Striving for Godliness in health and wellness

This is my response for a school assignment. They are just my personal views. I hope they are helpful or at least encouraging.

Lifestyle has been an extremely relevant issue for my wife and I since we were in high school. One of our first conversations on our first date was about how much we value a healthy, active lifestyle. Now as we are married, we are committed to striving to please God as we honor the temple he gave us. Not only do we want to please God, but we want to be an example to those in our community of what a healthy God honoring lifestyle looks like. We have much to grow in this area as it is so easy to become lazy with time or simply busy. But we are convinced that gluttony and laziness is a sin that the Church in this nation has swept under the carpet. If Paul address’s it in 1 Corinthians and Colossians, I know it is important to us as well.

I was taken back to read that smoking is the leading cause of preventable diseases. When I think about it, I am not surprised. I cannot imagine my grandparents era when a cigarette was portrayed by Hollywood as “in” or “impressionable” as Disaronno or Bacardi Limon is now. The coined phrase is true: cigarettes are cancer sticks. In my further discussion of lifestyle, I do not wish preach a false representation of what it means to “glorify God with our bodies, (1 Cor 6:20) as Paul says with our bodies. I realize in the direct context of this verse, Paul is speaking about sexual immorality and not putting the Holy Spirit through prostitution. I think this truth correlates and relates to health as well as Paul address food a few verses earlier in chapter 6. So in the following two paragraphs I will address my personal views on what it means for me to live out 1 Corinthians 6:20 in our present age of culturally accepted gluttony and debauchery (of all major issues discussed in the chapter.)
I believe at my age of 23, I should be considered fit, athletic, or in shape (they all have the same meaning to me). I have no medical or genetic disabilities that I am aware of. I believe sweets that are high in saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, and other similarly researched dietary foods should be regarded as a treat, or a non consistent pleasure. Studies show trans-fat has virtually no positive effects for the body. While there may be few in saturated fats, I tend to err on the side that these foods should be eaten once a week as a treat, or at minimum a very low daily amount. I obviously have no training or formal education in nutrition, but from my experience and what I have read, this has worked for me. I try, (and since I have been married there have been stretches of time when try is far too strong a word), to balance my diet with the adequate amount of protein, carbohydrates, mono and polyunsaturated fats, and fiber. A typical meal for me consists of red potatoes, a form of meat, and vegetables. My snack tend to be nuts, fruits, and vegetables, however cereal and peanut butter mixed with chocolate chips tends to be my downfall. I have much to grow in. I don’t give my body enough vitamins and minerals and am very ignorant about them. But I do strive to have a balanced meal plan.

Exercise is another passion of mine, at one time an idol. I do not think everyone must sign up for a gym or even do the exercises I do. But I believe everyone must exercise, and exercise consistently. I now realize how authentically difficult it is for an adult to carve out even a half hour a day to exercise, and I don’t even have children! There was a stretch the past few months when I went two weeks without exercising. One day I ran up our three flights of stairs and was out of breath. I realized I needed to get back in cardiovascular shape because I am twenty three! That is unacceptable. So, I believe people should work out with God what exercise looks like for them, but I believe that we should exercise. Daily walking has been a proven exercise that puts low stress on joints, burns calories, and stimulates blood flow. I think this is a great place to start. For most men and women, I think pushups, pull-ups, hiking, biking, walking, and swimming are all phenomenal exercises that have low risk for injury. I will conclude my section of fitness with an advisory. I have talked with three certified and trained personal trainers, two of whom are CrossFit certified. They all have seen more damage done in a traditional gym (I am speaking of weight training) than good. Many go to a gym go for reasons of cultural and “adult peer pressure”, if you will. The Lord wants us to be excellent in all we do. I think if we are going to commit to a traditional gym membership, we must know personally how to properly lift weights or at least know that the trainers the gym hires are certified personal trainers. We cannot risk injury or permanent muscle, joint, bone etc. damage.

Lastly and thankfully, we come to the issue of tobacco and alcohol. Simply put, I don’t smoke anything for health reasons, cultural reasons. I have not researched the Old Testament and Hebrew views on fumigation to give a personal opinion. I drink socially and only socially. I drink in controlled moderation. I have seen the tragic effects of drunkenness and it scares me.

All in all, this is my personal application of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. And I will leave with this verse, for my words are just mine, but God’s stand the test of time. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

JN

happiness

I am understanding something about life. Our happiness is usually tied to our expectations, and whether they are met or not. Happiness is the goal of most humans. We usually here people make statements like "well, as long as they are happy". But as followers of Christ, we are invited into so much more. I am reminded of what Jesus said about joy. In John 15, Jesus said

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete

There is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is circumstantial and joy is rooted in truth. Simply put, Jesus cares about our joy, not our happiness. I find it amazing that no where in scripture does God explicitly display a concern for the temporal happiness of mankind. In this verse, Jesus shows how eternal joy is directly connected to obeying His commandments. If we obey, we will have joy. And joy does not depend on our emotions or circumstances.

Recently in my life, I have seen how circumstances either bring me up on down emotionally. I think if I am more concerned about my obedience to Christ rather than the outcome of circumstances, I would boy more joyful and as a result, probably be happier. So the formula for joy I see in scripture is

fall in love with Jesus + obey his commandments = have complete joy (and probably some happiness thrown in there)

pretty simple stuff.


JN

His Goodness

It has been one of those weeks. The Lord is opening my eyes and my heart to see and feel things I never imagined I would feel or see. I hear Him telling me, "this is just the beginning." He is so good.

