Perfecting Holiness

"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." 2 Corinthians 7:1

What is it that contaminates your body? I'm afraid my list would be too long to share here. But, this verse tells us to 'perfect holiness' out of reverence for God. I love that phrase - for we can't ever expect to be 100% perfect on earth but we can strive to perfect holiness. What an awesome thought! Likewise, out of our fear and honor for God Himself, we should be purifying ourselves from everything that taints or infects our bodies (and spirits!) and makes us ineffective. If we're looking for reasons to lose weight, these Bible verses give us clear direction and purpose. Let's live for the glory of God!

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for this Bible verse. Please help us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates our bodies. Please help us perfect holiness since we do revere You, oh Lord. Help us honor and glorify You with our bodies, thoughts, actions and speech. We love You! In Jesus' name, AMEN!

Do Not Taste!

"Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 'Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!'? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." Colossians 2:20-23

When I saw this verse, I immediately thought of various diets that we try when we're trying to lose weight. It strikes me as odd that the South Beach Diet and Weight Watchers both work and yet have very different principles. In one, you watch only your carbs in the other you're counting calories and especially fat for points. I've noticed that things that I consider tasty are either high in carbs or high in fat - if something is advertised as 'low-fat' the carbs are usually horrendous and vice versa. Not always true, but in many cases I would laugh in seeing this.

My point with saying all that is that I think sometimes we take a godly principle like treating our temples as holy and therefore trying to lose weight and then turn it into self-worship. I think that this can be accidental (oh, Lord, take away our pride!), but it's something we should be aware of and change. Why do we submit to the world's rules of what we can and cannot have and eat rather than to the Holy Spirit's? Why have we read more weight loss theory than books of the Bible?

As if God were writing to us (oh, yeah, He is!), my favorite verse was "Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their HARSH TREATMENT OF THE BODY BUT THEY LACK ANY VALUE IN RESTRAINING SENSUAL INDULGENCE." If you remember back to my entry on Esau selling his birthright for food and how he gave up something so important for sensual indulgence, like food, then this should really hit home.

The bottom line is that God's Word is the ONLY thing that can change our bodies. Moreover, He alone is the only One who should be worshipped because of our weight loss. Sometimes I fear that I get so caught up in thinking about calories or have I exercised that I forget that God alone is worthy of my time, thoughts and concentrated efforts. Does that mean I keep on sinning and overeating or doing whatever I want? By no means! (To quote Paul from the Bible.) That simply means that my focus has to be on Christ, who was my original motivation anyway. I came to the end of myself on this journey when I really started to lose weight. I'd tried going about it the world's way, and I only ended up heavier, more hopeless and well on my way to being morbidly obese. When I finally had enough of 'me' and put my faith, hope, trust and love in God, the pounds started melting off my body.

Case in point, last week my kids were sick. Then my husband got sick. I didn't exercise. I didn't eat well - I didn't even think about what I was eating. I became solely caregiver and slept instead of working out in hopes of giving my body the energy it needed to fight off whatever was going around. And you know what? I didn't gain weight. I'm not saying that I can go on like that, but God didn't call me to work out that week. I was trying to listen to Him. So, I rested. Then, even when I didn't feel like it, I've had to get back to business in treating my temple well, which includes eating right, exercising and rest. Normally, I think I would have started to see the scale climb, but I feel like God was for me. And, He gave me the motivation I needed to start back to work (even after being 'lazy' for a week). He alone gets credit for how much I weigh right now and I'll praise Him alone when I lose even more. My journey isn't over, but I must keep my focus not on the gift that I've received but on the Giver Himself. God alone deserves to be worshipped.

Some day I'll get a new heavenly body. If I've only focused on the one I've got now, my journey will have been in vain. But, if I try my best to follow God's commands for this current body while focusing on getting to know the Lord more and more, I'll get more out of this life and the one to come.

So, my advice would be to read the Bible and take it easy on this or that diet. It's not bad to know what's healthy for you, but allow God to be your focus rather than things of this world. He'll reward you... and isn't that what we're looking for?

