Week 6

This is our sixth week together.

I am thankful for each of you and for all of you who read this through the internet/blog. Sometimes I wonder if I am making a difference in your life and then I go back to last week’s lesson and realize the sin of insecurity is creeping into my mental again.

It is indeed a daily decision to clear the clutter from the hidden chambers of our temple and that is what we will be talking about after we go over the homework.

I do hope you are taking the time to dig deep, by doing homework and looking for any tools from God’s Word that will help you get to the root cause of anything that is troubling you, spiritually, mentally or physically.

Proverbs, Chapter 5 is loaded with just the right tools (instruction) to keep us straight (on the Way).

Everyday, every moment of everyday, we must choose to stay on “the Way”, the path towards righteous living. Why? To reflect the image of Christ to the lost.

Here’s a Word from the Word for Health and Healing

Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones.

Turn to someone and say something pleasant!

Have you noticed that the healthier you become spiritually, mentally and physically the more you realize how sick you were? Just the mere recognition of the areas of sin (disease) in our life is the beginning towards wellness. I also see my sin in other people and it hurts me to wonder how much damage I have done.

I am also extremely grateful for the chance to change. Praise God!

Let’s take a look at last week’s homework. Chapter 5 is filled with tools to keep us straight!

Healing Spiritually

This is last week’s homework and answers. Give more thought to these answers as you delve into God’s Word.

1. Go Lightly! Reach for His hands of mercy. Choose each day to follow “the Way”
   Spiritual: Read Chapter 5 from the book of Proverb at least 5 times. Answer the following questions.
   a. What is the definition of understanding? Understand – how we interpret knowledge – to grasp the meaning of
   b. The following three words need to be put in the order for which they occur in our lives: understanding (2) , wisdom (3), knowledge (1). Explain why you chose to put them in the order that you did. Go back to Week 5 for further explanation.
2. What is the definition of discretion? Individual’s ability to make a decision based on the Bible (faith based decision) vs 2 your goal is to preserve discretion or in other words, always base your life on the Word.
3. Vs 5: What does Solomon mean when he said, “his lips drip honey (sweet and enticing) and his mouth is smoother (very convincing) than oil; To me his can mean any temptation not just lusting another man…be careful when your thoughts are confused…do not make any decision during that time for you will live to regret it. Live moment by moment but do not live for the moment!
4. What happens in the end if a woman chooses to desire an immoral man? Permanent soul damage that only God can set you free from
   Vs 5 His feet will lead you __death________________Follow HIS steps.
   vs 6 Ponder the path of “the Way” versus a path that is unstable____________Know the righteous path.
5. vs 8 If you struggle with anything that is dishonoring to God, what is the best thing you can do to remove this addiction? _______remove yourself from this existence –don’t go near it____________________
6. vs 12 why is it that we hate instruction and despise correction? _self serving – MY Way, not the Way!______________
7. vs 13 if we are to change, we have to expose ourselves to the voice of teachers.
   Is it possible that teachers are a gift from God? Do you believe God provided you with teachers (pastor, mentor, devotions, etc) because you were are the verge of ruin? Vs 14 Are you in this study by coincidence?
8. Drink water! Vs 15 What water is Solomon really talking about? Do you find it kind of weird that a man who had 700 wives would tell his son to drink only from his own cistern? Think this through. Live and learn perhaps?
9. Pray for someone you know who is contemplating divorce or is flirting with an affair. Vs 18-20
10. vs 21 Nothing that we do along our path goes without God's notice.
11. What sin are you caught in the cords of? __Insecurity, discontentment, desire for something that will happen in the future_______________________
12. Vs 21 God is constantly watching over us, noting our decisions, pondering (considers carefully) our plans, observing our behavior ----not so much to judge us for doing wrong but to bless us for doing right! He knows what we need so He wants us to ask Him for His counsel.
13. Get instruction from someone through God's Word or you will die a slow death of destruction vs 23
14. Pray that God will reveal your sin so that you will be blameless before Him. Pray for each sister in Christ that is a part of our group. I am in need of a breakthrough mentally and spiritually. Are you?
15. Do you remember what these words mean? Blameless, (no willful sin in your life) sanctification (the process of being set apart for God), discipline, (training that molds and perfects the mental faculties and moral character. Control and power derived from the Holy Spirit) understanding, (a mental grasping. Comprehension. Even if the knowledge is too difficult or missing clarification. We fill in the missing components.) Discretion (choosing to base understanding on faith not emotions), Wisdom (ability to receive knowledge, understand it through faith based discretion and then apply it to your life – act on it – recall it).
16. Do not forget to drink water.
17. For this week only, do not eat any red meat. Also go two days without any meat or animal products.
18. Add a red vegetable, a yellow vegetable, and a orange vegetable to your lunch or dinner at least three times this week.
19. GO LIGHTLY by digging deep into the Words of Truth!

Healing Mentally

I believe the Old Testament is filled with parallels and foreshadows of Christ and our body. Studying Solomon’s Temple is just one example of how nothing that you read in the Old Testament is irrelevant to us today. Understanding God and His love for us comes through understanding His Word.

Let’s begin in:

2 Chronicles 7:12 (-21) says: Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice.

When you became a born again Christian, a Christ follower, God chose your body for Himself as a house of sacrifice. What does that mean to you?

2 Chronicles 7:16 I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever.

God says: I have chosen you Joanie and I have sanctified you: He set me apart for Himself.

I choose to set myself apart for Him because He chose to set me apart!

2 Chronicles 7:15 tells me that His eyes will be open and His ears attentive to my prayer.

Vs 17 tells me that if I walk (my journey/path) and do according to all that He has commanded us, if we keep His statutes (laws/follow the Word), He will establish His kingdom in me.

But if I turn away (vs 19) and disobey, choosing to serve other gods, then He will uproot me and cast me out of his sight.

The reason we want to dig deeper and uproot all the sin and transgression we have inside us is because that is indicative of our serving other gods…one being our self! If we don’t uproot the sin, God says, He will uproot us and cast us out of His sight.

If we compare our body to Solomon’s Temple, God tells us that He chose us as a sacrifice so that His name may remain in us forever. He has set us apart and His eyes and ears are attentive to our prayer. Our path (life) is to be lived according to His laws.

Vs 21 Why has the Lord done this? 22 Because they forsook (disobeyed) the Lord God, and worshiped other gods, therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.

Calamity – (Arabic “ed) means disaster – an occurrence inflicting widespread destruction and distress.

Listen to some of the reasons the thesaurus gives for calamity:

• adverse happenings usually occurring suddenly and unexpectedly
• may be caused by negligence, bad judgment, or irresponsibility
• great affliction
• a personal change that turns our lives in a new direction

Anyone experiencing calamity? Why? In the dictionary where I looked up calamity…Blessing is listed as an antonym.

Romans 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

What is an understandable definition of sacrifice? Give it up!

Your bodies are to presented to God as a living sacrifice (give it up).

You are not your own, you were bought with a price…therefore honor God with your body! (give it up!) 1 Cor 6:20

Think of yourself as a human sacrifice, lying on the woodpile, with both hands bound. Do you have any control at all of the situation? God wants us to totally rely on Him.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people who are “called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

He wants us healed.

We do not have the power to change others, we also cannot change ourselves unless we ask God through prayer to change us.

Jer 17:14 – Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, For You are my praise.

When we talked about finding the real root causes of our present problems, we simply must give God permission to expose the sin in our life.

Once He brings it up, instead of pushing it back down again, ignoring it and getting mentally or physically sick over it, we need to be obedient and deal with it. Dealing with it means to figure out why it is there and ask/plead with God to remove it from our being.

He promises us He will remove it “as far as the east is from the west” if we ask.

Ps 103:12 -As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Define transgressions: to violate God’s law – sin -

Define removed: to destroy all traces of. IT’S GONE.

Why do we keep allowing Satan to bringing it back up? It’s gone! His word promises us that.

Why is it that God wants us to be transgression free? Because we cannot have fellowship (communion, communication) with Him if we have any sin in our life.

That is the gospel message. There can be no sin between us and God if we are to be in communion with Him. Jesus died on the cross to take away the sin of the world. He became sin for us and at that very moment, Jesus could not be in the presence of God. The veil in the temple split from top to bottom indicating that we could now communicate with God because of His sacrifice.

1Pe 2:24 - and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed

1Jo 1:7 – but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1Jo 3:9 – No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

Being a Christ follower is a huge and humbling responsibility.

The outer courts of our temple parallel with a Christ follower’s physical body; the part you can see with the physical eye. Before we can come into the presence of God within the Holy of Holies, we must become aware of the part of Solomon’s temple where the hidden chambers were and how that parallels with our body.

1Ki 6:5 - Against the wall of the temple he built chambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary. Thus he made side chambers all around it.

These inner chambers were secret recesses (locations), hidden away from everyone except the priest. They were to be used to store the priest’s items of worship used in the Holy Place and also for storing Israel’s treasures to remind the people of all that God had done for them.

Instead the priests stored their own personal idolatrous worship item there, thinking that since these were secret, hidden places, no one would see and no one would know about them.

Within our temple we too have hidden chambers where we hide our deepest secrets and bury our hurts, guilt, shame, wounds, painful memories, our faults.

If we do not go inside these hidden chambers of our temple and clean them out thoroughly, the filth that remains in there will continuously surface like a festering pimple. Whatever is going on inside those Hidden Chambers (internally) will either reflect the image of Christ or it will reflect the image of Satan.

