Our God is so Faithful in so many ways! TFW

I am praising our Lord this morning for many blessings. I love waking up to see the sun rising again.  Our God is so faithful!  I love hearing my hubby say that he is feeling a little better.  Our God is so faithful!  I love digging into God's Word with our Faithful Weigher's and learning truths about who He is to me and how He created me. About what I may be thinking that is contrary to His Word and holding  me in a place of repeated frustration.  Our God is so faithful! 

One comment I have heard more than once is that "This is deep!"  It certainly is!!  As I have asked God to keep my eyes and heart open to see what is behind my "stinkin thinkin",  He is faithful to my request and I am thankful for this digging deep.   In our walk with Him, isn't it our deepest desire to grow ever closer to Him?  To grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, as it says in 2 Peter 3:18?   We should never be satisfied to stay where we are but to desire to grow, and change according to His likeness.  If we don't have that desire, then perhaps we are "happy" in our "stinkin thinkin" of being "stuck" in the places that we find ourselves.  For those of us that meet weekly at TFW, we were ready to discover from God's Word, why we continue to think like we do when it comes to the repetitive ways that we have struggled with in our healthy eating journey.  

If you have joined us in this study about "Discovering our Strongholds" with James MacDonald, we are moving from discovering our dispositions to the "Destroying the Strongholds of Family Dysfunctions".  We have included a youtube for today's teaching.  May you listen to this with the prayer that God will be pleased to show to you what He wants you to hear.  Take notes.  Pray about what you have heard and ask God to show you what may be behind your thinking, as you continue your walk with Him.

Many prayers and blessings for each of you this day, my sweet Faithful Weigh Friends.

Mary Ann

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSRejiVhSU4

Why a study on Strongholds in a weight-loss support group?

Happy Wednesday, Faithful Weigher's!! God is blessing us with a beautiful, sunny morning with the hope of warmer temps headed our way!  I have to say that this has given me a new "spring" in my step!  LOL 

We were blessed with a couple of new ladies at our meeting yesterday and this is how I explained our current study on Strongholds.  On the surface, one could ask what this has to do with weight-loss and our healthy eating journey.  This is the insight that God has given to me as I asked myself the same question.

Having been on this journey for 4 + years now, along with several of our members of The Faithful Weigh, we know how we should eat, what we should eat, about portion sizes, reading labels, how our body reacts to excessive eating and too much of a not-so-good things in our food choices.  We have been on a multitude of different diets and eating plans for several years. We have lost weight, gained it back, lost it again, gave up trying and have beat ourselves up for failing, once again. 

The statement that grabbed me as I was listening to this series by James MacDonald on "Destroying Strongholds" was this; "Stop thinking why do I do this and starting thinking why do I think this way?" 

Yes, we can stop doing things, even seeking the strength of God to help us.  We are thankful and give Him the glory for those successes.  However, because of our human, sinful nature, we tend to grow complacent in that success and soon, we find ourselves in the same place again, asking the question, "Why do I do this?"

This is where that statement grabbed me.  Am I retreating to these old patterns because of strongholds in my thinking that I have not yet surrendered to God's control instead of my own? 

 What I have learned so far is that my main disposition style is that I can be sufficient in my own strength and accomplishments and step away from the truth that God is my sufficiency and I need to lean fully on Him and not myself. 

If you have questions what this study on Strongholds has on your healthy eating & living journey, I hope that you take the opportunity to listen to the podcasts we have listened to so far and see if this is something that God has brought you to do grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  As usual, the truths I am learning from this not only pertains to my healthy eating journey but has already given me such insight on the relationships in my life.  I am learning more and more about grace!  God's grace for me, the grace others have for me and the grace that God is calling on me to have for those in my life and that I come in contact with.  It is ALL GOOD and ALL THINGS from our Lord are good!!  Praise His Name and to Him we give the glory for bringing us to this study at this time.

Hope this is beneficial to you as you continue your journey with us.

Blessings in the name of my Lord and Savior,

Mary Ann

Making Me Lie Down??? TFW

The second section of our "If You Have a Craving..." chapter for this week shares a verse from Psalms 23.  As Laurie commented at our last meeting, you most often hear this Psalms read at funeral s.  However, there is so much more to it than a comfort for those grieving a loss of a loved one.  This chapter gives us the picture of our Lord as a Shepard and we are His sheep.  Sheri writes, "When we feel like your soul is dying of thirst and you have nothing left to give, stop everything and be still."  Psalms 23:2 says, "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters."   Ahhh, that sounds so peaceful, doesn’t it?  

