Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nation, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10

Verse Reflections:  The Greek translation of “be still” means to literally “let go, to surrender”.  Only by stopping our busy lives, by letting go of our control can God take over.  At this point in my life journey, I know I cannot control my eating habits and weigh a healthy weight.  I have to let go and surrender.  I have tried and tried and tried to be disciplined without God leading the way and I fail.  Only by giving up our illusion of control can we allow God to take over, to be exalted.  Imagine for a moment steering the car and then letting go of the steering wheel and watching the car stay between the lines up hills and around curves.  At that point we have to know He is steering.  We can take no credit for keep the car on the road.  So often we convince ourselves that our “successes” come from our hard work, our discipline.  The reality is, there are many people that work hard with discipline that have horrible tragedies befall them.  We all have to eventually acknowledge that we cannot control certain parts of our lives.  For me, making consistently healthy eating choices is one of those.   I am so ready to be still, to let go and surrender.  And I am excited about the day people start asking me how I lost the weight so I can exalt God in my answer.  Today we are going to let go and surrender our eating habits to God.  We cannot do this on our own!

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for this verse.  Thank you for allowing me to be still and KNOW that You are God.  You will be exalted in my body today and every day on this earth. I will celebrate You, I will worship You, I will elevate You through my life.  Let’s exalt together.  I love the idea that by letting go, surrendering I can represent You better in my eating, my peacefulness and my body.  My health will be Yours and I praise You for that.  Thank You for being present in stillness.  I am out on the porch with hummingbirds buzzing around and my puppy snoring through it all.  The perfect way to see and hear You.  Love You.  I look forward to exalting You today.

+1  Time with God

Don’t criticize and you won’t be criticized. And why worry about the speck in the eye of a brother when you have a board in your own eye. Matthew 7:1-2

Verse Reflections:  We sometimes forget that this verse also means that we don’t need to criticize ourselves.  So often we are truly our own worst critic. We need to love ourselves unconditionally as Christ loves us. It is easy to think of this verse in terms of us talking about other people or internally criticizing others.  However, we often criticize ourselves worst of all.  We criticize our bodies, our weight, our looks, every imperfection real or imagined.  We need to also realize that we are God’s temple, His creation.  We need to begin this day by not judging others OR ourselves.   God will give us the power to do that. He loves us with all our faults. And yet often we do not love ourselves with this same unconditional love.  We have to admit this love deep into our souls before we can change unhealthy eating habits that we use to comfort, reward and punish ourselves.  We are so aware of weight and eating habits in America that it is almost revolting.  Let’s begin this day by not being hard on ourselves or others.  I definitely have that board in my own eye when it comes to eating and then criticizing myself. I constantly chastise myself when I eat too much or choose the wrong foods.  Why am I so hyper-critical?   I have no right to criticize anyone’s habits including my own. Just chill and make good decisions.  Let’s begin by asking God to give us the joy of the day.  Let’s ease up on slapping our hand or criticizing ourselves or others (even in our heads) about eating habits.  God gave us delicious, amazing foods.  I made my own cereal yesterday by mixing a variety of roasted nuts with raisins and cran-raisins and pouring milk over it.  No carbs, no processed foods.  Delicious.  I’m taking an apple for a snack at 10:00.  I can’t wait to start this day by not judging myself and having fun with God foods.

Prayer:  Dear Father, Take away this board in my eye.  Allow me to know I am your child and that you made me beautiful.  I need Your help today to not criticize myself.  We are going to have an awesome day and I so appreciate You loving me and accepting me just as I am.  I have developed some habits of daily self-criticism.  I am giving them to You.  So many times I eat just to “spite myself” or others.  I’m not really that hungry in my body but I get antsy, bored, frustrated or lonely and turn to chocolate, sugar and butter or carbs for comfort.  Fix me, mold me in Your image because my own image of myself is a little screwed up.  I adore you and love You and I know you adore and love me.  Allow me to have joy without criticism or judgement or angst today.  When I am joyful, I have amazingly healthy eating habits so let’s go out there and make this happen.  It is time for me to start driving to start the day and my hair is wet so it’s ponytail time but I am excited about this new venture.  Thanks for giving me this awesome message of eating God +1.  Love you.  May You also have a blessed day and may I be part of that blessing for You.

If your eye is pure, there will be sunshine in your soul. Matthew 6:22.

Verse Reflections  I love the thought of having “Sunshine in my soul”.  When Moses came off of the mountain after spending time with God he was white with light.  I am sure that he had sunshine in his soul.  It is revealing that God keeps giving us instructions in the Bible that shows us all the wonderful blessings that we can have BUT He also gives us tasks we must do in order to receive them.  In this verse we must keep our eyes pure.  We must be sure that what we look at, what we read, what we crave, what we put ourselves in front of should be pure.  This verse reinforces what I heard God tell me.  We should eat “pure” (with no additives, no artificial ingredients) foods.  We should eat God foods that are pure meats, fruits and vegetables.  We should turn our eyes on the pure words of the Lord each morning.  If we begin our day with purity, we can feel the lightness, the joy that He is promising us.  I am ready to have the sunshine in my soul.  So let’s do this!

Prayer:  Dear Lord, What a beautiful way to start my day.  Lord, pour sunshine into my soul.  Let it fill me, let others see the joy and sunshine pouring forth.  I totally believe that You are light and I want to be filled with You.  The Greek word for “pure” is clean and blameless.  Let me be clean and blameless today.  Allow me to have the strength to eat pure foods, clean foods.  I want to go a step beyond today and ask You to help me crave those foods.  Allow me to look for and want those wonderful foods You created.  I adore You and this is just one simple, but for me complicated, way I can worship You.  Today I am going to worship You through the foods I eat.  And I look forward to feeling and being warmed by the sunshine spilling out of my soul.

No one lights a lamp and hides it! Instead he puts it on a lampstand to give light to all who enter the room. Your eyes light up your inward being. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. Luke 11:34

Verse Reflection:  Obviously God is wanting me to stress what I put into my eyes, into my body.  Thank you God for this verse.  I love the fact that when we put pure things into our bodies we will literally light up from inside.  How beautiful!  What a great way to start my God plus one today.  I was thinking in my little warped head that we would start with resisting temptation but this is so much better.  I know this intellectually that we literally feel better emotionally, we need less sleep… when we eat right but I love thinking of lighting our inner being by what we read (such as scriptures like this), what we watch on television (yes I am listening to easy music this morning) and I am adding what we put into our mouth even though God is concentrating on the eyes.  I believe He is sending me a message by giving me a similar verse two mornings in a row.  Today I am going to look at pure foods, put PURE things into my body.  More importantly I am going to radiate to give light to anyone who is in my presence.  How cool is that.  I will be like a moon reflecting God, the sun.  Let me be a full moon so that God’s light is aweing to those around.

Prayer:  Father,  You are so amazing the way You give me just the message I need.  I love focusing on the positive with this plan instead of the negative.  I have chastised myself, scolded myself, beat myself up for every cookie (maybe because I eat entire pans ha ha), every bag of chips, every time I eat any of those foods I put into the “Thou Shall Not Eat” category.  Thank you for giving me a positive spin on just having fun finding Your pure foods.  I woke up this morning fifteen minutes before the alarm.  I have a feeling it was because there was no sugar in my body.  Thank You!!  Let’s go eat breakfast even though I don’t enjoy it.  Let’s go have a wonderful light filled day.  I love you Lord.  Another day of God plus ONE here we come.  I am going to be Moses coming off the mountain and shining with Your light.  Okay, maybe 30 minutes with You in the morning doesn’t give me that much light but You are the God of miracles so I will be the moon to Your sun.  You decide how much light I can shine.