I believe the Word of God has the answers to healing every part of us and cleansing every part of our hidden chamber. I believe God is going to reveal these to us gradually so we will call on Him to clean them up once and for all! Just like dust and dirt around the house, it takes continuous cleaning (asking for forgiveness) to stay on top of it. Same thing occurs within our hidden chambers.

God is going to “bring up the dirt.” His Word cleanses us from the dirt. We will only be able to maintain a clean temple if we continue to use the Word of God to keep our temple cleansed.

When you dust something with a dust rag, is the dust actually removed permanently or is it transferred to the rag?

What can permanently remove the dust?

Joh 7:38 - "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.

The Living Water (Jesus Himself) is the only thing that can permanently remove the “dirt” that is hidden within the hidden chambers of my temple.

Has the Lord brought something up to you during the last couple of weeks? He has me! Lots!

I believe that this is going to continue throughout our lives but the “content of the dirt” will be different each time it is revealed. Sin is a lifetime battle but we believe Jesus paid for our sin once for all on the Calvary cross.

Ro 6:10 - For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

When He brings up the “dirt” what do we need to do?

DEAL with it. We no longer can pretend we do not have a dirty temple. Whether the dirt that is surfacing is spiritual, mental or physical; it will eventually surface (sometimes in the form of disease) and we need to turn back to the Word to clean house!

Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.”

Why would the spirit search our inward parts if not to reveal sin in us, to us?

Proverbs 18:8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

We do not want anymore roots of bitterness, revenge, anger, we want roots of forgiveness, mercy, kindness.

Proverbs 24:4 “by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

God wants us to get rid of the junk, the debris, the wounds before they surface into heart attacks, headaches, and high blood pressure. God wants us to get rid of the junk, the debris, the wounds before they destroy our testimony. He wants to fill our hidden chambers with His Truths. Truths that change us from the inside out. Truths that transform us into butterflies!

That’s the Way to Go Lightly.

Praise God!

Healing Physically

What’s for Breakfast?

There has been a huge controversy in the world of nutrition regarding what a person should eat for breakfast. Every diet tells you something different.

I am not going to suggest anything in particular that you should eat for breakfast other than you must eat breakfast and it must be foods that God created.

I believe everyone should eat breakfast because it helps regulate and control what you will eat the rest of the day. Breakfast calories will more than likely be burned off versus calories you consume late at night when you haven’t eaten all day.

Eating breakfast makes you more productive because it improves your mental performance, your ability to concentrate, and increases your physical energy.

Another reason is that you are less likely to overeat for lunch and less likely to snack during the day. Keeping a balanced blood sugar level is crucial to mood swings, energy level, and susceptibility to disease.

Is God’s word specific about what we should eat for breakfast?

No but following Jesus’ example, we should first eat breakfast and then go Tend His Lambs!

Joh 21:15 - So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, "Simon, {son} of John, do you love Me more than these?" He *said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He *said to him, "Tend My lambs."

Here are a few breakfast recipes that are very nutritious and they will add essential fiber, vitamins, and minerals to your day’s food intake.

FYI - Oatmeal – Old Fashion Whole Oats – not quick and not packaged instant oatmeal. Oatmeal is high in soluble fiber. It is filling and will prevent you from taking the 10:00 sugar dive. Contrary to old-school thinking, oats do not have to be cooked for a long period of time.

Oatmeal Recipe

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add ½ cup whole oats, ¼ tsp sea salt, ¼ tsp cinnamon, ½ apple, (or any fruit), 2 tbsp raisins, dates, or figs, 2 tbsp walnuts, almonds, or sunflower seeds. Cook 5 – 10 minutes.

You may pour 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed for Omega 3 fatty acid and either ½ cup of organic soymilk, nonfat plain yogurt, kefir, or nonfat organic milk.

All grains can be eaten for breakfast. Do not limit yourself to “traditional” breakfast grains. Leftover brown rice, quinoa, millet can all be reheated with the above ingredients added to it.

The main idea is to eat whole grains, fruit, nuts, and a small amount of dairy (unless you are allergic to it).

Whole grain breads (be careful – just because it says whole grain on the label does not mean it is whole grain). Read the fine print. The ingredients should be: stone ground whole wheat, barley, millet, amaranth, etc.

Eat whole grain breads with flaxseed oil instead of butter.

Eggs are another controversial food. If you do choose to eat eggs, eat only (1) egg in an omelet along with lots of vegetables.

Egg Recipe for 1

Choose 2-4 vegetables – whatever you have on hand. Chop into small pieces. Steam in 1 tbsp of water then spray organic Canola oil in the pain and add scrambled egg. Never turn fire above a 5. Sprinkle parsley, dill weed, garlic, curry, red pepper, ginger, kelp or dulse while setting for added nutrients.

Suggested veggies – asparagus, artichoke, broccoli, peppers, zucchini, celery, onion, spinach, kale, and peas.

Eat only the whites if you have high cholesterol or heart problems.

Shakes are another excellent breakfast choice. You can get very creative with shakes. A high quality whey protein powder is recommended if you are unusually tired or low in iron.

Recipe for a Basic Breakfast Shake

1 cup plain organic yogurt, kefir or nonfat milk
½ cup – 1 cup frozen or fresh fruit
Sprinkle chopped walnuts, almonds, Go Lean, or another Kashi cereal on top of shake for added nutrients

Suggested fruits: frozen bananas, dates, pineapple, apples, berries, mango, oranges

Add nutmeg, cinnamon, pure vanilla extract, organic nonfat dry milk, cloves, honey, maple syrup and molasses for more nutrients.

¾ tsp instant decaffeinated coffee would not be my choice, but can be added for a coffee shake. Choose high quality coffee beans.

Almond butter and peanut butter can also be added for a delicious shake.

Make sure you do not add too many ingredients and not enough liquid or you will burn up your blender.

Recipe for Superb Waffles/Pancakes!

Blend 1½ cups of buttermilk and 1 egg in the blender until airy and fluffy.
Pour into the blender 2 tbsp olive or canola oil and 1tsp pure vanilla extract.

Add ½ cup whole oats and 2 cups barley flour, whole wheat pastry flour, kamut flour or unbleached white flour. Mix together in blender.

Next add 2 tbsp maple syrup or sweetener of choice, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp baking soda, and 2 tsp baking powder. Blend gently.

Make sure your waffle iron or griddle is ready because baking powder will kick in as soon as mixed in. Bake until lightly browned. Serve with fresh fruit topping below:

Combine in saucepan: 4 apples (grannies), peeled and chopped and just enough water to prevent burning. Remove from heat and add ½ tsp cinnamon, and ¼ cup of raw honey.

YUMMY!

Never overlook unusual items for breakfast like leftover salmon or white fish on Ezekiel bread with lettuce and sprouts. Leftover vegetable soup. Leftover tofu lasagna.

Think outside the white bagel!!

Experiment…just make sure you are not eating any manmade foods. Know your body. If you feel bloated after eating breakfast you either ate too much or you are not digesting the foods you ate. Delete one of the items and try to chew as thoroughly as possible. If you still feel bloated, eliminate different foods that could possibly be the culprit.

Last week’s recipes + a bonus!

Quinoa Pilaf

Cut up: 1 onion, 4 sections of garlic, and 2 inches of ginger into small pieces.

Stir fry them in a little water in wok or skillet for a few minutes. Add 2 cups of whatever vegetables you have on hand and stir fry about 3-5 minutes until vegetables are heated through.

Add 2 cups of cooked quinoa, brown rice, millet or grain of choice. Add soy sauce to taste or sea salt. Mix thoroughly.

Additional spices to add: cayenne pepper, turmeric, sesame seeds, dulse, kelp, and cumin.

I also added 2 tbsp of organic olive oil so the grain does not stick together and is fluffy.


Apple Oatmeal Muffins

Stir together

1 cup buttermilk, or plain yogurt (thinned with water to buttermilk consistency)
1 cup rolled oats, uncooked
½ cup raisins/dates or walnuts (combination)

Blend together

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp sea salt

Add 1 egg and 1/3 cup honey to buttermilk mixture.

Mix dry with wet and add 1 medium apple that is chopped small or grated.

Fill muffin tins almost full. Bake 20 – 25 minutes at 375. May take 30 depending on oven

Steamed Crock Pot Date Bread

Sprinkle 1 tsp baking soda over 1 cup chopped dates. Add 1 cup of boiling water and 1 tbsp butter. Allow to cool. Mix together ½ - ¾ cup of raw sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla. Add 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt and ½ cup chopped walnuts. Add dates. Pour into can and Bake covered on High for 2 to 3 hrs.

Pumpkin Biscuits

Combine: 2 ½ cups whole wheat, kamut or barley flour, 3 tbsp raw sugar, 1 tbsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp ginger. Using a mixer or pastry blender, add 3 tbsp butter and mix until blended. Add 1 15 oz can unsweetened organic pumpkin. Bake 400 for 20 minutes….check for desired browning.

Week 5

This week we are going to review Proverbs, Chapters 1-4 by taking some of the verses and putting them into action. Talking about what the verses would look like in real life is the only way we are going to put the Word of God into action. King Solomon, a man who never stepped foot into college or medical school, knew what was necessary to acquire total wellness. He simply asked God for wisdom.

Our theme verse is: 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24 May God himself, the God of peace sanctify you through and through and may your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who called you is faithful and He will do it.

