Bible Study/Prayer Requests - March 11 to 20, 2011

Mental Health Eating Disorders & Body Dysmorphia
1

Here is our first Bible Study/Prayer Request post. I was reading in the previous discussion that more people need to do this before Monday so I wanted to get this started. This first post maybe longer than the others, but hoping this goes well and everyone can join in at their own convenience :) I extended this first post a few days more so we can get on a weekly study (starting on a Monday and ending on a Sunday) ) I could use some help on getting this going, etc. so if someone wants to do the next one, say the word (first come first serve) and you'll do the next study and so on :) Is this okay? This way everyone can get involved :) And fun too, since whoever wants to do the next one has to say it first (more like a fun games :) ) in order to do the next one :)

If you do not have a Bible handy and/or want to look online to read God's Word, go to:

bible.com

If you have prayer requests, please leave them below :)

I was thinking it would be good to read Psalms 1 first. :) So Psalms 1 is the first Bible Study readings. Leave your comments, extra scriptures, etc. below :)

I hope and pray this helps everyone! :) Take care!! Love you all!

~Olivia

2

okay, olivia, i read the pasage on Bible.com since i still cannot find my bible!( i dont understnad this, how does a bible dissapear into thin air! i always know where i put it! ughhhh.... )

and , ok---do i put my interpretation of it here ?

it was speaking of how the ungodly are shallow and will perish into dust , but the righteous will be upheld by God. and that the LORD will make his the godly bear much good fruit. i percieved it as to not conform to the ungodly and to remain in God s word for God will uphold you and keep u safe from the enemy. and to not tread into temptation and become part of the world, but part of God . therefore, God will BLESS you if u keep his word.

for example : todays shallow wretched times whereas you cannot turn on the t.v. without tons of sex, lust, violence, hate and greed and most importantly the power of IMAGE(looking a certain way) that soceity so wants us to conform to.

in the world : if you do not look a certain way or have money or success or greed or do not conform with the world's casual sexuality--YOU are nothing and made fun of . i think the most important of this is image , well, cause that is the one i struggle most with. i try to conform to the world's view of beauty and when i get caught up in that, i become obssessive and miserable and hurt myself with eating disorders to try to please the world's hidoeous view of beauty. in doing so, i lose sight of GOD and my true self, which is not the way i look but who I am on the inside : spirit, mind, and personality.

in conforming to the world's evil standard i lose myself and my relationhsip with God, but by keeping safe and close to God i will redeem myself. and eventually not care what the silly world has to say ( cause the world and unglody shall perish anyway.)

so, that is my take on the passage today---to be closer to God , and bear fruit through him, and lose the ways of the wretched world( which just makes me miserable anyway).

OH and for my prayer requests: for God to heal me mind, BODY and spirit, to accept myself the way I am ( even if i go through changes i dont like) , to love myself , to ignore the ways of the world , to find success in what God has in His plan for me, to have more ambition and not think i am worthless and a dumb loser, to not have so many fears and anxeity and depression . also, to overcome my eating disorder...

for my fiancee joe, that his heart check up goes well and that is heart is ok( he has heart disease) and that he prospers well and feels good within himself.
for ALL my friends and family and all of u on this site. ( LOL).

id like to make a special prayer for all of us struggling with eating disorders today, and this i uphold to god on a daily basis, as i see women struggling with this evil every single day--bashing themsleves, hurting themselves according to the world's shallow views... so i ask God to help those struggling with ED and hating themselves today, and hope that Gods hand can cure them and make them see the truth in how wonderful we all are without destroying oursleves. amen.

for the homeless and sick and those with terminal disease, i pray for---for the abused and forgotten and poor, i pray for ...

and for all of those suffering today in that massive earthquake in Japan, i pray for.....

sorry this was so long, i didnt think it owuld be! HA, LOL, seems once i get going i cant stop...LOL...

