My thoughts on exercising our faith...

I have been searching for a simple but relevant Bible Study/Devotional to use in my Wednesday night exercise class at church called "Exercise Your Faith." In all of my searching, I have come up empty-handed. So I started studying my bible and taking notes a couple of months ago and have decided to write my own stuff. This week is an introduction to why I enjoy exercise and do it as unto the Lord. Feel free to comment and or suggest. Enjoy! I will write about Nicaragua as soon as I get my pictures organized.

IMPORTANCE OF EXERCISE

1 Corinthians 6:19 & 20

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” NASB

1 Timothy 4:7

“Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” NASB

Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit: the Holy Spirit (HS) lives within every believer. What an awesome privilege! When we ask Jesus to come into our lives He literally takes up residence in us. At the moment of conversion the indwelling of the HS gives us everything that we need to live our lives “for the purpose of Godliness”.

We are not our own: it’s not up to us what we look like, how we think & process, who our families consist of, & etc. However, as humans we like to think it possible to live as though we are in control of these things. But Solomon tells us in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” And then he explains in 16:3 that if we, “Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.” We must allow God to use us to reveal Himself to the world. It’s not about God’s will for us, but His will through us.

We have been bought with a price: Jesus paid it all and God gave up His son. It is a gift and privilege from God that He sent His son to die for us. He made the way for us or “paid the price” for our sins. We admit that we are unworthy because of our sin; we believe that Jesus is God’s son and He died on a cross bearing all our sin, and rose three days later; we profess Jesus as our Savior. The end result is the indwelling of the HS in our bodies, and our bodies are not our own. God gave us, as believers, our bodies to use for His service, so we are responsible for taking care of it.

Glorify God in your body:

1 Peter 4:10 tells us, “As each one has received a gift, let him minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” Usually this verse is used in relevance to spiritual gifts, but it’s also useful in thinking about our responsibilities with tangible gifts from God. Our jobs, our families, our homes, our money, and our bodies are all gifts from God. We are to be stewards, or managers, of everything that God had blessed us with. And we can use all of these gifts (and MANY more that aren’t mentioned here) to minister to one another and bless the heart of God. So this week, let’s attempt to be managers of the gifts that God had given us, intangible and tangible alike. How can you use your job, your money and your body to bless God by ministering to others? If you’re unsure of what your spiritual gifts are, I challenge you to go to this website and thoughtfully complete the 125 questions: http://buildingchurch.net/g2s.htm

Why can't we make the earth shake?

Luke tells in Acts chapter 4 the story of Peter & John and their first encounters with the Sadducees. To shorten the story, Peter explains to the council their questioning of his healing of the crippled man by what power it took place: "... he was healed by the Powerful Name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,

"The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone." (Psalm 118:22)

There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name in heaven by which we must be saved."

After a few more minutes of deliberation amongst the council members, they decided to let Peter & John go because "they did not know how to punish them without starting a riot."
(verse 21) But they did tell them not to teach about Jesus any more.

Peter & John returned to the temple where the people were and told them what had been said and done. So the people prayed a powerful prayer for courage. And powerful it was: "After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the Word of God with boldness."

I don't know about you, but I wish that I could know what its like to pray with such faith & fervor that God would send the Holy Spirit down in such hugeness that the place where I am would shake! These people didn't just ask God to help them preach well; they asked Him to do miraculous signs in Jesus' name! Luke goes on to explain that they were all united in heart & mind. If we, as believers, pray together in one heart & mind, I believe that we will see miracles and we will make the earth beneath our feet "shake."

Things on my prayer list:

*Beth's lost co-workers (This one is fresh on my mind because Beth just called me with it.)

*Exercise Your Faith

*several lost family members

*some friends in a financial bad-habit

*friends of some friends in marital trouble

*friend's grandmother with pancreatic cancer

*a family I know has had some dissension

*Jared's trip to Turkey in a couple of weeks

*Baby Girl (possibly Claire) and Beth's continued health

*Michael in doing his best in school

*Valarie as she is teaching high school for free and going to school (which is NOT free)

Thought some of you might need a few things to pray about. I love you all!

2 Posts in 1 Day!

My first "Official" Exercise Your Faith was last Wednesday. I had about 20 ladies in attendance!!! We had fun sweating and laughing at ourselves. We were in cramped quarters though, so we finally will have a permanent and much larger meeting space this week. I have been searching for the right literature to use as a weekly devotional in the class. I wanted to find something that was relevant to our bodies/exercise/spiritual health. Last Wednesday I came across a sermon done by the president of Southeastern Baptist, Dr. Daniel Akin, called "Spiritual Exercises to Make You Strong." Its based on the scripture written by Paul in his final instructions to the church in Thessalonica. (Thess. 5:16-22)

"Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil."

Dr. Akin has broken down this passage into 8 specific disciplines. http://sebts.edu/president/?p=448 (click the link then click manuscript) In Exercise Your Faith, we are going to be reading 1 discipline each week and finding out what Dr. Akin has to say about applying it in our lives. I'm very excited and praise God for allowing me to find this sermon in print! I made copies and gave them out to everyone there last week. If you would like to join us in class, we meet at 6:15 Wednesdays in Room B-301 at FBC Sevierville.

