Womens Institute Woodstream Church Week Two 40 Day Soul Fast: Restoring My Soul Happy Valentines Day Restoring My Soul in 2016! Objectives: We, as women of light, will be able to recognize the importance of fasting and controlling what and how we eat in order to demonstrate control of our bodies and to better serve God and others. We, as women of light, will be able to share with other women and to apply what we have learned in order to build a stronger faith-based community within and outside of our church. We, as women of light, will be able to recognize authentic living following a 40 day soul fast. Reference Trimm, C. (2011). The 40 Day Soul Fast: Your Journey to Authentic Living. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, Inc. 40 Day Soul Fast Schedule February 14 The Purpose of the Soul Fast The Self- Leadership Challenge February 17 Sowing Seeds 6:00 p.m. in West Wing Eatery February 21 The Nature of the Soul The Essence of You February 28 The Properties of Thought: You Are What You Think Homework Do a thorough study of the word godliness and meditate on all it implies. Ask yourself where are you falling short of it. Eliminate those things that are not adding to your faith and supplement those key things Peter listed that will have your life on a firm footing (2 Pet. 1:10). Assignment Your physical body is the holder of your potential and is the means used to advance you in Gods kingdom. Do you need to change the way your treat it, bringing your physical and emotional health into alignment with Gods way? In order to be more intentional about practicing the Sabbath so that you can enter into Gods rest (Heb. 4:6, 10 NKJV); purpose in your heart to do nothing but to attend church and spend time with Him this coming Sunday! Homework What are you going to commit to doing in order to save the real you? Identify one thing you should purge from your life that is causing you to lose the real you. List one thing that you should practice every day that will help cultivate your truest self. What is the one thing you can change that will change everything? The Purpose of a Soul Fast: The Self- Leadership Challenge Connecting Where is the life we have lost in living? Paul saw the benefits of losing to gain: More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing values of know Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ. Phil. 3:8 NASB Turn and Talk Jesus said in Matthew 6:32: What Im trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to Gods giving. What are you so preoccupied with getting that you cant respond to Gods giving? Characteristic 6: Capacity As you more forward, know that the Spirit of God is working with you to increase your capacity to live more fully from your divine, authentic self. David wrote, You have given me the capacity to hear and obey. Psa. 40:6 Homework: Make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting whats given and delighting in the work. Eccles. 5:19 What have you learned about yourself so far? What are four things you will purpose to eliminate? What four new habits will you focus on cultivating? Day 7: Healing It isnt truth that controls you, but what you believe to be true. Hypnosis woman and the psychiatrist blister in hand. Fasting allows the Holy Spirit to reshape you into your true self by dealing with wounds from the past that have bee distorted, stagnated, and stunted your essence. Negative actions nd reactions are often the outcry of a hurting soul. Role of forgiveness Stop and Share How is unforgiveness like a leaking reservoir; water flows in, but drains out again, robbing you of abundance? Homework Study the word forgiveness Characteristic 7: Wholeness Wholeness is living in such a way that all facets and aspects of our lives are interrelated in a physically fit, nutritionally healthy, emotionally sound, spiritually congruent, socially moral, professionally ethical, mentally resilient, and financially adept way. Wholeness is Opposite Brokenness When we regard our own brokenness, our natural tendency is to observe our state from a shallow perspective, excusing our habits and justifying our indifference, bitterness, competitiveness, jealousy, hatred, and prejudices while continually shifting blame. How society views brokenness Superficial and temporal terminologies to describe brokenness. We say that: - A person breaks down when they suffer disappointment of loss. - A person breaks focus when unable to concentrate - A couple breaks up when they sever relational ties - A person becomes broke when he/she runs out of money - A persons health is broken as a result of illness - Dreams are broken when they go unfulfilled. Homework These definitions, though descriptive, limit our perspective on brokenness to the temporal realm and skew our understanding of what true wholeness is. Answer the following questions: 1) What is happening in the spiritual area of my life at this moment? 2) How might God work in this time of brokenness to restore me, renew me, remake me according to Psalm 23:5? 3) Am I prepared to allow God to work in and through my current situation to bring me to greater wholeness? Stop and Share What does it take to become a successful human being? Wholeness is the fruit of Gods grace working in your life. Day 8 - Empowering God wants to significantly change the lives of others through ordinary people so that He is glorified. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him (2 Chron. 16:9 NKJV). Read Hebrews 4:1-11 How does it feel to rest in God? How does it feel when you are not resting in God? Make it your number one priority to pursue the things of God: His Word, His Spirit, His Presence. Day 9: Directing Fasting tenderizes our heart, making it more like the heart of Jesus, and bring a new level of sensitivity to Gods lending. God has promised that He would show you the way to go: I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye (Psa. 32:8). Characteristic 9: Peace Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as member s of one body you were called to peace (Col. 3:15 NIV) 1) How do you practice peace? 2) How do you let the peace of Christ rule in your heart? If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world. Chinese Proverb Day 10: Seeing Fasting re-energizes your senses, including your sight. What do you see that others cant see? When you see the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world. George Washington Carver Characteristic 10: Goodness You surely dont think much of Gods wonderful goodness or of His patience and willingness to put up with you. Dont you know that the reason God is good to you is because He wants you to turn to Him? (Romans 2:4 CEV) It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance. It is only because of Gods goodness that we can have any hope of being good ourselves. Homework You yourselves are rich in goodness, amplu filled with all [spiritual] knowledge Romans 15:14 AMP Examine your life, your habits, your heart, your thoughts: are they an expression of the life of Christ in you, rich in goodness? How would your life, habits, and thoughts be different if they consisted of every form of goodness? Think of one negative thing you can replace with something positive. Announcement Sowing Seeds meeting on Wednesday, 6:00 p.m. in the Vineyard Caf. Focus: Soulwinning Tools