A Journey To Healing Begins With a Single Revelation 30 Day Challenge Day 11

We never know where our revelation is going to come from. Sometimes it is one obedient act in seeking God's grace, goodness, help, or mercy that will lead us to that revelation. We could be reading the Word, talking to our best friends at breakfast, or sitting in church listening to a message. God is not trying to hide anything from us. He wants us to get IT. Whatever your IT is. He wants you to know. Can We Talk?!

This week we spent some time talking about the "how to" of living healthy lives to honor God. I wanted to make sure that we also talk this week about the "want to" of living healthy and why it is so important for us to maintain this way of living for ever. Forever? Is this possible? I only signed on for 30 days! I hear ya. But, no, 30 days is only the beginning. It's the beginning of your new healthier life in Christ.

In the book, Crave, that I mentioned at the beginning of the challenge, the author is talking about defining ourselves by the numbers on a scale and she writes "Define your week by obedience, not by a number on the scale. The scale can only measure how much your body weighs. ...So I had to stop and ask myself the following questions:

Did I overeat this week on any day? No.
Did I move more and exercise regularly? Yes.
Did I feel lighter than I did at this time last Wednesday? Yes.
Did I eat in secret or out of anger or frustration? No.
Did I feel that, at any time, I ran to food instead of to God? Nope.
Before I hopped on the scale, did I think I'd had a successful, God-pleasing week? Yep!
So why oh why do I get tied up in a stupid number?"

So friends as I mentioned before there are lots of ways "how to" lose weight, stay in shape, reach certain fitness and health goals, but our "want to" must come from a desire to be obedient and to please our Father. She also writes in the book "Numbers on the scale are an indication of what your body weighs, NOT an indication of your worth". I hope this helps you settle some inner feelings you might be dealing with in your own journey to a healthier you.

Know that God loves you right where you are right now. He is not waiting to see if you can lose any weight or get through this 30 days without any mistakes before He loves you. Thank Him that! He knew you before you were born and His love for you is infinite and never failing. It is not predicated on the numbers on the scale, your waist size, or anything! Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. God just simply passionately loves you, period! I want you to love you and never let anybody make you feel that you are unworthy or unlovable because of the numbers on the scale.

      
Today we have not so much of a question as a testimony and revelation from a sistah in our community who is learning some of the "how to" by calorie counting. Please remember to pray for one another as we journey together.

Dear Aqua

I tried to start right today. I only have 680 calories out of 1400 for today :(
Inst oatmeal 2 pks plain #cal = 220
Yo crunch lowfat strawberry-banana yogurt 6oz #cal = 180
Cashew pieces 2 oz #cal = 320
(220 + 180 + 320 = 720) OMG - I spent 720 cals on this food.
16 oz H2O. Only 680 cals rest of day. Really an eye opener. Revelation!!! for me. WOW & OUCH.
I'm learning something. Still got my training wheels on. One meal at a time.

M
 I am so glad that you are learning to track your calories. When we first start out it is a good idea to right them down and count them religiously. Once we get better, reach weight and fitness milestones we can eyeball the meal, add the calories then we can move to tracking which is less stringent.

I am also loving the revelation! You could have had more filling meals for 720 calories. Nuts in general are good for you, but make sure you don't over indulge. Have your nuts in a healthy trail mix. Add Cheerios to mix to decrease the calories even more. Try to keep your snacks at no more 200 calories.

We have to know how many calories we are consuming each day if we are going to reach our goals. If you splurge one day on a sweet treat, you should account for the splurge in your dietary totals.

As you move through this process you will learn more about your body and what kinds of modifications work for lifestyle. Ask God to always be your compass so that you can make good choices for your temple.

I am proud of you and thrilled for you. Press on 20 more days to change your life!

Remember that revelation without action is just information. The important step to revelation is the action applied to the information that causes you to move, change, grow and BECOME in Him!

Your body is the temple of the Living God! Live Well in His Name!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

Urgent Opportunites to Serve

 

Our ministry mission is encouraging, supporting, and advocating for healthy living to the glory and honor of God. We believe that through these lives surrendered to God we will allow Him to use us in a greater way to build up His Kingdom. One of the ways we pray that you will do this is through serving the community. Can We Talk?!

As our lives and health improves we pray that you will see a need and seek God's guidance on how to meet that need. Sometimes God directs us to pray for the need. Other times He directs us to get involved. 4 His Temple Ministries is hoping that you will join us in meeting two urgent needs if you live in the Houston area.

First, The Bread of Life contacted Kristen Tucker, Outreach Coordinator for Hope Church Pearland and asked for some help. Most of you know that Hope Church partners regularly with the Bread of Life to meet the needs of the homeless in our community. Please see Kristen's note below and contact her directly to help.

Note from Kristen
I was contacted by the Bread of Life today and they are in need of help for breakfast this Saturday, July 2, 2011 from 7:30-8:30 am. Please forward this to all and if you could respond by the end of Thursday to ktuck7@aol.com or 713-689-0593 that would be excellent. I hope that we can help them out this weekend.

