Wednesday's Word - Weight Loss through DIE etting

Hello All,

Well here we are, James 4, one workout left before we're done with the Jim. Let's get to it.

Previously, I used a scenario where as we exercise; God encourages us a spotter. I'd like to develop this idea a little further because there are some of us who think we are quite impressive. We jump on the lifecycle bench press like "No sweat God,I'm the MAN!!!! I got this!" It is at these times that we fail to step back and realize; The point of "this" exercising is neither to glorify ourselves, nor to try to impress people around us. We exercise to gain internal transformation, not external adoration. And if we really look at the facts of the matter found in the Word of God, it becomes clear that although God gives us grace to endure, we are not the SOURCE of our strength. The Word says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Phil 4:13.
It would be a sad situation to find yourself stuck under a heavy weight wondering why you can't move it and God Himself is watching you from the corner saying..."Well YOU said YOU had it". Of course, that scenario makes God seem a lil cruel, or that He would take joy in our suffering. He doesn't do that for HIs children, but I'm sure because of His great love for us, that He is resolute, even when we have hard lessons to learn. His Word is true.
James 4:6(b) "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble"
James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

So while we look to various low-carb, zero fat diets for weight loss in order to fit into that outfit, or just "look good"; we also have to make sure that we are DIE-etting that we may put on Christ. Paul was an awesome example of this. He promoted a daily DIE-et (1 Cor 15:31). We must decrease that He may increase (Jn 3:30).
Some people have a serious weight problem; their ego prevents them from fitting into that new nature. Check your ego, does it need a DIE-et?


In Him,
Cros

Wednesday's Word - James 3

Negative Resistance James 3:1-12

One majorly important rule of weight training is, "Don't lift what you can't control." Along with proper form, control is improved by 'negative resistance' or exerting effort on the "return" motion. Take for instance dumbell curls for biceps:
From a seated or standing position, you bend your arm at the elbow, contracting your bicep, bringing the weight up in front of you towards your shoulder. Now on the return motion, if you lower the weight slowly rather than letting it drop, you maximize the effect of the exercise. Effort is applied to resist the weight from quickly returning to a relaxed or natural state. As obvious as the nose on your face; holding back is ALWAYS harder than just letting it drop.
Biblically, the tongue is a prime example of the benefits of negative resistance. We all start out tongue-tied. Our tongues are tied to our feelings and emotions, basically our sinful nature. And at any given opportunity, before even considering holding back....we let it drop: Gossip, slander, lying, false witness, inappropriate jokes and comments...the list goes on. As true believers, we have to exercise resistance to that negativity. We have to hold back and show control. Applying the principle of negative resistance on a daily basis will strengthen the ties that bind your tongue to your new nature in Christ Jesus.


James 3:13-18 is also very rich, but I didn't want to make these workouts too long.

Its about The test of true Wisdom. I think of it as those people who come to the Gym and you can tell, even though their working out, they're goal is to just show off. They'd rather look down their nose at you like you're doing it wrong rather than show you how to do it right. What is your goal for working out? is it to heap trophies and medals and accolades on yourself? Or is it to glorify God? One type of wisdom directs one choice and another type directs the other.

In Him,
Cros

Wednesday's Word - James 2

Hello All,
I hope we're still pressing forward and sticking with it. I imagine that life is doing what it does; presenting distractions that take up too much time and make the idea of "hitting the Jim" a situation more of wishful thinking than handling business. Be encouraged. You can do it.


Here's the focus: James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Smoke Signals

Some of have jobs that are too good to be true. I can't lie, I really feel like I'm one of' 'em. But I also remember dragging heavy tool boxes up and down the flight line loading all those bombs on all those planes. It wasn't easy work but it afforded me a valuable lesson. See, one easy thing about that hard situation was that you could quickly see who was blowing smoke and who were the real "worker bees". Of course, we'd give anyone the benefit of the doubt, but an excercise or training surge would show who was serious and who wasn't. The smoke blowers would always have excuses on how the "situation" was at fault rather than take any blame themselves. I mean really, who would ever really admit to being lazy? Worker bees just kept workin'. As Christians, we pray for God to touch our lives with a burning desire; a consuming fire to purge us and put us on the path to make a difference to the Glory of God. But far too many end up never getting involved in any ministry, choosing rather to watch from the sidelines. Oh, they can talk a good game, but when hard times come, you can see that their substance is mostly smoke. So how can an outsider tell that we're on fire, or just sending smoke signals?



In Him,
Cros

Wednesday's Word - James 1

Hello All,

Okay, I hope you're read-up and ready. The "Jim" aint no joke. Like a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, dipped in chocolate.....its RICH!!! Okay, sorry bout that word picture, we're supposed to be focused on exercising. I'm taking on 2 excercises today, which could've easily been 10 or so with all that James' 1st chapter has to say.


Say it with me, the gym is a good thing (verses 2 -4)

You know, if the gym wasn't voluntary, I bet there would be an endless list of 'bad' things about it that would discourage you or anyone else from ever going: It hurts. It takes up time. It hurts. You get tired and you coming smelling like P.U....Oh yeah,....and it hurts. But when you volunteer, you're able to focus more on all the benefits rather than the costs.
As Christians, we responded to God's love prompting our hearts. Becoming Christ-like is not easy but Our Father doesn't give up on us, He's the Supreme Spotter & Fitness Aficionado; He puts an extra 10 pounds on the bar and says "C'mon, you got this. I'm not gonna let you fail, trust Me!" He sees our "after" pic with a clarity that would leave us stunned! How do I know? Romans 8:29 says that our "after" pic is Jesus.


Hey! I know a lil Spanish (verses 22- 25)

How many of us took a second language way back when? We often have to jokingly, yet shamefully admit "Yeah, I took 2 years of "blah blah" and even got an A in the class. I know a few words and phrases, but I just didn't keep up with it." And no one would ever look down on you because of it. Why? It's obvious that you can't remain fluent in someting you never use. Simply put, some things AREN'T just like riding a bike. Genuine Christianity, which the whole book of James speaks to, is not a one-time check mark experience. You can't peruse your copy of "My First Bible" for a couple of year's worth of Sunday Schools before stashing it in the drawer, figuring to yourself "I'm all set." You can't take your best of intentions and 'wing it' to the glory of God. Genuine Christianity is something you have to live out on a daily basis to become and stay fluent in it. So when you come across people who know a 'lil' bit about what's in the Bible, but they've been in church for years.... hmmmm, makes you wonder.


Yeah, so ummm, a lil longer than usual but really, read James chapter 1 and tell me what YOU see.


In Him,
Cros