Day 3......Held

It is so hard to understand why God works the way he does.  All we can do is trust in him.

Day 2......If I had Two Hands

I love the song "If I had Two Hands" by Jars of Clay( www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0h2sUC6wPg ).  It Illistrates how difficult it is to accomplish anything when we are divided, whether it be corporatly or individually.  I can relate. My mind and heart are willing but my flesh is week.  I need to unify my mind/heart and flesh.  In order for me to stay strong I have to dodge every negative thought and replace it with something positive and encouraging. I am in good company, Paul the apostle also dealt with this.  Read about how Paul describes this war between heart and flesh in the following passage:

Romans 7:14-25 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁴We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am a creature of the flesh [carnal, unspiritual], having been sold into slavery under [the control of] sin.

    ¹⁵For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled, bewildered]. I do not practice or accomplish what I wish, but I do the very thing that I loathe [^[a]which my moral instinct condemns].

    ¹⁶Now if I do [habitually] what is contrary to my desire, [that means that] I acknowledge and agree that the Law is good (morally excellent) and that I take sides with it.

    ¹⁷However, it is no longer I who do the deed, but the sin [principle] which is at home in me and has possession of me.

    ¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.]

    ¹⁹For I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing.

    ²⁰Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin [principle] which dwells within me [^[b]fixed and operating in my soul].

    ²¹So I find it to be a law (rule of action of my being) that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me and I am subject to its insistent demands.

    ²²For I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self [with my new nature].^(A)

    ²³But I discern in my bodily members [^[c]in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh] a different law (rule of action) at war against the law of my mind (my reason) and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs [^[d]in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh].

    ²⁴O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death?

    ²⁵O thank God! [He will!] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Day 1........A Mothers Day Gift "Fresh Start"

Today, I am claiming a fresh start for my healthy lifestyle, positive thoughts, and trust in God for His strength to continue on my journey toward my goal that He has put in my heart.

I started Blogging in 2009, after I felt the Holy Spirit urging me to record my efforts toward getting in shape and living a healthier life.  My blog Skip the Cookie Buy the Shoes! follows my year long effort to lose weight. I realized over the course of the year that my overeating related to my emotions. When I went to the Lord for my emotional stability by standing on His promises that are in His word, I began to lose the weight easily.  I lost 25 pounds. I was tested on this and I failed at going to the Lord when my emotions got the better of me, so I gained back 15 of those pounds.  I am very disappointed in myself, but that won't correct the problem.  I believe one only fails, if one stops trying.  That is why today, I claim my fresh start.

What better gift to I give to my girls than to get healthy and live my life as a positive role model.  Yes, we make mistakes.  Yes, we will get discouraged; Nevertheless we will learn and grow from them and start again!

Romans 12:2 (New Living Translation)

² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.