Biggest Loser

February 10, 2010
Biggest loser… to win the prize they must work hard. If they want to keep the weight off they have to stay off the couch and in the zone. Even a small step backwards will send them home from the contest.
I get called to the hospital and asked why did dad die of cancer? Well he smoked for 65 years… Don’t be surprised if you die because you over eat, drink to excess, smoke, fail to put on sunscreen or refuse to put on your seat belt. When your family asks me why you are dead would it be wrong to say “because he was stupid”?
Athletes that train hard for the Olympics must continue to train even if the Games aren’t for a couple of years. As the Games get closer they increase the intensity of their workouts and they actually sit down and plan the Peak of their performance to coincide with the exact time of the Olympic event they are to participate in. To make sure they are ready for that one major event they train all year long… they don’t just let themselves go to pot between the Olympics.
Our military also trains with the mission in mind. We have units that are in different stages of readiness. One unit may be preparing to respond to an emergency or battle while another has just gotten back from a battle and are in the stand-by mode. Rest, relationships and rebuilding. During the down time they are still running and shooting so they don’t forget what their mission is.
Our Spiritual lives are just like that. It is impossible to stay at your peak of spiritual preparedness but you should never forget that you are on standby so you can respond with the Gospel at a moment’s notice.
The difference between God’s Army and man’s army is that we will get instant spiritual adrenalin supernaturally when we need it. We can be filled with the Spirit at God’s request instantly. We need to be familiar enough with Spiritual Warfare to know when we need it.
2 Tim 2:21
So if anyone purifies himself from these things, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
To stay in the fight we need to be prepared for battle. We go to church on Sunday and we pray, praise and worship. Too often when we are getting into the car we yell at our families’ just minutes after leaving our weekly pick me up. Then we don’t return to anything Godly during the week. We leave the spiritual stuff to church leadership.
We must learn to put Spiritual Disciplines to work for our marriages, our families, and Christ’s Church.
Full Armor of God Ephesians 6:10-20 (HCSB)
10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. 12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. 13 This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. 14 Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, 15 and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. 16 In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word. 18 With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and stay alert in this, with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. 20 For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough in Him to speak as I should.
Over the next couple of weeks we are going to look at these Spiritual Disciplines: (table of contents for Don Whitney's "Spiritual Disciplines For the Christian Life)
· Bible intake
· Prayer
· Worship
· Evangelism
· Serving
· Stewardship
· Fasting
· Silence and Solitude
· Journaling
· Learning
· Perseverance in the Disciplines