thanks so much colorful, for this

lastly, i interpret this passage as not to conform to the world for the world will be swept away like dust in the wind, but to stand up for what is right and pure and good even if u will be rejected by the world ( and christians will have this happen.)

love ya

maureen

3

Here is the King James Version of Psalm 1:

1Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

4The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

5Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

4

Thanks maureen for sharing your thoughts and interpretations for this passage. I decided to post up the verses, in hope it will be easier on others. I should have done this earlier, but just thought about it until now... Hope this helps everyone & bible.com has many other versions as well :) I'm going to go over and over these scriptures during the week. I'll break up each verse and go over it throughout the day so this way I can memorize each verse per day. I guess today would be verse 1 that i can go over and over all through today:

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Also, too, I can start creating my "Scripture Strips" - Where I take a verse or two place it on construction paper, cut it into strips where it has that verse or verse on the strip, and post them all over my apartment :)

I hope by the end of next week, I'll have this whole chapter memorized :)

Maureen, I was able to spend some time in pray for you on all your prayer requests :) Also, I guess parts of these verse can go along with Romans 12:2

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Hope this helps.

As far as my prayer requests:

~ Starting to feel sick again :( Pray that I'll feel better before this evening, I got a date with my husband tonight.

~ For me to grow more and more in my Walk with the Lord

~ For my depression to cease and for me to feel happier again.

~ To find it within me to fully surrender my eating disorder to Him and not only that, but everything in my life. :)

~ For everyone on here :)

~ For God to lead this Bible Study the way He wants it to go and for His Will to be done :)

So far, that's all that comes to mind, I'll post up more as they come :)

I love each and every one of you :) Be Blessed and I truly hope this helps everyone :)

~Olivia

5

awwwwwwwww thanks so much, colorful! hmm im getting sick too, my fiancee has bronchitis and gave it to me. wah. LOL it is ok though, ill get through it.

that was so sweet of u to pray for me....thanks so much as will pray for you.... i really do like psalms 1 alot. it has a lot to do with ( i beleive ) not conforming to the world's standards. the world will have u beleive u need to conform to it to be loved, which in fact the opposite is true. it is when u conform to the world, u will end up miserable for the world will always find fault in you,but in god we are all perfect.

do u know i kept reading psalms( i found my bible!!!!!!!!! yea!!!) LOL and do u know how many verses are attributed to the LORD hating vanity???? oh boy and i am always trying to look a certain way.... well, i dont think EDs have to do with vanity but low self esteem and self hatred and a distorted view, but i know i am always trying to please the world in how i look and such. so i know that one is kinda true for me. see, in the world we see vanity as a good thing, a needed everyday thing, but as far as the bible is concerned, image and obssessing with image is very very wrong. u know, i didnt really know that? i mean i kinda did, but not to this extent... i guess when u get brainwashed by society your thought alter to their shallow views. but as i keep reading the bible i am finding out the truth and seeing the worlds lies before my very eyes.

so, it makes me feel better about the recent weight i gained , like ok, it happened, but ill try not to obbsess on it. it is intriguing to learn every day things u did not know when reading the bible. we get so used to the worlds view and accept them as true, when in fact they are false.

oh and i love romans 12:2 wow, thanks for that.

thanks so much colorful, you are great and i will pray for you , also!!!!!!!!

cant wait to see the other's interpretations!!!!!

love and hugz
maureen

6

That’s so wonderful you found your Bible! How awesome! Praise God!!

I got to individually comment on everyones post on here. There is no way I can reply to 15 new posts at once, but it makes it easier for me to do it individually. :slight_smile: So everyone may get a comment after their post. I’m so happy more and more people are joining in on this :slight_smile: How wonderful! Praise God!!

Thanks for praying for me Maureen :slight_smile: I hope you feel better :slight_smile: Hang in there :slight_smile: We’ll get through this.

Just got on medication. I posted, “Doctors Appointment, Today” which was yesterday and added more information on that today. Hope all goes well on it.