I apologize for not posting for over two months. I learned something about myself this year, winter has a strange effect on me. I am effected by the physical seasons and it influences my spiritual life. I really enjoy each individual season for what it is, but this past year, the length of grey days and lack of snow took a little bit of a toll on me. Barren would be a word I would use to describe how my prayer life felt at times. But, again, God is always so good. Just as the spring has broken through the desolate and grey, so has my heart through these past few months of winter. Its almost like the scene in the Chronicles of Narnia when the white which realizes that Aslan is on the move and winter is over. The flowers come out as well as the tryaids and the nyads and they celebrate the imminent return of their King. That is what I feel like. And is is a really good feeling.

This past winter has taught me that The Lord is always at work in our souls. Especially, when we think He is not. Like in the winters of the soul. I believe it takes these winters to allow us to come to life in the spring. It takes soul surgery and the feeling that God is distant. It takes pain. But suffering produces steadfastness and steadfastness must complete its work.

God is so good. So. Good. He has given us so much. We truly will never be able to out give Him. Because the King of the Universe dwells within me.

Lord, you are so worthy to be praised.



JN

goodness again

I have been asking the Lord to show me His goodness these past few weeks. Tonight, I worked about 8 hours at Applebees. I got a job as a server there a few weeks ago. I have never served before and there is a lot to remember and constantly think about. Which means there is a lot to potentially mess up. And I messed up pretty bad tonight. There was a table of 8 people who all had individual checks and when I went to close them out, I dropped all their bills, credit cards, and gift cards on the ground. So I reorganized them as best as I could, but found out when I went back to the table that I had used a womans credit card on some one else's bill. I had to get the manager and it took me a half hour extra to sort the whole thing out. Thankfully, the ladies were really kind and actually offered to help me figure out what I did wrong. Oh yeah, I was also late for work because I forgot my name tag and card.

After the night was over, my manager asked me what I learned that day. "be organized" I told him. As I left, the thought crossed my mind that I was a failure and I let my boss down. Instantly right there I had a choice. I could dwell on that though and believe it, or I could speak truth to myself. I chose to stand in the truth. I realize that even when we feel like failures, when we screw up or do not meet someone's expectations, God is still good. Even in the hardest times in life, god is good.

Believing the goodness of God is the most important thing we can do. If we believe god is good, then we will trust him. If we trust him, then we will obey him.
I am learning that I need to remember that God is good in every aspect of my life. When I am pissed at my co workers, praise God because God is good. When I am frustrated with the people I live with, praise God because God is good. When I do not get my way, praise God, because God is good. When things in life are going great, praise God because God is good.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living! Psalm 27:13

proclaiming the goodness of God

Recently, I have been learning how often I forget what I have in Christ. It is so easy to live our lives with a sense of entitlement, that the world owns us something just because we are human beings. Often times I find myself expecting things and circumstances in life to bring me happiness. So often I forget how good God is just because He is God. He has given us everything. We have eternal life. There is nothing on this earth that should steal our joy. I am learning that how in the midst of the adversity of life, we need to proclaim the goodness of God. To others, but most importantly to ourselves. As Americans, we are so tied into our happiness coming from the things and the security we have. As the american Church, this thinking typically does not differ. Our joy must be in Christ. Our joy must be in who God is and what He has done for us. When we think life is not going our way, we need to remember that it was never supposed to. We need to stand on the the goodness of God and proclaim it until we believe it and it changes our attitude.

I love the simple Psalm.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His steadfast love endures forever"

Psalm 136

It is so simple but so true. God is good. We have no reason not to be joyful and we have every reason to be. So be joyful today! Proclaim the goodness of God!

rambelings

This blog has sat dormant for awhile. Its been harder for me to blog lately. Life has gotten a bit busier. I have been in a place recently where life has been very routine. One of those seasons where I find myself doing the same things over and over again each day. In the midst of those places, I can easily become routine in my walk with the Lord. Sometimes it is as though the excitement of life is just gone. Routine sets in its course. I think there are seasons where life can become mechanical. They are not necessarily bad, they just happen.

And then, something happens and God lifts the shutters on my eyes and I realize that I have been missing Him all along. I read through 1 Peter this week and there was a verse that spoke so much truth to me. Verses 1:3-4 says

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading".

I don't often realize that I am now a living hope and I have an eternal inheritance that will never be corrupted. So often I live my life not thinking on or remembering the promises of God. I am learning that who I am must come out of my identity in Christ. As a child of God, this is my new identity. I am no longer a wretched sinner. I am loved and forgiven by the King of all Kings.

It is so important to remember who we are. This is what separates us from the world. The fact that we know we are loved, forgiven, and set free from sin and that we don't have to be bound to please our flesh or man any longer. We are free to please Him.

If I do not remind myself of God's promises, then I am so easily swept into sin.
But thanks be to God for though we were dead in our sin He is rich in mercy.



JN

looking to the end

Often times in life, when we are in a process of accomplishing something, we ask ourselves "What is the end goal". These past few months, I have been living with a former Marine, and he always needs to know what the end goal of everything is. For him, the task or project is not worth the effort put into it if he does not know the end goal.

I think this is a very important question to be asking ourselves. I ask my self it a lot. But I often forget to ask myself that question in the most important aspect of life; life itself. Americans are very good at not knowing why they do the things they do. I am an American and I am very much included in that statement.

I often do not think about the end goal of life throughout my day. It seems silly when I think about it. As followers of Christ we know our end goal: to preach the gospel and bring Christ's kingdom to Earth, so one day, when every tribe has heard the name of Jesus, He will return as our King bringing the perfection we so long for. Yet so often I just don't think about that in the midst of my day. That should always be on my mind. If I really want to follow Christ, that is the culmination of the life of a follower. That needs to be on my mind constantly. I need to realize that in the midst of my interactions with people, my commute to school, in the shower... everything, I need to be aware of that reality.

Jesus is coming back. Does my life show that I am aware of that and am preparing for it?