In less than an hour, we will be having a “real time” chat from 7am-8am Pacific time this morning about Thin Within. Visit http://www.thinwithin.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2256 to see how. Hope to see you there. Feel free to come late or leave early. Just come! 🙂
Do you ever wonder about why you have heard the message about freedom in your eating, freedom from being tormented about your body and all those things that you struggle with…why you KNOW stuff and feel STRONGLY that “Yes! This is the truth! I believe! I will do it!” and then still struggle to walk in victory? Still have trouble fleshing the thing out?
So many I talk with about Thin Within experience this. I know I did for years. Probably at least 6 years before things “clicked” I knew…really KNEW the truths that God intended for my freedom. Yet it took until 2006 for me to begin to walk in even some measure of freedom. Truthfully, even now, I struggle with walking day in and out in the freedom Jesus provided!
Why is that? Why do we embrace it and believe it and then…don’t experience in our reality what God’s Word says we will?
In Stepping Up bible study by Beth Moore, she shares something really profound on page 81. She shares that she and her husband went to Angola to do some relief work. They were trying to take in the sights and sounds and smells of living death…starvation, malnutrition…rampant and overwhelming. A friend shared with them that one of the saddest things seen is when seed is brought in to plant and harvest, the people of the villages respond to it by EATING THE SEED instead of sowing the seed. She shares how she couldn’t get this thought out of her head and realized that God answered the question above…that some of us eat the seed of God’s word. We are starving and ravenous…we see it as the truth and good and wonderful…and take it in as temporary satisfaction for our “stomachs” if you will. Instead of working it and working it and waiting and waiting….sowing the seed of God’s Word in our lives.
I know what she is talking about because I have done this very thing. During the time that I wrote with the Hallidays, I had daily contact and help and support–I had the privilege of basically writing Judy Halliday’s God-given thoughts on the page for publishing…I “knew” the material…I was “eating” that seed…but I wasn’t working it into the soil of my life.
It takes time. And we want instant results, instant gratification…So, if we don’t see results that are measurable (the bathroom scale often enough), we toss it out…we have eaten the seed instead of sown it.
It takes work. It takes faith. It takes belief. God can do these things in us. It requires patience and perseverance. We wait on Him to do it, yet somehow walk with him, get in the soil and do some dirty “work” in our hearts along with him.
If we don’t, we are like those starving people in Angola. Their need would be provided for much better in the long term if they would SOW the seed instead of eating it. Starving, they don’t know how to trust. How like that I am.
Lord help me not just to eat the seed of your Word and have the temporary “satisfaction” of a full belly. But help me, instead, to sow the seed into my life, to be willing to work it, trust, see the thing through…and experience the harvest that you intend the seed to bring. In the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.
True confessions time…did you manage to get through Day 5’s “Mirror Mirror” exercise? Did you gloss over it quickly? Or did you go slowly, intentionally, methodically through it? What did you discover, if you did? What have you discovered, if you didn’t do it? 🙂
I hope that God blessed you in whatever he led you to do. If you felt his leading not to do the Mirror Mirror activity in Day 5, ask him to show you when his timing is for you to do it. He intends for us to be healed–completely. Fear is not in his plan for us!
Truthfully, I still haven’t done this activity, even though it is Saturday night as I am writing up this coming week’s assignment.
I have been evaluating why I am so unwilling to do the Mirror Mirror exercise and the only thing I can think of is that I must feel shame for not keeping all my weight off. As much as I spout off about not allowing physical appearances to be what we focus on, as much as I shout from the rooftops that we have to focus on the Lord, when push comes to shove, I still struggle with that longing to be back in the smaller size I lived in for a year.
This tells me that my focus is still on ME ME ME and APPEARANCE APPEARANCE APPEARANCE. I must commit afresh to focusing on him–to continuing my attributes of God list, taking time daily (or more often) to praise Him for his attributes, and writing out gratitudes daily. I know for a fact from experience that these things (combined with a few others which we will get to) are life transforming!
So, will you join me in recommitting to these things? I hope so.
This week’s assignment:
1.) Continue to keep a cumulative list of all the characteristics of God and how he treats people. Share with us here what some of the attributes of God are that are blessing you! It encourages us to hear! I don’t think many of us shared that last week…I don’t recall it if we did. Please post here…I would LOVE to see 5 or 10 of the attributes of God that mean the most to you in comments.
2.) Are you sick of me asking you to please continue to take a few minutes at the beginning of your study time each day to praise the Lord for at least three of the things on your list? Has this been affecting you in any way? I know when I DO this, I seem to start the day in a much more humble place and then I am not so prideful and arrogant about food and other things! When I exalt God to his rightful place, I see myself in the place where I am. It really is amazing that he has chosen to esteem us so very much, isn’t it?
