Food for Thought

Max Lucado: Don't Miss the Point

August 6, 2010 9:02 AM

A friend (thanks MaggieBaby) sent this blog by Max Lucado to me and I just had to share it with everyone. It's SO perfect for weight loss! Here's what he said:

"The trip from Egypt to the promised land can be made in nine days (Deuteronomy 1:2). It took the Israelites thirty-eight years.

What they should have done, they didn’t ... So God decided they needed some time to rethink a few things.

Maybe God is wanting to teach you a few things. Pay attention. You don’t want to spend thirty-eight years missing the point."

We're on a journey, too, and we don't want to spend thirty-eight years before we finally reach OUR promised land! So ... eyes up, hands busy, feet moving and mouths closed! We can do it. Thanks Max!

“Lord, you bless those who do what is right.” Psalm 5:12

comments (5)

What's on YOUR list?

July 12, 2010 10:30 AM

Take a few minutes with me and reflect on the things that mean the most to you. You can even sit and make a list if you like (I'm such a list person!). If you do, you'll be looking at all the important things in your life.

So, what's on your list? Your loved ones, most likely. You may have included your home, career, pets (yes, bulldogs), activities, keepsakes and other special possessions. Mark is on my list, of course. I adore him. My heart still flips when I catch him looking at me across a room full of people. Aleeta, Adam, Alan and Andrew – they're my heart. I've included other family members, friends, my staff and my "kimmies". I think of my webshow and my writing career. I wouldn't want to give any of them up! I count them as blessings from God. Speaking of God, He's on my list, too.

Many of you may have put God on your list as well – He doesn't ask us NOT to care about those things that are precious to us, but He does want to come before them.

I love what Augustine in his Confessions said, "He loves thee too little who loves anything together with thee." The "he" he's referring to is us and the "thee" is God. Think about it. Augustine doesn't say, "He loves God too little who loves anything MORE than God," but rather "He loves God too little who loves anything TOGETHER WITH God."

Wow! I really love God a lot. But I look down at my list and think about where I spend my thoughts, my time and my attention. I look at my busy datebook and daily calendar and I know what really ranks in my life. Even though God is on my list, He's not often at the top.

In Exodus God gives us the Ten Commandments. The very first commandment is ... "You shall have no other gods before me." A "god" in scripture refers to any object of our worship or adoration. Idolatry is used to describe any attempt to put something above God, whether it's a stone statue or a spouse, a graven image or a growing bank account ... or a delicious pound cake. Nothing should rival God in our hearts and lives.

Does that mean we shouldn't put time and effort into the other areas of our life? No! He wants us to love and cherish them. But what's FIRST in our hearts? What do we trust in? Count on? Turn to for decisions? What are our goals based on? Do we have an eternal perspective?

Sometimes we are so busy mapping out our next move that we don't give God the room to lead us. Do we put more effort into earning and saving than into seeking God's will for our lives? Are we counting on our psyche and support groups to give us ALL the internal strength to overcome our problems? God wants to bless us. He wants to help us in our areas of weakness. But He also wants us to turn to Him to get it.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
I Cor. 12:8-10

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 12:29, 30

comments (7)

Hungering After God ...

June 30, 2010 8:05 AM

St. Augustine, Latin Philosopher and Theologian, once said, "You [God] have made us for yourself, and our souls are restless until they rest in you."

Are you restless? Frustrated? What are you chasing after, focusing on, DESIRING in your life? What fills your thoughts from day to day? For some the driving force is money, fame, power. For others it's alcohol. And for others it's food. NONE of these things is bad in and of itself. However, when it becomes the focus of our lives – if it's our passion, our hunger – then there's a pretty good chance we will end up unsatisfied, unfulfilled. So what's the answer?

Matthew 5:6 says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled!"

You know what I love most about this verse? It DOESN'T say, "Blessed are those who are righteous, for they will be filled" but instead, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. That's a really good thing in my case. Probably in all our cases. After all, we're all works in progress, right? Pobody is nerfect!

From time to time I've had the opportunity to lead retreats for Christian women, often on the topic Hungering After God. The two questions we spend time delving into are, 1. "What is a hunger for God" and, 2. "How do we develop it?"

Webster defines hunger as 'a strong desire or craving for something.' God created us with a physical hunger and gave us something tangible to satisfy it. We all know this ... some of us only too well.

But He also created us with a spiritual hunger ... for Him. The problems come when we try to satisfy our spiritual hunger with something other than God. No human relationship, no job, no possession and no amount of money or success – or food – can ultimately satisfy us. It's like putting a round peg in a square hole. God made us with this need for Him and, like so many, I kept trying to fill it up with things that just didn't fit.

When I was featured on the cover of Woman's World magazine, they mentioned how I relied on God for strength as I was losing my weight. Unfortunately they went one step further and found a prayer and put it in next to my article. I got hundreds of email from hurting people who claimed to chant this prayer in the hopes of losing weight. Oh man, if it was only that easy!

