Praying the Attributes of God

I am in an online chat group associated with the grace based program called "Thin Within" (http://www.thinwithin.org). One of our assignments was to pray the attributes of God. Every day, we try to come up with at least 5 things that we know about God and then we use those things as worship, praise, and defensive tools in our quest to "release" the pounds.

Listen up- this WORKS! It works not only with the temptation to over eat but whenever you are tempted to stray, sin, get lazy, or need a quick pick me up. Just do it! Just start speaking what you see below. Start making your own list. This is a fabulous way to stop being stupid.

God is:

love

jealous for me

vigilant

sovereign

good

holy

self sufficient

hope

truth

just

righteous

self existent

omnipotent

omnipresent

long suffering

infinite

transcendent

immutable

wise

merciful

incomprehensible

faithful

omniscient

eternal

the way maker

the beginning and the end

the master builder

water on a thirsty land

life giver

my fortress

deliverer

shield

protection

father

help in time of trouble

rescuer

lifter of my head

rock

wisdom

knowledge

source of all that is good

without sin

light

pure

begotten and not made

knows my heart and thoughts

hears my prayers

is yes and amen

is powerful

judge and lawgiver

gracious

outside of time

compassionate

healer

wonder worker

miracle worker

cannot lie

not a man

truth

patient

glorious

worthy of praise

for me and not against me

supplier

my king

Jehovah-I AM WHO I AM

Jehovah -M'Kaddesh-the God who sanctifies

Jehovah-jireh-the God who provides

Jehovah-shalom-the God of peace

Jehovah-rophe-God who heals

Jehovah-nissi-God my banner

El-Shaddai-God Almighty

Adonai-Master

Elohim-power

El Elyon-deliverer

Jehovah-tsidkenu- our righteousness

Jehovah-raah-my shepherd

Jehovah-sabbaoth-Lord of Hosts

Jehovah-shammah-God present

Jehovah-gamola-God of retribution

Jehovah-jireh-provider

Jehovah-makkeh-the ever revealing one who smites

El Olan-the everlasting God

There now. Don't you feel better than when you started reading this list? It is by no means complete. It will take a lifetime to finish this. I'm up for it. Are you?

Today's lesson-FIND THE TRAP!

This morning I was doing the Thin Within study and got sidetracked on something powerful that I want to share with you....

“Satan is a liar, a deceiver, and a thief. He has a plan for each person. 2 Timothy 2:26.”

This stopped me for a bit. A plan? He has a plan for me? Satan imitates God. God has a plan for my life but Satan has a PLAN for me? I want to know more about this.

In my Bible the translation for plan is “TRAP”. KJV says “SNARE”. The Hebrew word is “PAGIS” which means a trap as fastened by a noose or notch. A trick or stratagem (temptation), snare. Stratagem? That’s serious. What might that be for me? What is his plan for my life?

Before I got in the groove of Thin Within, the trap, noose, trick, or stratagem for was to wrap me up so much in how terrible I thought I looked by being 30+ pounds overweight that it tripped me up like a ..like a…ummm….well….like a fishing net, like a snare, or a noose. Hum! It was ever present and ever with me and ever keeping me from being totally God Conscious. Now that that complex net of deceit is falling apart and holes are being punched in it left and right, he has to set a new strategy, a new snare for me to get wrapped up in and it is all about pain and suffering. The attack has shifted toward the things that give me joy- fiber art, my work dyeing fabric, tennis and gardening, praying for people by laying HANDS on them...uh huh....get the picture? If my hands are in such pain that I cannot do those things I will lose my focus, right? That was the plan. No. The gig’s up. I get it now. Maybe that’s why my hands feel so much better today…..because:

Jesus paid the price. Satan is powerless. Jesus already ended all this nonsense in my life. He paid the price Himself. He is faithful to complete the work He began in me and He will complete the work He is doing in your life as well if you identify the TRAP right now. Name it. Disarm it the way Jesus did at the cross. Do some self assessment! Where is the leak in your inner tube? Where is the battle being waged? It’s time to close the gap! Stand up. Pick up your mat. Walk. No- don't just walk-run! Stop being stupid and just flat out run!!! Run to God with this! We are not ignorant of his devices, amen?

“If the enemy can keep us in a place of unbelief, we will never appropriate all that is ours in Christ…If he can do this, he can keep us on the sidelines of life refusing to step out in faith and walk into that which God has planned for us. He (Satan) can keep us, as a young child…missing the experience of the resurrected life.”

