by Heidi Bylsma | Oct 1, 2013 | Blog
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16
I was thinking back to a day when my children and I were driving in the car and we were listening to “80s on 8.” My son interrupted my constant singing by asking “Mommy, how do you know the words to every song?”. Play almost any song from the late 70s and 80s – Billy Joel, Madonna, Duran Duran, Journey, John Cougar, Indigo Girls, etc. – and it’s likely that I know most of the words and will sing along. Music gets stuck in our heads, defines time periods in our lives (I still tear up when a song that was sung at my wedding 16 years ago plays on the radio), stirs emotions and tells stories.
When I joined a new Bible study last year, I was apprehensive when I learned that the session opened and closed with all of us singing – sometimes without music to accompany us. See, I love to sing, but was not blessed with a good singing voice. But, when I experienced a room of 150 women singing hymns and current praise music, I was moved – God was present there. I was so moved that I rarely listen to the 80s station any longer, but mostly to Christian music. I download most of the songs from my Bible study onto my iphone (things have changed from the cassette player in the 80s!). And when Heidi suggested, months ago, to create a Renewing of the Mind playlist, I jumped on board!
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11
I believe that songs about the truth of God’s character, deeds and love not only “get stuck” in our heads, but in our hearts as well. Most Christian music is based on scripture. So, as we learn the words to a song we are singing, we are memorizing His Word. We are then able to meditate on it as it lives in our hearts. And we can recall the Truth during times of doubt or temptation. So, whether you enjoy praise music, gospel, Southern gospel, or hymns, think about making a Renewal of the Mind playlist.
When I am singing along with my playlist, in the car or in the kitchen or while working around the house, I am worshipping God. I am learning the Truth. I am reaffirming the Truth. I am renewing my mind. I am storing His Word in my heart. I am growing closer to Jesus.
How About You?
What are your favorite worship songs? How do they speak to you? How do you find yourself changed by listening to them? How has God used music while you have been on your Thin Within journey?
Author: Carrie
by Heidi Bylsma | Sep 30, 2013 | Blog
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
– Hebrews 12:1
I used to train for marathons, logging many miles each week. I took whatever I needed with me for four or, even, six hours with me while I ran along the American River: quick energy “food,” water, bandages for blisters, sunblock, a towel to wipe my face, and identification in case of an emergency. Ibuprofen was a treasure as aches and pains could begin mid-run with ten miles yet to go!
With all of these “necessities” came extra weight. Increased weight meant increased effort to move forward. I was “hindered” by my many supplies. The benefits of being well-stocked came with a tradeoff.
On our Thin Within journey, we can carry baggage that will hinder us as well.
The Bible says we are to throw off everything that hinders. Shame that we have about our eating, our size, or our choices is included. Condemnation is not from God. It needs to be cast aside as a needless, destructive weight that will hinder our movement forward.
Godly conviction, however, that leads to sorrow and repentance—a change in our actions—is a welcome travel companion.
The way to cast off burdens that hinder comes by allowing God to renew our minds through His Word. We trade destructive thoughts, shame and condemnation with God’s thoughts, so that we can learn to think God’s thoughts after him about food, about weight, about ourselves. We trade lies for the truth found in the Bible. We cast off the sin that entangles us and the shame and condemnation that hinder us. We begin to see we are not hopeless to continue overeating forever!
Dear God, please replace the defective view I have of myself with your truth. I want to cast off the shame and condemnation that I seem to harbor—condemnation about my weight, my eating, about my choices. You are showing me a new way to live, though, Lord. Help me to spend time with you each day, allowing you to saturate my mind with your Word. The Bible tells me that I am precious in your sight. Help me to believe it and to run with perseverance the path you have presented before me. Amen.
by Heidi Bylsma | Sep 19, 2013 | Blog
Do you ever wonder why you can’t beat this? Why you keep doing yet another study about food and weight? Why you can’t just SHAKE loose of this challenge, this relationship with food, this weight?
The answer may be as simple as focus.
Let me illustrate:
Right now, don’t think about green gorillas.
No, really. Don’t think about green gorillas.
You aren’t, right? 🙂
Sit there for 30 seconds without a single thought of a green gorillas.
You aren’t thinking about green gorillas, are you? 🙂
LOL!
