Cheese Cheese Sugar Sugar

The standard American diet consists of dairy products and/or sugar at every meal. While consuming these can bring momentary pleasure we do have to be careful how much we consume in order to keep our bodies healthy and functioning properly.
God says in:

1 Cor 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

And again in:
1 Cor 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Don’t get me wrong. I do enjoy my Dolly’s Pizza and a Mountain Dew Throwback once a week. But moderation is the key.

Here’s a workout that will help burn that Cheese Cheese Sugar Sugar. (Note: the kettlebell weight exposed my weakness/improper form during the snatches.)

Start with a heavy Kettlebell (32Kg) and do 3 reps per hand of each exercise – Swing, Snatches, Rows, Chest Press.
Rest 1 min and then repeat with lighter Kettlebell (28Kg) but do 4 reps per hand.
Rest 1 min and then repeat with lighter Kettlebell (24Kg) but do 5 reps per hand.
Rest 1 min and then repeat with lighter Kettlebell (20Kg) but do 6 reps per hand.
Rest 1 min and then repeat with lighter Kettlebell (16Kg) but do 7 reps per hand.


PS. Props to my Brother-In-Law Joe for the sweet music.

Do you know where you’re going?

Life is full of uncertainty. We don’t know how the stock market will perform. We don’t know what leaders will rise to power. We don’t know what health issues will arise. We don’t know if we will wake up tomorrow. So do your best and truly trust God with the details.

Ecclesiastes 11:6 says “Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.”

Uncertainty can be overwhelming and even crippling. We might live stagnate and unproductive lives due to a fear of failure or loss. The truth is that we are not in control, God is. We can’t completely control our future but God has it all planned out we just need to obey Him and trust Him.

Jeremiah had a very difficult life yet in Jeremiah 29:11 God says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Keep in mind that the “Future and Prosperity” is in heaven (for believers in Jesus) and will not necessarily be realized on earth.

The flipbook above is of me getting triple blobbed by 3 guys who’s combined weight was in the 750 to 800 pound range. I knew I was going to go up and come back down but I didn’t know how I’d fare along the trajectory until the flight was all over.

Troubles and surprises will come our way, it’s up to us to decide how we react to them.
James 5:11 says “As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance, and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
This verse gives me peace because God’s love and mercy are always there providing comfort no matter where He has me go or what He has me do.

Don’t want to be a bother to God

Mark 5:24-34
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments? "And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'" And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, "Daughter,) your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

I can relate to this woman. She tried to fix her disease herself. I’m guilty of this. She checked WebMD. I’m guilty of this. She went to the best doctors. I’m guilty of this. She asked everyone but God for help. And in doing so she suffered a lot. I’m guilty of this. It wasn’t until she exhausted all her options that she turned to Jesus. Even being inches away from God she still didn’t want to bother Him and ask for help. It wasn’t until after she was healed that she felt guilty, confessed and humbled herself before God. I’m guilty of this. She was afraid that God would take back the healing but instead God was compassionate and she was free to “go in peace”, healed.

Many times we hold suffering tight and try to fix it ourselves instead of giving it to God and being okay with His will in our lives. Always know that God is never “bothered” by our prayers but, rather wants us to let Him know what we think our needs are so that He can show us what our real needs are and how we can “go in peace”, healed.

Training

I know it's not a good practice to direct people away from your website, but this one is worth it. Check out these 5 videos. EACH one is about 20 minutes long and very interesting. Give them a view over the next month and let me know what you think.
http://www.woodsidebible.org/each/training-videos/

Burdens

We all have burdens. Some are good and some need to be removed. A good kind of burden makes you stronger. Like voluntary exercise and moving weights. A negative burden is something that makes you weaker or breaks your spirit. Like being enslaved and/or sin. God says a lot about burdens in the following verses:

Psalm 55:22a “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you.”
Psalm 8:16 "I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.
Matthew 11:29-30 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ”
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Notice in these verses that God doesn’t say our life is supposed to be burden free. We will have struggles. But, sin should be cast off and turned away from. Sin will weigh you down and cause unneeded suffering. The burdens we do bear should bring glory to His name.

Consider the video below and it’s spiritual applications.

Way vs. Where

Have you ever wondered how God usually works? He generally doesn’t tell us the final destination. He generally doesn’t describe your future. He gives us a path and asks us to trust Him for each step along the way. John chapter 14 has some interesting insight to how God works. Jesus taught by saying in John 14:4 “You know the way to the place where I am going.” Jesus went right to the heart of the matter. The important thing is knowing the way, following Jesus’ commands from the heart with love one day at a time, one step at a time. We complicate things by focusing energy on the ending/destination. We also stress ourselves out with burdens we were never intended to bare all because we rush ahead of where God wants us today.

It’s interesting that Thomas gives our typical human response in John 14:5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Thomas missed the point. The “where”, the future details are not important but the way is important. God wants us to trust Him one step at a time by faith. And He’ll prepare us and train us along the way for the final destination. But if you jump right to the Emerald City you’ll miss so many things God has planned for us along the way and we won’t be properly prepared once we get there.

When Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven He didn’t leave us helpless and lost. He sent the Holy Spirit just as He said He would do in John 14:26 “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” The Holy Spirit teaches us like our conscience. Not only does He teach us but He pleads with us. Check out the definition of Advocate: One who pleads in another’s behalf. The Holy Spirit pleads with us on behalf of Jesus to daily walk along the way God has told us to go. It can be scary to let go of control and stop trying to intricately plan out the details of our lives. But, that’s what God commands us to do. As a very wise man once said, “Take the next obvious step for the glory of God”. That’s what Abram did in Genesis 12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” Notice the future tense in that verse. God didn’t give him a google map with all the way points and stops laid out. He said take one step at a time and honor me with each step. Let’s do the same.

Obstacles

Most of life is about perspective. A hill can be viewed as a nuisance, a pain, a challenge or as an opportunity for fun. This time of year I have fond memories of tree skiing. I enjoy the cold weather, the speed and the trees as obstacles that I must go around or suffer the consequences of hitting one. A lot of life is like tree skiing. Some elements seem controllable but most aren’t. That’s why it’s important to go to God in prayer and for daily direction. The Bible says in:

Prov, 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”

This New Year let’s seek God’s direction and follow Him and by doing so we’ll avoid hitting the “trees”.