Dear Heavenly Father, please take these words and make them what You desire to be read. God, it's only Your Word that is life changing. May we not be focused on 'self-worship' or things that seem to have some form of wisdom but rather on Your Word, which can save us from sensual indulgence and make us more like You. Father, please forgive us and rid us of pride and sin. Make this journey about more than just weight loss. May we be more like You and glorify You with our bodies, where Your Holy Spirit dwells. We love You and worship You alone. In Jesus' name, AMEN!

Living According to the Word

"How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word. I seek You with all my heart; do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You." Psalm 119:9-11

The key to my weight loss has been God's Word. Nothing else has the power to save. If you believe that overeating is sin, then these verses show you how to keep from doing just that - the answer is hiding God's Word in our heart. How can we keep our way pure? How can we make sure we're the best we can be? By living according to God's Word. And, it's difficult to align our lives with God's Word if we don't really know it, read it, study it and digest it. My journey really only started when I began seeking God daily by reading His Bible and crying out to Him. There have been ups and downs along the way, but He has helped me continue on this path and I weigh less than I've weighed in a decade. I hope that these words will be inspirational for you, too. The way to lose weight and have a pure life is to seek God and live according to His Word.

Dear Heavenly Father, we praise You that You offer us hope and inspiration in the Bible. We thank You that Your Word tells us of Your love for us. Thank You that it offers us direction for living according to Your good and perfect will. Please forgive us when we go astray and help us keep our way pure. May we hide Your Word in our heart so we don't sin against You. Please keep us from overeating and becoming complacent in our journey. We love You and long to glorify You. And, may we not become overly focused on ourselves and the resutls or the gift, but rather the Giver and Lifesaver. In Jesus' name, AMEN!

Ask, Seek & Knock

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:7-11

Dear God, there's nothing I can say to 'enhance' this Scripture. Not that I ever really can. Your Word is more powerful than a double-edged sword. Instead, I'd like to simply ask You to make us (myself and those reading this) thin, healthy and beautiful. Lord, we're seeking You and asking for a gift. And we're thankful that You know how to give good gifts to those who ask You! So, we're expecting a miracle. And we're so thankful for the work You're doing in us. Thank You for Your gifts and promising to give to those who ask. We love You. In Jesus' name, AMEN!

Don't Set Aside the Grace of God

"I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" Galations 2:21

I smiled as I read this verse today. I thought "haaaa!!! I knew it!" as I read it (although, please keep my heart pure and without pride, Lord!). What I'm going to tell you might strike you as odd, but it is 100% the truth. The weight I've lost has been the Lord's doing. He receives all the glory. When people tell me that I look good, I feel compelled to tell them that it has been an answer to prayer. That may sound like a trivial answer to some, but it is immensely important to me. I felt hopeless. I like to eat. I didn't even think I had time to exercise, let alone the energy or motivation to do so. I had bad genes, I reasoned. I had been heavy my whole life. I told myself that I was born to be the fat girl. I joked about it. I didn't care...but I really did care. I wanted to be thin, I've read enough to know that thinness comes from diet and exercise, but I wasn't able to put the two together. Nor did I feel like I even could. I felt trapped. And, I ate to make myself feel better about it. I ate when I was bored, I ate when I was happy, I ate when I was angry and I ate most moments in between. I didn't feel like it was wrong. I didn't realize it was sin. I didn't realize how much I was in bondage.

That said, I prayed. And I prayed. And then I prayed some more. In almost every prayer I would ask God for His help. I asked to be healthy and thin. In fact I still do. My three year old has heard it so much, I often hear him praying it (and he's actually underweight for his age!). All I heard from other people is "you reap what you sow." That is Biblical (in fact, I read the verse today). But, something in me also told me that God has come to heal the sick, not the well. I sensed that He was my only saving grace. So, I began to go to Bible study. And I continued to pray. And I began to re-wallpaper my heart with Scripture. And I prayed and asked.

And soon the weight started to come off. I'm not sure how. But, I do know this: Christ died for my sin. Christ died for our sin, I should say. His victory on the cross wasn't just for the 'big' sins. It was all sin. If Jesus could heal me and forgive me for my sin and teach me a new way of life, I believed I could be healed. I started trusting Him and putting my faith in Him. I hadn't changed my habits yet, I simply asked Him to make me thin. And I would hear over and over again that God helps those who helped themselves. I wish I would have had this verse at the time. "...if righteousness could be gained by the law, then Christ died for nothing." We simply can't set aside the grace of God.

I don't deserve God's grace. I'm a sinner. I got myself into this mess of looking the way I do through my own actions and sin. I needed to repent. I didn't think I could change. But, I realize now that Christ won the victory on Calvary...and by God's grace, He can change us. He can make us new. He can heal our hearts, change our minds and transform our bodies. And He's God. He can choose to heal us even when we don't deserve it. After all, it's His grace to give. I'm so thankful for His grace I could cry. Instead, I think I'll praise. I happened to turn on a song about Christmas today (which I normally don't do this early in the season) but the song was upbeat (not a typical Christmas tune) and it talked about the hope that Jesus gives. What joy came from His birth, knowing that men could find peace and be reconciled to God. Once again, the awe that surrounds Jesus struck me. I am so thankful. There's nothing else I can do but worship and praise.

And, I can testify that His saving grace works. He came to heal the sick. He didn't die for nothing...He died to heal you and me. If you're feeling hopeless, let Him take on the battle for you. Simply take your cares to an all-knowing and all-loving God. May you be freed by His grace!

Dear Jesus, once again I must thank You for the cross. Once again I'm humbled at the thought of You coming to earth in human form to die for my sin. Once again I bow down and worship You for the work You did to save a wretch like me. Lord, I'm inspired. I'm awestruck. I don't even know what to say. But, I thank You that it's by Your grace and not the law that we're saved. I thank You that You made a way to save people who can't save themselves. I thank You that when You were raised from the dead, You showed that You have the authority to set us free. And, I thank You that You love us enough to forgive our sin and change our lives. Lord, I humbly ask once again for Your grace... please save me from this sin, please help me change my ways, please make me healthy and thin for Your ultimate glory and use me in Your kingdom plan. I love You, Lord Jesus. Make me more like You. In Your name we pray, AMEN!

Free Indeed

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36

I had an 'ah-hah' moment yesterday morning that I thought I would share with you. To give you a little background, since I've lost so much weight, my wedding rings have become loose. Really loose. Sometimes falling off loose. While I know this is a 'good' problem to have, it's a problem nonetheless. I called a couple jewelery stores to get a price on how much it would be to resize them. I couldn't believe the cheapest was an estimated $75! Now, God has provided for all our needs (glory to Him alone!) but $75 feels like a lot of money in our budget right now. I told my husband that maybe I should wait. In fact, I thought out loud on the phone with him, "after all, what if I gain weight back and have to do it again?"

Then it hit me. I have been set free by the Son. Thinking out loud made me realize how dumb the idea sounded, and yet it voiced a concern I'd really been thinking in the pit of my heart. What if I go back? WHY would I go back!?!?! was my next thought. This verse came to mind immediately (glory to the Lord for His Word). If Jesus has set me free from my addiction to food and caused this weight loss - which it truly has been the Lord's victory - then I am free...INDEED!

I then continued out loud with my thoughts and sheepishly relayed over the phone, "Or am I going to try and be thin for the rest of my life." My very loving, extremely supportive and faithful husband smiled (I'm sure) as he answered, "I think that's the point." Yes, indeed.

I no more than hung up the phone, and I turned on the local Christian radio station as I was making lunch for my kiddos. The broadcast was in the middle of the news... a ring had been dropped in a Walmart and a woman had picked it up and made off with it and authorities were looking for her. Wow! What a reminder that I needed to get my rings resized. I would be devastated to lose them...not necessarily because of their earthly value but because of the symbolism - they represent my husband loving me enough to spend more money than he had ever spent on anything before in his life (including his cars at the time) to tell me he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me.

