Bible Verse for the Week – Matthew 17:20-21 – “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed,
you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
You thought you were done with me didn’t you? I just so happen to have a bonus session for
you! It’s a very short video followed by
some very short notes, just for those of you that like “extra credit” (I was an
extra credit girl in school).
Our video session this week is 12 minutes long. Short but sweet, some really good lessons in
here. 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
–
There is no extra reading or assignments this week,
just watch the video!
Video/Participant’s Guide
Sometimes we pray to God to move our mountains
but they aren’t always going to be moved instantly. God delights in moving mountains one rock at
a time.
Sometimes our journeys in life aren’t so much
about witnessing the miracle of the mountain moving as they are about
experiencing God taking our hand and walking through the journey with us.
We may have a weight loss mountain but we are
going to have to move that mountain one lesson at a time. There isn’t a spiritual diet pill where we
will wake up and know all the truths and all of a sudden have all of the will
power and self-control that we didn’t have before. It’s one lesson, one rock at a time.
Reviewing our Made to Crave journey and all
the rocks we moved.
Week #1 – From Deprivation to Empowerment - don’t
get stuck in a place where you are desperate
Week #2 – From Desperation to Determination - predetermine
who you are and predetermine what you’ll eat
Week #3 – From Guilt to Peace - Quiet the
battle in your head
Week #4 – From Triggers to Truth – Truth will
win every time
Week #5 – From Permissible to Beneficial –
Food isn’t the enemy, Satan is
Week #6 – From Consumed to Courageous – Food isn’t
supposed to consume us
Make the choice to be courageous and you will
see your mountain move. We were made to
crave God and God alone!
Closing Prayer
– Dear God, I thank you again for this study that we were able to do
together. I pray you would bless these
ladies. Help them on their journey. Help them not to get in a state of
deprivation or desperation. Take away
any guilt. Help them to learn their
triggers and turn it to truth. Let them know that food is permissible but not all is beneficial. Help us all to be courageous women. God, I pray that as this session comes to an
end, these ladies will know that this journey does not end here. You are always there for them (and I am
too!). Bless them, strengthen them, encourage
them. In Jesus name, Amen
I will be here for you ladies, thinking of you
and praying for you as I move my mountain one rock at a time,
Bible Verse for the Week –Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Comment Winner – Our
last winner this week is Neisa! Hey
ladies, I never said you couldn’t win more than once. I just put the people that comment in a
little cup and my kids pick the winner.
Congrats to Neisa for winning the Bible Marking Kit. This will help you mark up your bible with
all the great scriptures we’ve been learning throughout this journey.
Our video session this week is 27 minutes long. I have to say, this one really got to
me. I don’t know if it is because it’s
our last week but I was a little choked up while I watched it. 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 –
Assignment for Week 6 - Read Chapters 17-19. 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 #6.
Here are some extras from this week’s video &
book.
Video/Participant’s Guide
Can you believe this is our last session? This is the end of the study but it’s not the
end of our journey.
Food is not our enemy, Satan is. Victory is determined by the very next choice
we make. We need to remember as women to
make the courageous choice. We need to
make it again and again and again.
Lysa’s story of the Liberian orphanage is
awesome. This is probably the part that
made me cry. This showed me that we need
to praise God even in the midst of a time that we feel we have nothing to be
thankful for. These boys had to make a
courageous choice, a sacrifice, to give up playing soccer at recess, their
favorite thing to do, just to practice singing, which might not even take them
anywhere. You better watch the video to
find out what happened in the end!
If food was not an issue that I had, I would never
know how courageous God has made me. We
might not be “firefighter” courageous but we are courageous women! Every choice we make is courageous!
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 – “May God himself, the God
of peace, sanctify you through and through.
May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls
you is faithful and he will do it.”
Mark this journey with a spiritual marker similar
to bible times (Deuteronomy 6:8-9, Joshua 4:1-7). Can you mark this journey with a spiritual
marker?
You are a courageous woman capable of craving God
and God alone!
Book
Chapter
17– The Very Next Choice We Make
Can we sacrifice until we no longer desire what has
been given up? That just takes
discipline to a whole new level. I do
not believe in our own strength we can sustain a level of discipline that
requires real sacrifice for a long period of time. Only when we factor in the crucial spiritual
truth can we maintain this level of discipline.
