Have you ever notice how much stronger you faith is the more your exercise it?
The last 10 days I have been bach'ing it at home with Lorelai while Laura is finishing the recording for her new CD. It has been good enough as time alone goes. I have lots of support and helpful hands to aid in Lorelai's care and haven't felt too burnt out at all. The only real trick I have found is getting in exercise. Laura and I had worked out this system in the evening. One of us would go for a walk once Lorelai was in bed and then the other one would go after that. Well this works great when there are two of you at home. Now that Laura is not home, I can't leave the house once Lorelai is in bed. So what do I do for my exercise time? I was trying to get it done at another time in the day but that just wasn't working. So I did some searching on Netflix and found a yoga workout. I thought well this won't be the same level of exercise I am used to but it will have to do. Well I was right it wasn't the same level it was much, much harder!
The real push with exercise like Yoga is strengthening your core muscles. Those muscles that give you foundation and balance and stability, the muscles that hold your hold body together. It's really hard work!
As I was reading through Philemon there was a phrase that stood out too me. "I pray that you may be active in sharing our faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good things we have in Christ."(Verse 6) This prayer that Paul is offering is a striking one. The idea that when we actively share our faith the fuller our understanding becomes. This is not a strange concept, when I teach something I better understand it. That's simple enough. But let's take this a little bit further, a little bit deeper.
Paul is not telling us to be active in sharing our knowledge, but in sharing our faith. What is faith? Well by definition faith is trust. So we are to be actively sharing our trust with others to fully understand the good things we have in Christ. So many times we think of the christian faith as a foundation of knowledge which we stand on and share. But that really keeps our faith outside of us. Trust has to be at our core. Philosophically postmodernism has rejected foundational-ism, the idea of absolute objective truth which we can stand on. While I am not in favor of rejecting absolute truth, I do see a need to rethink our foundation.
Jesus promises to give us a new heart and a new mind. He offers to give us a new core. He wants to write his laws, his law of love, upon our hearts. He wants to shape our desires. He wants to bring the very center, the very core of our being in line with him. He wants to dwell in our core by the Holy Spirit. Our faith is not so much about a foundation of knowledge to stand on, but a new core of trust growing in strength as it is actively exercised every day. When people see a life of trust in God expressed from our core, through our actions, our love, our words, and yes our knowledge too, they will be drawn to the new remade center of who we are. The core of Christ in us the hope of glory.
May we exercise our faith/trust daily so that this new core will be strengthened bringing us the stability we need of a deeper faith. A faith that holds all the rest of us together. Then we will have a fuller understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
This makes so much sense to me. I remember taking a pilates class and noticing how good it was for my normally "full" mind. By having to focus on my core there was little chance for flights of fancy and yet in a strange way, I also noticed that for me it was a great way to clear my mind and meditate. Thanks for the reminder
ReplyDeleteAwesome! have a great workout!
DeleteBefore I comment on the post, I just thought I'd let you know that I am having a little trouble reading your font.I'm sorry, I know I sound like an old woman saying that, but I was straining my eyes a little to get it all.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post. People need to see our faith in God. But they can't live on our faith. They must develop their own. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. That word "word" isn't talking about the Bible. It's talking about what God is saying at the current moment. And to know what God is saying, we have to be able to hear Him AND discern or distinguish His voice from our own, and from the voice of the enemy. That's the kicker for most people. If they can't hear God, how can they really ever have solid faith and trust?
I agree that we need to hear the word of God for our faith to grow. I think the word comes to us in several different ways. There is a need to be still and listen to what God has to say to our hearts and he can guide us through the impressions he has for us. I believe he also speaks to us through the bible as the word of God, I find such wonderful things to live by in scripture. I also believe he speaks to us through circumstances by opening opportunities and shutting others day, most of the time we recognize this in hindsight. Finally I think he speaks to us through the body of believers. I have found great value in listening to those who are listening to God.
DeleteThanks for the thoughts and I will consider the font as well, I'm just such a sucker for aesthetics, but being able to read the post is kinda important.