I would also like to thank God for blessing us with the Smoky Mountains. Ben and I were privileged to go to Mt. LeConte on Sunday after church. It was a beautiful day with perfect views and fresh almost fall-like air! I asked Ben on our way up, "Do you get kinda giddy when you hike? Cause I do, especially today." He said its endorphins and fresh air and I agree, but God made our bodies release those endorphins to make us "giddy." I just felt so close to Him while we were out there. Jesus "withdrew himself to a mountain" several times in the Bible. It was when He was feeling overwhelmed and needed to talk to His Father. We should do that more. Maybe your mountain isn't a literal mountain like mine, but we should all retreat to a quiet place where we can just enjoy God's presence. YAY GOD!!!

Jesus wept...

Most of us have read John chapter 11. (If you haven't I suggest that you do so). Lazarus is dying and his sisters, Martha and Mary, send word to Jesus asking Him to come and heal their brother. (Aren't siblings a blessing?) Jesus had already been preaching in their town but had left for the unbelievers there wanted Him stoned to death. After receiving word from Martha and Mary Jesus waited two days before He and the disciples went to Bethany in Judea. In John's account there is no explanation as to why Jesus waited, but I learned yesterday that it is most likely because the Jews in that day believed that the spirit of a person hovered over their dead body for two days after death and could possibly take up residence again and the person would live. I love what the disciples say when they realize they can't stop Jesus from returning to Judea and learn that Lazarus has died: "Let us also go, that we may die with him." They've been so humbled at this point in realizing that Jesus let Lazarus die for their lack of faith. Jesus had told them in reference to Lazarus's death, "For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe..." So they get to Martha and Mary and find them both in deep sadness. They each exclaim to Jesus that they believe their brother would not have died had He been there. Even when Jesus tells Martha that Lazarus will rise again she thinks that Jesus is talking about "the last day" when all in the dead in Christ will live. Here's where it gets interesting: When Jesus sees Mary and Martha and all the "professional mourners" weeping for Lazarus my NIV Bible says "He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled... Jesus wept."

Now, why do you think Jesus wept? Yes, I do believe He was sad for the death of His beloved friend, and He did not like seeing all of those people mourning. But He had already decided that He was going to raise Lazarus! I believe that Jesus was weeping for their lack of faith. Jesus reminded Martha, "I told you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God."

It is so convicting- that my Jesus weeps for my lack of faith in Him. I wonder how many miracles and opportunities I miss because I'm not believing. I pray that I start expecting miracles, not just asking God for them. I want to thank God for the miracles that I will experience each day before they even happen.

Just like the miracle of my little niece. I am so excited to meet her and I'm so excited about how God will use her. She may not know how special she is right now, but I sure plan on letting her know. "Whoever lives and believes in me will never die."

Exercising Our Faith

Well, I've been officially leading an exercise/devotional class for 3 weeks now. So far, I have had at least 5 in attendance each week and I know more will be coming next week. (Our meeting time will be later so more people can come.) I cannot begin to describe how excited I am about this! As some of you know my life verse comes from 1Peter 4:10: "As each one has received a gift, let him minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." About a year and a half ago, this verse picked me... I didn't pick it. I was reading some verses about wives/husbands and came across it. It was like it jumped off of the page; I was able to understand what it implies right away, but I wasn't sure how it was going to apply in my life.

I was struggling for a while about being content in my day-to-day life. I was grasping for the future (read previous blog "So I'm Selfish") and missing out on what God was wanting me to do here and now. I asked a couple of friends to pray for me in that situation and I cannot tell you how the Lord has responded! Wishing for the "next big change" in my life is not on my mind much at all anymore. I am being used where I am and I PRAY that I can impact others lives through my new "ministry" that I have named "Exercise Your Faith." Here's our Mission verse:

1Corinthians 6:19 & 20 "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

Oh, and please pray that we will be granted a big enough room for our meetings. Our meeting place thus far was only temporary and yesterday was our last day there. Have a blessed day!

I Finally Did It!!!

For about a year now, I have wanted to start leading a Bible study/exercise class at church. I let a few things get me discouraged and put it on the backburner for a long time. Funny how God brings things back up (although He will erase things just as easily)... affirmation everywhere. My major point of conviction was in something that Beth Moore said Saturday morning. She said that God expects us to act inobedience immediately when He lays something on our hearts. I didn't catch her scripture reference. But I think that my life verse is relevant: I Peter 4:10, "As each one has received a gift, let him minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Randy Davis's definition of being a steward is to act as caretaker of something that is not yours or that was given to you. You might be thinking, "April, do you really think that God gifted you with the ability to teach exercise classes?" And, well, in fact, yes I do believe this. I have taken a couple of Spiritual Gift survey thingys and my strength is always encouragement. Can you think of any better way to encourage women about who and what they are in the Lord's eyes? What a THRILL it is to know that I am going to be doing the Lord's will!!! I'm not sure I've ever taken seriously that I am actually caretaker of something that belongs to the Creator of the universe. Please pray that many many many women draw closer to the Lord as we start our committment to scripture memorization and prayer partnering, not to mention - uh-hem - kickbutt exercise routines! YAY GOD!!!