WEIGH DOWN DIET week 18

I have to report first and foremost, that I am back down to the '25 POUNDS LOST' mark once again! Praise God!! I do think God is gettin' in my head and helpin' me out....this is a wonderful thing!

As I mentioned last week, I started reading Rise Above by Gwen Shamblin. It is a wonderful read and very hard to put down. (In fact, I should have written this post yesterday, but used my blogging time to read her book....oops!) So much of what she offers up is so practical. For instance, we (dieters) have made such a big deal about our food. What to eat, what not to eat, what diet to try, what diet not to try...etc. If you think about it though, we don't put any effort or thought into how much air we breathe. We just do it. We don't think, "Hmm, I'm getting a little low on oxygen right now....I'd better take a gulp of air." "Gee, I wonder how much air I should breathe in? Do you think this is too much....(inhale, inhale, inhale!)" We just breathe. We enjoy the fact that God, our creator, designed a perfect body that works as it should. Eating can be the same way so long as we get our focus OFF of food and ON TO God.

She also points out that we have responsibility....the ability to make a response. We have been given a heart that can make a choice. What are we going to fixate on all day? Counting calories? How much food we can binge on? How much exercise we need to stay slim? Or God? (Keep in mind I do not think exercise is wrong or bad, but if it is a means to allow your heart to still be addicted to food, then I do believe you are exercising for the wrong reasons. If exercising is the only way to stay slim, then that means people bound by wheelchairs can never lose weight. As I have seen, those who are unable to exercise CAN LOSE WEIGHT!)

Genesis 4:6-7 tells us: "Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.'" I can master the sin of greed for food. I do believe God gave us a heart to be addicted - He just intended the addiction to be for Him!

I am already writing so much more than I intended, but if you can tell, this book has really got the gears in my brain a twitchin'! All of my issues with food (or any other addiction I may have) starts with my mind. My mind should be on God and what He wants. If my mind is on what I want, then I am being controlled by my sinful nature. I need to ask God what He wants EVERY day.

Okay, this may be a lot for some of my readers to take in, but I have just been overwhelmed by the ideas in this book. I hope I wasn't too haphazard in presenting what I read. I would STRONGLY encourage anyone reading this post (who struggles with any addiction) to buy this book. I really do think all of us have some kind of addiction -- there is much to be addicted to! What do you struggle with? Maybe it's not food, but alcohol, cigarettes, materialistic items, money, stealing, lying, being lazy, watching too much TV, etc....the list can go on and on! God can help you with whatever causes you to stumble. (okay, I'm done now...let me kick my soap box back over here in the corner.)

I'm stickin' with my verse from last week -- though it is short, I still believe it is powerful!

1 Thessalonians 5:6
So then, let us not be like others who are asleep but let us be alert and self-controlled.

25 POUNDS LOST 21 DAYS TO GO!!