Hello All! Long time no see. I've got lots of news! God is so GOOD!! I'm so excited for the things that He has in store for me. I've grown in the last few months and can only go higher from here. I've been taking a bible study course at church since January and it has been such a blessing. I'm learning so much about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and how He works and just how faithful, gracious, merciful and AMAZING He is! Hallelujah! I am really really excited for the things to come and cannot wait to do His work in the kingdom.

I just recently purchased a book by Beth Moore titled "Praying God's Word" and let me tell you; unbelieveable! It's a complete blessing to realize the power of praying God's word in your life! The bible shows us in Isaiah 55:11 that God says "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (NIV) What a joy it is to know that you can have all the things the bible promises because God said so! So awesome.

That being said, I know that I have victory over my stronghold because God says I do. It is evidenced in this scripture:

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (New International Version)

3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Isn't that wonderful news?? I've added the emphasis there on verse 4. I think it's great that God has called us to fight off the enemy in our lives and focus solely on Him and His purpose for us.

"What is a stronghold?" you may ask. Well, the apostle Paul does a masterful job under the direction of the Holy Spirit explaining what a stronghold is in 2 Corinthians 10:5 - "every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God". Anything that tries to act bigger than God in your mind or tell you that you can't do something is a stronghold. There are all sorts: Pride, Depression, Rejection, Feeling Unloved, Unbelief, Idolatry. The list goes on. The one I am seeking to demolish is Addiction.

"Addiction? Really?" Yes, really. My addiction is not typical, but it does exist. I am addicted to food. Yes, I am not afraid to admit it. Admission is the first step to liberty. If I am at all going to be free of this stronghold, I must admit to having it so I can get rid of it. I've learned a lot about food in the last 2 years. But thus far I've only relied on my own strength to conquer food and the way I thought about it. I knew my thought life had to change, but what I didn't know (or at least I didn't practice) was that I couldn't do it alone. It is IMPOSSIBLE to to do anything without Christ (John 15:5). I have a helper that will never fail me!

Now with my new found knowledge, I am putting myself to work. Knowing without doing is not actually knowing. So there must be some action involved. I am letting the Holy Spirit guide me on the right path (His path) to success. It was no coincidence that I was introduced to Raw Foods and Vegetarianism all those years ago. I have acquired fantastic resources to accompany me on this journey. Armed with that knowledge I am going to fabricate an eating plan that will glorify God and help me to live better. After all, the "body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own" (1 Cor. 6:19).

It is important that I remember that it is not I who is at work in me, but the power of the Holy Spirit working in me. I am determined to keep my body blameless in His sight.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (New International Version)

23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

With alllll that being said, today is the first day of my "live-it". Not "die-t" but "live-it". I will live for it is Christ that lives in me! I do not have to give in to temptation and sin!

Romans 8:9-11 (New International Version)

9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

It will be an everyday fight, but as long I a continually renew my thoughts, I will be fine. These next scriptures exemplify just that.

Luke 9:23 (New International Version)

23Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Romans 12:2 (Amplified Bible)

2Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

I've started tracking my process on FitDay.com and I'm journalizing my progress. The Lord has pretty much told me that less is more and that I don't need fancy gym equipment and expensive tapes to become more active (although I will still USE my expensive tapes, HA!). I am committed to become a runner. ::GASP:: "Shanise doesn't RUN!" Well, I do now. I will duplicate my entries here so you all can see. I'll post it at the end of this post. I'm off now to find some food. ttyl!

Shanise

So, today was the first day that I took action to take control of this food addiction stronghold! Amen! I am excited for the journey ahead, but let me tell you, this running thing is hard! I thought I'd be ok with running 1 minute and walking 2 minutes and repeating that 10 times. But on this mountain, it's harder than I thought. And the temperature this morning was 18 degrees! You know my asthma was not happy. But I can only get better. I was out there about a half hour and walked .69 miles. I'm thinking that today should be a great food day. I've had 2 bananas thus far and a bit of my Orange Sports Drink. It's only 10:30 in the morning and I have yet to really start the day. We'll see how the rest of this goes. By the grace of God, I WILL complete and maintain my goal! I'd like to run in the NYC Marathon in 2010. Pray for me! I will update this later to inform you of my feelings. Ciao!

Shanise