Working Out

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life a champion.” – Muhammad Ali

I’ve been working out.   Now I don’t like it at all…. why?  Because it doesn’t come easy!  It is a struggle because;  I have so many other things I’d like to do, I am tired after work, My kids need this, that, and the other thing, It hurts, and…blah……blah…..blah…… the reasons are infinite!

It’s good to see Muhammad Ali didn’t like working out either.  But for him to succeed he had to, and so do I.

Currently I’m working out because frankly I was really out of shape.  I weighed more than I ever did, felt lousy in the mornings, hurt at night, plus I’d been scared by a false heart attack, turned out I had the flu!

I was a wreck!

So I’m fixing my body by working out. Since I’ve started I’ve lost excess fat, gained much needed muscle, I feel decent in the morning, normal at night, I can breathe, and I haven’t been sick! Working out….. unless your some muscle bound freakazoid,….. you probably hate it too, but WE need it!

For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away. ~Psalm 31:10

Physically I’ve needed to be working out, but spiritually I’ve needed it also.

What I know about working out physically, is how difficult it is to get started and get back in shape, because I have neglected it for so long.

I’m not there spiritually, thank God, but I don’t ever want to be either, so how do I avoid that!?!?  The same way I will when I get back in shape physically, maintain it!

I’ve been running at least 3 miles every other day for awhile now and when I first started it was as if someone stuck a plunger over my mouth and plunged all of the oxygen outa my lungs!  My legs hurt incessantly, and each time I ran it was torture.

Now, it’s not so bad, I actually can enjoy it….. a little.  I tire but it’s not as if my lungs are being pulled from their allotted space in my body.  My legs are stronger and don’t feel and act  like a gummy worm!

I’ve been doing push ups daily, and my arms, core, and shoulders are feeling stronger, looking stronger.   Both push ups and running have increased my physical stamina!

Finally I’m eating better foods, at proper times, and in normal amounts!  The whole package has rejuvenated me physically, and I need to continue to do these things to maintain my health and improve it!

Spiritually, it’s the same thing! Maintain and in the process grow stronger, more experienced, closer to God!

²⁷ Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
²⁸ My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!
²⁹ Put false ways far from me
and graciously teach me your law!

~Psalm 119:27-29

 

Working out spiritually is no easier with all the demands on our time. The same issues that have kept me from working out physically are trying to keep me from working out spiritually.

The food I need is the word of God. I need to fill up with his nutrition. The word of God is alive, it strengthens the reader and if your soul has melted away for sorrow, the strength to replenish your soul is found there!  It is the word of God that I am meditating on in my heart throughout the day.

Because I’m not good at memorizing scripture I’m using the “Remember Me” app on my smart-phone!  What a blessing…. check it out!  After all….

Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.

~Psalm 119:105

https://sites.google.com/site/rememberapp/

Next I need work out partners, to spot me…. helping me with the heavy lifting life throws at us.

My wife and I are pursuing a local small group of believers to join as we’ve just recently found a church home, we still belong to our past small group and spend time with them.  We need others!

Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.

~Proverbs 27:17

and

²² strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

Acts 14:22

We build each other up pray each other up, and share our knowledge with one another. No man is an island.

The word of God with in, and being supported and encouraged by other believers get us to the point where we can stretch our faith. Like I said in my last post, Jesus wants us to join him in the void!

That void is where we prove our commitment to his kingdom! The key is being prepared, which is why we need the word and the church!

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
~James. 1:21-25

It is for this doing of the word, that we work out spiritually! It proves our faith and commitment!

When we realize the depth of depravity we have been rescued from,, how can we not act by joining our redeemer in the void of someone else’s rescue attempt!

It is vital for the souls of others that we be in the best spiritual shape we can possibly be! Just as for my family’s and my sake I be in the best physical shape I can be!

It is working out that builds the needed muscle to accomplish those tasks!