Sexperiment Day 1 Devotional – Married

Posted on February 9, 2014 by dkoop

sexperimentDAY 1 – DIVINITY

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. Ephesians 5:21-28

SEX IS VERTICAL BEFORE IT’S HORIZONAL

In so many ways, our culture tells us to look out for ourselves. And if we listen long enough to that message, we fall into the trap of thinking that marriage is supposed to be “all about me”. We will also fall into the trap that marriage is built on a conditional love. We’ll get into the mindset that, “If you do this for me, then I’ll do this for you.” But that is not the way that God intended marriage to be done.

In the Bible, God tells us to have an unconditional, initiative-taking love for our spouse. Jesus loves us unconditionally; so much so that he died for us. He took the initiative to sacrifice for us in order to secure a relationship with us. What an example of what we should do for our spouse.

This week, take the initiative with your spouse. You have made the commitment to grow closer to one another, not only through seven days of sex, but through dialogue, connection, and vulnerability. Don’t wait for your spouse to pursue you.

Take the initiative and plan a special time together during the night. Arrange for the babysitter. Show your spouse that you are committed to strengthening your relationship this week. And use the Sexperiment to love your spouse the way that Jesus loves us—unconditionally and intentionally.

DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING

  • Ask your spouse, “How am I doing in making marriage about you?”
  • Tell your spouse one way they can take the initiative this week to demonstrate their love for you.
  • List out the ways of how love is best communicated to you and tell each other.

 TAKE ACTION

  • Pray together and ask God to grant each of you an attitude that is more interested in giving and pleasing your spouse than in receiving.

 GO FURTHER

  • Read the section “Reverse the Curse” on pages 12-14 of the Sexperiment book.
  • Read about additional action steps in this area of your marriage on pages 31-32 of Sexperiment.

To download the PDF  click below.

Day_1-Divinity-Married

SEX Ridge For more about the “SEX” series or to sign up for a Sexperiment Growth Group go to www.RidgeFellowship.com

 

Source:  www.TheSexperiment.com

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What is The Sexperiment?

Posted on February 9, 2014 by dkoop

SEX RidgeAre you up for it?  What could happen in your marriage if you had sex with your spouse for seven straight days?

If you are single what would happen if you began to pray and seek God’s will for you in the area of sexual purity?  What if God is preparing you now for something amazing in your future?

Thousands of couples around the country have taken part in the Sexperiment and discovered the amazing purpose and plan God has for their marriages. We challenge you to take this Sexperiment for yourself and discover just how sex can be the superglue to strengthen your marriage.

But these seven days aren’t just about sex. That week could be the foundation for phenomenal growth, amazing influence and everlasting impact for the rest of your marriage and the rest of your life.

Take the Sexperiment and experience the power of marriage done God’s way—with intentionality, and creativity. What starts as a week long experience can become a lifestyle that helps you make the most of the rest of your life.

sexperimentHere’s How to Take the Sexperiment

1.  Set aside a week with your spouse that you both agree to have sex for seven days. If you are single set aside seven days to read, reflect and pray.  At The Ridge the time frame many people are choosing their seven days are between February 9th – March 15th

2.  Sit down with your spouse and talk about what you hope to gain from the Sexperiment.  If you are single write down what your hope to gain from seeking God’s perspective on sex.

3.  Read a Sexperiment devotion  each day.  There is one for each day for couples or singles that are posted at www.TheRidgeBlog.com  You can also read a chapter each day from the book, Sexperiment.   *If you sign up for a Sexperiment Growth Group at The Ridge and it’s your first time to sign up, we have a free Sexperiement book for you!

Over the course of just seven days, creative sex in marriage—the way God created it—is a tremendous catalyst that leads to much more than a week of happiness. And by the end, you’ll discover:

  • A greater sense of purpose for your life together
  • A deeper understanding of God’s plan for your marriage
  • A more intimate connection with your spouse
  • Richer purity in your lives
  • A lasting legacy for your future
  • Open communication in your marriage
  • True oneness as a couple

While many would argue that there is a lot more to marriage than just sex, there are also a lot of benefits!

www.RidgeFellowship.com

For more about The Sexperiment, go to www.thesexperiment.com

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Steve Reynolds, Bod 4 God author, will be here Saturday!

Posted on February 5, 2014 by dkoop

Bod4God author, Steve Reynolds – whom the media labeled “the Anti-Fat Pastor” after he lost more than 100 pounds – will share  the simple lifestyle changes, both inside and out, that have led to his incredible weight loss.

