Live Fit

To start our new year off, our church and pastor challenged us to participate in a church wide 21 day fast. It is from January 7th through the 27th. The fast accompanies his sermon series "Live Fit", which is based on the scripture 1st Timothy 4:8. "Take time and trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit."  Our physical fitness determines our longevity. But our spiritual fitness determines our eternity. In essence, Paul is telling us in this scripture that we should take both time and trouble to look more like Christ, because it matters...

I was really excited that this year started off with this challenge and sermon series. Why? Because I had already shared here that I am believing and trying to make it my goal to publish another book this year. The topic of which is.....spiritual fitness. It felt like a huge confirmation from the Lord that He would help me bring some things into completion this year.

So why commit to a fast as part of this attention to fitness? Because fasting acutely makes us aware of how much our flesh controls our behaviors and longings. Not just for food, but lots of things.  It's not to impress God or prove something. It's to make our flesh submit to our Spirit and turn our attentions toward prayer and intimacy with God. Hopefully we turn our hunger towards things of the Spirit rather than things of the world. Not as easy as it sounds. Try to go without something that you enjoy, and immediately your flesh will make you want it that much more. So annoying. Many folks in our church are doing a "Daniel Fast". This involves only eating fruits and vegetables and avoiding all meats, bread, or alcohol. It comes from scripture in Daniel, chapter 10, where Daniel followed a similar diet for a period of prayer. Our pastor challenged us further by suggested we look to another example in the bible, Samson. He was raised as a Nazarite and was given three things he should never do. Delving into the significance of  those things gave us some spiritual meat to chew on and come up with what we would forgo for the next 21 days.

Our family has chosen the following things:

1. For the next three weeks, we will not go out to eat at all. That means all of our meals will be prepared at home. This might seem trivial. But eating out we decided is unnecessary, costly, and often makes us waste food that we have already at home. With our busy lifestyles, schedule and jobs, it actually is hard and is taking a lot of preparation. The fact is, we often choose to eat out for convenience, and is something we should learn to do less. Of course this is helping us make healthier choices overall.

2. Greg and I are not eating any bread/bread products (this includes crackers,etc), no sweets, and no alcohol.

3. Individually we have each chosen something else to fast from. Mine is not looking at any online shopping sites. I'm training my eyes to follow the motto "Don't sacrifice what you want most for what you want now." 

During this 21 days we are also following a reading plan that will help us read all of the letters the Apostle Paul wrote in the Bible. As our Pastor said, "Paul was probably the best personal trainer in the Bible." I'll probably update again once we complete the fast. Obviously I feel like the Lord is stressing the concept of "training" in my life. I'm believing our obedience to it will produce great rewards.

Les Miserables: Momentary Grace

I'm sure you heard the term "defining moment." Its that instant in time when you realize the immediate circumstances, to which you are a active participant, have the potential to change your life. The irony is this:  it is not usually the circumstances themselves that hold that power, but rather what we choose to do in them. Today I saw the movie, 'Les Miserables.' The title means the poor or wretched ones. This musical storyline is set in France during the 1800's. The entire musical is a series of 'defining moments' for its characters that constantly examines the nature of both the law and grace.  Each one we meet... Fantine, Jean Valjean, Cosette, Marius, and Javert are all connected to each other by the law and grace like a finely woven tapestry. The story was both heart wrenching and beautiful at the same time. I couldn't help but be overcome as I watched it unfold in light of an event in my life this week.

Just days before, I was both a bystander and a participant to another defining moment. On Thursday morning I was called completely unexpectedly out of my clinic to the emergency room. The only thing I was told was that one of my pregnant patients was crashing, currently being intubated, and that I needed to come immediately. What I saw when I walked through the door will be a memory I will probably never forget. By the time I arrived, my patient who was 29 weeks pregnant, was being coded. The visual of multiple people around her, a man adminstering chest compressions, and monitors blaring was overshadowed by the site of her very pregnant belly and the two lives that were hanging in the balance. Even for seasoned medical personnel, this is not something we often nor ever want to witness. As a doctor who usually brings life into the world, it rattled my core. The one thing that kept flooding my mind was another moment just two weeks earlier.

