Wow…if you haven’t gotten the HEAL book, page 59 alone would be a great reason to get it. Really.
I won’t include the questions here that Allie and Judy ask because I don’t want to cross a line and get a letter from the publisher telling me I have violated copyright/publishing rights, but suffice to say, moving along the same theme as yesterday…we continue to be challenged.
So let me ask you some questions of my own:
What do you “sigh” about?
If you are given a moment with nothing that busies your mind–like when you drive, are in the shower, brushing your teeth, in a boring meeting, where does your mind float to?
What do you “make big”–magnify–in your life?
O Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt HIS name together! – Psalm 34:3
Take the answers these questions to the Lord and ask him to use them to show you if HE is Lord of your thoughts and what it will take in order for him to be! This shows us a lot about our hearts. (I am doing the same…)
In the pages of lesson 3 in HEAL, we are challenged to consider some practical ways of changing that which we focus on. I would like to suggest things that I find helpful:
studying the scriptures
memorizing verses
I can attest to the fact that this makes a HUGE difference in where my “stray thoughts” end up.
Practicing gratitude intentionally during the day also causes my thoughts to head toward gratitude when they are “straying.” It is cool how that happens! If I take time each day to *train* my thoughts, often I find it pays off during those “loosey goosey” moments.
Relative to food, eating, and my body (and anything else I struggle with) this makes a HUGE difference in where I head!
I also like to listen to praise music a LOT…and sermons! I love downloading sermons from iTunes and the kids and I listen to them when we drive. We are sermon junkies! Driving is a time when my mind can go all KINDS of places, so having a place to put my thoughts intentionally, helps me a lot.
But here is the IMPORTANT thing to realize:
We can’t grit our teeth and change our own heart.
It isn’t the act of doing these things that changes us…it is availing ourselves of the Holy Spirit–God dwelling in us–who changes us through these “things” that we can “do.” True change isn’t something we can program by having a bible study method down pat or a packet of verses that we have memorized. Most of us know the truth that:
HEAD KNOWLEDGE isn’t the same as HEART change.
So always always always we must ask and wait … for the LORD. I just find that bathing my mind in His Word any way I can helps me to be more mindful of His presence and to do that.
What will you do today to foster changes in your heart?
Psalm 139 includes a verse where the psalmist asks the Lord to search and know his heart and to show him if there are any offensive ways in him, any anxious ways in him…wow. That is a brave prayer to pray. I know that, relative to so very many things, including my feelings about food and my body, I have a lot of anxiety. God has worked a lot of progress in me in this area, but there yet remains a lot of work to be done! I am so thankful that he continues to work. He continues to do that “new thing” in me constantly!
He does in you as well. Philippians 1:6 says that he will complete that which he has begun. We can rest, confident in this. No, it isn’t a “quick fix” or an easy deal…that much is certain.
…if there’s going to be any real change in our lives, this has to be our genuine request to God. Before we’re transformed physically, we must be refined and renewed from within. That’s what the HEAL Journey is about–going to God daily and asking him to search our hearts, to test us, and to make us more inwardly beautiful in his sight. It’s about transformation from the inside out. As God brings to light the things that are not pleasing to him, we are presented with the opportunity to become the women he wants us to be. HEAL, page 58.
We have to, have to be willing to invite his close scrutiny and correction–not just about which food or how much exercise. Those are all symptoms of something deeper. We have to invite him to evaluate what we value, what we hold dear…and when he nudges us gently, we must respond in tender obedience.
Look up Galatians 5:19-21. In the HEAL book, Allie and Judy break this verse down, looking at each piece of it. In your journal, list each of the words that are mentioned as being an act of the sinful nature. If you like to dig in to scripture, use the tools on Blueletterbible.org (where the link above opens a new tab in your browser) to develop an understanding of each of the words included. How do any (all?) of these show up in the area of food, your body, eating, in your life?
For instance: Envy…for me, I envy passionately (more than I would want to admit) those that seem to have no “issue” with food, eating, or their weight. I see that there is this ugly little area in my life where I have an automatic attitude about people like that! Lord, forgive me! In fact, when someone appears thin and athletic, I have an automatic set of assumptions I make about them…Gosh, this leads me to see other ugliness in me as well…all things that the Lord wants to change! He wants to transform me from the inside out!
Please don’t allow the enemy to use these words to put a spirit of condemnation upon you. That is NOT what is intended here. But what IS intended is that you will be challenged to humbly allow the Lord to love you into change. Our hearts is where the overhaul has to begin!
If you want a really good prayer/study, take time to go through each of the words in the passage and ask the Lord to search you and know you and show you if you need his loving correction in any of those areas. Don’t minimize or justify. Just welcome the fact that he is HERE to bring the much needed change!
Tell us about it here if you feel led by Him to do so!
As much as we try to avoid it or control it, hunger–both physical and spiritual–is a good thing. It is a constant reminder of how dependent we are on God to meet our every need. Our hunger gives us a continuous opportunity to draw near to the One who is our comfort and source of life. HEAL book, page 56-57
It is SOOOoooo much easier to focus on externals like body, weight, our food…than it is to focus on what is really going on…the deep things, like the heart hunger.
