A good friend of mine and I used to have many deep discussions when he lived closer. One thing that often came up was what we summed life up with..."Voices & Choices." So, let me explain...
The things we give
VOICE to and fill our minds with are what ultimately shape our realities.
Likewise, "dancing with demons" of the past or present will never free us for our
future! God has given us weapons to "slay the demons" but those
weapons are only activated when we make a CHOICE to activate our God-given VOICE. A great first step is to release any "dead weight." you may have been carrying so that you can get your heart and mind into a BATTLE-READY STANCE. Now, keep in mind that whatever demon or stronghold you
are facing past or present, I can guarantee you 2 things...
1) You will never have TRUE victory
over that demon fighting it in your own strength, and will eventually get defeated
2) If (CHOICE) you EXERCISE your faith (VOICE) and "join forces" with others; all of your battles will lead to victory.
The enemy's goal is to convince
us that we either are strong enough to fight our own battle (A CHOICE) or that we have nobody on our side and no VOICE to fight with! This is one of the biggest lies of the enemy and I assure you that it will ultimately lead to defeat. God's goal is to join us to others who will fight with us for
His cause like a spiritual army! If one remains isolated, they will get picked
off and destroyed!
You need to make the CHOICE to be open to building relationships with people and being PLANTED in a place that you will be able to draw strength and encouragement from when you find yourself to weak to fight or too discouraged to care or make the right choices. Side note: regardless of how good of an exercise and nutrition plan you have, it will not work long-term if you don't first build a strong mental and spiritual foundation. In my 15 years in the health and fitness field, I have seen countless people cycle with weight...health problems...overall fitness because they never made the choice to get to the root of their problems, listen to the RIGHT voice and then exercise their own voice through prayer, faithful declarations, and making the CHOICE to use their VOICE to speak to that big bad mountain in front of them that is blocking them from where they are supposed to get to in life. If we choose to keep making the same choices, we can't ever expect to see real, sustainable change. If we keep listening to the voices of: you're not good enough, you can't do it, quit trying, you are not making any progress anyways so just give up, it's not worth it, I really don't need to change, everything is ok, etc., you will find your life shaped by those voices. At some point, you just have to get fed up with allowing yourself to keep making the choice to listen to the wrong voices or you will forever have those mountains standing in your way whether that be weight loss, body image, health problems, unforgivensss, etc.
If you want change, you have to change! If you want a different reality, you need to make a FIRM CHOICE to listen to the RIGHT VOICE and then take steps of ACTION by exercising your VOICE (faith). I have realized over the years that all the dietary and exercise advice doesn't do anybody much good if they don't first change their mind and heart about some things and take a forward leaning READY stance to do "battle." Life is a battle, but there are many battles within the battle to be won or lost! With "choices and voices" you can win those battles and get your body, mind and spirit to a better place!
You need to make the CHOICE to be open to building relationships with people and being PLANTED in a place that you will be able to draw strength and encouragement from when you find yourself to weak to fight or too discouraged to care or make the right choices. Side note: regardless of how good of an exercise and nutrition plan you have, it will not work long-term if you don't first build a strong mental and spiritual foundation. In my 15 years in the health and fitness field, I have seen countless people cycle with weight...health problems...overall fitness because they never made the choice to get to the root of their problems, listen to the RIGHT voice and then exercise their own voice through prayer, faithful declarations, and making the CHOICE to use their VOICE to speak to that big bad mountain in front of them that is blocking them from where they are supposed to get to in life. If we choose to keep making the same choices, we can't ever expect to see real, sustainable change. If we keep listening to the voices of: you're not good enough, you can't do it, quit trying, you are not making any progress anyways so just give up, it's not worth it, I really don't need to change, everything is ok, etc., you will find your life shaped by those voices. At some point, you just have to get fed up with allowing yourself to keep making the choice to listen to the wrong voices or you will forever have those mountains standing in your way whether that be weight loss, body image, health problems, unforgivensss, etc.
If you want change, you have to change! If you want a different reality, you need to make a FIRM CHOICE to listen to the RIGHT VOICE and then take steps of ACTION by exercising your VOICE (faith). I have realized over the years that all the dietary and exercise advice doesn't do anybody much good if they don't first change their mind and heart about some things and take a forward leaning READY stance to do "battle." Life is a battle, but there are many battles within the battle to be won or lost! With "choices and voices" you can win those battles and get your body, mind and spirit to a better place!
Clayton that makes so much sense and I needed to hear the part about slaying the demons from the past in order to move forward. Thanks for this great reminder. You have a way with words!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! So glad to hear that! Thank you! :-)
DeleteClayton that makes so much sense and I needed to hear the part about slaying the demons from the past in order to move forward. Thanks for this great reminder. You have a way with words!
ReplyDelete