Ok, be honest…what are you thinking of?
If you are like most, if someone says “Don’t think about green gorillas,” that is precisely what you think about. When we try NOT to think about something—either a food that is off our “diet foods” list (when we were on diets), or a food we want to eat and are free to eat, but when we are not hungry—we can’t help but to think about it! Diets tell us what we can’t have and can’t think about. The more we try not to think about or not to want these things, the more we think about them and want them until we become overwhelmed and give in, sometimes after we have already eaten the dieter’s version of whatever it might be.
Read Colossians 2:20-23 in your Bible or below:
Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world,
why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
21“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?
22These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
23Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship,
their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body,
but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
Please take a moment and underline descriptive phrases in this passage in your bible that are used to describe the mentality that Paul is confronting. Two are done for you.
Now write down what you underlined in the passage above:
- _____Rules________________________________
- _____Destined to Perish with Use_____________
- _________________________________________
- _________________________________________
- _________________________________________
- _________________________________________
- _________________________________________
- _________________________________________
Which of the above descriptive words and phrases could also be used to describe a prescriptive way of managing weight or, which of the words above fit in describing “diets?” Circle any that apply.
What can’t diets do according to this passage?
Did you notice all those “do nots” in the passage? When told DO NOT, what do we do? Do you find it true that, often, you end up doing the very thing that you are told NOT to do! (Just like not thinking about green gorillas?)
Most often in worldly programs we are challenged to merely be “self controlled.” With these programs, we have often found ourselves eating foods that, while “good for us” don’t match up with what we really desire—they don’t satisfy. We have tried desperately to conform ourselves to an outward standard while resentment builds deep within. We are told not to eat this or that and, often, we give in to what we wanted in the first place.
God’s way of freedom from the chains that bind us, the coping mechanisms that constrict us, the addictions that hinder us, is for us to experience freedom from these outward restraints, to have our hearts and minds renewed and to transform us from the inside out! As our hearts are transformed, our choices will be as well. Moment by moment, our choices, when built one upon another, will radically alter externals—our appearance and behavior. We can walk in freedom!
This is why I have been crowing about renewing our minds for so long (and I will continue to do so!). We have to be willing to do the work it takes to change the way we think.
God has created us to experience joy in life—even in something as mundane as eating! We can praise HIM for his marvelous creativity in making mangos, asparagus, ice cream sundaes, and cheese enchiladas. Eating was never intended to torment us, but to bless us.
Dieting has caused us to be focused on ourselves, on our food, on our weight, on our size…on everything ME. Some of us have “done” Thin Within the same way we have done dieting—with the focus all on ME, MYSELF, and I. The focus has been on the externals…on my appearance, my behavior, my food, my exercise…ME. In embracing these approaches, however, we have done nothing to change our hearts in a positive direction. In fact, often, we come out of our experiences with these programmatic ways of handling food with an even deeper fixation on food or our bodies.
This is forming and shaping our hearts…not just our bodies (if physical changes happen at all). Do we really feel that the way we are becoming more self-absorbed is God-honoring and worth it as long as we lose weight? I hope not!
Let’s be intentional…and choose to take a radically different approach. Let’s allow our King to have our heart, our focus, our desires. He is going to do something major in our lives so it stands to reason that we want to have our focus in the right place.
How About You?
Are you ready to “do” this differently than you have done diets or Thin Within in the past? Do you want this to really be the last time you have to “start over?” Are you ready to do the work that is involved? If so, I strongly encourage you to go to the Renewing of the Mind Bible Study page here and do these studies (again if you have done them already). Do that and/or do a search on the blog for “Truth Cards.” I believe you will be SO blessed as you work on the way you THINK and on where your focus is. When we stop thinking ME ME ME and start thinking GOD GOD GOD some amazing transformations begin to take place. Honest. 🙂
by Heidi Bylsma | Sep 13, 2013 | Blog
Chipotle Burritos are THE BEST! 🙂
Right now, as I write this, I am tempted to hit the fridge for some of my left over Chipotle burrito. I love Chipotle. There is nothing better than my Chipotle burrito unless it is, perhaps, my Chipotle burrito left over with some extra cheese and salsa! One burrito can easily give me three meals and, perhaps, even five!
