The Workout In Our Minds
The workout in our minds is riddled with thoughts, questions, and planning when it comes to what we should do.
The pressure of it all comes with all the rationalization we do to justify the act. Rationalization may even include buyer’s remorse.
- Do I have what I need when it relates to such and such?
I struggle to understand my inability to do such and such especially when I have what I need to do such and such already.
- I know I need to…
Physical Workout
When it comes to physical activity, I ponder the need to shower, wash my hair, and get ready, or whether I should wait till after a certain part of the day.
Providing plausible but untrue reasons for conduct.
Rationalization
It’s what we do when we substitute false explanations for true reasons. When we cloud our actual motives with a smoke screen of nice-sounding excuses. We do this to dull the pain of reality. We also do this to quiet the sound of guilt. Often we employ it to justify ourselves in the eyes of others.
All This Thinking
- I will workout at work during my lunch hour, or maybe it would be better to wait till after work
- I struggle with using getting to the gym because of such and such.
- We think about our current status and where we are headed after this workout.
- What tools are needed to get the job done?
- I think about traffic congestion because I decided to stay and workout.
- I will wait till I get home to get my workout in then such and such will happen.
I talk myself out of working out after a certain part of the day because of the energy I get after the workout. I don’t want this increase of energy to hinder my ability to sleep.
To Pay Or Not To Pay You End Up Paying
When I pay for a workout membership of some sort for somewhere in particular. I push myself to work out because, of the money I am spending, so I go to the gym because I need to get my dollars’ worth out of it.
But, have I even factoried in the fuel, mileage to get there in my vehicle? Did I factor in the clothing I will need to workout there?
Can I even afford to pay this monthly fee to work out. Then, I think about the long-term expense even though working out is a long-term benefit.
A New Workout
I think about all that is transpiring in this world right now. There is so much pain and suffering going on in this world and in my body. Are the end of times at hand for this world and for my body or is this just the beginning?
Our physical being is what we are focusing on. We focus on how we look, what we wear and what we have. We’ve forgotten what we enjoy and the joy we get out of how we feel.
How we feel may have been shut down because of what we have to deal with right here and right now.
We have lost focus on our ultimate purpose which is life here and now. When we have You Lord and make You our daily focus we can look forward to eternity with You.
So, it’s time to get going regardless of all that is manifesting in us and around us!
Open My Eyes
Lord open my eyes to see your beauty. I too hear all your beauty, I get to hear the birds chirping and to see what you created, the trees, the flowers, the creatures crawling on the earth and then.
Now I see what we created, the roads, signs, vehicles, and structures that impede your beauty.
Thinking about the weeds growing that are green and that don’t require our care and they even look beautiful. I know if I focused on myself as you have created me to be, I can either damage what was good or I can take care of what you created for good.
Abraham traveled from there south to the Negev and settled down between Kadesh and Shur. While he was camping in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She’s my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night and told him, “You’re as good as dead—that woman you took, she’s a married woman.” Now Abimelech had not yet slept with her, hadn’t so much as touched her. He said, “Master, would you kill an innocent man? Didn’t he tell me, ‘She’s my sister’? And didn’t she herself say, ‘He’s my brother’? I had no idea I was doing anything wrong when I did this.” God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know your intentions were pure, that’s why I kept you from sinning against me; I was the one who kept you from going to bed with her.
A New Mindset To Have For Your Workout To Work
God created this body, I need to take care of it period! What I put in my body can cause good and bad outcomes. In the long run, it can affect the span of my life. Lord, I need help in maintaining a regular regimen. I cannot do it alone because of all the reasons I have listed above. Or can I?
When the people realized that Moses was taking forever in coming down off the mountain, they rallied around Aaron and said, “Do something. Make gods for us who will lead us. That Moses, the man who got us out of Egypt—who knows what’s happened to him?” So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters and bring them to me.” They all did it; they removed the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from their hands and cast it in the form of a calf, shaping it with an engraving tool. The people responded with enthusiasm: “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from Egypt!” Aaron, taking in the situation, built an altar before the calf. Aaron then announced, “Tomorrow is a feast day to God!”
Early the next morning, the people got up and offered Whole-Burnt-Offerings and brought Peace-Offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink and then began to party. It turned into a wild party! God spoke to Moses, “Go! Get down there! Your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt have fallen to pieces. In no time at all they’ve turned away from the way I commanded them: They made a molten calf and worshiped it. They’ve sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are the gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt!’”
