"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal, " (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
Let's take a minute to put everything in the right perspective today... I just wanted to present something to think about next time you're working out. Ask yourself this question, "How can I patiently endure this with an attitude of excellence? Keeping the right perspective? How can I overcome in the midst of this?" While a gruesome workout (even if it's 19.1 for you CrossFitters) is just a small moment of time, we can learn a lot about its specific applicability to life in general. Whatever we are going through, whether an extended lawsuit, stressful work situation, family battle etc... We have authority and victory over things like sickness and our own actions, but we cannot ALWAYS control what happens to us. I could dive into the believer's authority and the amazing degree of power we have living in us to rule and reign, which I'll write about later, but let's face it. We cannot control other people's actions and some things that happen in a corrupt world. However, we do have control over how we react to them. We are told in Philippians to rejoice in all circumstances, and later on in Philippians 4 to think on those things which are pure, holy, admirable, praiseworthy... (Philippians 4:8). Nothing we go through in life vaguely compares to what Christ went through to redeem us, to make us new and to reconcile us back to the Father. Still, I consider the disciples' atrocious deaths, being crucified upside down, stoned to death and so much more and yet martyrs are dying around the world every few minutes for the sake of Christ and the gospel. Even Stephen, as He was being stoned to death "fixed his gaze on the heavenly realm and saw the glory and splendor of God-- and Jesus who STOOD at the right hand of God... " (Acts 7:54). He looked up to see His Lord welcome him home and asked that the very people that were killing him would be forgiven, just as Jesus did. No matter what we go through in life, we can wake up each morning, walk through each day and lay our head down at night thanking Him for what He has done. Thanking Him that no matter what things look like, His love never changes, His integrity is never in question and He's still worthy of all praise! If you're reading this, we all have soo much to be thankful for and rejoice over, but even if all of it were to fade away, we have the eternal weight of glory in which we can have hope! The hope of us revealing Christ now and forevermore! The hope of being with Him for eternity! The reality that we can come to know Him more and more each day. That nothing we can endure in this present age will compare with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). Even now in this day, we can unveil and reveal Christ in us, the hope of glory! When we have the Spirit of God living within, and we have his joy, peace, guidance, love and so much more waiting to be revealed! All that is needed is for us to fix our gaze upon Him and release the Spirit by Faith! We are of a whole new kingdom! Let us conform our minds to the way Christ thinks and begin to reveal Him and His Kingdom in the midst of all things. This is the victory that overcomes the world: our faith! (1 John 5:4)
0 Comments
Have you felt discouraged, mad at yourself and disappointed because of a bad workout performance? You just felt like you couldn't give it today, everything you did was just wrong and everyone in the entire world was better than you? How about stressing over a mistake you made during the day? Or wishing you wouldn't have said what you said, wishing you wouldn't have gotten impatient etc... Maybe I'm the only one, but I've definitely found myself second-guessing my workout, if I could've gotten those last few reps in, second-guessing my conversation, second-guessing what I said and didn't say right when I got up to speak. Or, it could be that you feel like no matter what you're doing you never are doing enough, being productive enough or right in the call of your life and you're totally missing it.
In Philippians 3, (I'd recommend reading the whole chapter in TPT), Paul talks about the wonderful joy in knowing Jesus. Subtle influxes of religion tell us that we have to do more, think more and be more to please God, to feel close to Him and to receive what He's given in Christ Jesus. But I think we all know that whenever we strive toward these things, we can find ourselves burned out, tired and worn down. Matthew 11: 28 in the Message says, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. I'll lead you. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Always being a high-achiever, I really struggled with this concept. I struggled with what it meant to rest. I thought that if I rested, I wouldn't accomplish what I needed to, or that if I somehow relaxed and stopped beating myself up, I would somehow mess up. I'm being real honest with you right now. We all do this to a degree in different ways. Then it hit me one day. What if Jesus didn't die for us because he saw that we were always messing up and could never do it on our own? This is true, but what if His whole intention of coming was to restore to us what He originally intended us to live in from the beginning? In life fellowship with Him? What if His whole purpose of redeeming us was to show us that we were made for more? What if I was still working my way back to Him in a subtle religious manner instead of walking out of my new identity in Him and fixing my eyes on Jesus? The amazing thing is, what you find when you seek His presence first and His Kingdom, you'll end up accomplishing more by accident, changing more and staying in perfect joy and peace in the midst of it all. It's basically what Matthew 6:33 talks about as well. "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you." When we seek His Kingdom, Christ in us and that relationship God gave everything He had to restore to us, what we found ourselves falling short in is completely satisfied. We weren't made to find our identity in how much we could do but instead that we were loved by Him. That's it. Being known by Him. Out of that will flow more and lasting efforts than you could ever do on your own. Often, we find churches praying for revival, when in