Day 4- Sleepwalking Through Life

Two of my four children sleep walk. Recently my six year old daughter came to stand next to my bed in the middle of the night. Her eyes were open; she appeared to be awake so I asked her what she wanted. When she didn’t reply, I told her to go get back in bed. On my command she started to climb in my bed. I stopped her and said, “Go to your bed.” She started to climb back in my bed. After several failed attempts to get her back to her bed, I realized she was sound asleep. I had to take her by the arm and lead her back to her bed.

I find myself just like that—sleepwalking through life. Mindlessly living, eating, sleeping, and working. Just like my daughter, my eyes are open and I can respond to life’s commands but I have no real feeling or response. Perhaps that is how I have reached this point in my life. After being pinpricked awake by the Word of God, I blink at the light and wonder why I was sleeping so long.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.” Ps. 34:8-9

In my sleep walk I was feeding my soul hunger with physical food. That numb state of sleep confused the signals in my body. I was empty but without the stomach rumblings. I was hungry for God. Are you sleepwalking through life? This is your wakeup call!

I am using the SCF program, not as a diet, but as a wakeup call. It breaks me from the ritualism of eating by the clock. I am able to feed on the Word of God and feel satisfied emotionally. No more soul hunger. I know that Satan didn’t want me to wake up from my sleepwalk. He was happy to see me ineffectual and blindly living life—with my eyes wide open.

Two of the greatest weapons against sleepwalking through life are prayer and Scripture. I read about an excellent idea of praying through psalms. Here is how it works:

• 1-3x daily you choose a psalm
• Read it out loud
• Meditate on what is being said
• Let the words lead you in prayer

“It is a dangerous error, surely very widespread among Christians, to think that the heart can pray by itself…Prayer does not mean simply to pour out one’s heart. It means rather to find the way to God and speak with Him, whether the heart is full or empty…If we wish to pray with confidence and gladness, the Words of Holy Scripture will have to be the solid basis of our prayer.” – Deitrich Bonhoeffer (a young man who took a courageous stand against Hitler and was martyred for his faith).

Let the Word fill you today! This is a liquid day. That means you will have one solid meal and the rest will be liquid. Make sure you are nourishing yourself. This is not a fasting day. Your liquids should include proteins and nutrients. I personally like BoltHouse protein drinks and yogurt blends. What have these past 4 days taught you?

Day 3- Run With Your New Nature

I was watching the children play. All around me were other parents. Mother’s dressed to impress even in the outdoor setting. They had their skinny jeans tucked into their knee high riding boots, their plaid shirt a perfect complement to the little vest. Yes, more than one Mother was dressed that way. I guess it's the style this fall. I was feeling rather confident myself. I had also dressed in my most chic fall outfit (no skinny jeans on these thighs!).

I decided to join my smallest child at the other end of the playground. As I began to cross the view of the other mom’s, I could already feel their eyes on me. I held my head high, tossed my hair and started to stride with confidence. Suddenly my knees hit the ground. The grass intimately kissed my pants and my palms made imprints in the dirt. A hole had opened up to swallow my foot. Humbly I pulled myself together and scurried off as quickly as possible.

“Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18

Pride always brings you down, sometimes figuratively and sometimes literally. As new Believers we have freedom from our old nature. We do not have to be dominated by our flesh, but we allow it. Have you ever said you would never do something? Did you end up doing it? Let me tell you that I do my best to not say “I WILL NEVER”. I have been humbled more times than you can imagine by those words.

Most of the times phrases like “I would never do that!” are rooted in pride. Remember Peter in Matthew 26:31-35? Jesus told the disciples that they would all stumble because of Him. Peter pipes up and declares, “The others might stumble but I will NEVER stumble!” (Jana’s paraphrase). I can see Jesus look at Peter, sadness in His gaze. Pride was crawling all over Peter. His head held high, nostrils flaring in defiance. Jesus pointed a finger at Peter and said,

“Tonight before the rooster crows, YOU will deny me THREE times.”

Peter jumps to his feet at that. His shoulders squared, ready to defend his faith. “Even if I have to DIE with you, I WILL NOT DENY YOU!”

Of course we all know the end of the story—Peter denied that he even knew Jesus. Not once, not twice, but three times as prophesied by Jesus. Before you shake your head at Peter, stop and allow the Holy Spirit to bring to your memory times when you have done the same thing. We have all followed Peter’s example and allowed our pride to dominate our flesh.

Today is a half day is you are following the SCF plan with me. You will eat half portions of your regular meals. By now you might be feeling really good about these next 57 days. Maybe the scale has moved toward that smaller number. A new week is starting and we still have quite a race ahead of us. Tomorrow is a liquid day. Our old self demands to be protected, served and promoted. This self-serving nature can cripple us in our goals to run in freedom.

“It is a great grace of God to practice self-examination; but too much is as bad as too little.”

--Teresa Avila

How do we put off our old self?

First, we recognize when it is dominating us. Listen to the Holy Spirit’s prompting. He will give you that flush of guilt when pride rears its ugly head. Listen for phrases like, “I would never!”

