Anchor Friday

Thank you, Joan, for your post for Anchor Friday. If you haven't read her post yet, please click above and read it!

Eating is the most basic necessity of life, and so there are a multitude of references to it in the Bible, and as Joan said, God has had a lot to say to His people about it. It is not an easy thing to conquer the lusts of our bodies, overeating being one of them.

1 John 2:16 For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world.

Philippians 3:19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

1 Thessalonians 4:4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,

I just did a search on lust, stomach, and control, and these are the verses I found that really struck me.

We need to remember that we are not of the world anymore, if truly the love of God is in us, and that we belong to Christ now. That lustful, gluttonous person that Claudia used to be, no longer is. She has been set free. I am now a child of God, and a slave to righteousness. And if I find myself living according to my old nature, it's only because I consciously choose to.

Let us learn to control our own bodies in a way that is holy and honorable!

~Claudia

Anchor Friday

Sorry for the (yet again) late Anchor Friday post. It's been a busy weekend and the time that I did have I took the opportunity to relax and do nothing! I don't get to do that very often. But, thank you Joan, for your faithfulness to post every Friday! It was a great post. Check it out!!

Anchor Friday - Discipline and Integrity

Happy Anchor Friday to you all! I just read Joan's post and it was great. It's hard to be transparent and honest, but, as I am learning, that's the way to grow and change! So, thank you Joan, for opening up to us, your fellow bloggers ; )

Joan picked out some great verses from Proverbs for us. I always love it that she uses the NLT. I don't have that version at home, and it's nice to read from it from time to time.

10:17 People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore correction will go astray.

It is so hard to accept discipline from the Lord. But, He is our loving Father, and when He sees us rebelling, He disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness (Hebrews 12:10).

This is something I thought about alot this week....my Father loves me. He really loves me. And that is why He disciplines me. He wants the best for me. He wants me to share in His holiness. How awesome is that?? Me?? A sinner, who hated God, rebelled against Him, rejected Him....and yet, He loved me. And He continues to love me. So much so, that He will spare no expense (including painful discipline) to make me holy, like He is.

But, if we ignore His correction, what will happen to us? We will go astray. We won't share in His holiness. We will continue to follow our sinful flesh and will not experience His blessing. We'll be racked with guilt and shame and we'll be left feeling like hypocrites.

Is that what we want? No. So, when your Heavenly Father corrects you and disciplines you, do not ignore Him. Do not shrug Him off. Accept His correction with humility and thankfulness, and expect God to do something awesome.

10: 29 The way of the LORD is a stronghold to those with integrity, but it destroys the wicked.

If we do accept God's correction, guess what will happen to our character? It will develop an awesome thing called, "integrity." When I was a teenager, I heard a youth leader explain integrity to us like this, "Integrity is what you do when no one is around."

That has always stuck with me. If I can obey Christ, and surrender myself to Him at home, when I am by myself, then I have integrity. And when I have integrity, the Lord is my stronghold. I am protected! I am strengthened. I am safe. It's not easy for the world, the flesh or the devil to get in and hurt me.

That's what we want, ladies. Let's keep that goal in our sights when we are at home alone in front of the TV with chocolate chip cookies calling our name from the kitchen. Or when we are in the potato chip aisle at the supermarket and you don't recognize anybody around you. Keep it in your mind that if you resist sin in this moment, and in the next moment, and tomorrow, and next week, God will become your fortress and your protector and it will be easier and easier for you to resist temptation.

I want to hear from you. I want you to comment and share with us what particular thing you know you will face this week that will make it hard for you to be a woman of integrity. Share it with us (be specific), and Natasha and I will pray for you this week. And then you can come back next week and let us know how it went!

Can't wait to hear from you!

~Claudia

Anchor Friday - Commitment vs. Surrender

Click above to read Joan's post. She's using some Proverbs this week to help her to press on in her weigh-loss journey. Wisdom - that's what we need to help us make the right choices!

I would like to talk today about the idea of commitment versus surrender. I've been reading Nancy Leigh DeMoss's Trilogy - Brokenness/Surrender/Holiness - and it's so good. She mentioned something that I'd never thought about before. She said that in our country, the idea of "surrender" to the Lord at some point started to get sort of unpopular, and in the church people wanted something more palatable, and came up with the idea of committing yourself to God instead.

If we say we commit ourselves to the Lord, it still sort of leaves us with the feeling that we are in control. We are the one who controls our own commitment level, intensity, etc. But the idea of surrender is different. When we surrender ourselves to the Lord, we are saying, "I belong to YOU, Lord! I am not my own. I am your bondslave. I give up all my rights, and I submit myself to YOUR authority to do as You will in my life."

I think that is a very important distinction to make in our relationship with Christ. Are you committed to the Lord? Or do you surrender yourself to Him? Your life, your heart, your mind, your thoughts, your words, your choices, your desires, your behavior.

Surrendering to the Lord is like giving God $1,000. You can give it to Him all at once, and lay that $1,000 bill on the table and say, "There! I give this to you Lord!" It's a one-time surrender. Or, you can give Him a little everyday. 25 cents here, 50 cents there. $2.00 here, $10.00 there.

Which is easier? Which is better?? The kind of surrender God is commanding us is a daily surrender of our choices in life. Today, you may need to surrender by not saying that nagging word to your husband. Tomorrow, there may be a single mom who needs gas money to get to church. Next week, you may need to stay off the computer, and spend some time in God's Word!

Whatever it is, think of your relationship to Christ as one in which He is the Master, and you are the bondslave. And when you do His bidding, He has nothing but blessing, love, comfort and peace to pour out on you!

