FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

Imagine this…you are going to go on a journey to a place you’ve never been before. It’s a beautiful place and it’s filled with promises of wonderful things and eternal happiness. Your tour guide has given you all the advice and material you will need to complete the journey. He can’t go with you though. His father needs him. He leaves you with a compass, a map and a walkie-talkie. He wishes you well and sends you on your way. “Peace,” he says.

You are left alone. You read the map, check your compass and begin your journey. You walk for a while; hiking over mountains and wading through streams. It is a tough journey but you have not strayed from the tour guide’s map.

You come to a fork in the road. One direction is a cleared path lined with fruit trees; the other is rocky and dry. This is an easy decision. You are starving. You head on the clear path and eat fruit until you are full. Then you lay down to sleep.

You suddenly wake up. Bees are swarming around you. They must have smelled the fruit. You stand up quickly and begin to swat them away. Ouch! You are stung. Ouch! You are stung again and again…Finally the bees are gone. You begin to walk on the path. You trip over a root and fall flat on your face. You lay there a second. You feel yourself being lifted off the ground, back to your feet. You feel someone brush your clothes off.

Maybe you should have checked the map or asked the tour guide which way to go. You turn on your walkie-talkie and explain to the tour guide what you did. “It is okay. Let’s get you back on the right path,” the tour guide says. “I’m here for you.”

Isn’t it nice to know that even though your tour guide had to leave you, he equipped you for every part of your journey? And even though you didn’t listen to him, you were able to come to him when you needed him and through the walkie-talkie, he showed you the way.

This is what Jesus told His disciples before He was going to die on the cross for us!! He said that He was going to leave them but He would leave them with the Spirit of Truth.

15-17"If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you. I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can't take him in because it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!

18-20"I will not leave you orphaned. I'm coming back. In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you're going to see me because I am alive and you're about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I'm in my Father, and you're in me, and I'm in you.

21"The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that's who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him."

22Judas (not Iscariot) said, "Master, why is it that you are about to make yourself plain to us but not to the world?"

23-24"Because a loveless world," said Jesus, "is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we'll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn't mine. It's the message of the Father who sent me.

25-27"I'm telling you these things while I'm still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I'm leaving you well and whole. That's my parting gift to you. Peace. I don't leave you the way you're used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don't be upset. Don't be distraught.

Let’s break this down.

Jesus first asks us to show our love but following His commandments, the example He set for us. His life’s purpose was to teach us God’s will. He then tells us that He will talk to His father and leave us with a friend so that we will never be alone. This friend can only be seen by those who love God. This friend is Jesus’ spirit and we already know Him. We will not be orphaned. And when we are spiritually alive, we will know without doubt that Jesus is the son of God and that Jesus lives within us.

Then Jesus tells us that when we follow His commandments, He will show Himself to us. We have to be tuned in to hear Him though. We have to love Him. And He leaves us with peace. That’s a new way of feeling when someone leaves you…peace instead of abandonment, sadness, anger.

So how do we love Jesus?? There are many ways but we could start by honoring Him with our bodies especially since our bodies are a temple for the Holy Spirit. We may want to do this but we don’t know how. We don’t even know how to ask for Jesus’ help. Well, that’s what the Holy Spirit is for. He lives in us and He knows us so therefore He is able to speak on our behalf. He’ll talk to God for us. Just keep your temple open for Him and don’t overindulge. Think of overindulging as overcrowding your body. By doing this, you are not leaving room for the Holy Spirit to live in you.

Let’s end our lesson by talking about the “Kingdom of the Littles.” Does anyone want to share their two littles? I have been experiencing little accountability (I don’t do my live-it tracker). I have had little patience with my weight loss and muscle toning. By having little accountability and little patience, I have received little contentment and have displayed little faith.

Let’s pray through the Holy Spirit.
God, we come to you with little self-control, little discipline, little obedience, little sacrifice, little accountability, little responsibility and little patience. Please guide us and strengthen us in all these little areas of our lives. By walking closer with you, we will be blessed, free, contented, united, joyous, faithful and hopeful. We praise you for all you do. Our temples are open and we will keep them spacious for you. Fill us with the Holy Spirit. We love you, Lord!
Amen


Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The New Diet Plan

Forget all the faulty ideas you may have about diet and exercise. Follow the new diet and exercise plan. Here are the rules.

