Time to Recalibrate: Your Fitness
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Definition of Fitness. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), physical fitness is defined as 'the ability to carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and respond to emergencies.'
How do you describe a fit person?
How do you describe a fit person?
Definition of Fitness. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), physicalfitness is defined as 'the ability to carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and respond to emergencies.'
Effective, Disciplined, Results-oriented, Passionate
How do you describe a fit person?
Someone with six-pack abs, a marathoner, a person who can lift 600lbs above their head
Bodybuilders with their chiseled chins, bulging delts, and massive biceps
Crossfit competitors who can do burpees and
Healthy eating habits
Pushing the body, mind, spirit to the max
Physical Fitness
Physical Fitness
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.
1 corinth 6 12
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Food
12-
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
All lawful
Hunger
Sex
Members of Body of Christ
Members of Body of Christ
Not a Prostitute
Not a Prostitute
Holy Spirit
Residence
Bought with a price
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
4. Press On (Don’t Easily Give Up)
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
4. Press On (Don’t Easily Give Up)
1
5. Imitate Christ
1 corinth 6 12-2
In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind.
6. Oxygen (Every breathe)
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
7. Actions Reveal What (really who is inside)
Mental Fitness
Mental Fitness
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Living Sacrifices
Holy and Acceptable
Renewal
(Recalibrate, realignment, refocusing)
a. Testing
b. Will of God
Spiritual Fitness
Spiritual Fitness
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Romans
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
1. Set Free
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Set Free
From sin and death
From the flesh
2. Mind
a. Set on things of the flesh
Cannot please God
b. Set on things of the Spirit
Body is dead bc of sin
Spirit is righteousness
3. Give Life
To our mortal bodies (temporary)
Fruit of the Spirit (the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. - Gal 5:22)
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
English Standard Version Chapter 5
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
1 John 4
The Seven Habits to Highly Effective Christians
The Seven Habits to Highly Effective Christians
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
BIG IDEA:
There are basic attitudes and habits of all Christians must have in order to grow spiritually.
God created us to bring praise to Him and you cannot if you’re not filled with Him.
Discussion Questions...
When you look in the mirror who do you see?
Are there flaws in your body? If so, describe one of them?
If you believe it is helpful to stay fit physically, mentally, and spiritually, why do you choose things that Scriptures says leads to sin and death?
Fit-ness is the act of being fit or effective (make a difference). So what two things can you do this week to start being more fit(effective) either physically, mentally, or spiritually? (go to the gym, walk more, eat more veggies and less bread, read the Bible, spend more time in reflection of who God is, serve a neighbor, friend, or your church with no strings attached, dialogue with a friend about faith.
The Seven Habits to Highly Effective Christians
By Mike Mazzalongo
The idea for the title and approach of this book comes from Steven Covey's popular book entitled, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." I will talk a little more about this further on in the book but suffice to say that Mr. Covey's research found that highly effective and thus successful people who made an impact in their various fields shared a specific set of character traits and habits which he analyzed and summarized in seven categories.
I believe that the same case can be made for the church and those who play different roles in the church. From the saints in the pew to the ministers in the pulpit, from those who have special responsibilities to those who are responsible for the overall leadership. There are characteristics and habits that distinguish those who are effective and successful in their personal walk with Jesus as Christians, as well as those who serve as preachers, deacons and elders.
As Christians, we all need to examine ourselves in order to carry out a more dynamic ministry to one another and the community. I think it is important to have a clear standard to strive for and to measure ourselves against as we serve the cause of Christ in the various roles we have been given by the Spirit.
Please know that all of you will have some of these habits developed to various degrees depending on your maturity, knowledge and commitment. Please realize also that none of us will have all of these habits perfectly developed. What I am giving you is the ideal to shoot for and a template to copy in your striving to grow as Christians at every level of maturity and responsibility.
Remember, the title of the series emphasizes the fact that Christians at every stage have certain habits that enable them to be effective and thus successful. So, if we parse the title, we have two key words:
HABITS – These are actions that are engrained, that have become natural because of continued repetition. They are the things we do without thinking but accomplish with skill and precision.
EFFECTIVE – This word refers to the quality of our lives and our service. People can be Christians, deacons, preachers and elders in name and in title. But to be effective as disciples of Jesus, or effective as His ministers, elders or deacons, means that we produce fruit in our personal spiritual lives as well as our particular ministries. A person can wear a title without actually being effective.
Habit #1
Effective Christians Read and Obey God's Word
Habit #1
Effective Christians Read and Obey God's Word
We know that Christians do not simply come out of the waters of baptism and immediately become effective saints. We observe that through practice and discipline in the Holy Spirit they cultivate habits that become a natural part of their lives and eventually enable them to become more effective as Christians in the service of the Lord and His church. There are many, but I have chosen seven common habits of highly effective Christians that I have read about in the Scriptures and seen over the last thirty-five years in brothers and sisters who have had great success as disciples of Christ.