God said to Moses, “I look at this people—oh! what a stubborn, hard-headed people! Let me alone now, give my anger free reign to burst into flames and incinerate them. But I’ll make a great nation out of you.”
Moses tried to calm his God down. He said, “Why, God, would you lose your temper with your people? Why, you brought them out of Egypt in a tremendous demonstration of power and strength. Why let the Egyptians say, ‘He had it in for them—he brought them out so he could kill them in the mountains, wipe them right off the face of the Earth.’ Stop your anger. Think twice about bringing evil against your people! Think of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to whom you gave your word, telling them ‘I will give you many children, as many as the stars in the sky, and I’ll give this land to your children as their land forever.’”
And God did think twice. He decided not to do the evil he had threatened against his people.
Moses turned around and came down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of The Testimony. The tablets were written on both sides, front and back. God made the tablets and God wrote the tablets—engraved them.
When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting noisily, he said to Moses, “That’s the sound of war in the camp!”
But Moses said, Those aren’t songs of victory, And those aren’t songs of defeat,
I hear songs of people throwing a party. And that’s what it was. When Moses came near to the camp and saw the calf and the people dancing, his anger flared. He threw down the tablets and smashed them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made, melted it down with fire, pulverized it to powder, then scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.Moses said to Aaron, “What on Earth did these people ever do to you that you involved them in this huge sin?” Aaron said, “Master, don’t be angry. You know this person and how to set on the evil they are. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will lead us. This Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we don’t know what’s happened to him.’ “So I said, ‘Who has gold?’ And they took off their jewelry and gave it to me. I threw it in the fire and out came this calf.”
The whole congregation of believers was united as one—one heart, one mind! They didn’t even claim ownership of their possessions. No one said, “That’s mine; you can’t have it.” They shared everything. The apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Master Jesus, and grace was on all of them.
And so it turned out that not a person among them was needy. Those who owned fields or houses sold them and brought the price of the sale to the apostles and made an offering of it. The apostles then distributed it according to each person’s need.
Joseph, called by the apostles “Barnabas” (which means “Son of Comfort”), a Levite born in Cyprus, sold a field that he owned, brought the money, and made an offering of it to the apostles.
But a man named Ananias—his wife, Sapphira, conniving in this with him—sold a piece of land, secretly kept part of the price for himself, and then brought the rest to the apostles and made an offering of it.
Peter said, “Ananias, how did Satan get you to lie to the Holy Spirit and secretly keep back part of the price of the field? Before you sold it, it was all yours, and after you sold it, the money was yours to do with as you wished. So what got into you to pull a trick like this? You didn’t lie to men but to God.”
The governor motioned to Paul that it was now his turn. Paul said, “I count myself fortunate to be defending myself before you, Governor, knowing how fair-minded you’ve been in judging us all these years.
I’ve been back in the country only twelve days – you can check out these dates easily enough. I came with the express purpose of worshiping in Jerusalem on Pentecost, and I’ve been minding my own business the whole time.
Nobody can say they saw me arguing in the Temple or working up a crowd in the streets.
Not one of their charges can be backed up with evidence or witnesses.
“But I do freely admit this: In regard to the Way, which they malign as a dead-end street, I serve and worship the very same God served and worshiped by all our ancestors and embrace everything written in all our Scriptures.
And I admit to living in hopeful anticipation that God will raise the dead, both the good and the bad. If that’s my crime, my accusers are just as guilty as I am.
“Believe me, I do my level best to keep a clear conscience before God and my neighbors in everything I do.
Let’s take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus’ name.
Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship – a different kind of “sacrifice” – that take place in the kitchen and workplace and on the streets.
Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. They are alert to the condition of your lives and work under the strict supervision of God. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them?
Pray for us. We have no doubts about what we’re doing or why, but it’s hard going and we need your prayers. All we care about is living well before God.
Every time I say your name in prayer – which is practically all the time – I thank God for you, the God I worship my whole life in the tradition of my ancestors.
If with heart and soul, you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped?
Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought.
Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy.
Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath.
It’s better to suffer for doing good if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad.
Ongoing Workout
Your workout will be ongoing, be patient and understanding when it comes to your strengths and your weaknesses.
