Do you ever feel like you’re slipping with your faith? You just can’t seem to keep steady with doing what you know it takes to be a good Christian. You just can’t be that perfect projection of what’s perceived to be the “perfect Christian”.
Well believe me, true spiritual growth requires effort and diligence, and it takes time. It’s not a one shot deal. There’ll be constant battles. But just like physical fitness, you’ve gotta keep getting back out there, and start back working out, and start consuming things that are good for your mind, body, and soul.
So let’s look at physical fitness:
Here you go again. You try to do a few pushups and discover that certain body parts refuse to leave the floor. You get winded just saying the words "5k".
You come to the conclusion that, if God really wanted you to touch your toes, He would’ve put them somewhere around your knees.
You turn around a few times in the mirror, trying to decide what part you need to work on first. That’s when it hits you. The first thing you need to work on is “your sense of humor”. My LORD….
You step on one of those talking scales and it says, "Only one person at a time, please".
So you go online and get one of those new step tracking devices, and start walking, trying to get to those 10,000 steps per day.
But, just like a new born Christian, or one getting back into their studies, your walk may:
• Have a little Limp
• Be ever so Smooth
• Be Fast or easy
• have a Slow Drag
• or, even have a few setbacks AMEN
They say that walking is one of the best exercises there is for your heart and lungs. But obviously, there’s more than one kind of walk.
Walking is healthy, but spiritual walking is also very healthy for a person. Spiritual walking is the best walking yet, “10,000 steps a day, 10,000 steps toward your spiritual best”.
How about this! 10,000 words a month, out of the book that has “the greatest stories ever told, and the most powerful movies ever written”. AMEN
In the book of Timothy, it states that you should take the time and the trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit.
1 Timothy 4:7-8 states "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
My message today is……. Walking toward Spiritual Fitness
Right now our nation is caught up in a fitness craze. Physical fitness has become a billion dollar business in the United States and continues to grow. At any given time you can find the latest “infomercial” on television or the internet, featuring the latest fitness product on the market.
I especially like the old names of the fitness equipment that seem to hang around like: “The Thigh Master”. “The Abdominizer” and the old “Gut-Buster”
Even more so, I love the added slogans that sell over and over and over again: “If you order now we’ll send you “free”, our latest training videos on: “Abs of Steel” and “Buns of Steel”. And for our first fifty orders we’ll also include “The Luther Vandross Guide to Nutrition and health; the Later Years”.
Whether it’s “Kick boxing with Billy Blanks, Working out with “Wii Fit” a game of “Baseball with Xbox”, or a multitude of workout apps, they all promise the same thing: If you follow their training plan, you can be physically fit in a matter of days. Yeah right!
And just when you think you’ve seen it all, you flip through the magazines and notice a picture of someone hooked up to several electrodes on various muscles on their body. The advertisement states that gyms and fitness centers are a thing of the past.
All you need to do now is to hook up to the various electrodes that will send an electric current to stimulant the muscles, and work them out while you watch TV. Oh My Lord….
Sales techniques are all they are, someone selling you a quick fix, or even a lie. The devil does the same thing, “Don’t worry about church, it’s too boring and takes too much time. So come on out and party with me.
If you come right now, you might even be able to get high and experience life like no other.
But God says study to show thyself approved. Just as you have to visit your doctor before starting a physical fitness routine, you have to study your bible in order to understand how to become spiritual fit.
2 Timothy 2:15 states Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Consider this first: I’m just like many of you. We put off going to the Doctor as long as we can. My wife believes in annual checkups for everything. She lines up Doctor after Doctor for her annual medical event.
I just shake my head. I don’t think most people like going to the Doctor; but it’s necessary for us to be checked periodically by our Doctor. We need to know if something needs to be changed in order for us to be at our best.
This same principle applies to our spiritual life as well. Jesus is the Great Physician and we need to maintain our spiritual health as well. Many times we don’t wanna go to a Doctor because we know that we might be ill, and we would rather act like there’s nothing wrong.
Same thing with Church, we don’t wanna go because we may have failed, and we’d rather act like we haven’t failed. Well we don’t have to worry too much if we practiced just a little study.
Remember at the beginning of my message when I said 10,000 words per month. Well, let’s break that goal down. If we read 10,000 words in the bible per month, that’s about 1,000 verses per month, or in 31 days, that’s about 32 verses per day. Keep up with me now.
There’s 23,145 verses in the old testament and 7,957 verses in the new testament, or 31,102 verses in all.
