More than just a DVD

   Recently I decided to start doing P90X workout programs. Now, I know what most of you are thinking, intensity. That is how it should be, however, it is only what you make it. This is what I mean, If you pop in the DVD and just look at the screen while sitting on the couch as they work out, the intensity is not there at all.
   If you just look at the DVD and never even put it in your DVD player, the intensity is not there. If you only do half of the excersizes, most likely, the intensity is not fully there. But lets go a little further.
   What is the consequence if the intensity is not there? That means that the growth is not there. The excersizes are made to literally break your muscles so that they may grow back bigger and stronger than they were before! This wont happen by just staring at the DVD!
   When it comes to our growth in fighting sin, looking at our Bible sitting on the countertop doesnt help. Opening the Bible in the middle so that the impression that someone reads it is given does not help you grow. Its reading, believing, and practicing the word of God is what gives you the strength! The intensity and endurance of following the word of God is what it takes for the growth against sin!

Nothing Else

   Have you ever seen the really small, seemingly having no muscle, skinny guy walk into the gym to work out? But instead of starting with low weight so that he can lift it and progress the weight with time, he goes in to work out with the big guys that warm up with over 300 pounds for bench press.
   Of those guys, there is one training for the world's strongest man's competition. He is obviously the strongest one in the entire gym. He could lift the weight that no one else there could! So when it came to the 400+ pound weight on the bench  press excersize, he was the ONLY ONE that could lift that weight.
   We are that small, skinny guy in the gym, without the Lord. Without Him, we are trying to go through life like we are working out against the world's strongest man. Our sin cannot be defeated if we try to fight it by ourselves, completely unassisted.
   However, the God that we serve is stronger than that worlds strongest man, everytime! He easily lifts the weight and burden of our sins, for He has already conquered everything in existence! The good news: He is on our side, for those that know and love Him! Do you know Him?

Never Giving Up Faith

   Ive heard prayers where people thank God for both the good and the bad that happen in their lives. I honestly cannot agree with those prayers any more than I do. They are so very true when we look at Romans 8.28 as Paul states, "Therefore, we know that all things work together for the good of those that love the Lord and are called according to His purposes."
   If we TRULY believe every word that the Bible says, then we have FULL CONFIDENCE that as long as we love the Lord and are called according to His purposes, that even the "bad" that occurs in our lives is actually good in the end.
   My Bible does not stop here and go on to tell what specific good things are planned for my specific life and how all of what I think are bad things will turn out to be for the good. However, this does not give me the excuse to give up on the Faith because it looks as if this verse is not true. In fact, it should motivate you to stay in the life. You do not know your future, but God does! And He promises that in the end, it will ALL work out for your good!

The Right Target

   Have you ever seen the really hyper kid running around on the playground during recess at their school? Maybe they are talking too much in general or even being disruptive in class. Basically, this child generally exhibits qualities that show entirely too much energy.
   After going to the doctor, the doctor gladly states that the child is suffering from the condition that is entitled ADHD, attention deficit hyper disorder. Basically the energy level of the child is so much that it distracts and even impedes everyday tasks.
   However, what if his energy is not the problem? What if the problem is simply where the energy is focused? For example: instead of using his energy to disrupt class by talking, what if he used it to study for his next test?
   What if, instead of using our words and our talents and our lives for selfish gains, we used them solely to glorify the name of Christ? That is our goal, and it should be the target of everything that we are!

The Power of the Tongue

   Let us go on another hypothetical middle school adventure. Let us say that we are walking down a middle school hallway one day and simply observing whatever we saw. All of a sudden, we see this girl, who has a lot of friends that seem to be very popular in their school.
   However, when you listen to their conversations, they tend to put people down. For example, one time you see the girl walk up to another girl in the school and criticize her purse because she did not buy it from a store, but it was given to her by her parents.
   You may think, wow, how mean of a statement and a person this girl is. But, in her mind, she is only hoping to motivate the other girl to fit in like her, and impress her friends at the same time. In her mind, she has good intentions, but her words greatly and detrimentally effect the other that she picked on, so much so that the girl decides to transfer schools!
   We may have halfway good intentions in the things that we say, but are they still encouraging? Do we truly monitor our tongues, which possess the power of life and death? It is not just about intention, the actions themselves matter as well! Do you truly monitor your tongue?

Still Rejoicing

   There is a season for everything under the sun. Most of us have heard that in our bible study or in Sunday School, but do we keep in mind that even though their are seasons for everything, God and our purpose in Him will always remain the same?
   Well, if our purpose of worshiping and obeying and glorifying the Lord are the same, then our rejoice should be as well. That means that even though we may not understand what is going on at a particular point in time for a specific situation, we know that, IF WE LOVE THE LORD AND ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE, ALL things work together for our good!
   If we know that, then the season matters not, our purpose is the same and therefore our worship is consistent. Our thanksgiving should not be seized by earthly circumstance, for circumstances change, yet the Lord shall always remain the same throughout eternity, and that is Good and Just! Are you still rejoicing in the Lord?

In the Mind

   I still remember the days when I went home afraid seemingly out of my mind because during the day, a myth was told to all of us kids who attended and after school care facility. We were told that the boogie monster was real and that everything that he touched, turned to green. Not only that, we were told that he was coming to visit the after school care facility as we took our naps for the day.
   As one can imagine, all of us were absolutely terrified at nap time, and none of us wanted to go to sleep, but at that age, it was hard for any of us to stay up for that length of time for some reason. Therefore, when nap time arrived, I did all that I could to stay awake, but it was in vain. I ended up going to sleep and then woke up, with everyone else, to snack time. We had apple sauce, but not just any apple sauce, GREEN apple sauce, and all of us just knew that the boogie man had came when we were sleeping! I was terrified to sleep at my house for days.
   The boogie man sounds silly but the principal behind it remains the same. The boogie man idea was purely of the mind. It caused physical things, the green apple sauce, to be detrimentally amplified to mean something that it truly did not. Sometimes our biggest battles are not physical, but they happen in our mind. If we can get our minds into submission, our views change and our bodies follow. What are the battles of your mind?