I don't know how well any of you did this holiday season with all the holiday dinners and tasty treats floating around, but I was pretty much a garbage disposal... or a trash can, however you want to look at it. I'm ready to turn this trash can back into God's temple!
Lord, forgive me! Forgive me for how I have treated Your temple these past weeks. Give me the will power to choose healthy foods in moderation, give me motivation to get my rubber on the road and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Give me the strength to battle my flesh and live victoriously in Christ! Amen.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Get set...
Workout Concept
Open in prayer. Ask God to meet you right where you are, to help set your feet on Solid Rock. Invite Him with you today, wherever your workout finds you. Ask for healing, strength, endurance, whatever you need to get through the workout, but above all, ask for a blessed time with the Prince of Peace.
Memorize scripture while you warm up. God beats cadences in our lives daily. Each of us has a customized harmony of what God is trying to teach us with these directed beats. Pull from this to select scriptures meaningful to your journey and store their treasures in your heart. A great place to start if you have no idea is Psalm 51:10-12: "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."
Worship while you run. I have to listen to music when I run. I just never appreciated the sound of the birds barely audible through my labored breathing. And nothing gets you up an incline like Chris Tomlin singing “Let God Arise”. (Stay tuned for playlist suggestions.)
Pray while you cool down. A prayer list, a prayer experiment, prayer commitments… think big! Remember who you are in Christ and go boldly before the Throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16).
Open in prayer. Ask God to meet you right where you are, to help set your feet on Solid Rock. Invite Him with you today, wherever your workout finds you. Ask for healing, strength, endurance, whatever you need to get through the workout, but above all, ask for a blessed time with the Prince of Peace.
Memorize scripture while you warm up. God beats cadences in our lives daily. Each of us has a customized harmony of what God is trying to teach us with these directed beats. Pull from this to select scriptures meaningful to your journey and store their treasures in your heart. A great place to start if you have no idea is Psalm 51:10-12: "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."
Worship while you run. I have to listen to music when I run. I just never appreciated the sound of the birds barely audible through my labored breathing. And nothing gets you up an incline like Chris Tomlin singing “Let God Arise”. (Stay tuned for playlist suggestions.)
Pray while you cool down. A prayer list, a prayer experiment, prayer commitments… think big! Remember who you are in Christ and go boldly before the Throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16).
On Your Mark...
I started running to quit smoking. I kept running to see how far I could go. I devoted myself to running and discovered I could go pretty far. But is that a reason to exercise? Is running worthy of devotion? Can a physical goal be enough to sustain us through the years? Let's face it - life gets complicated and too many things beg for our attention. How to choose? But, I believe we need exercise. Long after it will do anything significant for our appearance or our endurance, we still need it. There comes a point when pounds and inches are slower to fall, the stopwatch is harder to beat, the distance is harder to come by, and for some of us, we can’t even find the motivation to start or keep going, yet we still need exercise to flush toxins, keep organs healthy, restore energy, and promote healthy sleep patterns, just to name a few benefits. Life seems to overtake the importance of exercise and most of us give up because we get discouraged by these images of what we think we should look like. Perhaps we need a change of heart and a new image? We've seen enough infomercials with the supermodel testimonials - let's try a little Truth!
I have found, personally, that apart from God, nothing makes sense. I don't know where you are in your relationship with Jesus or if you know Him at all, but I encourage you to look at exercise through the lens of God's Word. Sister, Jesus loves you, He is passionate about you, He will never stop pursuing you, and He is mighty to save you - even from yourself. He thinks you are just as beautiful today as you were any other day of your life and He holds an attainable image for you. He doesn't want you to be what you are not, He wants you to be the best of who He made you to be. We are the ones who dangle these lofty goals of marathons and 6 day a week regimens and size 6 jeans in front of our alarm clocks set for 5:30 AM. God just wants us to be healthy and maintain what He originally made so we can do what he has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). The abundant blessings that come with obedience are far greater than attaining any physical goal you can conjure up! He can do immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20) so if you are dreaming of size X, you aren't even in the same ballpark as Him!
I have found, personally, that apart from God, nothing makes sense. I don't know where you are in your relationship with Jesus or if you know Him at all, but I encourage you to look at exercise through the lens of God's Word. Sister, Jesus loves you, He is passionate about you, He will never stop pursuing you, and He is mighty to save you - even from yourself. He thinks you are just as beautiful today as you were any other day of your life and He holds an attainable image for you. He doesn't want you to be what you are not, He wants you to be the best of who He made you to be. We are the ones who dangle these lofty goals of marathons and 6 day a week regimens and size 6 jeans in front of our alarm clocks set for 5:30 AM. God just wants us to be healthy and maintain what He originally made so we can do what he has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). The abundant blessings that come with obedience are far greater than attaining any physical goal you can conjure up! He can do immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20) so if you are dreaming of size X, you aren't even in the same ballpark as Him!
Faithfully Fit is a way to be physically and spiritually healthy. It's not a magic formula, it's just an idea to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the One who strengthens us, carries us and loves us like no other! I believe exercise is as important as anything else the Bible tells us to do. I can't love my neighbor or reach the needy or serve my God in any capacity if I'm too tired and toxin filled to get out the door. If you have tried everything else to stay motivated in this exercise battle, maybe it's time you invited the ultimate Personal Trainer along to keep your mind off the miles, the inches, the pounds. Throw that scale away because He couldn't care less what it says! Devote yourself to the only One worthy of devotion and He'll take care of everything else!
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