Then, the Star of Hope has urgent needs for toilet paper and diapers (sizes 4, 5, 6, 2T-6T). 4 His Temple Ministries will have ongoing drives for the Star of Hope in the future, but we want to meet this urgent need ASAP. Please contact me to make arrangements to pick-up of your donation.

Our brothers and sisters who are without homes would love an opportunity to live healthier lives, but for now some are without even the basics necessities. They need to know the love of Christ and that someone like you cares. Please take just a minute to pray and help.

For those of you who do not live in the Houston area, we challenge you to find some community work in your area for the month of July. Please share with us what you have done to make a difference.

If WE BELIEVE that ours are the HANDS of God we will EXTEND THEM, if ours are the FEET of God we will GO, and if ours is the Heart of God we will LOVE. Bless you!

Your body is the temple of the Living God! Live Well in His Name!

A Gift!

None of us should live our lives to receive accolades from people. If we do, that in fact may be our only reward. People can give you great praise one minute, but that praise may not amount to much of anything later. Jesus received a royal welcome when he entered Jerusalem, the people were hailing "Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" and five days later those same people were shouting "Crucify him".

As believers our goal is to live and die for Jesus on this of eternity and our reward is heaven on the other side. Occasionally, we receive the gift of knowing that we have touched the lives of others. We've made a difference, instead of making a mess. Sometimes after a loved one goes on to be with the Lord the family receives that gift. 

In the wake of my brother's home going, I want to share with you something that a friend/customer of his took the time to write and send to the Galveston Daily News. He didn't write it because Nelson died, he wrote it because Nelson lived. What a gift.  

Letters for May 26, 2011

Gentleman Cab Driver Will Be Missed

On May 16, I called for Yellow Cab to take me several places as my car was in the shop. Upon returning home, I realized that I needed a bag of ice. I called Yellow Cab and asked if my old friend “Nelson” was anywhere on the East End, and if so, could he pick me up a bag of ice and deliver it to the Galveston Yacht Basin? He did so. We talked for quite a while, as I had known him for years.

That Monday was his 58th birthday. Grateful, I gave him a gracious tip. The next day, I called for his services again. I was informed that he had died from a heart attack. He was buried May 24 in early morning services at Shiloh A.M.E. Methodist on 29th Street.

What I share here is not an obituary. It is due tribute and recognition. Nelson Holloway was in fact a friend to every hotelier, restaurateur and bar owner on this island, as he could be counted on to deliver your patrons, customers and guests home or to their hotel room alive, with their purses, wallets, keys and dignity.

During the years, I have in one way or another placed many fares in his care. Once, he even made certain I was home safe and secure, delivered to my boat after a long night out.

We might all take it for granted, but in a tourist town, not unlike New York City, cab drivers are an important part of the overall experience and essential. Nelson Holloway was exemplary in his performance.

They may not yet realize it, but every hotel, restaurant and bar on Galveston Island will come to miss him, as I do already.

Michael A. Basham
Galveston

Are we living a life that glorifies God as well as a life that leaves an imprint on the hearts of the people we encounter? The Word says...Let your light so shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Let's live a life that pleases God AND a life that leaves people better than they were before they encountered us. The Jesus in us may be the only Jesus some people ever get to see. Jesus commands us to love one another. If someone were to write a letter to your local newspaper about you, what would it say? 

Your body is the temple of the Living God! Live Well in His Name!

Red Hot Smoldering Unforgiveness

Last night I decided to light a fire in my fireplace. The fire was warm, inviting, and relaxing in this unusually cold Texas weather. As all of the wood was being consumed, the fire began to smolder; all that remained was the red-hot embers, white-hot embers, and the glow of the fire on the wood, but no flames. I gazed into the fireplace and noticed how intense, purposeful, and consistent the fire smoldered to consume all of the wood until only cool white ashes remained. I remember thinking that must be how unforgiveness smolders in our lives and our hearts consuming all of us (time, emotions, energy, attention, heart, and money) until only ashes remain. Ah…forgiveness…a great topic to begin a new year! Let’s talk!

If an accelerant (like gasoline) were added to the burning embers of a fire, the fire would likely reignite or at least blaze up quickly once again. Our unforgiveness acts much the same way. Someone says or does something that triggers (adds accelerant to) our unforgiveness, manifested through pain, grief, resentment, bitterness, hatred or, anger and we ignite. We act out in many ways when we hold on to past hurts and offenses. We might live our lives distant and angry, fearful, resentful and bitter, deciding to stop interacting or speaking to the person(s) who hurt us, or even plot revenge for their demise. None of these actions is beneficial to us. They only serve to fuel the red-hot smoldering, causing the embers to burn hotter, and causing our pain, hatred, bitterness, resentment…to intensify.

Forgiveness is not easy, but it is a required of us and necessary for us to live in peace (in our mind) and freedom. Forgiveness may not “feel” good at first, because forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling. Some of us do not want to forgive, because we cannot imagine letting the person who hurt us off the hook or giving them a get out of jail free card. Forgiveness is not really about their freedom, it is ALL about our freedom.

