Faith Exercise is Time Well Spent

Exercising Your Faith 

I recently heard about a young woman in our community who is expecting triplets. She was photographed working out at a local gym on a stair stepper. Not just an ordinary stair stepper but some type of monster machine. My first thought was “look at that machine”. After reading some of the posts and realizing she was expecting triplets I thought again. I was worried. Should she be exercising so strongly? Shouldn’t she be more careful – maybe not exercise at all? 

I shared my thoughts with a friend and she told me that doctors told the pregnant woman to continue her routine. Since she has been exercising like this for years she will be fine. If she hadn’t done this type of exercise and just started up they would not want her to do it. In the photo you could tell she was thoroughly enjoying her strength and the benefits it brought to her for endurance as she prepares to mother three babies. 

We face exercises of the faith all the time. And often we are pregnant with hope and vision for the life of that faith. We know that we want to fulfill everything God has for us. We may even have been given a view of what God has in store for us. We exercise our faith by living every day in the Word and prayer. Then a threat of some type comes along and we’re unsure what to do. Keep going? Keep working out our faith? Our friends see our situation and they want to comfort us. They might even look at us and pronounce doom over us – can she make it through this? Can he keep going on? Will they survive? 

Truth is, we need to be exercising our faith to prepare for the road ahead that we can’t even see. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring but the more we prepare our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, the stronger we will be to face the challenges and make it to the finish line. He has opened up a spiritual gym full of equipment that will give us muscles of strength beyond our natural abilities. We cannot rely on our own flesh to get us through or to keep us going. But we can rely on God’s Word to strengthen us, fit us and prepare us for whatever comes our way. We can’t afford to wait until the big situation hits our lives to prepare. We must make spiritual exercise a part of our daily routine. 

Oh beloved, God wants you to know that He understands the trial of faith you are facing. He understands too that you just want to sit down and quit. The demands of it all are almost too much to bear. You thought you were prepared for anything, but you are in a high endurance situation with almost all your strength used up. He speaks to your heart that now is not the time to give up. This is the time, right in the hardest moment, to find your second wind from Heaven itself. God has given you everything you need to exercise your spiritual muscles not just for endurance, but for winning! You can endure the pain of this present task you are faced with and walk on to the victory circle. In heaven the photograph of your faith walk is being rejoiced over as the Lord Himself roots you on to the end of this hard spot. You are victorious, valiant, achieving, enduring, and winning!

You are victorious in God! You are full of His power and wisdom and courage. He has given you everything you need to keep the faith, stay on course and follow through to victory. God loves you and He’s for you and because of this great and precious promise you can know that the things you are facing are momentary but the finish line you are heading for is given to you by Christ Himself!

James 1:2-4 Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing. AMP

Psalm 62:7 On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.

Romans 8:37 Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us. AMP

2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Bogged Down? Get Out God's Assignments and Praise Him!

When we lived in Tyler we had a huge detached double garage at the back of our lot. This is where I learned to love being a teacher. I had a chalkboard and I loved to write assignments on the board. Oh they’d be long, long assignments! Usually playing school only involved me and Dee Dee, a neighbor. But we’d play! Assignment seemed to always fascinate me. I liked having something to do, a list to remind myself and then to cross it off the list as I accomplished it.  I think that’s one of the reasons Precept Bible Studies was so appealing to me.  We had homework assignments during the week. We would be sent home to glean from the Word.  If you didn’t do your homework, you could not share in class the next week.  I’ll forever be grateful for our time as both Precept students and as Precept teachers.  Learning to study the Bible in depth and find nuggets of Truth for yourself – learning what it really means – gave us an incredible foundation for our faith.

Just as there were assignments in school and in Bible study, there are assignments in life. Some are wonderful – love, joy, peace, faithfulness, gifts of the Holy Spirit, to name a few.  Others aren’t so good.  Fear, condemnation, pessimism, gloominess, hopelessness, despair, to name a few.   One set of assignments is given to us freely by the Lord when we are saved.  The other set of assignments is from the enemy of our very souls. As with all homework we must be careful of what we’re working on – for what you “work on” is what you become proficient in. 

Oh beloved! Run to the Lord this morning and learn your rightful coursework! His Assignment Book is full of good words to learn, great precepts to walk in and awesome power for living!  Every good and perfect gift is from Him! Every sorrowful and depressing gift is from another. God says to you this morning, Come to me, Your Teacher, and learn of Me. When you know Me and My Word, you won’t be tempted to follow the wrong assignments. All of my gifts, every single one of them, are good and pleasing and kind.  I love you, and because of My Great Love, you have no worries concerning learning of Me. I AM for you, so you have no worries concerning following Me! The only way to reject untruth being spoken into your life is to learn MY Truth! Come, beloved, you are heavy laden with lies and discouraging words! Let Me speak Truth into your life so that when it’s all said and done, you will be able to live as more than a conqueror!

God loves you and His Word proves it.  He’s for you and His precepts light the path for you. Hallelujah to the King!

John 17:17 “Make them holy by Your Truth; teach them Your word, which is truth.”

Psalm 19:8  The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. (NAS)

Psalm 119:14-16 I will study Your commandments and reflect on Your ways.  I will delight in Your decrees and not forget Your word.

Psalm 119:110  The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts. (NAS)

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

Philippians 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.