3.) Read and complete Days 6 and 7 – through page 74. And PLEASE!!! If you haven’t been able to keep up with the reading, do NOT worry about it one bit! The cool thing about doing an internet study is that the questions and discussion are here for you whenever you get to it! If it is a week after I post the assignment or a month after…even a year after…no worries! You can still enjoy what God shares with you through the study and post here…someone will comment, even if it is December of 2011! 🙂
4.) I am excited about the material in chapter 6 as I believe it can unlock a lot of the mystery behind eating when we aren’t hungry. Fat machinery or flesh machinery is sort of the concept of eating on auto-pilot. There are a bunch of reasons we may do this. As you study this chapter see what resonates the most for you. You may want to journal about this stuff, too. I am still discovering new flesh machinery that crops up. Well, it isn’t new…it has been there all along and I just didn’t realize it! See what God uncovers for you! This is when the freedom bell really begins to toll!
5.) Ask the Lord about the tools that are introduced in chapter 6. Does he want you to use it or any of the others? The Thin Within food log is different from other food logs. Nevertheless, many of us just can’t yet “go there” or we will find ourselves caught in legalism and the Path of My Performance once again. On the other hand, you may be at a place in your life where God leads you personally to take on a bit of accountability in the form of this food log. Either way, freedom is yours! We are so unique and he leads us uniquely! Praise His Name! Also, keep in mind that he may lead you this way only for a short season. So if you sense his direction to use the TW Food Log, it may be for two weeks or a month. If you don’t sense that freedom, it could also be temporary. He will direct you. 🙂
6.) In Chapter 7 we hit emotional eating on the head. There is an exercise to help you do this. Please feel free to post here what God reveals to you as the week unfolds. On page 69, there is a list of “Reasons We Overeat.” Which can you identify most with?
7.) The Fat Machinery Log offers an opportunity to record ways that you are affected to slip into auto-pilot with your eating. See how many different ways you can identify fat (or flesh) machinery affecting you. Jot it down to refer to later, too. You can make a cumulative list in your journal if you need more room. I still remember how, after practicing the Thin Within principles for a number of years, I discovered that bad weather acted as a fat/flesh machinery for me! When the weather got bad, all kinds of emotions surfaced and I really struggled with the desire to comfort myself with food! That sure surprised me. 🙂
8.) As with any week, please post your thoughts and insights. You never can tell when God will use your words to bolster up a sister or brother in Christ who desperately needs encouragement!
9.) Friday night’s chat was fun as we had a number of people who had never come to a Thin Within chat before and/or those who hadn’t come in years. Why not carve time out to join us? The next real-time chat at the Thin Within website is Monday morning 7-8am Pacific time and Friday we will join together at 10-11am Pacific time. Click here to find out how.
Kim Finley is doing a great job helping to keep on top of approving comments here at the blog. I appreciate her support and help–and wisdom–so much! Please keep checking any updates of our special God is Doing a New Thing website. I have included Kim’s bio here.
Keep on praying for one another! You are precious to my heart and to Jesus! 🙂
If you like this video, please visit the YouTube site and let my friend, Bob Marshall know–he created the video to go with the song!
If you are in the US, have a wonderful Independence Day. Let us, however, declare with utter abandon, our complete and total dependence on our amazing, compassionate GOD! Let’s bow before him alone. 🙂
Hi, everyone. There will be an informal chat tonight at 5pm Pacific time – that is Friday, July 2, 5pm Pacific. Go here http://www.thinwithin.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2256 to find out how!
Hope to see you! 🙂
The following audio file is a talk to women about, of all things, gluttony. It is by a pastor’s wife at Mars Hill Church. Her name is Crystal Munson. I really believe that this audio will have an impact on anyone who listens to it with an open heart. Trust me…listen to it, ok? 🙂 (If you honestly don’t have time, you can see a rough transcript hastily typed up by me in .pdf form by clicking here.)
In what ways can you identify with what Crystal shares? Are you ready to ask the Lord what changes you need to make in your heart’s attitude toward food? Even if you have been in Thin Within for years, you may yet have an idol of the heart. What is God speaking to you in this moment?
Michael Hyatt didn’t get to be CEO of the largest Christian publishing company in the world by chance. And he really has some great ideas. I read his blog pretty regularly. I want to share some wisdom he shared on Monday with you. Remember, as with any human advice, subject it prayerfully to the Lord. Like, for me, I go “wonky” into legalism and obsession if I “track” anything. So whenever someone suggests that, I have to ask God “Is now the time to change and start tracking again?” So far, God has said, “No. Not time.” Of course, I refer to the use of a bathroom scale and writing down my weight. I don’t do it. I don’t have a bathroom scale.
So, with that caveat, I want to introduce you to Michael Hyatt and his post “Five Strategies for Building New Habits.”
What do you think of Michael’s suggestions? Are any of them valuable for you and the place where you currently find yourself on your journey? Which ones?
