Month: February 2014

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Double Fitness

Skiing

Don’t 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)

If not winter, are you at least enjoying the Olympics? I have tuned in most every night and find myself shaking my head frequently, awestruck by what these athletes are willing and able to do with/to their bodies in order to compete at such a high level. Sometimes it makes me hurt just watching them!  I can only imagine the degree of physical training required of these Olympic athletes and the pain they have endured in the process.

Athletes or not, we can honor God with our bodies.  And should! Being physically fit is one means of providing the Spirit with a nice home in which to reside. This topic has been heavy on my mind of late; thus, this writing. For some yet to be determined reason, I have recently been sidelined from exercise that has been part of my daily routine for years. My body won’t tolerate it for more than 27 seconds at a time and that admittedly scares me.  Maybe the aging process or some other physical ailment has limited your mobility and derailed your ability to be physically fit as well. I have good news—there’s something much better, spiritual fitness.  Why? Because its benefits are eternal!

“Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8 NLT)

We can achieve spiritual fitness by investing in our relationship with the Creator of the universe. Just as there are many ways to get into physical shape, there are a variety of ways to train for godliness as well.  We can nurture our relationship with God by spending time in His Word, communicating with Him in prayer, attending and becoming actively involved in a church, and more. The key is staying connected to Him. I’ve done several Bible studies over the years and since I am a bottom line kind of person, I like to summarize what I’ve learned upon completion of the study.  I always seem to arrive at the same conclusion—it’s all about the relationship! It is my prayer that each of us would invest in our spiritual fitness daily so that His light would shine through us and reach a dark world.

 

 

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Trouble

Trouble

“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.”

(John 16:33 NIV)

Have you experienced any trouble lately? You bombed the test in school today. The snowblower broke with 10″ of snow in your driveway. Someone hurt your feelings. The lab test came back positive. The check bounced.  The list is endless, isn’t it? We were warned by Jesus that there would be trouble. He didn’t say IF we have trouble, but that we WILL have trouble.

When I think of the word trouble I can’t help but think of the board game by the same name that we played with the kids growing up. You had to roll a 6 or a 1 to get a pawn in play and then had to race your pawns around the board and get them all safely home before your opponent(s) did. The trouble came when an opponent landed on your space and knocked you back to start. I wish that was my worst trouble, don’t you?

Trouble comes our way in a varying degree every day. My latest trouble came in the form of a setback in my quest to get well these past few weeks. I will admit that this has shaken my faith. Nothing tests your faith quite like a large helping of trouble! I am fortunate to have found a lovely Christian doctor that not only won’t give up her search for a solution, but also encourages me along the way. When she sensed my discouragement last week she explained that this was only a bump in the road. (It looked more like a mountain to me) Her advice was to keep my head up, where it belongs. That brought the story of Peter walking on water to mind.

“Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”              

(Matthew 14:29-31 NLT)

That’s what happened to me last week. I looked down and started to sink! I shall heed my pastor’s advice from his most recent sermon series and fix my eyes on Jesus. That requires keeping my head up, just as my doctor advised.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

                                                                              (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV)

Jesus overcame far worse trouble than any of us will ever experience and He did it so that we, too, can live in victory. As my Aunt Judy says at the end of all her written correspondence… “Keep lookin’ up!”