You know how I always notice the action words in verses that instruct us on how to live and walk in our Lord?  Well, this scripture also has action words but they are not what we need to do, but they are what our Lord has done and will do for us. 

Because I wanted to know how the Lord "makes me lie down", I went to one of my favorite books,  A Shepard Looks at Psalms 23 by Phillip Keller.  Before I had the pleasure of reading this, I did not know the duties of a shepherd caring for his flock of sheep. What a beautiful picture of our Lord and how He cares for us.

Let me share with you from Chapter 3 of this amazing little book about sheep.  In order to lie down there are four requirements that need to be met.        Because of their timidity, they  refuse to lie down unless they are free from fear.

Because of their social behavior, they will not lie down unless they are free from friction with others of their kind.

If they are tormented by flies or parasites, they will not lie down. 

If they are hungry, they will not lie down.

It is the shepherds responsibility to take care of these four things, in order to "make" them lie down and rest.  Also, In order for them to rest, the shepherd needs to be nearby because when he is near, the sheep know they are safe and cared for. 

Wow!  Did you know all of this needed to take place before sheep would rest? Keller brings this to a Christian's life in these words. "..There is no substitute for the keen awareness that my Shepherd is nearby.  There is nothing like Christ's presence to dispel the fear, the panic, the terror of the unknown."

Our God, because of who He is and His eternal love and care for us, makes it possible for us to lie down and rest. Do we trust Him to have met these four "requirements" so that we can rest and be refreshed?  He desires for us to bring our fears to Him.  He instructs us in His Word how to act and respond to others.  He assures us that we can denounce the tormentors attacks in the name of Jesus.  He fills our empty souls with His Living Word and feeds  our bodies with  the bounty of  healthy, nourishing foods He has provided.   God does all of this for us so that we can lie down in green pastures.

 There are many more pages in this wonderful little book that go on to describe how "green pastures" come about with the extensive work and care of the shepherd.    But for now, let's just rest our minds and souls on all that our Lord has done for us so that it is truly possible to be "made to lie down". To rest and be refreshed.  Right now, in this moment, knowing that He is our Shepherd and we shall not want.

Blessings at the close of this Lord's Day, my sweet Faithful Weigh Friends,

Mary Ann

Refreshed! TFW

It is no wonder that every book study that we have done in TFW has touched on the need to rest and be refreshed.  This study with Sheri Rose Shepard also brings us to our chapter for this week on "Craving Real Refreshment". 

In the "New Life Recipes", she talks about refreshing others and bringing refreshment to ourselves.  How very true this is!  I was very blessed to have a mother that was always giving of herself for others refreshment.  With a smile and sometimes great physical effort, she blessed and was blessed.  Because of her example, I, too, find much joy in blessing others with refreshment.  In the past few weeks, my sister-in-law and I are doing some volunteer re-decorating and we get a chuckle at how we are enduring sometimes painful efforts because we  "get to"  stand back when it's all done and go "Wow"!  Aha!!  This is what it means to be "refreshed as we refresh others".  We and the owners of those rooms, are getting a lift! A double "refresh"!  Two for One!  What a deal! Don't you love a bargain?! :)  Yes, it cost a little money and muscle aches and pains BUT what a "lift" we experience in our hearts and souls!   God has a purpose for putting  verses like Proverbs 11:25 in His Word! "The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed."   

 If this  kind of "refreshment" is not one that you are accustom to or may think that you can't do, perhaps God has brought this truth to you this week to satisfy a craving in your heart.  Perhaps He is asking you to step out of your comfort zone of just doing for yourself and your household.  Yes, it will cost you!  Perhaps  some monetary and/or physical expense but the amazing sense of joy that will arise from your very soul will be the refreshment of doing and giving to others , which God has called us to do.  I was very blessed to learn that a  FW friend dropped off a bowl of her homemade clam chowder to another FW friend, just a few days ago. What refreshing news that was for me and I wasn't even the recipient!  I KNOW that God's Word put into action, brought refreshment to both of their souls!   The definition of "refreshed" always starts with the words, "The act of".  This means that you must DO something in order to fill this craving of your heart and soul.  The spiritual results of being refreshed will keep you from seeking food to attempt to fill a physical craving that just is not there.

Blessings to you, my Sweet Faithful Weigh Friends, as you refresh your souls with God's truths this weekend.

Mary Ann

Give In?? TFW

Happy Thursday, Faithful Weigher's!