This verse is telling us that God wants us whole spiritually, mentally, and physically. Not brokenhearted, not falling apart, not cracked; but whole. We are not divided into portions, but we are a spirit that has a soul that is housed in a physical body. Each part of us is connected and each part must be whole in order for us to be healed.

When we realize that our bodies are not just clumps of cells, but instead a miraculous gift from God, we will begin to treat it with the respect and honor it not only deserves, but demands.
King Solomon is teaching his son about what a person must do to become wise. He uses words like knowledge, understanding, discretion, and instruction as stepping stones towards becoming wise.

What is knowledge and how do you obtain it? Knowledge is education, learning, intelligence and we obtain it by going to school, interacting with others through conversations, tv, reading, listening, etc.

What does understanding mean and how can you obtain it? Understanding is taking that knowledge and grasping its meaning; comprehending it. If the knowledge we receive is understandable by our brain, it is a peaceful experience but if the knowledge we receive is confusing, our brain fills in the details in order to make the information understandable. This is one area that makes a lot of people sick. Why because when we plug in the details, we usually add incorrect information and add preconceived misunderstandings. We would do well to understand that there are some things we will never understand.

What does discretion mean? Discretion means that you take the knowledge, understand it as much as you are capable of doing, and then determine if it will become your truth based on your value system, individual choice, sound judgment and what the Word of God says about it.
Finally, what is wisdom? Wisdom is the accumulation of all the final outcomes of the above steps. It is the Bible based actions that we take when we are tested.

Knowledge is coming at us in every direction everyday. We take that knowledge and try to understand it. We use discretion (based on the Word of God and our value system, sound judgment) and either accept it as our truth or reject it. If we accept it as truth, we are then to apply that discretionary decision to our everyday life and that is when we put this wisdom into action thereby clearing our path of its toxic roots system.

Notice I did not say, we take that knowledge and react to it with emotional responses. When we react to the constant flow of knowledge coming at us with emotions and feelings, we will repeat the same behavioral patterns that we hate about ourselves and consequently, never become wise. Nor will we live blamelessly before God.

Let's review:

Knowledge comes at you constantlyWe respond to that knowledge with some form of understandingIf we choose to respond using our faith based values using the word of God, this is called discretion.

When we take our discretionary responses and repeat them the next time the same situation occurs in our life, it is then that we begin to become wise.

Unfortunately, there are three things that usually surface every time knowledge comes our way that are based on emotions and fear. They are:

• Insecurity
• Selfishness
• Defense

I am all three. In order for me to heal mentally, I first had to recognize that I have a problem in these three areas and secondly I have asked God to take these sins out of my life. I am choosing to dig deep into my inner courts to rid my body of these dangerous sins. They are dangerous to my health, they are dangerous to my witness, and they are not a character trait of Jesus.
Therefore, they have to go!

So I first recognize the sin and then I am asking God to change me. I cannot change myself without the power of the Holy Spirit that lives within me.
Let me give you an example.

Last Monday, I sat down to prepare my lesson. Meantime, my husband came up with the idea that our house should be wireless, have more channels on the TV, and have a digital phone. That was his “thing” that he wanted to accomplish. It was not my “thing” nor did I think we needed or did I want any of those three costly items in our house.

Mistake #1 I started out rebellious towards his decision and a slight bit annoyed that he did.
I was trying to focus on “my thing” and that was working on the lesson. He is asking me questions like: What is Brighthouse's number? (I think: How am I supposed to know...look it up in the phone book). Where is the phone book, Joan. (I guess you want me to get up from what I am doing and get the phone book?) So I get it. He then asked me where Shara's laptop was. (I guess you want me to get that too?) So I get it. He then asked me where the power cord is to Shara's laptop. (I guess you want me to find that too! I don't even know what a power cord looks like!) I heard the draws opening and the doors slamming and I knew he couldn't find it. So I said, “What does it look like?”

“You should know what a power cord looks like,” he said. “Why isn't it with the laptop where it should be.” “I can't ever find anything in this house!”

Mistake #2 IMMEDIATELY I got defensive! Very defensive! I had just spent the last two weeks organizing closets, bookshelves, pantries and cabinets; had workers in and out of the house, cleaned the entire house and in my wicked little mind I am saying, “and you weren't here to help me.

Mistake #3 I was holding a grudge against him for not being here to help me. I had not come to peace with our whole situation.
My insecurities then surfaced. I assumed that he was calling me disorganized and a bad housekeeper. My heart was racing (which it does when you get upset) and I had a lot of inner frustration bottled up inside. I thought, “I have been managing our house now by myself for 3 years and why didn't he appreciate all that I have done.”

Mistake #4 A need for appreciation from man.
Next, I was being very selfish because I had to drop what I was doing to help him find the stupid cord.

After all, I was learning about being spiritual so I could teach my class! Do as I say, not as I do!
So, mistake #5 I reverted to the three deadly sins: defensiveness, insecurity, and selfishness.
We spent the next ½ looking for the cord. I was mad, he was mad. He found it and I was madder because I wanted to find it so that I could “prove” that I was indeed an organized person.

The rest of the week was a roller coaster ride. Why can't you understand me. Why don't you talk to me so I can understand you. No matter what he would say, I got defensive. My insecurities were raging. My selfishness surfaced. You are not going to hurt me (defensiveness). I don't care what you think of me, I am OK (insecurities). I am going to do what I want because that is what you do (selfishness).

STOP THE MADNESS!

Back up to what Proverbs teaches and what we learned about knowledge, understanding, discretion, and wisdom in the first four chapters of Proverbs.

Knowledge came my way through Dennie's voice and actions. I received that knowledge with a “guarded heart” that had already formed years ago because of other unresolved “stuff”. I did not understand exactly what he was communicating to me so I filled in the blanks with toxic emotional responses. I reacted to what he did by responding with patterns that I have used since I was a little girl. Don't hurt me, I am a nice person. I am OK. Don't you know? Let me prove it to you. I'll do whatever it takes to make you love me. Why don't you love me? I am organized. I am a good little girl. Mother, please love me. I'll be good. Dennie please love me. I am a good wife. I am a good person. Wow! Where did all that come from? Could it be from unresolved bitterness, anger, rejection as far back as from birth?

1 Cor 13: 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child; I made plans like a child. When I became a man, I stopped those childish ways. 12 It is the same with us. Now we see like we are looking into a dark mirror. But at that time, in the future, we shall see clearly. Now I know only a part. But at that time I will know fully, like God has known me. 13 So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.

Proverbs Chpt 2:5
I am to Trust (believe, have faith) in the Lord with all your heart (through the power of the Holy Spirit) , and lean not on my own understanding (I am not supposed to be able to figure it all out. I am not to try to understand why other people do what they do).

We can't. We can only choose to take whatever knowledge comes our way every minute of every day and determine if we are going to act with discretion (faith based response) or react with the same exact ways we have always done that do nothing but cause rifts, arguments, hurts, gaps and division. In all my ways, I am to acknowledge HIM (concur, agree with) and HE will direct (make my path smooth, straight and right).

HE is the one who will remove the obstacles that are in the way. Those deep roots that haven't seen the LIGHT of freedom since they began to grow inside us. Roots that have been buried so far down in the darkness of guilt and shame that we don't know if it is possible to ever be free from them; our rock solid heart that won't allow people to love us for fear of being hurt once again, the stumps that remain of old wounds that we hold onto because we have learned to walk around them pretending they are not there.

They are there and God promises us that if we would just agree with HIM, acknowledge HIM, and be obedient to His word that He will direct our paths.

Vs 2:7 Joanie, do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
Joanie, stop repeating that self-hatred, insecure behavior. First of all you are not showing Dennie the love of Jesus when you react defensively, insecurely, or selfishly. You are showing him you.

Proverbs 3:8 Health to your flesh and strength to your bones comes from choosing to respond to the tests of life not pretending that they don't exist but through the power of the Holy Spirit that lives within me.

I cannot continue to do this. I call myself a Christ follower but follow my emotions and the voice of the little child within me. I have been wounded and now I am responding accordingly. That is how the world responds. I am a child of God. I am a child of the King who loved me so much that he sent Jesus to die for my wounded body so that I could spend eternity in Heaven.
I am not an unwanted, unloved child of a human like I have felt for so long. My mother carries those three deadly sins; insecurity, defensiveness, and selfishness in her soul from her Mother. She is not a child of the King. I am! I must break the chain of bondage right now.

What are you holding onto?
Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 23:29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? We all do!

Your scenario is different than mine, but we all have one. Each day the scenario changes, but the deep roots, rocks, and stumps need to be cleared from our path or we will never walk in victory.
Jeremiah 30:17 For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds, declares the LORD.

Are you ready to stop running?

1 Peter 2:18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. 19 For this {finds} favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer {for it} you patiently endure it, this {finds} favor with God. 21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting {Himself} to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

According to Proverbs 3:8 how I responded caused my bones to wither, my health to suffer, my days to be shortened, and definitely there was no peace. And regretfully, I did not show Dennie the love of Jesus.

What should I have done? What would I have done differently had I memorized and followed verse 3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart. I messed up but, the blessing in all this is that I know that the Lord is correcting me (Proverbs 2:12). How? By having me admit this to you. Humbling me as I tell you that God is teaching the teacher as she studies to teach others.

Do you really think I want you to know that I am a defensive, selfish, and insecure woman?
The chain has to be broken. It is time to walk the talk! It is time for me to commit to “the Way” and not live like a hypocrite.

