by | Faith Lived Out
Have you ever been so excited about a new adventure in your life that you wanted to shout it from the rooftops, or at least tweet about it?
Me too.
You’ve waited for an opportunity. You’ve prayed about it. You told your friends about it. Then you waited for it to happen.
The day finally comes and the opportunity you’ve been seeking happens. You’re overjoyed, thrilled beyond words, feeling blessed, and super excited to share with the world.
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![A Prayer for Weight Loss]()
by | Faith Lived Out, Health & Wellness
God has taken me on a new course in this season of my life. It’s a season I pray never ends.
I am walking in surrenderance to Him with everything I have. That includes my body and my desire to use food as an escape. Oh how I’ve longed to be here, and I’m so thrilled He and I are working together to remove barriers that keep my focus off of Him.
I can’t continue taking the next right step without Him, and that involves prayer. A lot of prayer.
I want to share with you a prayer I received from Kimberly Taylor at Take Back Your Temple. I hope it takes you to a deeper place with a God who loves you more than you could ever imagine.
Lord, Your Word says that the renewing of my mind transforms me. Help me to be diligent in meditating upon Your Word every day, knowing that I am growing just as a seed planted into the ground. Because others have gotten healthier through Your Word and Your power, then the same can happen for me!
Even though I face challenges, there is nothing that is too hard for You. You know everything I am going through and You give me grace to deal with it.
You are the same God who parted the Red Sea, brought new life to barren wombs, helped people defeat enemies, restored sight to blinded eyes, made the lame walk, and raised people from the dead. I know it is a small thing for You to help me with this weight problem. You are omnipotent God. Your power is greater than any situation I face.
Today, I ask You to help me with any areas of unbelief. If there are any areas of blindness or self-deception within me that are preventing me from seeing the deliverance in front of me, then reveal it to me.
Lord, restore my hope so that I may move forward. You are faithful and I trust You each and every day as you walk with me through the change process. Amen.
How is God encouraging you to pray through your health struggles? Share with me.
by | Life Application
photo credit: luca m photography (creative commons)
Last week was a hard week for me. Do you ever have those spiritual ups and downs and you just wonder how long it will take to get out of them?
Me too..
As a matter of fact, I’m still working on it.
I finally got myself woke up last Tuesday morning from nightmares that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy and I was mad. I was mad at God. I was mad at the world. I was mad at my dreams. I was mad at the devil.
I picked up the bottle of sleeping aids next to me and threw them across the room. If I don’t take something to help me sleep, then insomnia rules the night. I felt like I was in a no win situation. I was trying to figure out how I would make it through the day. I wanted to see no one. I didn’t want to talk to anyone.
I was not counting it all joy. Thinking 4:8 thoughts was not on my agenda. I was tired. Tired of dreams. Tired of fighting so danged hard. Tired.
I did what I was supposed to do on my list.
- lunch with a client
- phone calls
- return emails
- put together a proposal
I asked those closest to me for prayer, and in their best attempt to make me feel better, I received spiritual answers. To be honest, that was the last thing I wanted to hear. I was already feeling guilty for being mad at God, then I would be sorry. Then I would be mad. I felt like Job and I just wanted to tell them all to shut up. But instead, I smiled on the inside, took their suggestions and went about the day.
I finally had to lie down and take a nap. I had nothing left in me by 4p. I had already decided I wouldn’t be working out and I certainly wasn’t going to small group to be around others I didn’t feel like being around. I had struggled throughout the day wondering if I wasn’t spiritual enough. I would get mad at God, then feel guilty. It seemed to be a cycle. I woke up about 45 minutes later, did some more work, ate dinner and went to small group. I decided my feelings were not in the place to make decisions for me.
When I got home that evening and got ready to settle into bed, I decided to journal. It’s one of my greatest forms of expression. Here’s part of that conversation between God and myself:
“Here I am. Part of me wants to talk to you and part of me doesn’t. Of course you already know that, because you already know my thoughts before I do. I’m tired and I don’t understand. I know I’ve told you that a gazillion times already. I don’t know what to do and I desperately want to know. What do I need to change? Please tell me. You promise that you will never leave me or forsake me, but when I woke up this morning I felt left. I felt like you weren’t there. I know that’s not true. Show me something. Tell me something please!”
By the end of my lamenting I was drawing closer to Him.
“You are my strong tower. My ever-present help in time of need. You are my Father. My friend. My protector. My strength. My wisdom. My heart. My everything. I know you’re not going to leave me. I’m not going to leave you either! I don’t want to do that again. I don’t ever want to be where I was in August 2009. NEVER! I want to sleep with Your Word close to me tonight. I know you are there. I know you are. I know you’re not leaving me. I don’t understand and I won’t pretend like I do, but I’m going to continue to trust you Father. Forgive me for my lack of trust today.”
That’s just what I did. I closed my eyes with my Bible in my hands. Still without understanding. But I chose to believe that He wasn’t going to leave me. Tomorrow would be a new day. I started that morning pissed off. But the night ended renewing my mind with the promise that God would never leave me.
What promise are you holding onto? Comment below…
![A Prayer for Weight Loss]()
by | Faith Lived Out
As I sat in the midst of the Captivating Retreat in Nashville, I had the honor of attending with my fellow sisters of the Daily Audio Bible community. Romans 12:2 was written on my heart.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Jill Hardin, lead speaker at the event gave a very profound statement: “We either conform or we transform.”
If not careful I can find myself quickly playing the game of the world. It’s so easy to be consumed in a single breath to the desires of my flesh. Before I know it I’m begging God for the oxygen mask. I am desperate for fresh air as I stand in the smog of the world. And just as He promises, God shows up with the oxygen and the fresh breath of His Word to pull me out of the pit. Sometimes it’s hard for me to figure out why He loves me so much.
But I also find that it’s those times of deep desperation that the transformation comes. Sometimes we just have to walk through the smog of the world before the inward changes happen. God happens to be patient enough to allow it.
Here are three questions to consider when deciding to conform or transform:
- What kind of person do you want to be?
- What is getting in the way?
- Are you a person running to other lovers? (food, alcohol, work, relationships, etc.)
What can you give up today that causes you to conform?
![A Prayer for Weight Loss]()
by | Faith Lived Out
Bible Gateway recently released the ten most searched Bible Verses. They gathered the results from their 8 million plus visitors to the popular site. Here they are:
10. Matthew 28:19: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
9. Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
8. Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
7. Proverbs 3:6: “In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
6. Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
5. Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
4. Philippians 4:13: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
3. Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
2. Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'”
1. John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
What do I see when I read these verses? That those 8 million viewers are searching for a purpose perhaps. Is there something they are missing? Should they trust in the God that so many people talk about? Does God love them?
Of course the most popular verse since the existence of Jesus, John 3:16 would be number one. I think it’s come to the point that everyone, even non believers knows that verse. Let’s change that. People don’t necessarily need to hear anymore that God loves them. They need to see that He loves them. We, as Christians need to show them through our actions how much the God that created the heavens and the earth loves them.
Maybe we should show them there is hope for the weary and burdened. Let’s show them we are not judges, but brothers and sisters in Christ. Remember though, we have to pull the plank out of our eyes to do so. Let us not make our brothers stumble. Let’s remind them that shame isn’t something they have to hold onto. I could keep going, but you get the point.
As a Christian, what are you doing to show the incredible, never ending love of the God who created us?
