Much of today’s post will be written by YOU in the comments! I hope you are ready to join in! š
First, put on your holy Ā imagination! Pretend we are on a picnic in the middle of nowhere…enjoying a crystal clear blue sky, the music of the meadowlark, the clouds drifting lazily by, and the majestic mountains in the distance. My living room wasn’t available this week!
Yes, I captured this week’s “group session”–our first for our study of Healthy Eating and Abundant Living–while on the road trip with my son! I was thinking of you non-stop as I drove over 4000 miles and so when I saw this view and the relatively quiet opportunity to record some thoughts roadside, I grabbed it!
So, please get your bible. Open to Psalm 139 because we will read it together! Just like we would in person! (If you are an email subscriber, you may have to visit the blog in order to view the video.) – In time, I hope to get better about lighting and all. For now, just know I was TOTALLY enraptured by the joy of being in that beautiful place, imagining you all with me and reading this glorious Psalm!
Are you beginning to believe what God says about you yet? That you areĀ fearfullyĀ andĀ wonderfullyĀ made? š
If we were sitting together…all of us…on a lovely picnic blanket under the azure sky, I would ask you the questions in our books:
What does “wonderfully made” mean to you?
And just because I am a maverick, I might also ask:
What does being “fearfully made” mean to you?
This blog and website has been a wonderful place for many of us to share in ways we don’t often with people face-to-face. But in person, I would ask a challenging question, suggested, again, by the authors of our book:
In what areas of your life have you been living in the dark?
Some of us are giving in to tickling the back of our throats again…
Others of us are using laxatives in order to move the (usually large quantity of) food through our systems quicker so as not to absorb it.
Some of us may be “riding the zero”…more than we know God would have us.
We hide our eating by sneaking fast food in the car and then coming home and having dinner with the family as if we haven’t just had a full meal.
Or it might be another way completely.
Jesus tells us in John 8:32 that knowing the truth sets us free and, although he was talking about his teaching specifically, there IS a principle that we can draw from this verse…and it is that running from truth or hiding from truth is not the way to freedom. Facing IN to truth is.
Here is another thought…your truth…is with a little “t.” What if you were to let God TRUMP your little “t” truth with His BIG “T” TRUTH? Your truth may be true (then again, it may not be), but God’s Truth supersedes and overrides and commands all other little “t” truth.
What do you think?
What scares you about living in the light?
Have you hidden your struggles with food and your body from God and others?
Have you visited the Accountability page here? Do you have a prayer/accountability partner yet? How is that going? What can I do to help you with that so that you no longer feel the need to hide, but have someone that is praying you through and that you can support, too.
One of the amazing things in God’s Word is the principle that when we minister to others, our *own* healing takes wing! We experience healing in deep places in our lives when we support, encourage, and minister to others (see Isaiah 58:8-12). Connect with someone and give it a try!
What are your thoughts about being knit together, stitch by stitch, in your mother’s womb? What does that say to you about the God you serve?
How can we pray for you in the week ahead?
Get your typing fingers going and chip in below! š I love seeing you minister to one another!
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
– Psalm 139:14
How would it transform your life if you were to believe God…I didn’t say “Believe IN God.” I really did mean: “How would it transform your life if you were to believe God?” What if you were to believe what he says about you in His Word? What if you were to believe that you are
fearfully and wonderfully
made?
Take a moment right now to imagine that.
Close your eyes and stop reading for a moment. And imagine…
I AM fearfully and wonderfully made. It is TRUE.
Are your eyes open again? š That’s ok. Now close them again and imagine knowing to the depths of your heart …
…I AM aĀ demonstration of God’s creative and amazing power and love.
Can you rest in these thoughts for a moment? Can you allow the truth–what HE says is true–saturate your body, soul, and mind? Sit for a moment in this truth.
How would believing God that you are fearfully and wonderfully made affect other thoughts you have? How would it affect your actions? How would it affect the way you relate to your own body? To the food you eat? To the “failures” in your life?
What if what God says…really is…absolutely…
TRUE?
I believe that a lot of the difficulty we have with our eating, our obsessing about our weight, and other similar struggles is due in large part to what we believe about ourselves. If we really believed what God says about us, thoughts like these would evaporate:
– I am a failure and never will beat this.
– I will always be overweight and miserable.
– I deserve to be miserable.
– I am too undisciplined to ever lose weight.
– Even if I do manage to lose all the weight, I will never keep it all off – etc…add your own.
If we believed what God says is true about us in His Word, this is what we might think, instead:
– I struggle with saying no to myself about eating when I am not hungry, but God says I am more than a conqueror. I know if HE says it, I can do it.
