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    Made to Move: Knowing and Loving God Through Our Bodies
    Made to Move: Knowing and Loving God Through Our Bodies
    Made to Move: Knowing and Loving God Through Our Bodies
    Ebook222 pages2 hours

    Made to Move: Knowing and Loving God Through Our Bodies

    By Wendy LeBolt

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    About this ebook

    Jesus affirmed that the greatest purpose of our lives is to love God. But how do we express love to a God we can't see or touch?

    Each of us has a body, and our bodies and senses provide tangible ways for us to know and love God. Author Wendy LeBolt writes, "We are made to move in God's direction, by God's initiative, and at God's pace. Our bodies will speak to us if we listen. Our bodies will teach us if we pay attention."

    Made to Move is a 6-week study designed to help people of all ages experience God through heart, soul, mind, strength, and stretch, using activities that engage the body and its senses, as well as the mind, including its imagination. Through daily prayer, scripture reading, reflection, and activities, individuals and groups will discover the masterpiece God created and is continuously crafting in their lives.

    Made to Move can be used by individuals and groups, including intergenerational groups. Includes a Leader's Guide.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUpper Room Books
    Release dateFeb 1, 2019
    ISBN9780835818605
    Made to Move: Knowing and Loving God Through Our Bodies
    Author

    Wendy LeBolt

    Wendy LeBolt is the founder of Fit2Finish and provides education on fitness for injury prevention, specializing in youth athletes. An exercise physiologist in private practice, LeBolt holds a PhD in cardiovascular physiology from the Medical College of Virginia, a Master of Education in exercise science from George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Science in biology from The College of William and Mary.

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      Book preview

      Made to Move - Wendy LeBolt

      MADE TO MOVE: Knowing and Loving God Through Our Bodies

      Copyright © 2018 by Wendy LeBolt

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, write Upper Room Books, 1908 Grand Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37212.

      Upper Room Books® website: upperroombooks.com

      Upper Room®, Upper Room Books®, and design logos are trademarks owned by The Upper Room®, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations not otherwise noted are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

      Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

      Hymns designated UMH are taken from The United Methodist Hymnal, Copyright © 1989 by The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, Tennessee.

      At the time of publication all websites referenced in this book were valid. However, due to the fluid nature of the internet, some addresses may have changed or the content may no longer be relevant.

      Cover design: Marc Whitaker, MTWdesign

      Interior design: PerfecType, Nashville, TN

      ISBN (print): 978-0-8358-1858-2 | ISBN (mobi): 978-0-8358-1859-9| ISBN (epub): 978-0-8358-1860-5

      Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

      —Matthew 13:8

      Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it.

      —1 Corinthians 9:24

      In memory of Mary Anne Noland: friend, confidante, truth-speaker, action figure, and ever-faithful follower of Jesus Christ. She was the soil that grounded me and the breeze that propelled me toward the finish line of this work. On Pentecost Sunday, 2016, a mighty wind lifted her across the finish line of this life into the eternal love of God. What a race run. What an example set. What a finish. Ever, my thanks.

      Contents

      Introduction

      How to Use This Book

      Week 1—Body Image

      Sunday, Week 1—Created Not Constructed

      Monday, Week 1—The Heartbeat of Life

      Tuesday, Week 1—The Breath of Life

      Wednesday, Week 1—The Reason of Life

      Thursday, Week 1—The Strength of Life

      Friday, Week 1—The Reach of Life

      Saturday, Week 1—Bounded: The Guardrails of Life

      Week 2—Body of Flesh

      Sunday, Week 2—We the Temple

      Monday, Week 2—Heart Grab

      Tuesday, Week 2—Daily Bread: Our Portion

      Wednesday, Week 2—Stuck in My Head

      Thursday, Week 2—In My Own Strength

      Friday, Week 2—And Who Is My Neighbor?

      Saturday, Week 2—What Is Good Enough for God?

      Week 3—Body Broken

      Sunday, Week 3—This Way Out

      Monday, Week 3—Heartbroken

      Tuesday, Week 3—Gut Punch

      Wednesday, Week 3—Shedding Light on Truth

      Thursday, Week 3—(Arm) Wrestling with God

      Friday, Week 3—Blessed, Broken, Given Completely

      Saturday, Week 3—Disobedience, Disorder, Out of Order

      Week 4—Body Bent

      Sunday, Week 4—Nourishment for the Journey

      Monday, Week 4—Heart Yielded or Road Closed?

      Tuesday, Week 4—God, the Good Listener

      Wednesday, Week 4—Shifting Focus to See Clearly

      Thursday, Week 4—Casting Off the Burden of Perfect

      Friday, Week 4—I Want to Be That Kind of Friend

      Saturday, Week 4—Putting Discipline to Work

      Week 5—Body Rebuilt

      Sunday, Week 5—The Rhythm of Rest

      Monday, Week 5—What Are the Vital Signs in a Christian Life?

