Saturday, June 29, 2013

Made To Crave, Bonus

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,
Shila

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Made To Crave, Week 6 - Courageous

Bible Verse for the WeekJeremiah 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. 

A few scriptures to look up:
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.

If you missed other posts find them here:

Make the Courageous Choice My Jesus Loving Friends,
Shila