Pumping UP in the New Year

The real power in one’s faith rests upon their beliefs. God designed us to believe in Him, the one true God, and in His son Jesus as our Savior. Our body, soul and spirit can only work together seamlessly when we believe this to be true in the core of our being. If we have any unbelief in this truth, then we are susceptible to emotions that will contribute to diseases in the long haul. Unbelief will open the door to doubt and anxiety. This is a form of fear… and fear is not of God. Fear is the opposite of peace. God wants us to experience peace and we can have this deep, genuine peace when we believe the truths of the Bible and when our behaviors are in alignment to the principles found there.

1) Train up our Body

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 The word for strict control or strict discipline involved both diet and rigorous exercise. How does this profit some?

a) Makes alert mentally for a longer period of time (Alzheimer)

Regular exercise may reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly by as much as 40%, according to a new study. And the effect is even more pronounced for those who are more frail, say the researchers. The US team, at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, studied a group of 1740 people aged 65 or over, all of whom began the study with good cognitive function. The participants reported how many days per week they had exercised for 15 minutes or more, in activities varying from walking to callisthenics to swimming. Their physical function was also recorded, including grip strength and walking speed. Each was evaluated again every two years and tests were performed to determine whether they had developed dementia. After six years, 158 people in the group had developed dementia, and 107 of these had Alzheimer’s. But those who had exercised at least three times a week were on average 38% less likely to have developed dementia than those exercising less than three times a week.

b) Decreases disease.

The good news is that physical activity doesn’t have to be strenuous or involve a huge time commitment. The most important thing is that it’s done on a regular basis.Exercise strengthens the pumping force of your heart, increases blood flow to your brain, increases exercise tolerance, reduces body weight, lowers blood pressure, reduces badcholesterol (both LDL and total), increases good cholesterol (HDL), and increases insulin sensitivity, all of which enhance health and reduce the risk for diseases that can affect brain functioning, such as cardiovascular conditions.Try walking, jogging, hiking, swimming, cycling, or cross-country skiing. Strength exercises such as sit-ups, push-ups, andweight-lifting are also good. Try to get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day for a healthy brain and body.

c) Is a great witness for a watching world. Everyone is going crazy about Obama . . . why? He is in shape. 1 Timothy 4:8 . . . the body has a small profit. But, we need to utilize every profit we can while we are on this earth. Especially now, when the world is into health and going green. We as Christians must become all things to all people so that by all means some might be saved.

2) Train up our Mind.

We have talked about this. The mind affects so much. What you listen to becomes what you think. What you think then affects your life. Let us train ourselves for 09 in positive thinking.

Positive thinking. “I am an optimist. It does not seem
too much use being anything else” Winston Churchill

Positive attitude and positive thinking are linked to greater health, increased happiness, and longevity. Properly constructed positive affirmations are an important ingredient for a positive attitude. Positive people have a greater capacity for love, joy and warmth that brings happiness into their lives, and also into the lives of their families and everyone else they meet. They have a greater capacity for love and are loved more in return.

Positive thinkers are realists. They know things can go wrong, and they look out for this because everybody has setbacks, problems and failures. Positive thinkers are also more likely to get well faster during treatment for a physical illness.

Positive thinking is the best way to gain clear thoughts that carry you through your day with ease and move you in the directions you desire. You will also be amazed by how much people enjoy your company. Positive Thinking is about training yourself to see the world from a whole new perspective and utilizing your fundamental capability to produce desired outcomes with positive, realistic beliefs and thoughts. It is based on the scientifically-proven fact that thought has a direct effect on feeling which, in turn, had a direct effect on behavior and performance.

1940 Dunkirk. Winston Churchill was advised that 20,000 troops, at best, could be evacuated from Dunkirk. 338,000 were evacuated.

Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

October 29, 1941
Harrow School

When Churchill visited Harrow on October 29 to hear the traditional songs again, he discovered that an additional verse had been added to one of them. It ran:

You cannot tell from appearances how things will go. Sometimes imagination makes things out far worse than they are; yet without imagination not much can be done. Those people who are imaginative see many more dangers than perhaps exist; certainly many more than will happen; but then they must also pray to be given that extra courage to carry this far-reaching imagination. But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period – I am addressing myself to the School – surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. All this tradition of ours, our songs, our School history, this part of the history of this country, were gone and finished and liquidated.

Very different is the mood today. Britain, other nations thought, had drawn a sponge across her slate. But instead our country stood in the gap. There was no flinching and no thought of giving in; and by what seemed almost a miracle to those outside these Islands, though we ourselves never doubted it, we now find ourselves in a position where I say that we can be sure that we have only to persevere to conquer.

You sang here a verse of a School Song: you sang that extra verse written in my honour, which I was very greatly complimented by and which you have repeated today. But there is one word in it I want to alter – I wanted to do so last year, but I did not venture to. It is the line: “Not less we praise in darker days.”

I have obtained the Head Master’s permission to alter darker to sterner. “Not less we praise in sterner days.”

Do not let us speak of darker days: let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days – the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.

3) Train up your Spirit

a) In your actions:

            -imitate the Father . . . In your thought life. Be Holy as He is Holy. No one sees this aspect of your Christian walk. But, in 09 let us imitate the Father and be holy.

            -glorify the Father (let your light shine before men) . . . The way you behave in public should be in a way that brings glory to God.

            -Please the Father . . . The Bible teaches if you and I set it upon ourselves to be pleasing unto the Father, then He will notice and reward you. Much like a earthly parent notices when you are constantly seeking to please the parent, God notices when you seek to single-minded please Him.

b) In your prayer life:

            -Unlike a king, the Father (Abba) is an intimate relationship and He is always accessible to his children and is never too preoccupied to listen.

            -Must be from your heart

            -Must be free and bold . . . A good parent does not want their child afraid to come to them with a need. Why? We want them to count completely on our love. In the same way, God want us to count completely upon His love.

c) By seeking His guidance in His Word

            -He always leads within the limits of the Bible, not beyond it. For example, God is leading me to marry this non-Christian. I read of a crippled lady who was offered hospitality in the home of a very wealthy lady. The wealthy lady came into her room and accidentally left her purse on the night stand. The crippled lady prayed, and felt God telling her to take the money out and hide it under her pillow. She did this and was soon evicted from this home.

            -He guides us by transforming our thought process. We become more like Christ as we study His Word.

            -He directs us by understanding His loving character. This involves not simply reading the Bible, but meditating on it. Starting in John and spending time looking at a few verses every day and seriously asking God to help you understand Him through this Word. Think of John 1:1 and explain.