It is good to reflect! (THIS POST WAS DATED JANUARY 2, 2011)
Since January 2008, I am down 6 pant sizes (from a 14 to a 2/4 depending on brand),
and down about 30 lbs.
I am 5'1" so every pound counts a lot.
I have done this naturally without pills or surgery.
On September 7th, my DH and I started the Michael Thurman 6 Week Body Makeover Plan.
He has arrived at his goal weight, which is what he weighed when he was 20 years old!
He looks amazing.
I lost about 17 lbs using this plan. I absolutely love the Michael Thurman way of eating and never once felt deprived.
In the beginning, as with any new eating plan, setting the mind was the hardest part.
I have a few more pounds to go until I start maintenance,
and tomorrow is my re-start day on healthy eating.
I enjoyed the holidays this year like never before and allowed myself to eat what was presented without saying,
"No thanks, I am on a diet"
and then feeling deprived.
This was my 2010 goal and it was a great feeling to see it come to pass.
I have to say, to God be the glory.
My goal for 2011, weight-wise, is to get to goal weight and maintain it.
I also want to learn what it would mean to love myself unconditionally,
and to believe God for greater things according to His promises this year.
In all, I feel it was a successful year for achieving my goals
and I have to thank God for without Him, it would not have been possible.
The battle (over temptation, ETC.) belongs to the Lord.
As we acknowledge His presence dwells within us, we are one step closer to true victory.
Looking to Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith, we can believe God who instructs our hearts:
“Be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s”.
His promises are yes and amen.
God always hears us when we pray according to His will.
His will is for us to bring Him glory and to believe and take Him at His word--
Jesus is His Word made flesh.
We have not because we ask not.
We have not because we ask with selfish motives.
If our motive is to glorify God in our bodies, we can have the desire of our hearts.
Worship is the key to minute by minute victory.
God inhabits the praises of His people.
His perfect love casts out ALL fear.
Faith is the opposite of fear.
Fear has no room to operate when our heart and mind is set on Him.
The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him
[who revere and worship Him with awe]
and each of them He delivers. ~ Psalm 34:7
Let's use the next 24 hours--minute by minute, to worship Him
and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus-the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Let us not look at the problem, nor even meditate on any negative thing;
but let us only look to and BELIEVE the One who can give us the victory.
It is my prayer tonight that each and every person who reads this blog and desires to experience victory,
WILL have it in Jesus' name.
To God be the glory, great things He has already done--in us, and for us!
Aren't you glad each day is a new day and the old has passed away?
New things are in store for us THIS YEAR.
Nothing is impossible to those who believe.
I am working on memorizing this verse and applying it to my life daily.
I hope you will consider doing the same!
And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord sent ambushments against (their enemies). 2Chronicles 20:22
My enemy is the flesh that is constantly trying to get me to conform to the world, and the devil, with all his empty promises and constant temptations...
Who are your enemies, my friends?
Who or what do you need the Lord to defeat for you?
God is not a man that He would lie to us.
Every man is a liar, but God is not.
God will perform His Word towards us.
He is faithful to keep His Word.
He said if we do our part (sing and praise), He will do His part,
send ambushments against our enemies!
Let's try Him at His Word over the next 24 hours and see what happens...what do we have to lose?
I praise you God, first of all, because YOU are always with us--you NEVER leave us or forsake us.
You are a good GOD; You are Love; You are kind!
I am full of praise just knowing that there is nothing that will happen to me or the ones I love today,
or any other day,
that does not first have to pass your inspection
and your permission.
You use everything,
both bad and good,
to draw us closer to you.
I praise you that you gave us the book of Job as a confirmation
that bad things only happen to us
to draw us into a right eternal relationship with YOU;
because when this life is over and done,
relationship with You is all that will really count.
You have taught me, through Job, to see trials differently.
I love how, at the end of his great trial,
Job said "I admit I once lived by rumors of You; now I have it all firsthand--from my own eyes and ears!"
In otherwords, Job's trials took him from head knowledge about you, God,
to heart knowledge
leading to personal relationship.
LORD GOD! I praise you for all the good AND bad things that have come into my life,
because every last one of them have shown me something new about You
and strengthened our love-relationship!
I love you Father! I will praise and worship You forever! Amen.
Hab 2:1 I will climb my watchtower and wait to see what the LORD will tell me to say and what answer he will give to my complaint.
Hab 2:2 The LORD gave me this answer: "Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance.
Hab 2:3 Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed.
What God seems to be saying to my heart through this passage,
is to listen to what He has to say and then write it down...
Write down my vision.
Make my plans (from Him) plain on paper.
Believe what He is showing me WILL COME TO PASS.
It may seem like it will never happen, but it certainly will take place.
So, I am going to write down my goals
and make a list of my God-given hopes and dreams.
Will you do it too?
Jesus is Immanuel, Word of God, made flesh,
and who Tabernacled among us.
We beheld His Glory; like Father, Like Son.
God dwelling with us in the Divine tabernacle of His Body; revealed the fullness of God.
He explained the Father. Jesus, in us, is God, The Cloud, The Glory, The Shekinah Glory, dwelling within us!
We are His Temple; His Cloud, His fire, is in us!
Oh God, help us to comprehend this awesomeness! Help us to behold and sense This Power, and to live as though YOU dwell and Tabernacle within us!
Oh LORD, allow us to behold your Manifest Presence and visibly see you, even as Israel saw you in Exodus, on the Mountain of God, and in the Temple.