Well that averages about 26 verses per chapter. Now, this breaks down to an ability to exercise your spiritual knowledge board each day just by reading about 1 chapter per day. AMEN
So, you now may be saying, what’s my goal? Just how many chapters are there in the Bible? Well, there are 1189 chapters in the bible. That gives you a little over 3 years. You can do it, but if it takes you a little longer, that's ok too.
If you couple that with bible study, and step it up with church attendance, and beef thing up with your best effort at spiritual living, well you might just be unstoppable. AMEN
1 Timothy 4:13 states: Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
In fact, one of the highlights of my week is to go minister bible study with fellow ministers. Another highlight is to go to the gym and shoot some hoops with the 60 and over crew. AMEN
But physical fitness doesn’t happen overnight. It takes developing a personalized regular routine and staying with it. And it’s certainly not as complicated as all the “infomercials” make it out to be.
In other words, it’s good to be physically fit, and it’s even better to be spiritually fit. AMEN
So, what does it mean to be “Spiritually Fit”? And how do you get there?
Well, I don’t think it’s that difficult. In fact, I would like to suggest a very simple approach. I think the following approach in addition to that “1 chapter per day”, can help you get spiritually fit.
Let’s think about this for a minute…
Often times, my Doctor will ask me how I’m getting around- How is your mobility. How are your knees? Do they hurt, are they stiff at times? Can you get out of bed with ease? Can you walk straight? Trust me; I get all of these questions every time I see my Doctor.
Spiritually speaking, I might ask, how "well" are you? “How is your mobility”? Are you stuck in your old ways and it seems like you can’t move spiritually? Do you feel like you keep sinning over and over again? If so, you might just need a little more spiritual medicine from the book that has “the greatest stories ever told, and the most powerful movies ever written”. AMEN
You see, Church is like your Doctor, She tries to make you “WELL” through “Worshipping, Evangelizing, Learning, and Loving”.
Romans 6:3-4 states: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Now, Spiritual Fitness requires the proper Spiritual Nutrition. Just as the body needs the proper daily nourishment of food, spiritual fitness requires the proper daily nourishment of spiritual food.
Maintaining excellent nutrition is not a secret which is locked aside somewhere, but everyone isn’t educated about nutrition. Just as fruits, vegetables, protein, fiber and water are exceedingly important for a healthy lifestyle, not every person is taught the proper nutrition.
God wants us to exercise our faith. He wants us to not only exercise mentally by (reading and studying), but exercise spiritually by actually doing what is right, and actually consuming what’s healthy.
In Matthew 4:4 Jesus stated: But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
In other words, man is more than just a physical being. He’s a spiritual being as well as a physical being. And just as the physical side of him needs nourishment, so does the spiritual side.
Spiritual Nourishment requires daily reading of God’s word. One of, if not the greatest step toward spiritually fitness is to learn to feed yourself on God’s Word.
Job 23:12 states: “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”
I would like to submit to you that reading God’s word, and combining it with faith, is food for the soul! It’s better than a Star Trek marathon! It’s better than a How to get away with murder marathon! You can surf the internet … You can surf the oceans waves, but you’ll never find anything better as food for your soul than the Bible!
The bible has “the greatest stories ever told, and the most powerful movies ever written”.
Jeremiah 15:16 states: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.”
When you were baptized, that baptism symbolized that the old you was buried and you were given new life through Jesus Christ; and when you walked out of the baptistery, you were showing that you were going to walk in a new life with Jesus.
Brothers and Sisters, we all need to start walking with Jesus. Let Him pick you up and start walking with Him each day.
• When You’re Down, God’s word can Lift You Up!
• When You’re Lost, God’s word can Help You Find Your Way!
• When You’re Fearful, God’s word can Give You Courage!
• When You’re Weak, God’s word can Give You Strength!
• When You’re Hurting, God’s word can Give You Healing!
In order to experience proper growth, you must regularly read God’s Word and listen to his voice.
Psalm 119:103 states : “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” AMEN
Spiritual Fitness Requires Regular Spiritual Exercise because Faith is like your heart muscle; it must be utilized and exercised in order for it to be strong.
My father-in-law has been worrying about his heart rhythm. He has to have a pace maker so that his heart will beat at the right speed. I am sure when he goes to his Cardiologist; his cardiologist will want to know if he is exercising. He’ll want to know how fast his heart rate is. He’ll want to know what his blood pressure is. He knows that if his heart muscle isn’t beating properly, he won’t be able to do the things he used to do.
Heart muscles are much like Faith muscles. But, how do you exercise your “faith muscles”?
