Say NO to the cookie!!

The past few days have been a real struggle for me to not eat the things I told myself I wasn’t going to eat. I have been eating healthy and drinking a lot of water. I made a decision to not eat fast food, greasy or fatty foods. This also includes sugary foods.

 

While I could munch on chips and fried chicken any day… sugar is my real weakness. I cannot resist chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies with icing or donuts. Of course yesterday we received some Shamrock Shaped iced sugar cookies with one of our supply orders.

 

Every time I walked in the back to put things away I was tempted to eat one. However I chose to not eat one. While the cookie is pretty and will be tasty for a moment, I will end up regretting it and that is something far worse than being tempted by the cookies.

 

Today we had a large work meeting and guess what was in the kitchen when I walked in… donuts!!! I love donuts. I love glazed, sprinkled, chocolate, cinnamon, powdered, and Boston crème filled. It has been so hard not to eat one!!! AHHH!

 

It got me thinking about other things in life. Sin may appear pretty and will come in a form that appears attractive to us. However we must see past that and realize that it is not worth it. When we sin we are hurting our relationship with God. Sin takes us farther away from God. Just like by me eating that cookie it will take me farther away from my goal and my commitment. Once I eat that cookie or donut I will say well I already did that might as well eat another or might as well eat KFC and drink huge Pepsi since I already made one mistake. What is three or four more?

 

It can snow ball farther and farther. It’s like sin. We can do one little thing and then keep going until we have let something small snowball into something big and we are so far off the path we cannot find the way back.

 

Jesus got baptized (Matthew 3) and immediately after the devil tempted him. He fasted 40 days and 40 nights. He was hungry. The devil tempted him to turn a stone into bread. Jesus didn’t. He instead told the devil that man shouldn’t live by bread alone, but every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4)

 

Jesus went through temptation to show us that it can be done without giving in to it. He may have been God’s son but he was in human form and any human that hadn’t eaten in 40 days and nights would be hungry. It would be tempting to turn the stone into bread, but Jesus didn’t.

 

While eating cookies and donuts isn’t a sin, me eating one would have been breaking the commitment I made with myself. When we sin we break our vow to be Christ like. Christ never sinned. We are not perfect and that is why God sent his only son to this world to die in our place. He knew we would make mistakes. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. When we sin we have an advocate. We can pray and ask God to forgive us when we mess up.

 

The important thing is when you sin or fall off track, don’t quit! Ask God to forgive you when you sin and when you break a commitment to yourself, forgive yourself. Get back on the way of the Lord and get back on track! When we fall the most important step is getting back up.

 

I hope that when you fall you will get back up and keep on keeping on! Remember be strong in temptation and do not fall into it. You can do it!!! If I can pass up a cookie you can pass up something that is tempting to you!

 

Love from above!

 

Iva Mae

Fearfully & Wonderfully Made

A few days ago I caught glimpse of myself in a large mirror. I almost shrieked with horror! I was not prepared for what I saw. I have always been self conscious. I tend to judge myself harshly. I tried to look at myself with God’s eyes instead. He sees me as his child. No matter what I look like, he loves me. He created me to be exactly as I am. Every part of myself is what he designed.

I started reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. The first day really got to me. So far every day has really gotten to me. It has made me mad, sad and hopeful all at the same time. If you haven’t read it you need to! It is a 40 day thing. There isn’t much to read each day.

Day 2’s “Point to Ponder” was I AM NOT AN ACCIDENT. The entire section for Day 2 was filled with how God made us and let us have the parents we have, the bodies we have, our brains , our pasts, circumstances and everything else about ourselves and our lives because he wanted us that way. We have a specific purpose that can only be fulfilled by us the way we are.

That really hit home to me. I never thought that everything about me was made the exact way God wanted it to be. I’ve always compared myself to models and other women and it left me feeling less than I should. It was refreshing looking at things that way instead of my normal view of myself. Have you ever felt you were less important or that you weren’t as good as others? This is a lie!!! God made each of us special. We are all custom designed. We are not cookie-cutter people!! Something I always thought was a bad thing is actually an amazingly wonderful thing.

Psalm 139:14 “… For I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”

When I was a little girl, I remember catching part of a movie on T.V. It was an older movie, maybe made in the 50’s or 60’s. Everyone was to be transformed in this machine to a certain look. “Normal” people weren’t acceptable. There were 3 or 4 models you could chose from. There was a homely looking girl who refused to be made into this image. She was determined to stay true to the way she looked because it made her who she was. The scientist argued with her and even said but don’t you want to be beautiful like everyone else?

I never knew if she was forced to be changed or not but she didn’t want to be anyone but who she was made to be. I honestly forgot about that until now! 

I no longer want to be look or be like anyone else. We are our best, when we are ourselves.

On that note I am sick and tired of being sick and tired! I am not treating myself very well. Last year I ate only things that would help my body perform the best that it could. I have almost completely fallen off of the healthy eating and lifestyle wagon. In fact I’m starting to lose the tracks from the wagon wheels! I am starting today going to treat myself better and eat what is best for me and exercise so I can have a healthy body to God’s purpose. I am also going to try to get enough sleep. I always have a problem with that.

I am telling anyone who reads this (maybe only my mother) so I can be accountable. I am going to strive to become spiritually and physically fit! Every once in a while I may post recipes or other things but for the most part this blog will be centered around bible verses and what I get from them to help me in my life and hopefully in your lives as well.

God Bless you all!

 

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Check yourself before you Wreck yourself……….

I had someone say that to me during one of my low points in life. It made me mad. She was right I needed to check myself because I was wrecking myself and others. I was spewing horrible words of hatred from my mouth. I didn’t care who I hurt because I was hurt. My attitude was poor and I did and said a lot of things I still regret to this day.

Anger and sadness can ruin you if you let them.

When you are angry and you forgive someone, you do it because that’s what God says (Matthew 18:21-22) and holding grudges only hurts yourself. It will make you have a bad attitude and you will harm others as well as yourself.

Sadness can cause depression and a bad attitude. You can be hurt, sad and mad at the same time. It can cause you to have a negative attitude towards life and others. There is a time to mourn and a time to laugh (Ecclesiastes 3:4). You cannot let sorrow and sadness rule your life.

What is an attitude?

According the Merriam-Webster.com, attitude is – the way you think & feel about someone or something; a feeling or way of thinking that affects a person’s behavior.

I’ve met several people and know people who have bad attitudes. It can make even the prettiest woman ugly. It makes you not want to be around them. As Christians we are to be Christ like. Even through suffering, loss, anger and a massive amount of followers He never had a bad/negative/poor attitude.

The past few weeks I have had a bad attitude. I am grumpy and irritable. I have had a “Negative Nancy” outlook on everything. I could barely stand myself. I fell last week on the stairs and injured my foot. I was extremely mad and angry. I hate being laid up and not able to get up and go. I was in extreme pain last week and instead of dealing with it the healthy way I dealt with it the grumpy way. I started thinking about my attitude and how I was representing Christ. It made me feel ashamed. I realized that no matter what you go through or what comes your way you can decide how you are going to feel about it and react to it.

There’s a famous quote that says

“…Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you … We are in charge of our Attitudes.” Charles Swindoll

God’s word says:

Ephesians 4:1-3 “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

1 Corinthians 15:33 “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”

Phillippians 2:14-15 “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;”

Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”

1 Corinthians 16:14 “Let all your things be done with love.”

 

The next time something bad happens and you know you can’t change the situation, change your attitude.