Is Weight Loss a Spiritual Act of Worship?

I am a personal trainer and fitness instructor by trade.  I know if you have been walking with God for long, you ponder your purpose in your career.  You may as I do, wonder how to do what you do unto the Lord.  I believe we are called to take care of our bodies.  We are to "tend to" the temple of the Holy Spirit.  If our body is the place where the God of the universe has chosen to place His Spirit by the death of His Son, I believe we are to take care of the temple just as the priest of the Old Testament were charged with the care and keeping of the ACTUAL building.

We do not need to worship our bodies, nor be spending countless hours measuring, weighing and counting calories.  Instead we need to have a change in perspective.  We need to change the way we look at food.  We have to make a LIFESTYLE change NOT go on another diet.  Diets work temporarily!  The reason they do not work long term is that when you loose the weight, we return to the way we ate before.  But that is the thing that got us into the shape we were in before.  So not only do we gain our pounds back, but they typically bring friends and we gain even more.

We also need to put exercise into our lives.  This is not for the purpose of weight loss but for overall wellness.  We need to be a BODY IN MOTION!!!  If we can get at least 15 minutes per day of cardio where we get our heart rates up, that is a great starting place.  Increase the 15 minutes to more over time. We need to exercise for our heart, for our joints, for our muscles and for overall wellness.  We need to do it so we can be stronger and able to accomplish more with the time we have been given, and so the Lord's instrument is working at its optimum level for His sake.  Work OUT Guideline for Cardio from my blog  This is not saying that if you have a disability or health issues that God cannot use you.  I am just saying we need to take care of what we have.  God can use anyone who is available and surrendered to Him.

We also need to spend time to nourish our spirit.  We need a quiet time where we meet with Jesus.  We need to read The Word, pray and sit quietly in fellowship with Him by His Spirit.  I believe that in our emptiness we long to be satisfied by Him, and when we are not spending the intentional time with Him, we get famished.  Out of our starvation for God, we begin to fill it with anything else we can find.  Some may fill it with food, another with alcohol and even another may exercise to excess or work too much.  There are many ways to try to fill up our emptiness.  But it never really satisfies us, and we are left with the consequences of the excess (like over weight, alcoholism, repetitive use injuries, or estranged relationships.)

So as you read this today and you say yep that struck a nerve, then maybe today you can take one step to make a change today.  I do not recommend doing all three at one time, but I do suggest you take one today.

Have a blessed day and serve the Lord today by taking care of His precious dwelling place which is YOU!

Spending time with God

I have been thinking on this one thought over and over. I have talked about it at great length to anyone who will listen. I did a Beth Moore study on the Tabernacle and loved it several years ago. Before that, I was moved by a scripture I read where we are told that we are the temple of the holy spirit. I thought if that is true, shouldn't I know what it means to be the "temple". I began researching it began to see something beyond what I could imagine. I loved all that I found. More recently God has been adding on to this entire concept. If history is any indicator, I am certain that He will continue to elaborate on this for some time to come for me.

So today what I wanted to talk about is this concept of the tabernacle. The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years. This trip was not a long journey. However it was for them. I suppose this was a time of learning and understanding for them. I believe it was also a time of dealing with the influence the pagans had had on them. In the time in the desert, the Israelites built a mobile worshipping center. A place for their God to dwell among them.

Scripture tells us to enter His "gates" with thanksgiving and His "courts" with praise (Psalm 100:4). So we enter into His presence thru the gate, Jesus tells us He is the gate (John 10:7 & 9) After entering the gate, the first encounter would be the place of animal sacrifice which was the payment for sin. For us, it would be the cross where Jesus was sacrificed for all our sin for those who believe. The blood is taken and used to purifiy, the basin used to wash clean the priest of the tabernacle. Jesus' blood purifies us so we are right before God. It gives us entrance into "fellowship" with God. Intimate closeness.

Now we are entering into the Holy Place where the bread and wine are on a table. For us as Christians, we can sit and eat, I think it is a time of fellowship, in that, we find nourishment for our hungry souls. At this point it brings us to the altar of incense. This is where our prayers become a SWEET AROMA to God's nostrils. At this altar, we can press into the full presence of God. We are just outside the Holy of Holies. On the other side of the veil, is the ark of the covenant where God would sit and talk with Moses. I believe it could be the very reflection of the tomb where Jesus laid with cheribum watching guard over him until the resurrection.

So what keeps us from experiencing this intimacy that was paved for us to receive? It is our birth right as born again Christians. So when we are not experiencing this fellowship with God, we need to take note of our lives. Look at areas of sin in our lives. If it is sin, we are to confess it to God (simply agreeing with God on what He calls sin) , repent (turning from the sin) and walk in obedience once again (just do what you know is right to do -- Go about doing some good) Once we have done this, I believe we have made it right back into the tabernacle all over again.

Sin separates, destroys and brings death. You want to know what our sin looks like to God, take a look at Christ on the cross. It was my sin that beat Him, my sin ripped His flesh, my sin pushed the torns into His brow, my sin spat in His face, my sin pierced His side, my sin hammered the nails into His hands and feet, my sin hung Him on the cross; And His love held Him there. Our sin is the pride of life, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes (1 John 2:16) and the cross shows us exactly how it looks.

So just as the Israelites, we can wander in the desert, or we can enter His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise because of Jesus. We receive His sacrifice, and believe we are cleansed and purified. We believe that we are made right with God (righteousness of Christ). This gives us the right to be in fellowship with the ONE who created us, and gave our hearts the permission to beat and continue to beat. We get to enjoy the spiritual nourishment of God. As we are fed by God, we get to sit and talk with Him (prayer); the very same God that breathed breath into us and allows us to continue to breathe. This is the one that has the power to take our lives when He is ready. We can stay as long as we wish in fellowship with Him, or we can go back out into the desert. We have the freedom to stay or to go. We also have the freedom to stay out in the wilderness as long as we please. The separation comes from the sin in our lives. Of course Jesus said He would never leave us nor forsake us, however, I know we can quench the spirit that is within each one of us when we refuse to deal with the sin in our lives.

Satan is always looking for ways to bring this about. He knows that if we spend time with God and get fully satisfied, we will be an awesome witness to a lost world. We will see others coming to the same God thru Jesus Christ. They will want what we have.

So LET"S become Jesus Christ to this world. Let's introduce them to the TRUE fellowship that comes only when we are with God. It is the ONLY thing that truly satisfies.