You see, this is what may happen: Someone who thinks it is wrong to eat this food will see you eating at a temple restaurant, for you know there is no harm in it. Then he will become bold enough to do it too, although all the time he still feels it is wrong. So, because you “know it is all right to do it” you will be responsible for causing great spiritual damage to a brother with a tender conscience for whom Christ died. And it is a sin against Christ to sin against your brother by encouraging him to do something he thinks is wrong. So, if eating xx is going to make my brother sin, I’ll not eat any of it as long as I live, because I don’t want to do this to him. Corinthians 8:10-13

Verse Reflection:  God’s word tells us that eating any food is not wrong in itself.  However, it is wrong when it is wrong for you.  One of my pet peeves is dividing foods into a “can” and “cannot” have category.  And yet, I am the queen of this habit.  I guess that is why this new lifestyle works for me.  If I want a candy bar I can have one.  I just have to wait until tomorrow to have the second one!   I guess even with all this knowledge I have to be conscious of those around me because we all have to do what works best for us.  The definition of sin is “anything that separates us from God” and certainly food can do that if we don’t feel good about what we are eating.  I don’t think there is anything we can’t eat, we just need to be okay with it and eat it in moderation.  Ugh!  To be honest, I don’t want to think in these terms of thinking about others around me in this journey.  I have enough trouble making it work for me.  However, God is clearly telling us to think about what we eat in front of others that may need additional strength. Certainly, I have overindulged way too many times in my life because I stayed fairly thin despite my over-eating.  I suppose God is telling me that I have to grow up and be a role model.

Prayer:  Dear God, Help me be aware of others around me and allow me to be an example for that individual person.  I haven’t mentioned this program to many people around me.  I guess I have to make sure it works the way I think it will before I open my mouth.  And maybe I will even wait for people to ask.  Hmmm what a novel idea.  Bless my heart and head because I know me well enough to know that I sometimes respond to life by eating in my nervousness and manic self-awareness.  And I just love food, all food.  I love You and want to represent You well.  Will you allow me to realize that no food is wrong while protecting me from overeating or being a bad influence on others in my choices.  Help me grow up and be the role model I should be.  Perhaps all the turmoil inside of me could be avoided if I would think of others instead of myself.

Now to him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask of him. Ephesians 3:20

Verse Reflections:  How amazing that we don’t have the slightest clue how much God can do for us and with us. He is able to do “exceedingly abundantly ABOVE” all that we ask.” I shared with my husband how “easy” this journey has been this time.  Hmmm what have I done differently?  Only ONE thing.  My daily devotionals.  Remember God gave me this message over a year ago.  Christ has already exceeded my expectations.  I’m a slow learner but I am making a solid commitment to my devotionals.  I am astounded that 20-30 minutes in God’s presence each day makes all the difference.  My husband and I just shared an oatmeal cookie and I only ate about four bites and I honestly didn’t want any more.  This is a first! I would have, first of all, ordered two cookies by myself and given Mark half of one in the past because I was not going to share the main cookie.  And I’m talking huge cookies, not the kind we make at home.  God has changed me or is changing me daily.  I know myself well enough to know all it would take would only take one or two days “devotionless” and it would all come roaring back like a lion.  I’ve lived this roller coaster for forty years now.  I know that another hill is coming and then I can fly down it out of control.  So, I daily go to God and ask for His blessings on this journey so that I can receive “above” all that I ask.  I am going to take comfort in knowing I have only scratched the surface of what He can do for me.

Prayer:  God, you never cease to amaze me when I stay close to You.  Sometimes it scares me and I go run and hide from Your brilliance or the loudness of Your voice.  All I have to do is to stay “too busy” and Your presence fades.  And yet, You never go away, You hold me up, You are always my best friend.  But sometimes I make You my best friend that I only call once a month.  Other times we are texting sporadically so I purposely can’t recognize Your voice.  Once again, now I hear Your voice.  I heard You ask me to record that song, I heard You ask me to tell the homeless guy I believed in him.  I heard You tell me emphatically that I needed to eat God foods and limit to 1 serving per day of the processed and non-God foods.  I’m doing it and I am ecstatic that just by staying in the word the desires of my body are changing.  I cannot wait to die (okay I’m exaggerating please don’t take me literally) and find out how all this power works.  I feel it, I know it.  It is truly life changing.  I hope this works outside my soul too and I lose weight on this just so that other people will dedicate their lifestyles and their power to You.  I am enjoying this daily “burden-free” eating so much that I am just not worrying about the weight loss.  I am enjoying being healthy and knowing that I am taking care of this amazing body You entrusted me with.  Thanks for the power You give to us when we just move closer to You through scripture, devotions, prayers and just talking time.  I haven’t sought out Christian support yet (another way of pulling closer to You) but writing this all down and envisioning other brothers and sisters reading this and being offered this same life changing opportunity is my accountability and Christian fellowship. I think You have something here.  I guess we just forgot how awesome Your plan was when You sent us all this God stuff to eat.  You are changing me, you have changed me.  I am feeling Your exceeding abundance of Your power.  If You can change me, You can change anyone.  Love You forever.

But one is tempted by one’s own desire being lured and enticed by it; then when that desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin and that sin when it is fully grown gives birth to death. James 1:14

Verse Reflections:  Dang. What is wrong with this picture?  This hits a nail on the head for me.  I do tempt myself.  I start to roll around in my head all the tasty treats I can cook and then I start to get excited about one of them.  I plan the first hour of my evening around what I am going to cook and eat.  I have never thought of that conceptualization giving birth to sin.  And now I weigh more than I ever have in my life and I have trouble getting out of the bathtub.  Those that know me would laugh at that but I am serious!  I am amazed at anyone that can carry weight so elegantly.  It weighs me down spiritually, emotionally and I am sure physically which leads us all closer to our deaths.  So now I am having fun conceiving/planning “God treats”.  I am no longer worrying about paying “too much” for blueberries or raspberries.  I truly “pay too much” when I eat the foods that add useless calories.  I have paid in my additional weight on my body and in my mind.  So today I am going to lure and entice myself with my amazing tomato soup that I prepared yesterday.  OMG it is delicious.  And this lure and enticement is going to give birth to life and health.

Prayer:  Dear Lord, thank you for this verse.  For reminding me once again that I am my best friend and my worst enemy.  Help me get over myself and get on with healthy, fun living.  Help me to just stop my mind when it is conceiving that desire.  I am constantly rolling over all the fun treats I can cook or buy.  Allow me to stop and have more fun planning healthy cooking, healthy foods.  I know I feel better when I eat this way.  I actually prefer most God foods and yet I have this “spite the system” part of me that thinks I should have more fun eating the cookies, chips or pasta.  We are going to have a wonderful day today.  I am ready to celebrate and create beautiful new desires with Your help.  I love You and I am looking forward to the day with You.

Then you put off the concerning the former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. But be renewed in the spirit of your mind that you put on the new man that was created by God in true righteousness and Holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

Verse Reflections:  God gives us the power to change.  It is just that simple.  He allows us to put our former conduct behind us, to consider that our former selves or the “old” me.  How awesome is that.  I love that the “old” me had to eat a pan of chocolate chip cookies and now I can eat one or two cookies (not pans).  I definitely had grown corrupt.  I had degraded from a previous healthy state of being.  God can restore me to the original state and even make me better.  He can “renew” me.  I have to be honest– I am already renewed in just a few weeks.   I know I am different, I am changed.  We went across the street last night after fourteen hours in the airport or on planes to get pizza.  In the past, I would have eaten for comfort.  Last night I ate two pieces and stopped.  I’m telling anyone who is reading this that is a miracle as big as God restoring someone’s arm that fell off.  If you are reading this then you understand exactly what I am saying.  This thirty minutes a day is life changing.  He is renewing the spirit of my mind and creating me into a new man.  I love the words righteousness and Holiness.  Righteousness simply means “right-ness”.  I am finally eating right, with right-ness.  Holiness means separated (from the world) by God.  I feel that.  Yesterday, we had several holy experiences on the plane and I am not kidding.  God placed us on the very front seats with extra space (we did not pay more) and interestingly I was on the aisle seat and Mark was on the other side, two seats away by the window.  There was a lot of talking up front by the stewards and stewardesses and suddenly they brought a man and his German shepherd to sit by Mark.  There was no doubt in our minds this was a veteran with a therapy dog.  God could not have placed him in a better place.  We love dogs and my husband is amazing in this type of situation.  I knew God arranged all of this.  When the veteran started to fidget, the dog just turned around and laid his head on his shoulder.  Within three minutes he was calm.  He and Mark got into a wonderful conversation and about thirty minutes into the flight the man reached out to his dog “Geiser” and said, “God has put us on the right aisle with the right people”.  The story goes on but I’m telling you, we were set apart by God on that flight and his holiness was all over that flight.