LORD let us visibly see you and feel your power within. May we glorify you in these temples of flesh and KNOW what a treasure we contain in these "arks of flesh", containers of the Living God!
What a mystery...
what a privilege...
what a responsibility!
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!
For me, the scale stayed stuck on 131 today, for my Monday Weigh In. I think I have been at this number (except for one day at 129.5) for 8 days straight. I have to admit, I started to fret, but then just decided, I am not getting down about it. I prayed this morning and believe I got the answer for what to do next. I have not been as thankful as I should have been in being in the 130's. This was a long time coming for me, and then to be able to lose 13 plus lbs in 33 days, is totally amazing to me. I know it wasn't all my own "hard work" and "committment" - I needed God's help and knew it. One of the reasons for the scale being stuck for past 8 days, I believe (personal conviction--not put on anyone else LOL), is, I hadn't given God the rightful place and glory for what has been accomplished (my intent is not to sound religious or offend anyone--I am just being the authentic me here). I am very thankful today for even being in the 130's. Thankful hearts are more at peace and peace will be more fruitful than anxiety ever could. I believe this will move the scale by next Monday. I am not changing any other thing--just being thankful and giving God glory for what He has accomplished in me SO FAST. I have to remember that it wasn't just me, being committed, because I have been there and done that and it never really worked long term for me. it was Him in me, doing it through me. I am very thankful today and just needed to say so.
UPDATE:Well, if you read my blog yesterday, you saw that I had been stuck on 131 for about 8 days. After praying, I felt convicted that I needed to be thankful for even being in the 130's at all, and also that I need to give credit where credit it due for this weight loss accomplishment. I know myself too well to ever think I could do this on my own. So, I made a decision not to change anything at all in my plan, EXCEPT to be more thankful and to give God the glory for it all. Today, when I stepped on the scale, it had moved down one pound! Again, I am not proud or patting myself on the back at all. I am just plain THANKFUL to God. I knew when I started this journey that it wasn't all about the weight loss but about what I would learn about myself and my faith, along the way. It has been a great journey and I wouldn't trade the things I have learned for anything in the world. I am even thankful that I had all this weight to lose, so that I could learn all these valuable lessons, and grow closer to God through it all.
UPDATE: 1/31/11 at 127 today and feeling especially Thankful!
You are beautiful creations of the Living God. He made you each for His own glory and praise. I know the enemy would love to torment you with condemning thoughts and keep your mind set on negative things. But, because you have been very honest with your feelings, he can now show you what to do next. First, turn your hearts towards "home" to Jesus who lives and dwells inside of you. If you are a believer, He is the only one who can do this weight loss thing in you. I just was up last night spending time with Him and in His Word and He spoke this very thing to me.
APART FROM HIM, WE CAN DO NOTHING. NOTHING....NOTHING. That means, NOTHING that will bear fruit that will last for Him. Every good thing we do without Him will one day burn up and not be counted in God's books. Now, some of you know what I mean here, and others may be confused or disagree. Can we lose weight without God's help? Probably. But is that the way you want to do this? I don't. I want God to get all the glory for everything I accomplish, even losing weight.
The frustration comes when we think WE must DO something in and of ourselves. WE CAN'T. Not anymore. Not since we are born again. It is not possible. We can't even pray this way: "LORD HELP US!..." Not really. Because that is saying WE are doing something and want Him to just "help us" achieve "our plans" and "our goals", instead of realizing the best way is to realize it is HIM, in us, DOING it.
This is really deep thinking, I know, and I am still pondering it all myself. But I, for one, intend to meditate on this truth He gave me last night. ABIDE in HIM and he will abide in me. To allow HIM to choose my food for me today. To allow Him to be in control and NOT me or my flesh or my choosing or my decisions, because I will always choose wrong, for the most part, because I am selfish in and of myself and I usually want to pet and stroke my flesh and feed it what it is crying out for. BUT, the Spirit of God inside of me is calling out to me to surrender to His will--to allow HIM to choose for me. This is a mindset and we have to approach it spiritually. This will only be won on the spiritual field. We cannot win this battle in our flesh or in our own minds or by our own strength. The world can--WE CANNOT. We play by different rules now. This is the love of the Father towards us--He is disciplining us and and He is loving us by teaching us to ABIDE in Him and allow HIM to choose our food (taking the time to ask HIM before I reach for anything to eat).
I, for one, am going to practice this teaching He gave me today. I will report back. And remember this, it doesn't matter if someone weighs 320 or 120 lbs, as Christians, we are ALL accountable to live by the spirit and give the flesh no provision to lead us. I love you all and I pray that this makes sense and you can grab a hold of SOME part of this teaching of the Holy Spirit and run with it TODAY. Today is a new day.
Lord, Jesus, fill my friends and myself, with the POWER of your HOLY SPIRIT today. Fill us completely so that there is no provision or room for the flesh to rule or reign in our bodies. Fill our hearts and minds with the POWER of your Holy Spirit. We submit ourselves body, soul, and spirit to YOUR LEAD and YOUR DECISION for what we eat and drink today, and what words come out of our mouths. We want to glorify you in and with our bodies TODAY. Lord, you only promise us this day. Tomorrow is not promised to any of us. We commit ourselves to be in submission to your HOLY SPIRIT of promise, this day. We set our minds on you. We command our flesh to be quiet and submit today. This day is your day, Lord Jesus. We will glorify you with our bodies today. Amen!