Come to the Garden ~ An invitation to Serenity ....series

 

Come to the Garden

An invitation to Serenity

 

 

How

 

can I slow down?

 

How can I release? 

 

There are so many pressures.

How can I find peace?

 

 

Come, Lord, and show me your mercy,

for I am helpless,

overwhelmed, in deep distress.

Psalms 25:16

 

Show me the path where I should go, O Lord;

point out the right road for me to walk.

Psalms 25:4

 

O Lord, be not far off;

O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
Psalms 22:19

The Seven Safeguards from Falling Off the Wagon

As I've shared in the past, I have tried and tried to lose weight in the past. I have even been successful or a while, but then I end up falling off the wagon. I've learned a lot since the last time and I think that I have figure out some important safeguards to keep us from falling off the wagon. And I wanted to share just in case there are others out there that struggle with this as well.

#1 ~ Commit and Submit to God. When we allow God to guide and direct our lives it's no longer we who are in charge- it is Him. No longer are we allowing the flesh to direct what we do - this is key. If you get nothing else that I have to say today, I hope you will understand the significance of allowing God to be in control of you. 

21Make you complete in every good work to do his will,

 working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight,

through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

 Hebrews 13:21

 

Teach me to do your will; for you are my God:

 your Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.

Psalm 143:10

#2 ~ Be Honest, And essential part to being successful in weight loss and keeping it off is to be honest. Many people, including myself, eat for emotional reasons- like sadness, loneliness, guilt, and so on. We need to learn to face our feelings. Be honest about what and how we are feeling. Take these painful thoughts and emotions to God and ask Him to help us deal with them in a healthier way. When we are pained for what ever reason and we turn to food- we may find relief, but it is only temporary relief. And we end up feeling worse in the end. So allow God to give you the strength and courage that you need in order to face what ever you need to face. God gives us the strength we need - He promises us.

 "as your days, so shall your strength be."

 Deut. 33:25b

 

11Revive me, O LORD, for your name's sake:

 for your righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.

Psalm 143:11

#3~ Forgive others and yourself.  It is very important for us, not only to forgive others, but we need to forgive ourselves as well. Many of us carry around guilt if for nothing else but the fact that we have failed so often in our past attempts at losing weight. WE need to learn from our past mistakes and then forgive ourselves. God has forgiven us and we need to accept His forgiveness and move on in faith. Holding onto resentments and forgiveness is not good for us and can cause health issues. These health issues and make it harder for us to lose weight. It is best just to forgive. Let go of our resentments and allow God to take care of those things.

 "The LORD shall fight for you,

 and you shall hold your peace."

 Exodus 14:14

#4~ Enlarge your perspective.  For those of us who are overweight - losing the weight is very beneficial. However, I would like to suggest that we expand our horizons a bit. We need to look at the whole picture. Losing weight and fitting into smaller clothes is great incentives, but there is so much more to it than that.
I have known for a long time that I needed to lose weight, but just couldn't make myself get serious abut it until m husband was diagnosed with diabetes. Then I realized that not only did I need to lose weight, but I needed to get healthier. I needed to take better care of myself. Here is a partial list of reasons to adopt a healthier lifestyle:

*getting healthier
*bring cholesterol down
*lower blood pressure
*getting healthier
*getting in better shape
*bringing glucose numbers down
* losing weight
* fitting into your clothes better
*boost your immune system
*And a whole lot more*

19What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have of God, and you are not your own?

20For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

 

#5 Be persistent.  In the journey to lose weight and get healthier there will be times that we find ourselves discouraged. But don't give up! We work and work and don't seem to be seeing results as fast as we would like and we are tempted to give up. We are a generation of people who want instant results- we say no to the desert and think that we deserve to see a reward on the scales and it just doesn't always work that way. We may do everything right today, but there may not be visible results tomorrow. Don't give up. The scales are just one avenue in which we can have results from a healthier lifestyle. 

 * lost inches

 * fit into our clothes better 

 * reduce cholesterol 

 *reduce blood glucose # 

 *lower blood pressure 

 *and there are man more benefits that we may not even realize 

 

So no matter what the results are, continue on towards a healther lifestyle - it's well worth it. 

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.

13Therefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

 Ephesians 1:12-13

 

#6  Be Positive. It's easy to fall into being negative- especially when we have failed at losing weight or keeping the weight off, but we need to realize that those negative thought don't help us one bit, In fact, they probably do more damage than we realize. We need to be hopeful for a positive out come. it's not, "if I lose more weight" it's "when I lose more weight." stop being your own worse critic.

In NO way am I trying to convey the message that all you have to do is to think positive and you will get what you want. There is a whole counterfeit message called ~ the secret~ going around that teaches this idea. Like we can control our circumstances with our minds. That we can save ourselves. And nothing is further from the truth.

 17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,

and comes down from the Father of lights,

 with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

James 1:17

#7 Move Forward in Faith.  We actually began our journey towards weight loss with faith when we trusted God enough to commit to Him - so now we just need to continue to have faith. We know it is God's will for us to be healthy. And when we allow Him to guide our choices we will be successful. Its only when we allow the flesh to control us that we fail. We can hold onto the promise that He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it. It's a life long journey. It's a life long promise as well. We need to allow God to do His work in us. Faith in Him. Faith in success.

Being confident of this very thing,

that he who has begun a good work in you

 will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Philippians 1:6

Now I am not saying that this is a complete list - I am sure that as I advance along this journey I will discover more secrets to being successful. I just wanted to share with you all where God has been leading and hoping that by sharing some of the things that I am learning that it can help you as well. I pray that God will bless you as you work towards a healthier lifestyle- it's His will. Ask Him to lead and He will guide you in the right direction, you just have to be willing.

If you have turned your life over to God and continue to walk in the path which He leads - you will stay safely on the wagon towards better health. :O)

Suppose and What if?

Suppose your out mowing your yard and you begin to feel bad. Paramedics come and take you to the hospital - and you end up dying shortly after getting to the hospital? This happened to my sister in laws brother yesterday.

He woke up and went through his day like any other day- the only difference is that this day will not end like any other day. His days on earth are no more.

What if today was your last day?

What would you do differently?

What would be your priorities?

These are important questions for us to ponder.
Who would you want in control of your life? You know... there are really only two choices. Many times we recoil from the idea of allowing God to be in control of our lives. We believe that we will only have freedom when we are able to do as we please. The only problem is that when we have not submitted our lives to God - we are at the mercy and control of Satan. We may think that we are directing our own path but really it is the flesh, the sinful flesh that is in control and the end result is not an eternity with Jesus Christ. 

We are not promised tomorrow - we may not even finish this day. The best thing we can do for ourselves is to make the decision of who we will follow --- and make that decision now! Right at this moment we can give our heart and our lives to Jesus Christ - the one who came down to this sinful world and gave His life on the cross for us. He loves us SO very much! His greatest desire is to have you in heaven with Him one day. That is why He has gone to prepare a place for us! You can read about it in John 14:

 

 Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me.

2In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

4And where I go you know, and the way you know.

John 14:1-3

 

Do you know why these words are written in red?

It's because they were said by Jesus Himself!

 

Please won't you give your heart to Jesus?

 

If you have already - just take this moment to recommit your live to Him.

 

You wont regret it.

 

And on that day --- when your days are no more--- the very next thing that you will know is waking up to see Jesus coming in the clouds of glory. What a wonderful day it will be!!

Finally.....

Today I am praising the Lord! Do you know why? Because my problem with blogger has finally been resolved!!! For the past 6 months or more I have not had the ability to go in and stop following blogs. Why would this be a problem? Well because there were several of the blogs that I was following that the people stopped posting and someone hacked the blog and started spamming a whole LOT of unless (to me) posts. It totally filled up my page that shows me when the blogs that I follow post new posts. And it was very overwhelming to me and made it almost impossible for me to keep up with my favorite blogs. So I am so sorry if I have not been around like I should be. It was just so hard to wade through all the nonsense posts to find the ones I wanted to see. I have cleared out as much as I could and will work a bit more later. I was sad to see some of the blogs that I loved following - have closed down their blogs. I really do enjoy interacting with you all and I like seeing how you all are doing. So it is sad when the blogs are shut down. Anyway right now I am going to focus on being happy about being able to get a lot of the blogs that I do not want to follow anymore off of my list. Now I can keep up with the blogs that I really enjoy and maybe even find some more.

Hopefully I will have some time to come around and visit soon. I had been having a problem posting comments on some of your blogs - so I am hoping that - that issue has been resolved also. :O)

Mix it up

I have learned a few important things about exercise lately and I wanted to share them with you all - just in case it will help you.

