March Newsletter
Greetings all! Well, here we are, March already.
Comes in like a lamb and goes
out like a
lion…or is that comes in like
a lion and
goes out like a lamb? I always
forget! It
is hard to believe that one year
ago we started
MCBB. I remember that it was
simply to be
a venue to meet other Christian
bodybuilders
with whom I could fellowship.
Boy, did God
have other plans! I also remember
like it
was yesterday, sitting down to
write my first
newsletter and just about having
a total
meltdown. I didn’t know what
to write, I
didn’t know where to go with
it. For those
who have followed from the beginning,
you
can see how God has directed
and molded the
newsletter to what it is at this
time. I
am sure He’ll change it as He
sees fit! I
was scared to put my words "out
there"
for others to read. Dare is say
it? It took
courage, trust and a "I
am closing my
eyes and hitting the send button!
Yikes did
I really do it?" Open my
eyes. It’s
gone, yup I sent it. Can’t get
it back now!
And that my friends in Christ,
is what this
month’s newsletter is about:
Courage.
Your doctor tells you that if you don’t dump
off 30, 40, 50, whatever the
number is, pounds,
you will surely end up a statistic
and be
rewarded with an early demise.
You were an
athlete and active in high school
and your
twenties, but life has slowed
you down, health
and fitness has taken a back
seat to…career,
kids, etc. Those clothes in the
back of the
closet that used to fit now collect
dust
from lack of use and have made
way for the
bigger waist size and XXL sweat
shirts which
are casually thrown over your
clothes rack
- the treadmill or exercise bike.
You haven’t
seen your toes for a while and
there is a
deep depression settling over
you as you
contemplate your fate. While
you battled
life, you gave up the battle
of the bulge
and now it is here to haunt you.
The doc
gives you the OK to exercise
and gives you
the go ahead on a diet program
you’ve outlined
with the help of your on-line
fitness buddies.
You’ve bought new gym clothes
and washed
them a few hundred times so they
don’t LOOK
new, lest you draw any more attention
to
yourself than necessary. So what’s
the problem?
Getting up the courage to step
out the door,
get in the car, on your bike,
walk down the
block and sign up at the local
gym. Some
of the excuses that can whittle
away at that
courage are: What if someone
I know from
way back when sees me; people
will think
I don’t know what I am doing;
I am afraid
to ask for help; I feel inferior
in front
of the bimbos and himbos (gym
bunnies and
He-men); I hide from my mirrors
in my house
what about those wall to wall
deals; I feel
like I don’t have the right to
be there and
everybody else does, I will just
be in every
one’s way. The list can go on
and on. I remember
my first gym visit. I weighed
165 pounds
and stood 6’5". Talk about
self-conscious!
I walked around staring at the
floor all
the time because I just KNEW
everyone was
staring at flamingo boy! But
you know something?
Nobody really was. That’s right!
And here’s
a little secret, with a few exceptions,
we
are ALL self conscious to a point
about how
we look! Sure, sizing each other
up goes
on all the time, I would be lying
if I said
it didn’t, but it is how you
deal with it
that counts. You can ignore it
or you can
let it chase you out of the gym.
Every person
in that gym was a newby at one
time or another;
just remember that. The guy built
like the
Greek in the corner may have
been just like
you at one point. He may be dying
to share
his journey and the secrets he’s
learned
with someone just like you! Only
thing is
you’re not there. Make that resolve,
not
a New Year’s resolution, they
are garbage
for the most part; make a resolve
for your
life, to get to the gym. You
won’t get in
shape sitting on your butt worrying
if you’re
going to die young. Do something
about it,
get that courage bolstered up,
march down
to the gym, sign up and get to
it! These
days most gyms give you a couple
of sessions
with a trainer to get you familiar
with the
place. Take advantage of it!
If you can’t
do it for you, do it for your
wife, your
husband, your children. They
deserve to have
you around.
There are examples of courage throughout
the Bible. Flip through just
about any chapter
and it can be found. Look at
Esther, who
spoke up for her family. (Esther
5 NKJV)
It takes courage to walk the
line of a Christian.
Yes, that’s right, courage. Every
day we
are bombarded from all sides
about our faith.