reality, revival is a result of falling back in love with Jesus all over again. (Vance Havner paraphrase). We are so focused on the steps to get us to the place we want to be, instead of living from a place of victory by faith in what Jesus has already accomplished! In Revelation, the church in Ephesus is addressed, first complementing all their great works and things they're doing for the Lord. But then the problem is brought to light. "I have one thing against you," says the Lord. "You have lost your first love". Let it never be said about us that we were so busy doing the work of the Lord that we forgot the Lord of the work. Back to Philippians 3. Paul talks about how his boasting used to be in physical performance, his own strength and his accomplishments. According to Jewish law, he really had things going for him, (even though it would really never be enough). But he says all these things he now accounts as DUNG compared to knowing Christ Jesus. He throws it all out to know Jesus and embrace Him as Lord. He says He continually longs to know Him more fully. This is Paul. Writer of a lot of the New Testament! He leaves behind the past and only longs to know Christ and the power of his resurrection more and more. To know what it truly means to have resurrection life in Christ. As Christians (Christ-like-anointed ones), we are destined live the victory that Christ came to bring us back into! Often we see Philippians 3: 14 as a verse to forget the past and press toward a goal. This can definitely be used that way, but the truth of the verse is hidden in leaving our old lives, mentalities and thinking behind and taking up His. It's being one with him in sufferings (dying to ourselves) and one with him in resurrection (taking up His life). It's getting new wine skins. Out with the old. In with the new. Let's look at a few examples of what this could mean on a daily basis. In our daily lives, we all have opportunities to get extremely frustrated, stressed, worried and irritated with the situation or people around us. I'm not discounting what people have to go through in any way, but we have to get over ourselves and our rights. We are in covenant relationship with God. Contracts protect rights, covenants surrender them. One might say, "I have a right to be frustrated/angry/stressed". Actually you don't. Your rights died with Christ. Jesus wouldn't let himself get that way. Making Him Lord of your life means surrendering to Him in all your ways. You now have peace, love, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, meekness and self-control living inside! By believing in the finished work of Jesus, we can make the choice to manifest this fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) instead! It doesn't happen by tons of self-effort. It comes by believing that we have the power to overcome and making the choice to do so, despite how you feel. It doesn't always feel like what you should do in the long run (no discipline feels good at the time (Hebrews 12)), but God knows what's best for you. He's the author and the finisher of our faith (that we could never muster up on our own). It's His love that calls you higher! The discipline of the Lord is never putting stuff on us to punish us, but it involves redirection and dying to self. This is how we walk in Love, because Love doesn't seek its own! (1 Corinthians 13) I like to think about this when I'm running up the incline in Manitou Springs. There are definitely times I feel like quitting or whining. Yet, knowing I'm called to do everything as unto the Lord (Colossians 2:17), I continue, press on and do so with excellence, even encouraging others to press on in the midst of my pain. When you set your mind on the things of the spirit, you are suddenly a lot less aware of what your body and mind (flesh) desire. And I make myself stand with shoulders high because for one, I know it's not good for my back to run bent over and two, because I know that I'm not giving my flesh any place. I wouldn't be able to do it without recognizing the value Christ has placed in me, knowing I'm capable of more than my mind and body say and that my identity is not tied to my performance. It's finding the rhythm of grace (finding Jesus and His love and grace/empowerment to do teach us and do what He's called us to) in everything we do, even in the midst of stressful situations. The second part is recognizing that even if we do fall short, we can believe that's not the real us anymore (1 Corinth 5:17-21 Phillips) and move forward toward the upward call (the top of the mountain, the end of the workout, the finished product) of Christ Jesus. No amount of guilt, beating yourself up and wishing you’d have gotten those last few reps in (done it all differently in life) will make a change. It’s looking to Jesus and thanking Him for the freedom Hes brought you into. This is the ultimate goal. To know Him more and to be like Him. (Which we already are in our Spirit according to 1 John 4:7. We just have to wrap our minds around it and see ourselves that way). When we behold Him with unveiled face as in a mirror, we are transformed into His image from glory to glory! (2 Corinthians 3:18). This is the secret to living out our faith: looking to Jesus, falling more in love with Him, spending time with Him and finding the rhythm of His grace in it all. It's for freedom that Christ has set us free! To live in the rhythms of His grace. To abide in Him in every moment, knowing the hope that we have in Him! If it's not encouraging and compelling you in Jesus, it's not God. When we look to Him, we have everything! Feel free to comment below if you have questions or comments. “Isn’t it obvious that all runners on the racetrack keep on running to win, but only one receives the victor’s prize? Yet each one of you must run the race to be victorious. A true athlete will be disciplined in every respect, practicing constant self-control in order to win a laurel wreath that quickly withers. But we run our race to win a victor’s crown that will last forever. For that reason, I don’t run just for exercise or box like one throwing aimless punches, but I train like a champion athlete. I subdue my body and get it under my control, so that after preaching the good news to others I myself won’t be disqualified.”
