Hi Ladies....and gentlemen if there are any of you out there reading. (It's okay if you are...this site isn't just for women!) But...this announcement is just for the ladies of Heritage Baptist Church...PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THAT THIS SUNDAY, WE WILL ALL BE WEARING RED, WHITE, AND/OR BLUE IN HONOR OF ALL OF OUR MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE SERVED IN THE MILITARY!!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION IN THIS MATTER!!!

Okay...now down to business. Have you ever noticed that there is a reason behind losing weight? I don't know anyone who has ever said..."Hmmm, I think I'm gonna lose weight, just because I feel like it. I have nothing better to do with my time...I think I'll go on a diet." That is a very rare occurrence if ever. Most people go on diets for health reasons, or they just wanna shed that extra 10 pounds before the wedding, or they wanna look good in a swim suit (which don't forget about the swim party at Liz Nichols' house on June 10). Usually, there is a reason, but is that reason usually because you want to purify the temple of God? Usually not. It's usually and generally a selfish reason (although not looked upon as selfish) reason for wanting to lose weight. There is nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight in order to look better in a wedding dress, or in your "mother's dress" for your child's wedding. There is absolutely and definitely nothing wrong with needing to lose pounds because of health reasons, but there is a problem with leaving God out of your diet. Believe me, I'm preaching to myself today because I know that I have fallen into temptation this week, that I could have fought if I would have let God help me. When everything seems so incredibly hard and you just can't do it on your own...DON'T!!!!!! You should never do ANYTHING on your own. No, I'm not saying, tell everyone how much you weigh and let them know every little thing you eat, and how many times you cheated. If you don't want to tell another single soul any of this information, Don't, but you DO need to tell God. You know why??? Because he careth for you!!! 1 Peter 5:7 - Casting all YOUR care upon HIM, for HE careth for YOU! Isn't this an awesome verse. The God of Creation...care about YOU!!! Think about that next time you need someone to talk to. He's sitting by the phone, waiting to hear from HIS Child! Until next time, Keep Looking UP for your inspiration and God Bless!!!

How hard do you Try?

Man...Is temptation ever present or what? Sometimes, I'm strong enough to say no, but other times I'm weak and I fall right into the trap. Chuck E Cheese is satan :) Just kidding. We had a great time last night at good ole' Chuck E Cheese with all the kiddos. I ate more points than I should have, but it's a good thing I have extra :) Anyways, a certain someone that I was talking to last night made a statement that really hit home, because this is a big deal with dieting. I was asked, "How committed are you to losing weight?" That really got me to thinking. How committed am I??? Then I thought a little deeper. How committed am I to God? So many people are highly dedicated to their diets, but they spend all their time being committed to that one thing, that they forget their committment to the only One that matters. I can be as committed as a person can be to losing weight and doing it the best ways and the only ways possible. I could eat salad everyday for the rest of my life...eat healthy, lose all the weight I need to, and stay healthy, but what is health without a healthy spiritual life to back it up? In my opinion, if you have your health, but you don't have God...you've lost the biggest reward you could possibly earn. Hebrews 10:38 - Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. We need to have a committment to our diets...yes...this is very important in order to lose weight, but you also need to remember your committment to God!!! Until next time...Keep Looking UP for your inspiration and God Bless!!!

What is your Potential?

You know…God doesn’t always use the strongest or the best looking people in the world to do His work. He uses those that have the motivation to do His work. The thing that is even more amazing than who He chooses, is How He chooses. Did you know that sometimes God gives you a small task to see how you handle that task? And then when you succeed in that task…He’ll give you a bigger task. There is a perfect example of this in the Bible. It’s found in Psalms. Psalm 78: 70-72 – 70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: 71 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. 72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. First, He wanted to see how David handled being ruler and master of some of the dumbest creatures He created. Sheep are not smart. If you have ever listened in church, grew up on a farm, or seen these animals, you would know that I’m not being cruel. Sheep are dumb. They will graze for hours when they find a good patch, and never look up to see where they have gone. They’ll end miles away from their shepherd. It takes the love of a shepherd to keep them safe and together. This passage states that God took David from the sheepfold and brought him to be ruler of Israel (another not so bright bunch of creatures). God was preparing David’s heart for what was in store for him in the future. What is God preparing you and your heart for? Until next time…Keep Looking UP for your inspiration and God Bless!!!

It Is Well!!!

I don’t know about you, but I completely blew my diet this weekend and I’m not even a mom. J I did have a great weekend, however, getting to spend time with my family. I think that anytime you get to spend time with those you love is a time to reflect on how blessed you are. Bro. Newcomb preached a great sermon last night on influences. After church, I reflected on some of the influences in my life. Not all of them have been good influences, but the one’s I remember the most were those that made the positive influences in my life. My mom is one of those who have made a great impact and a very positive influence in my life. Another great influence in my life is my pastor’s wife…Sheryl. I would hope that you all could say this very same thing. Sheryl, I was going to tell you last night, that I appreciate everything you do and that watching your life (all throughout growing up and even now that I’m grown), you have inspired me to be a better person. Once I looked at those great influences in my life, I started thinking about myself. I wanted to know what kind of an influence I have been in other people’s lives. Unfortunately, that is something I may never know this side of Heaven. I know that I haven’t always been the best influence and there are some people who I probably steered in the wrong direction because of my attitude and actions, but I would hope that for the most part, I have been a positive influence in other’s lives. I do know, that I have learned from my mistakes and after last night’s sermon, I will strive to be a better influence to all I come into contact with.
I got to thinking about one of the last statements that Preacher made last night…he challenged us to look through the Bible and look for the influences throughout the Bible. Did you know that all of the influences in the Bible were not positive??? No, there were probably more negative influences in the Bible than anything, but I got to thinking about a little woman that all she wanted was a son. God finally blessed her with a son, and he allowed a man by the name of Elisha to be a part of that blessing. When that young man passed away a few years down the road, did she curse God and get angry and decide she would give up and never serve God again? No, her influence was a very positive one. She picked herself up and ran to tell Elisha. When people stopped her on her way…did she cry to them and tell them her sob story? NO!!! Her response was, “It is Well!” Even though things in life didn’t turn out the way she planned, she still had the strength to say “It is Well”…I only have one question to ask you today. Is it well? Until next time…Keep looking UP for your inspiration and God Bless!!!

It takes a lot of faith to move mountains. There are scriptures throughout the entire Bible that talk about having faith to move mountains. Matthew 17:20 - And Jesus said unto them, 'Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place;' and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.' Today's verse talks about having the faith of a mustard seed. Now think with me for a minute...how big is a mustard seed??? Not very big is it? Last time I checked it wasn't very big...yet Jesus said that you could move a mountain with the faith of the smallest mustard seed. If we can move mountains with only that much faith...imagine how many pounds we can lose with that much faith. Last time I checked a mountain wasn't going anywhere pulled by man's brute strength. It's pretty much stuck there. It's a heavy object. But when we think about this verse...Jesus says it can be done. How much easier is it to shed pounds??? I know that it seems hard...and at times it is...but remember then next time you gain a few or even stay the same...Can YOU move a mountain???

Thought for the day: If I can remove mountains...Then I can remove pounds too!

(ps...if this is not KJV...I apologize, I'm at work and had to use what I could find)

Finding Contentment

Obviously anytime you fail while dieting, you feel like a failure, but God doesn’t want us to have these feelings of doubt. Especially not about ourselves. The only way for gold to be purified is to be tried by fire. In dieting, the only way for us grow in faith is to be tried by struggles. Christ will bring us through anything as long as we let him. 1 Peter 1:7 - That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Don’t let people get you down. If a certain diet isn’t working for you, let God help. He is the master of all things and He wants you to be happy. In saying that, I must remind you that you will never be satisfied in life or in you relationships, until you are satisfied in Christ and in yourself through Christ. If you can’t appreciate yourself the way you are now…how does God know that you will appreciate yourself after you lose 10,20,50 pounds? Some people are never happy no matter what they have, look like, or do. They just do not understand what it is to be content. We must be content in all we do, through Christ. Just remember that as Christians, our main goal is to become more Christ-like in everything we do. To be a Christian is to be a “little Christ”. Remember that next time you don’t want to be content with the way things are, but also remember that we should never get so content with life, that we forget to become more like Christ in everything we do.

I just wanted to remind everyone again, that the next meeting is going to be May 21st, after the evening service. Come with your soup bowls and soup spoons ready to eat. We’re having a soup night and it’s going to be great. Hope to see you all there. Until next time…Keep Looking UP for your inspiration and God Bless!!!

Are you Sure?