By focusing on externals–our diets, our weight, our eating or not eating–we avoid confronting the real issues in our lives: our fears, unresolved grief, emotions, relationships, rebellion, and insecurities. HEAL, page 57
In what ways does this statement from page 57 resonate with you in your life?
In the HEAL book, this statement is followed by this question: “Who or what has hurt you the most?” We are then encouraged to ask God to show us how these people or experiences have affected our lives. I want to urge you to do that right now. But do so allowing the Holy Spirit full access to you, your heart, your mind, so that he might minister to you personally.
What do you think this may have to do with your quest to change physically, emotionally and spiritually? You can ask the Lord about that as well.
I found that the answers to these questions have had a radical impact on how I view food, what I “use” it for, my relationship with God, how I view my body and a whole host of things…all that impact me at varying levels. Some people may minimize that there is any need or value in analyzing this, but God has shown me that I don’t operate in a vacuum. These things have predisposed me to experience difficulty with food, eating, and my body. Sin is still sin, true, and I must choose to repent each day of my life of the sin I have committed, but understanding some of the “why” behind my struggle has actually helped me to do this as well. God’s kindness leads me to repentance. Understanding that I am not crazy, but that there are *reasons* I struggle, helps me so much!
When I ask the Lord to show me the root of these things, as painful as his answer(s) may be, it is in that place where true healing may begin to take place.
The previous post was published just moments ago, so if you haven’t yet seen the weekly assignment for the HEAL book and you are doing the study with us, don’t miss it! I didn’t want to wait, though, to publish my thoughts as I began this week’s material. =================
Even if you don’t have the book, you can join us!
Take time to read John 4:1-41 if you haven’t yet. The HEAL book asks us to do this and it is a great place to read and prayerfully consider what God may be saying to each of us.
We each have a hunger within our souls that craves to be fed–a hunger for love that longs to be satisfied. This “love hunger” is inherent within all of us, but it’s how we respond to this hunger that determines the life we live. Will we allow God to fulfill the desires and hungers of our heart? HEAL, page 55
As you read the passage in John, consider what the woman’s culture had done to her…what was she doing there during the heat of the day? Why might she want not to ever have to come to the well again? You may want to look up some history to learn how “women like her” were treated in her culture to get a full feel for what she faced in her society. There was so much there…and yet…Jesus treated her radically differently than anyone else.
In what ways can you identify with the woman in the story? If you sat down with the woman across a cup of tea (or whatever your pleasure), what might the two of you talk about? How would your conversation be different before she had this encounter with the Lord and after? How had her life been changed?
What does this have to do with your HEAL journey and quest to change?
For what do you thirst? For what do you hunger? What do you turn to for the slaking of your thirst or the satisfaction of your hunger? I mean…really. Like when the lights are out, no one else is home, and no one else will know?
Are you happy in this place? What are you willing to do to change?
It has been said that change can’t happen until the discomfort (misery) with change is overcome by the discomfort we face staying where we are. Can you relate to this comment? How so? Take some time to ask the Lord to touch you in your thirsty, hungry places. Wait for him in silence to show up. Open His Word and hear from Him. He longs to show you compassion!
These little chapters have a lot in them! 🙂 We may not finish in the 6 weeks that I had originally proposed. 🙂 Of course, please go at whatever pace you prefer.
This week’s (or however long…) assignment:
Continue to memorize Psalm 139 if you have chosen to do so. How about turning it into a prayer of praise. For instance: I praise you, God, that you search me…that you know me. That you, Holy God, are willing and able to be intimate with me. Thank you that you care about every detail of my life–even when I sit…which I seem to do a lot of, Lord! You also know when I get up! Help me to get up for your glory, Lord! Etc…You could take a few of the verses each day and pray this way. Just a thought!
Work on the Action Steps that you established for Level 1. If you are comfortable doing so (as the Lord leads you), do the same for the other levels. Try to make some headway in level 3…waiting for physical hunger before eating. Evaluate what happens when you do this and deal with what surfaces that may be related to levels 1 and 2 (relationship with God and relationship with food).
If the Lord leads, apply an action step in level 4. Journal how you feel about making a beneficial food choice. Does it cause you to stumble? Is it too soon? Or do you love having the freedom to select beneficial foods when you are hungry? 🙂 Tell us what you discover here at the blog!
Work through Lesson 3: Healing Your Hunger on pages 55-67 of the HEAL book. If you don’t have the HEAL book, take the time to check this blog each day. Journal your responses to the posts/questions posted here or respond here at the blog. Consider establishing your own blog to chronicle your journey, if you haven’t already done so!
There is a lot in this chapter that is vital. I plan to post frequently. I am loving this material! 🙂 So visit regularly!
Don’t forget to pray throughout this experience! Practicing praising God for his attributes can transform a life! TRULY! It helps get our focus off of self and on to the one who IS BIG! 🙂