1. Pray whenever you feel weak.
2. Do a Bible Study atleast once daily. Open your heart and mind and allow
yourself to be transformed.
3. Walk with God. (You’ll burn the most calories when He’s holding your hand.)
4. “Live on every word from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4
5. When you are tempted, ask God to show you the way out.
6. **Remember you can’t hide your guilt from God. Ask for His help.
7. Obey God’s commands.
8. Believe and your prayers will be answered.
9. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
10. Persevere!! Don’t give up.

RADICAL TRANSFORMATION

So does anyone want to try the Lemonade diet? I’ve got the recipe. It calls for fresh squeezed lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and water. MMMMM…right? You get to drink 160 ounces of this a day and you can do it for 2 weeks! Awesome! Then after you come off of the diet, you need to steer clear of fresh fruits and vegetables for a while. So just do this once a month for 2 weeks and you should have no problem staying thin. Anyone want to do it with me?

Alright, no takers? Ok, then let’s do the Grapefruit diet. We get to drink a lot of grapefruit juice and even have tomato juice for our one snack of the day. YUMMY! We do this for 12 days and then we take a break for two and then we get to start drinking that grapefruit juice again. This one will definitely work. You can never have too much grapefruit juice.

Really? You don’t want to try that one either? Ok, well, what about the Live-It? You put Christ first in everything you do. You lose weight, you have more energy, you are happier and you get to walk closer with God. All you have to do is open your heart to Holy Spirit and He will guide you all the way. Now this sounds like a diet I can live with.

Why doesn’t God give us instant gratification through weight loss? To answer this question, I thought back to our study on perseverance. I’d like to quote The Message, Romans 5:1-5;

1-2 By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

3-5 There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
So God wants us to become better people and live out His will. But to do this we must first open our hearts to what God’s will really is.

This leads us to our memory verse for the week, Romans 12:2. Let’s look at five different versions of this verse.

NIV :
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The Message:
Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

The New Testament in Modern English:
Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould but let God remake you so that your whole attitude is changed. Thus you will prove in practice that the will of God is good, acceptable to Him and perfect.

NLT:
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

New International Reader’s Version:
Don't live any longer the way this world lives. Let your way of thinking be completely changed. Then you will be able to test what God wants for you. And you will agree that what he wants is right. His plan is good and pleasing and perfect.

Each one of these versions taught me something different. The NIV version tells me to test God’s will, try it out and see what I think. The Message tells me to think about what the world does to me. Be aware of the immaturity it brings. The New Testament in Modern English asks me not to fit into the world’s mould and the NLT says let God transform me into a new person. The New International Reader’s Version points out the fact that I will agree with God’s will. All these versions let us know that God’s will is what is good for us. God’s will is perfect!

Forget all the faulty ideas you may have about diet and exercise. Follow the new diet and exercise plan. Here are the rules.

1. Pray whenever you feel weak.
2. Do a Bible Study atleast once daily. Open your heart and mind and allow
yourself to be transformed.
3. Walk with God. (You’ll burn the most calories when He’s holding your hand.)
4. “Live on every word from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4
5. When you are tempted, ask God to show you the way out.
6. **Remember you can’t hide your guilt from God. Ask for His help.
7. Obey God’s commands.
8. Believe and your prayers will be answered.
9. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
10. Persevere!! Don’t give up.

2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
James 1:2-4, The Message

Let us pray.

"Lord, I know You are with us today in all our adversities, our struggles and pain. You have said: "Ask and you shall receive, Seek and you shall find, Knock and the door will be opened unto you." Today, dear Lord, we ask, we seek and we knock. Help us now to be able to hand it all over to You and to accept the outcome. Not my will be done but Thine." Amen









I bought a refrigerator that made an "oink" sound everytime I opened it...made me hungry for pork chops. : (

Spiritual Food for Spiritual Life

This week’s lessons were focusing a lot of believing in Jesus. And you may have been wondering…what does this have to do with exercise and healthy eating? We have to remind ourselves that Jesus needs to be first in everything we do in order for us to succeed. He especially needs to be first in our lives so that we may enter the kingdom of God through Him.

Do we have to hand over our whole life? So…every part: bios, psuche and zoe? Yes, every part!!

BIOS-- Mark 4:19 says, “but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” So we again are told here to put aside our worries. We are also told the desires of other things come in and choke the word. It seems if we “hyper-focus” on things other than God, we fail. We fail at many things but mainly we fail at strengthening our relationship with God. So let’s put aside our desires for worldly things and grab hold of our hunger to walk with God!

