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Begin the Work

It’s Friday!, “yeeeaa” (said like that guy on the Sonic commercial when he states that his first hat blew his mind)

Here’s is some motivation to get up and hit the grind ( this applies to everyday, not just Friday)

…. Now begin the work, and the Lord be with you.” …. Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God. Begin to build….  (1 Chronicles 22:16-19 NIV)

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Make Sure to Work It

I ran a Mud Run in town a few weeks ago.  It was  fun and challenging, but was pretty tame compared to the hard core runs like the Tough Mudder!  I’m find inspiration from those guys that do those hard core mud runs like.  I follow them on The Twitters to stay encouraged.  Last week they shared this quote from an old basketball coach that you may recognize.

“There is no substitute for work. Worthwhile results come from hard work and planning” – John Wooden

Yep, no substitute for work*.  Keep training and keep working!

 

20 Are you so slow? Do you need to be shown that faith without actions has no value at all? James 2:20 Common English Bible (CEB)

* well there is one substitute for work when it comes to salvation. 🙂  But it’s because of that salvation that we do work! and Work hard!

 

 

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Don’t Just Thresh Wheat

There’s a story in the old book of Judges where a man named Gideon.  Gideon’s nation was repressed in slavery for over 100 years and on this day he is hiding from his oppressors threshing wheat.  And that’s when he gets a surprise visitor.

12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Judges 6:12

Or if I can paraphrase I think the angel of the Lord said something like this.

Hey, Gideon, old buddy, don’t you know that you are a mighty warrior? The Lord has promised you great things if you trust him, but you are just hanging out threshing wheat, being normal.  Go, free your land and your people from its oppressors.

And I strongly believe that today, many of us will just thresh wheat, not wanted to be seen, when the Lord has said to us, “I am with you , mighty warrior!, free those around you from their oppressors.”!

 

because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”

So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6

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One Last Olympic Thought

I was cruising the web last night looking at this crazy mud run called Mudsanity, when I saw this picture on their Facebook wall, so I had to borrow it.

Awesome isn’t it.

And it’s correct, the Anthem isn’t going to sing itself – get up , get out and get to work.

and dont’ let the rocks do your job for you!

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:39-41 New International Version (NIV)

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Quick Abs

When you watch the Olympics over the last few weeks you say way too many abdominal muscles. Yes, the ladies where showing 6 pack abs and flat tummies in almost every sport.  That seems to have produced some ab-envy in a lot of women (and men) around the world.  In the UK, the demand for liposuction services has greatly increased, and I find this quote recording in the U.K.’s Daily Mail from Donnamarie McBride, owner of LoveLite clinic owner just fascinating:

Since the Olympics started we’ve had a lot of women coming to us with pictures of Jessica Ennis saying they want to have a torso similar to hers, but they have said they need a bit of extra help because they struggle to get down to those levels with just a couple of gym sessions a week. … They all said they wanted to have a tummy like Jessica Ennis and they wanted to have it done as soon as we could fit them in.

Hm, instant abs!

Forget all the work all those Olympians put in to develop and tone those muscles – we want it right now!

And as we know about ourselves, we are the same in our spiritual life.  We see those who have great walks with the Creator and we want a relationship like that as well.  But we forget all the discipline and effort and work that it takes to establish those deep relationship and the complete surrender it requires.  In both instances – the physical work of the Olympic ladies and in the spiritual work of many others – they have given away themselves for their goal.

Lets make sure we put the work in we need to put it in  –  there is no spiritual liposuction! And the great thing is spiritually, we already have the promise of the Gold, we are actually working and disciplining ourselves because we have won!

“Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1 NIV