“Righteousness goes as a herald before him, preparing the way for his steps.” Psalm 85:13

Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness, and He was sustained by His faith.
The devil came to Him and tried to tempt Him with bread,
but he refused to give in.
This is a good image for us to remember when we are dieting.
Often we feel we cannot go on when we miss just one meal.
Christ proved to us that even after missing meals for 40 days,
there is still a source of strength other than food.
That source is God,
and His strength is available to anyone who will ask for it.
Let us remember to follow in the steps of Jesus Christ and
lean on our heavenly Father whenever we feel weak or tempted.

Today’s thought:
I am facing nothing that Christ did not face before me.

“The Lord rewarded me for doing right; he compensated me because of my innocence.” II Samuel 22:21

Don’t expect God to make you thin. You have to do the hard part for yourself. Do know this, however: God will bless you beyond your wildest hopes if you will put forth your best efforts and not give up. When we show Him we really are serious about being better people. He is pleased beyond measure, and He will do all kinds of wonderful things to help us along. When we refuse to give into the temptations, to dirty our hands, then God will reward us and lift us up. All He asks is that we give our best effort. If we do that, we will succeed.

Today’s thought: God is pleased by my best effort to lose weight!

“What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!” II Corinthians 5:17 NLT

Some people say that what we look like on the outside has nothing to do with what we’re like on the inside. This is true to a degree, but how we see ourselves has very much to do with what we think of ourselves. If we see ourselves as overweight, we tend to think less of ourselves. If we see ourselves as physically fit and trim, then we will feel better. One of the advantages of leaning on Christ when we diet is that He has the power to make the old pass away and to bring about a wonderful newness to our lives. No one wants our transformation more than Christ Jesus. He’s there to help.

Today’s thought: There’s a brand new me on the way!

“There was a time when some of you were just like that, but now your sins have been washed away, and you have been set apart for God. You have been made right with God because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.”
I Cor. 6:11 NLT

In many respects, dieting is like a washing away of fat. What greater joy is there than to step up on the scales and see the pointer a few marks to the left of where it was a couple of days before. When we lose, we feel cleansed, and the cleansing is not just physical. Emotionally we begin to feel better about ourselves. Our guilt, our poor self-image, our pain all begin to wash away too. This is the best washing of all. We are renewed both inside and out, and we become fitting and holy temples; righteous dwelling places for the Lord.

Today’s thought: Each pound lost cleanses me physically, spiritually, and mentally.

“For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

Talk to Jesus. Seriously, He is waiting to listen to you and help you in your struggle to lose weight. Sometimes we wrestle with the urge to cheat on our diets until we are emotional wrecks. This happens most often when we are alone, with no one to talk to. Don’t forget, Christ is always with you, and He is as close as prayer. Tell Him how difficult it is. Let Him know your struggle, and He will indeed comfort you. There is never a time in our lives when Jesus is not interested in everything that is happening to us. Call upon Him.

Today’s thought: Jesus is as close as a prayer.

I’m sitting here (with my sidekick Izzy by me) looking out the window, it is still raining. Not sprinkling, raining. It did stop for a couple of hours yesterday, but when we came out of church I could tell it had downpoured while we were in… I’m not complaining. I know that we won’t all float away, God promised that. So, I just thank Him for watering all the beautiful flowers so nicely and soaking the earth. I am imagining all the fires that are being prevented from this rain.
So, Gail and Stacy both mentioned liquid creamers for the coffee. Gail even sent links to websites. I went yesterday with the goal of finding these creamers. I bought international flavors hershey chocolate with caramel I think. Miss Paula mentioned liking the Mocha foldgers. I have so much to try, very exciting. Then Jenna discouraged me from using splenda, she and I see eye to eye on those artificial sweeteners. So, this morning I made my first cup with the tablespoon of the new creamer, and 3 tsp. of sugar. It was actually good. I think it’s funny how many people either hate coffee or really love it. Amanda loves starbucks and several of you suggested different drinks there. She usually talks me into a drink there when we are at Target. I have tried several and in the past if they had a coffee flavor I pitched them (I’m a new woman now, so I’ll try again), usually opting for hot cocoa. Isn’t this just fascinating stuff? )
At church last night, the pastor was talking about leadership, not in the way I would expect. More about courage and character. He said courage is faith in action. He also mentioned that there have been studies done that show the people who acheive their goals write them down. I am going to start writing my goals down. He also talked about living a yuck life and made an acrostic to define his thoughts… y – yesterday, living in the past, being caught up in what was or could have been; u – unsupervised, not being held accountable to anyone; c – callused; and k – killjoy, no fun to be around, someone who just sucks the life out of you. I certainly don’t want to live a yuck life!
Izzy had summer school yesterday, for some reason she was so cranky there. She starting being fussy while I was getting ready to take her and then I noticed when I picked her up she was still very vocal and a little stiff. I’m not sure if her tummy was upset from her lunch, or if she just didn’t want to be there. I can’t wait until she can tell me what’s wrong instead of playing the guessing game… I’m just glad that she does show me when she is uncomfortable. She slept really well last night and so far this morning seems to be doing good. When I heard her and went in to get her this morning she smiled and was glad to see me! I showed her the view out the window and we talked about the rain. I usually spend some time first thing in the morning in prayer over her too. She is a sweetie. Prayers are welcome btw.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs
2 pounds ground turkey breast
2 teaspoons salt-free garlic and herb seasoning or poultry seasoning
1 egg white
Salt and ground black pepper
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons dried thyme
In a large bowl, combine turkey, garlic and herb seasoning, egg white and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Mix well and shape mixture into about 32 meatballs. Place meatballs in bottom of slow cooker.

