“[B]odily exercise profiteth little…”  (1 Timothy 4)

“…[W]ork out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”  (Philippians 2)

 

Reader,
When Paul tells us bodily exercise profits little, he is not saying, eat, drink, sit on your couch and get fat while reading your Bible.  It is a comparison to godliness or the exercising of our faith and our spirituality.  Lord Jesus was certainly physically fit.  Consider the art and trade of carpentry in that day. Also in that day children were active with greco-roman wrestling and other physical activities.  Our Lord probably…I SAID!!! PROBABLY, took part in these activities. We are not being dogmatic on this subject, it is simple conjecture. Buuuut…(to be read really fast) itwasChristWhodroppedJacob in the Old Testament match up between Jacob and the Theophony or Pre-incarnate Christophony.

Okay, we had our fun, now to business.  In this article we want to discuss (DV) our spiritual exercise or our spiritual working out to become Christ-like.  Christ-likeness is the Christ-ian’s goal, the Christ-ians finish line.  Christ-likeness is the Championship belt of the Christ-ian wrestler, who wrestles against powers and principalities in high places.  Christ-likeness is the olympian’s crest.

How does one exercise or work-out spiritually? We exercise our spirit by exercising our faith in prayer, Working-out our faith during troubles, trials, testings and tribulations. This exercising of faith during trials and testings will earn us experience, and this earned experience will lead us into the victory that is our Very Firm Hope in Christ and our God-promised, Scripture prophecied, and God’s planned and predestinated transformation into Christ-likeness.

Let us exercise our longsuffering, let us work out our joy…Reader, This is important…focus on this next thought…Our Joy is to us….pay attention to this… Our Joy is to us what God’s Glory is to Him.  We are strengthend by the Christ-centered, intrinsic and supernaturally innate Joy that lives within us. Do you know that? Not in terms of cognitive retention and memorization, but do you know that Joy Experiencially?  Reader, Our child-like faith still sings and shouts, “There is JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY down in my heart Where?  Down in my heart, Where? Down in my heart…Down in my heart to stay…and if the devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tac, sit on a tac!!!”

Let us exercise our love for others inspite of their indifference to us, Let us exercise our temperance by denying ourselves and taking up the Cross and Following after Christ, following after righteousness, goodness, faith, hope, and all other blessings.

Reader,  Drop and Give me Ten (10) Old Testament Precepts, and twenty (20) New Testament Precepts….Down!!!  GO!!! Go!! GO!!!!

Godspeed.