Revelation 20:1-10 1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished

Again, the angel comes down from heaven, just like he did when he let us out of our jail cell, this time the key is to the bottomless pit...or hell. He takes a great chain and binds the serpent of old, the devil, shuts him up, seals him, so that we no longer will be deceived. I forget who wins the battle and act like I am on the defeated team. I am on the victorious team. You are on the winning team with me. I am thankful that God corrects those he loves. Praise Him for that! I want to live victoriously, not in chains.

What else did Proverbs teach me that I did not put into action?

3:17 Her (wisdom) ways are ways of pleasantness, And all her paths are peace.
3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
I leaned on my own understanding and I did not concur with what His Word said.
3:30 Do not strive with a man without cause, If he has done you no harm.
Did Dennie cause me harm by asking me where the cord was and to want to set up wireless internet in our house?
4:4 I did not let my heart retain His words and put them into action.
4:12 I stumbled on the stumps that I had not allowed God to remove from my path.
4:13 I did not take firm hold of God's instructions thereby reverted back to my old nature.
4:14 I entered the path of wickedness. I did not avoid it.
I know after 21 years of marriage that reacting with emotions does not do anything but cause strife, tears, hurt feelings etc. But I chose to anyway. I needed to PROVE I was right. Seems like I am always trying to prove I am right!
4:22 I caused death instead of life in our relationship. 24 I did not put away a deceitful mouth and 25 I did not let my eyes look straight.
I looked back and the plow went crooked.
Lu 9:62 - But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God
I could spend endless days beating myself up for failing once again. We don't pretend the past didn't happen, we just receive the correction and press on.
Look at 4:27 Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.
Amazing!

One more thing before we leave Chapters 1-4.

Kelly told me that some of you voiced concern because I keep you too late. My first emotional reaction was to get defensive by justifying in my mind that everything that I say is crucial and that you need to hear it. Secondly my insecurities surfaced and I began wondering if I was qualified to teach, thought you didn't want to hear want I was teaching, and on and on. Thirdly I got selfish and thought all kinds of things. The good news is that not so long ago I would have turned that anthill into a mountain, told everyone how ungrateful my class is blah blah blah.
Good thing I listened to God's correction concerning Dennie. I took those thought captive before Satan turned them into poison. I said, “Joanie, why are you feeling this way?”

They are right! You talked too much. I agree with them! That works for me! I was wrong. I didn't take it personal. That is huge for me! Because like I said, I take what I do very serious!
But I learned! Praise the Lord! I'll have you out of here by 8!

Do you know how free that makes you when you just say....You are right! OK! I agree.
Try it!

Now onto our Mental Healing. For the last 4 weeks we have been learning how toxic emotions can create physical problems in our bodies. It is critical that we learn to apply God's Word to our everyday actions and begin to live in obedience to God's word.

Following our syllabus/outline you will see that the next three weeks we are scheduled to talk about: I can only Change Me: taking responsibility for my actions. Well, there needs to be a correction to that title because God has revealed to me that even I cannot change me. Only He can change me. The only thing I can change, is my desire for Him to change me.

God does the changing. I can do nothing apart from Him.
15:5 - "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Amazing how perfect God's divine planning for this class has lined up. You will begin noticing how healing in our spirit, in our soul, and in our bodies begin to overlap. It is because we are three in one? Body, soul, and spirit.

It will all start to click as spiritual attacks come at us and we struggle/fight ourselves to not act according to how we responded in the past.

Do you think it was a coincidence that God allowed the battle to occur between Dennie and I? The whole Old Testament is about battles. God kept repeated to the Israelites over and over and over. Would you just please OBEY me! That is what He is yelling at me. Joanie, would you just obey me?
Matthew 11:28-29 says: Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls!

Quit trying to do it on your own. You can't. You will find rest for your souls only giving the battles of life over to Him. I am up for some rest/peace and down on the battling. Whenever I find myself battling, it is because I have chosen to fall back on my emotions and my feelings to solve my issues. It will never work and I am going to STOP!

Will I fail? You bet I will. Will I get back up and continue to press? You bet.
When times in our life are stressful and we allow our emotions to rule our behavior, we do really stupid things. One of them is to eat things that are harmful to our bodies.

It is a domino affect. Testing/battles will come, our emotions will soar, we react based on those emotions, we don't know how to handle it so we eat harmful foods, then we hate ourselves because we are not strong enough to resist the food, then we get sick because we have eaten foods that destroy our bodies, and then we take a drug to take all our pain away. God is whispering in His still small voice.

HALT – STOP the madness. That is not “the Way to Go Lightly”.

Jesus said: Come to Him. Ask Him for wisdom. You who are weary and tired. He will give us rest. I'm weary. Tired of doing life unwisely. Change is difficult but so is the game of destruction.

So what should I have done according to Proverbs Chapter 1-4? What do those chapters look like in real life? How should I have responded to Dennie to show him the love of Jesus?
Can I change the past? No! Can I learn from it and try not to repeat it again? Yes!
Rewind the story. When Dennie said, “Where is the power cord, Why isn't it with the laptop where it should be? I can't ever find anything in this house!"

My reply! TAKE A DEEP BREATH and say: “Just a minute and I'll help you find it” (pleasant)

TAKE Another DEEP BREATH! And silently SCREAM! HALT – HALLELUJAH, I Adore you Father, I Love you Father and I am Thankful that you are going to handle this situation. (you cannot).
I give this to you, Father.

As soon as you feel your heart racing and your heart in your throat it is time to put your hand over your mouth and Deep BREATH again!

Your physical body goes into action just as it would if you were frightened by an attack dog, a car coming at you head on, or a boss who tells you that you are fired. Your body goes into a defense mode an every physical part of you is alerted to keep you from having a heart attack. Calling all adrenal glands. Calling all blood. Digestive system, brain cells, heart.

As you can see, lots is going on. Pay attention to the hair on your arms the next time you are afraid. Or the pupils of your eyes.

Next pay attention to your thoughts. Take them captive before Satan takes control of the situation.

Remember that key we talked about last week which represents freedom in Christ! The chain has been broken, the door to the jail cell has been open and I am free. Immediately remember that I have been freed from the past and that I no longer will depend on my unstable unreliable feelings and emotions to get me through this testing. That beautiful piece of jewelry that Carolyn made each of us is a reminder that we are on “the Way” to growing deep in His truths and that butterfly represents transformation.

Say it again! HALT – HALLELUJAH, I Adore you Father, I Love you Father and I am Thankful that you are going to handle this situation. I give it to you! I cancel (hit the delete button) all the thoughts that Satan is putting into my head about me being an unorganized woman and a terrible housekeeper or anything else negative that entered into my thoughts.

I am not, nor will I ever be all things to all people. I do the best I can. Then I recall the verses we talked about in Proverbs and put them into action. I do not take anything personal or as an attack on my person, eliminating my need to get defensive.

I recall who I am in Christ and praise Him. God says he will never leave me and I know from studying the temple that He is right inside of me and all I have to do is call on Him. I have to believe He is going to handle everything for me. He'll give me the words to say. I will act pleasant and loving. I am an instrument of peace not turmoil. Is it possible? Yes! All that takes less than 5 minutes once you get it down good!

Now you are much more prepared to enter the battle because you are now dressed in the armor of God.

Why do we need to change? It is not because someone doesn't like us the way we are. It is not because the world says what we are is not acceptable to them.

We want to change because we are the only Jesus most people are going to see. We are destroying our witness to a world that is lost and going to spend eternity in a bottomless pit.
We have to start replacing sinful behavior with blameless behavior. This is a lifelong process (remember what sanctification meant? A process) but with honesty and perseverance, we will heal physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Today is the beginning. If you blew it today, tomorrow is the new beginning. His mercies are new every morning! And we must remember that.

Psalm 59:16 But I will sing of Your power; Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; For You have been my defense And refuge in the day of my trouble. Detox your mind!

Just like we talk about detoxing our bodies of the harmful foods that we are feeding it, we also have to detox our souls.

Ask yourself the following really tough questions: Pay close attention to the communication that goes on in your brain as your mind answers the questions.

• How many “could-have,” “would-have” or “should-have” statements do you think or say each today?
• Do you make a decision and then try to convince yourself it was a dumb one?
• How many times do you think “if only”. Is it a part of my vocabulary?
• How many times have you replayed a conversation or situation in your head that pained you?
• How many people have you told that same painful event to in order for them to think of you as a victim? A martyr?
• How many scenarios have you created of the unpredictable future?
• How much time do you spend speculating?
• Are you existing in the outer courts of your body trying to hide the pain of what you might “find” should you actually go inside yourself into your inner courts?
• Are you hiding something? Are you afraid others wouldn't like you if they knew your secret. Are you honest with yourself?
• Do you go through the motions of the day, not really committed to a goal, saying one thing but meaning another?
• Is your thinking distorted? Are you forming your personality around a problem or a disease? Do you speak about “my arthritis”, “my PMS”, “my doctor said”, “my rebellious daughter”, “my weight”, “my bad back”.... 24/7?
• Do you ever make comments like “nothing ever goes right for me,” “everything I touch fails,” or “I always mess up”, or “why do I keep doing the same stupid thing over and over”, or “I am such a loser”/failure”.
• Do you talk critically about others to make yourself look good?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, your thought life needs detoxing. If you said no to all these questions, then you are in denial! This is what this class is all about. Digging deep and getting to the root cause of our sin.

Next week we will take a deeper look at how to do this. Meantime, your homework is to take every thought captive and write down what you are thinking.