Second, we choose to lay it aside by humbling ourselves before God in surrender. We are not self-sufficient. Our sufficiency is found in Christ Jesus alone. Only He can give us the power to move through these next 57 days.

Third, we choose to run with our new nature—in freedom!

Day 2- Kicking and Screaming

“Our freedom is the freedom to “serve one another in love.” It is possible to do so, because the Holy Spirit enables us to act in ways that are contrary to the natural impulses of our sinful nature. Walking by the Spirit, we are released from the old master that produces hatred, jealousy, fits of rage, envy, and such. We are released to be loving, patient, kind, faithful and good.” – Lawrence O. Richards

I really wanted that extra piece of pizza last night. Friday nights are family night at our house. It is the one night we allow “junk” food—if you consider an artesian pizza with feta cheese and spinach junk.

All six of us look forward to Friday night the whole week. We pick a movie, plan our pizza and make sure there is dessert. Of course this Friday night fell on my half day. I normally eat 3 pieces of pizza on family night. Last night I was supposed to eat 1 and 1 1/2….have you ever tried to do that? Well it wasn’t easy and I ended up just eating the 2 whole pieces. I did eat the homemade brownies my daughters made, less than ½ of my normal portion (no, my normal portion is not half of the pan!).

Have you noticed yet that the flesh kicks and screams when you have to discipline it? Today is a liquid day, which means you can eat one solid meal and the rest should be liquids—vegetable juices, drinkable yogurts, protein drinks, broths, etc.

In my Bible study today,I finished up the chapter on laying aside hindrances and the last part was exactly what I needed. It was about fixing my eyes on Jesus.

“Jesus exemplified freedom all of His life. He never allowed anyone or anything to hinder His accomplishing the will of His Father. Sure of His identity and mission, He lived, ministered, and served confidently and securely.” –C. Heald

Are you secure in your identity? Do you know what your mission is?

I pray you are using these next 58 days to lay aside hindrances and allow your freedom in Christ to secure your identity. Believe that you are a daughter of the King and your freedom was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ—Be FREE! Don’t live like the Israelites who were freed from their slavery in Egypt, but preferred slavery to satisfy their appetite. You have the power to lay aside all the weights that are hindering you from achieving your goal. Throw them aside my friend; it’s the only way to run!

“Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and let us RUN!” –Hebrews 12:1

Day 1- Are You With Me?

“Man’s true freedom does not consist of the unfettered power to direct his life, either in a political or in a Stoic sense. It lies in life with God. Paradoxically, the free man does not belong to himself. He belongs to him who has set him free.” –J. Blunck

Today is Friday so it is a half day if you are following the SCF (Setting Captives Free) plan. Maybe you just started following along with me today—I’m so glad to have you on this journey with me. A half day means you will eat foods that are healthy and cut all of your portions in half. I follow guidelines for my blood type (A). If you are not sure what your blood type is, choose God made foods over man-made, prepackaged foods.

For me this 60 day challenge starts with laying aside hindrances. Hebrews 12:1 divides hindrances from sins. A hindrance or weight is usually something that starts out as a good thing but eventually begins to weigh us down in our race toward the finish line.

I love to run. When I am shopping for running shoes, I look for the lightest ones I can get (Asics runners). The last thing I want is any extra weight. I have enough extra weight on my body. What are some of the things keeping you from being physically, spiritually and emotionally healthy? Here are a few ideas to trigger your thoughts:

Laziness- “it takes too much work to eat healthy and exercise”

Bitterness- “my past was so hard and I’ve been hurt. I deserve to eat what I want”

Disappointment- “God didn’t come through for me! My spouse/parents/friend let me down!”

Busyness- “I don’t have time to read my Bible or exercise!”

I have used every single one of those excuses. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 6:1-14 that if we are believers we have no business using those excuses. We have been set free and we now have “our fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life” (16:22).

Friend, today I choose to place my Savior first, will you?

Day 1:

Bible study- “Laying Aside Hindrances: running with freedom”- Cynthia Heald

Half portions of God made food

Exercise 30-45 min.

Time To Pull Out The Scale

I went shopping last week with a friend. I’ve known for some time that the lack of a scale in my bathroom was going to be a really bad thing. That shopping trip proved my fear to be legitimate. Two days later I bought a scale. A bathroom scale is the equivalent of a dressing room. It’s like having a dressing room mirror staring back at you—verifying in numbers what you already see in the mirror.

Stress is my greatest food seeker. Apparently I’ve been under A LOT of stress this year. So, now that I recognize the reality, I can no longer ignore it like I do the “EXERCISE 45 MIN” alarm on my phone. In a random moment of radical honesty I told my husband my true weight. I’m not sure what shocked him more, the fact that I was radically honest or the number I blurted out. He stood there in silence, carefully searching for the right words to soothe my obvious panic.

My guard has been down. I am searching for food to fill the emotional holes in my life.

Do you ever feel like this?

The best part is that I can put into practice the advice I preach. I have two accountability partners. One is that bathroom scale I bought this week.

