posted Mar 29, 2011 7:03 PM by David Gaboury Sr
[
updated Apr 6, 2011 6:23 PM
]
Welcome,
Welcome spring!! I officially saw flowers springing up!! Yippy this has
been quite a month since I last wrote. My youngest got married and took
a small honeymoon in NY City. She and we are sooo happy that those
nasty “bed bugs” didn’t come home with them!! Apparently NY has the
highest incident of them in the country. Her new husband is in Georgia
at boot camp. And the other big news is that our son after a year has
secured employment!!! But enough of all that…. God has been so good and I
have seen and have been working on so many things this month. I thought
I would share something that I am personally working through. Many of
you know that in the last well almost two years I have lost quite a bit
of weight. This has been a real interesting journey! Most of my life I
have had this struggle. Now I know many of you don’t have this issue but
a lot of the principles that I have learned and am in the process of
working through can be can applied to things that you may be working
on. Steps 3&4 says “we made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God. Therefore,
I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God this is spiritual act of
worship. {Romans 12:1]And, We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.{lamentations 3:40] Now lets look at the 8 Principles of Recovery”C”, says Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ care and control. Happy are the Meek, Matthew 5:5
Looking at those underlined words makes us really think? Decision,
searching and consciously choose. So my mind went to deciding I wanted
to lose weight, I searched my heart realizing that in my own power I
could not do this and I consciously chose to turn this over to God for
His help. I stuck to the weight watchers plan and it worked. So now I am
trying to maintain with in reason. The
trouble is I don’t want to have to live my life by writing down
everything and following a set of rules. I have worked through so many
things that I can now see
clearly problem areas. When we are really broken, in a lot of pain and
struggling with other things in our lives are mind can’t or doesn’t
recognize all the other areas that need to be cleaned up. I
can see I experience stress eating or my flesh just saying I want that
and no one is going to tell me I can’t have it. As I have thought long
and hard about these issues I liken it to the Old and New Testament. In
the Old Testament there were all these laws that the people had to
follow to be right with God. For me I had to journal and write down what
I ate every day. And in the meetings they always said that was one of
the success tools. So now we go to the New Testament, where we are
under Grace. Christ coming and dying for us and rising again puts us
under Grace not laws. We ask Jesus to come into our lives and be our
Savior. We love Him and do and not do things because we love Him. This
is where the struggles rises up. When someone says they have been
“sober” for such and such a period of time most of the time it means
zero drinks, drugs, pornography and such. Food is a tough area… most
people will admit that there are some foods they absolutely have to stay
away from or it will trigger them in to compulsive eating. Saying I can
just have a little for many won’t work in there lives. Just like saying
I am going to just watch just a little sports or just check my email
and find themselves delved deep in computer games, chat rooms or “face book”. So how do we live a balanced life everyday? Let’s
look at 1 Corinthians 6: 12-19 12Everything
is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are
helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered
with other things). Everything is lawful for me, but I will not become
the slave of anything or be brought under its power.13Food
[is intended] for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will
finally end [the functions of] both and bring them to nothing. The body
is not intended for sexual immorality, but [is intended] for the Lord,
and the Lord [is intended] for the body]to save, sanctify, and raise it again]. 14And God both raised the Lord to life and will also raise us up by His power.15Do
you not see and know that your bodies are members (bodily parts) of
Christ (the Messiah)? Am I therefore to take the parts of Christ and
make [them] parts of a prostitute? Never! Never!16Or
do you not know and realize that when a man joins himself to a
prostitute, he becomes one body with her? The two, it is written, shall
become one flesh. 17But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.18Shun
immorality and all sexual looseness [flee from impurity in thought,
word, or deed]. Any other sin which a man commits is one outside the
body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.19Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own,
So I think we see the answer here. The New Testament says we can do
most anything BUT is it good for us??? The Holy Spirit is the one who
leads and guides us. His fruit, Galatians
5:22-25, But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His
presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience
(an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence),
faithfulness, 23Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [[]that can bring a charge].24And
those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh
(the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.25If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit [we have our life in God, let us go forward] walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]That may seem like such a hard task when we think about it and try to do it.
But no it’s Him! You and I have to give-up or surrender to God. How do
we do that, here is the practical application lets look at the last
passage Mark 14:38 (Amplified Bible” Keep awake and watch and pray [constantly],
that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
So for me it is one day at a time, on moment at a time. I have to live
there. Consciously choosing everyday to give my life, all my habits and
hurts and hang-up to Him! And yes that includes what I put in to this Temple
my body! {Remember that’s just not food alone} That means you too…so
take some time and think and pray, He will show you He promises. May the
Lord Bless you and Keep you Love
Mary God
grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage
to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting
hardship as a pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world
as it is; not as
I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I
surrender to Your will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen. |
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