Are You Buff, Toned, and Muscle-Bound?

I hope you’re still reading after that question because, quite frankly, most of us aren’t. But, this question is asking about our “faith muscles”. I’ve learned so many lessons in God's gym. My faith muscles have had a good work-out and some days I can lift some pretty heavy stuff. We go to that gym because we know we need to stay fit when it comes to our faith and determination to keep on keeping on.

Faith is very much like a muscle. The more we use our muscles and exercise them, the more they grow. And the more we grow, the more we can lift and others will even notice our muscles. even when we’re not flexing. I’m smiling as I type this because I am wishing that I had physically noticeable muscles when I flexed. LOL! In the same way, someone who is a man or woman of faith is not merely gifted with it, their faith has become noticeably larger because it has been worked out over time until it can be seen without even flexing!

When I ask for God to “increase my faith”, He gives provides me with increased opportunities to grow muscles. YIKES!! Not the most pleasurable experiences – working out often hurts! Some of those workout routines may look like an illness that we or a loved one are facing; a loss of a job; difficulty in a relationship; struggling with another trial or testing. Each workout routine gives us the opportunity to depend on Him more, to trust Him literally for every breath we take, to spend more time in prayer with Him, and to get as close as we can to Him.

We can recognize those whose faith is so strong even when they are not flexing it. Once we get spiritually fit, the issues that once plagued us (i.e., fear, despair, worry, unbelief, hopelessness, concern) seem to have little effect on our strong belief and trust in God. My post today was inspired by a precious friend who I follow daily on FB. This woman's faith muscles are so developed that through the greatest tests, she still proclaims “Nothing is impossible with God”. Just take a look at her musclebound faith:

“Faith is the only reason I’m still standing and fighting. It is the reason why my “terminally ill” son is still alive at 8 yrs old and now off of 19 medications. He’s never walked independently a day in his life, but EVERY SINGLE DAY multiple times a day, I tell him his legs are SOO STRONG!! I tell him he is SOO SMART!! I tell him he runs SOO FAST!! I tell him he’s such a great preacher!! 😎 I tell him he’s healthy and whole!! His vision is perfect!! His hearing is perfect!! His organs perform the way God designed them to! I tell him he’s loved SOO MUCH and that the same spirit that lives in JESUS lives in him!!

That, my dear friends, is what I call “faith-muscle”. After reading Lori Street Whitmore's words, I went back to the gym – God’s gym, that is – and I exercised a little harder, longer and thought, “If she can make it through so many rigorous work-outs of faith, so can I." What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger. So many faith-muscle-bound people encourage us. I’ve got several of those “trainers” in my life. Perhaps, you need to start with the best muscle strengthening program available. Here are some of the training manual’s tips:
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.
2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought the good faith; I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

It's Not Broken -- Just Wrong Programming

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the fitness center in my community to run on the treadmill. As I ran, I watched the Dallas Cowboys game and they got off to a great start but, apparently they were "out of order" because they lost to Atlanta 7 to 27. On the same note, occasionally, you’ll see a sign on one of the treadmills in my fitness center that says “temporarily out of order”. I heard about one gal who was running on a treadmill and it started picking up speed -- a lot of speed -- and she nearly fell before she could get it to stop. But, it wasn’t about the equipment malfunctioning – it was because she "entered" a program she wasn’t capable of handling. It was “user error” and wrong programming. Now I know why they have some treadmills with a sign on them that says “This treadmill is for those members who prefer a slower pace.” So far, I’ve stayed clear of those machines!

Here’s my point for today’s post. We could be going about our daily routines -- coasting along -- business as usual. When, all of a sudden, our world feels like it's out of control and can't seem to stop the all-too-fast pace we are keeping. We realize we're about to lose it.....and we know we MUST push the STOP button, or we'll crash and burn. When we stop, we realize something is wrong -- is it my circumstances or is it ME that is out of order or I need reprogramming?

God created us as powerful, fully equipped "machines" that have everything we need to perform at full capacity, but occasionally "stuff" happens that causes our programming to become dysfunctional. For example, a couple of weeks ago, I was hit with an "issue" and I needed to go see my doctor as sson as possible. After tests were run, while giving the diagnosis, my doctor asked “How much water are you drinking?” I was caught by my doctor AND my body. I was drinking mostly tea and coffee and NOT drinking enough water, so my body AND my “programming” malfunctioned.

If we desire to be victorious, strong, confident, and faith-filled, always ready to run our race with vigor and vitality, we must keep up with maintenance checks -- to be sure we're programmed for efficiency. If that programming starts malfunctioning -- i.e., our physical bodies start breaking down, or we allow negative thoughts to bombard our minds – thoughts of fear, lack of self esteem, quitting thoughts, inferiority – it’s time to update our programming and get a tune-up -- from the neck up. Our thinking probably needs to be reprogrammed.
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Our Master Technician's instruction manual (The Bible) has all the operating standards we need to run at best performance. And, it gives us all the basics we need to "Troubleshoot", "Reboot" and "Reprogram". Once we apply this technique -- we'll be guaranteed to continue to run with efficiency and success. Here's one of the BEST peak performance tips:

Joshua 1:8 "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."