  I don't always like the world's sayings about the different weekdays because they are all made and given by the Lord.  However, yesterday just seemed to be a "Hump Day" for me.  My energy level was not there and it did seem to be a struggle to keep moving and stay focused on the task at hand.  Things seemed to get mixed up and burned, as did my dinner on the grill and the eggs I was attempting to boil.   God, in His mercy, carried me through the day.  Maybe not on the wings of eagles but none the less, I know He carried me because He is faithful!

Sheri Rose challenged us this week, on her short video, to find a verse, meditate on it and see how it applies to our lives.  Just one verse.   Where do I start when the scriptures are FULL of verses that I should be applying to my heart and life?   Usually, when I just go to something that I am already reading, such as Jesus Calling, The Daily Bread, a book in the Bible I may be reading through or a book study I am doing, God is so faithful to bring me to a verse that I need to hear with my heart. 

In our book and handout, the first "New Life Recipes" is "Give In".  The verse in Ezekiel 36:26 says, " I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you.  I will take out  your stony, stubborn hear t and give you a tender, responsive heart." (NLT)   The NIV  and several other translations say …"and give you a heart of flesh."   From my NIV notes, the word "flesh" in the Old Testament usually meant a symbol of weakness and frailty.  In the New Testament it usually means the sinful nature, opposing God.  In this verse, however, it means the opposite of a hard, stone heart but one that is pliable and teachable.   This helped me understand this part of the verse better.   In this  part of the book of Ezekiel, these are the prophesies and promises that God had made to Israel.  God is telling them that  He will give them, His people, a new heart.  He, also, will give us, His daughter's , a new heart and a new spirit.   When will He do this, we ask?  When will a new heart and a new spirit replace our "stony, stubborn heart"?  This is the part that I started to ponder.

Sheri Rose asked us to take an honest inventory of our deepest desires.  Hmmm...what ARE my deepest desires?  Can I list them off from the top of my head? No...she said my "deepest desires".  I have to dig down past my immediate "I want's".  Down through the "I wish's".  Down to the yearnings of my heart, some even so small that I dare not form them into words, at this point of my life. 

But one of those yearnings that has words is for the salvation of my children.  I have to say, this is my most deepest yearning. I know that this within God's will for all souls that are lost.  One verse that comes to my mind is 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance."  God is patient and I, too, through His mercies, will be patient and trust for His will to be done in my children's heart and lives.    When you get to that deepest yearning, Sheri Rose asks us if we want that more than God's will for us, or in my case, for others?  Now, this is DEEP!

So, I went down deep but on the way down there, I found that I had to climb over some stony areas.  I went back to those areas and stopped on top of the stone piles.  Are these desires in line with the will of God?  Am  I desiring to do things, which are noble and even scriptural, that just may not be in His plan for my life?   Perhaps they are in His plan for someone else's life that I have seen and I am only wishing that it was for me?  Hmmm…..perhaps these are the "stony, stubborn" areas of my heart that I need to "give in" to the Lord, confess my stubbornness about my wants and wishes and allow Him to give me a "tender, responsive" heart to His will for me in these areas.  They may just disappear once those blinders of "this is want I want to do" are gone!   May He fill my heart with desires to fulfil His perfect plan and will for who He created me to be and do for His glory.

My sweet Faithful Weigh Friends, don't pass by this opportunity that God has brought to you to. Go digging down to see your deepest desires through the eyes of God, who created you and knows you from the inside out.   Do you wonder what this has to do with weight-loss?  Perhaps you will find on your way down to your deepest desire, the "want or wish" to be "skinny" or to look like you "used to" look way back when.  Perhaps God's purpose for bringing you to this is to stop climbing over those heavy, stony places and "taste and see that the Lord is good" and His will for you is to live in His freedom. 

Blessings to each of you today.

Mary Ann

Happy Friday and first weekend in October! TFW

Where have those sunny, summer days gone?  It seems we have been forced to jump into the next seasons without any transition time.  Our air conditioner is still in the window and I still have fans sitting around the house because only a week ago, we needed them.  Last night, we had to turn on the furnace! 

Hmmm....doesn't it seem that way in our lives, too?  We heard Sheri Rose talk about being "in" the season in which we find ourselves and not trying to still "fit in" to our last season. Sometimes, or very often, we find ourselves into a new season before we really have had the chance to prepare for it!  It may be a season of illness, an empty nest, becoming a parent or grandparents, a season of grieving, divorce or financial difficulties.  Even though there may be symptoms for what is to come and perhaps time to prepare, the actual season we find ourselves in still brings us the feeling of "How did we get here?". 

