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Introduction
WISH SUCCESSFULLY
It is. It’s inside. Your healthy self is inside of you waiting to be freed. It may be dormant, hidden deep inside you; it wants you to shake it awake and nurture it into what it is supposed to be. Your healthy self may be just under your skin ready, groaning and longing to be released. Your healthy physical self is strong, handsome, healthy, viable and effective. Your body was meant to be these things from the beginning of time.
“My body?” you ask. Yes! Let me surprise you — and help you surprise yourself — concerning your physical body. Dismiss the idea that getting physically right has anything to do with fads, vanity or self-absorption. Body Surprised! is about the ability and freedom God offers you to be the person He designed you to be, and to fulfill the purpose for which He made you.
Right now it may sound like wishful thinking or even dreaming. That’s okay. It is a terrific place to start. Use the list of suggestions below to describe your life with a healthy, fit body. Fill in the blanks and/or circle the ones you can apply to yourself. Feel free to add your own thoughts. Circle the two most important to you.
Finish this sentence: In my dreams…
I am in shape and have become fit.
I have energy.
my blood pressure is low and healthy.
my bad cholesterol level is low and healthy.
my endurance is amazing.
I look in the mirror and like what I see.
I am competitive in business and in life.
I weigh __________ pounds.
I fit into size _________.
my bone density is improving.
self-control is (back) in my life.
my head is clear.
I have a great memory.
my children and grandchildren see me as a role model for healthy lifestyle choices.
I am avoiding, postponing or relieving: aging (from wrinkles to aches), allergies, cancer, hemorrhoids, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, dementia, multiple sclerosis, depression, anxiety, stress, joint pain, osteoporosis.
I just feel better.
I know how to set priorities.
I can sleep when I want to sleep and in whatever position I like.
my mind is sharp.
other???? _________________________________________________________________
Now, turn dreams into reality!
This Bible study will provide you with the tools and motivation you need to make healthy choices and to dispel excuses. If, that is what you want. The process of advancement and development will be uncomfortable sometimes, but it will be good, too. The physical challenges you face are worth conquering because you are worth it. You will discover you can apply the basic truths in this Bible study to many parts of your life.
Week 1
WONDER AT YOUR CREATION
This Bible study will change how you feel and look, as well as increase the quality of your life, if you incorporate new spiritual and physical principles. This study will guide you toward those principles. It will present ideas. You will have to draw your own conclusions. You will have to decide how you apply these principles and how they impact your life. It sounds like a lot of work, but one learns best when self-taught and this is why Body Surprised! will strongly influence your life.
Warning! This isn’t a tame Bible study. It is all about change and change is hard. Don’t let anyone minimize the challenge ahead of you.
If you can stay focused and motivated to push through the first three weeks of this Bible study and complete the tasks required, you will be past the most difficult part and on your way to accelerating success. Why am I so confident of this? Change is a process that has been studied and tracked. Think of it as a J-curve.
Stage 1 is “business as usual. My normal routine is king and there is no disruption.” Unfortunately, this stage isn’t working for us. It is convenient and easy, but unhealthy. We can only get off of this horizontal line if we act. Change takes deliberate and intentional action. It takes planning. The majority of people in our world will stop on the Stage 1 line for the rest of their lives because there they don’t have to make a change.
Stage 2 is “there has to be change in my life. Change has to come for me to enjoy my life, to be fulfilled and productive, and to connect to the Creator.” And it feels like jumping off of a cliff. It does. At the edge of Stage 1 you look down into the chasm of the unknown. As you work through the first three weeks of this Bible study, there will be times you will want to give up and scramble back to your past comfortable, but damaging, routine. Things will get worse before they get better. It will get better! Don’t give up. It will turn. Push through the depths of Stage 3 and the fun of success will begin and accelerate.
Body Surprised! will confront you. Sometimes that is exactly what we all need. God confronts us with a clear view of reality — whether we like that reality or not — and will rescue us from our peril, from our stagnation and from the valley of Stage 3, if we allow Him.
God’s rescues described in the Bible are powerful and violently spectacular. Today’s assignment takes a look at the intensity of God’s rescues and what we can look forward to when He is finished. These Old Testament verses have always been my favorites.
Read Psalms 18:6-19. How would you define your body distress (verse 6) for which you need God’s help?
It may be possible that your body is moving from distress (verse 6) to calamity (verse 18) if your lifestyle choices have resulted in high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels or other serious health situations. You now have the chance to halt and reverse that trend. You can move from distress to healthy with the rescue, energy and help of your Creator.
When the writer in this passage cried to God, what shook and moved because God reacted to help the writer?
Look at verse 9 closely. It says He “came down.” When God enters the picture things change. How did the atmosphere change in verse 9 and 12?
In verse 16, it sounds like the writer felt he was drowning. He certainly felt trapped by people or situations that were overwhelming. He no longer pretended he could ignore his situation or that his situation would change on its own. Do you sometimes feel trapped in your body struggle?
What do you feel is too mighty or strong for you to overcome?
What would you like God to do for you in this situation?
Do you think God will unleash the same power, to help you, that He used in the psalm? Why? Take a look at Psalms 18:17-19 again and read Jeremiah 29:11 before you answer.
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