These are the steps I will be following for the next 60 days to rebuild the walls of a healthy weight and walls of moderation in my life:

Accountability Partner- Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, “If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” This needs to be a careful choice. Some “friends” are enablers and saboteurs. Make sure you pray about who you choose as your mentor.

Faithfully feed on the WORD- I will continue to stay in the Bible daily, not only reading and studying but meditating on verses. Matthew 4:4 says, “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Exercise- My industrial treadmill will start to earn its keep. Taking care of the temple of the living God means feeding my body healthy food (which I do—just too much of it), and exercising. Many times we overlook the emotional, spiritual and physical benefits of exercise.

Moderating my food—not dieting. I eat healthy food 99% of the time by following the Blood Type Diet. My issue is the amount of food I have been eating and the multiple trips through the Starbucks line. This will be the biggest change for me. I need the 60 day commitment to allow my emotions to remember how to feed on the WORD instead of food. I will actually be following a “Setting Captives Free” plan. If you are interested in this plan click here. Feel free to print it out and use it. Every day for the next 60 days I will post about what day I am on and the Bible lesson I am focusing on. It you would like to buy a Bible study during the next 60 days, let me recommend “Becoming a Woman of Freedom” by Cynthia Heald. That is one I will be following.

Even if you are not like me and don’t need to get a handle on your indulgences, be a prayer warrior for the rest of us! We don’t just need accountability but encouragement too.

Will you join me on this 60 day journey?

In prayer or in action?

It’s not too late to join in!

What Makes You Unique?

What is unique about you?

That is a question I ask on every intake form I have potential patients fill out. I know it's an unusual question but the answer provides me with a lot of insight.

Today I had a beautiful woman sitting across my desk, waiting patiently while I read over her forms. Her answer to the above question brought a wash of pain over my heart. I looked up at her and gently asked, “Can you explain this answer to me?” She began to cry.

What is unique about you?

Did you know that our Creator designed each of us with special gifts and talents?

We can’t have another persons gifts, only our own. I know beautiful, talented women who try to mimic the gifts of women around them. Some women have completely lost sight of the gifts they possess; most of these women no longer have their own identity.

As my patient and I continued to speak I discovered she was a very talented person with so many gifts it surprised me that she was able to “lose track” of her unique design. Over the course of life she became so involved in caring for her special needs child that her own uniqueness had been painted over.

How can you tell if you have forgotten your uniqueness?

• You can’t answer the question, “What’s unique about you?”

Many women also suffer from depression because they can’t see themselves as unique. They are defined as Mr.[insert husband's name] wife, or [insert children's names] mom. Of course my "clue" is not exclusive to your discovery, we could perhaps create a much bigger list. Chances are you already know if you've lost that sparkle of uniqueness. You may not breathe that out loud for fear of sounding selfish, but you know.

So how can you rediscover your own uniqueness?

1. Remember your identity:

God’s child, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12

A friend of Jesus—“No longer do I call you servants; but I call you friends,” John 15:15

Accepted in Christ—“Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.” Romans 15:7

A citizen of Heaven—“For our citizenship is in heaven,” Philippians 3:20

Gifted—“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given us, let us use them:” Romans 12:6

2. Be still and listen to your heart- God has been speaking His love to you before you were born!(Eph. 1:3-4) He has gifted you and made you uniquely YOU.

If you have never discovered your gifts, grab a piece of paper and write down what you're passionate about. If you need some help, take a gifts test. Elmer Towns.com has a good one. You can find it here.

So, what is unique about you? I do care and I want to know!

Beautiful

My four year old son loves to say to me, “Don’t forget Mom, you’re beautiful!” I didn’t teach him to say that. Maybe he sees behind my confident veneer and knows that the shy insecure girl from my childhood lives back there. One thing about his words is they always make me smile. There is something about hearing the words, “You’re beautiful!” that makes a girls day, agreed?

If I was to ask 100 people, “What makes a woman beautiful?” I can promise that more than half of them would include a physical description. When I asked myself the same question the Holy Spirit gave me this answer:

A Beautiful Woman is a woman who loves God with her body, soul, and mind. But really LOVES HIM! When you love someone, you respect that person as well. A beautiful woman that truly loves and respects her Creator, her heavenly Father, and the lover of her soul, submits her will to His. This submission reflects in all areas of her life.

I took that answer and broke it down. Here is what I came up with:

Physical: She strives to fulfill His desire for her to live in health—she takes care of her physical body by exercising and feeding it God made foods.

Spiritual: She takes time to communicate with Him. She reads, and studies and meditates on His Word.

Emotional: She allows Him to fill her emotional love tank with His Word—and sometimes with the words spoke by others.

Mental: She keeps her mind pure and casts down all imaginations or fears that would cause her to turn her eyes away from His glory!

This type of woman glows with beauty! Those around her also see her beauty, maybe undefined by the world’s definition, but perfectly defined by Him.

I want to be this kind of beautiful, don’t you?

What does beautiful mean to you?

Who defined that for you?

“Listen, O daughter, Consider and incline your ear; The King is enthralled with your beauty; because He is your LORD, worship Him.”