Time to Lose Weight?

My friend once said something that always resurfaces right before Thanksgiving:

“The goal for the next 6 weeks is to maintain, not gain.”

The comment came from a conversation about Halloween candy I’d eaten. It felt impossible to lose the excess weight with the next 3 goody-filled holidays looming in sight!

That convo popped into my mind as I read Hebrews 12 this AM. Paul likens Christians to runners readying for a race & exhorts us to strip off every weight that slows us down, especially sin that so easily trips us up.

I’ve always thought of “weight” & “sin” synonymously here, but 3 new tidbits of revelation surfaced:

•Sin is sin in whatever context, 

but not all weight = sin

•Weight to you may not be weight to me

•Weight becomes weight in moments of excess, but weight may be a help, not a hinderance, in moderation

So a weight, then, is simply a legitimate thing turned to false use. The word for “weight” used here means a heavy encumbrance or burden.

Just last night, one of my son’s friends shared how her team trains for beach volleyball. They begin each practice wearing a weighted vest & run 1 mile barefoot down the beach. She said it’s the most exhausting thing she’s ever endured & how grateful she feels when that heavy weight falls to the ground!

God has set a path before each of us that may take us over different terrain, but we’ll all reach the same destination if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We’ll need far more than patient endurance, however, if we continue to bear the weight vest of burdens & distractions that hinder our course.

So the question that surfaces is this:

Where is there excess “weight” in my life, & what decisions can I make to lighten the load?

There’s no spiritual life without dying. Positive spiritual progress requires a negative fleshly process!

We must be willing to cut away any weight or sin that so easily entangles! There may be seasons where our aim is simply to “maintain & not gain”, but if we remain there too long, our endurance begins to wain under the weight we carry.

Father, show us any excess weight that can be swiftly sliced away. Reveal any habits or daily decisions that hinder us from running the race You have set before us!

#OneYearBible #Discipline

November 14th One Year Bible Readings

💡EZEKIEL 29:1-30:26

💡HEBREWS 11:32-12:13

💡PSALM 112:1-10

💡PROVERBS 27:17

Sight Incites Fear

The antonym of faith is not fear, but sight. The gift of sight becomes warped when wielded by the enemy. In fact, it’s been his #1 tool of the trade since the beginning of time!

He wooed Eve to fear missing out more than fearing the Father when he whispered lies...it might’ve sounded something like, “Come on, Eve! Don’t be such a prude-just take a bite! Your eyes will be opened & you’ll be like God.”

Sad for her & bummer for us, “she SAW that the fruit was good & pleasing to the eyes & also desireable to gain wisdom, so she ate it.”

Can’t you just see the cogs of reason turning in her thoughts? Once she SAW the fruit, reason began to rule over her relationship with God.

The word “saw” means to look at by direct volition-it’s an act of the will.

The phrase, “seeing is believing” takes on a whole new meaning! She SAW what she WANTED to SEE & then changed her moral construct to fit her new belief!

She KNEW what God said. He had never failed her, & yet she feared missing out more than following her Father.

Hebrews 11 is dedicated to retelling exploits of the fathers of faith. Verse 23 tells how Moses parents hid him for 3 months, unafraid of the king’s edict because they SAW that God had given them an unusual child.

The word SAW here is a different root & means to spiritually perceive. I’m sure Moses heard the story of how he was hidden in faith, so it does not surprise me that he would walk in even greater faith! He left the luxuries of the palace & led the Israelites to freedom, “because he kept his eyes on The One who is invisible.”

It is sight that incites unhealthy fear! Fear surfaces when we willfully see things separate from the Truth of God’s Word- we see insufficient resources when we separate ourselves from The Source of all things.

Father, remind us that You alone are the Source of all we need. Fear of the Invisible One is the foundation of true wisdom. Let our only fear be what might happen when we don’t follow You! Even though you are the Invisible One, Your Presence is evident! Give us spiritual perception like you did Moses’s parents. We want to see You above the physical things before us! Give us Father-infused faith & guard us from flesh-focused sight!

#OneYearBible

November 13th One Year Bible Readings

💡EZEKIEL 27:1-28:26

💡HEBREWS 11:17-31

💡PSALM 111:1-10

💡PROVERBS 27:15-16

Keep Building & Let the Rain Speak

The faith of Noah sometimes leaves me speechless. For 100 years, every deafening blow of his hammer filled the quiet, morning air with the coming judgement of God.

I cannot fathom the faith required to build an ark in the middle of a desert where rain had never fallen.

There’s no record of communication with the people around him, but I can easily imagine the hecklers who could’ve impeded the process.

It simply says that in the 500th year of his life, Noah began to wholeheartedly follow God Who warned him about coming things that had never before happened.

100 years later, he loaded up the ark 7 days before the rain began to fall. I often wonder if he could hear the people outside the ark making fun of him & his family who were holed up inside waiting in faith?

I also wonder if his sons were angry because of what their dad’s obedience required of them?😳

Noah didn’t stop building the ark to explain himself. He just kept building in faith & eventually the rain did the talking.

It is impossible to please God without faith & sometimes He asks us to do big, inexplicable things. Noah didn’t go the way of culture. He sought his God Who gave him clear (& seemingly crazy instructions) that eventually saved his family.

There are many cultural things we are all facing that require discernment & decisions that may affect the temporary happiness of our children.

I believe we are in a Noah moment in history where we’re called to continue to build the kingdom of God, & it begins first with our individual families. Every decision we make is a reflection of who or what we’re following.

Like in the days of Noah, a day of judgement unlike anything that’s ever happened is coming. Unlike Noah, however, we have the Good News of the Gospel to share with anyone who will listen.

We all have a part in building God’s kingdom & it requires wisdom & perseverance to keep hammering away with decisions & conversations that speak boldly to Whom we are following. We’ll experience naysayers even within our own families, but like Noah, I believe the difficulties of the coming rain will speak & people will be looking for an ark...will we be ready to share our faith of The One Who Saves?

#OneYearBible

November 12th One Year Bible Readings

EZEKIEL 24:1-26:21

HEBREWS 11:1-16

PSALM 110:1-7

PROVERBS 27:14