Entering the Desert (day 3)

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     I have to tell you doing a study and blogging about it scares me more than a little.   It is one thing to study something in private and quite another to study and blog it in person.  What if I get something wrong - what if I offend someone, what if I don't learn anything, what if I do learn something?  Ugh.  But then it occurs to me - how much of my life do I spend being so careful not to do anything wrong that I choose to do nothing at all?  Well I am tired of doing nothing so lets do this and trust God for the results.
     Our study is going to begin in the Bible.  The first four books in the New Testament are made up of the Jesus account by those who lived and walked with him, they are called the Gospels.  Matthew was one of the guys that followed Jesus when he was here on earth and he wrote an account of Jesus' temptation.  That will be part of the reading today but I wanted to give you a little overview and what struck me as I was reading it.  Basically, Matthew tells us that one day the Spirit of God led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted.  Matthew writes, "After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry."  Ummmmm......You think?  OK lets stop right there, we haven't gotten far but already there are very interesting things to discuss. Like, why did the Spirit of God lead Jesus away from everyone - His friends, His support system?  What good can come from wilderness - I mean it is the desert for heavens sake.  Why be hungry - wouldn't it have been better to sit down to a good balanced meal before going out to be tempted by the most powerful being besides God?  Really? 
     Jesus was in the wilderness and He was alone and "He was hungry" to say the very least.  I think Matthew has a talent for the understatement don't you?  And the timing of this temptation was fascinating as well.  Jesus was just about to begin his ministry - it was a very critical time for him.  At the most critical time before his ministry Jesus goes away alone, into the wilderness, "and he is hungry." 
     As we head into this journey we can take away some important lessons from Jesus' experience. 
          1.  He was led by the Spirit
          2.  He was in a desert place
          3.  He faced the enemy
          4.  He was hungry
We are going to be using this framwork as we figure this thing out.  This is what we will do
          1.  We will ask the Spirit of God to help us - before you eat a bite or do any kind of exercise apply your heart and mind to the task at hand.  I have begun to pray this "food prayer":
                "Father, I want to honor you with what I eat right now.  I pray that this food would nourish my body, forgive me for making food an idol and help me to stop when I am full. Thank you for providing this for me."
          2.  It is not easy to be disciplined - we often feel like we are in a desert place because we are not indulging ourselves as we would like.  Recognize that we are not alone - that God does the journey with us and He will help us through it.  And also know that nothing worth doing comes easy - as we seek to learn more about God and ourselves we may enter a desert place but I trust that, just like Jesus, when we are through it we will have a clearer understanding of our purpose on this earth and we will have renewed strenght to accomplish it!
          3.  The Bible says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the the rulers, against the authorities, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Eph. 6:12.  The enemy wants to deceive us into thinking that our bodies or food are our enemies.  He will try to keep our focus squarely on the size of our bodies, diets, foods etc.  What we need to be very aware of is that our struggle is not against our flesh and blood it is against the lies that the enemy would have us believe.  Just like Jesus we need to fight the real enemy and trust God to give us the strength to win. 
          4.  Fasting - Just like Jesus gave up food I believe that it would be excellent for us to give something up.  For the next forty days and forty nights I am going to fast soda and television.  And many of you know - I love pepsi! :-)  This will be no small challenge for me.  It is nothing to what Jesus gave up but it is a start and I know that when we are real with God He blesses the effort.

It is taking a bit of time to get to the issue of food and exercise - we will ge there!  For now, take a look at the scripture and read it and don't forget to journal your thoughts.

Matthew 4:1-11  Read this passage as well as Eph. 6:10-20
1.  Read the passages and write down any verses that especially jump out at you - take your time reading through them.  Often times one or two words will jump out at you - meditate on those words and ask the Spirit to give you wisdom. 
2.  Write what comes to mind in your journal.
3.  Write your own food prayer and begin praying this before you eat each day.
4.  Be mindful that Satan does not like what you are doing - claim the blood of Jesus in your prayer and rely on His strength to help you.
5.  Finally decide what you would be willing to fast for the next Forty days.  Don't make it so hard that you fail the next day but try to give up something that will challenge you.
My dear sisters- I am praying diligently for you and I love you all dearly - God has given me such a burden for all of us who are struggling in this area.  I am so looking forward to seeing what He does!

*Maybe all of this Jesus talk has brought up a lot of questions- that's good!  We are available to answer any questions you might have about Jesus and would love to talk to you so don't hesitate to email us at lifestreamwomen@lifestreamweb.org.  I look forward to talking to you! :-)