Good Morning Girls!  Last week we talked about turning away from the evils in our lives.  We defined evil as anything that comes between ourselves and our goals,and our relationship with God.  You know, the exciting thing is, God's Word tells us to turn away from evil.  The reason I think it is exciting is because when God tells us to do something, it means we have the ability to do it!  He never asks us to do something that we are unable to do!  He doesn't set us up for failure.  He doesn't give us instruction and turn away from us.  No.  When God tells us to do something, He always....say always.....He always gives us the grace to do it.  Now don't go thinking the word grace is some sweet word sang in a old hymn that we all grew up hearing.  NO!  It is much more than that.  Grace is power!  Grace is the ability to do things we thought impossible.  Grace is the unmerited, undeserved, privilege of those who believe in Jesus.....and it's yours for the receiving!
We left off talking about our body as a whole.  We need to address all 3 parts of our being.  Our mind, our body, and our spirit.  It's hard to determine which one to address first as they are all intertwined.  For me, if my mind is negative, my spirit is weakened, and I often resort to food which in turn has a negative effect on my body.  However, if I spend time with the Lord, seeking His presence each morning, my spirit is strong, and my attitude is positive.  I truly believe there is nothing I cannot do.  On those days it is much easier to tell my body to shut up and listen to me, instead of the other way around.  Do you see how each part of you is not completely independent of the others?
Although all parts are essential to our victory, and need to be addressed, I am going to start with the mind.  I am starting with the mind because I believe the following scenario applies to many of you........ You decide Sunday night that on Monday you are gong to start a diet.  You are going to limit your calories, give up certain foods, or follow some specific program or plan.  You wake up Monday morning eager and ready to start.  You are feeling good.  You are feeling strong.  You eat a healthy breakfast thinking "this isn't so bad, I can eat like this forever....it is going to be easy."  You are off to a great start.  You load up the kids and head to pre school.  As soon as you start driving, the kids start asking "can we stop and get a donut?".  You immediately answer No!  I mean, if you can't have it, they can't have it right?  So you keep driving, telling yourself this will be good for the whole family.  They all have too much sugar anyway.  Then you drop the kids off and head to Target.  Wow!  You have never noticed how good the popcorn smells there.  It's like walking into a movie theater.  Quick, walk by food avenue and get your cart.  As you walk up and down the aisles it seems like every woman you see is carrying an extra large mocha frappacino with extra whip and caramel drizzle.  Are you kidding me?  That would be 1/2 of my calories for the day!  You suddenly find yourself hating these woman....especially the skinny one who had the extra jumbo frappacino....and what's this....she is eating popcorn too.......argh!  You hurry through Target and on to the grocery store.  You walk up and down the aisles looking at all of the things you "can't have."  You suddenly long for foods you never even ate in the past, but now want....only because you or someone else told you you can't have them!  You leave the grocery store with a bag of baby carrots and a headache.  You are crabby.  You're are tired.  You are hungry.  You pick the kids up from school and head home.  You suddenly notice every single restaurant and convenience store.  You see the insanity and feel that there should be laws about such places.  The whole world should go on a diet!  You find comfort in being judgmental.  "I hope those people at the DQ enjoy their cellulite sundae!"  You get home and the kids ask "what's for supper?".  "Baby carrots" is all you say, and you crawl in bed and tell them to fend for themselves.  Later on, when nobody is looking, you eat three bowls of cereal and a pint of ice cream.  "I'll start over tomorrow" you think.
How many of you are laughing and crying right now as you can identify yourself with this scenario.  Or should I say with this girl, or should I just so ahead and confess.....how many of you can identify with me on this?  This was the reality of my life....for years.  I have had so many of these best laid plans turn nightmare Mondays that I lost track.  They were awful.  Repeated days like that will break your spirit and your heart.  I even had a string of them off and on after the New Year.  It caught me off guard as I thought I was done with days like that.  Well, I can honestly say, it doesn't always have to be that way.  I know many of you have had similar experiences and that is why you shy away from the very idea of changing your food habits.  But trust me, if you want it, you can do it!  My first "diet tip" if you will is this: for the first couple of days, do not think about the things you are giving up.  Do not think about the things you cannot have.  If they come to mind, cast them down immediately!  Think instead about your goals.  Think about why you want to be healthy.  Think about how it feels when you honor the commitment you made to yourself.  Think about anything....as long as it is not about the food you cannot have!  You may find yourself mumbling "Help me Jesus!" about a hundred times a day at first.  But guess what, He will!  And as soon as you get a few solid days behind you, you will be feeling much better!  You can do it!

Romans 13:14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don't let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

Love you all (you can think about that all you want)
Jen