Prayer:  Thank You Father for creating a new holiness in me.  You have truly set me apart from worldly temptations and worldly views in Your name.  Please keep up the good work in me.  I like this “new” me.  I’ve always enjoyed devotion time and reading the word but never have I been addicted to it like this.  I know I need this time of centering to overcome the “old” me that craves sugar and carbs and ice cream and anything in that category.  It is nice to give myself the freedom to have whatever I want but not exceed ½ cup.  Okay, the pizza might have been a cup but you and I know it was a miracle and a reasonable amount.  Keep setting me apart in right-ness.  I love You!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3

Verse Reflections:  God has given us a living hope through Christ.  I know the new birth that this verse is referring to is the great amazing birth of our souls and the lightness of being that believing in the grace of Jesus gives us.  And yet, it also speaks to my current journey of eating right.  I have a living hope, a new birth of who I am because of the POWER that Christ has.  I am amazed at how easy my day of choosing foods that are good for me are if I start the day with Him.  The days I skip that time, that reflection… it is as though there is a hole in me that is not filled up so I must pour foods in the hole to make me happy, to make me full, to make me feel complete.  On the days that I spend time with God I am already happy so the foods just go on top and there are no holes in my soul that must be filled. Boy, we could go into major therapy for those two sentences, couldn’t we?  Maybe I am overanalyzing but the bottom line is I really start the day differently when I take advantage of His word, His mercy.  I am hopeful, I am blessed by Him and I have a strength that I do not have on days I skip His word.

Prayer:  Father, thank you for the new birth that You have given me through the death and rebirth of Your son.  This unprecedented miracle here on earth showed Your power.  Help me to take advantage of, to claim this power today.  You have already blessed me beyond imagination with Your mercy and grace.  I want to be born anew now in my eating, my health, my weight.  I want to use this living hope.  That is such a beautiful phrase.  Thank You for it.  I think I will seize “living hope” for my daily thought today.  Seal it on my heart, my soul and change me with this living hope.  I am Your child that has been born anew and we are going to eat healthy and have fun today.  I love You.  May I bless You with my life today.  I seldom think of my life blessing You but it is the least I can do for You.  You have given me a lightness of being that I could not have in any other religion.  You have given me an unearned grace, forgiveness that gives me every day as a new opportunity to live free from the past.  Today I am going to bless You who has given us a living hope that we can do this!

But he that glories, let him glory in the Lord. 2 Corinthians 10:17

Verse Reflection:  This time around I totally understand what this verse is saying.   If I change my eating habits to healthy ones for the rest of my life, then I have to credit God.  I have fought this battle for over 35 years and I can’t win it on my own.  This time with God is definitely making the difference. We must let everything we do glorify God.  We have to glorify God in our speech, in our thoughts, the compliments we give others, the work we do and of course, what we eat.  It is God’s business that we are working for.  It is God’s family He has given us.  It is God’s body he has loaned us.  It is God’s talents He has given us to use.  When we get credit for anything we must glorify God.  Everything we do, everything we are, we must Give God the glory.  Every time we are successful, we must give Him the credit.   When He gives us the power, the strength to stop at one serving, God gave us that strength.  YAY GOD!   That is the cool thing about the God + 1 is that we can have another + 1 tomorrow!  And still glory in success.  When I am asked how I lost this weight that I am going to lose, I must make sure that I give God the glory.  Honestly, I cannot do it without Him.  He deserves the glory.

Prayer”  Bless our day today!  Let me give You the glory for all that happens today.  You are amazing and I am looking forward to living today surrounded by Your glory.  Your world is gorgeous, I am living in the moment, living with You and for that I give You the glory!  God, I plan to listen to You and use Your power.  Allow me to look around and breathe in Your beauty.  Allow me success in this journey.  And when I celebrate, let me celebrate the success YOU gave me.  Let me help YOU change thousands of lives by spreading the word of Your power.  By giving You the glory for giving us this power that is beyond us as humans on our own.   Thank You for the success that I am experiencing in changing my eating habits.  I love You.

Keep your heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life. Put away from yourself a wayward mouth, and perverse lips put far from you. Let your eyes look right on, and let your eyelids look straight before you. Make level the path of your feet. And let all your ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left. Proverbs 4:23-27

Verse Reflections:  Diligence is “careful and persistent work or effort”.  This, I feel, is the key to success in the God plus one.  Keeping our heart with diligence: being meticulous and hard working.  We cannot expect to change a life time of habits easily.  We have to work to change our habits.  If 30 minutes a day in God’s word and in the presence of God can make a difference then I am happy to do that. In all honesty, that is an easy, beautiful way to change my life.  Yes, I have to be disciplined enough to find the thirty minutes in my day but I have to say God is faithful and He has truly made eating His foods easier than I ever imagined.  I can do this the rest of my life. I watched my Mother have devotionals most of our lives and she is a beautiful person inside and out.  I saw God in her daily life.  So I know the difference staying close to God makes.  This verse reminds us that the right choices require careful choices, and continuous WORK.  Eating right is not easy.  There is no magic pill, no magic diet, no easy way of eating.  We have to persist no matter how many times we fail.  God tells us that we begin success with keeping our heart centered.  Read God’s word every day.  If we read His word we can get our mouths, our eyes, our hands… to cooperate.

Prayer:  Father, take my hand today and allow me to keep my heart with meticulous care.  I know from this verse that I cannot expect You to guard my heart without a little work on my part.  This is the part of Christianity I often take for granted and forgive me.  You make it so easy that sometimes I forget to work to draw closer to You.   I do know that to live at the highest and most fulfilling level “I need to work it work it” (as Madascar’s lead character said “I’ve got to move it, move it”).  I love You with all my heart.  You know it and I know it but I don’t always keep my heart as pure and Holy as You want me too.  I judge myself and others, I let thoughts flicker by that aren’t gorgeous.  I want to have the right-ness and Holiness that will create the perfect heart and the perfect me.  I do realize that my heart is the root of my “issues” so purify it, cleanse it and I will work hard to keep it close to You and guard it with and for You.  Loving You forever!!  Let’s go enjoy our day God. I want to see more of your beautiful world!!  Fun day ahead with a pure heart and alone time with You.  Soooo excited.

“Long ago, even before He made the world, God chose us to be His very own, through what Christ would do for us; He decided then to make us holy in His eyes without a single fault, we who stand before Him covered in His love. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family….”Ephesians 1:4-5

Verse Reflection:  God made a decision before I was born to make me Holy, to cover me with His love.  How can I fail Him?  He has adopted me as His daughter.  I have been chosen by Him.  I have to admit I started this day working in bed and watching Criminal Minds.  It was Saturday and I really needed to finish my notes from our meeting yesterday.  I know what is on the schedule for next week and I needed to work to complete end of year reports. Then, the next thing I knew it was time for an event over at my friend’s house.  I never sat down and “devoted”.  Amazingly, God held on to me and I did pretty good.  But I really felt the difference of not having that one-on-one time with God.  Putting me in control of my eating during the day is a constant battle of the good angel (Sindy) on one shoulder and the devil (he that shall not be named) with the microphone on the other shoulder.  When I don’t have that verse, that Holy strength in my head to reflect on I tend to fill it with a battle and little baby food thoughts dancing around.  I can tell that being adopted into God’s family gives me that base of strength that a loving mother and father give.  Amazing that we started out Holy, set apart, without a single fault.  I’ve taken that Holy base and nailed a lot of faults to it but God sends His love shining inside and wipes them out every day that I start with Him.  What was I thinking?  We are chosen by God and in this world that is so oriented toward what we wear and how it looks on us I love that He made me Holy, set apart by Him without a single fault.  That is awing and humbling.  I love that we are covered in His love.  How much happier would we be if every time we looked in the mirror we are clothed and covered in God’s love.  Therefore, we are beautiful.

