Claim God’s Power as Your Own

Sharon’s last blog was “Self-Control”. God led me to 2 Timothy 1:7 during another Bible study this month so I’m going to follow God’s pathway and Sharon’s lead because it must be the direction I need to go.

I am empowered when I read this scripture in 2 Timothy. And I know I really need to be empowered. I’m going to post this verse in noticeable spots around the house so I can be reminded and remember the promise God gives me and you!

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline,” (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV).

Positive self-talk and reminder notes of encouragement really help me keep my focus on God and what He can do in my life. This weight-loss/healthy-diet/healthy-body challenge that we share feels like a mountain climb at times. That’s how this blog was established. Sharon and I hoped that God could use us to help others who struggle, too.

Try writing this scripture and posting it somewhere and let it speak to you in the weeks ahead. And claim God’s spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline as your very own.

Gloria D. Stewart

Self-Control

Self-Control

            “Be careful of what you pray for.”  How many times have you heard that, or maybe said it yourself?

            Well, I’ve been asking God to remove pride from within me.  Guess what?  He’s been answering my prayers.  No surprise, right?

            First of all, when I went to the car wash (the kind the car passes through on some kind of “magic belt”) last Thursday, had it not been for staff, I would have run into the pick up in line in front of me.  Because my windows were fogged over, I couldn’t read the instructions, and I hadn’t put my car in neutral.

            Then, also last Thursday, I totally forgot to post to Sharing Glory, and Gloria had to remind me of my omission.  Please forgive me, Readers.

            Being humbled can be a shameful place—if I allow it to be.  Or I can allow God to teach me that “in my weakness, He is strong” (2 Cor. 12:9).

            How easily I can forget that in my eating.  Self-control is not a strength I can just will within myself, but if I allow the Holy Spirit to guide my life, self-control is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).  God can be my strength in my food weakness.

            Be careful of what we pray for?  I don’t think so.  God knows what we need.

My Source of Well-being

God, You must tire of my constant moaning about my overeating and lack of weight loss. Yet here I am, a month later; another pound heavier. How can that be? I’ve begun water aerobics regularly. I’ve been walking on the treadmill. I thought the exercise element was what I was lacking.

I also thought I deserved that delicious pint of YO 2 coffee-flavored frozen yogurt.

I have a thinking problem. I justify in my mind the overeating. “I exercised. I skipped breakfast. It’s yogurt, how bad can it be?!”

In this instance I read the label closer and found that the pint was actually four servings of 220 calories each. That is 880 calories for the pint. I ate it anyway.

“I say to the Lord, “You are the Lord, my only source of well-being”,” (Psalm16:2 NET). “I have no good apart from you…”  (Psalm 16:2 ESV). Amen.

It is a new month, a new day. I might as well start fresh, again. What I need is a forever good-for-you healthy diet where I eat what my body needs to live and be strong. Lord, I can’t do it without you.

Will you join me in trying again to lose the extra pounds? Beginning with smaller portions of a healthy diet and keeping the exercise. Hold me accountable next month and I will do the same for you. Let’s do this. Together.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore,” (Psalm 16:11 ESV).

Gloria D. Stewart

Sacred

The Epistle for this past Sunday, January 14, was from First Corinthians.  The section read included this verse:  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own (6:19)?

That verse gave me pause.  A temple is sacred.  This verse tells me I am sacred, and the Holy Spirit resides in me.

I continued my reflection.  A temple is to be well taken care of.  The God we believe in, worship, follow is a Triune God, and He made us Triune beings—physical, mental and spiritual.  If I am a temple of the Holy Spirit, in order to take good care of this temple, I need to take care of myself in these three areas.  For today, I’ll just reflect on the physical aspect of myself.

The medical industry tells me I need to rest properly, avoid dangerous situations, exercise and provide my body with proper nourishment.  That’s the way God made me—I need food in order for my body to function properly.  But nowhere in the New Testament did He tell me any foods are forbidden (yes, food rules were given to the Israelites).  He did place within me an appestat, which lets me know when I am hungry and when I am full just as the gas gauge in my car tells me when to fill the tank and when I don’t need to.

I love Scripture, for it contains guidelines for living, and it tells me that going beyond full is not good for me.  The medical industry agrees.  Too much going beyond full can cause obesity; medicine has published a long list of diseases/illnesses to which obesity can contribute.  Sometimes it’s hard not to overeat; what I am eating may be delicious, or I may have been too hungry when I began to eat and consequently overeat.

Jesus was fully divine and fully human.  I seriously doubt He ever overate, but He experienced all human feelings, so He understands when I goof up and overeat.  He just loves me and is right beside me to pick me up and help me get back on track to take loving care of this Temple God created and perhaps listen better to my appestat the next time I eat.

                                                                                                                        Sharon Witty

New Year, New Grace

The new year gives us a fresh, empty page on which to write our story. That’s why so many people enroll in exercise classes, buy memberships to gyms, and start new diets in January. They are filled with fresh goals and hope.

But, here I am on January 4 and I’ve done none of the good things above. I feel tired and fat and unhappy.

Last time in Sharing Glory Sharon encouraged us to be the best ‘me’ I can be. I am failing.

So I bow down in humility and remember that God loves me, even when my eating behavior must make Him shake His head. He loves me anyway, just as I am. When I really think about that, I’m amazed. Then I’m saddened by my weak nature, my lack of control and resistance.

And I pray, “Lord, Help me change. Show me how to conquer this addiction to food. Guide me to a better pathway where I can find success in this area of my life in 2018 and beyond. Amen.”

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word,” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 NIV).

We can do this - with God’s grace!

Gloria D. Stewart