Write down some of the scenarios that you face this week. See if you can follow the Proverbs pattern for spiritual wellness.

HALT – HALLELUJAH, I Adore you Father, I Love you Father and I am Thankful that you are going to handle this situation.

TAKE A DEEP BREATH!
Study 1 Corinthians 10:3-6

1 Corinthians 10:3-6 We do live in the world. But we don't fight in the same way that the world fights. 4 We fight with weapons that are different from the weapons the world uses. Our weapons have the power from God. These weapons can destroy (the enemy's) strong places. We destroy (people's) arguments. 5 and we destroy every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. And we capture (catch) every thought and make it give up and obey Christ. 6 We are ready to punish any person who does not obey. But first we want you to obey fully. For though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

Remember something as you are doing this: Your toxic thinking is just as harmful to your health as a pack-a-day smoking addiction.

Whew!

Commit to “the Way”!

Go Lightly my sisters in Christ!

Physical Healing

I wanted to wrap up our discussion on lowering High Cholesterol that we began last week.
The ingredients that Kelly and I used to make the different dishes tonight all had healing properties to lower cholesterol.

Walnuts, oats, lentils, apples, wheat germ, garlic, onions, peas, broccoli, carrots, celery, kale, raisins, pumpkin and ginger are the main ingredients in the food that you ate. Each helps lower blood cholesterol.

Walnuts contain linoleic acid, the essential fatty acid that lowers total cholesterol and reduces the tendency of the blood to form harmful clots. Almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and soybeans also do the same thing.

Oats, legumes, apples, dried fruits are rich insoluble fiber, which reduces the amount of LDL cholesterol entering the bloodstream. It is crucial that insoluble fiber be combined with a low fat diet in order to lower your cholesterol.

We learned that a high cholesterol level is a clear sign of a raised risk of heart attack and stroke.
High cholesterol levels are caused by an unbalanced diet. The most effective way to reduce blood cholesterol levels is to eat less saturated fat, lose weight if necessary and get more exercise.

Eat more omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids such as wild salmon, sardines, wheat germ, walnuts, canola oil and soybeans.

Eat less meat and dairy products.

Women producing balanced amounts of estrogen are usually protected from having high cholesterol. If your estrogen levels are unbalanced due to menopause, hysterectomies or amenorrhea (no periods at all), you are at a higher risk for high cholesterol levels.

I teach and believe in allowing your body to heal itself through feeding it foods that contain plant estrogens found in dark green leafy vegetables and soybeans, and following the diet created by God instead of taking medications.

I believe we are gambling with our health when we takes synthetic drugs that will cause numerous other problems in addition to the ones we currently. The side effects are not worth the risk.

I also think it is crucial to take a look at your entire person and not single out one thing that is going wrong.

High cholesterol can be caused by a weak liver thereby it is crucial that foods like milk thistle and turmeric be eaten to strengthen the liver.

High cholesterol levels can also be caused because you are angry with yourself over something in your past. If you have a tendency to put yourself down, cut yourself down around others, allow others to cut you down in private or in front of others, this too could be a possible cause that needs correction.

We are looking at the spiritual, the mental and the physical. We are digging deep down inside our inner being, looking for all the things that are stopping us from becoming whole spiritually, mentally, and physically.

If you ever want to meet me one-on-one before class or at another time, please let me know. I am also available to grocery shop with you to help you and your family start choosing God whole foods.

If anyone has a health problem they want discussed next week, please let me know or email me. dlewis115@cfl.rr.com

I pray that you will allow God to change you from the inside out.

Week 4

Way to Go! You came back! I am so proud of you! There were probably other “things” you thought about doing right now, but where else could you go to learn how to heal Spiritually, Mentally and Physically through the Word of God! God wants you here. He wants you well.

Change is often difficult and the most difficult part is taking the first step to change. I have been really thinking about and wondering why it is that change is so difficult. I know in my heart that I desire to be able to love people the way the Bible instructs for me to do.

I know that if I don’t stop thinking toxic negative thoughts about myself and allowing that negativity to overflow into how I treat others, that I am more susceptible to a stroke and a heart attack. I know that if I do not stretch everyday, I am going to have a stiff neck and shoulders and I am setting the preliminary groundwork for someday being diagnosed with osteoporosis or arthritis. I know that if I do not lift weights and strength train my muscles; I will have flabby atrophied muscles and someday be diagnosed with a degenerative disease.

I know that if I eat hydrogenated processed fast food, I will have an arm length of diseases from dry skin, headaches and allergies to high blood pressure, obesity and early death.

Most importantly I know that if I do not spend time praying, studying, listening to God’s decrees but instead try to depend on my own emotions for everyday wisdom, I will be very sick spiritually.

What makes me decide one day that I have had enough of the unrighteous living and decide to live righteously…doing the right things to become whole physically, mentally and spiritually?

What does it take? What will it take for me to change?

One of the questions on the homework was about correction.

Proverbs 3:11 My daughter, do not despise the chastening (correction, discipline, punishment) of the Lord, nor detest (hate) His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the daughter in whom he delights.

Think this through with me. When I first started thinking about whether or not the Lord had corrected me, I boastfully thought, “I haven’t done anything wrong”. I am the teacher! Just kidding, but started realizing that the Lord is disciplining me all the time.

Here are some possible examples.

• If I have tenseness in my neck, shooting pain up my arms, legs and back, I know it is the Lord’s way of disciplining me for not taking the time to stretch. This correction is necessary so that I will take action or more physical problems will occur.
• If I do not drink enough water and thoroughly hydrate my body, I believe the Lord corrects me by giving me a headache or dry skin or wrinkles as a means of telling me that if I don’t take action and drink sufficient amounts of water, more physical problems are going to occur.

I know that if I say unkind words to someone; lash out at someone because they hurt my feelings…I believe God corrects me by having someone lash out at me. Or whatever I do wrong, it is inevitable that the exact same thing will turn around and happen to me. It is God’s loving correction!

If I repeatedly eat food that satisfy nothing but my fleshly appetite instead of eating food that is alive and created by God to nourish and sustain my body, God will discipline me with obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arthritis, …many, many things.

I know that if I do not pray, God disciplines me with my life being out of balance. If I do not study the word of God, I revert back to Joanie’s ways, if I do not read the word of God, I fill my mind with what the world has to offer and God disciplines me by my life going down into the pit of depression.

God gives me a choice. I can pay attention to His correction and immediately stop doing whatever it is that is causing the imbalance in my life or I can continue making excuses, medicating myself with the world’s methods, and never ever getting better.

I am choosing to change. I am choosing God’s way.

Will you take a moment to silence your mind, shut it off! Enter the outer courts of the temple as you visualize your body as the temple of the living God.

I want to pray our theme verse (1 Thess 5:23, 24) over you. Please reach out and grab the hand of someone beside you.

Close your eyes and put all the distractions of the world (everything that lies outside the temple) aside as we pray. This will take you into the presence of God.

Remember your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, a living sanctuary, pure and holy, therefore we are to honor God with our body. We are learning to treat our bodies with honor and respect because we are not our own, we were bought with a price. Each day we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God. We are the sacrifice. How often are we to die to our sinful self? Daily. 1 Cor 15:31

Sing along with the song, “Sanctuary”, as we enter the outer courts of His Temple, our body.

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true, with thanksgiving I’ll be a living, sanctuary for you.

Repeat after me:

Our Father of peace, it is me your servant. I bow before you with tears of gratitude for choosing me among the multitudes to be sanctified, to be set apart, for one reason and that is to fulfill your purpose. Now I honor you by setting my whole spirit, my whole soul and my whole body aside for You only and my desire is that each part of me will be blameless, without any willful sin in my life. I forgive myself and I forgive those who have harmed me in the past. I believe you are faithful, and you will carry me through the frightening thought of breaking free from this prison cell that I have remained in for so long. I believe Jesus set me free, now I choose to live as a free woman. I give the control over to you, my Creator, my redeemer, my King.

I believe in the Holy Spirit’s power within me to change me from the inside out.

"So if the Son makes me free, I will be free indeed. No turning back. (John 8:36)

Give God the praise!

Through Jesus we pray, Amen

Change! This is what we are committed to do.

I want to teach you more about the outer and inner courts of the temple before we begin Chapter 3 of Proverbs.

We have learned that the temple that Solomon built, used to be the dwelling place of God’s Spirit, but now our bodies are the dwelling place of God. Solomon’s Temple is a model or a blueprint of a believer who has the Holy Spirit in them.

The Jews believed that the temple was the place where God dwelt, where he revealed His character to them. As Christians our whole purpose for being alive is to reveal the character of Christ to the unbeliever.

You hear this saying all the time: It is not about me…and indeed it is not. It is about revealing the character of Christ to the unbeliever. How do we do this? We do it by becoming whole spiritually, mentally and physically.

It is important to know why we compare our bodies to the temple that Solomon built verses the other temples. Solomon’s temple was the only one in which God’s Spirit dwelt permanently until it was destroyed by the Babylonians. With all the other temples, God’s spirit would leave the temple whenever the Israelites were disobedient.

How does that parallel to us? God’s Spirit dwells permanently in us until we die. That is why it is crucial to comprehend the magnitude of this honor and responsibility of taking care of our body.

We are God’s temple. When we became a born again believer, God came to permanently reside within us. We are not our own. Therefore, we are decreed to honor God with our body.

Read 1 Kings 5, 6 and see if you can come up with more parallels.