Habit #1
Effective Christians Read and Obey God's Word
Habit #1
Effective Christians Read and Obey God's Word
Effective Christians are effective because their lives are powered by the Word of God. They know what God says and that knowledge empowers them to make right choices in more consistent ways. They resist temptation because they have God's Word on their hearts and on their minds. They are more able to stand up for right, give right advice, say the right thing at the right time because they know what right is, they can even quote it.
Paul congratulates Timothy in because he knew the Holy Writings from an early age, and this knowledge led him to salvation. But this knowledge also led Timothy into his vocation as an evangelist, as a partner with Paul in missions and as an example of effective Christianity for all future generations.
You cannot be very effective as a Christian (in preserving your faith or sharing it with others) if you do not know and obey the Word and you cannot know it if you do not read it. Effective Christians begin to pull away from immaturity and entanglement with sin and the world to the degree that they develop the #1 habit of reading the Bible on a regular basis.
Habit #2
Effective Christians Have an Active Prayer Life
Habit #2
Effective Christians Have an Active Prayer Life
We cannot effectively experience the life of Christ unless we read about it in God's Word. God cannot effectively change, shape and mold our lives unless we share it with Him in prayer. Look at those people in the New Testament that God used in a mighty way, were they not men and women of prayer? Jesus prayed at every step of His ministry. John the Apostle was in prayer when he had the vision to write the book of Revelation. Paul prayed constantly for direction in his ministry. Lydia was at a prayer meeting when converted. ()
The habit of prayer is what keeps us tuned in to God and sensitive to the Spirit. Without the habit of prayer the noisy demands of the world and the impulses of our flesh are all we can ever hear. The effective Christian succeeds in keeping the faith and growing in faith because he stays in touch with the Spirit of God through prayer.
Habit #3
Effective Christians Set "Spiritual" Goals
Habit #3
Effective Christians Set "Spiritual" Goals
There is a saying in business, "If you don't plan for success, you are planning to fail." Whether it is a business or a school, a family or a sports team, everyone needs to plan ahead. What makes us think it is any different for our spiritual lives? Effective Christianity requires that we set personal spiritual goals and actively work towards them, making the necessary sacrifices to eventually reach them. No gold medalist at the Olympics ever stood on the winner's podium without having made a decision to pursue a personal goal long before. No politician ever won an election without setting this victory as part of his or her career strategy.
So whether it is to be more faithful to services, or starting to help out in some way; a commitment to changing a bad habit for a good one, or doing a better job in what we have already been given to do… We do not become more effective as Christians unless we visualize a realistic goal, strategize a way of achieving it and commit ourselves to reaching it in a certain time frame with help from God through faith in Christ.
Paul the Apostle saw and heard Jesus, could perform miracles, established the church in the Roman Empire, but he was continually setting new goals for himself (to go East to Asia, to evangelize Spain) in order to widen his vision for the future and keep his spiritual adrenaline pumping.
Habit #4
Effective Christians Cultivate Talents of Others
Habit #4
Effective Christians Cultivate Talents of Others
I don't know where I would be without Dr. Dean Cook, Dr. Mitch Pierce, Dr. Andy Haskins, Bishop Roller, Bishop VanValin, Bishop Gates, my Father to name a few… These are all people who at one time or another in my Christian life helped me to grow spiritually. Each of these were effective Christians who took the time to help cultivate different aspects of my Christian walk and ministry. They were my mentors at various stages of my development.
Barnabas was one of those people in the Bible who so clearly demonstrated this habit, starting with Paul as a new convert and later continuing with Mark the young missionary.
Effective Christians realize early on that in order to stay effective they need to build up others in the body.
Solomon says:
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
-
Paul says it in another way:
"…we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
-
Note that the body builds itself up. When I build you, I also build me. Effective Christians are easy to spot, they are the ones asking for volunteers.
Habit #5
Effective Christians Take Responsibility for Souls
Habit #5
Effective Christians Take Responsibility for Souls
Paul says to the Philippians in chapter 2, verse 12 of their letter,
"…work out your salvation with fear and trembling." And it was said of the Bereans that they, "… (examined) the Scriptures daily."
The Bereans did so to verify if Paul's preaching was accurate according to God's Word. Highly effective Christians take responsibility for their own souls and the souls of others, especially the lost. They are effective because they know that Christianity is not a game and faith is not a crutch for the weak. Effective Christians make a difference in their congregations and in the world because they understand that the stakes are very high (eternal life) and the enemy is very dangerous (Satan).