7

ok ladies, i'd like be involved somehow. my illness does not allow me to go to church right now. would like involvement with christians trying to follow Gods word.

8

Kathy, I’m glad you can join us :slight_smile: I hope and pray this will help you in your walk with the Lord :slight_smile: Hope this helps you :slight_smile:

9

sure kathy!!!!!! we are just discussing Psalms chapter 1 today and our views/interpretations on the passages....

happy to have u join us....

love
maureen

10

well maureen i read your post and you both stated how i read/hear the narrow gate ladies is where i’m trying to head. it’s like a salmon going up stream life is. the devil is alive and well on planet earth and hates Gods people trying to feast on the word. which bible do you gals read from? looking forward to learning from you. thanks so much for having me.

11

boy are u ever right!!!!!!!!! i feel so ---so, kinda excluded from this weird world, like an outsider, watching all the strange goings on, and feeling like an outcast cuz i dont participate in the world's wrongdoings. and when i say this, i am not judging anyone, cause we are all not perfect, yet i feel that there is so much negativity in the world that is just thought of as NORMAL and ----that it is uncomnmon for someone to stand up against it all. it is hard being a christian today and deal with how the world works.... it is hard in this dang age to be christian, but it doesnt stop me , of course. even as christians we get influnced by this weird world, which is why we put post this up on here, so we have an outlet for the good things in life...

yes the devil is alive and well, sigh.... but God can overcome anything....

thanks so much for joining us!

love
maureen

12

oh we are using the King James Bible, i think.....colorful, is that correct, are we using the King James bible???????

love
maureen

13

i have a catholic, king james and niv…if no issue, i’d like to use my catholic one, it belonged to my deceased parents (wedding gift from 1954)

14

sure, it doesnt really matter what bible, they are all basically the same...

love n hugz
maureen

15

I'd also really like to participate if that's ok. I stopped going to church and really miss it, esp. the community and fellowship. And I always felt both those things during the Bible studies I participated in there.

I'd like to use my NASB Study Bible b/c it's written in (fairly) plain English and it has footnotes that help explain the passages if you're like me and get confused sometimes reading God's Word :P

I'm just not exactly clear on what we're supposed to do. Are we reading all of Psalm 1 and then sharing our interpretation of it? Or are we going verse by verse?

*hugs and prayers*
Ash

16

Welcome! :slight_smile: Glad you can join us :slight_smile: HOw wonderful!

17

sure, wed love for u to join! as far as this goes, we are just to read Psalms 1 and give our interpretation of it--it doesnt have to be long or anything...

thanks so much for joining us!!!

love and hugz
maureen

18

Yes, Psalms 1 is what we’re working on. I’m just trying to memorize the verses and let those verses soak in. But would be great to hear what others interpretations are with it :slight_smile:

If you feel better or would like to break up verse by verse than do that.

I just want others to use this Bible Study to help them and share their thoughts :slight_smile:

19

Hello, First thanks to Colorful for organizing this which is so nice. What better time to start than during the season of Lent. This Psalm about righteousness is so important. It is the overriding message from God. During this season when Jesus went off to the desert and faced temptation for 40 days, he was STILL able to overpower the devil. You are right that he continues to exist. And when we are feeling our lowest, it is him at work. I try and remind myself, when I am feeling most anxious, to say 'get away from me'. It is very powerful to confront Satan head on. Don't be afraid to do so because the Lord always has us wrapped in his arms. Remember John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
As we read these Psalms, remember they are the same prayers that Jesus was raised on, coming from a good Jewish family.
So yes, we must keep in mind being righteous and remember that it is more than just not being bad, it is taking the time to do something good. I think all of us here are taking the time to support each other and that is good. XOXO Thea

20

very beautiful said, always worrying!!!thanks so much for that , and also for the great advice! yes, i think it is wonderful we are doing this post, and especially when it is so easy to be lead astray in the world…

thanks!!!

love
maureen