Prayer:  Thank You God for adopting me into Your family and for covering me in Your love. I can tell today because You protectme even when I don’t come to You first.  You help my faults, You gave me power and cover me with Your love.  I am very proud of myself and yet I know it is not me but YOU giving me power because I just can’t be around all that food and not eat a plate full of chips and dip.  Thank You for choosing me and opening me up to moving closer to You daily so that You CAN give me the power to do this.  Pretty cool that every time I come to You my faults disappear and I can start all over again.  I am blessed to be a part of Your kingdom.  I am going to celebrate your love that radiates off my body, shining brightly and I am going to feel beautiful.  We can do this and I love You.

“Thy kingdom come, Thy Will be done…” Matthew 6:10

Verse Reflections:  One of my friends brought up a mind boggling thought as we were running this morning.  We often emphasize “Thy will be done” in the Lord’s prayer but so often we overlook “Thy kingdom come”.  What an awe inspiring thought that we can help bring God’s kingdom here on this earth.  We can live our lives as though His kingdom is far away, separate from our lives here on earth or we can live our lives to encompass His kingdom daily.  We can start our day asking Him to bring His kingdom here to us.  Every smile we smile can bring His kingdom to others, every word we say can bring His kingdom closer or push it further away.  Even the foods we eat can bring His kingdom closer.  Imagine sitting down with Jesus and His disciples in their kingdom.  What foods would you eat?  What foods do you think He would serve You?  As crazy as it sounds I truly believe that our witness includes trying to be a person that others want to be around or even a person that others want to be.  And that can change based on the culture or the people we are around.  My husband is so good at incorporating other cultures into his actions when he travels all over the world and honoring their standards.  I believe that honors God and brings His kingdom closer to those he is with.  Today I am going to focus on bringing God’s kingdom into my body.  By eating foods that make me healthier, even thinner, I will be honoring Him and those around me.

Prayer:  Father, bring your Kingdom to me today.  Let Your kingdom come into my mind, my body.  I want to help You bring Your kingdom here on earth.  I want to honor You but I also want to partake of this kingdom.  One of the verses above states that You are able to do far above all that we can imagine.  Open my imagination today and allow me to just know You have everything under control, you have things ready for all of us that are so beyond the ordinary.  Today I am going to live beyond.  I am going to live in Your kingdom.  Just call me princess today!  Love You my King.

My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in your weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Verse Reflections:  Well I guess His strength is dead on perfect in my life.  Because I have lots of weaknesses.  This verse makes me close my eyes and breathe deeply.  My body relaxes and I feel an energy that comes from deep within in celebration of the knowledge that life is not on my shoulders.  God’s got this!  How exciting, how encouraging to know that the more I give control to God, the stronger He is and the closer I am to achieving all He has planned for my life.  I love the fact that I do not have to always be strong.  Ironically, this actually makes me stronger or perhaps I am feeling the strength of the partnership with God.  A power that I would not have without that union that goes beyond this earth.  So, today my weakness disappears and God takes over.  We are going to dream about, plan for and fill my body with amazing healthy foods.  God’s strength is perfect and this journey is “no hill for a climber”.

I was about to close my reflections and it hit me that my desire for perfection in my life is one of the reasons I am so hard on myself, so analytical and critical about what I eat, so critical and judgmental about my weight and looks.  So how beautiful to think about God’s strength being the very definition of perfection.  So, I can relax and let go of my quest for perfection because I will never achieve it.  I know that, and yet, I keep stressing myself out by trying to be perfect or at least hiding my weaknesses so I look perfect.  Got it—this verse tells me it ain’t happening – so I might as well give it up and give it over to God the only perfect one.

Prayer:  Father, take over my weakness today.  All of my weaknesses.  And yet my most current path requires a specific prayer for my weakness for foods.  Will You take over and become strong in the shadow of my weakness.  Will You shine a light into the darkness that haunts me and make the path bright, encouraging and enticing? I have so much hope knowing the weaker I am, the stronger You are.  We are going to rely on Your perfect strength in this journey.   I love You more than life, I love You more than food (boy that is a big one lol).  Bless our journey today.  You got this!!  And so, I’ve got this with You.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Verse Reflections:  We have power!  We have been given the power of God to do this.  We can say no to the temptations. So many times we wait on the power to strike like lightning or we wait on a magic pill to swallow inside that changes our very make-up.  Those options are not going to happen.  For me, it is just a small light in the darkness, just enough for me to see the way.  When I eat and the voice from the dark shouts you need to eat or drink _______I look and see a flicker of light, just enough power to say no.  He has not given us the spirit of fear.  We do not have to be afraid of failure, of not being perfect.  We have a sound mind.  I know we doubt this sometimes because we have failed at keeping the weight we want but we have the power to do this.  We have the power of love.  We have to love ourselves, now, today.  We have to love our imperfections.  We have to know that all the “bad things” that have happened to us do not define us.  We are more.  We have the spirit of power, we have the spirit of love and we have a sound mind.  God gave us these things and no one, nothing can take these away from us.  We have the power of loving ourselves enough to say no to a 30 minute indulgence in favor of a healthy body and mind.  It is not easy but we can do this because He gave us the power. Today we are going to love ourselves enough to conquer the addiction to unhealthy foods.

Prayer:  Thank You God for this spirit of Power!  So often I have felt powerless in the midst of my bad eating habits.  Learning that I am addicted to sugar has actually freed me from this powerlessness.  I realize that I will not crave bad foods if I do not indulge in them.  A crazy circle that has literally made me feel crazy, powerless. Thank You Father that I am not crazy, I am of sound mind.  Thank You for letting me know that I do not need to be afraid to try again.  This easy, beautiful way of eating has freed me and given me an internal and external power I haven’t had in a long time.  Keep feeding me this spirit of power, this love and this knowledge that I am of sound mind.  I do not have to be neurotic, strive for perfection, count calories, divide my foods into “good” and “bad”, want to take diet pills, purge or starve myself.  I can just eat healthy God foods with one of whatever I want to eat or drink.  Thank You Father for this plan.  You are amazing.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Psalm 32:8

Verse Reflections:  I grew up in a small town.  It seemed my Mother always knew I was in trouble before I did.  Her “loving eye” was on me at all times through my teachers, my principal, my friend’s parents, my Sunday School teachers, even the pool manager.  So… I seldom stepped out of the box without being totally aware of the fact that I was going to get in trouble.   And I always did.  The one time I “stole” a couple of grapes and ate them at the grocery store (they were loose so I reasoned) Mom made me go to the manager and tell him.  He was very stern and gave me a lecture about how these were paid for by the store and the store would lose money if people stole from them.  Looking back I am sure Mr. Keisler and Mom shared a twinkle as they taught me the life lesson I would never forget.  I learned so much from my Mother, the teacher.  I think of God in this same way.  God is always gently and sometimes firmly instructing me.  If I get off the path, He reminds me that He has cleared a path for me and when I step off that path I run the risk of stumbling over the obstacles that have not been removed from that path.  He has instructed us about the foods to eat.  The story of Daniel clearly shows us the strength that eating God’s pure foods gives our spirit and our bodies.  He is able to bless us when we follow His instructions.  He counsels us with His loving eyes on us.  He knows we mean well but He also knows when we eat a ton of sugar and wear our pancreas out He cannot protect us from diabetes.  When we eat 6,000 calories a day, He cannot protect us from weighing too much.  When we consistently drink alcohol or take drugs to relax He cannot protect us from addiction and the consequences that follow.  He has told us what to do.  He loves us and watches us every minute of every day.  The least we can do is to listen and act.

Prayer:  Lord, continue to instruct me, continue to teach me in the way I should go.  You have Your loving eye on me and I invite You to speak loudly, to remind me of what is healthy for my body, my mind, my spirit.  I know I sometimes sabotage the beautiful plans You have for me by being unhealthy even when I know better.  Bless my choices today.  Thank You for the role model that Daniel was.  I might not face down a real lion today but I’m sure that are some teeth that will come my way.  Give me the power that health allows me.  Give me the power to listen to Your guidance.  I hear You and I claim the love that You have for me that makes me WANT to follow Your teaching. I love the fact that Your loving eyes will be on me today.  I know that I will remember that when I make my eating choices today.  Have a beautiful day, keep watching and teach on.  I am listening today.

