Don't ask the Lord to guide your footsteps, if you are not willing to move your feet. - unknown

 I am starting with that quote because it fits into my entry today. As some of my regular visitors may know, I have been struggling lately. If I am honest, it has been a little terrifying for me. I was talking to a couple of friends last night. We talked about getting in the groove of exercise. I have enlisted one as an exercise buddy of sorts. We will keep each other in check and give each other some accountability. Here's where the quote comes in. I told her how I have been praying for my exercise to get back like it once was in the beginning. I'm not looking to push myself 6 days a week 60 minutes at a time. I just want 4-5 days of week. I can't seem to get it. I am an early riser these days - 5:30 with no need for an alarm. Since I have started praying for my exercise, I have been getting up between 3-4 am. I hear a voice saying "get up and exercise". Many times I have turned over and refused to get up. This week I was up at 2 am - "get up and exercise". I started feeling like a rebellious child. In a way I think I was. I'd say, “Thank You Lord for waking this morning. Thank You Lord for blessing me with this day", but I still would not get up. My pastor spoke on Getting Your Breakthrough last night for bible study. One of the many things that stood out for me and I said it to myself over and over after writing it a few times in my note book: "I am not going backwards - I am going forward!” He talked about making a daily confession(declaration). The right kind of confession. Speaking the positives in your life. This morning I was awaken at 4 and did not fight this time. I got up did my devotion, wrote my confession statement, followed that with a 3 mile WATP abs workout. Here is my confession that I wrote:

 Today Lord I thank you for keeping a sinner such as me. Today Lord I confess I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Today I say I will go forward and not backwards through you Lord. I am going forward not backwards. You have delivered me from the weight and Lord I trust you to deliver me from the underlying problem - the one that causes me to go backwards. I may have had an ulterior motive for attending the Associates Minister's revival, but Lord You had a greater one. You had a word for me, Lord each and every night. The devil can't stop my praise one of them said. He will not hinder me from my blessing. Lord I thank You for blessing me, for saving me for giving me an opportunity to worship and serve you. Help me to use my bones effectively. I have what I say and today I say I have the power through Christ to overcome. The power is within me already. It's up to me to use it. The agony of victory from Hebrews 12:1. I will continue to run my race as a marathon not a sprint. I have taken detours, but Lord I have the strength through you to make it. There is no depth to low for you to pull me up. I will run my race and finish with faith relying on Christ. Endeavor daily to die of self because relying on me gets me nowhere but in trouble. I will be like the woman with the 12 year issue of blood. I will push past my discouragements, denials, distractions, and disappointments. I will press my way through the crowd of things that are in my way including and foremost - ME! Lord I thank You for continually nudging me until I moved. I will continue to ask you to guide my steps and I will move my feet where you lead. I won't be blind to my blessings. I will keep my vision and not rely on my sight for my vision is beyond what I can see. I have gotten this far through You and I need you everyday every step of the way. That is my reminder to myself for I know You are always with me. I don't want to abandon my witness and destroy my testimony. I will press on for my breakthrough. To God be the glory! Amen.