Spiritual Healing
Proverbs Chapter 3

Turn to 2 Corinthians 6:16 (The Everyday Bible)

This verse describes what it is we are striving for as we learn from life’s instructional book of Proverbs

Listen as I read:

We do not want anyone to find fault with our work (lives), so nothing we do will be a problem for anyone. 4But in every way we show we are servants of God; in accepting many hard things, in troubles, in difficulties, and in great problems. 5We are beaten and thrown into prison. We meet those who become upset with us and start riots. We work hard, and sometimes we get no sleep or food. 6We show we are servants of God by our pure lives, our understanding, patience, and kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by true love, by speaking the truth, and by God’s power. We use our right living to defend ourselves against everything. 8 Some people honor us, but others blame us. Some people say evil things about us, but others say good things. Some people say we are liars, but we speak the truth. 9We are not known, but we are well known. We seem to be dying, but we continue to live. We are punished, but we are not killed. 10 We have much sadness, but we are always rejoicing. We are poor, but we are making many people rich in faith. We have nothing, but really we have everything!

Spiritually we heal by putting God’s decrees into action in our life. And that is what we are doing with the book of Proverbs. Reading our instruction manual and putting it into action. The key is: putting it into action.

Before we discuss the homework, let’s answer a few questions.

What are some of the practical benefits of wisdom? Vs 2
1. Lack of anxiety, 2. peace to the soul, 3. and vigorous physical health!

2. vs 6 Direct means: to smooth, straight, right….direct your paths…how? By removing obstacles that are in the way. Obstacles along “the way”!!!! What are some of the obstacles (darkness) that are in your way from becoming the woman God created you to be.

3. 3:1-12 lists commands in the odd-numbered verses and the blessings that come from obedience in the even-numbered verses.

What are the commands? Trust God; lean not to our own understanding; and acknowledge His leadership. If we follow those commands, he will then direct us. Funny how we continue to be the actress and the director of our own show (life) and expect blessings.

What are the blessings? Longevity; exemplary reputation; God’s guidance; physical well-being; prosperity; discipline.

I had to ask myself? Am I following His commands? Am I reaper the blessings He wants to give me if I were obedient?

Mental Healing

Do Not look back. We are pressing

How are we doing mentally? Who ticked me off today? Did I blame someone or something on the way I acted today? Did I become angry at someone because they didn’t meet my expectations? I am sensitive to the words of other. Am I clinging to something I did in the past and will not forgive myself for it? Am I making mountains out of molehills because I refuse to be wrong or because I just want it my way? Am I looking for everything right or am I looking for everything wrong? Am I discontent with my current situation? Do I wish I could erase what happened yesterday or something I did or said today?

Why were these questions so easy for me to write? It is because I wrote down how I think. I know my thoughts/mind are not pleasing and acceptable to God and I need to know what that looks like.

I need to change my thoughts. They are toxic to my physical body as well as my spirit.

In fact, when it comes to discussing this portion of my body/temple, I feel like a complete hypocrite. It is easy for me not to eat hydrogenated food or candy bars or Big Macs so I can’t understand why it is so hard for someone to stop destroying their temple with food.

But it sure is not easy for me to admit that I am a mess mentally. That is why one cannot be whole spiritually, mentally and physically unless all three of those areas are healed.

Help!

There is a whole lot of toxic thinking that goes on in my mind and I want to be healed. The reason I call it toxic is because it is not pure. It is harmful not only to my physical condition (toxic thoughts do cause physical diseases) but I am also harming other people.

Not to mention that I am not showing Jesus to a lost world.

It is so freeing to know that God’s mercies are new every morning because people’s aren’t. My mercies toward myself aren’t. Praise God that his are.

Psalm 94:19 And when I was burdened with worries, you comforted me and made me feel secure.

Ps 118:5 When I was really hurting, I prayed to the LORD. He answered my prayer, and took my worries away.

This is an amazing verse:

Luke 9:62 But Jesus told him, "Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.

What is that verse saying? When we began this class we began plowing/clearing your path (the Way) of all the debris (roughness), rocks (hardness), and roots (past) and Jesus is saying to us…don’t look back. If you live in the past you are not “fit” for the Kingdom of God.

Oh this is so good! How much effort have I put into plowing my field spiritually, mentally and physically since this class began? Did I plow the first week and stop because I grew weary of plowing? Jesus said, you are not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven and He’s right!

How does one get fit? We have to plow daily. We cannot let the heat of the day stop us from continuing to plow.

For me the heat has been on for me mentally this week and I know that I need to work extremely hard on my mental fitness. “FIT” I chose to go back and react to the heat with the same lousy emotional reactions that I always do.

I am hearing and listening and reading and studying the Word and desiring to be a mentally healthy godly woman, but Jesus said:

Lu 6:42 Or how can you say to your sister, 'Sister, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye.

Like I said, it is very easy for me not to eat harmful food. I have studied and studied and studied about what harmful food does to your body and I have put that into action. That is easy!

But God corrected me while I was preparing for this lesson by allowing someone in very close to me do something that totally ticked me off and through me into a unfit mental condition that was stupid.

Reread Luke 9:62. But Jesus told him, "Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.

Every day I live a twenty-four hour day. Every day my path is twenty-four hours long. During that day I can choose to plow my field (life’s journey) and dig up those weeds that are taking over my path (life) by the root system or I can continue to pick the weeds/rocks/debris only from the surface…a temporary fix…making me look pretty for a little while from the surface (outer courts of my temple)…a day or two but not permanent change. I want those ugly, long, deep, nasty weeds out of my life.

I had a person write the following statement about me.

tell her that God is about to do a shifting in her life...he is going down to the depths of her soul and uprooting roots of baggage from the past that have kept her captive in unhealthy emotions...he is shifting her to a new place with him when it is done. you cant put new wine in old wine skins.

I would like to say, “Yep, she is right. I am sick and tired of being a mess mentally and I am ready for Him to go into the trenches of my soul and uproot all those weeds. But are those just words?

Look at Proverbs 3:12

For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father and son in whom he delights.

Is this about me telling you I am not all-together! Partly. Is this about me telling you that I need God’s help in changing just as much as you do! Absolutely.

We are here for each other.

Kim Hill’s song turned into a prayer: I’m ready to stop running, let myself be caught. Stop pretending let myself be known. I’m ready to stop hiding let myself be found, held safe and sound, in Your loving arms.

So hold me close in Your arms of mercy. Look inside, show me what You see. Touch my life, and I will stop my searching, And find that place in You, that waits for me.

Whatever I held onto, I’m ready to let go. Burn my bridges, and dance within the flames. All of my wrong choices have lead my heart back home…to the love that swallows up my pain. I can see You’ve been there all along. You’ve reached into my recklessness and filled me with your song.

Physical Healing

Proverbs 3:11, 12 My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; 12 For whom the Lord loves He correct, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.

This may be very different from what you are used to hearing, but think about this: Like we talked about earlier, is disease God’s correction?

Ever wonder if colon cancer could be a form of God’s correction caused by holding on to something, refusing to let go, fear of letting go?

Could uterine cancer or other female diseases be the result of the sins of our fathers or any man who sexually molested us or emotionally abused us in our lives. Could herpes be an indicator of our own sin? Before becoming a Christian, I made sinful choices that I am definitely ashamed about, and I had to accept the forgiveness of the blood of Jesus or I could have allowed Satan to mentally tell me what a despicable person I was.

Could heart attacks be the result of years of having your heart emotionally broken?

I believe there are three different ways a person “ends up with” a disease.

1. Mentally through repetitive negative thoughts that you tell yourself or negative thoughts that someone else says to you.
2. Physically through repetitive negative energy from food created through the greed of man verses live giving energy from food created specifically for our body by God.
3. spiritually – continually living for self and not for God.

Many would add genetic to this and yes I believe in genetic diseases. I also believe that ones genes have also been used as a crutch or excuse for not properly caring for your body, the temple of the Holy Spirit. This is one of those areas where we have believed we could do nothing about our health because it was genetic. High cholesterol could possibly be caused by the body’s over production of cholesterol, but let’s look at some other possibilities.

In order to understand what is causing elevated cholesterol levels, we must understand what cholesterol is and understand fats, because some fats are vital for healthy body functioning. Fat slows the release of sugar into your bloodstream, helping to sustain energy. Fat is necessary for the absorption of vitamins A, E, D, and K, and beta-carotene, and for the formation of all cell membranes.

High Cholesterol: a condition in which there is unhealthy high levels of cholesterol in the blood. It is also called dyslipidemia, hyperlipidemia, and lipid disorder.

The dangerous level for Total Cholesterol is above 240, with the HDL being below 35 and the LDL 160 and higher. Borderline is 200-239, and desirable less than 200. Triglycerides which is another fat that circulate around in your bloodstream must also be low. Your triglyceride level should be below 200.

There are tons of articles about reducing your cholesterol and how to do it.

In Scripture God gave strict orders about the kind of fat that can be eaten by his people. This mostly pertains to the hard fat around the organs of beef, lamb, sheep, goat, and pigs, (Lev 3:14-17) There are fats that are good for you and fats that are bad. The fat that God told his people to stay away from is the same fat that today’s scientists say you shouldn’t eat.
God instructed the Israelites to burn the fat that surrounded the organs like a cushion and the fat that was inside the body cavity of the animals, as a food offering to him. This fat, referred to in the passage from Leviticus, is the same fat that is used make lard. It is very hard fat and is the major animal fat that is known to cause a lot of health problems. Hard fat is very difficult to digest.

