Thought For The Day

People often decide that God loves or doesn't love them based on their behavior or appearance.  Human beings love conditionally - and in many cases, those who struggle with weight issues bear the brunt of teasing, ostracizing, or other displays of love loss.  But God loves unconditionally.  He looks at your heart, not your physical body.  Of course, he cares about your health - but whether or not you "live by the dieting rules" doesn't affect His love for you.  God wants  to give you His best.  This includes great health - both internally and externally.  He wants you to be healthy spiritually, but He also wants to provide for you psychologically and emotionally.  This is the gift of a loving God.  He doesn't change.

Exercise, but start slowly.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  Likewise, a 275-pound body can't jog three miles a day or bounce up and down on an elliptical machine for hours on end.  Start by walking.  Slowly.  Then, as weight begins to come off, gradually pick up speed.

Oh, the joy of losing those first few pounds.  Oh, the satisfaction knowing you're on your way.  Oh, the frustration of secretly fighting the same old temptations.  One of the hardest struggles at this point in the journey is the never-ending battle between right and wrong.  The weight is coming off, and it's because you're doing things right.  You're still struggling with old temptations and are tempted to do the wrong thing.  Relax!  Try to remember that every day is a journey of its own.  You will make mistakes, but you can just as surely pick up the pieces and begin again tomorrow.  Look how far you've come, after all!

Change is never easy, is it?  How we are designed on the outside has been our primary focus for weeks, but the real change must come on the inside.  God has designed us to crave Him, not food.  This means that our focus must shift from food to Him.  Sounds easy, but in the real world it's often more tempting to reach for something visible than to reach out to the Lord.  He is calling us, wooing us, to do the right thing.  Way, down deep, in the interior of our souls, we can hear His call for change.  Everyday, we should draw closer to Him than the day before, until finally we hear His voice so clearly that we stop questioning.

Why do we eat so much?  It's a puzzling question.  We don't always eat to be satisfied.  More often than not, we wolf down a ton of food in a hurry and don't get the sensation of being full until later.  And the fastfood businesses know we're in a hurry.  They cater to our speedy lives.  They hand us huge portions, far larger than our parents or grandparents would ever have considered eating.  We not only eat those portions, but we eat them quickly, not giving them time to fill us up before we're reaching for a dessert or a soda to chase them down.  The next time you go to a fas-food restaurant, take a good long look at what you've been served.  Then cut it in half and eat it as slowly as you can.  A little cetainly goes a long way.

Pollyanna had an infectious optimism.  Not a bad thing if it's rooted in real fatih and hope.  But sometimes in the real world it's hard to maintain optimism, particularly if it's a false optimism or one grounded in self.  Acknowledging your struggles, dealing with them head-on, is a more practical way to overcome them.  Plastering a false smile on your face, pretending everything is terrific , might make you look better, but it will ultimately leave you isolated.  Let your optimism be rooted in the realty of God's overcoming power.  Only then will it be truly infectious.

We often eat the moment we experience hunger pangs.  However, if we would pace ourselves, we would find that the pangs subside with time, especially if squelched with a large glass of water.

Equating a fall with permanent failure.

There's nothing like a tumble off the wagon to make us think we've "blown the diet for good."  NONSENSE.  A tumble is just a tumble.  Nothing permanent about it.

So what if you've failed along the way?  So what if you had a sugar rush to lift you up?  Done.  Over.  Move on.  You are not perfect.  You willnever be perfect.  So if all you did was eat a bowl of ice cream, well ... no cows were killed in the making of this moment.

Did you know?  Caffeine can temporarily speedup your heart rate, wake you up, and give you a burst of energy, but the effects are short term.  To cut back on caffeine, the American Dietetic Association recommends that you start gradually to avoid withdrawal headaches.

