Last Monday, as I rounded the corner into my ‘writing room”, I was surprised to find my husband sitting at the computer finishing up his blog on being a good father. If you thought it was good, you weren’t the only one, check out the comments at the very bottom of the post. We had such a positive response to that blog. I want to clue you in on a little secret though, a secret I think that will make his blog that much sweeter.
On that particular day, I had to get up extra early to finish packing and write my blog since we were heading out of town for a week. I jumped out of bed only to be met with the most excruciating pain right between my shoulder blades. A pulled muscle. As long as I kept my upper body completely still, not raising my arms in any way, I was fine. Not ideal for packing, writing or anything else really. I was in a bind.
I tried to do some reactive yoga only to make matters worse. At this point, the muscle began to twitch, with every spasm catching my breath. I had no choice but to get back in the bed. As I laid there, mad at myself and the situation, I began to negotiate with God for an instantaneous healing. I offered up losing weight, getting healthier and exercising in an effort to become stronger. All things that would actually benefit me so I’m not sure why God would have taken this deal anyway.
Lying there, I realized that this is a common practice for me not just physically but spiritually as well. Been there, done that, making deals with God just to get out of a tough spot. But I don’t want to make deals anymore. I want to be strong both physically and spiritually before trouble comes.
…train yourself to be godly.
“Physical training is good,
but training for godliness is much better,
promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”
I hope your ears perked up, mine sure did. This scripture is a promise. I don’t know if you are a health-nut, exercise-buff or couch-potato, but this scripture says “training in godliness promises benefits in this life and the next.” That’s what I’m talking about. Benefits in the here and now. I refuse to sit around and wait for some calamity to strike. This is my time and I choose to use it wisely. I don’t want to just be physically strong, I want to be spiritually strong. I don’t want to be reactive, I want to be proactive. Christ tells us “in this life we will have trouble.“ It’s not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when.’ I want to be ready.
So for the next few weeks, I want to explore what it would take to become spiritually stronger. And I want us to do it together. Will you join me?
Just like physical training is good, training of godliness is better. The training is the same. You want a deeper relationship with God? You want to be spiritually strong? All you have to do is do the work. Let’s do it together.
Oh, but back to that secret I want to let you in on. As I pulled myself out of bed to go write this blog last week, I rounded the corner only to find my sweet husband sitting at the computer writing his blog. I said, “what are you doing?” and he said, “writing your blog for you.” With tears in my eyes, I melted right there. What an incredible act of love! He did that for me, which makes last week’s blog that much sweeter.
Next week, we will dive into what it takes to be spiritually strong. Commit today to join me on this journey and let’s do the work together to have a deeper relationship with God. I’ll tell you this, it will help you in every other relationship you have, maybe that’s one of the benefits in this life Proverbs talks about.
Let us pray;
Father God, help me to be spiritually stronger. Give me to desire to have a deeper relationship with you. And teach me how to love like you love. In Jesus Name, Amen. -M
- May 11, 2019/5:30 p.m., I am speaking at a dinner event to Celebrate Women at Fulp Moravian Church. Click HERE to get your tickets.
- My newly released book, The Me Disease is now listed on Goodreads. Click HERE to check it out and leave a review. Thanks so much.
- That same book would make a great Mother’s Day gift and perfect for any small group study. Click HERE to purchase.
- If already purchased the book or Ebook from Amazon, don’t forget to go back and leave a review. You can CLICK HERE to go directly to the review page of Amazon.
