Faith Can Move Mountains

  Our Father's Characteristics In Ps. 103:8, " The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." This verse is quoted or even referenced wrong by many Christians. Let's break this verse down for better understanding. If we profess to be a child of God, then we should carry God's characteristics in our lives. So if the LORD is compassionate and Gracious... Am I compassionate and gracious? Maybe not always as I should be! We can all be honest here. It's ok! We will break it down more. Let's define what compassionate means. Compassionate means to have feelings or show sympathy. To show concern for others. If your neighbor is going through a difficult time, are you providing support or using judgment? Wait, don't answer yet. Let's define gracious! Gracious means being courteous, kind, and pleasant ( Christian belief) to show divine grace. So we are to act without judgment toward people. There is more to consider as read through

  (Psalm 18: 1-2) " I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salavation, my stronghold." Learning how to let go of strongholds that aren't of God. A stronghold of the mind starts quickly with one lie at a time. We may have someone say something that makes us feel unworthy of anything. We take that thought and double it. Satan can control that lie, and it warps our thinking that we count as truth, but it is a false belief. Some strongholds are habitual patterns of thoughts we build into our lives. Strongholds are rooted in pride, and they rely on the self. A teacher told me I would never become anything and was mentally retarded. Those words haunted me throughout my life. Another teacher gave me words that turned that lie around with the truth that I would change the world one day. I am a successful preschool teacher with a master's degree. I work wit

  (1 Corinthians 6:12) " You say," I am allowed to do anything" - but not everything is good for you. and even though " I am allowed to do anything, " I must not become a slave to anything."  Weight is a complicated subject for anyone to discuss. Our body image is often altered just by one thought. We can be very critical of everything in our lives that we forget our health. Between the years of 2009 through 2010, I gained a lot of weight. I was in a rough emotional place in my life. My mom was battling cancer while I was trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing with my life. I wasn't paying attention to what or how much I was eating. It got to the point I couldn't walk without any pain. I realized that I would need to step up to take care of the house and my parents. At that moment, I realized it was also to help me. I started to lose that weight by walking and building flowerbeds. Food can be my addictive behavior and even my emotiona

            I felt that God was showing me the word freedom for 2023. I started to think about the word freedom. The definition of freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. What does freedom mean to you? Freedom is one of my favorite words representing different meanings in my life. I remember in my early 20s, I was significantly overweight and hated my life. I just graduated from high school with no particular thought of who I was. By this time, I weighed over 350 pounds and started my first job as a substitute teacher at a preschool. I got so depressed with myself that I decided to make a huge decision and called LA Weight Loss. It was a decision to face myself and learn how to love myself. I dropped 125 pounds through the program and was learning to live my life. I was out on my own and working two jobs. Freedom was learning to love me. Years after years, the meaning of freedom has changed. I have dropped years of toxic people