If we take a stand against abortion,
we are
criticized. If we speak out against
those
things which are sinful, but
accepted by
people in this "live and
let live"
world, we get the "If Jesus
was alive
today, He’d be accepting!"
Really? Accepting
of sin? I don’t think so. Love
the sin and
the sinner? No-o, I believe it
was hate the
sin and love the sinner. No one
ever said
that following Jesus would be
easy, but oh,
it is so very rewarding, (Matthew
10). Besides,
if we follow the doctrine of
Jesus and we
are harassed, persecuted, and
in some countries
killed, I would say that we are
in pretty
good company. Jesus even said
so! (11"Blessed are you when they revile and persecute
you, and say all kinds of evil
against you
falsely for My sake. 12Rejoice
and be exceedingly
glad, for great is your reward
in heaven,
for so they persecuted the prophets
who were
before you. Matthew 5:11-12) It can be easy, in the face of adversity,
to crumble and slip back into
the old ways
of sin. But, take a lesson from
Job and his
faith and courage in God to deliver
him.
Job could have listened to his
friends (were
they really true friends?) and
given in.
Instead, he held true to his
faith and trust
in God and withstood all that
happened to
him with courage and God rewarded
him! How
about Joshua, who had to take
over for Moses.
Man, those were some pretty big
shoes to
fill. The Lord spoke to Joshua
saying those
very words - to be of good courage!
(6"Be strong and of good courage, for
to this people you shall divide
as an inheritance
the land which I swore to their
fathers to
give them. 7Only be strong and
very courageous,
that you may observe to do according
to all
the law which Moses My servant
commanded
you; do not turn from it to the
right hand
or to the left, that you may
prosper wherever
you go. 8This Book of the Law
shall not depart
from your mouth, but you shall
meditate in
it day and night, that you may
observe to
do according to all that is written
in it.
For then you will make your way
prosperous,
and then you will have good success.
9Have
I not commanded you? Be strong
and of good
courage; do not be afraid, nor
be dismayed,
for the LORD your God is with
you wherever
you go. Joshua 1: 6-9) The Lord, your God is with you wherever
you go. Think about that! How
many times
do we forget that? Answer: Often.
How do
I know? It’s one of which I am
guilty : Stress.
We worry. Why worry? Worry is
a sin. God
knows the number of hairs on
your head. He
won‘t fail you! (6"Are not five sparrows sold for two
copper coins? And not one of
them is forgotten
before God. 7But the very hairs
of your head
are all numbered. Do not fear
therefore;
you are of more value than many
sparrows."
Luke 12:6-7) Yes, we go through trials and we persevere.
God brings us out the other side
and prayerfully,
our faith deepens. It deepens
because we
call on Him and He is there for
us. Our courage
increases as our faith increases!
When we
are weakest, He is our strength.
(9"And He said to me, "My grace
is sufficient for you, for My
strength is
made perfect in weakness."
Therefore
most gladly I will rather boast
in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may
rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure
in infirmities,
in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions,
in distresses, for Christ's sake.
For when
I am weak, then I am strong."2
Corinthians
12:9-10) If we have the courage and faith to stand
firm we will be rewarded! (13But we are bound to give thanks to God
always for But we are bound to
give thanks
to God always for you, brethren
beloved by
the Lord, because God from the
beginning
chose you for salvation through
sanctification
by the Spirit and belief in the
truth, 14to
which He called you by our gospel,
for the
obtaining of the glory of our
Lord Jesus
Christ. 15Therefore, brethren,
stand fast
and hold the traditions which
you were taught,
whether by word or our epistle.
2 Thessalonians
2: 13-15) Do not let the temptations of the world
draw you away from God. Have
courage my fellow
warriors, you will not regret
it in the end!
And as always, when we come out
of a trial,
we must never forget to glorify
God!
And now our prayer. God, please forgive us
our sin of not trusting in You.
In times
of trials and trouble be our
strength, give
us courage to persevere. We pray
for deeper
faith as we draw nearer to You.
In Jesus
name we pray, Amen.
Until next time all! Go with God and Lift
that iron!
James 5:11
Indeed we count them blessed who endure.
You have heard of the perseverance
of Job
and seen the end intended by
the Lord--that
the Lord is very compassionate
and merciful.
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