Shortening is made of vegetable oil that has hydrogen added to mimic this hard fat. Shortening or hydrogenated fat is also hard to digest and can turn to fat in or on your body, which is true for any hydrogenated fat products like margarine and many processed foods. The most common place to get this hard fat is from pigs.

What will help? In the US, 75% of all deaths are related to excessive consumption of fat, sugar, and salt.

The problem is we are eating the wrong fats, because fat is necessary for health.

Here is a list of the fats that must be eliminated from your diet:

Hydrogenated Oil – read labels carefully. Hydrogenated oil is oil with hydrogen shot into it. Why put hydrogen in the oil? Shelf life. It allows a cracker to live on the shelf indefinitely. Hydrogenated fats work like plastic in the body. They are toxic and impossible to digest. So where does that fat end up? In your veins, around your waist, on your thighs.

When it ends up in your veins, the blood cannot flow through them causing high cholesterol levels in the blood and usually high blood pressure as well. Eventually this leads to a stroke and a heart attack.

When all the fat free diet craze was in full force, people gained more weight because all the fat free foods contained more sugar and salt to make the cookie taste good. And people thought, since there was no fat in the cookie, they could eat 10 cookies instead of two cookies. Or a gallon of fat free ice cream instead of a cup.

But the problem is since the body still needs good fat for the reasons mentioned above, it will still crave fat. It is telling you to feed me fat. Again, trying to eat fat free is setting you up for failure.

Eat the fat that God created for your body and your body will be satisfied.

Ezekiel 39:19 At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk.

The best way to cut back your cholesterol level is to cut back on your fat intake. There are other things that could be causing the cholesterol to be high, and we’ll discuss those in a minute.

It is so important to know what is in your food. If you eat out a lot, you have no control over what you are eating and this is very dangerous. If you eat Fritos scoops, you may think you are eating healthy corn, when in fact you are eating harmful fat. Because 50 – 60% of the calories in corn chips and potato chips are from fat. Over 90% of the calories in salad dressing are from fat. In fact, the main source of fat in the American woman’s diet is now salad dressing. Ice cream is over 50% fat. Bacon is more than 75% fat. Almost any piece of beef is more than 50% fat. And most bakery products are loaded with hidden fat.

But they taste good! Trust me, they are killing you.

The next thing you have to cut back on is sugar. Since your body can manufacture triglycerides from sugar, a diet high in simple carbohydrates (refined white flour, table sugar, processed refined products) also raises your cholesterol level.

What was principle #1? Eat the foods God created and not man. Once we listen to God’s decrees, we will get well. (Along with healing mentally and spiritually). I never promised it would be easy!

All alcohol is straight sugar to the bloodstream. Eliminate it.

Limit animal products, particularly egg yolks, liver, or other organ meats. One egg yolk has 213 milligrams of cholesterol if we are allowed 300 milligrams for the day; don’t even think of eating breakfast at Denny’s!

There is a lot of saturated fat in meat which is another reason God decreed that our basic diet should be from plants and not animals.

What to do?

1. Trade whole milk for organic skim milk or Eden soy milk extra.
2. Trade ice cream for nothing. Just don’t eat it.
3. Start eating salads with flax seed oil and spices. Dressing recipes included.
4. Toss vegetables with flax seed oil and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or organic Eden Soy Sauce. Sesame seeds and Sea Salt along with other spices of your choice.
5. Vinegar (to include Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing) is not always a good choice because it makes our bodies acidic. Vinegar can be poison to some, and healthful to others.
6. Steam vegetables in water, not oil.
7. Limit meat, instead eat cold water wild caught fish which is high in Omega 3 – 6 essential fatty acids. This includes salmon, herring, tuna and sardines. Never buy farm raised fish. It is fed hormones. Walmart has inexpensive frozen wild caught fish. Look out for other additives.
8. Eat more vegetarian meals. When you do eat meat, cut all visible fat off and steam it so the fat drips off. There are so many delicious recipes available now online.
9. Substitute soy products whenever meat is suggested in a recipe. Soy crumbles, tofu, tempeh, textured vegetable protein (tvp) are excellent substitutes.
10. When you use fat, choose unrefined, first cold pressed, organic olive oil, canola oil which are polyunsaturated oils. Corn, sunflower and soybean oil contain mostly polyunsaturated oils, which lowers your LDL.
11. Butter should be a treat, and not used all the time. Margarine if forbidden for it is harmful. It contains trans fats which raise cholesterol levels. A better choice is olive oil (a little) on the bread or potato.
12. Cover your toast with almond butter or organic jelly. (Check sugar content in the jelly).
13. Beans (Pinto, kidney, navy and white beans and lentils contain generous amounts of soluble fiber which lowers blood cholesterol)
14. Start the day with oatmeal and oat bran which contains beta-glucan.
15. It goes without saying that eating a wide range of vegetables that are God created for you will decrease your LDL level.
16. Eat garlic. And lots of it.

If you wish to have copies of handouts, please contact rosieskye@hotmail.com.

Welcome back to Week 3!

We are studying how to become a balanced woman spiritually, mentally and physically and we are basing our instructions for doing that strictly according to the Word of God. But this is not easy and change is difficult. So we often look for the quick fix, whether it be a prayer, a prescription or plastic surgery, we want immediate results. But these options are temporary and often leave us emptier and more unbalanced than we were to begin with. We are learning that it is so much better to learn slowly and steadily because then it will become a permanent lifestyle change and not just some “class you took” last year.

In tonight’s spiritual healing segment, we will begin learning how our bodies are identical to the structure of the ancient temple that Solomon built. We will learn how to leave the distractions of our external world, go from the outer court (which is the part of our bodies that are visible to another person) and enter into the Holy Place (which is our soul) and the Holy of Holies (where God is within us). It is within our temple that we go to communicate with God through prayer.
We will cover the homework and discuss Chapter Two from the Book of Proverbs. We will continue to search Bible verses to teach us to pray. Last week we began learning what real prayer meant by looking at verses in the Bible that referenced the word pray or prayer. I hope you took time to study a few more of those verses.

For our mental segment we will continue our discussion on “Letting Go of the Past and Pressing On”. We will continue to discuss the hazards of looking back and how to continue to look forward.

For our physical segment, we will be adding two more foods that heal our physical bodies and delete two more foods that harm our bodies.

Let’s Go! (LIGHTLY of course)

Our theme verse is: 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 24
May the God of peace sanctify you through and through and may your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who has called you is faithful, and he will do it.

Before we pray, let us first try to clear our heads of the mental clutter that bombards our minds. This is a discipline and very difficult to do…but with practice…I believe God will honor our desire to focus on Him alone and will allow our minds to be clutter- free when we enter the temple. What does it mean to enter the temple?

First off, Jesus described his own body as a temple in: John 2:18

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

Likewise, our body is also called the temple. 1 Cor 5:19

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

What is the parallel here?

I believe that in order for us to truly transform into a new creation spiritually, mentally and physically we have to understand the parallels between the physical temple of the Lord that Solomon built and our own body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

If we do not truly understand our bodies according to what Scripture teaches, then our efforts to change will never be permanent. We have to believe what Scripture is telling us and then apply Scripture to everything we do in life especially healing.

On your handout you see two pictures. Let’s look at the picture that shows what the outside of the temple that Solomon built would look like.

Right beside the temple, you see a drawing of what the inside would look like. There are basically three parts: The courts, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Highlight those three areas.

There are three main sections of this temple but together those three sections make up the whole temple. Each section is vital for the temple to exist. Each section has its own purpose. Could the temple exist without the Holy Place… or the Holy of Holies or the Courts? No, each is vital to the completeness of the temple.

Our body has three sections: the physical body (that which can be seen), the soul (which includes the mind, emotions, and will), and the spirit, but together they complete who we are; our whole being. Each section having it own purpose. We can not do without any of those three sections.

Tonight, we are going to focus only on the courts of our temple. The outer and inner courts (the outside of our body and the inside of our body which include all our organs, blood, bones) are the part of us that makes contact with the rest of the world.

When a person looked at the tabernacle from the outside, they could only see the outer court. When someone looks at you, they can only see your outer court.

Think about this: If you are looking at the temple from the outside, is there anything that tells you what is going on in the inside of the temple? No, as long as you are standing on the outside of the temple, you have no knowledge of what is going on inside.

When people look at you, they see your physical attributes; the outside of you. A lot of the time we do not allow anyone past our outer courts, but keep our relationships on the surface. Fear, hurts, selfishness are just a few of the reasons why we only allow people to know only about our outer courts.

Not only do we keep relationships from entering past our outer court, we also refuse to take responsibility for the condition of our inner court mainly because we don’t understand how much of an impact it has on our outer court, our Holy Place and our Holy of Holies. The condition of the outer court is always going to be a reflection of the condition of the inner court?
This is crucial to understand for we will see that this has a domino effect. Because the condition of your spiritual life (Holy of Holies) reflects the condition of your (Holy Place) and the condition of your Inner Court and your Outer Court also are a reflection of your Holy Place. That is why we must learn to heal all three segments of our body.

