Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Spiritual Fitness

 

 

Jason8
When Dallas Cowboys’ coach, Tom Landry, was asked how to build a winning team he said:

“My job is to get men to do what they don’t want to do, in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to achieve.”

 What did those football players want to achieve? Victory at the Super Bowl. What did they not want to do? The hard work necessary to get there!

Achieving greatness requires discipline – determined, deliberate, daily, definable actions with a clear goal in mind.

Paul coached Timothy, saying: “Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness.”

Timothy was the Pastor of the Church in Ephesus, a Las Vegas sort of city. It was a busy, rich, sensual place to be a Christian. Paul knew that succeeding there wouldn’t be easy, so he used the Greek term from which we get our word gymnasium.

In other words, becoming Christ-like requires a daily workout. So Paul writes, “Training yourself for spiritual fitness.”

Notice two words:

(1) Training – which calls for repetitive exercises so that your mind and appropriate muscle groups work together reflexively and automatically. It combines endurance and skill. It’s what turns game-winning abilities into habits.

(2) Yourself – Nobody else can do it for you. Look through the telephone directory; you don’t find “Lease-a-Dieter,” or “Rent-a-Runner.” No, it’s up to you!


So, why train yourself? To become like Christ! By living life as He lived it, allowing the Holy Spirit to shape you by His disciplines from the inside out, you’ll become more like Him. In other words, spend time each day in the gymnasium of the soul. (By Rick Godwin)

 

wordfilled Wednesdaytag Join us today at the 160 Acre Wood for more Word-filled-Posts!

32 comments:

luvmy4sons said...

Amen! Training is never over either!

Tonya said...

Great word, Susan!

I need to "work out" a LOT more.. and I mean both spiritually and physically! (Gotta be ready to dodge those fiery darts shot by the enemy AND I'm just plain TIRED of battling the FLESH! (By that, I mean poor eating habits)

Hey, I forgot to ask.. do we have any plans yet on getting together for a women's retreat? I know we talked about Beth Moore in Memphis, but also hoped to find something to get into in your area. I'm MISSING YOU and CANNOT WAIT to see you again!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Faith said...

What a great way to start my Wednesday! This was great...thank you for posting this and for the awesome Scripture. God bless you today!

amy & lisa said...

Excellent verse and post.
Just what I need!

Joan said...

Thanks for blessing me this morning with this verse. The pairing of the photo and verse is great.
Blessings and Happy WFW!

Laurie said...

Great picture and verse. Your blog is beautiful!

LisaShaw said...

Hey Susan - thank you for your words on my Marriage blog yesterday.

This message is powerful Susan. "Training yourself"! "Training MYSELF" help me Holy Spirit to stand the course -- to do what it takes to stay in the training!!!

Love you.

Anonymous said...

Amen!! Great word!!

Alicia The Snowflake said...

Amen! Spiritual training doesn't come easy. It's something we have to keep working at. Thanks for that great reminder!

Happy WFW!

ellen b. said...

Good encouragement to keep training Susan!! Blessings...

Peggy said...

Blessing Susan...AMEN!

DISCIPLINE! That's what I worked on during my 40 days of fast.

Great photo, verse & teaching!

May His Holy Spirit shape us from the inside out!

Glad that you enjoyed yourself so much at the recent conference! Who would have thought that you'd be such an enthusiastic dancer...per Amy B.'s description. Love the photos...it is always so GREAT to see your smiling face anywhere. Thanks for :) at my place!!!

aspiritofsimplicity said...

This is a great post. And it's true we need to be in continual training in order to be "on top" of our spiritual game.

God's Girl said...

Oh... there is no such thing as rent a runner??? : )

Great post!

Thanks again for praying for my friend Jesse. It means so much!

Love,
Julie

Tonya said...

Susan, there is a family that I mentioned on my blog some time back. They have 11 children (I think - many of them adopted) They recently lost EVERYTHING to a house fire. Now, they've learned that their daughter has a brain tumor. (They're an AMAZING Christian family) I mentioned you to them when I left a comment. You can find them at..

http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/

Love you!

annies home said...

Christianity is a life time of training

Cathy said...

Thanks for that Word today.

Melanie said...

Susan, what a great scripture to remind us that we must "train ourselves" spiritually!

Happy WFW!

lori said...

It's constant TRAINING huh...spiritual boot camp doesn't ever end, does it....

Susan...THIS is fabulous and my hubby grew up a FAN of Tom Landry..can't wait to share this with him!!

Loved it and love you!!
peace,
lori

Amydeanne said...

oh i love this Susan!! i'm taking a fitness "boot camp" right now and i tell ya I hate/love it all in the same breath! it sure hits home with me.

Laurie Ann said...

Susan, these were some powerful truths. I love the "no rent-a-runner"! Bwahahaha! That's exactly what we want to do sometimes.

I always grow when I read your blog...thanks!

Happy WFW!

GodsOwn/Bernice said...

Such a good message in word and piture.....
And you know what yesterday this was discussed in the comments at "Free Spirit Haven"

Happy WFW
Bernice

God Chaser said...

Great post- we often don't want to put in the work to get the desiare outcome of this spiritual journey. Thanks for the reminder.

Willnette

Susannah said...

Convicting! I've spent all day at office tasks that are repetitive and boring. Sometimes that's true in our spiritual life too, isn't it? Discipline is a very good thing...

(((Hugs)))

Karla Cook @ Roads to Everywhere said...

Excellent challenge! Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Great verse and photo! You hit the nail on the head.

Denise said...

This was awe inspiring.

Tami said...

Training is never easy, is it?

Just wanted to pop in and say hello, friend.

Jenifer said...

Hey Susan! Thanks for visiting By His Grace. We love making new friends! :)

Your picture today and post are great! Training can be so hard and painful, but the rewards are out of this world.

Blessings,
Jenifer

Tonya said...

Hey, Susan! Just stopping by to say hello before I get off to get my morning started. I hope all is well with you guys.. we miss you! ☺

luvmy4sons said...

Wanted to answer your question. A recumbent bike is one that has a chair back so you are not upright putting a lot of pressure on your spine. It has a back for you to lean against distributing your weight in a normal seated position as you bike. Very helpful for the spine! Blessings! Thanks for your visits!

Amico Dio said...

“My job is to get men to do what they don’t want to do, in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to achieve.”

That is so true of us. Wow, Susan... great word! Preach, girl! That Thelma has you all worked up, huh?

:)

love you!

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

I love to train my heart and mind in the things of Jesus! Great teaching here Susan.

peace~elaine