– I have everything I need for life and godliness, so somewhere here I must be able to beat my tendency to overeat.
– God promises that he has given me a spirit of love, power and self-discipline.
– God says that he has called things that are not as though they are.
– What is impossible with man is possible with God.
– I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. – etc…add your own.
What is the difference between these two lists? The focus of the first is ME and my performance.
The focus of the second is GOD and HIS “performance.”
When we focus on The Lord…HIS provision, HIS power, HIS character, HIS promises, HIS performance, HIS declaration of what is true, then we know that we are in good hands. It may seem like we have to do this all on our own and that we are the failure or success, but the honest truth is GOD wants to do it in me.
In fact he says His grace is sufficient and that we can boast all the more gladly in our weaknesses, because when we are weak his power–HIS strength–rests all the more on us. Perhaps the reason we struggle so much with our eating is so that we can learn that we are NOT enough, but HE is.
How can I go from the mindset where it is about me and what *I* can do and turn it around, believe what God says…that this is about HIM and what HE can do in and through me?
Renewing my mind. Barb Raveling has taught us a lot about that through her study (see the “Weight Loss Bible Study” page link in the menu bar above the blog posts). It really is as simple as that. LikeĀ Romans 12:2 says:
Be not conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Journaling activity:
Write down what you believe and ask God to show you what is TRUE and what is LIE.
Whatever is a LIE, scratch out–put a line through it. Scrawl the word, “LIE” over it!
Then write next to each the TRUTH that you KNOW is from the LORD.
Finish the activity by asking God to help you reject lies–even familiar ones–and to replace with HIS truth–even if the truth is, at times, uncomfortable.
Practice saying the truth daily! Again, I suggest using thisĀ Who I Am in ChristĀ file. This stuff is all in God’s Word and is an excellent way to bathe your mind (“brain wash”) with truth.
How will believing God and what He says about you–that you are fearfully and wonderfully made (and all the other great truths he says about you in his word)–affect you relative to eating, food, and body image?
Welcome to our launch day for our study of the Healthy Eating and Abundant Living book by Allie Marie Smith and Judy Halliday (the founder of Thin Within).
If you haven’t yet gotten the book, check it out here.
First, a video to talk about where we are going (email subscribers may want to visit the blog site so that you can see the video if it doesn’t show up in your email):
Three things that I hope you will allow God to really bring home to your life through your study:
You areĀ fearfullyandĀ wonderfullyĀ made. (See Psalm 139:14) You might want to renew your mind about this. Use this passage to think differently about YOU!
For six weeks, consider committing to this path. Just a month and a half. That means you won’t quit. You won’t give up–even if you don’t do it “perfectly.” Just hang in there and keep on doing your lessons and showing up and sharing your thoughts here at the blog. Post here to encourage others. For six weeks…will you? š Pretty please? (Yes, I am shamelessly pleading!)
Step into the light…no longer hiding anything from the Lord. To learn the truth about yourself. He is gentle, kind and loving. We don’t need to run from truth (which we sometimes tend to do). Invite him to shine his light on your heart and life.
Assignment this week:
Can you get an accountability partner? š Prayerfully consider it.
Look over the HEAL principles on pages 9 and 10 (and if you haven’t read the introductory material yet in the book, you might want to do that).
Consider starting a GOD List (more details to come). You can find an explanation here.
Adopt the primary boundary of eating 0 to 5 — waiting for physical hunger (in Thin Within we call that “0”) and selectingĀ anyĀ food you desire (no dieting rules, good food/bad food lists). Stop eating when you approach “5” — physical satisfaction. If you aren’t sure about when that is, serve yourself about half as much food and eat twice as slow as you typically do. š It will feel like you are eating just as much.
Complete the personal study and group study for Lesson 1–this is through page 29 of my version of the book (second edition) or up to the place where it says TWO: The HEAL Basics.
Complete the WHERE I AM evaluation included in those pages.
Renew your mind. Replace lies with truth in a practical way…with scripture memory cards, with Barb’s app, with a list you prepare ahead of time. We will be talking more about that in the next 6 weeks.
How this will work – Each Monday, I will post the new assignment and also a video to preview what we have ahead. On Fridays, I will post about the material we have studied…even though some of you may not have finished the week’s material…that’s ok. Please don’t feel like you have to quit because you aren’t at the same place.Ā TRULY, it is NOT a problem. I know some don’t check the blog on Saturday and so want to have it available for those who do on Friday. If you don’t get to it until Saturday, that’s fine. Remember to go at whatever pace God leads YOU.
Even if you aren’t going through the study with us, it is my intention to make the content here at the blog relevant to both those who are doing the study AND those who aren’t. So please keep on visiting!