Because it is so good, I find myself — right now — tempted to eat before I have a clear hunger signal. My “0” hasn’t arrived, though I can sense it is close.
So how does this entire renewing of the mind and truth stuff work? For me, it changes my now.
Because I have been working so hard at rehearsing the truth and renewing my mind with God’s truth (each morning and, often, each afternoon), I have automatically sort of gone through a little process this afternoon even while considering giving in to eating my burrito before having a clear 0 signal. I have thought about the burrito and how good it will be and these truths have jumped into my head to help me be victorious over the temptation:
1. The burrito will be there when I AM hungry. It isn’t going anywhere! (I know this is obvious, but when you are in the throes of temptation, sometimes, you don’t think straight!)
2. The burrito will actually taste even better when I am hungry….truly hungry…AND when I don’t have the hindrance of my convicted heart and going against my conscience!
3. That burrito, as yummy as it is, will not taste good enough to make me glad that I ate outside of my boundaries.
4. Giving in to eating that burrito would be practicing blasting out of my boundaries. I can, instead, use this moment (or momentS) of temptation as an opportunity to grow in my strength and resolve NOT to give in when I am tempted. If I give in now, I am practicing giving in to my temptations and will be more likely to do so the next time.
5. Right NOW is the time to be faithful to God and to my resolve…right NOW is the time to show respect for my body and to honor God with my eating, drinking AND abstaining!
6. If I give in right now, I am more likely to continue to struggle with desire eating all the time and to have the confusion about my body…I will keep struggling with my size as I never know what God has in mind for me if I keep eating outside of 0 and 5 boundaries. Eating within my 0 and 5 boundaries RIGHT NOW will help me to continue to faithfully stay on the path that will provide clarity…physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
7. It is possible that there is something else going on that I should deal with that eating when I am not hungry will only serve to mask.
Ok, so these are the truths that are off the top of my head and by going over them in my mind (and typing them up here!), I have talked myself into waiting for the 0 and into being faithful to what God has called me to do!
My conscience is free!
And…by the way…I am hungry now! YAY!
How About You?
What do you do when you can’t get a certain temptation out of your mind? Would it be helpful to start telling yourself about the situation, about the food, about the choices that are before you? If you are pro-active and practice thinking truth each day—whether or not you are being tempted at the time—then it is more likely that you will use these tools automatically when you are tempted. Is doing the work worth it?
by Heidi Bylsma | Sep 11, 2013 | Blog
Why Renew My Mind?
A few months ago, my husband was listening to something I had recorded. On my way to meeting a friend for lunch, I had recorded my conversation with God in case it could be helpful to you all. That file is found here. When Bob was listening to it, though, he stopped it for a moment and asked me, “Does anyone know just how hard you work at this?”
I wonder about that. I get asked a lot about if it ever becomes easy. I have to say…well, yes, it becomes easiER at times. Until it becomes hard again. But I have to keep investing time, energy, and effort—I have to keep up the good fight.
That is why I make such a big deal about renewing the mind with truth. Because I simply HAVE to keep working on the way I think.
So, today’s truth card, found in the picture above, is specifically about renewing my mind and why it is worth while to keep on fighting, to keep working at changing the way I think. Many of these statements come directly from the work I have done using Barb Raveling’s material at her website. In case you can’t read my writing, here is what it says:
Renewing My Mind:
1. God has called me to a renewing of my mind habit.
2. It is important that I do this every single day.
3. God wants me to develop this habit because it helps me to think differently…to act differently.
4. God is crazy about me. He loves me. I am His precious daughter. I am precious in His sight. He calls me.
5. Satan doesn’t want me to renew my mind. He knows it will make me a more effective witness. He knows I will be more victorious. Renewing my mind changes me permanently.
6. To develop this habit, I will have to make sacrifices.
7. If I make this sacrifice, I will be more godly, even 6 months down the road.
8. I can be thankful to God for many things in my situation.
What About You?
Have you been working on changing the way you think? About food? About life? About your body? About a person who challenges you? What are you doing, practically, to think differently? Are you committed to renewing your mind daily about this situation/problem/challenge? If not, can you make a plan today to renew your mind daily? Do you need a truth card about renewing your mind? What can you include on it?