Unforgiveness is the resentful, angry, hateful nurturing of our grievances – it is a harmful transgression against our own being. We hurt ourselves more than we hurt the person who we choose not to forgive. Release THEM and YOU will be set free. (You are probably asking, how does that work?)

Unforgiveness is a blessing blocker that binds us to the person(s) and the event(s) that caused us pain. We unconsciously relinquish control of our emotions, actions, and healing to the person or people who hurt us. They may not physically be in our lives, but emotionally we are trapped in the place where and the time when the offense took place. If we are going to move to forgiveness and live in peace and freedom, we have to acknowledge the pain, (yes, it happened) forgive the people involved, allow God to heal us, and DECIDE to move on.

Forgiveness is the greatest gift you can give yourself.

The red-hot smoldering of the fire in my fireplace eventually stopped. All that remained was cool white ashes that could be touched and handled to clean the fireplace. Once we forgive, all that remains is cool white ashes of the past, easily touched and handled, unable to hurt, burn, or hinder us any longer.

This time of year, people are making resolutions to lose weight, save money, quit a bad habit, or start exercising and eating right. All of those are great resolutions to make, by the way. Unfortunately, more people will fail at keeping those resolutions as early as the springtime then those who will be successful. (This is one reason I do not make resolutions. I seek God’s guidance, make plans, and set goals to change my life). New Year’s IS a time for new beginnings, a time to begin fresh and new, to wipe the slate clean, to start from scratch, to “do-over”, to start over (I know…enough with the clichés already).

A more productive and fulfilling resolution is practicing forgiveness in our lives…leaving the past in the past and not allowing the past to control or dictate our future. Interestingly, change is constant in our present lives; but one thing that change cannot affect is the past. Nothing can change the past. We can change how we view the past and how we let the past affect our lives and we do have the power to change the future by letting go of the past.

As the New Year rings in, make a plan to forgive. Make forgiveness part of your life. As you practice forgiveness, you will learn to forgive in the moment. Yes, that means in the moment the offense occurs, you will have the power to forgive and move on with your life, refusing to be held hostage by the offense or the offender. Do not take anything with you into 2010 from 2009 (2008, 2003, 2000, 1990, 1986, 1970, 1967…you get the picture) that could contaminate your new year’s success, health, blessings, and prosperity.

Happy New Year friends!

From the PALACE to the PIT

A friend/colleague and I had been discussing her leaving one job for another job. I had some inside information about the job she was seeking and shared that information with her. I told her that there would certainly be some challenges associated with her moving into this new position. She said, “I am up for the challenge, I just don’t want to move from the palace to the pit”. From that statement, you can probably deduce that she has a good job. (You might be asking why she is considering leaving) The issue is she cannot move to her next career aspiration by staying in her present job. The “pit” may be the stepping stone to her future.

I started thinking about Joseph. Many of us are accustomed to hearing the story about Joseph moving from the pit to the palace (Genesis Chapters 37-39). However, what many of us may not remember from Joseph’s story was that Joseph’s life prior to being in the pit was NOT glamorous. Though he dreamed of greatness, he came from meager beginnings. He was a shepherd. He was placed in a pit, sold into slavery, lived in the palace as servant, then wrongfully imprisoned before he realized his dreams of greatness BACK to palace living as a ruler…living out his God breathed destiny. This journey for his life was not by happenstance. (Nothing ever is with God).

Many of us have never experienced this type of hardship prior to reaching our place of abundant living. Certainly some of us had (have) some difficulties in our lives. Largely though, we are richer than we have ever been. We drive nice cars, we live in fine houses, we have maids, yardmen, nannies, private schools for our children, and the like. We are college educated and have extraordinary earning potential and our children are college educated. Nonetheless, when things are going well (our palace) and God changes our position we cannot fathom how to get up and go on from that place. We find ourselves in the pit.

If we find ourselves in the pit after “palace living”, we must use this time wisely. God is preparing and equipping us for our future. He could not get us to our future best and blessed place (Kingdom living) from where we were. God wanted to do something in us and with us that could not be accomplished in our palace. The pit is a stepping stone to your greatness. We can use it to our advantage or we can just wallow around in the pit. What a waste! I have heard it said like this “time in the pit is JUST time in the pit” if we do not get everything out of it… learning all the lessons, passing all the tests, growing, and progressing. We should not spend our time wondering why God moved us. This revelation may never come or may be revealed months to years later. We do not have time to spend and waste wondering what if, what did I do wrong, what was God thinking (you get the point). The time in the pit is useful to strengthen our character, increase our faith, and deepen our love for and dependence on God.

In my conversation with my friend, I reminded her that it was in Joseph’s toughest times that he was truly blessed, experiencing the power and favor of the Lord. God used this time in the pit, in the palace, and the prison to prepare and equip him for kingdom living and ultimately for his reign as governor. Joseph remained faithful squeezing all of the lessons out of these difficult times and passing all the tests. God can and He will bless us in our struggles (in the pit). If we are going to realize our dreams of greatness, we have to reconsider how we spend and the value of those times in the pit.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8