1st Place 4 Health ~ Walking In Grace Week 2

 "Walking in Grace".  (click on the title for an Amazon link.)

Our group meets at 8:00am on Sunday morning to discuss our individual study throughout the previous week.  This Sunday Tina did a great job of leading the discussion.  It was her first time and I was impressed.  I could definitely tell that she put some prep time in.

Week Two:  Gift of Grace
Grace is God's gift to us and He gives it generously.  Grace frees us from the stuggle of doing everything on our own.  God knows we need more than our own power to overcome the challenges we face.  God's grace frees us to change.

What images do the words "gift" and "grace" bring to you mind?  To me they mean joy, love, kindness.  A "gift" is given freely and from the heart to the other person.

There are two main catalysts for change.  One is to reach the point where you think "I can't go on like this anymore".  The other is when a person can see how life could be and know that making a change will make life better.  I've been at both places in my life.  Through God's grace we can be freed from the pit that we find ourselves in.  He will help us pull ourselves up and out and give us a hope for a better life.  We don't have to stay stuck.

The memory verse (2 Cor. 3:17) states that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.  God doesn't make us follow Him.  He gives us the freedom to choose to follow Him.  He also gives us the freedom to choose how to live our lives.  Healthy or unhealthy.  By being a part of the 1st Place 4 Health group, I am choosing to work toward becoming healthy.

God's grace will help us get through the difficulties that we face in life.  (Phil 4:4-6, Romans 12: 1-3, Titus 2:12).  We can renew our minds, learn to live more sensibly and endure with steadfastness.  Would you consider yourself sensible?  That a tough question.  I like to think I'm sensible, but I also know that I sometimes make decisions that aren't sensible especially when it comes to snacking. 

I am hopefull that with God's grace through the Holy Spirit that I can make the changes in my life so that I can live a sensible, healthy life in service to God.

You can read 1 Peter 1: 13-16 and use it as a prayer to help you fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

You may want to start a grace journal to record how God gives grace to you each and every day.

My Goals:  (How I Did This Week)

Spiritual:

-Strengthen my relationship with God.  (This will be an ongoing goal that I continue to work on)
-Maintain a daily Prayer, Bible reading and Study Time. (Check!)
-Learn the Memory Verse each week and try to remember the address.  (I struggle with remembering where the verse if found.)

Physical:

-Chart my measurements  (Check!)
-Exercise 15 miles or more per week.  (I only got 11 in :(  )
-Have at least 3 good eating days per week.  (I did it!)
-Dare I say lose 15 lbs?  Maybe 10 lbs?  ( I was down 1 lb!)

Mental:

-Continue taking my meds and vitamins striving to stay on an even keel.  (Meds & Vits.- check!  Striving-check!)
-Know my limits and try not to overwhelm myself with obligations.  (Very busy weekend.  Need to slow things down a bit.)
-Exercise my brain muscle with study, reading, blogging & crafting.  (Check!)

Emotional:

-Lean on God for my strength.  (Every day!)
-Love on my husband and kids and soak in their love for me.  (Need to work on this.)
-Take care of my responsibilities to the best of my ability and feel good about it.  (Pretty good.)
-Have meaningful, loving relationships with my family and church family. (Had a great time Sat. and Sun. and spent lots of quality time with family.)
 
Please keep praying for me as I work on Week 3:  Grace to Be Ourselves and work toward reaching my other goals.
 

Linking to:

Spiritual Sundays