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 TPT We can all agree, not every workout is enjoyable. You feel the burn in your legs, your lungs are on fire. Yet, you know that because you’ve been trained properly and can maintain good form, :) you press on, knowing the temporary pain will be over in only a few minutes. With that kind of mindset, we train not to just say that we went to the gym today. We train to make ourselves stronger, to show our body who is truly in control. We train for something bigger. It might be a particular competition or goal, or it might be the reality of surrender in training your body to be subject to your soul and spirit. You are the only one who can bring your body into subjection, but the good news is your spirit man is much stronger than flesh. We cannot do anything without Jesus. It’s true. Without looking unto Him and realizing who He’s remade us, we can do no righteous thing. It’s believing in the finished work of Christ that empowers us, because the reality of the gospel is that we’ve died and our lives are now hidden in Him. We’ve been crucified with Christ, but we live. But we don’t live our old lives, the Christ who lives in me reigns. That is, if we open ourselves up to Him. In Romans 6, it is said, “Sin shall no longer have dominion over you.” This means that this old man, the one subject to the curses of sin and who obeys in the lusts of the flesh, shall no longer have dominion over you. We are now sons and daughters of the most high! We’ve been bought at a price! Therefore, (because we are valued and are carriers of a God’s very presence), we are called to glorify God in our bodies. Sons don’t try to be heirs of their father, they just are. Apple trees don’t bear apples to prove they’re apple trees, they just bear apples because they are! Therefore, we bear fruit (patience, self control, love, joy, peace, faith, meekness, goodness and kindness) by believing and acknowledging who He’s made us to be. And it’s His grace that teaches us to do so (Titus 2:11-12). His love draws us in and shows us the way. His love leads and guides from a sense of value. It shows us our created identity and value and because God is love and the Holy Spirit is inside of us to teach and guide us, we only have to look to Him. It’s His love and grace that compels us to live godly and righteously. Self shaming or acknowledging all of our flaws will never change us. Looking to ourselves to accomplish anything will only leave us frustrated, discouraged and fruitless. We may have some results, but these will never be lasting and are varying depending upon circumstances and feelings of the flesh. So what does this look like on a daily basis? Lets say a diet is like the law. The Bible says the strength of sin is the law, but our union with Christ is what gives us the bold confidence to sure victory, (1 Corinthians 15:56). I can tell you in relation to fitness, you’re never going to really truly make a lasting lifestyle diet and exercise change by body shaming and hating yourself into it. You may stick to a diet for a period of time, but when the strict diet is over you’ll probably find yourself indulging back into old ways. That’s why many people end up going through these cycles of diets and never end up seeing results. No true change really happened. However, when you see that you DO HAVE THE ABILITY and strength to overcome temptations, and when you see your true value, you wouldn’t want to put your body subject to any diseases you’re dead to (more on that later), and you wouldn’t want to put things into your body that are not beneficial. You would know that although over indulging in that treat for a moment might give you temporary comfort, it will not leave you feeling good afterwards. And the lasting implications of repeatedly doing so will appear eventually. This is what self control is all about. It’s not about how badly you want to make a change. That’s a good start, but we can’t make a lifestyle change that way. Grace empowers us to live in freedom (not strict regulations) by abiding in Jesus. Abiding means to dwell in, to continue in, to orient your life around. It’s not a one time thing. It’s about bringing your body and old man (even old ways of thinking) into subjection. You can say that pushing through a tough workout is putting this into effect as well. It’s recognizing what’s good for you, even when your body says, “nope, I’d rather take a nap. I’d rather not do this workout, my lungs burn”. It’s finishing the race with excellence because of who you are. You don’t give the voice that’s telling you to quit any say in the matter. You know what’s good for you. That old man is dead, so why should we give it any power over us? Now, let’s take a look at some other possible applications. We can really look at any of the lusts of the flesh: lashing out at someone, telling a lie to make yourself feel approved by men, gaining financial means in an ungodly manner, pornography or lust. Or even thoughts of inadequacy, fear, guilt and condemnation. It’s all the same. Still, the grace of God empowers and teaches us to live godly and disciplined lives because when we look at Christ in us and see our created value, we recognize our spiritual authority over these kinds of things and we know the love