Yet ANOTHER fresh start!

This week's memory verse:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

The reason I began writing a daily message that then became this daily blog was to help my First Place 4 Health group stay connected and do the daily Bible study and maybe understand it a little better. It has become much more than that to me, but as my Sunday group is struggling and floundering to hold the program together, I think I am going to go back to the beginning and use this to help the group make some progress in our healthy living goals. I am still going to use the "A New Beginning" book that we officially began 4 weeks ago, but I am going back to week one so we can all begin again together.

This memory verse is such a good one for such a new beginning! It doesn't matter how many times you mess up and fall back into old habits...God is there to help you try again! He wants to make you a new creation! 

Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

He's not specifically talking about forgetting about the 3 pieces of cake and fried chicken and chips you ate over the weekend...he's not just talking about how you sat on the couch watching tv all day Saturday instead of being outside in the sun...but we know that those behaviors are holding us back. Let's put them in the past and leave them there! Let's concentrate on right now...this moment...and strive toward the healthier choices we can make!

I heard someone say that God should love me no matter how much I weigh! HE DOES!!!  I asked the group of girls I was with yesterday why we should be concerned about our weight and living healthy. They said if our bodies are healthier (our body IS the temple for the spirit!) then we will have more energy to do the things we want to do AND WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO! We will also feel better about ourselves, giving us more confidence to step out when we are asked. God doesn't care what you look like...but he DOES want you to be obedient and take care of the body he gave you! THAT is the bottom line!

So today, join me! I am going to learn from the mistakes I have made in the past, focus on the present, making better choices. As God told Isaiah, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!" (Isaiah 43:18-19)

God is doing a new thing in us! Let's grab on to that! God offers a fresh start - a new beginning - each and every day. Are you ready to take him up on it?

Dear Lord, I ask that you bless those girls in my group and anyone else reading this message today. Let them know that they are worth your love and worth putting the effort into trying again and making a new start! Thank you for giving us new starts each day...let us take you up on it today! Amen.