March 26, 2013 - Say Yes To The Plan

Good morning, Yesterday we spoke of endurance (Resurrection week #1). We talked from the scripture that says, "for the JOY set before Him, Jesus endured the cross." We praise God for His endurance and see where our own endurance can bless someone else and offer them hope. And that brings us joy. Right? Today, let's speak of submission to God's plan (Resurrection week #2). In the garden, the Bible recounts a very honest conversation between Jesus and God. Maybe you, like me, have had that same discussion ONE MILLION times. Yes, I have. Jesus had seen men be crucified; he's not walking into this with no experience. He absolutely knew the cost of following God's plan, but is there another way? When He finally came to the end of the question cycle, He looked forward in time and saw you and I whole and submitted to the master plan. Without Jesus' journey and sacrifice, we had no hope. Our health journey is not often easy. Being hungry, denying our flesh, fighting for our health at parties when no one cares, falling down, being confronted with options that are "so much easier," can all make the journey intolerable at times. However, our health is not up for debate. I wish it were. And, our health is more priceless that we realize until we reach a certain age and begin to really count the cost of poor health. (and there's a lot of cost on this side) I am convinced that deciding to be healthy is not the issue - we've all done that a million times. I'm convinced that there is that moment for each of us where the game of life is so intense and we are so broken that the final decision to submit to God's best plan to maintain His "bodly" temple requires a final journey from the maybe list to the I have no choice now list. At that point, our submission to God's plan needs to be "not my will but yours be done," and we never look back. That date occurred for me on January 24, 2011. I finally came to the place in my heart where death to my flesh and my old excuses must take place. I know this doesn't begin to compare to the garden experience with Jesus and yet it does in a small way for me. When I decided to be healthy, I had to realize that I would never eat a candy bar or a doughnut again. Ever! There were certain things that had to die in order for me to live. AND I wanted to live to see my grand babies grow. I also wanted a great quality of life. Candy bars and poor eating choices had pronounced death. But that day, in that "garden experience," I knew that God would meet me if I was really ready to submit to his plan and never, never embrace my old journey again. And He did. Are there some of you who need a garden experience? It's not fun and it requires the ultimate submission - death to the flesh - but I'm telling you that experience gave me life! A lot of you go in and out of pockets of health, and I understand. My prayer is that you stop the discussion phase with your flesh and have that real garden experience. This is a GREAT week to say goodbye to certain things forever. On the other side of total submission (with no escape and try-again routes) there is LIFE. I know this well. Come on, walk that hill to the garden and prepare to submit to total health. Make your list of things that must die, lay them down, find a strong accountability partner who won't give in when you need a candy fix, start reading and eating healthy everyday whether you feel like it or not, and start living as a healthy, free person. God's plan is best and gives us our best chance of long, healthy years to serve Him. Praying for you, PK