New Truth

Girls...has this week been a disappointment? Have you felt like a 'failure' in your resolve to do better at this food thing? Don't worry! You are in a great place, because God needed you to be here so you could learn some serious TRUTH about your struggles. Some of you weren't able to be with us this past week, but you can still participate in the dynamic lesson we learned: Matching triggers with Truth!

Lysa explained that those things that cause us to move forward with temptation are our 'triggers'. Those triggers can lead us to believe 'old lies' that then make a way for us to fail. This is that vicious cycle where she uses the verse Deut. 2:3. God is talking to the Israelites who have taken 40 years to make what should have been an 11-day journey. He tells them, "You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north."

That's what we have to do. But, we can't do that without having truth to guide us. How do we use truth? By first identifing the lies that we've been believing for so long. In your study guide, on page 83, Lysa shows some examples of Old Lies. There she also points out a New Truth and then backs it with scripture. Read through those. Then on page 88, you can start writing down your own old lies. Ask God to search your heart and show you the things you've been believing that are not from His word. This exercise could reveal some unscriptural beliefs about more than just food. I gave out some small notepads to carry these around in our purses, but you can use a note card or anything you like. Just jot these down on something that you can put in a very accessible place. I think it was Deb who suggested going back through the Go-To Scripts and seeing the Truth there as well.

Ladies, please don't miss this opportunity! If you don't get to the personal study time this week, please don't feel guilty. But, do not miss out on the opportunity to spend some very vulnerable time with the Father in doing this activity. If this is the only thing you get to this week, Praise Jesus! You cannot move forward with healing if you don't identify the problems in your thinking.

"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Romans 12:2 (NLV)


Happy Mother's Day!!!

Half-way Point

We are officially half-way through the study! 


Here are some highlights from Day 1 study (if you have the book, skip this part):

1. A girl in a gym class made a careless comment to Lysa that she thought 150 lbs. was very overweight. Lysa had a choice to make - she could choose to be offended (off-ended) or she could see this as a careless comment that had nothing to do with her. Isaiah 45:2-3. 
2. Our sense of identity needs to reflect His presence in our lives. 1 Peter 1:3-11.
3. "We can step on the scale and accept the numbers for what they are - an indication of how much our body weighs - and not an indication of our WORTH."
4. So, HOW do we make the choice to walk away from statements that could easily offend? 2 Cor. 10:5 - "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God (who we are in Him), and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." Ask each thought that enters "are you true? Are you beneficial? Are you necessary?"

Day 2 study: do this in your Personal Study on page 65.

Recap of Thursday's Session

Hello Ladies! I hope that your weekend has started off nicely. I have to say, after Thursday night's session , I was encouraged. BY YOU! God used Lysa's amazing session on PEACE to open up a dialogue and you have encouraged me in more areas than just food.

There were some who weren't able to join us. You were very missed! So, I will give you a quick overview of Thursday night's session:

• Lysa started off with the story of the 'Miracle on the Hudson', where Capt. Sully had to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River due to a flock of geese flying into their engines and consequently shutting them down. This was to prove her point that "Big things can be brought down by small things."
• The Bounce - she talked about how with most eating plans in the past (most of us have tried many), she would bounce back and forth between feeling DEPRIVED when she was eating 'right' and feeling GUILTY when she was indulging. I think we can all relate...
• So how do we find success between deprivation and guilt? When we choose to find PEACE. When we make peace our fitness goal, not a smaller number on the scale, that's when our mind will agree with our heart and eventually our body will comply.
• Read Romans 14:23.
• The Samaritan Woman (you can read through the entire passage John 4:7-35) - Here Jesus talks to the woman at the well about 'water' that will quench your thirst. She immediately thinks of her physical thirst, but Jesus is talking about her soul thirst. Then Jesus talks to the disciples about food. They think of feeding a physical hunger, but Jesus says, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work." (John 4:34) He is saying that doing ministry will feed our souls. When we are distracted by the physical, we are not God-focused or others-focused.
• Read Romans 14:19-20a - try to commit this one to heart (I know I will). 
• Assignments - Redirect your thoughts to focus on God, not food.                                                                         Open your eyes to look for ways to love others.                                                                                       If you use a scale, write PEACE on a sticky note and place it over the numbers. Remember: peace is our goal!                                                                                                                                           Take more sticky notes and write, "Nothing Tastes As Good As Peace Feels." Put them on the pantry, refrigerator or as some suggested on the mirror. 

Love you ladies!