“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’” Romans 9:17

Verse Reflection:  Over and over in God’s word we see that one of the reasons we receive “blessings” and “miracles” is so that others may see God’s power in us or our lives.  I believe that God gave me this easy plan of eating God foods so that He could display His power in my life.  I cannot wait to weigh in a few days not for me but because I believe if I have lost weight then others will eventually want to know how.  In sharing it will help in just a small way to proclaim God’s name in all the earth.  He “raises us up” so that others will want to look up to us.  He gives us “successes” so that God will be honored.  I do not believe that “success” here on earth equals “success” in God’s kingdom.  The homeless man on the street that gives away his only pair of shoes will be more honored in heaven or even in God’s kingdom here on earth than the multi-millionaire that gives away a million dollars.  The difference is that others here on earth want to be the multi-millionaire.  And so, Pharaoh was raised up because God knew others would want to be him.  And so, we strive for perceived perfection here on earth so that others will look up to us and want to hear about God.  So today, I keep eating God foods but today I eat them so that God’s power may be displayed in me and others will want to hear about God.  I like having a purpose bigger than me, my vanity and my wardrobe.

Prayer:  Father, today I ask for success in eating, in losing weight not just for me but for Your kingdom.  We know that You give us Your power, You give us honor and raise us up so that Your name will be talked about.  Your power will be known.  Let me help in my small way to give others that exciting glimpse of how awesome You are.  This is just 30 days in but overall I have enjoyed the process.  I have slipped, I have “failed” but each time You raise me up.  May my purpose be Your purpose.  May we be healthy physically, mentally and spiritually together.  I love You.

“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself in this way… Please test your servants for 10 days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food…. At the end of the 10 days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. Daniel 8, 12, 13, 15

Verse reflections:  In just 10 days the official could see a difference between Daniel and his friends and the other chosen men of the kingdom.  It is vital that we eat our 4-5 fruits and vegetables a day and leave off the wine and rich foods.  This is what God has been telling me for a year but it took me a while to listen.  And yet, I feel like He gives us permission to not be perfect- thus the plus one option.  These verses go on to say that Daniel was ten time wiser than anyone in the kingdom.  If we want all that God can give us our choices matter.  This is as clear as anything else in the Bible and yet we keep pouring foods into our bodies that affect our health and our minds.  Why?  Why does the short-term fun out-weigh the long term health we know we will gain?  We are just flat out crazy I think.  That brownie, those chips, those cookies, the sauces… why do we keep going back when the grilled veggies and meats are just as awesome?  I know the sugar and carbs give us a quick flare of happiness both physically and mentally but then it crashes us and creates a craving for more just like drugs.  I will say that eating healthy has eliminated my cravings.  It has been so much easier to eat healthy because I am eating healthy.  Sounds simple?  Well, I had to get past the first weeks of cravings before I got here.  And it is only by God’s power and my devotions that I could.

Prayers:  Father, allow me to be Daniel.  To crave vegetables, to want to put healthy foods in my body and to KNOW that those foods will stand the test of time.  Even 10 days of eating like Daniel will make a difference that others can see.  Give me the wisdom that Daniel had, ten times those around him eating the rich foods.  Give me the courage, the power to make Daniel’s choices.  Thank You for the lack of cravings I have now. I love Your vegetables, I love Your fruit.  Continue to give me the desires for these foods and allow me to see the difference that solidifies this life change I am making.  I want to give You the power to give me health.  I want to give You the power to give me wisdom.  And so, I am rededicating my choices of foods to You.  I am going to concentrate on eating vegetables like Daniel.  Thank You Father.

“He that dwells in the secret place of the most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: in Him will I trust.” Psalm 91:1-2

Verse Reflections:  I have always been a fan of Victoria’s Secret and get a warm feeling inside when I choose pretty lingerie.  I smile with my secret because I like the fact that even in my torn up blue jeans and t-shirt or business suit that I am wearing fun, classy and matching lingerie.  It is like a whisper that only I can hear in the middle of a loud room. I love the idea that I have a similar secret every day when I am out in the world that I am really in the secret place of God’s.  How lovely to feel like I can snuggle up under His arm while that business meeting is going on or to be protected when I have to schedule a hard personnel meeting.  He can protect us from loneliness, hurt, anger, sadness, AND the resulting binges.  Today we will trust Him to be our refuge “a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger or trouble.”  WOW!!  Home base!  God is going to keep us safe from trouble.  We can walk into any situation with a secret little smile on our face and know that nothing that happens can touch us.

Prayer:  Lord, today I claim your protection.  I think sometimes I need protection from myself more than from the world.  I love You so much but I still get so busy trying to cram too much into my day that I can’t hear Your beautiful voice.  Allow me to think of the secret place of refuge You offer me to live in.  That alone slows me down and make me quieter.  You create such beauty in my thoughts with that one verse.  I see Your presence as a mother sheltering her child when a storm is coming and she is afraid something may fall on them.  You are keeping me safe God.   You are protecting me from the burdens of life here on earth.  Let me rest in that knowledge.  I love You God today and every day!!  I choose to rest in Your secret place.  Thank you for all the wonderful foods You have provided me there.

Esther: “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he/she be put to death…” Mordecai: “…And who knows but that you have come to this royal position for such a time as this? Esther 4: 11 and 14

Verse Reflections:  Studying these verses in Esther was truly life changing for me.  Queen Esther was one of many wives.  She could literally be put to death if she approached the King without his permission.  She was afraid to approach the King to ask for the lives of the Jews.  Her Uncle Mordecai’s response is the part that changed my view of my life.  “What if you have come to this position for such a time as this?”  Wow!  What if YOU, what if I have come to the positions we are in for a reason that will come our way today?  It makes me take today so much more seriously.  It makes me want to eat right, to protect my health, to protect my relationship with God so that I hear His voice, and I am ready.  I want to not be afraid to do whatever it is that God asks of me.  I know I am here on this earth for a reason.  What if my reason is today?  It is bigger than eating right, it is bigger than fitting into my clothes or weighing a certain amount.  But all of those things are part of me living my life for God.

Wow! It is a couple of days later and I just read in John 12:27 that Jesus used the exact same phrase right before being taken prisoner leading to His crucifixion.  “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say?  Father save me from this hour: but for this cause I was born.”

Prayer:  Father, allow me to be Esther.  Allow me to know that I am here on earth for a reason.  Give me the courage to be ready to accept that my reason for being put in the position You have put me in may occur today.  Give me the strength to dedicate my eating to You.  And yet, I want to go beyond and dedicate my life to You.  I want to hear Your voice, I want to have the courage that Esther had.  As crazy as some people may think it is, I know that giving You my eating habits, my health, my vanity is part of living for You.  I want to live for You today and every day.  I want to know that when the moment(s) come I will be ready.  I will be ready to know that it is for such a time as this that I was born.  May I be ready when that time comes to serve You.

“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water …Jesus answered, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whosoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:10, 13.

Verse reflections:  It is so true.  We get up every day hungry and thirsty for the food and drink of this world.  It starts all over again every day.  Ugh!  I sometimes think it would be easier to be an alcoholic and completely stop drinking alcohol than to fix a food addiction because we can’t completely stop eating.  We have to eat three to five times a day.  What would happen if we focused on God’s living water, the spring of water that gives us eternal life?  I know when I focus on the bigger picture the smaller choices do indeed seem small.  When I start my day out with these devotions it is easier for me to choose God foods over the “fun” foods.  God’s eternal plan makes my plan for the day pale in comparison.  God give us this gift of living water.  Fill our stomach, our heart, our mind up with God’s living water.  If I remind myself that I am full of living water, perhaps I won’t crave so many foods.  I won’t contaminate this water with processed foods that have little nutrition.

Prayer:  Lord, help me today to focus on You, Your living water, the spirit inside of me instead of the things on the outside.  I need to quit obsessing over my next meal, what I am going to have.  Help me to just listen to a waterfall of living water inside my head.  That calming, beautiful sound can gentle my spirit.  Will You bless me         today with Your plan for my life?  I know Your gift of life, Your gift of grace goes so beyond any little food detail and yet this is my war right now and I need Your help to win it.  I know You understand this battle because You are a part of me.  I love the fact that when I start my day with You it makes a huge difference.  Will You come to me through these scriptures and bless me today?  Bring me Your living water and allow my choices to pale in comparison to the fullness inside.

