| PowerLife Ministries presents, God’s Body
by Design by J.R.Smith |
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Understanding Why Training Session One – Understanding Why… “Let us not grow weary in doing good….” Galatians 6:9. God knows that many are the struggles and stresses in our life on this earth. So much so that it steals away the most important thing we have to sustain life…God Himself. It wearies our body and beats us down. As a bodybuilder, fitness or figure competitor, or just someone who enjoys training hard in the gym, often times we get so consumed with that journey, doing everything we can to improve ourselves, we have little time left for others, even praying for them becomes a time deficient activity. That in itself is destructive because we cannot spend time with God; therefore we are left hungry and empty, longing for a fulfilling of His spirit and daily nourishment for our soul. Anytime we spend so much time on our own endeavors and spend little to no time with God, it is draining. Fleshly activity is always high maintenance but God activity is low maintenance because God Himself will empower you to do His will. For example; you are spending a lot of time in the gym training; you spend a fair amount of time planning your training and eating plan; you spend a fair amount of time preparing your foods for the week; you are also in the middle of school or building a career and possibly even building a family. Think about this for a moment; if we become so bogged down with our own problems and stresses and personal activity, what do you think God is thinking if we cannot go and do the things He has asked us to do? For example, Christ told His disciples to go into the world and make disciples of all men. The most important part of this scripture we must remember is that Christ, in speaking to His disciples, was telling them to go and make MORE DISCIPLES. That is you and I. So we must go and do the same. The Great Commission is a challenging and weighty responsibility but the Great Commission to a lot of people is something that was given to pastors, missionaries, Sunday school teachers and such. But what most people don’t realize is that the Great Commission is for everyone who accepts Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Now the Great Commission carries even more weight and responsibility to each believer in Christ. Why? Because if we don’t go, people die and will go to hell….forever. Then their blood will be on your hands as you stand before God at judgment. Here is what the scripture says. “When I say to a wicked man you will surely die, and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.” Ezekiel 3: 18-19 The Great Commission scripture and this scripture from Ezekiel are what I call brother scriptures. They work together to bring a message of urgency and importance. But both God and Christ have told us that it is us who must go and carry this message to the lost and dying souls of this earth. Take the example of Mr. Jones below. Mr. Jones is your typical American; overweight and out of shape but he loves the Lord and attends church as regular as he can. Let’s take a look at a scenario from Middle America and see what happens. “But Pastor, I can’t go on that mission trip to Mexico. I can’t even get up to go see that poor lost soul next door to me. The doctor just told me that my blood pressure is sky high and my cholesterol is borderline heart attack. It looks like my gall bladder is going to have to come out and my sugar is so bad that I am going to have to go on medication and eat a very restrictive diet. I can’t even eat my beloved potato chips and soft drinks every night before I go to bed. The doctor has given me directions that I must stay in bed for the next 4 or 5 days because my blood pressure is so high I might have a stroke. Oh yeah, by the way, did you hear that my neighbor that lives next door to me, killed himself last night? I would have gone over to speak to him yesterday, as I felt the Lord telling me to do so, but I couldn’t get up the energy because I was so sick and felt so bad. That sure is sad, because I know he did not go to heaven.” Ooohh boy…….That’s not good. Now let’s take this in another direction since this article isn’t directed toward the average American. This article is directed toward you the bodybuilder, the powerlifter, the figure or fitness competitor. Let’s put together a scenario that will apply to you and let’s see what happens. “I’m sorry Pastor, I’m really sorry. I did not get the chance to go see Mr. Smith the other day. I told you I felt the Lord leading me to go minister to him but I got distracted at the gym, my training went over, then I had to come home and prepare my meals for the next five days and the boss called and told me I had to re-write the report I gave him last week. So I have just been….busy. And now you tell me Mr. Smith? Oh my goodness, he wasn’t a Christian either….I sure wish I had taken the time to go visit him now.” Do either of these scenarios sound familiar? Could you be in a scenario like this? Too many of us think that because we live in this modern day society of computers and faxes that everyone around the world knows about Jesus but if they don’t the missionaries will see to it all the lost people get saved. For those who live here in the U.S., well then the preachers and television evangelists will get to them. Therefore all we have to do is go to church, pay our tithes and live our lives anyway we want to. That is not only wrong thinking, it is sin plain and simple. James 4:17 says that when we know the good and right thing we are suppose to do and we don’t do it, well, that is sin. No commandment, no directives from Jesus, no orders from either the Old or New Testament; just if we know the right or good thing to do to others and we don’t do it, that is sin. No excuses and we will be held accountable. (see Romans 14:12) We are responsible for going into the world ourselves. The temple of the Lord is you. That is where God resides and we must take God into the world so He can speak through us. But people like Mr. Jones don’t think twice about their body while others are over-consumed by their schedules and other conflicts. But you know God said that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. That is where He lives. We are stewards with that body. But if we destroy that body with poor eating, lack of exercise and ignoring the warning signals to the point that we become sick and are placed on restricted activity, then we are destroying our body. But this also applies to our stewardship of our time as well as if we are taking things into our body in order to be better athletes in our chosen sport or if we simply ignore God. Here is what God says about that. