Bible Verse for the Week – Romans 14:19-20a – “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and
to mutual edification. Do not destroy
the work of God for the sake of food.”
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Our video session this week is 16 minutes long. This is another great video with our author,
Lysa TerKeurst. Be sure to follow along
with the participants guide to get great notes along the way. Please click below to watch.
If it doesn’t work you can go directly to You Tube –
Again, if that still doesn’t work, let me know, I have the
DVD I can let you borrow.
I really enjoyed this video this week. There was a lot of good stuff in here. My goal from this is to put a sticky note on
my scale that says “peace” so I know it’s not about the number on the scale but
about having peace about what it says.
Can you do this with me?
Assignment for Week 3 - Read Chapters 7-9. You have all week to complete this assignment,
do it at your own pace.
Additional assignment - Go through all the Personal
Reflections Questions at the end of each chapter. Also, complete the Participant Guide for Session
#3.
Here is what I got from this week’s video &
book. Hope ya’ll enjoy it!
Video/Participant’s Guide
“Nothing tastes as good as peace feels” – can you
grasp that? Do you think it’s possible
to reach a place where we can feel at peace no matter what the number on the
scale is?
Diet programs can leave us feeling deprived when
“dieting” and when we “go off” we feel guilty.
Ever felt like this? I’ve tried
every diet plan out there. I’ve tried
every fad diet and most worked for awhile but once I “went off” the weight and
guilt came back. Love what Lysa said,
“We can step on the scale and accept the numbers for what they are – an
indication of how much our body weighs – an not an indication of our worth.” Wow!
Romans 14:23 – Have you ever felt convicted when
you are eating something that you shouldn’t be?
This is the Holy Spirit nudging us and telling us what is the best for
us. Conviction = sin. So does that mean when I’m sucking down those
little chocolate balls and feel like I need to stop, that’s the Holy Spirit
telling me I’m sinning. Ouch! OK, I’m getting it, are you?
Samaritan woman (John 4:7-38) – My FOOD is to do
the will of him who sent me…open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. OK, did you guys get this like Lysa
said? When we are so consumed and
distracted by our weight and food, our eyes can’t be open to the harvest around
us. We are self-focused, not
God-focused. We need to be going out and
spreading gospel to the world, not worrying about our body image!!! Again, another ouch. I’m feeling convicted, anyone else?
Can you do her “assignment” this week and love on
other people instead of being distracted by food? We’re going to exchange our constant feelings
of guilt so we can be women of peace and use the energy to serve Jesus.
Book
Chapter 7– I’m Not Defined by the Numbers
We grow closer to God as we learn to look and act
more and more like Him.
2 Corinthians 10:5. When we receive a comment that
doesn’t belong to us, what do we do? We
need to say, “Are you true? Are you
beneficial? Are you necessary?” If the answer is no, then we don’t open the
door of our heart. Walk away. I had someone comment to me the other day
that they still had a “long way to go” on their weight loss mission and they
were 140 pounds. Like Lysa in this book
I just had to laugh. I could have
started the negative thoughts like “does that mean I have a long way to go too? Do I look like I’m not at my goal weight?” or
I could do what I did and just shrug it off and realize that our bodies are not
the same. It felt wonderful not to be
defined by someone else’s numbers.
2 Peter 1:3 – “divine power has given us everything
we need for life and godliness” Do you feel you have everything you need from
God in order to overcome your struggles with food?
Chapter 8 – Making
Peace with the Realities of My Body
I LOVE Lysa’s honesty. I feel so close to her! I don’t know a woman alive who is completely
happy with her body. Lysa spoke about
her “Tankles”. I had a similar experience
with my shoulders. When I was in college
and we got our sorority pictures taken I thought I looked pretty good. One girl mentioned, “Wow Shila, your
shoulders are huge, you could be a football player.” Of course a few others jumped in and agreed
and laughed and had a hooting hollering good laugh over my linebacker
shoulders. Hard for me to just push that
aside. Even today when I shop for
clothes I try to make sure nothing accentuates my “linebacker shoulders.” I, like Lysa, had a talk with God. Why do I have such big shoulders? It was revealed that he wanted me to be a
strong woman. I do have incredible upper
body strength. My husband, Kip, comments
that he loves that I’m not his “wussy wife” and I can help him cut wood, rake,
and do other yard work that some women just sit back and watch their man
do. I am starting to like my “linebacker shoulders” and the strength that comes with them and I know that they are something that my husband finds attractive about
me.
