July 17 , 2006

  Alterations

On September 2nd 2006 my mom will be getting married. I am the Maid of Honor. We bought my dress in March. It did not quite fit the way I wanted it to. I was in an exercise program and I figured I would be able to lose the weight needed to fit in the dress comfortably. I worked out, I was in a dance ministry and going to school (which was physical activity). June came and I tried the dress on again to see what kind of progress I made. My results were very little, so I had to take my dress and have it altered so I could fit into it.

So as I sat disappointed that I didn’t reach my goal I began reflecting on what could I have been doing wrong. God began speaking to me. Yes, you did work out, but what about your eating late? What about your junk food intake? Did you have a balanced meal a day? How much water do you drink? As I sat and pondered these things, He said to me, you have to make some changes. Some alterations have to be made. You can’t just do it because you want to fit in a dress, that’s not successful weight loss. You must make up your mind to make a lifestyle change.

There are certain areas of our lives that don’t fit any more. There are things God has told us no more of, or to increase. He is calling us to make some alterations. He wants us to stop hanging out and clubbing with our friends when we need Him. He is the only person that can get us through all situations. He wants us to pick up our Bibles instead of the remote (I finally figured out why people’s T.V.s are so loud, we are trying to drown out the calling of God on our lives). God is waiting for us to talk to him instead of Billy Bob.

God is not going to force us to do anything we don’t want. We can choose to accept Him as our Savior, but is He the Lord over our lives? We cannot just fake it when we are at church because what is done in the dark is always brought to the light. I know all of us have a desire to be the holiest of Holy. Reality check, the Bible says our righteousness is as filthy rags before Him. So we can quit pretending we have it all together and work on getting it together.

God is calling us back to himself. He is calling us to repentance. Will you be obedient to what he says? Jesus is coming back for his bride. Will you be a Bride or a Brides maid? Pastor has been telling us the best is yet to come but it can only come if we will be obedient.

Yes, the dress could be altered before it was too late, but if we wait too long can our lives be altered? The Time is now. AMEN.

For more discussion go to the message board http://mynewtemple.org/aMessages.html, send a message to Joshlyn@mynewtemple.org or Contactus@mynewtemple.org.

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  Weekly Scriptures

Isaiah 42:16
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.

Isaiah 64:6
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.