More than that, though, I think this news broadcast shows God's timing (is there such thing as coincidence?). I believe He was telling me to go ahead and get my rings resized because this is a permanent change. He has set me free. I am free indeed!

Have you been freed from your addiction? Have you been set free by the Son, Jesus? If so, live it! Don't think, "What if I go back?" Why go back? You're FREEEEE!!!!

Dear Heavenly Father, all I can say is thank You. I hear in my head the sound from the movie 'Braveheart' that Dave Ramsey plays on his shows when people become debt free. There is a roar of "FREEEEDOOOM!" May that ring in our hearts today. May we realize the grace that has set us free. May we realize that this freedom came at a very real cost to You. May we never take it for granted. Lord, help us walk and live within that freedom. Help us never turn back to our old way of thinking or our old habits. May we be healthy and thin our entire lives, from this moment forward. Thank You for setting us free. And thank You for reminding us that we're free. You are amazing! In Jesus' name, AMEN!

Zeal for Your House

Jesus Clears the Temple "After this He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples. There they stayed for a few days. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So He made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves He said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."^{[Psalm 69:9]} Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken." John 2:12-22

A friend invited me to visit her church, and this was the Scripture passage from the sermon. Once again, I felt like God was speaking directly to me. Now, I've read these verses several times - more times than I could count or remember and this is the first time that the Holy Spirit nudged me to view them in a different light. (Don't you just LOVE God's Word?) Now, I will admit to you that the pastor spoke on Jesus' zeal for His church. And I agree that God is zealous for His church; I don't disagree with the direction the sermon went. That said, that morning I felt like God was saying the following about these verses.

First, I will discuss the points the pastor highlighted because I thought they were extremely relevant. For one, we often think of Jesus as He welcomed children, viewing Him as peaceful and loving, gentle and almost cuddly and soft. This passage, however, depicts Him in a far different light. He was ANGRY! He drove animals away, overturned tables and questioned people "how dare you turn my Father's house into a market!?!?" The leaders of the time questioned His authority and we were asked to picture the scene. Jesus took charge of the scene and made a scene. His disciples remembered Psalm 69:9 "Zeal for Your house will consume me."

Just like 1 Corinthians 6:19 tells us, our body is "a temple of the Holy Spirit." It immediately stood out to me when Jesus answered the question of His authority by saying "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days" (John 2:19) that "the temple He had spoken of was His body" (John 2:21). Now picture God cleaning house... YOUR house! 'Zeal for Your house will consume me' takes on a whole new meaning.

In examining your own life, are there unholy practices taking place in your holy temple? As the pastor noted, buying & selling animals isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the people of that day were turning a holy temple into a common marketplace, which was contrary to God's instructions. So, again, examining the story in a different light, what's going on with your temple? Would Jesus find 'commonplace' things happening where holiness should be? I shudder at the thought of my holy God being angry with me - shouting "how dare you!?!?" and overturning and driving out what doesn't belong. But, if it needs to happen, there is no one else who has the authority than Jesus. Indeed, as He answered above, He rose again from the cross in three days, giving Him the authority to do with God's temple as He sees fit.

If Jesus is our one true example of how we are to live on earth (which I fully believe) then "Zeal for God's House" should be part of our mentality. Do we have a zeal for making sure our bodies (the temple of God) are holy and being used for holy purposes? If not, it's time to repent, ask for forgiveness, and change our lives with Jesus' help. To God be the glory!

Dear God, we thank You for Your example. God, it's amazing to see Your zeal for Your house and recognize the metaphor You use to describe our bodies as well. In fact, just in case we missed it, I love that Jesus Himself used the same expression in talking about His temple, or body. I see that You wanted to be clear with Your message. Please help us drive out everything that is unholy in our lives - including overeating and laziness - and replace it with what You have for us in Your Word. Jesus we ask for forgiveness and a renewed zeal for our temples - please change our lives, overturn what needs to be overturned and 'whip' us into shape. We need You, oh God. We can't do this on our own. But, we trust in Your authority and power that You can. We give You the keys to our lives. Transform us to be more like You. In Jesus name, AMEN!