Harry Truman, the former President of the United States, was very popular as a tough minded, no-nonsense leader. He had a sign on his desk that said, "The Buck Stops Here." This meant that he was the President, he was responsible, and he knew it.
We are each responsible for our souls (not the preacher, not the elders), in the end we will be judged on what we said and did (). Effective Christians know this and do not waste their time or spiritual energy on things that would endanger this most precious possession. They have the habit of putting what is good for souls first. This is why these brethren are so interested in saving souls, why they are good at it, why they work hard in evangelism and visitation: they know the value of a human soul. Think back to the one who brought you to Christ or brought you back to Christ… I am sure that that brother or sister fit very well my profile of the effective Christian.
Habit #6
Effective Christians Serve Others
Habit #6
Effective Christians Serve Others
Jesus said:
"…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…"
-
Do you think any of us would be here if Christ came as a royal king with attendants receiving the service He actually deserved? No, we are here with a hope of heaven today because Jesus Christ "emptied Himself," as Paul says in , "…taking the form of a bond servant." What saved us was His very effective service on the bloody cross of Calvary. What continues the salvation He delivered once for all is the effective service of millions of men and women who give themselves in service to reach each new generation of souls who are lost without Christ.
Effective Christians have cultivated the character of Christ within themselves by cultivating His character of selfless service to others for their good, their advantage and their salvation. For effective Christians, service is not an inconvenience they must bear in order to avoid guilt. No, like Epaphroditus, service is a way of life born out of love for Jesus.
Habit #7
Effective Christians Remain Focused on the Kingdom
Habit #7
Effective Christians Remain Focused on the Kingdom
More Christians lose their way because they just do not pay attention! In the parable of the sower and the seed, Jesus describes the person who receives the Word and grows for a time but the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of riches chokes the Word and stops his growth (). Note that the man was not a great sinner, he did believe, he did practice his faith, he grew! What destroyed his soul were the things we all face each day as Christians: the things that do not seem dangerous: worry about deadlines, debts, health, family, busy-ness, activities, emergencies, making it, looking good, keeping up. He became focused on these things and these things drew his attention, his energy and eventually his soul into their orbit.
Effective Christians have learned to keep the kingdom first and have not allowed the "cares" and the "desire for riches" overwhelm their spiritual lives. When they do, they are quick to repent and refocus their attention to where it needs to be. As a matter of fact, effective Christians continue to increase their involvement, their love, their very lives in the affairs of the kingdom and decrease their involvement, their love and their lives in the world. Effective Christians know that the kingdom is forever, is reality, is life itself, and the world is temporary, is sinful and full of death. They know this and live accordingly.
There are Christians who have managed to cultivate a lifestyle that incorporates these habits. In other words, practicing these habits has created a certain Christian character and ability a level of fitness that makes these women and men highly effective as disciples of Christ. If you are a new Christian wondering "where do I go from here," or if you are an experienced Christian wanting to go to a higher level, then pursuing these 7 habits will provide direction to more effective Christian living and service.
Once again, to become more effective as Christians, you need to develop the habits of:
Reading your Bible regularly;
Praying to God daily;
Setting personal spiritual goals;
Cultivating your abilities and the abilities of others;
Taking responsibility for your soul and then the souls of the ones who are weak or lost;
Stepping up your rate and intensity of service;
Remain focused on spiritual instead of worldly things
Of course, all of this is for those who want to become effective as Christians as opposed to those who simply want to stand on the sidelines and be critical of those who are in the game.
For some, there is no spiritual effectiveness possible because there is no Spirit within them. They have not yet obeyed the Spirit's initial command to repent and be baptized in order to be forgiven of sin and wear the name and person of Christ.
For the believers, I hope you will see more clearly the narrow path before you in Christ that leads to effective, joyful, spirit-filled living, powered by the cultivation of these habits.
BIG IDEA:
BIG IDEA:
There are basic attitudes and habits of all Christians must have in order to grow spiritually.
God created us to bring praise to Him and you cannot if you’re not filled with Him.
Discussion Questions...
Discussion Questions...
When you look in the mirror who do you see? What needs to change?
Are there flaws in your body? If so, describe one of them?
If you believe it is helpful to stay fit physically, mentally, and spiritually, why do you choose things that Scriptures says leads to sin and death?
Fit-ness is the act of being fit or effective (make a difference). So what two things can you do this week to start being more fit(effective) either physically, mentally, or spiritually? (go to the gym, walk more, eat more veggies and less bread, read the Bible, spend more time in reflection of who God is, serve a neighbor, friend, or your church with no strings attached, dialogue with a friend about faith.