In a medium bowl, whisk together tomato sauce, broth, chili sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and thyme. Pour mixture over meatballs.

Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.

Visit Sandra to share your favorite slow cooker recipe and/or to view more!

It’s funny to follow a recipe with a diet devo huh? I have had some good laughs at the comments on the diet devos pertaining to recipes and food. You have to eat for goodness sakes, the point is to just be smart about it right… Anyway, here is day 19. I sent out several of these books yesterday, so if I promised one to you expect it soon.

“Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps … Who his own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.”

It is good for us to remember, as we sit feeling sorry for ourselves because we may not indulge in tasty pleasures, that our sacrifice is not really so great when we compare it to the many sacrifices Christ made. What we are doing is indeed a sacrifice, but for self rather than for others. Christ sacrificed for us in order that we might enjoy life to the fullest. Let us learn from the sacrifices of Christ and remember that He has given us the power to overcome any temptation that might present itself.

Today’s thought: Christ has conquered temptation and will be with me!

Hope you have a great Thursday!

“Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor; and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” I Samuel 2:30

A friend of mine played basketball in high school. He did everything he could to become the best player he could be. He worked with the coach every day. He respected the coach and did everything the coach told him, in order to please him. His hard work paid off. He starred on the team, and when he graduated, the coach told him he was the finest player he had ever had the privalege of coaching. Are we doing everything we can to please God by being the best people we can be? When we diet, we do God honor, and He will be faithful to honor us in return. If we ignore our bodies, the gift that God gave us, then we show contempt for God, and He will lose respect for us.

Today’s thought: Today I will do everything I can to please God!

“The Lord knoweth the days of the upright; and their inheritance shall be forever.” Psalm 37:18

God honestly does know what we suffer through when we try to lose weight. He sympathizes with us in all our suffering, but He can also see the prize that awaits us. He knows the inheritance that is to come. Even when we have difficulty keeping our eyes focused on the goal, we can turn to God, who will strengthen us by His own strength. He always sees us as what we can potentially be: slim, trim, and healthy! It is important for us to try to see ourselves the same way God sees us. Remember, once weight is lost, the struggle is not completely over, but we need not ever return to obesity. The fruits of our labors, our inheritance, can last forever.

Today’s thought: God wants to see us achieve our goal!

“I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.” John 12:46

When we feel bad about ourselves, we tend to dwell under a dark cloud of depression. Sometimes we can’t think of anything else, but how much weight we’ve gained and how much we would like to lose. The good news is that darkness is always replaced by light. We can get out from under the burden of our weight. We can change for the better. Our Lord is a liberator. He frees us from anything that oppresses us. Obesity is oppressing, and God is ready and willing to free us. No darkness is too great for God to dispel. No matter how dark and dismal our physical condition may be, in the light of Christ, we can trim down.

Today’s thought: We always look better in God’s light than in our own darkness.

Sorry this is so late! We’ve had a busy day, Izzy had Bear… I did get to chat with Marcia! That was fun stuff. Anyway, tomorrow is TTT, come back and sign up, we are going to travel to the day we accepted Christ as our Lord. I look forward to reading all of your stories.

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” II Chronicles 16:9

My grandfather always said to me, “you plant your field, you have to harvest it.” We made ourselves overweight, and we either have to live with it or work to change it. It is foolishness to over indulge, but that doesn’t stop us from doing it. Anyone who is overweight knows well that we have to pay for our foolishness. True wisdom comes from God. When we decide that enough is enough, that it is the time to lose weight, we can know God can help us, especially through the toughest times. All we need to do is ask. God is looking for ways to help us, but He always waits until His help is invited. Don’t hesitate. Call upon the Lord, and He will hear you.

Today’s thought: If we turn from our foolishness, God will bless us!