Two weeks prior to this my choir went to a local nursing home and sang Christmas carols for the residents. It was touching and emotional. We were probably ministered to more  than they were. As we were finishing up, a young pregnant woman was coming in the building to start her shift at work. One of the ladies in the choir struck up a conversation with her. The lady shared this would be her seventh child. What transpired next, was that our entire choir laid hands on this young woman asked God for blessings for both her and her unborn child. That woman was my patient. The same one who was at that moment barely hanging on to life with a young daughter inside her. God knew each of  these moments before we did. I don't know what was released supernaturally with our prayers, but I firmly believe something was.

Why? Because there is nothing more powerful than grace. My patient and her unborn child died that day. I had to wait for her husband to come to the emergency room and be there as we broke the news to him....another defining moment. As I held his hand, I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to reassure him over and over that he was not alone. God was with him. What he does with that knowledge and circumstances of losing his wife are in his hands. Ultimately I think this is what we all need to know as we navigate through those defining moments in life. We are not alone. God shows us that  time and time again through grace and the relationships that he weaves like tapestry into our lives. It's how he works.

At the end of the movie, Fantine reappears as her redeemer is dying. As she sang in the closing scene, she tells us that "if you show a person kindness, then you've seen the face of God." You never know when you might be in a defining moment. Something that you might not think is eternally significant, such as praying for a stranger, might turn out to be more important that you ever realized. It's those moments in life that cause us to examine our choices, our priorities, and namely grace. Will we accept it or not? Salvation from God is the best example of grace there is. Kindness to people makes God alive and present in any situation, even difficult ones. "They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him." 2Corinth 3:17-18 MSG 
The bottom line is we are all "Le Miserables", the poor, the wretched ones. This week made that more clear than ever.

A New Year's Resolution

Usually I try to sit down and reflect upon the last year to tie up the ends of my blog posts. For some reason during this last week, I've had a bit of writer's block. I certainly have had ideas in my head for things that I wanted to write, but just didn't feel led by the Spirit to put them to paper. 
But today being New Year's Day, the day of new beginnings, fresh starts, and resolutions, I am making a deliberate attempt to formulate my thoughts. If you read my last post, then you know that I have felt a calling on my life to write from God. That is really the whole reason I started my blog. God's word tells us that we should "fan our spiritual gift into flame" (2nd Tim 1:6). This means it takes practice. When God gives us our calling, it is not fully developed at its inception. I think God knows that we won't handle it properly. In my case, I can say retrospectively that is absolutely true.  I've come to realize that is why God starts with a whisper into your heart..."this is what I have planned for you." Then he confirms it by having others speak prophetic words that will make sure you heard him correctly. But ultimately it takes time before it will all come to pass. I've realized over the past year a lot of what I am going through it to align my priorities to handle God's calling on my life. Looking back over the past year, I can say without a doubt that things that were important to me at the beginning of the year are not so now. I see God changing my way of thinking and transforming my mind. (Romans 12:2) All necessary for having my calling show God's glory and not my own. I'm believing that 2013 will be a year that I count on God to bring this into completion. I'm resolving (here is my NY resolution act of faith) that this year, God willing, I will produce a literary product worthy of my calling.

Of course God has worked on me through my experiences but I would say without a doubt the biggest way he has transformed me is through his word. Two years ago I began reading the One-year-bible-online. I started with the New Living Translation and last year finished the Message. This year I am reading (a complete contrast), the New King James version. As a Christian I can think of no other resolution that is more vital to the development of your faith...committing to read the entire bible in a year. This may seem like a fairly bold statement, but honestly, I'm not really sure how we can call ourselves Christians if we don't know what the bible says. I don't mean this as condemnation for those who haven't read it and I say that now only because of the transformation it has had in my own life and faith walk. I've come to believe that many so called 'Christians' who live bound by addictions and sin do so because they don't know the Bible. They don't read it and therefore don't fully develop their relationship into maturity with Christ. Here are vital ways daily bible reading has impacted my faith and will do the same for yours.