Relationships take time and effort. They're not easy to maintain! Like any other relationship, our relationship with God is a two way effort. He's put in effort above and beyond on His end ... sending a Savior, writing us a letter, giving us the fellowship of others, and more. But what about us? Hmmmmmmm.

So I'm going to use this Daily Bread blog to share some thoughts and verses on the subject. And I'd love to hear what YOU think.

comments (12)

Choose this day ...

May 12, 2010 3:03 AM

We had a great video chat Monday night. I loved getting to know everyone better. Some of you are psyched and on track ... awesome! Others are struggling to get back on track ... you're NOT giving up. Way to go!

At the end of the chat, we put out a 100% day challenge to write and plan and track and watch our BLTs and make the next day – Tuesday – a 100% OP day. And we decided to meet back in the video chats again Tuesday night (May 11) for an impromptu reporting on how we did.

A 100% DAY CHALLENGE! WHOO HOO!

Tuesday night ALL met back – I was amazed that EVERYONE was there! 100% was met by almost all. And the few who had less than 100%, were minor slip-ups. Focusing on just that one day – not on trying to "do this forever" made a huge difference (not to mention the little added accountability.)

So while I was planning out my day this morning a Bible verse came to my mind. To give you a little background, this verse is found in the old testament in Joshua 24, and it is Joshua who is speaking. He's the one who took over after the death of Moses, bringing the Israelites out of the desert and into the promised land. It's near the end of his life and he's recapping to the people what God has done for them and their covenant with Him. And, at the end of his speech, he says these words that really hit me:

"...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve..."

I had always believed the importance of this verse was the choice between serving God or serving something else. (And that IS the main point of the verse). But if you look closer there are two significant words that I've always overlooked. Those are the words: 'THIS DAY.'

Think about it. Yes, there is a turning point in our lives where we make a decision, a choice, of whom we're going to follow and how we're going to live (like deciding to follow the Lord – or starting a diet one more time). But beyond that, we need to make the choice of whom we're going to serve TODAY – each individual day.

We need to decide what we're going to do with the actions and thoughts and temptations in our life THIS DAY. We have to take the time to really think about it ... and to make the conscious commitment THIS DAY ... TODAY. It's not just a one-time choice for the rest of our lives and then we forget about it. I guess that means we need to be prepared mentally as well as physically every day.

So while I'd love to say, "I'm going to be on track and make this a lifetime/FOREVER thing;" (And that IS the hope and the desire.) I can and will say that I will commit THIS day 100%.

TODAY I'm going to choose to stay on program. TODAY I will not let the food rule me, I will instead be in control over what goes in my mouth. I will make a plan and stick to it. And I will work through temptations with a good deal of self-talk, determination, preparation ... and prayer. Forever seems like a long time to me, but I can do this for TODAY.

Joshua 24:14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. ...15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve ... But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

What are YOU going to commit to today?

http://www.biblegateway.com/

comments (16)

The Potter And The Clay

January 26, 2010 6:19 AM

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

There once was a tea cup, who was not always a tea cup. Here's it's story...

"I have not always been a tea cup. There was a time when I was just a lump of clay. My Master, the Potter, took me and rolled me pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, "Don't do that. I don't like it! Let me alone!" But he only smiled, and gently said; "Not yet." Then, WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. "Stop it! I'm getting so dizzy! I'm going to be sick!" I screamed.

But the master only nodded and said, quietly, "Not yet."

He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself and then ... he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door.

"Help! Get me out of here!" "Not yet," came the reply. When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool.

Oh, that felt so good! "Ah, this is much better," I thought. But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible! "Oh, please, stop it! STOP IT!" I cried. He only shook his head and said. "Not yet."

Then suddenly he put me back into the oven. Only it was not like the first time. This time it was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up and just then, the door opened, and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf to cool. I waited and waited, wondering, "What's he going to do to me next?"

A little while later he came to me and handed me a mirror, saying, "Look at yourself."

And I did. I couldn't believe it. "Who is that? Surely it's not me? It couldn't be! It's ... it's ... beautiful. I'm beautiful!"

Quietly he spoke: "I want you to remember this," he said. "I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to be spun around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.

"I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life.

"And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are finished. Useful. Beautiful inside and out. Now you have become what I had in mind when I first created that lump of clay."

"As the clay is in the potter's hand, so you are in My hand." JEREMIAH 18:6

comments (8)

Dancing with God

January 7, 2010 12:20 PM

GUIDANCE

I was thinking about the word Guidance.

I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music. One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one direction or another. It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.

Dancing together takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person ... and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word Guidance. When I saw "G": I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i". "God," "u" and "i" dance. He is always there for us, but in the end, it's up to us to let him him lead.

I want to dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide through everything ... even my struggle with food. In the end, there is no cost but a lot of reward.

May all of you dance through 2010!

Kim :)

PSALM 18:5 "In my anguish I cried to the Lord and He answered by setting me free."

[adapted from an anonymous email]

comments (21)