Well, our worship of God must engage the heart, but it must also engage our affections, our emotions, our spirit, and our mind. That doesn’t mean that worship has to necessarily be emotional, or involve an outward emotional display to be “in the spirit,” but it does mean that the mind must be engaged.
That means, put down the cell phones, the tablets, the games and other distracting items, and listen to the teachings of the preaching. AMEN
Now, it’s not just our older Christians that need physical fitness, our youth need it too. The youth are in essence a beacon of hope. We’re supposed to be their guide. So let’s show the youth how to “workout”, spiritually.
I Timothy 4:12 states: “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
The best kind of physical training includes strength training along with a good cardio-vascular workout. So Paul told Timothy to work his “faith muscles” … specifically in speech and in life. This is the “muscle building” part of the Spiritual Workout.
Brothers and sisters, we’re not going to be Spiritually Fit if all we ever do, is sit around reading God’s Word and not “walking the walk and talking the talk”. We also need to get active! When we exercise faith in the way we TALK and LIVE, this is the “strength training” part of the Spiritual Workout.
Paul also told Timothy to be an example in love, in faith, and in purity. This is the “cardio-vascular” part of the Spiritual workout. The HEART is our most important muscle. The Christian life is lived from the INSIDE out.
We strengthen our Heart by learning how to LOVE, by “Holding fast” to our FAITH … even in hard times, and by keeping our hearts PURE.
That means we guard ourselves against the wrong kind of input, whether it’s in our friendship or on our TV’s or Computer Screens or phones or tablets, we avoid the kind of things that clog our Spiritual Arteries. AMEN
Now, let’s get back to my Doctor, Dr. Cain. The most thorough doctor I know. He’s also concerned about my mental state. He wants to know how my memory is. He wants to know if I’m down or depressed about something. He wants to know if I am sleeping well. He wants to make sure that I’m mentally alright.
God wants us to be mentally alright too. He watches over his children with great care. When we’re down or worried, he’ll be there to pick us up. We only have to let him in. We only have to trust in his word.
Brothers and sisters, what do you know about your spirituality?
• Do you try to understand the Scriptures?
• Do you try to practice God’s word?
• Do you trust God’s word?
• Do you have faith in God’s word?
Romans 1:17 states: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.”
Brothers and sisters, if we really took a hard look at our spiritual fitness, what we would find? What would we have to accept? What would be our challenges? What would we need to improve? Are we where God needs us to be?
When we start out a physical fitness program, the first thing we do is take a good hard look in the mirror. We check out all the perceived flaws, and try to figure out just what we can work on first.
It’s the same thing for our spiritual fitness. We should take a good long realistic look in the mirror at who we really are.
• What’s important to us?
o God, Family, Friends, Work, or Money
• How do we deal with things
o God, Family, Friends, Work, or Money
• What do we really believe in
o God, Family, Friends, Work, or Money
• What’s your attitude towards
o God, Family, Friends, Work, and Money
• Are your really honest about
o God, Family, Friends, Work, and Money
It’ll take honesty and humility to answer these questions. But once you answer these questions, once you deal with who you really are, you are open to spiritual fitness for success.
1 Peter 2:20 states “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
Right now, brothers and sisters, lets commit to cut out the junk food.
Now you might be saying; what does food have to do with spirituality?
Well, food is what we consume in our bodies, and unspiritual consumption is just like the junk food we know we shouldn’t consume. What we consume has a direct effect on our health, and our spiritual health plays a great deal in our overall physical health.
So…..
• Let’s cleanse our emotional happiness
• Let’s make our spiritual wellbeing a natural response
• Let’s take in less of the secular thoughts and more of the spiritual ones
• Let’s chop up those old sins and failures and accept God’s forgiveness
• Let’s throw out those old bad habits and replace them with healthy ones.
Brothers and sisters we must never forget what Jesus did for us. Don’t allow evil to dwell in your mind.
Be careful with what you allow into your mind. Be careful of the Spiritual food you are consuming. Fill your mind with things of the Living Christ.
Romans 15:13 states Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. AMEN
Now that we got rid of the junk food, we may have to practice a bit of meditation.
We’re on our way. We know what we need to work on first. We started eating right. We got rid of the sinfully sweet treats and let go of the salt. It’s tough! And so we commit to exercise.
• Walking,
• running,
• Exerbeat,
• boxing,
• yoga,
• 5 minute abs,
• And 8 minute upper body.
It’s a struggle, and your muscles ache everywhere. So someone suggest meditation. Just 5 minutes a day. 5 minutes to clear your mind.
