Can the Truth Really Set Me Free?

Did you know that 90% of the thought we have daily are repeat thoughts from the day before? I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that. How many times have I found myself in the same spot, beating myself up for being right back where I didn't want to be. I often feel like my whole life is Deja Vu! 

How did I end up right back where I don't want to be? Why did I think this time would be any different than before? Why do I continue to hand Satan ammunition? He loves nothing more than to send my into a spiral of shame. Why do I take the bait?

I remember somebody once telling me that your heart has decided ahead of time what you are going to decide. The Bible says this over and over again:

James 1:14 tells us that when are tempted it is our own desires that pull us away from God's plan

Mark 4:19 tells me that the cares of the world can get a stranglehold on my heart

Galatians 5:17 Says that the flesh is set against the Holy Spirit

The truth is, I cannot trust my own reasoning. The minute I begin to think about what I should do, is a minute to late. I knew before the temptation presented itself what I was going to do. If I am thinking it through then I am justifying the actions I have planned to take. It began in my heart. 

Once I have taken the action, Satan is ready to pounce.

So what do I do?

Start with the end in mind. Plan to be victorious over sin before you are tempted. Focus on the feeling of victory that the Holy Spirit is ready to walk you through. Let go of the lie that it is every going to end differently.

5 Things you can do to walk down the road to victory each day:

• Make an appointment with God to start each day and keep it.
• Find a verse you can memorize each week and recite it through the day
• Pray for 10 minutes a day and plan your moments of victory with the Holy Spirit by your side.
• Don't look to the world for the answers. Focus on the spiritual battle.
• Keep running forward even if you fall. The point is to keep going forward.

2 Corinthians 2:14

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ,

Hope Wirta

Home (lovemybible.com)

 

80 % of Thoughts Are Negative…95 % are repetitive – The Miracle Zone (wordpress.com)

Strengthen Your Brain Through The Power of Prayer | Health Tips (fgbt.org)

How to Overcome Habits? Know Thyself.

 

I have always loved to play video games. When I was in my 20's I played computer games when you had to type in the words. I know this dates me. If you have ever seen the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks you know what I am talking about. He is playing a game on his outdated computer at the beginning of the movie. 

I recently purchased a Nintendo Switch and immediately purchased the latest version of my all time favorite game, Pikmin. Being a bit on the obsessive side, I played the game every chance I got, until I had beat it. Then I proceeded to conquer all the mini games. I was so sad when I finished the last one. When I found myself playing the game at 2AM to try and get a perfect score, I knew I had reached an all time low. I had lured myself into thinking it wasn't that bad, because after all, I only played for 10-20 minutes at a time. I added up how many times I had sat and played the game that day and it floored me. I wanted my time back. Does this sound familiar. It's no different than calories or dollars that add up when we waste them in little bits over long periods of time. I turned the game off and gave the game system to my grandchildren to enjoy. I have enough to overcome in my life without adding another habit to kick.

It did get me to thinking. What if like the game I learned to change my environment to help accomplish my goals. We all know some of these tricks; not having tempting foods in the house, keeping  your credit cards in the freezer, or placing your running shoes by your bed. The problem comes when you are so use to stepping over the shoes that this becomes the new normal.

What makes me put the shoes on?

It has to be more work to not put the shoes on and work out, than to step over the shoes and live with another day of feeling defeated? I am certainly not going to drive 20 minutes every hour to play Pikmin at my daughters house. How embarrassing would that be? and there is the key!

Addiction thrives in secrecy and dies in good company.

Changing our environment is a great first step. A great second step is to force myself to live in transparency with others. Now when I say others, I don't mean people that say what you want to hear and make you feel better about not moving forward. I mean people who love you and are willing to say things that are hard to hear. Those are the golden few. 

Proverbs 27:6

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses

My prayer for you today is that you will find those that will live in transparency with you and help you to create habits that bring victory to your day!

Hope Wirta

Catching Bubbles

Everyone loves bubbles. My youngest grandchild is no exception. Recently he and his mother visited for a few weeks, and this became a favorite pastime. I watched as my grandson ran around the yard chasing bubbles, popping them and impatiently waiting for me to blow more, this was my designated role.

When they returned home, his mother, being smarter than I, purchased a bubble blowing machine. 

He loved to chase and pop the bubbles, however that game grew old and he moved on to new heights of bubble fun. He found a bucket and decided that if he could catch the bubbles it would be twice the fun. He grabbed his bucket and began the chase with new determination. Being a toddler and not understanding the nature of bubbles he was in for a world of confusion. You have probable already jumped ahead to the disappointed little face as he turned the bucket over to see his prize, nothing but suds in the bottom of his bucket.

He however was not to be detoured. He grasped his  bucket more firmly, stared the bubbles in the face and ran with more determination, catching as many bubbles as he could. He stopped and stared in disbelief. Who kept taking all his bubbles? Where did they go? Where was the fun?

Eventually the bucket was discarded, and before long he was back, stick in hand popping bubbles, or moving on to chalk, sand and other toys, lesson learned, bubbles can't be saved for later, they are meant to enjoy for brief moments in time.

My mind wandered to the millions of times I have pinned all my hopes on a new diet, self help book or habit breaking scheme. The promised joy of transformation building in my bucket just waiting for me, until once again I was left with an empty bucket and remnants of promises. 

Lasting change doesn't come from the outside in, it comes from the inside out. Filling my bucket with empty promises never brought me the promised joy. Lasting joy came from abandoning the bucket and walking with the Spirit, submitting to his leading one choice at a time. True peace came from realizing my bucket was symbolic of the approval and expectation of others It was never going to fill up or give me what I was looking for.  I needed to let it go and allow God to show me that that He had better things waiting for me.

