Chocolate Won't Make Me Fat!

Since I don't LIKE chocolate, it doesn't matter if I eat an entire bag of Hershey's kisses every single day of 2011 and don't exercise at all, I won't get fat!  Now, just to be clear, I LOVE chocolate, but I thought this example really made a lot of sense (probably BECAUSE I love chocolate!).  I think we can all agree that it doesn't matter whether or not you like chocolate, if you eat an entire bag of Hershey's kisses every single day of 2011 without ever exercising, you WILL get fat!

I don't know about you, but my life is FULL of media.  I love music and listen to it constantly.  One of my favorite things to do is watch movies (at home OR in the theater).  I enjoy a hand full of television shows, and I read a ton, too.  I also enjoy activities like reading my Bible, reading other godly help books (like Girls Gone Wise), praying, discussing with others what God is teaching me, and going to church.  If I did the things on the first part of the list, but never or rarely did the things on the last part of the list,  I'd be in bad shape!  After all, if you eat the chocolate (worldly media) without ever exercising (walking with God), you're not going to be healthy!

Chapter 2 of Girls Gone Wise discusses the source of the Wise & Wild girls' counsel: the Wild girl turns to the world (Proverbs 5:5-6); the Wise girl turns to the Word (Psalm 1:1-2)!  I really appreciated Mary Kassian's view on media. It's not wrong to enjoy movies, tv, music, books, etc., but if you don't fight the worldliness with the Truth of God's Word, then you will quickly adopt the worldly messages usually present (sometimes subtly, sometimes not). The statistics given in this chapter astounded me.  I haven't done my own research on it, but according to GGW, if you fall into the "average" category of hours spent watching television, movies, etc., you will have spent 40 entire years of your life on media by the time you're 65! Now if that's true for you, that means you only spent 25 of your 65 years doing other activities... most of which is probably sleeping!  There's absolutely no possible way you can "eat" that much "chocolate" with such a small amount of "exercise" and not get fat!  Does that make sense?  It does for me (and I guess since I'm the one doing the study, that's really what matters!)!  

After reading this chapter, I am NOT compelled to gather every single DVD, CD, VHS, and book that I own  and throw it in the garbage, but I am challenged to think more proactively about just how much time I'm spending on these things that influence my way of thinking.  

One last thing that stuck out to me in this chapter. Mary Kassian says, "The mistake of the Wild Thing is that she doesn't intentionally think about how to live a godly life."  The Wild girl falls into sin because she isn't combating the worlds counsel with God's counsel. Living a godly life isn't something that just comes naturally; it's something we have to put great effort into- something we have to do intentionally.  Are you and I making the intentional decision to combat the World's counsel with the Word's counsel?  I hope so!

Forgiveness

Sin.  We all have it; we all struggle with it.  For quite a while now, I have struggled with one particular, persistent sin, and sometimes it really gets me discouraged.  Today has definitely been one of those days.  I just couldn't seem to overcome it today; in fact, at one point, I felt as though I didn't really even WANT to overcome it!  Talk about a devastating realization!  What a wake up call!


Throughout 2011, my goal is to read through Psalms/Proverbs twice- one chapter a day (with the exception of Psalm 119, which I will probably split into a few days).  God is so good and faithful!  Today's Psalm was JUST what I needed!  Psalm 32:1-2a & 5 say, "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity.... I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, 'I will confess my transgression to the LORD.' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah"  Amazing!  The very sin I'm struggling with has already been covered by the cross!  My transgression is forgiven and my sin is covered! God doesn't even count it against me!  What a wonderful, encouraging truth! 

The Foot Bone's Connected To The.... Heart Bone?!

Now, I realize that's not how the song usually goes, but after reading the first chapter of Girls Gone Wise In A World Gone Wild (which I shall refer to as GGW in the rest of this blog and all blogs pertaining to GGW from here on out), I think that's how the song SHOULD go.  Point of Contrast #1 compares the heart: a wise girl's heart is centered on Christ; a wild girl only sees Christ in her peripheral vision.

There were so many things that stuck out to me in this chapter!  From the very beginning, God has only wanted two things from us: Love Me (God) with your heart and follow Me (God) with your feet.  That's it!  Just love Me with your heart and follow Me with your feet.  Sounds so simple, right?  Whether we like it or not, our feet are very much connected to our heart. If Christ is at the center of our heart, if He holds first place in our affections, then it will be evidenced in our conversation, our thoughts, and our decisions in even the smallest of things.  What convicted me most in this chapter was when Mary Kassian put the Proverbs 5:5-6 passage into the scenario of the modern church.  Proverbs 5:5-6 says "Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it."  Mary Kassian puts it this way: "It's important to remember that although her steps wander, the Wild Thing of Proverbs is a very religious woman who moves in religious circles.  Nowadays, you might find her at a youth group, on the worship team, in a Bible study, on a mission trip, or teaching Sunday School.  She could be the leader of the women's ministries in your church.  Or the speaker at your next women's retreat.  She could be me.  She could be you."  Sometimes its hard to recognize the wild woman because she does so many things right.  Perhaps she doesn't even realize that she is a wild woman. In fact, she probably thinks she has it all together and is doing great in her spiritual life. It could be me... it could be you.

What holds first place in your affections?  What holds first place in mine?  There is nothing more important than a girl's relationship with God, and until we get that right, we'll have a constant struggle to get anything else in our lives right.

Girls Gone...Wise?

In today's culture, it's not just the girls who have gone wild. You can't even run to the grocery store without encountering "wildness!" It's everywhere: magazines, billboards, advertisements, even people!  One of my goals for 2011 is to read more "Bible-Help" books.  Bible-Help books are unlike self-help books in that they are geared toward the God-loving woman who seeks to better please Him.  The first book I've chosen to go through was recommended to me shortly after I arrived at CBC.  In her book Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild, Mary Kassian takes us on a journey through the Proverbs where she will compare for us the Wild Woman and the Wise Woman.  I plan to do my studies on Thursday evenings and will try to blog after each chapter.  I began last week with the intro. You know it's going to be a good book when you're convicted even before you hit the first chapter!  I'm really looking forward to getting into this book!  Stay tuned!

Transformed Singleness

How Christ Transforms My Singleness

Sherry VanHooser asked me to listen to this today so I could give her my opinion on the speaker. I enjoyed it so much, I want to share it with all of you.  Sometimes we think we've got it all figured out... if I just do this, then God will give me what I want, but that is SO NOT TRUE!  God isn't sitting in heaven waiting for us to bargain with Him!  He's simply whispering Trust in Me... I love you and have the only plan that is best for you.  I hope you take the time to listen to this (Ladies AND Gentlemen alike!) and really think through what she's saying!