Case in point- The Hebrew people. They wandered for 40 years. Why? Unbelief. They refused to go forth. “They were convinced that they could not be victorious and their fear overshadowed their faith.” Nice trap, devil man. But you did lose this one and will lose this fight over me as well. Joshua got it right- "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Identify the trap today. Then ask God to show you the way out of it. He will. He is faithful to complete to good work He began in you.

Glory to God!

Comparing how I am now to how I was 1 year ago

I see from my journals that less than one year ago, I was truly discouraged at this point in the process of trying to lose weight. There were things I did not understand-most are contained in the list below from my last posting but something else is clearly evident:

Plotting and making rules for my "diet" were in fact LAWS that brought condemnation and discouragement. Any success I would have was due to my performance. Any failure was due to just that- MY failure. If I could only control my environment and most of all control MYSELF, success would just-flat out- happen to me. The scales literally would be balanced by my performance.

What else?

God wanted me to rely on Him and not on my own ignorant devices.

God wanted my every thought and move to be brought to him.

I have found that the more I walk in His plan, the more weight that is "released". The six pounds in five weeks that have been lost since restarting the "Thin Within" program really reflect what I have learned spiritually! I've learned at least 6 pounds worth of spiritual lessons. I have 20 more pounds of lessons to look forward to as I travel along asking God to show me the path; show me the way; teach me. Talk with me. Lead me.

And lastly- I have learned and relearned that His grace IS sufficient.

Thanks for reading.

Start living as the person God says you are.

The Thin Within workbook said to start living as the person God says I am. That made me stop to think, "do I really know who He says I am?" I decided to find out right from His own mouth and then from the rest of the Bible and this is what I found. I decided to write the items here using "you" and "your" so that it is more personal for you. I already wrote these down using "me", "my", "mine", and "I"....

Here is who God says you are. These things are taken from the gospel of Matthew, and then from everything out of Acts to Jude:

You live not by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

You are to be a fisher of men.

You are the salt of the earth.

You are the light of the world.

If you have faith, you can move mountains.

Nothing is impossible for you.

You are to become like a child.

You are to forgive.

God is with you always.

You are justified (made just as if you had no sin).

You are forgiven.

You are entitled to son-ship.

You are interceded for, joyful, patient.

You belong to God.

You have the mind of Christ.

You are not mastered by anything, bought with a price, a new creation.

You are reconciled to God.

The Holy Spirit lives in you.

You are a daughter of Abraham, redeemed, led by the Spirit.

You are saved by grace, an imitator of God, strong in the Lord.

You are an armor wearer.

You are not anxious, not timid, powerful, of sound mind.

You are equipped.

With grace you say no to ungodliness.

You are self controlled.

Hope anchors in your soul firmly.

You persevere and are mature, complete, lacking nothing.

You ask for wisdom and God gives it.

You are quick to listen, slow to speak or become angry.

You are a do-er of the Word.

You do not show favoritism.

You are patient.

You are chosen, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.

You belong to God.

You are healed by His words.

You do not give way to fear and have everything you need for life and godliness.

God lives in you and you are in Him.

Your prayers are heard.

You walk in love.

Now, what's your problem? Mine is remembering these things.

If you (and I) were to take these statements personally and seriously, we would stop being so stupid. Amen?

"Life's tough and it's even tougher if you're stupid."-John Wayne

It has been months since I posted on this blog. Certainly some stupid things have happened to me since April but to repeat them for you would be...well...stupid.

It has almost been a year since the idea of starting Stop Being Stupid Ministries was dropped in my head from on high. I need to develop the site now into something that is interactive and that helps you, my followers, be less stupid and be proactive in overcoming dummy obstacles. Where do we start?

In my own life, I am starting with the weight I have gained and carried around for way too long. This is ridiculous. It puts wear and tear on my heart, tendons, knees, feet, ankles and flat out looks terrible.

Above is one of the worst pictures I've ever seen of me. It has shocked me into redoing a most excellent program for "weight release" called Thin Within.

In 2 weeks I have released 5 pounds. 22 more to go.

Each week I will share a piece of stupidity that I have shed, in addition to the weight loss totals. I hope to release all 27 pounds of fat as well as about 270 pounds of stupid behavior as we journey along.

For week one: eat when hungry. Stop when satisfied.

For week two: stop abusing the temple of the Holy Spirit.

See you next week.

Johny Wayne's Quote of the Week-

"Life's tough and it's even tougher if you're stupid."-John Wayne

Last Guest Quote: Percy Bysshe Shelley

"Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung."

-Percy B Shelley