The Isaiah Challenge

The Isaiah Challenge!

I have a life challenge to present to all of you that falls way outside the box of what’s normal. IF you are committed to it, it guarantees success. Here goes!
Last week I was at a meeting for the United Methodist Women. I heard about an outreach called Navigators designed to meet the needs of those in poverty and help provide people in harsh circumstances with a chance to change things. The outreach meets the immediate need AND has a program designed to educate people living in poverty with seminars and one on one mentoring in order to help them "climb out" of harsh circumstances.
 
 Example 1: A mother of four needs help with a home deposit. She lives in an old trailer with no heat and broken windows. Her husband has abandoned her and she works full time at a fast food restaurant to try and keep her children fed. She needs help with a deposit to get the family into an apartment.
Example 2: Family of four has been struggling with rent for the past 8 months, due to lack of income. Everything is back on track now except for rent. They are in need of $450 to get them caught up.
 
In our early marriage my husband worked three jobs so that I could stay home and raise our children. I remember MANY times of having to "pray in" the bills. It was a stressful and scary time in life. Perhaps that is why this outreach touches my heart so much!  What does all of this have to do with a New Years Challenge? Well, here are my thoughts. . . I am going to ask you to participate in the Isaiah Challenge! 
Isaiah 58: 5  Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the Lord? 6 "Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
 
When the New Year rolls around, most people make the proverbial New Year’s resolution.  Some of the most popular are health related.  Here are four of last year’s top ten.
 
#1- Lose Weight
#2- Stop Smoking
#3- Quit Drinking
#4- Help Others
 
What if I offered you a way to obtain success in all four categories?  Most resolutions are dropped between the first and fourth week of January.  How can you beat the odds and achieve life change, and at anytime during the year (not just New Years!).  I am teaming up with the Cal Farley’s Neighborhood Navigator Program to present the ISAIAH CHALLENGE.  For ninety days I challenge you to “fast” all the extra junk.  You will take the money you save and place it into your ISAIAH FUND.  For example: if your goal is weight loss then instead of purchasing a soda at Sonic, take the $0.99 and put it into your ISAIAH FUND. Instead of taking a family of four out to dinner ($20 for fast food, $40 for restaurants), I want you to eat at home and put the money you saved in your ISAIAH FUND. Leave the ice-cream and potato chip's off of your grocery list and put it in your. . .well you get the idea! The same thing applies if you want to quit smoking or drinking.  Each time you don’t purchase that pack of cigarettes or bottle of alcohol, you place the money in your ISAIAH FUND.
 
When God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, He made it clear that He didn't just want a time of not eating. He wanted them to reach out to the hungry, poor, down cast, etc. So if you are blessed with the abundance to spend money on soda, fast food, candy and such;  instead of going on another diet to ride your middle of its "abundance", why not offer it as a fast unto the Lord? When you have that nicotine craving, deny yourself and use your abundance to help those in need. If you are willing to take this challenge you can log onto my web-site at angelaasbill.com for more information on how to sign up. Please count the cost before you make the commitment! God takes our words very seriously; be sure you are willing to see this through before you sign on! It's not just another resolution, it's unto the Lord! At the end of the 90 days you will send in your ISAIAH FUND as an offering to the Lord.  When you send in that offering, I want you to truly thank and praise God for all of His abundance!  The 90 days is not meant to end your journey, it’s meant to begin it!  Can you change your community by changing yourself?  Keep your eye out for more information.  The Challenge will be kicking off in the Panhandle area soon.  Watch local media sources for how your business, church, school, outreach can participate!
 
Blessings!
 
Angela Asbill
 
P.S If this has struck a chord with you. . .please spread the challenge on to your friends, family, churches, etc!

How She Lost Me!

 

Last night several of my clients put together a 100 pound party for a lady I will continue to call “Client Wow”.  We celebrated the fact that she has now lost over 100 pounds!  During the celebration I pulled out Client Wow’s starting measurements. . .and I fit inside the tape measure with her!  So how in the world did she accomplish losing an entire person worth of weight? (She lost me!)  The answer to that would take an entire book to write (I know of a good one by the way!).  But today I want to focus on one important key.  Support.