      Tuesday, Week 5—Hungering for the Bread of Life

      Wednesday, Week 5—Clearing a Way Through Our Fog

      Thursday, Week 5—Flexing Our Spiritual Muscles and Donning Our Spiritual Super Suit

      Friday, Week 5—Love Your Neighbors, All Your Neighbors

      Saturday, Week 5—When Love Comes Calling

      Week 6—Body Renewed

      Sunday, Week 6—Revealing a New Thing

      Monday, Week 6—A New and Willing Heart

      Tuesday, Week 6—A New and Willing Soul

      Wednesday, Week 6—A New and Willing Mind

      Thursday, Week 6—The Master Bodybuilder

      Friday, Week 6—Firm Footing Lets Us Leap with Joy

      Saturday, Week 6—Set Free for a Life of Abundance

      Week 7—Body Alive

      Sunday, Week 7—Eat, Drink, and Come to Life

      Conclusion—I Am Yours

      Leader’s Guide

      Made to Move for Children

      About the Author

      Introduction

      One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that [Jesus] answered [the Sadducees] well, he asked [Jesus], Which commandment is the first of all? Jesus answered, The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.

      —Mark 12:28-31

      When Jesus answered the scribe’s question, he affirmed that the greatest purpose of our lives is to know and love God completely. But how can we know a God we don’t see? How do we love a God we can’t touch? If we are meant to know and love this God, then we need an accessible, tangible, real-life way to accomplish it. God activates this in our lives by giving us bodies that are made to move.

      When God created us and knit us together, though fearfully and wonderfully made (see Psalm 139), we were yet incomplete. God, throughout our lives, recreates us in our living—in the movement of our bodies, the agility of our minds, the agency of our activities, and in the subtle shifts in position or perspective that God initiates. As God moves, God inclines us to move. We may take heart in the fact that all of what we do—which radiates from God’s calling on our lives—may be done solely for the purpose of knowing and loving God more. Getting to know God is more than a mental or spiritual endeavor; it’s a physical one too.

      Yes, we have perishable bodies that scripture tells us will be raised imperishable (see 1 Corinthians 15:42), but that doesn’t mean we’re discards. Quite the reverse. It means that the bodies we are born with are the only things God intends for us to use for just this lifetime. The physical body isn’t just an earthly tent or a useful container but also a means of God’s revelation, a temple of the Holy Spirit, and a sanctuary of the living God. The love of Christ made this possible and the Holy Spirit makes it available to us.

      So rather than deny, excuse, or tune out our bodies, we’re meant to tune in to them—heart, soul, mind, and strength—for our good and for the good of our neighbors, as we put God’s love into action. If God wants to be known fully and personally, how better than to speak to each of us through our lives as we live them? If the God who created us has set us on our course to completion, the commandment to love is our catalyst.

      However, we must be vigilant. We know that not all movement is at God’s direction. Hurriedness, busyness, and pushing ahead may easily take us off course, while our refusal or resistance may leave us stuck. How can we know whether we are moving at the invitation of God? The daily practice of devotional time with dedicated activities such as the those offered here in Made to Move can help.

      Each of us learns to attend to the call of God day by day as we practice loving God with all that we are and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Though we may sometimes stumble and fall in our attempts to follow Jesus, even scraped knees can serve as a tangible reminder of the nearness of God. The evidence of our senses, the reasoning of our minds, the performance of our bodies—even the aching of our joints and the injury to our egos—can speak to us of God.

      Each of us has a body, uniquely created and wonderfully made. We are made to move in God’s direction, at God’s command, by God’s initiative, and at God’s pace. Our bodies will speak to us if we listen. Our bodies will teach us if we pay attention. God made us this way. All living things are made to move. That is a defining characteristic of life itself. And if, as scripture promises, we are created in the image of God (see Genesis 1:26), then we know that God is on the move in us and among us, always.

      In dedicating ourselves to this Made to Move journey, we let God tell us our own stories. No two will be alike as no two people are alike. Yet, the arc of our human story is so familiar: a body created in God’s image is tempted, broken, yielded, rebuilt, and renewed. It’s the story Christ lived, and still lives in us, so that through us God may be glorified, and others may come to know the hope of Christ that we have.

      From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’ (Acts 17:26-28).

      Let’s begin together in prayer: Lord, use the workings of my body to show me the mysteries of my soul. Thank you for moving in me. Make me a willing participant in your ongoing work of creation, that I might claim the abundant life you offer. Amen.

      How to Use This Book

      This book of daily devotional experiences is designed to help you understand yourself, that amazing puzzle that only you and God can solve together. Through scripture, meditation, reflection, activity, and prayer, the readings will guide you to fill out the image of God in you and bring living color to the masterpiece God made you to be.

      Each week contains seven daily devotional read-and-respond pages, one for each day of the week. Our framework follows the Great Commandment, given

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