1. The bible tells us the Jesus was the Word made flesh. If you call yourself a Christian and truly aspire to be a follower of Jesus you have to know the Word. Salvation is a gift given to us by the grace of God; accepting that gift of Jesus as your Savior for the forgiveness of sins is only the beginning. Yes, you have to make Jesus your Savior to get to Heaven, but God's plan is for us to have an abundant and fruitful life here on Earth, not just in Heaven. That means making him LORD of your life. Obedience to God's word is integral to being a follower of Christ. Why? He is the word made flesh. Follow him and you have to read the word of God/bible. If you are struggling in an area of your life, whether it be finances, relationships, or belief, it probably is because Jesus is not Lord for you in this area. I say this from personal experience. Part of my current situation was allowed to occur because of my own disobedience. More to come on this later. I encourage you to start with knowing what his word says concerning this area and God will help you with the application of that word.

2. You have an enemy who wants to derail your faith and your calling. The bible calls Satan "the father of lies". Start in Genesis and you will see one of his tactics is to question what God says. If you don't know the truth of God's word, how will you recognize a lie when it is presented to you? Further, God's word is a weapon to resist temptation from the devil. When Satan encountered Jesus in the wilderness, three times Jesus resisted by quoting scripture. Without this knowledge, you lack a substantial weapon to combat your enemy. I believe God brings his word to my mind often to protect me against my enemy who's goal is to derail my calling. Without this knowledge, I won't succeed.

3. God speaks to me through his word. This is fact.  If you feel like your prayers only go one direction, start by delving into the word. Countless times I have found the motivation, answer or support I needed to get through my day in God's word. Focused bible studies are important, but reading the bible in its entirety is invaluable. When God wants to to know a particular scripture, he will bring it to you multiple times in different formats. I've had this happen over and over again. The bible tells us his word "is alive and active" (Heb 4:12). It doesn't return void. When you read the bible, it stays inside you and God will bring it to your mind or heart when circumstances dictate. Jesus told us as followers that we should 'abide in him' if we want to be fruitful here on Earth and achieve God's calling on our lives. (John 15)
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.<sup>" 
 
 4. I have learned the character of God through his word and his promises in scripture. The foundation of any relationship is trust. The root of all sin is doubting God. Don't just skim over that last sentence. Really think about it. Greed: God won't provide. Lust/Adultery: God won't provide the right mate or concerned about my happiness, etc. We doubt who he is, what he says he will do, or whether he keeps his promises. If you read the bible in its entirety, you come to understand God's character and more importantly that he always keeps his promises. FOR HIS NAMESAKE. I'm hanging my hat on this one. The last few years have been tough for me and my family. But God's word makes so many promises about trials and our obedience through them. Hebrews 10:23 encourages "let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise." I need to know this is true. I need to know God keeps his promise. If you quit before visualizing  the blessing of obedience to his word come to fruition, you can never know this. 


The one that I am hanging on to is this: "Come back to the place of safety all you prisoners who still have hope! I PROMISE this very day that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles." (Zech 9:12) God's word tells us that every time we are obedient to him through trials, we get a double portion of his grace. (Isaiah 61) You have to read his word to know that God pays back double for trusting him and obeying him. 

I'm committing to make 2013 a year that my faith and trust in God only continues to grow and mature. I will accomplish this by reading through his word again in its entirety. I've realized this knowledge of God, which comes only through reading his Word,  is transformative and vital to my calling or ability to participate with God in his work.
 As believers, I implore you to make reading the bible daily a resolution for the New Year. OneYearBibleOnline makes it so easy.</sup>

  Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature. (2Peter1:2-4)