This blog is not as much about Client Wow as it is about the great people that have walked and are walking the journey with her.  Ever heard the saying that there is strength in numbers?  100% true.  My ladies have been an amazing source of support and accountability for one another.  They work-out together, exchange recipes, exhort, and even rebuke one another when necessary.  They are all working to the same common goal.  Health and long life.  I have watched them cry together in the hard times, and rejoice together in the good times.  All of them came together to help Client Wow celebrate not just with a party, but with a complete makeover!  These women amaze me; I am so blessed to work with them. 

As you must be excepting by now, I have a spiritual tie in!

  Ecclesiastes 4:9 Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. 10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. 11 And on a cold night, two under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm alone? 12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

Wisdom for the ages!  No matter what the struggle is in life, we need each other to walk hand in hand in both the good and bad times. 

Hebrews 10:25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.

Relationship and communion with other believers is something God has always intended.  We need each other.  Sometimes to comfort, sometimes to laugh, sometimes to rebuke.  Whatever place we are in life and whatever struggles we may have, we need each other.  Client Wow may have reached her goal had she taken lonely walks by herself day after day.  But I guarantee her choice to surround herself with a team of likeminded people made the journey better.  She may have “lost” me. . .but she gained a whole team of support. . . Being accountable and vulnerable is hard, but worth it.  Besides. . . .

 We all need someone to cheer for us when we cross the finish line!

Repent

Repentance

For this blog I want to tell you a story.  It’s not my story.  This is the story of a very special client of mine.  This is a woman who had a lifelong addiction to food and has been morbidly obese for over 20 years.  Food was filling a hole in her life that only God could truly fill.  When she chose to deal with her food addiction head on, she won!  Below is her story, in her own words. (Let’s call her, Client “WOW”)

In 2008 I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and pre-diabetes. I was told that I would be a full diabetic before the age of 40 if I did not change my lifestyle immediately. My deepest wish was to have another baby, but my weight was literally crushing that dream.

                I was seriously considering Gastric Bypass surgery when Angela approached me about taking her health class. I can say that I was skeptical, since I had lost count how many times I had tried to lose weight. But thought I would give it a try, after all I was desperate and what’s one more diet right?

                I began a journey that day that has changed mine and my family’s lives forever. By making the changes in my lifestyle I began losing weight and regaining my health. By September 2009 I found out I was pregnant. However due to a hidden infection, my daughter was born 4 months early at 1 pound 14 ounces. So my life and my health goals halted for the next two years while I dealt with all the issues surrounding a micro-preemie.

                In February of this year I realized that my now two year old daughter was very healthy and very active and I was not. I had let my old unhealthy habits take over again. I had my baby, but if I didn’t go back to the lessons I had learned I would never live to see her grow up!

I purged my home, my life and my head of the unhealthy addictions that had regained their foothold in my life. I have now lost 100 pounds with 80 more to go. I have never felt as healthy as I am now in my entire life.

As most of you know I like to use a physical analogy to look at a spiritual issue.  Let’s look at this story as an example of true REPENTANCE. 

Unfortunately many believers don’t understand the true process of repentance.  To repent means:  to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins.  Repentance and saying “I’m sorry” are not the same thing.

For an extreme example think of a woman who is about to have an abortion.  If she “repents” then she has a change of mind and decides NOT to abort the baby.  She changes her mind and with action she chooses life for the baby.  If she is only “sorry”, her action does not change and the baby’s life is not saved.

Think about Client “WOW”’s  story.  For much of her life she was in bondage to food.  She was a slave to diets and a slave to much sickness and disease.  She was very “sorry” that she was overweight and unhealthy but as long as she was only sorry nothing changed in her life.  When Client “WOW” became repentant her actions followed.  As she said, she purged her home, her life and her head.  She “turned” from “sin” and started DOING the right thing.  The fruit of her life now shows it! 

Matthew 3:8- Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance.

According to the Holy Scripture, if you have truly repented then you will have fruits/actions to show for it.

One final word on repentance that is pretty hard to hear.

James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

OUCH!  Confess your sins to one another?  But I don’t want anyone to know the ugly secrets of my heart!  Why does God ask us to confess to one another?  I believe that it holds us accountable.  Client “WOW” confessed her food addiction to me and I held her accountable during the times of temptation.  I can’t imagine how hard it was for her to be so honest.  As hard as it was I know she would tell you the accountability was worth it for the freedom she has now gained.

So to sum it all up, repentance is about three things. 

1.  Changing your mind/heart

2. Changing your actions

3. Confession and accountability

Then . . . He whom the Son sets free is truly free indeed!