Are you wondering what study we are going to do next here at the blog?
Are you hoping that you can get support for your Thin Within journey this summer?
Look no further! 😀
Here is a short little video blurb about it…
Starting Monday, just TWO DAYS away, June 17th, we will begin!
I want to revisit Barb Raveling’s material in her “Weight Loss Bible Study” which I think would better be named a “Renewing of the Mind Bible Study!” LOL!
I may not be using her material in order so check in here on Mondays for the week’s assignment. I am going to supplement and augment with some of my own material so I hope this will result in a study that is vital, transformative, and life changing while supporting you on your Thin Withinjourney!!
Here is how it will work:
Each Monday, I will post a video and assignment. Sometimes there may be a sound file as well or instead. I may send you to Barb’s blog for the assignment that you will do.
Additionally, and this is what I am SUPER excited about…I will be offering an online class to focus on whatever the topic of our Monday study is for that week. The classes right now will be set for Wednesdays at 3pm Pacific which I know doesn’t work for everyone, so you will be able to listen to/watch the recorded version of the class! You can sign up to attend and/or sign up to get the recording of the class instead! Isn’t that awesome? I have to pay a monthly fee for this service, so I have to charge each person for the classes/recordings. But I am charging the smallest fee the service allows of $5 per class. I hope you find that reasonable (and it is cheaper than a Weight Watcher’s meeting, right? LOL!)
Anyhow, I hope you find this a wonderful way to support you on your Thin Within journey.
Each week, you are welcome to post your questions that you hope will be addressed during our online class, too. More on that on Monday.
During the week, don’t be surprised by seeing posts only on Mondays (with the week’s study assignment), Wednesdays, and Fridays. I am working on developing some new resources to support people on the Thin Within journey, including a 30-day online challenge and a God is Doing a New Thing retreat that I hope to offer! So I don’t anticipate posting here as often during the summer.
I am so excited! I hope this works out well!
Monday, June 17 – Focus is on What IS the Renewing of the Mind and Why Should I Do it?
Wednesday, June 19 at 3pm Pacific – Online Class to discuss our subject.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—
his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2
We all have beliefs that subtly erode our values, boundaries, and godly goals. Sometimes these beliefs are about ourselves. Sometimes they are about God and his care about us. Whatever it is that you need to renew your mind about, it is totally worth the time and effort it will take to do it. If we don’t, we might find that something we value, rely upon, that is foundational in our life, slips off and out of our lives. We don’t want to experience the depth of this sort of loss. We want to guard against it! Wisdom would require that we be proactive. Romans 12:2 says we don’t want to do as the world does and just let whatever happens happen. We want to allow God to transform us and he will do this by renewing our minds.
Relative to our Thin Within journeys, the sorts of thoughts we may have might be:
I won’t ever get this weight off…and even if I do, I won’t keep it off.
I am such a failure. I never can string together two good days of 0 to 5 eating.
I simply MUST have ice cream each day! If not ice cream, then cookies or brownies or…something to “treat” myself!
I MUST be a size 6. If I can’t get down to a 6, then I am a failure.
God doesn’t care about my weight/size. If he did, he would remove this struggle from my life.
I keep letting God down. He is so disappointed with me.
NONE of these are truths! NONE of these reflect the way GOD thinks!
Here are 10 ways you can renew your mind so that He can transform you from the inside out!
4. Go through a favorite book of the bible–for me it is Ephesians–and pull out all the truths that are there that can refute the lies you tend to tell yourself. Make index cards, type up a document, make a graphic image, write out post-it notes…so that the verses and the thoughts that go with the notes are EVERYWHERE that you may struggle. If you struggle in the kitchen, post them there. If the dining table, post them there. If with the scale, tape them on the scale. If the mirror, tape them on the mirror. If in the car, tape them on the mirror. You get the idea!
5. Create a God List. That is explained here and in this video:
6. Use the God List to have a praise-fest or Praise FEAST! That is explained here.
7. Memorize Scripture. You can use this iPod, iPad, or iPhone app to do that–or just the good old fashioned way of index cards and practicing going through them!
8. Start and update a gratitude blog. Mine is here if you want to have a look (it needs updating).
9. Create a “Renewing My Mind” play list on your mp3 player or iPod. I have suggestions at my other blog here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
10. Ask a friend to hold you accountable for your thinking. I recently asked Barb, who is my accountability partner, to hold me accountable for something I clearly need to renew my mind about. It doesn’t have to do with eating so I won’t bog you down with the whole story here, but I will be posting about it at my other blog sooner or later.
The point is, we don’t want to let whatever happens happen to our thinking. When our thoughts and feelings are given free rein, they take us into crazy places! Places where lies seem like truth!
Instead, we want to allow GOD’s thoughts to be our own thoughts. In His Word, he tells us what he thinks. The more we bathe our minds with Scripture and truth from Scripture, the more we will think like he does. That is what we WANT! 😀
Which of these will you try…today? If you are already routinely renewing your mind is there a new approach you can take to doing so? Is there a new thought that God might perhaps want you to renew your mind about?