So I will speak to myself, "Mary Ann, you had time to prepare for the coming fall season.  The calendar showed you this, as it has since you were born, so buck up!"  The truth is, I chose to ignore the symptoms of the coming fall season. My love for the warmth and "freedom from heavy clothes" from the last season kept me in this "fairy tale" frame of mind that if I ignored it, it wouldn't happen.  

Perhaps we are ignoring the signs that are showing us the reality of what season we are in? Perhaps we are seeing the signs but choosing to do and be what we have always done and then we whine to our reflection in the mirror, "How did I get here?"  Our reflection may show wrinkles, fat rolls, saggy skin, worry lines, graying hair, sad eyes,or an empty soul.  My sweet Faithful Weigh Friends, these all could be symptoms of a new season God has brought you to for His purposes and glory.  This could be a season in your life that He has called you to be salt to those around you. This could be the very season that it is time to stand on the truth of God's Word and know that it is good.  

Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-14.  There is a time for everything! Verse 11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom it."   

I pray that today,you will seek and find the good in the season God has you in.  Yes, it is fall and yes, the colors are beautiful, the air is crisp and my God is so very good to me!  I praise His holy Name the I "get to" wake up this morning, breathe, move and go to my job. and I may not be able to fully fathom eternity but I know that I have the hope of eternity with my Lord Jesus Christ! Hallelujah!

Blessings to each of you this day, my Sweet Faithful Weigh Friends,

Mary Ann   

TFW - May in Motion. God's Plan, My Attitude!

Happy Faithful Weigh Tuesday, everyone!  I know yesterday wasn't a great walking day, well, after I got out of work that is.  However, my Action plan was to walk 3 or 4 times this past week and that I did! :)  A small victory but enough that I can feel the difference in my body and my spirits!!  Thank you, Lord! :)  How did your Action Plan go for this week?  Did you wait until this morning to find your Action Card and then try to remember what it was you were "gonna" do and then try to write something "spiritual" down for at least a couple days of the week?  This may sound a little harsh but I have to tell you that I have found myself doing this and it grieves me.  God has given this to us for our benefit.  He doesn't need to use this Action Plan or anything, for that matter, to show us who He is in our daily lives.  However, He chose to bring us to this little "push" of a plan to bring us into communing with Him daily, as we carry out our Action Plan and more importantly, seeking His truth in it.  I know for a fact that He wouldn't have brought me to this if He didn't have something for me to see about myself and most importantly, about who HE is to me, even in my lack of discipline of caring for His temple. It was Saturday morning before I found my card, still in my blue binder.  I started thinking about what God's truth would be for my plan of walking/exercising...to be Moving in May.  I was reminded that I "get to" move.  I "get to" go to work.  I "get to" go about my day freely.  Why do I "get to"?  Why do I "get to" do anything?  Then, as I looked out my porch windows, I saw the verse on our name plaque above the mailbox.  Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plan for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (esv) THIS is why I "get to"!  Because my God, who through His love, grace, mercy and forgiveness towards me, has a plan for me.  A plan for my good.  To give me hope for a future.  A future that I will be able to continue to serve Him with vigor and energy and health.  I don't know what the future holds, only He does, but for today, He has given me the ability to move and do and go.  I "get to" go for a walk because of His grace and mercy to me.  It's in my attitude...this is where the procrastination comes from.  This is where the "hopelessness" comes from that it's not really going to help me lose weight.  What is 3 walks a week going to do, anyways?!  Lord, forgive me for an attitude that discounts Your plan for me to move and sustain the health you have blessed me with.  A prayer from our Faithfully Fit book study, (7/10/12) says this, "...I am thankful for the special plan you have for me. I want to cooperate with that plan in my life -in the way I eat and exercise, and in all of my decisions. Help me to be at peace with myself, not constantly striving to be something that you have not designed me to be. Help me not to fear my weakness, but to trust your overcoming power in me. I thank you, Lord, for these places and times of testing that help me to grow stronger in You, Amen"  God has brought me to this Action Plan for this week, for this time in my journey.  Today, because of God grace, mercy and peace within me, I will go for a walk and thank Him that I "get to"!  So, how has your week been?  He will meet you right where you are, right at this moment.  Meet Him!  He has a plan for you that is good and that will give you hope and a future.  That future is a closer walk with Him each day for eternity!  Praise God! :)  Get walking and rejoice because we "GET TO"!!  Have a blessed day and week ahead, my sweet Faithful Weigh Friends!