Satan wants to keep up distracted by chasing one
temporary filling after another. God
wants us to step back and let the emptying process have its way until we start
desiring a holier approach to life.
We need to make the connection between discipline
with food and your desire to pursue holiness.
We also need to put on our new self created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness.
Victory isn’t a place we arrive at and then
relax. Victory is when we pick something
healthy over something not beneficial for us.
And we maintain our victories with each next choice.
Crave means to long for; want greatly; desire
eagerly. Pursuing holiness means God is
the only One we should long for; want greatly; desire eagerly. The only One worthy of worship.
I have to say ladies, I’m at my goal weight and
it’s scary. It would be so easy to slip
back to where I was before and I don’t want to go back there, EVER. Lysa calls this a danger zone. I hope that as I pray for you on this journey
that you will also pray for me to stay in a place of victory.
I like Lysa, don’t want this spiritual journey and
the physical victories I’ve experienced to stop. So, the very next choice I make is a crucial
one. Literally, it will determine if I
am walking the path of victory or compromise.
One wise choice can lead to two, can lead to three, can lead to a
thousand, can lead to the sweet place of utter dependence on God and lasting
discipline.
Chapter 18 – Things
Lost, Better Things Gained
Like in the video, Food is not the enemy, Satan
is. When we’re defeated and stuck in
issues of the flesh, it’s really hard to fully and passionately follow hard
after God. Some actions are not sinful
in themselves, but they are not appropriate because they can control our lives
and lead us away from God.
Chips and chocolate fill our mouths for a few
seconds with a salty and sugary delight that has no life it them. But courage fills our heart, mind, and soul
with everything alive and possible and invigorating.
Lysa speaks about repentance. I never really thought about this. In this journey we need to pray and seek
repentance if we are sinning against God.
Ask for forgiveness for going to food instead of going to God. What do you think about this? You know what Jesus says about this? “Hey,
I love you. Just as you are. But I love you too much to leave you stuck in
this. So, let’s fully turn from those
things that are not beneficial for you.”
Chapter 19 – Live
As An Overcomer
God doesn’t just command us to have a healthy
perspective on food, he also provides the help to achieve it.
Psalm 107:17-19 – how does He save them? He sent forth His word. The bible healed
them!
I pray that all of us can feel like Lysa. That the healthy choices we make will make us
feel empowered, not deprived. Our
healthy go-to scripts will come so naturally, they aren’t rules we follow but
the natural way we think about food. The
next choice is ours. May it be a choice
of an overcomer. An overcomer made to
crave God alone.
Group Get Together – Our
last and final meeting will be on Friday, June 28th at 7:00pm at my
house. I’ll send directions as the time
gets closer. Kids welcome, they can play
with mine in the play room. Remember ladies,
even if you are “behind” on your reading it’s ok. This is a great fellowship to get together
and chat and have some fun! I’m giving
you an extra week to “catch-up” if you feel you have to. I look forward to this meeting together to
reflect on this wonderful, life changing book!
Closing Prayer
– This week I’m using the prayer from page 185 in the book. It’s just too good
to not write it out here.
Dear
Jesus,
I have finally found the courage to admit
I’ve craved food more than You. I have
wept over giving up food while hardly giving a thought to You giving Your life
for my freedom. I’ve been bound up by
feelings of helplessness. I’ve been
angry that I have to deal with this weight issue and have been mad at You for
allowing this to be one of my lots in life.
I’ve made excuses. I’ve pointed
fingers. I’ve relied on food for things
it could never give me. I’ve lied to
myself about the realities of why I gain weight. I’ve settled and excused and made pithy
comments justifying my issues. I’ve ben
enthralled by buttered bread while yawning though Your daily bread.
For all that, I am so sorry. These are not just little issues. These, for me, are sins – missing the mark of
Your best for my life. With my whole
heart, mind, and soul, I repent. I stand
on this step and stare at the reality of my depravity and turn. I turn from the dieting mindset. I turn from what I must give up and weep no
more. I remove my toe keeping open the
door to my old habits and patterns, my old mind-set, my old go-to scripts.
I choose freedom. I choose victory. I choose courage. And yes, above all else, I choose You. Amen.
