Judging Myself II (day 6)

* Hello to you!  Welcome to the Body Temple study.  If you are just joining us and you would like to start from the beginning look to the right and you will notice under Blog Map the words "Body Temple"  click on that and it will take you all of the Body Temple entries.  Go to the very bottom and work your way up.  May the Lord bless you in your journey!

I struggled today with where God wanted me to go next in our study.  I asked the Lord for wisdom and then decided to check my email before getting started.  I have a dear friend who is doing this study with us and there in my inbox was this email from her.  She was doing day 1 of Body Temple and came across this in her NIV study Bible.  It couldn't be more perfect and so I thanked the Lord for His perfect timing and wisdom.  Here it is.

Before you begin Read: Genesis 1:27-31

Imagine the scene:  Holding her hair back with one hand, the woman kneels and leans forward to drink from the clear pool of water.  As her cupped hand reaches for the clear liquid, she draws back, startled.  Who is the long-haired stranger staring back at her?

Perhaps even since the time Eve first caught sign of her reflection in the Garden of Eden, women have dealt with the questions of image.  Polls consistently reveal that the majority of us are dissatisfied with our appearance.  Confronted with a barrage of airbrushed photos of supermodels and celebrities adorning magazine covers, the average woman thinks she is too short, too fat, too unattractive, too imperfect.  How can we ever measure up with the media's standards of perfection?

The first chapter of the Bible supplies the answer.  We are created in the image of one paradigm of perfection:  Our Creator.  Our height, weight and skin color may indicate our human origins, but our soul and spirit reflect our Sovereign God.

When a child is born, it's not unusual for someone to claim she's the very "image" of a relative.  But what does it mean to be created in the image of our heavenly Father?  An image is a likeness or resemblance - a reflection as seen in a mirror.  Scripture teaches that Jesus Christ is the "image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15).  As we grow in faith, we who believe are gradually "being transformed into [Christ's] likeness" (2 Corinthians 3:18).  When we become like Jesus, we begin to look more and more like our heavenly Father.

God created us to convey the distinctive imprint of his divine nature to a world often blinded to his existence.  Even our differences reflect the One who delighted in creating a world of dazzling diversity:  peculiar penguins and majestic eagles; towering redwoods and dwarf pines; blonds, brunettes and redheads...every person created with the individual imprint of the Creator's hand to bear his image.  So the next time you pass by a mirror, pause a moment to gaze in wonder at the designer original whom God loves so dearly - you!

Homework

Read:  Jeremiah 29:11-13

Read the scripture aloud and then personalize them in your journal.  These are words from God's heart to yours.  Do you believe that God has a plan for you now just as you are?  Believe it dear sisters.  His Word is very clear. 

Now Reread Genesis 1:27-31 again aloud.  Let the words sink in and then in your journal write a prayer of thankfulness to the Lord for the way He made you.  My friends, I am so thankful to the Lord for each of you.  You are precious and loved.  Look these three questions over and answer in your journal. 

1. How do you see God's image reflected in the lives of others you admire?

2. What factors from the past have damaged your sense of self-worth?

3. Think of three ways in which you can beautifully reflect the characteristics of your Creator by imitating Christ.

*If you are not a Jesus follower and would like to more about Him we would love to talk to you!  Please email us at lifestreamwomen@lifestreamweb.org

Judging Myself (day 5)

     Every Wednesday I go to a good friends' house where, among other things, I drink lots of coffee.  And as you can imagine after a while we are lining up for the bathroom so that we can make room for more coffee.  I love my friends' bathroom.  Not only is it lovely in every way, it has the most amazing mirror.  I look forward to going in there and looking in this mirror because somehow it creates the illusion of a smaller me.  Don't ask me how but it does.  Sometimes I turn around and look at the smaller backside of me too.  I secretly have plans to "borrow" the looking glass.  Don't tell my friend. 
     How many times do you catch a glimpse of yourself and wish for a different you?  Maybe there is that kind of sinking feeling in your stomach.  Maybe you say, "that's me.  I don't like me."  How much time do we spend criticizing ourselves, unhappy with our bodies? We become judge and jury over our own selves.  If onlys become our mantra.  If only I were thinner, if only I could fit in that size, if only I had her hips, if only....if only.
     My dear sisters we have bought into the deception that happiness lies on the outside.  That just as soon as we look a certain way we will find happiness.  Does that mean that we should not be concerned about our weight or health?  Absolutely not - on the contrary I believe we are called to live healthy lives.  However healing begins on the inside and works its way out.  Not the other way around.
     This brings me to our passage for today.  Jesus' brother James is absolutely one of my most favorite people in the scriptures.  James was a revolutionary.  He pointed out the hypocrisy in the church and exposed it.  For example in chapter 2 James argues against favoritism.  "Suppose," he says, "a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.  If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes...but say to the poor man you stand there or sit on the floor by my feet, have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?"
     Suppose you go to a party.  You walk in and are immediately embarrassed because it seems like all the women look so pretty.  Self-consciously you wrap your coat more tightly around yourself wishing you had worn the black blouse - black is so slimming and you wore the red blouse.  With a sigh you remove your coat and stand off to the side.  "Maybe no one will notice me," you say to yourself.  It is going to be a very long night.
      How many times do you show favoritism to others because they are thinner than you?  Or maybe you give others the nod because they have more confidence or in your view, better talents than your own.  We so easily fall into the trap of showing others favoritism because we view ourselves as the "poor man".  We fall into the trap and we judge ourselves with evil thoughts. 
   