So I was listening to a speaker talking about taking care of oneself. He said that if you had a home and left for 20 years and never put any energy into it - it would decay. If you never brushed your teeth or flossed - your teeth would decay. And then he said - if you don't put out energy and exercise - your body will decay. It is very important that we exercise. When looking at all of the factors of taking care of ourselves - exercise is a very important key to doing so. And I think it needs to be on our priority list as many days of the weeks as we can prioritize it. It's really good to take a day off here and there. Just like the importance of taking care of our homes and taking care of our teeth is important to keep them from decaying- so it is important to take care of our body's! 

I have also learned another important lesson. I have a friend who is thin and in very good shape - she is very fit. She shared with me that not too long ago she began to gain weight. She was still practically a vegan and ran all the time. Nothing had changed and she could not understand why she was gaining weight. Then she heard of the importance of mixing up her exercise routine. So she did. She continued eating as healthy as she was eating before with no changes and just changed up how she exercised and she began to lose weight. When we have a routine- our bodies get used to it and ever so often it is good to do something different. I think that is one reason why I am enjoying going hiking ever so often. I have also decided to add in a few more elements to what I have been doing - so that I am mixing it up more. It is also good to have a day here and there. That too- is mixing it up.

I hope that these tips can help you in your journey to better health. And remember that if you are not up to mixing it up - and you are just able to walk at this time - keep it up because moving and exercising is great for your body - even if you are not able to mix it up. Just do something almost every day to get your body moving. A book that I have heard of is called strong women stay young - points out the importance of keeping strong. And to do that we have to keep moving and keep challenging ourselves. I have been asked to go on a 5 mile walk with someone and am planning to take them up on it- as long as the weather is not hot with the sun beating down on me - I am thinking that I can do it. I will certainly get on here and let you all know once I have accomplished it! Wish me luck~ I might need it... :O)

A 3 Mile Hike

 

Last week my sister and I went hiking. We chose a trail that was much longer than what could actually hike- but what we did was we walked 1 1/2 miles in and then turned back. So we ended up walking a little over 3 miles when it was all said and done.

 

Here was a cute little bridge that we came to towards the beginning of the hike.

 When we were getting close to our turn around place we came to this awesome view!

Another great view!

 

 

And my favorite view!

 

 

It was a challenging trail. With lots of ups and downs. We were sweaty by the time we were finished - well actually probably before the halfway point. It was already in the 80's while we were hiking.

 

There are several other trails at this park and we are hoping to be able to check out more of them in the future.

 

We both have been working towards better health. And it felt great to be able to do this!!

I hope you have enjoyed a little ride along of our hike! :O)

Come to the Garden...An Invitation to Serenity.... .series

 

How

can I integrate

 

My scattered thoughts,

 

My dreams?

 

How can I find balance,

 

Freedom from extremes?

My days have passed,
my plans are shattered,
and so are the desires of my heart.
Job 17:11

....everything is futility
and striving after wind.
Ecclesiastes 2:17

Where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
Job 28:12

What does "keep" mean?

Great quote from my book ~ God Said "I Promise" A refreshing way to look at the Ten Commandments. By Debbonnaire Kovacs.

"Keep His commandments.
Uh-Oh! There's that "thou shalt not" thing again! Don't worry. We've come to it in the right order at this time. Now that we know how to worship and serve and love God, now that we know for ourselves how impossibly much He loves us, we don't get confused about a perfectly simple word ~ "keep." What does "keep" mean? No need to get out the dictionary this time. We learned this before we learn to say yes. Keep means it's yours. It means you get to take ...it home and nobody can take it away from you. Keep means put it in your treasure box and show it off on special occasions. Keep means, if it's kept long enough, it becomes part of you and you couldn't give it up if you tried.
Remember that major premise-minor premise business you hated in high school? Well, let's figure this out, now.

 Major premise: The Commandments are the transcript of God's character.

 Minor premise: The second commandment promises that we will keep the Commandments. (Right so far?)

 Conclusion: the character of God is ours to keep.

 Incredible, isn't it? Peters says it even more clearly. "He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine character ( 2 Peter 1:4) Partakers of the divine nature! And all because we decided to let God be first, last, and everything in our hearts."