“Therefore, whether You eat or drink, or whatever You do, do it all to the glory of God. I Corinthians 10:31

Verse reflections:  Today I am going to do everything to lift God up, to glorify Him.  I think that is the root of my issues.  When I focus on me instead of Him things magnify, the issues get bigger.  When I focus on God I realize my issues are just a grain of sand on a huge beach.  And somehow, I begin looking outside of myself and I see others in need.  Again, I realize I have no needs, I have no issues.  The mother who can’t feed her children, who has no car.  The child who is terminally ill… those are issues.  So today whatever I eat or drink I do it for God.  YES!! This is what God plus 1 is all about.  I cannot glorify God when my body is not healthy.  I must dedicate every bite to God, to glorifying God.  What would happen if I stopped right before I began to eat, raised my glass and toasted God, “to Your glory God”?  I think I would look down before I raised my glass to make sure all the foods I chose and the serving sizes would glorify Him.  What a great idea to add to my eating processes.

Prayer:  Father, You always put my day in perspective when I read Your word.  Right now I am not thinking about any work issues, any problems I am thinking about You.  I am excited about toasting You with the next thing I eat or drink.  I am thinking about glorifying You, worshipping You, honoring You with my food and my body.  Thank You Lord for this perspective.  We are going to have a wonderful day and I hope in just one little way I will help Your day shine a little brighter and thus we will make someone else here on earth have a better day.  Here’s to Your glory God.  I love You.

Know you not that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? I Corinthians 3:16

Verse Reflections:  What a stunning truth: we are the temple of God. Pause and let that settle in. You are where God chooses to dwell. How beautiful is this thought?  In the Old Testament, God gave intimate and detailed instructions for building His temple.  Lavished and adorned in gold and ornate jewels to be treasured, built by fine craftmanship, revered.  Every surface, every measurement, every element was intentional, beautiful, and sacred. The temple wasn’t just a building; it was a declaration of His presence and glory. And now, Scripture tells us that we are that temple made of flesh and spirit. So, we then, must be God’s treasures to be revered.

Do I treat myself with such reverence? The honest answer? Not always. I  have often treasured my food over my body, my temple. I’ve indulged when I should have shown restraint. I think it is interesting that the one-time Jesus lost His temper was when His temple was being violated, disrespected.  That moment pierces my heart. Does God become angry when I treat my body with disrespect?  I have always thought of my body as my body, not a place in which God lives.  I need to think of my body as a Holy, sacred place with beautiful, soft music playing and stunning ornate fixtures.  I cannot throw trash inside such a lovely dwelling.  I must carefully consider everything I eat today so that I am honoring God in my choices.  He made so many perfect foods for me to indulge in.  Today I will begin by caring for this sanctuary more intentionally. I will honor it by choosing the foods He has honored us by creating for us.  He has filled the earth with His bounty- fruits that bursts with color, and vegetables that sizzle with flavor. So begins my journey in God (food) Plus 1. I would love you to join me in choosing foods that honors Him with every bite, every choice. We will choose the foods that God created to become more healthy mentally, spiritually and physically.

Prayer:  Thank You for the beautiful and humbling truth that You have chosen to dwell within me. You, the Creator of the heavens call me Your temple, sacred, set apart and dearly loved. Forgive me for the times I have treated this Holy place with carelessness, for the times I’ve sought comfort in food rather than You. Lord. Bless my body, inhabit Your temple this morning.  Allow me to treat it as the Holy Place that allows Your spirit to dwell inside.  I miss the news this morning but I must say that this beautiful music that I am beginning my day with and the devotional is allowing me to hear Your voice at a different level.  Teach me to nourish it, to honor it and to treasure it as a reflection of Your glory. There are times I have tried to keep myself so busy that I couldn’t hear You.  Running and running and running so that life can’t find me.  Thank You for slowing me down and entering my soul.  I feel a peace and a Holiness that I can’t replicate on my own.  I don’t understand Your power. It confuses me when I try to think of it intellectually, but I feel it from deep within. I thank You for that.  Father, I want to honor You by eating the foods that You have created for me.  Give me the strength to say no to processed foods.  Give me the desire to choose Your foods.  I know how awesome they taste but I need Your power to remind me.  I surrender this journey to You- my health, my habits, my hunger- and ask You to lead me in love and discipline. Let’s go into today treating Your temple/my body with reverence.  Let each choice I make reflect my desire to honor You in all things. I love You.  Thanks for loving me despite myself.

Did you know:  When we lose weight the stomach releases more ghrelin which is the hormone that makes us feel hungry.  It is why we often “sabotage” our weight loss.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double- minded man, unstable in all he does. James 1:5-8

Verse Reflections:  What a beautiful promise to start this journey with: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God…” All we have to do is ask for wisdom and our loving Father not only gives wisdom, He pours it out generously!  I desperately need this wisdom that He gives us.  I am just plain powerless and do not make smart choices when it comes to what I eat, when I eat, and how I eat.  But here is the part of the verse that stirs my soul: But when you ask, you must believe and you must not doubt.  Nike invests billions to convince people to take action and “Just Do It”.   How much do we invest in the truth of God’s word? Today, I begin again my journey of faith. I will believe that I am changed.  I have been infused with wisdom about how to eat.  Now I just have to believe and not doubt that I will eat the foods that God created, I will eat the right portions and I will enjoy this process.  I will not doubt that I am on the path that God has revealed to me.  I am a beautiful person and I am going to claim this beauty, this wisdom and this confidence that allows no doubt that I am going to be successful.  I will not let the devil creep in like a wave that knocks me over, that blows me about and tosses me around like the wind.  I will not let the devil place seeds of doubt about my ability to eat right today.  God tells us His power and His wisdom will be given to us.  I will eat the foods He designed for my good, in the portions that bring balance. I will eat with a heart of gratitude and joy. I will not doubt. I will not allow the enemy to creep in with whispers of failure or discouragement. I will not be tossed about like a wave in the wind. God has given me power, and I stand on that promise. I am a smart, beautiful woman formed by God’s hands and filled with His spirit.  Today is the day I begin to use the wisdom that God has given me.  I know what to eat. Why do we search for restrictive diets or use other people’s wisdom?  I am not confused, I am not helpless, I am not alone. We KNOW what to do.  There is no magic.  It is hard but we are led by God’s power and God’s wisdom. Today is the day that we begin to “just do it” in faith, with joy and without a doubt.

Prayer:  Thank You Father, for the gift of a new day and for the promise that if I ask for wisdom, You will give it- freely and without hesitation. Today I come before You, humbled and hungry. I crave not just food but for Your guidance, strength and truth. God, I am so like this verse.  I doubt my abilities, I doubt my desire to give up sugary delicacies. I am like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  I am double-minded and unstable.  I need you to give me this wisdom to the core and marrow of my bones.  I know what to do; You have clearly told me to eat the foods you gave us.  You tell me in this verse that I must not doubt. You tell me that You will give wisdom generously.  I claim that promise today. I will not be tossed about by the wind. I will stand firm in the truth that You are guiding me.  I give You my double-mindedness.  Double-mindedness is a perfect description of all my interactions with food.  I have an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other.  The angel is sweet and calm and tells me very gently that a protein and two vegetables or the salad is a wonderful choice.  The devil is drooling and salivating and spinning with excitement at the fried chicken and warm brownie with the crisp, chewy sides and coconut rolled ice cream that he throws around in my head.  I have to beg You to give the angel more power, more personality.  Let’s make her salivate too and describe the wonderful garden fresh herbs that are on that piece of chicken and those tasty sautéed green beans with garlic that crunch when we bite.  I need to WANT to eat what my angel is craving.  And You and I both know the angel is a little too quiet sometimes.  Can you give me her single-mindedness?  Let’s name our angle Sindy!  She will help me be Single-minded and sin-free of over-indulgence.  Thank You Lord for Sindy.  I’m ready. Give me strength for each meal, grace for every choice and joy in the journey. I know this isn’t about perfection but about faithfulness. I walk forward through the winds in confidence, because I do not walk alone. May Your generous wisdom fill me every second of our day.