So, how do you feel about this new leg of the journey? What is God impressing upon your heart even now? How can we be praying for you?
This is a journaling/bible study activity. I wrote it some time back and have never posted it to the blog (at least I don’t think so). I hope you find it encouraging!
Let’s consider right now, today, this moment, our FRESH START! š Some of us are starting the new study on Monday, May 6th. So this is as good a time as any to evaluate before we get going!
———-
We have joined together with God on a pilgrimage. We press on from where we find ourselves in this present moment and yearn for a future that God has for us. We have our hearts set on pilgrimage or we wouldnāt be here!
Describe where you currently find yourselfāthat place from which you wish to depart.
What does Godās Word say about the person who sets their heart on moving forward with God? (See Psalm 84)
The word āblessedā is a wonderful word! It actually can be translated āhappy!ā Did you know that God desires for you to have a happiness that bubbles up from deep within you? Consider this as we study this passage briefly. God loves His people to be happy. If you focus on Him and His strength, blessedness or happiness will be the result.
3. In the past, you may have focused on garnering up self-control or self-discipline to get your weight controlled. You may have even focused on bible verses to help you with this, such as āGod has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.ā This is wonderfully true, however, the one who is blessed, made happy in the Lord finds their strength elsewhere. According to Psalm 84:5-7, Who is the source of your strength for this journey?
Letās look at the word translated āstrengthā in Psalm 84:5-7. We see the word āstrengthā in this passage three times. The first time it is used to refer to strength that is found in the Lord. This is the Hebrew Word, oz, meaning āstrength, might, fortress, stronghold.āNow that you are on this road, you will discover yourself hiding in your wonderful Lord for protection, for refreshment, for nourishment! You will find yourself shedding any other strongholds in favor of your Hero, our Lord Almighty! He is your strength!
4. Psalm 84:5-7 speaks of a journey, a pilgrimage. We arenāt sure of the departure point that the Psalmist speaks of, though we have defined our own.Ā However, we have some indication of stepping stones along the way. Identify any that you see in the passage:
Pass through the ______________________________________________________
They make it a place of _________________________________________________
They go from _________________________________________________________
And what is the destination? _____________________________________________
5. The Valley of Baca may be literally translated āValley of weeping.ā In what way can you foresee this pilgrimage as leading you past or through a āValley of Weeping?
6. Note what the Valley of Weeping becomes when our strength is found in the Lord God. What significance do you find in the fact that the Valley of WeepingĀ is made a place of āspringsā or āpoolsā (which can also be translated āblessings!ā)?
7. Read Isaiah 41:18-20. What is the result of pools in the wasteland or springs in the desert? How might this apply to your life as you sojourn toward that which God has for you in the areas of food, eating, and your body?
8. According to Isaiah 41:18-20, for what purpose will God accomplish this?
Do you see it? Our God is going to use the wonderful work He is performing in your life to testify of His greatness to an onlooking world! He will be exalted in your life as you walk this path. He will be esteemed and many will see and know that the Lord is present in your life. Your joy will be made full and you will experience that abundant life that Christ came to so blessedly give us! And happy! Oh! He will make you happy as He fills you up with Himself!
9. Reread again the passage we began with as our focus scripture for todayās lesson. Fill in the blanks accordingly: āThey go from ______________________ to ___________________.
This word for āstrengthā found twice in verse 7, doesnāt mean the same thing as āstrengthā in verse five. It refers to the Hebrew word, chayil, which means: āStrength, efficiency, wealth.ā 2Ā As we travel on this path, there may be a Valley of Weeping, however, from those tears will come fertile pools and springs, giving life to our parched hearts. Our Lord will take our tears and cause us to, go from āwealthā to āwealthā, or from ārichesā to āriches.ā We will discover that on this pilgrimage even through Valleys of Tears will come much abundance and joy. We will find ourselves arriving before our God in Zionāthe place of promise!
10. We praise God that we are ever before our Lord now. We need not wait for a āsomedayā out there to stand before Him for the first or only time. Imagine, however, what it might be like for you to āarriveā in a āplaceā of promise. Describe what that āplaceā of promise looks like for you with regard to food, eating and your body. How will you know when you have reached that āplace?ā
Oh, precious Sojourner, find your strength in our Lord God Almighty this coming week! Only He can turn any tears shed along the way into verdant pools springing up, giving life and nourishment to the parched heart! Let us fix our hearts on pilgrimage and set off!
Do not conformĀ 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 Godās will isā
his good, pleasingĀ 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!Ā 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 toĀ 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 everĀ 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! š
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?