In some families, weight is a primary issue.  In some cases, parents force their children to look a certain way, guarding every morsel of food that goes into their mouths.  Consequently, the children end up obsessed about their weight.  In other cases, parents soothe their children's woes by feeding them - often too much or the wrong things.  Many of these children grow into hefty adults, simply because of lack of training or balance.  If you come from a family where they focus on food was skewed, there is hope.  Regardless of your family background, you can start fresh - for your own well-being and show us a balanced model for your children and grandchildren to follow.

Temporary Fixes.  One of the best things people can remember is that a diet should not be thought of as something temporary.  If you're going to make dietary changes, or activity changes, consider them as lifestyle changes.  Consider them as things that are going to help you look better, feel better, lower your stress, improve your physical and mental performance, and allow you to enjoy life.

Did you know?  When you have a positive self-image, you value and respect your body.  You are also more likely to feel good about living a healthy lifestyle.

A "God-image" instead of a "self-image"...I like that!  I'm going to use that terminology, it's awesome!  So many of us go through life not liking what we see, but if we remember that we are made in the image of God, how can we not love what we see?  Unless we haven't been taking good care of ourselves, then we need to take steps to "remodel" our Temple so it goes back to what God created, not what we created!

Thanks nj!  You made my day!

Blessings and hugs to you!

I am reminded of a song that I had sung a few years ago.  I am not sure who wrote it or the recording artist.

Empty and Broken, I came Back to Him
A Vessel Unworthy, so scarred from Sin.
But He did not Despair... He Started over again
And I Bless the Day, He didn't Throw the Clay Away.

Over and Over, He Molds Me and Makes Me,
Into His likeness, He fashions the clay.
A vessel of Honor, I Am today,
All because Jesus Didn't Throw The Clay Away.

He is the Potter... I am the Clay
And Molded in His Image, HE wants me to Stay.
Oh, but when I Stumble...
When I Fall... When My Vessel Breaks,
He just Picks up those Pieces,
He does not Throw the Clay Away...

Over and Over, He Molds Me and Makes Me,
Into His Likeness, He Fashions the Clay.
A Vessel of Honor, I Am Today,
All Because Jesus Didn't Throw The Clay Away.

A Vessel of Honor, I Am Today,
It's all Because Jesus Didn't Throw The Clay Away.

Fear of the mirror.  The mirror provides a reflection of our outward appearance, but it doesn't say anything about the inner person.  Many of us avoid the mirror like the plague.  But instead of cringing when you look in the mirror, spend a while contemplating the fact that you were created in God's image.

AMEN  Norma Jean, I love our Lord Jesus Christ, and He first loved me!! 

What a beautiful thought.

Happy New Year :-)

If we could only learn to look at ourselves and at each other through the eyes of the Lord,  we would see things totally different than what we do.  God has been teaching me that for a while now and so now when others are complaining about someone,  He has helped me to look at that same person the way God is seeing that person.  What a wonderfully different perspective!  But it is harder to look at ourselves through His eyes for some reason.  Just food for thought.

From the time we were children, we pondered the word forever.  It seemed like a mighty long time.  Forever had no beginning and no end.  Forever was an endless horizon, sweeping out with all the colors, holding us captive in our imaginations.  And forever, at least for the health-conscious eater, can seem like a mighty long time.  But when you come to understand that healthy eating isn't a punishment - it's a joy! - then suddenly, forever just makes sense!

A simple prayer:

Lord, we are glad we don't have to dread the forevers associated with healthy eating.  Please remind us that this is a joyful journey, not a never-ending diet.  It is a lifestyle change that we can and should enjoy. ~Amen

Did you know?  Some people eat when they're bored, simply because they can't think of anything better to do.  Instead of reaching for a cookie or a snack cake, grab your Bible and head outside (or find a quiet place in the house) for some time alone with the Lord

I just read an e-mail from my cousin that contained a wonderful thought that I'm using for my Thought for the Day:

If He brings you to it, He'll bring you through it!

Don't you love that?  I'm going to remember (OK, try to remember) each time I have a trial that I think I can't handle.

Have a blessed day, everyone!