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How to Keep a Fit Relationship with the Holy Spiri...

New Living Translation (©2007)

Consistency: Some people feel they must spend a long time working out. Not necessarily so. In the long run, it is the consistency that matters. Be consistent in exercising. Though not all days are going to be great workout days, the body rewards based on consistency. It’s not how long the prayers are but the quality.  It’s quality versus quantity. Honor a set time with the Holy Spirit. Keep it everyday.

Never stop praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Focus: In weight training, when lifting heavy, it is important not to think “heavy weight” but “light weight”. In other words, watch your focus. Focus not on the burden or heaviness of the task. The scriptures encourage us to take God’s “yoke”:

Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).

Form: Form follows function.  Bone development follows the amount of pressure placed on them. It is important, therefore, to not just lift for the sake of lifting but be attentive to your form- to the manner in which you perform your exercise. Proper alignment is important. Likewise, don’t just walk through your faith—go to church for the sake of going to church, read a verse, a chapter for the sake of reading the Bible; pray for the sake of saying your prayers. Instead, be aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  He is speaking to you daily—through His word, through the man or woman of God, through nature, throughout everyday life.  Be in the moment—stay present.

Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.  Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.  Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.   And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:16-20).

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Letting Go off the Past

I couldn’t get the image out of my head. It was a runner—a sprinter, carrying a baton. If you know anything about a race, you don’t look back even when you pass the baton. Why? Because looking back decreases your speed.  Looking back also interrupts your focus.

I loved the Apostle Paul, who, too, uses this similar analogy: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win (1 Corinthians 9:24 NCV). Focus is necessary for our destiny. Determination to win is necessary for our purpose Christ has called us to fulfill. Who would have thought God would have chosen and used a man like Paul?  As a Roman soldier, he brutally persecuted so many Christians. But one day, God literally stopped this man in his tracks. Saul, as he was known then, met God on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).  Paul became a believer after that day, and one of the major leaders of the Early Church. He transferred his drive from a hunter of Christians to a hunter of souls.  Many Christians died at the hands of Paul, but the other apostles accepted him as one of their very own brothers after his conversion, for they believed in the resurrected power of Jesus to forgive all wrong doings.  Now, Paul used his energies to move the gospel through the Roman kingdom.  He never looked back on his past: “If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new! All this is from God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18 NCV). Paul was a changed man literally overnight. Paul did not have time to allow his past to haunt him, for he was too busy preaching the Good News.  His entire focus was on moving the Gospel and becoming more Christ-like:  “I do not mean I am already as God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal, but I continue trying to reach it and to make it mine.  Christ wants me to do that, which is the reason he made me his. Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not yet reached that goal, but there is one thing I always do. Forgetting the past and straining toward what is head, I keep trying to reach the goal and get the prize for which God called me through Christ to the life above” (Philippians 3:12-14 NCV).

Paul understood what it took to be not only a good athlete but a good athlete who would win the prize. His steps were clear cut. He didn’t doubt the forgiving power of God because he never once looked back at his past. If we are going to become all Christ has created us to be, then, intentions to succeed in the life as a “well equipped” believer must be undoubtedly free from all thoughts of guilt or regret.  Live fully today.  A good athlete must eat the right food to win. Eat healthily and exercise, so that you may use your energies physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to serve God! Make the choice today!

GOD’S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Forget what happened in the past, and do not dwell on events from long ago (Isaiah 43:18).

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5 Reasons to Abandon the Self

1. When the “I” is in God’s way.
2. When the “I” is all you can see.
3. When the “I” hurts your self esteem.
4. When the “I” takes center stage.
5. When the “I” forgets God’s love.

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What is Real Strength?

What is real strength
unless there is a current that you must go against?
What is real strength
without the force of gravity?
What is real strength
unless you are able to buffet the winds of a storm?
What is real strength
without the presence of adversity?
Now be strong!

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From Self Hatred to Real Love

What is it to really love you? How important is it to really love yourself? According to the Holy Scripture, we are commanded to love ourselves as Christ loved us. Christ was passionate about his love for us. As we walk into awareness of understanding the love Christ has for us, we too begin to love others passionately as well.

So you see, to love oneself—one’s body including, is central to one’s development as a human being. I hear so much self hate talk throughout the day, coming out of the mouths of men and women. These self hate talk can range anywhere from “I’m so stupid”, “I’m fat and ugly” to “I’m worthless”.

I bet if you were to set out on a quest to understand God’s love, you would begin to love yourself more each day. You see to love others as yourself can still pose a problem if loving yourself is relative. For example, we all value ourselves differently, so we love out of a flawed human nature. But to love oneself and others as Christ loved us puts us in a position to see a love that has been perfected—that is pure, unselfish, forgiving and sacrificial. The more you begin to love yourself, the more you begin to love others as well; you become passionate about people—about the world.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another ” (John 13: 34).

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Mind, Body, and the Holy Spirit (Part II)

If you are in me at all times, and my words are in you, then anything for which you make a request will be done for you. (John 15:7)

When a man and a woman are joined together in holy matrimony, they become one. The marriage bed is consummated by their physical expression of love for one another. To become one in this way is a spiritual act that is physicalized through the act of sexual intercourse. Similarly, when we abide in God’s words and God’s words abide in us, we experience this oneness. It is a fusion of our spirit with His. We are in Him as He is within us. Meditating on the word of God and repeating affirmations can help us in experiencing a deeper connection with the Holy Spirit of God. Too many times our knowledge of God remains at the head level never permeating the very fiber of our being. The Psalmist David said he blessed the Lord with everything that was within Him—every cell, artery, organ and breath were in harmony with God.

The Mind
The mind must be retrained to focus on whatever things are true, whatever things have honor, whatever things are upright, whatever things are holy, whatever things are beautiful, whatever things are of value, or virtue. Therefore, memorizing scriptures is one way to not only keep the brain fit but also one way to train it.
Memory Scripture: “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask for anything you want, and you will receive it.” (John 15:7 International Version).

The Body
The body has the ability to hear. Because it hears, we need to guard our words with care. If the body hears an idea often enough, it sets out on a path to bring that thought into being. Dialoguing for the body can be spoken or unspoken. Affirmations are declarations usually spoken aloud.
Affirmation: I am in you; you are within me.

The Holy Spirit
In this place, there is no striving just being. It is here where we learn to rest in Him—to be still, allowing His spirit to refresh and change us from the inside-out.

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