Homework
James 2:1-13
1.  Read this amazing passage aloud.  Allow the words to speak to you.  Then read it again, this time pause when any word, phrase or verse(s) jump out at you.  Write those verses in your journal.
2.  When have you judged yourself harshly?  Write down one or more instances where you have done this and ask God for healing and if necessary for forgiveness.
3.  During your prayer time today spend some quiet time just listening.  I know this may feel a bit weird.  But practice makes perfect, be o.k. with the silence. 
4.  Encourage someone this week.  Perhaps you know someone who is struggling.  Be the hands and feet of Jesus to them.  Put a card in the mail, make a call, pray for them and let them know that you are praying.  Live outside of yourself and see what God does!

Dear sisters I continue to pray for you. May you sense how very much God loves you.  Remember His mercies are new every morning - great is His faithfulness to you!

Casting Crowns - If We've Ever Needed You

As part of the Body Temple study do day 3 and then listen.

Who's in Control? (day 4)

*If you are new to Body Temple - welcome! I am so glad that you are here checking us out.  If you would like to see all the Body Temple entries look over to the side bar under the heading "Blog Map" you will see the words Body Temple click on that and start at the bottom and work your way up.

     So my oldest is "ready" to drive.  He is the appropriate age of 14 and 9 months which in the state of Michigan gives him the go ahead to take drivers training and practice out on the road with his parents.  Most of the time of course he will be practicing with me - his mother.  He hasn't actually taken the class yet - that's on the list of things to do.  But wanting to be the cool and hip forward thinking mom that I aspire to be, I thought it would be a great idea to let him drive around the parking lot of the local high school.  Have you ever been invaded by a monster?  A wild eyed screaming mother monster who panics and starts yelling wildly to "slow down"!  I have.  One second I was airily throwing my kid the keys and the next I was an adrenalin soaked maniac.  What happened?  I am still unsure.  What I do know is that there is much more to come and I am not sure I will be able to contain the monster within.  I wonder what my poor teenager thought, poor kid.  He didn't know what hit him - and we were only in a parking lot for heaven's sake.  What will it be like when we actually go out on the road?  I no longer question the wisdom of letting 14 year old kids  take drivers training - I do however question the wisdom of letting him drive with his mom.
     Needing to be in control can be a real problem for many of us can't it?  And when we lose control we can easily find a inner monster struggling to come out.  Along with control or lack thereof comes fear.  The issues of food and diet are related very much to control and fear.  Food is sometimes the one thing in our day with which we feel we have control.  And when everything else is spinning we take comfort in food.  But this takes on a life of it's own and control is an illusion.  We never really had it in fact in reality it is really controlling us.  We think about it, we are comforted by it and we set our clocks by it.  The other side of this double edged sword is the fear of what food will do to us, to our minds and bodies. Truly it is a love hate relationship we love food and we hate it.  Control and Fear -  it is as if we are slaves to them.
     In the Bible there is a guy named Paul who was a missionary.  Paul related his struggles in a letter he wrote to the Christians in Rome when he said, "When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.  What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!" 
     Phrasing the verses above in my own words this is what it looks like:
            "I want to do what is right but the choice for doing wrong is always there before me.  On the inside I love God and His ways but it's like my temptations and cravings are waging war with my desire to do what is right.  And then so many times I choose to do the wrong thing.  I feel like I am despicable!  Who will save me from this body of death?  I am so Thankful to God for giving me Jesus - through him I can truly have victory!"
      Our next big choice then is to take a step of faith and trust that what Paul says about God is true.  He says that because of Jesus, we can have victory over all the sin and junk in our lives.  Is this the magic pill?  Nope.  Like we have said before something worth doing is not easy.  We will have to work hard.  We will have to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."  That means when you are tempted you will have to reject what is wrong and do what is right.  You can do it - ask God for help - He will do it!

Before we get into the challenge for today I want you to do something that I feel is really important.  Find a trusted friend(s) that will agree to go through this journey with you - for accountability, for support.  There is nothing like doing something like this in community.  So please - at least one person.  If you don't have anyone then email me and I will find you someone.  This is important. OK?

Homework
Read Romans 7:14-25
1.  Read these verses aloud.  Paul has a lot to say here - take your time it can be kind of a tongue twister!  Let the words sink in.  Read them over a second time.  Pay close attention to the verses or phrases that stand out to you.  The ones that stand out to you are the ones the Holy Spirit will use to teach you.  Once you have those, rewrite it or them as a prayer to God.  Be real - be authentic - God is not afraid of any of the thoughts or struggles that you have so don't be afraid.
2. On a separate sheet of paper I want you to make a list of the things you need to control.  Then for each thing I want you to write down the kind of fear you have if you don't have control of that thing anymore.  Then I want you to pray aloud surrendering each area of control and fear to God and ask Him for help.  Then I want you to burn the paper - or rip it up - destroy it.
3.  I have posted a song on the blog which I would like you to listen to - sing it to the Lord - raise your hands to Him or get on your knees.  Let the song speak to you and pour your heart out to Him.

Please give me your feedback.  Where are you struggling and when you have victory - tell me how you are feeling!  You can leave comments right here on the blog.  or email us at lifestreamweb.org

Blessings to you dear sisters.  May you hear the Lord this day and may His voice be sweet in your ears.

Entering the Desert (day 3)

*Hi there!  If you are new to Body Temple and would like to start at the begining look to the right hand side under the heading Blog Map  for Body Temple and click on that.  All the posts will be there - start from the bottom and work your way up.

     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! :-)