Daily Bible Reading - Thursday - July 22nd

In Romans we see how the Apostle was struggling with the sinful nature we were born in.  I think we all tend to have a struggle with that sinful nature at times, at least I do, especially in the area of eating.  That old nature I was in when I was 550# tends to surface every now and then wanting me to feed it, feed it all the wrong things.  It always tends to surface when things are not going right or so we think they are not going right and it’ll pound in our head wanting us to give in.  But thank the Lord we can conqueror that by the spirit of God and pu**** down back under where it belongs.  From verse 5 on we have the answer we need to stay on track with our weight loss or any other situations we are in. 

⁵ Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. ⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. ⁷ For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. ⁸ That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

When we let the spirit control our minds we will have life and peace in God, that’s where I want to stay.  It’s not easy at times to stay there but it’s possible.  We will always struggle with our weight but we can have control over that struggle and not have it control us if we stay in the spirit of God. 

In the devotional it talks about being close to having victory in our lives.  When things come up against us and seem to be going wrong, that’s when we tend to want to give up and not get the victory we are after but if we don’t give up and stay strong in the Lord and be persistent, the victory that we been working towards will be there.  We always seem to have to fight for victory in our lives but if you think about it, the things we fight for seem to mean a lot more then things that are simple handed to us.  I know it would be so much easier for it to be handed to us on a silver platter but when we have to work for it and go through struggles for it, we always seem to appreciate it more and value it for what it really is.  So stay strong and stay grounded, don’t let one or two set backs make you want to give up, hang in there because victory really is on its way.

Today’s Reading

2 Chronicles 6:12-8:10
Romans 7:14-8:8
Psalm 18:1-15
Proverbs 19:24-25

Daily Devotional

Mark 2:10b-12
…He said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’ Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, ‘We never saw anything like this!’"

In Mark chapter two, the Bible talks about a man who was paralyzed. He heard that Jesus was in town teaching at another house and knew that He could heal him. The paralyzed man convinced four of his friends to carry him on his bed over to where Jesus was. When they arrived, the house was so packed that they couldn’t get in. Do you know what happened next? Instead of just giving up and going home, the man was so determined to get his miracle that he convinced his friends to climb up on the roof, cut a hole in it, and lower him down to where Jesus was!

Now this man understood that you are closest to your victory when you face the greatest opposition. A lot of people would have just given up. They would have seen the crowd and gone home—even though they were just a few feet away from their miracle. Don’t let that be you! What are you believing for? Don’t give up just because there is opposition. Don’t let others discourage you from seeing your miracle. Keep pressing through today because you are closer than you think to the victory God has in store for you!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

"Heavenly Father, today I release all of my cares and anxieties on You. I trust that my breakthrough is coming. I choose to press in and stand strong. I believe Your Word, and I believe that You will reward me as I diligently seek after You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen."