Wednesday, February 27, 2008

FAITH THE SOUL'S GREAT NEED

Faith begets courage,
Courage begets victory,
Faith without courage is kin to doubt.

Faith implies trust,
And it implies confidence.
Faith is reliance in truth,
It is belief in one's activity.

Faith is vigorous,
It is vital.
Faith comes not on crutches.
Faith overpowers evil,
And overcomes weakness.

Faith builds.

Faith yields not to defeat.
Faith heals wounded hearts and sick bodies.

Faith does not stoop to conquer,
It rises in full stature.
Faith need not trumpet its success,
Its deeds speak.

True faith is not egotistical,
Yet it is positive.

Faith remains young.
The armor of faith is not pierced
by shafts of fear.

Faith is belief and trust in God.
by everett wentworth hill

I had been a little down over my failure but I realized that I wasn't having the faith that I needed to accomplish my goal. As the poem says, "Faith begets courage, COURAGE BEGETS VICTORY." If we are going to have victory then we are going to have to show courage even when we seemly fail. If we believe in what we are doing and for whom we are doing it then we should have trust and confidence that He will see us through.

I think sometimes that my faith does come on crutches. It is then that I am weak. Faith builds us up because we know that our faith is in God. We cannot let fear of failure stop us. We must continue on in God's way and we can if we make His will our way.

PSALM 91:10-11
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

PHILIPPIANS 4:13
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

ROMANS 8:25
BUT IF WE HOPE FOR THAT WE SEE NOT, THEN DO WE WITH PATIENCE WAIT FOR IT.

1JOHN 4:4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: BECAUSE GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD.

I pray for you as well as for myself victorious times ahead as we remember that "GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU, THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD. connie

Monday, February 25, 2008

A NEW DAY, A NEW TIME TO TRY

I have not been eating right at the right times or the right things for me. Result: a gain in weight. I have lost ground but not my determination to do what is right. There are many things involved in this and I know that I have not done the best I could have done so in that I have been wrong and have to get up and try again and do it right this time. I know that I have not lost the battle unless I quit trying and so I have not lost. I have to regain some ground that I have given to the enemy but I will just have to pray that if it was not my fault that it will come off as easy as it went on and because I didnot do my best and I have to pay the price then I pray that I will not compound the problem and get discouraged. I will not do that. So, here I am off to another week of trying to do it the right way. I have been trying some different things but for me they will not work so, I have to go back to the things that was working. This should be the last week that we have Doctors appointments for Jim. God has been so good to us and things are going so very well in that area. He hasn't hurt in over a week. I have not forgotten you all, I have just been too busy to post or to visit. I am still praying for you and I hope you are praying for me. Looking forward to the day when we can all say that we have met our goal . Have a good week. connie

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

NO LOSSES NO GAINS BUT VICTORY FOR ME!!!

I wanted to let you all know that I am still around. Those of you who read my other blog know that my husband has been having some health problems. The Lord is taking very good care of him and all is going well. It is taking lots of test and Doctor's appointments to rule out everything , it seems. So I have been very busy taking care of my wonderful husband and I am so very happy to be able to do this for him. In the past he has always taken very good care of me when I have had health problems. These tests and Doctor's visits will continue for at least another week or two. So I will not be able to be around very often. I do check in often as I can and am encouraged by each of you and your visits. Thank you so much.

I have neither gained nor lost so for me, I consider that VICTORY! We are having to eat away from home often which is fun being togeather but I can't eat the right way and the right things. So, no gain to me means I am staying in control and with all the help that God gives me and the encouragement from all of you I am not gaining.

I hope each of you are doing well, Even though I may not be able to pay you a visit, I have not ceased to keep each of you in my prayers. God bless and keep you all in His will. love you, connie

Monday, February 11, 2008

BE NOT CONFORMED BUT BE TRANSFORMED

I look out into my yard each morning and I am not just looking, I am longing to see something that is not there as of yet. I know that it is a little early , still I look each day to see. I am looking for the new leaves that will be coming very soon, I hope. I am not to fond of fall, it is very beautiful and it is much cooler but I love trees that are full of green leaves. Spring is my favorite times of the year. It is a time of renewing, of new growth, of vibrant green color. There has been a great transformation from Fall, then Winter and finally Spring.

In the fall, I see feel the air get cooler, then the leaves change color and finally drop off the trees one by one until they are very naked and bear. I know this has to take place before the Spring time comes and the new growth arrives all bright, strong and full of life. So this process takes time and I have to be patient. Then one moring when I go to my yard to look around there will be a complete transformation. A TREE FULL OF LIFE GIVING EVIDENCE BY ALL THE LITTLE GREEN BUDS THAT ARE POKING THERE HEADS OUT ON THE BRANCHES. My heart will rejoice and be glad and I will keep watching as the transformation continues. Then before I know it , those trees will be full and flourshing filled with more beautiful green leaves that I can count. It will give us shade in the hot sunny days of summer. Even now, I can feel the excitement filling my heart as I think about those coming times.

So, it is with you and I as we are being transformed. One by one we will lose those pounds. One thought at a time we will be letting the Lord transform our thinking so that we can better handle the battles that we will face in the future concerning the food that is around us every day of our lives. We will drop those bad habits and learn new and healthy ones. Even now as I read your blogs, I am being made stronger in body and mind. I have learned some very good new and healthy recipes and the different ways that you all are succeeding in your lives. I value everything that I have learned and I thank you. I have added to my memory many of the verses that some of you give for strengthening our purpose and will. They have been a great help.