Did you know:  Nuts are packed with protein and can make you feel full.

When tempted no one should say God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone, but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. James 1:13-15.

Verse Reflections:  Yep, I would have to say, I am tempted by my own “evil” (morally wrong or bad, harmful, detrimental) desires for those warm, gooey, crisp chocolate chip cookies, homemade cream cheese pound cake and the list goes on.  So, God cannot tempt me and yet I am over and over “dragged away and enticed”.  To the point that I feel like my temptations are bigger than Goliath and they literally drag me by the hair to their side so I will eat them.  This verse leaves me with the humbling realization that only I can drag myself away from this course, only I can indulge in these foods that entice me.  God refuses to participate in the tempting. In fact, He promises to protect us.  There is a beautiful verse in Psalms 91:4:  “He will cover you with His feathers and under His wings will you find refuge.  His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart”.  A rampart is a defensive wall.  As usual, God has promised us the power we need to have.  We must again, today “just do it”.  We must hide under His wings and we must not allow ourselves to be “dragged away” from the healthy foods that we know we should eat.  We are only protected if we stay by God’s side, under His wings.  The crazy thing is I really do love God foods.  I love grilled asparagus, steak, grilled vegetables, grilled chicken, pork chops, grilled tomatoes, snow peas, green beans stir fried with almonds.  I just have this crazy game inside of my head that has caused the foods with high calories to be the most enticing.  I have to break this mental bondage.  God is not tempting us.  We are tempting ourselves.  So we must instead reach up to God for protection from the daily temptations.  We must know that not only will He not participate in this temptation battle, He will protect us from it, IF we claim His power. Today is the day we quit with God’s power!

Prayer:  Lord, I hear the verse above loudly and clearly.  Protect me from being “dragged away and enticed” by my own crazy head.  This verse just totally takes away my devil with the megaphone imagery and replaces it with me.  Ugh, I have to be responsible again?   I envision that beautiful verse in Psalms 91:4:  “He will cover you with His feathers and under His wings will you find refuge.  His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart”.  A rampart is a defensive wall.  And yet, I also see myself under Your soft wings peering out as I smell warm baked chocolate chip cookies pulled from the oven.  Then there is me slowly sneaking out then running as I am being tempted by my “own evil desire… being dragged away and enticed” to leave your protective, soft wings and eat the entire pan of crispy, chewy cookies.  So, I know You will not tempt me today but I need extra protection of a defensive wall from my own temptations.  I can sure tempt myself just by opening the cabinet and imagining the next buttery, sugary desert I want to bake, going to the grocery store and walking the isles, or driving to the nearest restaurant.  For me, over-eating is wrong.  I am addicted to the over-indulgence and I know it.  I know food is not evil and a few cookies, brownies, bread, one glass of wine or chips are not evil.  Thus the plus 1 not plus 10.  My problem is that I am not able on my own to stop at one serving.  I need Your power to overcome my own temptation.  I know starting my day with Your word and power will do just that.  I am going to hide under your wings today but I need the hard defensive wall around your soft protective feathers.  I need double protection sweet and paternal and hard and defensive.  Yesterday was amazingly fun and easy.  May today reign in Your kingdom with the same victory.  We WILL “NOT be enticed”.

Who (What) shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or nakedness or danger or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8: 35 & 37

Verse Reflections:  Which of us has ever noticed the word nakedness in this verse before?  Wow! .  I am fascinated by the fact that God knows us so well that He addressed the issue of our nakedness separating us from His love. Think deeply, our “nakedness” can separate us from Christ.  My vanity, my weight on the scale, my self-proclaimed disgusted vision of myself in the mirror when I am naked or when I try on the clothes that fit too tight separate me from believing in the unconditional love of Christ.  I do not feel lovable.  All of these things separate me from the love for myself and thus the God I love. Starting today, we will not let our nakedness separate us from the love of God.  He loves us just the way we are.  Look in the mirror and tell yourself “my nakedness is beautiful and I cannot be separated from His love”.  If He loves our nakedness, we must love our nakedness and love ourselves unconditionally.  We are MORE than conquerors of our bad eating habits.  We are loved by Christ!  How can we not be successful?

This verse also tells us that hardship or trouble cannot separate us from God.   Today we will begin the hard conquest of our illness or our unhealthy eating habits.  We will pull together with Christ and refuse to be separated from His love and we will overcome our need to binge. I know I am “allergic” to certain foods.  I am addicted to sugar.  When I eat carbs or sugar I crave more.  My brain does not want to give them up. These foods create a release of dopamine that boosts my mood.  The combination of eating these foods and the release of dopamine literally makes me happy but I know I have to give this cycle up.  This is hard!  This is trouble!  Yet in this verse God tells us He has the hardship and trouble covered!  Claim it, live it, bask in the amazing love of God.

Prayer:  Father, I give you my nakedness, my vanity, my weight.  I give you my indulgence of baking with sugar and butter and yet I need You to turn this into a positive new investment.  I’m not sure how to go forward because I am truly powerless.  I know I cannot face life writing down all that I eat.  I cannot buy diet pills that rev me up or tune me down.  I cannot buy pre-prepared meals that come in a box or a silver foiled package.  I truly believe if I eat the foods you gave us with no extra preservatives… I will not have a weight issue.  You have already solved the problem that I am now acknowledging.  Bless the cravings that pop into my head and tend to haunt me until I indulge. It truly is like the compulsion of an addict at times. I give them to you and ask that your love surround me.  Romans 8:37 tells me: “I CAN conquer this through You who loves me”.  I really CAN’T do this alone.  I do not have the ability or the strength.  I have the sincere knowledge that You gave me this dream, this vision of how to live eating God foods plus 1 serving of “other” foods.  If I really think about it, every “diet” we use goes back to these basics but I can’t diet Lord.  I just can’t. It screws with my brain and pierces me down to my very soul.  I have to fill in these stab wounds with Your love and enjoy Your food with all my heart and soul.  Today we will conquer our past eating habits and develop new ones because You love me… even in my nakedness.

So then, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

Verse Reflections:  I have faith that I can do this.  But I can lose that faith so easily. This verse is the center of our success.  By reading God’s word we can have faith.  If we don’t read God’s word our faith disappears.  I know this is why I have to read God’s word every day.  I cannot eat right without the word of God being the core of my strength.  I have tried to “control” my eating without stopping and reading a scripture and I can’t.  There is power in the word of God.  By reading scripture daily and dedicating myself to eating God foods there is a huge difference in my spirit, in my calm.  Notice that this verse says that “hearing” (and faith) comes by the word of God. How many times have You complained that you just couldn’t hear God?  When we read the word of God we can begin to recognize and hear His voice all the time.  You can’t recognize a friend’s voice on the phone if you only talk to them once a year but that friend you talk to every week just has to say hi and we know who it is.  Because of God’s word I have faith that we can overcome our unhealthy eating habits.  I am able to embrace with confidence my ability to today eat God food instead of wanting to cook a big pan of cookies, biscuits, French fries… and eat every one of them.   My faith changes from having hope for tomorrow to having hope today just by reading the scriptures.  I can bring the light into the darkness just by infusing God’s spirit into today.  Tomorrow will never change our lives.  The only day that will change us is today.  But I can’t have faith in my ability to eat right today without reading God’s word every day.  God’s word is our only “offensive” option.  Somehow, reading God’s word give us the power to score today instead of constantly defending against the temptations that make us put off scoring until tomorrow.  Do you want to score today?  Then read His word.  Take this verse and store it in your heart!  Today we must have FAITH that we will eat God foods.  We read His word and that alone gives us the power, the faith that we can eat foods God created for us.

Prayer:  Thank you Father for giving me this scripture, for infusing my soul with faith in Your power.  Thank You for giving me the faith that I can eat right just by giving me Your words of confirmation, affirmation and power.  I know the strength You give, I know the calm.  You take the rumblings, the temptations within and sprinkle a gentling powder over them.  What used to erupt into a compulsive craving changes into a calm acceptance from one moment to the next.  I have You to thank for that.  I know that scripture is our one “offensive” tool against the power of darkness.  Thank you for giving me faith that I can do this by your word.  Thank You for helping me to stop and read Your word.  I know the key to success is to hear scripture, to internalize Your word every day.  We CAN do this.  We can score today. I have faith!

Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. Proverbs 21:21

Verse Reflections:  Today I am going to pursue righteousness which I always translate in my brain to “right-ness”.  I know what is right, and so do you.  Again, I KNOW what is right.  I just have to do it.  I love the way God reminds us that if we do what is right and we love then we will find life, prosperity and honor.  Loving and doing what is right will allow us to live life, find life.  We must also pursue love.  That begins with loving ourselves.  My Mom always told me, “If you aren’t happy with yourself, you will never be happy with anyone.”  This verse says we will find life but how can we lose life?  Haven’t we ever lost our luster, our vigor, our enthusiasm or liveliness? It is interesting to think that if we pursue, continually seek, continually implement right-ness we will find life.  We will be lighter, happier, and more enthusiastic when we know we are doing God’s will.  When we treat our body with love we will honor our body and our life that God blessed us with.  We must be successful in our pursuit of right-ness, or eating right.  We can do this and find a new level of life.   To prosper means to be successful or fortunate.  If we do what is right we will be successful in eating right and having a healthy weight.  I know I will prosper (be successful) in my quest to be healthy if I pursue this right way of eating.    I also know that I honor my body when I eat right.  When I choose unhealthy foods I am dishonoring my body.   I am literally destroying the health, the life God has given me.  Why do I ever choose to dishonor my body by putting in empty calories, by adding weight that causes pain in my joints, causes breathing difficulties, creates dizziness…?  Today we are going to pursue the RIGHT way of eating.  God’s way.

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, give me the ability to pursue this “right” lifestyle, to pursue an unconditional love for myself in the process.  I know that if I eat God foods, I will be successful in honoring my body.  I know that if I eat God foods I will be healthy and gain life instead of sickness.  Thank You for this reminder God.  Take away the crazy side of me that can’t divide my foods into right and wrong without getting seriously sick in my head.  Thanks for teaching me moderation with the “plus 1”.  Will You hold me, love me today?  I know what to do.  The key is wanting to.  And yet You tell me I have to pursue the choices; they don’t just happen.  I have to consciously go after this every day.  Surround me with the people, the strength, the foods that will allow me to experience this abundant life.  I know you want health, prosperity and honor for me.  You have given me the tools to reach out and grab all of these things.  Can you be my right-hand man, handing me the tools I need before I even ask for them?  I am not strong enough, nor wise enough on my own.  I love you and desperately seek Your power today.  I want to honor you in the foods that I choose to pursue and eat today.  I want to pursue right-ness.

“I do not seek what I am to eat and what I am to drink; nor is my mind anxious. I only aim at and strive for and seek His kingdom, and all these things shall be added unto me.” Luke 12:29, 31

Verse Reflections:  I love how God put these two verses together.  Who else would have put the huge thought of seeking his kingdom first with what we eat and drink?  Wow!  God truly gets what we are going through here on earth.  So, don’t make eating and drinking your first priority, make Christ your first priority.  If we do that we will not be anxious.  This verse is perfect.  When I get anxious I want to eat.  It is a reflex.  I have trained my body to react to the stimulus of anxiety.  The carbs, the alcohol, the sugar spikes my endorphins and soothes my anxiety.  The problem is this solution is temporary.  In fact, after the soothing is over, it stimulates my appetite and makes me crave more.  God’s kingdom is permanent.  What would happen if reading one verse made us crave more?  What would happen if we devoured God’s word like we devour food?  When I read just one verse I am a different person.  My anxiety is soothed.  I do not crave.  I love, I live, I eat and drink for Christ.  Today I need to seek God’s kingdom first. I know if I seek His kingdom first that I will choose to be healthy naturally and happily.

Prayer:  Lord, I humbly come to You today and try to seek Your kingdom first.  Who is it that You need me to be today?  What is it that You need me to do for You today?  How do You need me to be there for Your kingdom here on earth?  I will slow down today and weave some beautiful music into my life, clean out my soul, my home and my time to give You space to live and grow.  May You and I make Your kingdom alive and wonderful and beautiful here in my little home, my body, our work-place and our community.  I know Your power, I know Your kingdom.  Thank You for slowing me down today so that I can seek You, be with You, reflect You.  I already feel the anxiety of yesterday disappearing.  Thank You!  Love You.  Let’s have an awesome, healthy day in Your kingdom.

You are my hiding place from every storm of life; you even keep me from getting into trouble! You surround me with songs of victory. Psalm 32:7

Verse Reflections:  This verse warms me with excitement.    Being surrounded with “songs of victory” is such a glorious vision that it almost makes me cock my ears to listen.  No matter what storm of life we are facing God IS our hiding place.  We can rest in His arms as the wind is raging, the rain, the sleet are pounding around us.  Even if we get hit by shrapnel we can know that we will be victorious because God surrounds us with songs that shout our victory.  I love David’s second line “you EVEN keep me from getting into trouble”.  How many times a day, a week or a year does God keep us from trouble that we never even learn about?  How many storms never hit because we are resting in God’s hiding place that protects us?  So today we are going to listen to the songs of victory.  We will be victorious in eating foods that are healthy, foods that actually taste awesome and we will hide from everything in life that makes us want to turn to food for comfort.  We will not feed our pain. We will feel our pain, cry, let God wipe our tears so we can get over it and get on with a victorious life.  We will be victorious!

Prayer:  Lord, thank You for the victory over eating.  Thank You for the bigger victory over life.  I know it is crazy that an hour long eating process can sometimes just be a reflection of the storms of life and my reactions to them; my anxiety, my sadness, my pain.  I take food and I gorge and gorge until I physically feel the pain that I don’t want to feel mentally or spiritually.  And yet I believe that overall I am a very happy person.  It is a crazy contrast.  Perhaps it is because I am such a happy person that I internalize anything else and just feed it until it pops.  Then I am all happy again.  Oh, and then I get on the scales or try on clothes and it all comes crashing back in force.  Enough said.  Lord, I am excited about this victory.  New days of victory.  New days of hiding in your arms from the storms of life.  Thank You for “EVEN keeping me from trouble”.  I have had fun (except for that one day) eating Your foods, staying out of trouble.  I am listening to the songs of victory and loving them.  Victory here we come!

He sent his word, and healed them and delivered them from their destruction… Psalm 107:20

Verse Reflection “He sent His word and healed them”.  This is why I am writing these devotions for myself and for you.  He sent us His word and it does heal.   This verse is so true in my circumstances.  I am my own destruction.  God somehow, some way gives me strength through His word.  I don’t understand the power of scripture but it truly does have power.  God brings me peace and confidence through His word just by stopping my brain on the mornings I read His word.  I need to bring His word into my heart before I begin separating my day into good and bad, right and wrong.  He weaves my day into a beautiful tapestry that allows me to start my day by knowing that everything will be okay.  “Everything will work together for the good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.”    I know this and it becomes relevant to every little detail of my day.  This allows me to give myself a little grace. Instead of perceiving one little detail as bad or one little splurge as being “too much” I can eat “one serving of non-God food” and it is okay.  If I eat two then the next day can be all God foods. In the past, I tended to say that I might as well go ahead on and eat anything and everything that I want to eat because I crossed the line that I myself created.  I love this verse because it references “their” destruction while referencing “their” healing.   I self-destruct when I perceive life this way.  This verse reminds me that He sent His word to heal me to prevent this self-destruction.  I am healed.  He has delivered me from my destruction.

Prayer:  Father, thank you for Your word that heals.  When I perceive  my day as part of YOUR tapestry Lord, each thread is gorgeous and beautiful.  I thank you for giving me the vision of allowing one non-God food a day as being okay.  It allows me not to self-destruct.  It allows me to see the day as a beautiful piece of art.  Thank You for giving me the vision of an eating habit that I can maintain for a lifetime.  I have learned that I cannot write down my foods forever, I cannot refrain from eating “fun foods” forever.  I must allow myself an indulgence daily or as needed.  Thank You for delivering me from my own destruction.  I do believe I have heard Your word and Your word has healed me from a lifetime of unhappiness.