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred and you are that temple.” 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. Look at the magazine ads and infomercials on t.v. today. Even the secular world knows they are overweight and out of shape. (Why is it that the secular world always gets a revelation about something before we Christians do?) Billions of dollars are spent on all kinds of devices that will help you lose weight and get in shape, with no pain whatsoever. No pain, no gain. Oh, really? Have you ever heard that one before? Discipline can seem painful at the time of going through it (Hebrews 12:10-11 describes this). But it produces a bounty of righteous harvest for everyone involved. That includes exercise and time management also. Yes, at time it is unpleasant for some, but for the most part, it can be fun. But God knew this long before we did. Let’s look at Genesis. “The Lord God took man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15. God designed the body for work, even in paradise and everything God gives us on this earth requires maintenance. Did we actually think God was going to harvest the fruit and prune the vines for us? Somebody had to do it and God knew that if we had no chores, we would become bored and lazy and really good for nothing. Also, a lack of work will cause the body to deteriorate and become useless. It also causes a poor attitude as well. We become slothful in body and slothful in mind. So how are these muscle magazine advertisements and t.v. infomercials useful? They aren’t; It deception plain and simple. They are only after your money with snake oil devices and life changing miracle solutions. Does this sound too good to be true? Then it is. Read the scripture below and don’t believe these snake oil hucksters in any way whatsoever. The scripture in Proverbs says it all. “There is a way that seems good to man, but in the end, it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12. Man can do nothing right without the guidance of God first in his life. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” Luke 12:31. God always has a plan. It is man who tries to jump in front of God because he thinks he has a better way. But what you think has been the truth is going to be shattered here in this teaching series. God wants you healthy and strong for a reason. You are seeking God and God will add unto you during this time. As we saw earlier, we should see ourselves as the temple of God because that is what we are. We are the handy-work of the creator, God almighty. But what is the physical condition of the temple today? It does not look good. * 60% of all Americans are overweight and obese; * Sickness and disease are at an all time high; * Mental illness is now acceptable in all parts of society; * Injuries on the job happen to 3 out of 4 people; * Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is on the rise on too many grade school children; * People have learned to live with heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol – after all, if it can’t be controlled with drugs, it can be corrected with by pass surgery; * Performance enhancing drugs have become the norm if athletes are going to keep up; * Recreational drug use is at an all time high; * Addictions are running rampant from drug use to food abuse; * Homosexuality, pornography, sexual perversions are running rampant in our society and the media and government are looking to make these more acceptable, ultimately destroying the moral fabric, integrity and character of our nation and the freedoms of the church; As Christians, what is our responsibility? Do you remember what did Christ did in the temple? Let’s take a look at Matthew 21: 12-13. (Thieves: that is what a robber is and we are being robbed of our health). After Jesus did what He did, what happened then? Read on to verses 14 through 15. You better be prepared for a revelation. Jesus has told us to follow Him and His example therefore, shouldn’t we take control of our health and rule over our body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, and eliminate the things that shouldn’t be there? Of course we should. Let’s look at the parallels: The Temple Grid: Physical Temple Human body Money changers and robbers Sickeness and Disease Turned over the tables of the money changers and drove them out Change our habits, exercise, eat right, and make this a discipline Brought healing to those needing it Bring healing to those who need it so they can hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ So why is this so important? Again, look at the Great Commission. It is mandated by Christ. He wants no one on earth to perish, but that they might all be with Him one day in heaven. You and I must physically be ready and able to go and preach or speak or whatever capacity God has given to you for your missionary purposes; either in a foreign country or next door. Next month, I am going to go further into this teaching of why we as Christians have to be physically ready and discuss why you and I may never have to go to a foreign country, will have plenty of chances in the weight room or even the competitive bodybuilding stage to share the Gospel. This just might be your mission field. So until next month, may the Lord richly bless you and you do all that He is leading you to do. Stay healthy and stay strong. In His service to you JR Smith For more information on how you can grow in your personal relationship with Christ or you would like to develop a personalized bodybuilding or fitness plan, you can contact me at bodyfit2day@hotmail.com or at 606-271-0981. |
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| www.powerlifeministries.blogspot.com www.voy.com/209176/ public forum J.R.Smith - Pro Trainer ISSA - c.f.t., s.p.n., s.s.c., NBFE board registered USSA - ssbb AACC - cbc Injury Prevention, Sports, Exercise & Personal Training Specialist Figure, bodybuilding, beauty and fitness model consultant ISSA Rep # 2408 CEO & President Total Healthcare Fitness 606-271-0981 www.totalhealthcarefitness.blogspot.com President - Kentucky Association of Fitness Professionals (KAFP) |
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