We must go through this transformation and it is not always pretty to look at not easy to live with yet as the days go by, we are being transformed into that person and body that God would have us to have to be pleasing to Him. One day, with much determination and purpose and focus we will see the person we are striving to become. Then one day we will have become. My heart gets very excited about that day. We can not give up, we have to go through the transforming before becoming the butterfly. The reward will be worth each moment of sacrifice and effort.

I know now something that I truly never knew before. With you and I it will be a daily battle. We are weak in the area of food for what ever reason. We can win this battle daily as we give it to the Lord and let Him lead us in this area also. So, with you, I am looking forward to that peek in the mirror one day soon and actually be able to see for myself that budding of a new body and feel in my mind new thoughts that have taken root and are growing stronger each and every day. God be with you, my friends in our transforming and our becoming what God would have us to be. connie

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

THE WORK AND THE EFFECT

ISAIAH 32:17

And the WORK of righteousness shall be PEACE; and the EFFECT of righteousness QUIETNESS and ASSURANCE FOR EVER.

WORK-----ACTIVITY IN WHICH ONE EXERTS STRENGHT OR FACULTIES TO DO OR PERFORM SOMETHING; SUSTAINED PHYSICAL OR MENTAL EFFORT TO OVERCOME OBSTACLES AND ACHIEVE AN OBJECTIVE OR RESULT.

Trying to lose weight is work. There can not be another name for it. It is easy to eat too much but to get the excess weight off once it has been put on requires physical and mental efforts to overcome obstacles and achieve our objective to lose the excess and reach our objectives. Each of us have different goals in what we need to lose but we all have the same objective and that is to achieve our goal weight and be pleasing to our Lord.

EFFECT----Something produced by an outward cause, result; An outward sign

We all want to have the correct effect. We want our effect to show an outward sign in a lighter weight. If we want the proper effect then we have to work and when we do these two things we will have peace , quietness and assurance for ever. When we know that we have done the right thing in any thing we are attempting to achieve then we do have peace, do we not? That peace will cause our hearts to be quiet and filled with assurance in that we are pleasing God with our efforts to do what is right.

Now, I know that these verses are not talking about losing weight, that are found in Isaiah but I think that they speak words that can apply to our situation because we know that" the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effects of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." These words are not speaking to our situation but the truth of them do apply, I believe. I have found them a help to me and maybe they will help you. I hope that I have made you understand what I have been trying to say. I am praying that we all are working the right way this week and that we can all have peace knowing that we are pleasing God. In that, we will find quietness and assurance in our hearts. connie

Sunday, February 3, 2008

WHEN IT IS DARK ENOUGH

"WHEN IT IS DARK ENOUGH, YOU CAN SEE THE STARS."
charles a. beard


1 Corinthians 12-13

WHEREFORE LET HIM THAT THINKETH HE STANDETH TAKE HEED LEST HE FALL. THERE HATH NO TEMPTATION TAKEN YOU BUT SUCH AS IS COMMON TO MAN: BUT GOD IS FAITHFUL, WHO WILL NOT SUFFER YOU TO BE TEMPTED ABOVE THAT YE ARE ABLE; BUT WILL WITH THE TEMPTATION ALSO MAKE A WAY T ESCAPE, THAT YE MAY BE ABLE TO BEAR IT.

I have found myself actually complaining this past week. It seemed everywhere that I looked there was food. It all started when I made dinner for some of my family and bought stuff that was extra and that I shouldn't have had in the house. (remember, I have a problem with food, not alcohol, not drugs, etc but food. ) I knew better but I did it anyway. I think I have a problem that I am just seeing and it is that I feel , for some reason more secure when the pantry is full to overflowing. I have put my trust in a full pantry instead of the Lord in this area. I don't know if I think that we will wake up one day and be without food or what it is but I have got to give this to the Lord. Then it seemed everywhere I went there was food, food and more food.

It wasn't the food that was the problem it was my attitude toward the food. So for me I know that I didn't please God this week because complaining is never pleasing to God. I started going to the scripture to find an answer so hopefully in the days ahead , I will not have this same problem and hopefully not the same problem just wrapped in a different situation.

The verses that I found that helped me and maybe they will you also if you find yourself in such a week. I have applied these verses in other situations in my life but I found that they have helped me with this situation also.

Just when I was beginning to think that I had the battle almost won and I would be able to do it in my own strength, I didn't take heed so there were times this week that I failed. I forget to remember that God knew the temptations that I would face this week and that He is a faithful Lord, God and he would not put any food before me that I could not say no to and do it without complaining. He would put along with the temptation a way to escape. You know what, I didn't even look for an escape. I didn't even try to bear it. I just thought how much I was having to go through not being able to eat all the things that my eyes and heart was lusting after. I didn't even ask God for help before the situations arose. I just dove head first into a situation without my armour on. I failed and I am sorry to have to report this to you but I would not be honest if I did otherwise.

I felt sorry for myself for few hours but then got on my knees and ask God to forgive me and to help me to remember that He would always make a way for me to escape if I just looked and want to. I would also like to apologize to each of you for not being a good example and I hope that my failure does not become a stumbling block to any one of you. You can do it. I know that I am determined to do better this next week.

As this next week comes, I already know that there are going to be extra opportunities to be around food. We are having guests over for dinner on Friday night so I know that will be one time. I am sure as the days go by there will be other opportunities to "TAKE HEED." I am starting to night to make a plan for my escape not literally but you know what I mean.

I hope each of you had a good week. But if like me, you did not do your best. Get up, and try again. As long as we are trying we have not lost the battle or the war. love you all, connie