Well let me suggest 5 minutes of prayer, 5 minutes of study, 5 minutes of getting to know your spiritual being.
It’ll make you forget about the aches and pains of working out. It’ll not only enhance your mental strength, but it’s guaranteed to grow your spiritual knowledge. AMEN
Colossians 3:16 states Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Now, it’s been a few months now. You’ve been doing great. Just when you think you got it together, it seems that you hit that Plato. Nothing is working any more. Just then the devil slips in with cake. Oh my Lord! So sweet, so tempting, you just can’t resist, and you slip. You slipped because you didn’t have faith. What you needed was to rev up your metabolism. You needed another change.
Ok, so how in the world do you rev up you spiritual metabolism?
Well, you:
• Practice generosity
• Uplift your spirit by uplifting someone else
• Practice an attitude of gratitude
• Try helping someone lost or in need
• Tell someone about the power of forgiveness
• Practice kindness in all you do and say
• And, lead by example
Brothers and sisters, that same love and compassion Jesus has shown to you, he has for all others, no matter who they are, where they come from, or what they’ve done. Imitate that compassion and love as you reach out to the lost with the Good News of what Jesus has done to save sinners.
Don’t hesitate to imitate that compassion and love, by praying for those who need to hear about Jesus. Pray for love and compassion to fill your heart. Pray for the opportunity to talk to them about Jesus before it’s too late and they’re lost forever. Pray for them, not with a sinful attitude of selfishness, or blind hesitation. Pray with the attitude of compassion and love that Jesus has for them and for you.
John 15:17 states “These things I command you, that ye love one another. AMEN
Now, just when you’re feeling real good about the things that you have done, Just when your spiritual being is at its greatest height, your friends start acting funny. It’s not at all unusual brothers and sisters. They want the old you back. They want you back the way you were.
Slipping and dipping and doing those things that feel good but aren’t good. So you ask how in the world do I keep my friends and continue on the walk that I’ve chosen.
Well, brothers and sisters, you may have to let go, to grow.
• Let go of the so called friends that pull you down
• Let go of the dangerous friendships
• Let go of the temptations they bring
• Let go of the things and people that steer you away from God.
What benefit did you reap from those things you’re now ashamed of? Those thingscould result in death! But now that you’ve been set free from sin and have become workers to God, your spiritual fitness leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”
Joshua 1:8 states “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. AMEN AMEN
Now as I bring this message to a close:
God created us special. Each one of us, are special to God. We have abilities we may not yet understand. But right now, this world has gotten so far away from spiritual fitness, that we sit around thinking of ways to pollute our bodies. We hear songs that pollute our soul. We see movies that break down our abilities to fight the germs of sin.
We tweet hate, blog sin, curse, hurt, violate and depart from what God has intended. The world is becoming more and more spiritually unfit.
• This lack of spiritual fitness causes us to reject God’s desires.
• This lack of spiritual fitness causes us to hate one another.
• This lack of spiritual fitness causes us to fail.
• This lack of spiritual fitness causes us to disbelieve.
• This lack of spiritual fitness has caused us to fall from what God intended.
Brothers and sisters, I stand here today telling you, it’s great to be spiritual fit, just as it’s great to be physically fit. The strength, the compassion, the integrity, the healthy consumption, the healthy literature, and the healthy mind, body and soul are just a few of the benefits of spiritual fitness.
Just as physical fitness has its benefits, so does spiritual fitness. With spiritual fitness comes:
• A love for God
• A Love for yourself
• A love for your family
• And, a love for life
Spiritual fitness brings on:
• An inner strength unlike any other
• A spiritual net worth that can give you a life everlasting
• A spiritual understanding that can counter any move the devil tries.
• And, integrity, focus and an attitude of gratitude
To be spiritual fit is to:
• Have a soothing inner being
• Confidence to face the unknown
• Strength that will carry you through each day
• And, a joy unlike any other
Brothers and sisters, we all need to get spiritual fit. The way to get that fitness is to study God’s word.
So continue to come to Church. Invite a friend, invite your sister or brother, and by all means, give bible study a try.
Open up the book that has “the greatest stories ever told, and the most powerful movies ever written”.
1 chapter per day, 30 chapters per month, and that’s about 360 chapters a year towards your goal of 1189. I know you can do it. You just have to start somewhere, anf today may be your day to start getting spiritually fit. AMEN
Someone once said “We are stronger than we think. We have emotional, spiritual and even physical resources at our disposal. We may get knocked down, but we don’t have to stay down.”
References:
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