What area of your life do you need to surrender to the Lord? If you say, "My eating and exercise habits" then, my question is more specific to you, "What area of your eating and exercise habits do you need to surrender to the Lord?" Do you need to surrender to God by asking your friend to be your accountability partner, even though you do not relish the thought of allowing someone into that area of your life? Or, the next time you get into an argument with your husband, do you need to surrender yourself to the Lord instead of running to the refrigerator?

Whatever it is, think really hard about it. Take some time to write it down. Blog about it. Ask someone to help you. And when that situation comes up, STOP, and say, "I am Yours, Lord! I give myself to You in this moment. I have no right to go and do what my flesh wants to do! I will do YOUR will, no matter what it costs me."

That is surrender. Don't make "commitments" to God. Surrender to Him. Offer your body and mind to Him. Day by day, moment by moment. Surrender to Him, and get ready to experience His blessing!

~Claudia

Anchor Friday

Click here to read Joan's great post:

Anchor Friday-Hard Holidays

"That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (New Living Translation)

This week, Joan expressed what I am sure we are all feeling and thinking this Christmas Season. It's so incredibly difficult to resist all the delicious temptations that are put before us during the month of December. But this verse tells us that we need to fix our gaze on the things that cannot be seen. . .

~our treasures that are in heaven
~our Savior Jesus
~God our Father
~our crowns of glory
~the pleasures of knowing Christ

These things will last forever. That cheesecake will not. That extra helping of ham will not. Those sugar cookies will not. Those things will soon be gone!!

We need to take our eyes off of those things, and off of our fleshly lusts and appetites, and stop worshipping our bellies. Fix your eyes on Christ and let Him be your joy and satisfaction. You will not be left feeling guilty and full of regrets. You will have a joy that is inexpressible and full of glory. Just trust and believe that that's true! And then sit back and watch God do amazing things in your heart and life (and body!).

Anchor Friday - Live in the Light

Joan's post this week was so awesome. I really loved the story of the woman who was celebrating reaching her goal weight after losing 198 pounds! Wow. Amazing. And her encouragement to everyone was to stop making excuses.

Wow. How many times have I made excuses for my sinful behavior? Can you relate with any of these?

~When I was little, my parents taught me to eat everything on my plate. So, I can't help it. If I'm full, I just go ahead finish what's on my plate anyway, because that's the way I was raised.

~I'm on my period. I always crave chocolate when I'm on my period.

~I'm on vacation with my family. Of course I'm going to eat lots of chips and candy and Coke in the car, that's just part of the fun!

~I'm angry at my husband, so I'm going to eat this gallon of ice cream. Hey, what do you expect? What would you do if your husband treated you like that?

~My life is just so crazy and hectic. I don't have the time or energy to think about what I'm eating and keep track of my calories. And I certainly don't have time to exercise.

And those are just a few of the excuses I have thrown out there, expecting God to "buy" into it. I love that Joan looked up the word "excuses" in Ephesians 5:6 in the Amplified, Message and NIV versions of the Bible, and found these phrases: empty words, groundless arguments, and religious smooth talk.

Wow. Yep. That's exactly what it is when we try to justify our sinful attitudes and behaviors. When God hears me making excuses, He's thinking, "Those are empty words, Claudia." or "Nothing but groundless arguments, Claudia." or "I'm not lovin that religious smooth talk, Claudia."

That's convicting.

The first time God convicted me of excuse-making, it was when I read, I Really Want to Change, So Help Me God, by James MacDonald. Awesome, awesome book. I am telling you. You've got to read it. I really want to do an entire post on it, and hit the highlights of the things I learned, but right now it's bedtime.

I would love to hear your thoughts on excuse-making. What are some excuses you have tried to use with God? In what areas of your life do you need to stop making excuses?

~Claudia

Anchor Friday - Christ-Centered

Romans 12:1(NIV)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20(NIV)
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Philippians 3:20-21(NIV)
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.


Joan has chosen these 3 passages from God's Word for Anchor Friday today. I really love these verses. It's so amazing how the body is such an important issue to God. God cares about our bodies and what we do with them and how we treat them.

Which is why we're doing this, all this pain and effort toward making our bodies healthy. Following Christ is not all about purely "spiritual" things. If you remember, the early church battled false teachers called gnostics who taught that all material is evil, and since our bodies are material, our bodies are evil. And if that's the case, all that really matters to God is our spirits. So, they would say, God doesn't really care what we do with our bodies, as long as we are worshiping Him with our spirit.

This is absolutely not true! Yes, of course, we worship God with our spirit but we also worship with our bodies! (Romans 12:1)

Here's what Paul has to say about our bodies in Romans 6:12-14, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been bought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace."

This week, let us slow down, take the time to think about the choices we are making, and make a conscious effort to offer the members of our bodies as instruments of righteousness to God. Don't think about yesterday, don't think about tomorrow, or even tonight, but think about right now, and the choice you are about to make with the members of your body.

Anchor Friday

We have just joined Anchor Friday, hosted by Joan over at moregodlessme. Here was her last post about eNcouragement:

As you see eNcouragement doesn't really begin with the letter N, but that's how important I view encouragment in our journey to living healthier. No one is an island. We are created to fellowship with God and with each other. This is a big part of Anchor Friday. We want to be an encourgement to each other and ourselves.
I want to encourage you that yesterday is the past. That turkey, gravy and dressing are in the past. What will you do today? I will probably eat leftovers, but I will use a small plate. I made extra veggies for leftovers too. Will I stay stuck on what I ate yesterday and tell myself that I failed? No. I will look at today and go forward. I will go to God for renewed focus, forgiveness and for the strength to forgive myself.
Today I will move more and eat less and drink plenty of water. Today. What will you do today?
Dear Father in Heaven,
Help us to encourage each other and ourselves to live for you and live healthy. Forgive us when we stray and lead us back to your light. In Christ's name, I pray. Amen.