devotion. Who else but God knew I had so much to say! No comment from you Dwayne! lol

Are Your Relationships Pure?

Another drink we need to consume in moderation is juice. Juice is great for us when it is in pure form. It is sweet, refreshing, and gives us many nutrients and antioxidants. Juicing has become very popular. We juice all kinds of fruits and vegetables. We can buy a variety of mixed juices on the shelf in any grocery store. Pure 100% juice is premium fuel for the body. However, as with many things that are good, juices have been corrupted. A large majority of the juices we purchase have tons of sugar and additives added to them. Many times the ‘juice’ has no real juice in it. It is just glorified pop. So, though juice is good for us in its pure form, imitations are not beneficial to us and can actually be deterrents to our health. When we drink juice out of moderation we again do not drink water. Juice should only be consumed in addition to water and never in place of it.
Today’s analogy for our spiritual juice is relationships. Relationships are great blessings that God gives us. In scripture we see many relationships that God honors and blesses: marriages, friends, parents, and families. He tells us to love one another and to care for each other to the point of carrying each others burdens. When we have healthy and pure relationships guided by God they are beneficial to our spiritual health. They can be sweet and refreshing. They give us nutrition for our spirit. However, we can run into problems in two ways. First, our relationship can be corrupted by the world. It is very hard today to find and maintain pure relationships. We have distorted relationships from the way God designed and created them. Relationships today are needy, non-sacrificial, self centered and self seeking. They operate on conditional love and nobody can live up to its conditions for the long run. Today we see same sex marriages, people living together, divorces everywhere, children not speaking to parents and parents abusing children, friendships that do not last, and marriages full of anger. It appears that people are out to destroy each other. Two, our relationships can take such precedence that we do not have time or the desire for Jesus. When relationships stay pure they are Christ centered. When they are Christ centered they are sacrificial, self-sacrificing, and giving. They give unconditional love. They stay true to the way God created them to be.
Relationships add such value and joy to our lives. However, they should never take the place of worshiping and serving Jesus. They are to be in addition to the priority relationship we're to have with Jesus in our lives. When they are not pure relationships, they are deterrents to our spiritual health. Never let the relationships in your life rob you of consuming Living Water. No relationship is worth giving up your relationship with Christ, or the blessing of enjoying a pure, sweet, Christ centered relationship. What kind of relationships do you have? Do you have relationships that you should not have? Are your relationships in the proper priority? Are you who you need to be for those you have a relationship with? Is God your number one relationship? Consume the Living Water and enjoy the benefits to your spiritual health. It is the only way to avoid spiritual dehydration.

“For my people have committed two evils, they have forsaken me, the Fountain of living water and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2:13