Grace

I am beginning to understand true grace and the power of grace in my life. Grace is so undeserved, yet God showers His grace on us freely. Every person is in need of the grace of God, too. Even the people who think they are just fine living on their own without God, they are still in need of the amazing grace that only God can provide. And because we are all equally in need of grace, why in the world does anyone think they are better than anyone else? I am not just talking about snooty people in the world, but people who call themselves Christians. I have seen supposed Christian people look down their noses, figuratively and literally, on people that they think are "less than" they are. Every single one of us sins. Every single one of us does things that we need forgiveness for, regardless if we are Christians or not. And sin is sin is sin. In 1 John 5:16-17, the Bible says there is sin leading to death and sin not leading to death. The sin that leads to death is the continual rejection of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!!!!! Other than that, we can all be forgiven!!! Every single one of us struggles with something, whether it is lying, adultery, homosexuality, stealing, gluttony, drugs, alcohol....whatever it may be! But we ALL have at least one thing that the enemy of our souls knows about and uses against us to try to get us to fall. Yet when someone does give in and people find out about it, rather than reacting with love and grace, people tend to get all judgmental. Yet if we are repentant, God is faithful to forgive...His grace is abundant! So who is a man to offer up judgment? Granted, we are not to just fall and stay in our sin; we are not to live lives in continual sin. In Galatians 5:13, the Bible tells us that we are called to freedom, but not to use our freedom as opportunity for the flesh. That tells me not to use my freedom to keep sinning! Yet, if I mess up, there will be people to condemn me rather than love me and help me to overcome. This really is disgusting to me. What if the one thing that could make the difference in someone's life when they mess up is how one person reacts? What if that one person rebuffed that person, looking down their nose at them and condemned them? What if that one reaction caused that person to turn back to their sin, thinking that that was it, they really messed up now so they might as well just live with their sin. But what if that one person simply loved on the one that messed up? What if the reaction the one received was not condemnation but love, grace, encouragement to get up and get back on track? What if that one reaction made all the difference in how the one who messed up saw themselves? What reaction would Jesus have? We are supposed to imitate Him, remember? And from what the Bible tells me, He would offer love and encouragement to repent and keep on keeping on. (Remember the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery? Did He stone her as the law commanded? No, He didn't.) Grace abounds, for every single person in this world. And the people of this world offer enough judgment and condemnation. Shouldn't we, as Christians, offer more love and grace than the world offers judgment and condemnation? Shouldn't we try to overcome and not add to it? Think about it.

Back on Track!

Well, I had abandoned my blog because I quit my diet and I felt bad, lol.

So now I am doing something new. I have now reached my all time highest weight, which is definitely NOT something to be proud of. I am technically eligible to go on The Biggest Loser now (you have to want to lose at least 100 pounds), however I really don't want to lose 100 pounds. 95 would be perfect, lol.

Anyway, my amazing friend Becky had told me about a site called www.settingcaptivesfree.com and their course The Lord's Table. I started it today. I am excited! The whole purpose is to set people free from the addiction to food and get us focused back on what we should be focused on anyway.....glorifying God in all that we do! If my motive to lose weight is self-centered, then I will fail, as I have many times before. My motive has to be the glory of the Lord, above all things. My relationship with Christ has to be first in my life. I do not want the addiction to food or gluttony to come between me and my God! So in getting my view of food in the right place, and putting God in His rightful place in my life, my eating habits will be under control and as a result, I will lose weight. I have absolute faith that God will see me through this and not only will my weight get under control, but I will grow closer to God than ever and my relationship with Him will be better than ever.

Pray for me! I will keep you posted!