Daily Bible Reading - Sunday Jan 18th

In reading Genesis this morning we get to the story of Joseph, of course you know Joseph is hated by his brothers because their father loves Joseph more.  God gave Joseph dreams of his future, dreams of how well he was going to do and how he would one day be over his brothers but what did not show him in the dreams was how he would be imprisoned and what he would have to go through in order to get where God showed him in the dreams.  That makes me think of myself and my own journey of WLS.  I have dreamed for ages now of being thin and healthy and on the right track with my weight.  I had not thought or dreamt of how hard it would actually be to get the weight off.  In my mind I had pictured having the surgery and the path to getting thin would be smooth and straight when in reality it has been just the opposite, bumpy and curvy.  Like Joseph I longed to make my dreams come true but what I did not see in my dreams was what I would have to go through to get there.  I had not counted on all the little so called “demons" that was in my head to still be there.  The laziness of not wanting to exercise, the thoughts of wanting to over eat or eat the wrong things, all that stinkin thinkin that comes with being overweight and all.  I guess I thought I would also have a different mind that would be adjusted to losing weight but in reality only my stomach was operated on, not my brain.  But you know, that is where we have to turn our WLS over to God and let Him help us change our ways and thinking.  I had in my mind this would be much easier to get the weight off by having surgery.  It has made it easier to lose weight but it by all means hasn’t been the easy way out.  For those that think WLS is the “easy way out" I have one word for them, WRONG, it’s by far not the easy way out.  Thank God though we have Him to lean on and help us get through it all, without Him I would not have success but with God will have all the success we ever dreamed about.  What a mighty and awesome God we really do serve.  You all have a blessed Lords day.

Genesis 37:1-38:30
Matthew 12:22-45
Psalm 16:1-11
Proverbs 3:27-32

1 Samuel 2:30
'. . . Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.'

A friend of mine played basketball in high school. He did everything he could to become the best player he could be. He worked with the coach every day. He respected the coach and did everything the coach told him, in order to please him. His hard work paid off. He starred on the team, and when he graduated, the coach told him he was the finest player he had ever had the privilege of coaching. Are we doing everything we can to please God by being the best people we can be? When we diet, we do God honor, and He will be faithful to honor us in return. If we ignore our bodies, the gift that God gave us, then we show contempt for God, and He will lose respect for us.

Today's thought: Today I will do everything I can to please God!

I just finished reading our scriptures for today and i had much the same thoughts as you about , even tho God gives us a vision of what he has in store for us he doesnt always give you the steps that you will have to take to get there.

much as if God gave you a vision of a home you were going  to have, but you might have to build that home...you cant build a home without a foundation and lots of hard work to get to the finished product, much the same way as our like as a Christian....the foundation is our Lord and Savior  and it takes a lot of hard work and materials to get to the finished product ....but he is always there to help us get out of holes like Joseph was in or the holes and pits that we cause ourselves.  Hope today is a wonderful day in the Lord that all of you will have. and there is victory in this wls journey ....