PSUCHE—Luke 14:26 says, “"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” God wants us to hate our families and ourselves??? I was a bit confused after reading this verse. I needed to go back and read the verses leading up to it to truly understand what God was saying here. God was teaching a lesson on humility. Based on other verses where the word “hate” was used (Gen 29:30-31 and Luke 16:13), God was saying that we need to love God more than anything else…even our own lives. God might also have been saying hate anything that comes between you and Him. What do you think? Open your hearts to God and let Him answer this question for you.

ZOE—John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John is indeed talking about our spiritual life. He talks about how before we came to Him, we like sheep thieves who enter the wrong way. But those who enter by the gate are shepherds. This is a very strong verse. Before I knew Jesus, I was not living my life to the full. My spiritual life was lacking. I tried to fulfill it in other ways but these ways were unsuccessful and brought no joy. Live your spiritual life to the fullest! Come to God!

John 3:1-18

1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

10"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

Why do you think this story is so important to our journey to good health? I think that this story points out to us the need for spiritual health, the importance of believing in things that we cannot see. I think we need to be born of the Spirit to maintain balance in our lives. Balance is a key part in being successful on this journey. We need to have Spiritual health so that we are comfortable in coming to God with all of our problems. John 3:18 tells us God sent His Son not to condemn the world but to save the world through Him. Let's take comfort in these words daily and gain strength from them.

So Jesus is the word. This puts a whole new prospective on our bible verse for the week. "Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4 We need to add a new food group to our pyramids. THE HOLY BIBLE! This book can feed us in all our "down" moments. When we are depressed, bored, sad, or anxious, we can come to the Bible and get little bite to satisfy our hunger. Remember to take care of your spiritual side and find that balance everyone needs in their lives.

We are halfway through our 1st First Place 4 Health session. Has anyone learned anything new? And how are you applying it to your life?
My journey has not been easy. The road has been bumpy and I have been on many twists and turns. But God has been their every step of the way; guiding me and comforting me. My relationship with Him has been strengthened by His word and through prayer. I'm excited to start on the next mile of this trip. Beep, beep!

Temptation...

Let's begin by reading Matthew 4:1-11.

1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.
3 During that time the devil[a] came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,

‘People do not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect you.
And they will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’[c]”

7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’[d]”

8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’[e]”

11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.



Why do you think the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted? ---to be tested.



I know God is testing us. He wants us to succeed and He wants us to learn that we can do this. God wants us to experience victory.



Why would He tests us when He already knows what is in us? Because we don't! I'm learning more and more about myself through God's tests and it opens my eyes to just how strong I really am!!! And when I am feeling weak and I'm not passing all my tests, I come to the Lord. He listens and I draw closer to Him.



Here I am, Lord! Test me!!!



The verb, tempt, is defined as "to try to get (someone) to do wrong, especially by a promise of reward." How did Satan try to get Jesus to do something wrong? What was it that Satan wanted Jesus to do? What was the reward? How has Satan tempted you on this journey so far? Have you found it easy to resist his sneaky ways?



Luke 22:40 tells us to "pray that you will not give in to temptation." I have done this a lot this week and you know what...it works!! LIGHTBULB...prayer works?!? I can testify that it works in things as small as "Lord, help me to not want this cookie," to things as big as Stage IV lung cancer survival! God has His hands in EVERYTHING that we do so open your ears and hear Him. Read and memorize His scripture. Let His words comfort and strengthen you. Jesus used God's words to resist the devil's temptation. Shouldn't we indeed try to be more like Jesus? Next time you are tempted, come to God, ask for His help and hear His words. Say them out loud if it helps.



Deuteronomy 6:16 tells us not to put God to the test. How might we put God to the test along this journey to good health? We overeat and under-exercise and expect God to bring us to good health. Does this seem like something that pleases God?? How might we please God with our daily "health" choices?



Luke 4:13 provides us new insight into the devil's ways. "When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time." What does this verse say to you? Yes, Satan is an opportunist (one who takes advantage of any opportunity to achieve an end, often with no regard for principles or consequences). Satan comes at a time when we are down and already weak. Often with me, it's when I haven't spent enough time with God. Ever heard the saying, "Seven days without prayer make one weak." Well, here comes Satan to reel you in.



"But when you are tempted, God will provide a way out so that you may stand up under it."



After I resist temptation, I do feel a bit victorious and it's nice to know that I get to share that victory with God's angels (Matthew 4:11). You, Fairmont Faithful Fitness, are God's angels to me.