Laurette Willis - 40 Days to Fit and Fabulous with PraiseMoves

Destiny Image Books by Laurette Willis

Truth Seekers (contributor)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to acknowledge our certified PraiseMoves instructors (CPIs) all over the world who are blazing a trail by bringing PraiseMoves and the message of faith and fitness to their churches, fitness centers, YMCAs, schools, and communities.

These women and men of God are offering PraiseMoves (The Christian alternative to yoga) and MIRA! (Christian Fitness with a Latin Beat) as a way to strengthen believers in spirit, soul, and body.

Our certified PraiseMoves instructors are on the forefront of the fitness ministry movement. They present workout classes which offer participants marvelous physical benefits as well as the Word of God, which is the foundation to every PraiseMoves posture. We like to say that the exercise is not the foundation to PraiseMoves, but rather the Word of God which we meditate upon and speak aloud while doing these stretching, strengthening postures. In this way, PraiseMoves is the witty invention to get you more into the Word of God, and to get more of the Word of God into you!

To find a PraiseMoves or MIRA! class near you, please visit www.PraiseMoves.com.

Transform Your Workouts into Worship with PraiseMoves!

For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are Gods (1 Corinthians 6:20, PraiseMoves Foundation Scripture).

Welcome to 40 days that can change your life! Im excited to be going on this journey with you. You will not only be doing some revolutionary things to help your physical health; you will be taking steps to super-charge your spiritual life and relationship with the Lord, too!

Combining faith and fitness just makes sense. If you want make lasting improvements in your physical health and wellbeing, you need more than a great diet and exercise plan. Studies show that positive, long-term change happens when we make consistent improvements over time and then stick to them. This requires an inner changechanging your want-to, I call it.

There are few things as powerful as realizing an inner desire (your want-to) has been changed! Since I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ, I could do all the ugly things I used to do before I knew Him, if I wanted tobut I dont want to do so! My want-to has been changed! Things which used to hold me in bondage no longer control me. Some of these freedoms from bondage I experienced immediately; some have come during a process of growing in the Lord and His Word, and others I am continuing to walk out by faith on a daily basiswhile singing the chorus to Gods still workin on me!

Like many of us, you may have a developing want-to in the area of weight management and physical fitness. Perhaps the want-to is there, but taking action on it or finding the time has been challenging for you. Heres where the power of faith will work for you. The Bible tells us, faith apart from [its] works of obedience is also dead (James 2:26 AMP). But faith combined with good works yields powerful results!

In 40 Days to Fit and Fabulous with PraiseMoves, I will show you how you can bring faith and fitness together and revolutionize your health in spirit, soul, and body!

You are comprised of three partsspirit, soul, and body. Likewise, there are three parts to godly fitness, namely, body and soul in Christ. You are a spirit. You have a soul, and you live in a body or earth suit.

Lets look at the scriptural evidence. Paul made the division clear when he prayed for the church in Thessalonica, May your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again (1 Thess. 5:23 NLT).

First, you are a spirit:

And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God (Romans 8:10 NLT).

Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness (Genesis 1:26).

Second, you have a soul:

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12).

And third, you live in a body:

Dont you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT).

Perhaps most important for believers (those who have surrendered their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ), is the understanding that we are in Christ as perfectly as He is in us. In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).

If you have not made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, or if its been a long time since youve enjoyed a heart-to-heart relationship with the Lord who made you, I invite you to turn to A Special Invitation at the back of this book. If you are unsure whether or not that means you, it does! Please turn to A Special Invitation. Ill be right here waiting for you when you get back.

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (James 2:26).

Knowledge is vital, yet without action its meaningless. We can know everything there is to know about health and still be out of shape and miserable. One can read books and listen to sermons by some of the most gifted Bible teachers of all time and still miss out on Gods most precious giftthe peace and wholeness salvation bringsif all they do is listen and read. To be successful in any area of life requires action, and not disorganized, meaningless activity, but focused action coupled with knowledge and faith.

Because faith is the substance of things hoped for (Heb. 11:1), we need to know what it is were hoping for! Hope is the blueprint your faith builds upon. What are some of the things youd like to accomplish during these 40 days? Your faith needs a blueprint to follow. I invite you to write a brief blueprint for our 40 days together.

You will need to use a journal or notebook to record your goals, prayers, accomplishments, and the changes you will notice over the next 40 daysand beyond!

What I would like to accomplish during the next 40 days using this book is:

These are habits Id like to overcome and others Id like to develop:

I want to stop:

And I want to start:

By continuing to grow in faith and fitness and having a healthier lifestyle, this is how I see myself in one year. (Write in the first person, I see myself. Continue in your journal, if needed.)

These desires and goals are your blueprinta picture of hope. Hope is not a feeble sigh of, Gee, wouldnt it be nice. Bible hope is not wishing. Hope is a spiritual force. In its purest biblical sense, hope means earnest expectation. It carries with it the picture of a runner at top speed, pressing forward with intense determination. As she leans into the finish line only a nose away, she earnestly expects to win. Thats Bible hope!

It is my earnest expectation that 40 Days to Fit and Fabulous with PraiseMoves will give you both the knowledge and experience you need to be successful. You will find the knowledge you need about fitness and health, plus targeted, faith-filled words designed to fuel your heart to be all God has created you to beand Praise-Moves exercises which combine faith and fitness to help you Transform Your Workouts into Worship!