Steve Reynolds will be at The Ridge Fellowship (Leander location) on Saturday, February 8th 2014 from 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM.   All invited! Childcare provided.

Click here for a map to The Ridge Fellowship in Leander.

On Saturday you will hear how you can change your life forever by committing your body to God’s glory. One of the biggest reasons most people fail on traditional diet plans is that they are required to eat what the plan tells them to eat. This approach simply doesn’t work, because we don’t all have the same appetites, background or circumstances! Bod4God helps you craft your own personal plan that you will follow gladly for the rest of your life.

Another way to find support in developing your Bod 4 God lifestyle is…

Bod 4 God Growth Groups! 

To go along with the Bod 4 God series, we will have Bod 4 God groups!  Don’t lose weight alone — join a group of losers! There will be mid-sized groups meeting weekly on Wednesday nights for 12 weeks at the Ridge in Leander and Taylor. They will use DVDs (2- 25 minute video sessions).  There are also other Bod 4 God groups that will meet for 6 sessions (2 DVD sessons at a time) in Leander and Jarrell. You can choose, Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays for group days.

To sign up for Leander go to:  http://leander.ridgefellowship.com/#/get-connected/interests-activities

To sign up for Jarrell go to:  http://jarrell.ridgefellowship.com/#/get-connected/interests-activities

To sign up for Taylor go to:  http://taylor.ridgefellowship.com/#/get-connected/interests-activities

For more about Steve or the Bod 4 God book, check out his website:  www.Bod4God.org

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4 Attitudes about Our Body, Which One is Yours?

Posted on February 4, 2014 by dkoop

Bod 4 God posterOur attitude is so important.  Making changes that will honor God begin with our attitude.  Every change we want to see on the outside must start on the inside.  Jesus talked about this in Mark 7:20-22.

“From the inside of a person’s heart come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envies, slander, pride and foolishness.”

Negative issues start on the inside.  In having the correct attitude we have to face some unhealthy attitudes about our body. Here are three unhealthy attitudes.

1. I reject my body.  A lot of us do this. The reason we struggle so much in this area is because  our culture paints this picture of a body that none of us will ever live up to.

We see the images on magazine covers and think, “I don’t have a body like they do so why try?   And for you ladies it is a whole lot harder for you. There is the pressure to look certain way.  As a kid, I played with GI Joe. He had a Kung-Foo grip and six pack abs.  When I looked in the mirror, I didn’t look like G I Joe but Mr. Potato head!  If you think you can look like Barbie, it’s not going to happen!  So what do we do? We reject our bodies.

Can I tell you something?  First of all, like Barbie the images on the magazines are fake! Here’s one site that shows you celebrities before and after, http://likes.com/celebs/celebrities-beforeafter-photoshop .  Artists take and add inches, cover wrinkles in order make something that is not real. Secondly, you are beautiful!  You are handsome. We need to see ourselves as God does. Do you understand how much time and thought God put into you?

Psalm 139 reminds us, “You, God, made all the delicate and inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex.”  Do you understand that we are all created different?  None of us look the same, nor should we try.

The second unhealthy attitude,

2.  I perfect my body.  This is the prevailing view in our society.  We live in a culture where we worship perfect bodies.  So many people make that their aim, perfection. Often these types run in crowds, they are always at the gym, at competitions and they are food Nazis.

I have leaned in this direction before.  I have found that if my goal is all about perfecting my body, first of all I can’t achieve it, and secondly all other priorities go out the window.  Another problem of living this way is that perfection involves a lot comparison. We unfairly compare our weaknesses to someone else’s strength!  The bible says it’s not wise,

“We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with others… (it) is not wise. 2 Corinthians 10:12-13

I’ve discovered I can’t be perfect, who can?   The third unhealthy attitude is

3. I neglect my body.  This is easy to do.  My excuses go like this, “I’m busy, I have kids, I don’t have time.”  I have been here the past two years and this attitude has NOT served me very well.   Neglect rears its ugly head in following ways: my clothes don’t fit; I despise the scale, the mirror or being out of breath going up the stairs.

I have had the all the above the attitudes but now, I want to embrace this fourth but healthy attitude.

4.  I maximize my body.   Instead of neglecting or rejecting my body, comparing my body to anyone else or obsessing about it, I want to see my body as a gift from God.   I want treat my body the best that I can.  I want make the best of my body with God’s help for God’s purposes.

How about you?

Darrell

www.RidgeFellowship.com

 Source:
Steve Reyolds, Bod 4 God
For more about Bod 4 God, go to www.Bod4God.org

 

 

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