What do I believe about myself and the One Who has made me? Am I junk? Can my choices over decades cause me to become junk?
What I believe about these things will radically affect how I live. The same is true for you. Conversely, the way I live indicates what I really believe about these things.
I mentioned earlier this week that I want to think biblically so I will live biblically. The scriptures declare that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139) by the sovereign King of the universe. Do I believe this?
Or do I believe that I am junk? Where does that belief come from? Do I think that I can get in the way of God’s perfect creation? Has my behavior somehow rendered his declaration of my “fearfully and wonderfully made” status, null and void? No way! What is thinking biblically in this case?
It sounds pithy and trite, perhaps…but it isn’t just a cute phrase on a button or t-shirt.
And His purposes can’t be thwarted. He created me fearfully and wonderfully and that is the way I am now, too, no matter how I have lived over the years. I am still precious in His site, beloved, and treasured. This is thinking biblically. If I believe this, I will live accordingly.
If I believe what the bible says about God’s character and the way he wove my body together, the fact that he, as my shepherd, speaks to me and guides and directs me (see John 10), then I know that this eating thing is not without his care and concern. I know that the way he designed my body to work will be effective to accomplish what He desires:
1.) My body has a need for physical fuel
2.) My body will signal me when it needs food.
3.) My body will signal me when it no longer needs food.
4.) When I follow these signals (living out my belief that this is true), I will be at the size/weight God has determined is good, normal, right for me. It may not be the Barbie Doll size and shape, but it will be His perfect will for me. Do I really want anything else?
There is joy and peace in believing him and what he says. He has made my body to be reliable. It is trustworthy to signal me what it needs.
Am I junk? No matter what condition I currently find myself, the answer is NO. God hasn’t made junk and I can’t thwart the works of his hands. I can believe him: No matter where I am right now, my physical signals for hunger and satisfaction are reliable. I can hearken to heart hunger, head hunger, and physical hunger…giving each what they need accordingly.
Do you struggle with believing that you are junk? Do you think that, in the years since your birth, you have “messed up” what God has done? Are you willing to reject these lies and to ask God to help you to think biblically so you can live biblically? If you feel so inclined, share with us what God is doing in your heart and mind right now. I am praying for you.
In addition, as you have time, consider these questions and tasks:
How about you? Can you designate a place, not just for eating, but a place that will be your retreat place, where you will take a “time out”–a chance to refocus on the Lord and your godly goals to honor him with your eating–when you feel temptation or an erosion of your commitment? Consider creating a place and then try it out. Let us know how it goes!
4.) Continue these practices this week:
1. Adding to your attributes of God list.
2. Praising God daily for three things on your list (or more!).
3. Writing three things in your journal that you are grateful for. Sometimes we really have to stretch in order to do this, but it is worth it! Ask God to show you.
5.) Focus this week on learning your satisfied signal and abiding by it. Journal about what it feels like for you and how you feel emotionally about stopping eating or when you don’t want to stop eating. Ask God to clarify “5” for you this week.
6.) Can you share with us the two extremes of “the path of my performance” and any evidences of either there have been in your life? Is the cross of Christ beginning to be a stabilizer for you?
7.) Are you observing and correcting? Or condemning yourself and staying in that place of condemnation? Resolve to observe and correct, break camp and move forward! Confess not only your sin, but confess, too, Christ’s sufficiency to redeem your sin! He took care of it. It is gone!
8.) Give yourself plenty of time for the Mirror, Mirror Exercise. Some of my thoughts about this material are at these links (other posts from my blog over the past almost 4 years):
December 15, 2006
June 16, 2009
June 17, 2009
Be sure not to rush and to ask the Lord really to direct you…to make this time your special time with your loving, heavenly Father. Ask him to show you what needs healing and what he is healing and what has been healed. Let this activity be a PRAISE-FEST! 🙂 Let us know how it goes. I am praying for all of you this week!
9.) Be sure to check in here and to respond to any others who are posting. God may have given you a ministry of prayer and encouragement to other people in our study and we would love to hear from you.
10.) If you can make it to one of the chats this week, please do. The first is this morning (Tuesday, June 29) from 7am-8am Pacific time. Go to this link to find out how to chat. Join us, even if you are late! No need to be prepared in any way. Just bring an open heart and join in! 🙂 Another chat is scheduled for this Friday, July 2nd, from 5-6pm Pacific time. Hope you can come to one or both!
11.) Visit our book study website at God Is Doing A New Thing and see if there is anything there that can encourage you! The chat transcripts are pretty easy reading (they look long but can be read pretty quickly) and very uplifting!
12.) Will you pray for one another and for me? I am being slammed…hard. Thanks so much. I am sure you all are, too.
Join us at the Thin Within Academy where you can sign up for our online courses as they become available.