Anyone want to share your insecure area? I bet if you ask God why he gave you those
parts he’ll reveal to you why and hopefully you will come to love your body the
way He created it, tankles, and big shoulders alike!
Define your week by obedience, not by a number on
the scale. I hope that if you’ve had a
week where you did everything you were supposed to, ate healthy, exercised,
said no to that brownie, that you too can define your week by obedience and not
by the number on the scale. That is the
peace we are talking about!
We are never supposed to get the satisfaction our souls
desire from our looks. Our looks are
temporary. The only true satisfaction we
can seek is the satisfaction of being obedient to the Lord.
The body God has given me is good. It’s not perfect nor will it ever be. We need to thank God for making us just the
way he made use. We need to find our
beautiful and like our beautiful.
Chapter 9 – But
Exercise Makes Me Want to Cry
That’s why we are headed to the gym this week
ladies! Please let me know ASAP if you
can make it as I need a headcount.
I agree with Lysa, I’m not a fan of exercise. Running is NOT my sport, the only thing I
like about running is when I’m done, the feeling of accomplishment.
As women I think we tend to put ourselves on the
backburner as we nurture and care for others first. Whether it be a husband, kids, our jobs, or
an aging parent, we put their needs above us.
I know for me I used to think I was selfish if I took the time to
exercise, that by putting myself first I should have been doing something for
the family instead. What I didn’t
realize is that by 30 minutes of exercise it would give me more energy, make me
less “cranky mama” and make me happier in the long run. Anyone else relate? We can’t make something else a higher
priority. God cautions us to “give
careful thought to our ways” and make time to “build the house” so that He may
be honored. Do we make time for things
we want to make time for? A chat with a
friend on the phone, facebook, reading, a favorite TV show? (shout out to Duck
Dynasty…love that show, but only after I exercise first). A good friend told me that the only way to have
good rest is if you work hard first.
Psalm 73:26 – “My flesh and my heart may fail, but
God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” – great scripture to
memorize and repeat when you are exercising.
Do you absolutely require God’s faith to see you through each exercise
session? Do you realize the power of God
taking over your complete weakness?
Our bodies were built for exercise, like the
virtuous women in Proverbs 31:17, we need to work vigorously and have strong
arms. I believe it was easier in the
past to exercise when people had fields to plow, gardens to tend, cows to
milk. Now we still need to work our
fields. We need to build our temple and
find our exercise that works for us.
Lysa’s mom puts it well, “The best kind of exercise is the kind you’ll
do”. Find the kind you’ll do and make
the time, have the self-control and make this temple that God gave you strong,
for Him. 1 Corinthians 6:19 reminds us
that we need to honor God with our body.
Give careful thought to our ways
and determine that taking care of our temple is a top priority.
Group Get Together – Friday,
May 31st at 7:00pm at Fitness At The Edge, 1625 Straits Turnpike,
Middlebury, CT. This is FREE! I do need a headcount so let me know ASAP if
you can make it. Invite a friend if you
want, the more the merrier. If you feel
you are behind on your Bible Study, no worries, this is a judge-free zone, just
come and have fun. If I don’t have
enough people I will have to postpone or cancel.
Directions from the church – Take Waterbury Road to
I-84W. Take exit 17 toward
Middlebury. Turn right onto CT-63N,
Straits Turnpike. Follow almost a mile,
“The Edge” building will be on your left.
The best way to park is to go straight to the building and take a right
to the parking lot that is below on the right of the building. Park, go to the side entrance (where you
parked) and go up the stairs to the first level. Fitness At The Edge is on your right. Call me with any questions!
We have the whole “all ladies” gym to
ourselves. We will get a great exercise
class (don’t worry, low & high impact, this is for EVERYONE!), then our
instructor will teach us how to pray with Christian music as we learn some new
breathing techniques (not to be confused with yoga, I promise). Then we’ll have some time to talk about the
book and what we’ve learned so far. Come
ready in work out clothes and sneakers, bring a water bottle and your Made To
Crave book if you have it and be ready to have some fun!
Closing Prayer
– Lord thank you for teaching us how we can make peace with the temples that
you have given us. Help us to treat
ourselves right but also be thankful for what we may see as “imperfections” and
realize that you made us in your sight and we are all wonderfully made. Let us be obedient to you and use this
journey to follow You, not food. In
Jesus Name. Amen.
If you missed other posts find them here:
Have Peace my Jesus Loving Girlfriends,
Shila