(If you subscribe by email, you will need to visit the blog to see the video.)
What can you do to ensure you won’t give in to eating outside of your boundaries today and tomorrow? What will you do about the mistakes that have happened previously so that they don’t dictate what happens next?
What can you do when you have been here before…and you have typically caved–eaten outside of your boundaries of hunger and satisfaction? What if you can see it coming? How can you observe and correct? How can you prevent another “failure?”
I just can’t renew my mind too often! I need to wash my mind clean from all kinds of lies and line dry it to have a fresh start by putting PURE truth into it!
Sometimes, an attitude of entitlement or justification taints the way I think about food, eating, and how willing I am to minimize the impact of breaking through the boundaries that God has led me to establish!
My husband just left town for a few days and for as long as we have been married (nearly 30 years), when he is out of town I have some of my biggest challenges with desire eating–wanting to break my boundaries of eating only when hungry and stopping eating when I am no longer hungry. When he leaves, it seems to trigger a mindset of some childhood trauma or something–a sense of abandonment! I know that sounds silly.
Exactly!
If I just let myself feel what I feel about it, or, worse, if I tell myself I am being silly and beat myself up over being such a baby, I invariably end up reaching for food to “comfort” me.
Hosting the bible study by Barb Raveling is SO good for me! This time, I choose to renew my mind right now and each day Bob is gone. This is what it looks like for me to do that:
Lord, Bob is out of town and you know that means I get sort of careless or I abandon all resolve with eating boundaries. I want to inhale food outside of 0 and 5. This time, I will not do that. Instead, I will reach for you as my true Comforter. Food is a counterfeit.
The TRUTH, Lord, is that Bob hasn’t abandoned me. This isn’t my childhood. This is my husband who has always come home to me before, so his track record seems to indicate he will come home this time, too! And no matter what happens–even if he doesn’t, food can’t comfort me like you can.
The TRUTH is that while I was abandoned in many ways as a child, you never abandoned me. You were there all along.
The TRUTH is, Lord, you are with me and will never leave me or forsake me, even if everyone else does!
I know that reaching for food during these days when Bob is gone is not going to satisfy the emptiness that I may feel.
Lord, thank you that I have the freedom to eat any food I desire when I am hungry. The rest of the time, when I am drawn to food, what will really minister to my soul is:
taking a hot bath and letting wonderful Christian music sooth my soul as the hot water soothes my body
All the ice cream in the world won’t make my life better, my marriage more secure, or the trials and insecurities I face go away. I choose you, Lord. I choose your boundary lines.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.
– Psalm 16:7
Thank you that I can set my mind not on earthly things, but on things above. What is seen is temporary, what is unseen is eternal. I choose to fix my eyes on the promise that you have an inheritance waiting for me, Lord. The boundaries that you have established for me are pleasant. When I am tempted to break them, I will turn to you. There will be joy in doing so. There will be a deep sense of satisfaction. You will be my Comfort and my Strength.
Amen
How about you? Are you facing a situation that often triggers eating outside of 0 and 5? Will you choose to renew your mind about your circumstances so that you can emerge victorious, capturing this moment for the Lord? 🙂
One of the best times for me to renew my mind is when I am on my way to a meal out or an event where I know I could possibly be tempted to break my boundaries. I use the drive time (when I am alone) to speak truth into my life and to recommit (out loud!) to honoring the Lord with my eating and drinking.
Sometimes I record these “sessions” so that I can share them with you in case they can be helpful, but when my husband heard the first of these recordings he asked me some questions. From his questions have come some thoughts–some preliminaries–that I want to share with you.
First, even though I have been at this diligently since 2006 (and less consistently since 1999), I still work hard at it. God uses it to cause me to pray to him, to lean on him in a very tangible way. This has built my intimacy with him in many respects.
Secondly, even though these recordings may sound like they are “a lot of work,” it has become my nature to pray this way, to speak truth into my own life this way. It isn’t as much work as it may seem because I experience an intimacy with God that infuses my life with a truckload of joy! Truly! It is my joy to lean on God this way.
Third, these are examples of what I call “renewing my mind on the fly.” I do it in the face of important challenges to my boundaries. The first of these was when I was on my way to meet a friend for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. The quality of that recording is minimal. I hope you won’t be put off by the “preaching” nature of the recording. I am preaching to ME. I do this because it is truth, and it is worth it to me. It works for me to remind me of truth:
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The second recording is below. I renewed my mind on my way to a home fellowship group when I was feeling a lot of emotion and didn’t want to give in to eating dessert once I arrived.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/84984186″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
How about you? Do you have some potentially challenging situations before you today? Can you renew your mind “on the fly” before you arrive? What will you do to maintain your 0 to 5 eating boundaries?