that guides us into what’s good for us and others. Just like a diet or one week of workouts will never have lasting results, one right action is not going to change you. It’s being made completely and utterly new that transforms and empowers us to live out of that new life. And this new life is free from sickness, it’s free from depression and anxiety, and alive to righteousness peace and joy! That’s the goodness of the gospel! Therefore, I encourage you to spend time with Jesus, in true fellowship with Him and ask Him to show you your value. He obviously sees it, or He wouldn’t have died for you! He gave everything He had to make you new and to free you of the sin that entangles. And let His love flow out of you and reveal Him to the world! Read the Word of God not to know more head knowledge, but to know Jesus, what you’ve been redeemed from and who He’s created you to be! After all, if our lives are now hidden in Christ, how are we ever going to discover who we are without knowing the One we are hidden in and made in the image of? Blessings, Coach Alli Alli Wolf
March 31, 2018 · https://youtu.be/NS3OgXaHoyc The words of this song came alive to me last night at the Passion WOD with Faith Rxd Denver. Every single one of them is real. Last night was more than just another workout. It was a spiritual experience. We started in 3 minutes of silence and continued the entire time in silence as Christ did, as a lamb to the slaughter and not uttering a word. WOD: 100 Double Unders 800 m barbell carry (135/95) 100 burpees With each sound of the passing rope beneath my feet I pondered the even more intense lashing of the whip (mended with barbs and razor like objects) against Jesus’ flesh as they tore Him to pieces. By His stripes we were healed/ “sozo’d”. This was a real event. By each stripe we’ve been made whole, prosperous, delivered, and healed of all infirmities and sicknesses. He took even all emotional anxieties. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him. The barbell carry was a lot worse than I thought it was going to be. I’m glad I chose the Rx weight, because it gave me an even greater glimpse of the approx 125 lb cross He carried, a longer distance we did, and up a hill. And He did it physically weakened by everything He had already gone through. With every step I was closer and closer to the stop sign we were supposed to turn around at. I kept remembering Hebrews 12:2, “2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” That stop sign was the halfway mark for me where I got to turn around. I kept my eyes on that to keep me moving, and the finish line when I would be able to drop the bar. The joy set before him was us, guys. He did this for us. He endured it all. Many others have died a similar death, not to the same extent, but the difference is, our Savior didn’t have to. He was without blame. (Hebrews 4:15) He didn’t have to, but He did. The weighing down of your chest, back and shoulders was definitely uncomfortable yet made me think of the pain He had to go through to even breathe. The asphyxiation on the cross is often what kills the convicted one on the cross. In order to breathe, they would have to move in such a way as to put more pressure on the nails in their wrists and feet. I can’t explain how amazing it felt to have the burden carry lifted off my shoulders when we returned to the gym. The great thing was, I had 100 burpees to think about what this really meant to me. When that burden was dropped, I thought of when Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Because this was real, if im ever being weighed down by anything, I’m not walking in the victory Christ died to give me. We are called to take up His yoke. The finished work of Jesus. His abundant life. He doesn’t intend for us to live this life without Him. It’s not easy but He’s given us everything we need to do it. It's only hard when we try to do it independent of Him. With every time we got down and the ground and jumped back up, symbolic of the resurrection, I thought of two things: 1) we lay our life down to take His and let Him live through us and 2) we identify with Him in being crucified with Christ yet we live, not us but Him through us (Galatians 2:20!) While this cannot even compare with the torment Jesus experienced, not only physically, but the emotional separation from the Father, taking all curses of the law, all our sin (actually becoming it), and the knowledge of everything He would have to go through as well, it did give me a whole new appreciation and acknowledgement of the reality of it all. What He did and that you and I were worth it. I didn’t say that, God did. This Easter Sunday, let this not just be another monotonous day where we hear the story at church, say thanks, and go eat a great meal with family and friends. Let this be a time where we truly ponder what this looks like in our daily life, if this is as real as it is. Do you think differently? Do you act differently? Do you feel differently? It's okay if you don't because that doesn't change the fact that He died to give you new life! And he has come to set us free, heal us completely, mend the broken heart and so much more! Feel free to comment what Christ’s resurrection life looks like to you! |
AuthorAllison Noel Wolf ArchivesCategories |