Some days it just feels like it’s going to be a great day, and some days, you wake up and you know that nothing good can come out of your day. David had those thoughts as well in Psalms. If you read the Psalms, you will see all throughout the book that David struggled. He struggled with depression, but even in his depression state, he still had faith in the Lord. It is hard to choose just one verse from the Psalms, but if I had to choose just one, it would probably be my life’s verse. Psalm 56:11 – In God have I put my trust, I will not fear what man can do unto me. If you have truly put your faith and trust in God in everything, including your dieting, it doesn’t matter what people say to you or how badly people may hurt you with their words. I know, words do hurt, believe me I know…but whenever you are feeling down and someone attacks you verbally with words that are hurtful, remember all the pain and suffering Jesus went through here on earth. Here He was…the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. He was mocked, made fun of, “if you really are who you say you are.” They doubted Him. They tried to make Him less then who He IS. Yes, you are here on earth, and words really do pierce the soul, but remember that this is just a temporary home. There is a better place that, I hope, we all have to look forward to. A place where words can never hurt the way they do here on earth, and where we will have a glorified body…not made with hands.

I’m not sure why, but the Lord has laid it on my heart to question you guys today, and I’m not one to disobey the Lord. If you died right now, where would you be? Are you sure that your life is secure in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ? If not, please get in touch with somebody from the church. Mrs. Newcomb is always willing to listen, and so is Jana, and Brenda, and anybody. Please don’t wait another minute. Pick up the phone right now…quit reading and pick it up!!! You won’t miss anything, call me, or call the church…get your directory and call any of the women listed in the directory. I can guarantee you that we are all standing by…ready to listen, and waiting to help you answer any questions you may have. Until next time…Keep Looking UP for your inspiration and God Bless each of you!!!

Better Late than Never!!!

Well, Once again, the internet got me this morning. But as the title of this blog says...it's Better Late Than Never!!! I wanted to update today because I was inspired by the devotion from Crosswalk this morning. The verse this morning is Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. Obviously there is a reason that you are on a diet. Some people just go on a diet because they have nothing better to do. I wish that was my reasoning, but unfortunately for me, my health is the reason I am on a diet. A lot of people have gone a diet to later find out that it was that very same diet that saved their lives. Some people go on a diet to encourage someone else to stick with their diet...and the list could go on and on. But we know that there is a reason why we do the things we do. No matter what your reason is, I hope to be one of the one's who gets to encourage you and help you to stick with it. I try to be as transparent on this diet as I can be. I want to share with you my triumphs and my set backs. I weighed in today and I gained .6 pounds back (that's point six...not six...so it's not as bad as it could be...but I definitely don't want to be gaining at all...just losing :) Anyways, we are here to lift each other up...not to tear each other down. I know that sometimes I sound like a broken record...but I really want to remind you that we have to help each other because the world only looks down on those they don't see eye to eye with. I love each and every one of you and I pray for you that you will succeed in your diet. If you are dieting and you don't know just yet why...remember this THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "My diet may be the best idea God had all day". I hope that brought a smile to your face like it did mine. Until Next time...Keep Looking UP for your inspiration and God Bless!!!

Self-Control

I'm the worst at trying to prove people wrong. They say I can't do it...I don't have the self-control to do it...you better believe I'm going to try to prove them wrong. What am I trying to prove? What are you trying to prove? Does it matter what others think of you? The only person who matters is God. God believes in you...do you believe that? Sometimes it's hard to believe that God could actually believe in us, but He does. When noone else does, He does. Mark 9:23 - Jesus said unto him, 'If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. God loves you and He wants you to succeed in everything you do...even weight loss. Next time you worry about what someone else is going to think about you when you fall off the band wagon, just know that God doesn't care. He wants you to stand up...dust yourself off, and get back on the band wagon. Also, please remember that your friends here at HBC Less of Me are here for you as well. We love you and we want to see you succeed. You want to know why we want you to succeed? Because we too are trying to succeed. Let's remember to encourage one another. If you notice that one of your brothers or sisters are feeling down, or looking down, go and lift them up. Ask them how you can pray for them.

This is just a reminder that our next Less of Me meeting is May 21. There will be a sign up sheet on the table in the foyer for those who want to sign up to bring something. Please help us out...we don't want the same people to feel like they need to bring something each time. Also remember that this is just a "taste test"...it's not a come and eat all you can and get full. Hope to see you all there. Until next time...Keep Looking UP for your inspiration and God Bless.