Hope C Wirta

 

Wherever you go "there you are"

 Several years ago I sat down and began a journey. I wanted to write a book. All my life up to that point (I was 50 at that time) I had longed for someone to come along side and help guide me toward freedom. I wanted to find freedom from calories, carbs, credit cards and well, ultimately from myself.

Looking back as I begin the process of a re-write I realize this journey's end isn't in lowering the scale or having some money in savings, it is eternal. I learn, have victories, have set backs, move forward and trip along the way, but  what I thought was the finish line has moved, a lot.

I thought I was trying to lose weight. I thought I was learning to manage money. I thought...... My thoughts are not God's thoughts. Just overcoming my fears is much to small a task for Him. He has so much more in store for me than a good day on the scale.

As I begin re-writing this book I have just a glimmer of the "joy set before us", and it's so much better than I ever could have imagined. An eternal perspective changes everything about today.

Hope Wirta

Philippians 3

 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

One Choice at a Time

I sat on a comfortable couch, twirling my hair around my right index finger. Across from me sat a slightly overweight, middle aged counselor, with short brown hair. She seemed like a nice person. She listened intently as I complained about my weight and my lack of self control. I don't know what I expected her to say. I guess I wanted her to tell me that it wasn't my fault. I was not responsible.

Once I had finished complaining, she looked directly at me and stated, very simply; your problem is that you don't correlate you actions to your results. You look at the donut in your hand. You put the donut in your mouth, and as your chewing your thinking, "that one bite has nothing to do with my weight". It just one bite after all.

It's just one bite after all.

It felt unimportant, another counselor, another band aide.

I left her office but I left with a small seed stuck in my psyche. All  I remember thinking is "she can't have the answer I need if she's overweight too." It didn't occur to me at the time that maybe having the answer was just part of the equation.

That moment was 20 years ago.

That little seed has grown through the years. Little by little it has become a vine, intertwining itself in my thoughts and entangling the small actions that hold my bad habits in place. I find myself thinking; what about the last 10 minutes of my work out?, the last few bites of dinner even after I am already full?, soda or water? listening instead of thinking about what I want to say, not typing Amazon into the search bar.....Each bite, each word, each purchase..... matters. Each choice initiates a change in my thinking. Each choice has the power of change.

When I am tempted to fall back into old mindless patterns I remind myself, often out loud
" nothing changes if nothing changes, I have the power to change". Then I  make my choice.

Hope Wirta

The Choice: Pain Series #3

I am the master at finding an easy way out. Or so I have told myself. I have spent many wasted hours looking for a way out of the pain I have chosen.
You might ask; what do you mean chosen? That's a great question.
I can remember the first book I read on delayed gratification. I watched the video of the four year old trying not to eat the marshmallow and thought...aha! I have finally found the key to fix me!

Only to realize that I was "the other" four year old.

Delayed gratification is painful.

So, I looked for another  way to get what I wanted without going through the pain. I read one quick fix book after another. I had many short successes followed jus ask quickly by shame, a feeling of failure and defeat.

Shame and defeat are painful.

These defeats would throw me into a guilt spiral and leave me in a pit with no way out, or so I wanted to believe. There was a way out, but it involved pain. Each time I avoided the truth, I prolonged the process.

This is the choice.

Delayed gratification is painful, however the alternative has pain as well.

Pain now or pain later. Brief joy now or lasting joy later. Do we listen to the lie that says we can have our success without pain? If we do we are making a choice.
Giving in to our wants and desires feels worth it until we have to pay the price, and the price is pain.
We choose either way.
We can blame circumstances, people and God, but the truth is when faced with pain we are also faced with a choice. When dealing with habits, both choices involve pain, and both choices involve reward. Both choices have lasting results. The choice is yours.
Jesus made a choice. His motivation was love. The pain of the cross paled in comparison to the pain of taking our sin upon himself and the anguish of being separated from His Father. He endured this pain for our sake. He showed us the way. His victory is ours, if we accept it. We don't have to experience the loss
of a relationship with God. This one time the price of pain was paid for us.
As we face smaller choices on a daily basis we can draw on the strength the Holy Spirit provides. We can choose to deny ourselves for a short time to find the lasting freedom from habits we long for.

Emotional Workout: Pain Series #2

I sat in the counselors office, twirling my hair around my finger (usually an indicator that she was challenging me to do something outside my chosen comfort level), I grew more and more agitated. She was pushing my limits.
As a rule, I tend to be a flitter. I have a lot of energy and don't like to be still to long, I move from person to person and thing to thing. I don't like to miss anything, so I keep moving exploring and indulging my impatience with life in general. I don't like to be cornered.

Boredom makes me grumpy.

On this day the counselor challenged me to go to the mall. At first I was thrilled!
Then she dropped the bomb. " I want you to go to the mall, find a chair and sit". "Sit and do what?" I asked. "Nothing", she replied. "Can I have a coffee?". "No, you can't have any kind of distraction." "Distraction from what?" "The tension of wanting to get away from the pain of being bored."
Then I understood.
She was putting me in a situation where I had to feel tension (discomfort), and not get away. She continued with her torturous plan, and said " I want you to sit there for one hour, no naps allowed". 
To me, this was painful. It was a  good pain that I needed to endure to mature.
Some pain needs to be faced for us to grow.
There are degrees of painful growth challenges. Each degree of pain, when conquered reaps and equal amount of reward.
As I learned to sit without distraction and get comfortable just being there, I learned to strengthen my contentment muscles. This then translated to quiet muscles, hunger
muscles, compassion muscles; You get picture.
Good pain is a door to growth. The Holy Spirit is our guide to these doors, and He provides the strength we need to face the pain and walk through.
The choice is ours. #onechoiceatatime