Now when a Jew came to the temple, he would always bring a sacrifice or an offering for the forgiveness of sin. What is it that we should bring when we come to the temple (our body) asking God (who resides in our Holy of Holies) through prayer for forgiveness of sin?
Romans 12:1, 2 says: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

We are to bring our body. Our body according to Romans 12:1 is a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

As we begin to learn to pray, I want us to recreate in our minds being Jewish and entering into the temple except instead of grain or an animal, we are the sacrifice…just like Abraham was to bring Isaac, his human son, to be sacrificed. Close your eyes and visualize your body coming to Solomon’s temple and picture yourself standing in the outer courts. Now look at your body. You are taking your body and presenting it as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God. And how often must we do this? Once? Twice?

1Co 15:31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
We must die daily. That means it doesn’t work just to die of yourself once or twice but every single day.

As you begin to pray, this is where your mind needs to take you first: into the outer courts. It is here that you present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God (Romans 12:1).
Each week we will continue to learn the parallels between Solomon’s temple and our bodies. It is an absolutely amazing parallel and I truly know your prayer time will be totally changed once you understand your personal temple. With understanding brings knowledge and with knowledge we will understand why it is so important not to destroy your temple (body) in anyway.

I asked you to look up the verses I gave you from searching in the Bible for prayer or pray.
I took the verses we looked up last week and combined them with our theme verse and composed a prayer.

Take a minute to refer back to your notes for a more thorough definition of the word sanctification because I think we need more clarification:

Sanctification means: The process by which we learn how to “set aside” our own thoughts, emotions, and desires so that God’s Life can come forth from our hearts. It is then that we are “set apart” from the world.

The Way...the Process

Take a few minutes to read through this prayer thoroughly adding your own heart’s desires.

Father, your servant (your name) has come to your temple of one accord, single mindedly seeking you as I present my body as a holy and living sacrifice unto you. My heart’s desire is to forgive those who have harmed me in anyway recently or in the past and I am asking you to forgive me for anything I have done that harmed my personal relationship with you. I ask for forgiveness for my disobedience whether it was sin against my physical body, my soul, or my spirit.

My mind is pinging in all directions: with the today’s activities, today’s disappointments, today’s sadness, today’s emotions, today’s worries, today’s responsibilities. I want to learn to become totally dependent on your promises and ask you to forgive me of all the varied sin that I have not repented of. I do not deserve your mercy and continual patience with my disobedience nor do I deserve to enter your temple.

I am asking that all three sections of my body; my physical, my mental and my spiritual body be recreated to reflect your image. Give me your strength to endure whatever it takes to break me from the past mistakes I have made and get me on the path toward brokenness.

Thank you Father for choosing me to be a part of the few for I am so unworthy to enter your temple gate. I come knowing I can find peace from my confusion, rest from the many weights of sadness and burdens that lay on my shoulders. I desire to become blameless in your sight and that I will make honorable decisions regarding my spirit, soul and body. Remove the barriers from my past as my desire is to become a woman of wisdom and understanding reflecting the image of your Son.

Thank you Lord for being a God whom carries me through the difficulties of life.
I believe in the Holy Spirit power within me to change me from the inside out.
In the name of Jesus I pray.

Chapter Two of Proverbs

As we learned last week, the Book of Proverbs is a detailed instruction book that will teach us how to deal successfully with everyday life. I discovered this week that once you begin to implement changes to your physical body, your mind/soul or your spirit, resistance immediately occurs.

What we are agreeing to do together during the next nine month is not at all easy. In fact it will be down right hard. But I believe it will make a huge difference in whether or not we experience the life that Jesus came to give us through his death.

Joh 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Define abundant: having plenty.

What does it mean when Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly? I don’t believe that the definition of abundant life is lot of stuff. Things we acquire according to King Solomon are meaningless. (Ecclesiastes 1:2) I am looking forward to implementing what God’s Word instructs us to do, because honestly I desire to have that abundant life that He came to give me through his death. It is obvious that what I have been doing on my own has been futile and meaningless. I believe we will learn…if we are listening to God’s instructions, what exactly is meant by abundant life.

What we are learning is that wisdom is not going to come just by wishing for it. Wisdom comes through understanding. Understanding will come from seeking God in every decision that you must make.

Vs 2 incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding.

Learn from reading and studying. But you also must apply the wisdom to concrete it into who you are becoming. Do not revert back to the old emotional way of responding to everything.
Verse 20 is such a beautiful verse and notice here “the way” and the word “blameless”. Nothing is random with God. – vs 20 So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness. 21 For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless (whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless) will remain in it; But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

Does walking on the path towards blameless living really matter to God? Is it just to be good? Reread verse 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

This is talking about two different deaths. Physical death and eternal death. I choose physical life and eternal life!

Any thoughts or insights?

Prayer
Let’s take a look at a few more verses to see what God’s word says about prayer. Refer to list.
Students are asked to work on this at home.

Mental Healing: Do not look back. We are pressing!

This is our second week of talking about the hazards of looking back, blaming the past for our current condition, blaming someone in your past for your personality, not forgiving yourself for something you did in your past and allowing it and Satan to control you because you haven’t let it go, not forgiving someone in your past for something awful they did to you.

Last week we said that no matter what, we cannot go back and relive the past. It is impossible. That is why it is crucial that we forgive ourselves, forgive others, and press on for the goal for which we were created for. EASY?

In Acts 5:23, we found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.

Vs 25 says: Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!

This verse is telling us to break free! Break out of prison. The chains of slavery have been broken. You are free to Go (Lightly). Make the commitment right now to not look back and allow the chains of the past to hold you back from standing in the temple.

Do you remember from last week that we were once in a prison cell with a lifetime sentence of eternity in hell, but then (Romans 4:16) Jesus set us free!

So that’s why faith is the key! God’s promise is given to us as a free gift.

Isaiah 43:18 says: Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past.
This is so good. Forgive those who trespassed against you. Forgive yourself.

Ecclesiastes 3:15
Things that happened in the past have happened, (and we can’t change them).
Stop living as a slave wanting to go back to bondage.

Song: Kim Hill: I am ready to stop running...let myself be caught.

We stay in bondage because of FEAR. Fear stops us from moving forward and keeps us stuck either in the past (regret) or in the future (what will happen). The word fear is listed in 354 verses in the Bible. Almost one for every day of the year.

Most of the verses say:
Fear God, the fear of God, fear not, do not fear, I fear God alone.

Deuteronomy 1:21 Look the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.

Today, you too can possess the promised land that God has promised to you.

Deuteronomy 31:6 do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.

1 Chronicles 28:20 Be strong and of good courage…. Do not fear nor be dismayed for the Lord God, My God, will be with you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.

Isn’t that great? You are chosen to daily walk the path of eternal life and we walk with our heads held high and with no fear. How long must we do this? Until we have finished all the work we have been called to do here on earth and that is when we die.

I think of death that way now. They finished the work God had for them to do on earth.
I am asking you to begin listing your fears. List them all! Make sure you write them down. Perhaps my fears will get your mind working:

1. not spiritual enough
2. am not confident enough
3. am a terrible wife
4. talking of front of large groups
5. rejection
6. being alone
7. what will they think of me
8. what will they think if I say what I feel

I love Galatians 5:7 You are running a good race. Who stopped you from following the true way? This halt did not come from the one who called you.

Where does it come from? FEAR!

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast (stay where you are…live in the moment) therefore in the liberty by not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Hand out - PUSH

Next week we are going to talk about the things that have happened to us in the past that causes us to fear. Be thinking about them.

Questions?

Physical Healing:

Exodus 15:26 says: If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.

The Egyptians parallel an to today’s unbeliever? Do you believe that if you are obedient to the decrees God has given us, and listen carefully to His voice, that He will not bring any disease upon you or that He can heal you from those that you do have? You see the unbeliever does not know God’s decrees therefore has an excuse to treat their body however they choose with total disregard to their Creator. But we don’t. This is a command from God.

And Leviticus 10:10 tells us that we must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean.

God wanted to teach His people (which we are also) to separate themselves from idolatry and anything impure. Clean meant separated for God; unclean meant separated from God.
Clean is associated with purity, holiness and being set apart (sanctify) for God.Unclean is associated with death.

We are going to learn what foods are unclean and which are clean. As science catches up with God, you will see clearly that God wrote these scientific laws way before any scientist did. God created the scientist and her mind.

The unclean foods are the ones I am asking you to eliminate. The clean foods that are acceptable to God are the ones I am asking you to add to your diet.

Last week we learned three principles or three important rules that we believe God has given us so that we can live healthier lives.

Principle #1 - Eat Only Substances God created for food. Avoid what is not designed for food.
In the very first chapter of the Bible, God said to humans: Gen 1:29 I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

He gave it to us therefore food is a gift and he expects us to eat these foods. He provided us with the whole foods that we must eat as close to the way God created them and eat them in their entirely.

Eating the whole orange instead of taking Vitamin C. Vitamin C is only one healing property of the orange, but when you eat the entire orange, you eat vitamins that man hasn’t even discovered that work synergistically with the “C” to make it perfect for nourishing our body.

Let me ask you a very personal question. If you had eaten only God given foods since you were born, what would you look and feel like?

So this week add Ezekiel 4:9 bread as a replacement for the bread you are currently eating.
Ezekiel 4:9 says:

Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt; put them into one vessel and make bread of them for yourself.

I brought each of you a loaf of Ezekial 4:9 low sodium bread because no where in that verse does it say salt. We eat entirely too much such causing high blood pressure and other problems.
And what you must remove this week is nitrates, nitrites and sulfites to include BHT, BHA. Start reading the ingredients in the products you buy and choose the product that does not contains these preservatives.

That’s the Way to GO LIGHTLY!